Gundam Battle: Gunpla Warfare - Weekly Digest #13 - Holiday Edition

Hey there, Pilots! I hope everyone is doing well for this holiday season!  I know that things in GBGW are definitely heating up over this cool week where I am, and I hope it's keeping you warm with excitement too!  Turn A and Turn X have arrived, and there's definitely some happy players with these two overpowered Gunpla now available.  

Quattro Bajeena, who is totally not Char is along for the ride, and I'm hoping he's going to be a better pilot than totally not Char, while Kayra Su brings up the rear, and hopefully doesn't get left in the dust.
This week we're going to see a different sort of Event with a "Part 1" run of the Akatsuki/Blue Destiny Banner that we saw in Notices, and we'll go over what's up with that whole ordeal first.

The big news; yes... bigger than Sokai, is the inclusion of a Pilot Step-Up Capsule.  I have been waiting for this for awhile, in any form, and I'm happy that this is the Step-Up we get.  We're going to go over what we know of the specifics, as well as what this could mean for the future, so let's get started!

Firstly, I have to note that this name gets me.  The Banner features both Blue Destiny Unit One, and Akatsuki...  Akatsuki literally means "dawn" or "daybreak", while we get BD1, so it's ONE who BREAKS the DAWN.  It's really great wordplay on Bandai's part, and I just got a kick out of it.  OKAY, that being said...

We are not getting Akatsuki this week, and I know that comes with a lot of groans.  I know, it takes the left side of the Banner and that would make you assume that it'd be first, but we're going to be seeing that as Part 2.  Part 1 brings us Blue Destiny Unit 1, and I'm at least happy that this didn't make it in as a Gacha Banner, because I never personally thought it was much of anything.  Having said that, I'm happy for a wide range of Part diversity and new suits, so potato, potahtoe.

From what we've seen in the list for multipliers, BD1 only comes packed with a Shield, and after Gouf Custom I am super wary of some of these Event suits.  How good it is remains to be seen, but it could very likely have a Chest EX Skill, and that could definitely be cool.
Just like the other Sokai Festivals, this is going to be a point-based Event where we only see a max multiplier of 600%, but unlike some other Sokais, we've got a long list of Pilots to be adding into bonuses for this week.  Please remember that these bonuses come as a per-part basis, so you can equip duplicates to multiple members of your team and stack the bonuses. 

Bonus Part multipliers are as follows:

• Turn A Gundam (all parts incl. Shield [Turn A], Beam Saber [Turn A], Gundam Hammer, Beam Rifle [Turn A]), Quattro Bajeena (Pilot): 100% UP
• Turn X (all parts): 80% UP
• Force Impulse Gundam (all parts incl. Mobile Shield, Vajra Beam Saber, MA-BAR72 High-Energy Beam Rifle), Char Aznable, Kamille Bidan, Zechs Marquise, Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, Lowe Guele, Duo Maxwell, Garrod Ran, Amuro Ray, Seabook Arno, Bernard Wiseman, Sai Saici, George de Sand, Chang Wufei, Gaelio Bauduin, Paptimus Scirocco, Christina Mackenzie, Carozzo Ronah, Kou Uraki, Mikazuki Augus, Haman Karn, Shinn Asuka, Shiro Amada, Judau Ashta (ALL 4* PILOTS AVAILABLE): 15% UP
• Blue Destiny Unit-1 (all parts incl. Shield [BD1]), Crossbone Gundam X1 (all parts incl. ABC Cloak, Beam Zanba, Zanbuster), Kayra Su (Pilot), Lunamaria Hawke (Pilot): 7% UP

WOW, look at that 15% bonus list!  As far as I can tell that list includes every 4* Pilot in the game as a 15% bonus multiplier except Quattro, who sits at 100% as the new Pilot.  This is clearly to celebrate the Step-Up Capsule and ties the Events together nicely, and gives us a little kickback where Sokai Festivals are usually more limited than this.  So at least there's that.

Scubasage is gonna tell us what's up with Blue Destiny 1 and if it's worth fighting for on Thursday, so check back for sure!
 

I had a feeling that this Sokai was going to be big, and this is quite the doozy.  Turn A and Turn X, the absolute pinnacle of Gundam technology, come crashing in for the holidays, and this is a banner I don't expect we'll want to miss!

The information we get from the bonus Part list is that Turn A comes packed with the standard Beam Rifle, Beam Saber and Shield, but it also has the Gundam Hammer, which is literally a spiked ball on a chain, but Gundam-sized.  Our very first 4* Whip, before Epyon even?  Say it isn't so, Bandai!  But this could be the weapon to beat for the season, all-things-considered.  

As far as the Gunpla  itself, I definitely expect some crazy Moonlight Butterfly EX Skill that everyone is definitely hoping will be shot-based.  Honestly, I'm hoping so too, after what Beginning 30's Back turned out to be (horrendously short-range Beam Shot Power A that the AI uses in mid/long range).  Though I am not a fan of the mustachioed Gundam look, I am a fan of good Parts and more options for building.  Turn A is going to be insane.

And I expect Turn X to be just as crazy.  While this monster doesn't come with any weaponry in the Banner, you can expect this will be all about some Traits and Skills (watch me be wrong), and as the precursor to the Turn A, I am expecting a lot from this bad boy.  Watch them both have insane Moonlight Butterfly, impossible black hole manipulation teleporting madness.  I mean, they're both powered by black holes and capable of Newtype space magic right?  Watch it happen.

AetherRose is gonna let us know if the Banner is worth our bucks after it debuts with the Should You Pull segment, and you're gonna want to read it for sure!

No, that isn't Char.  It just looks like him, talks like him, etc etc.  Quattro Bajeena is actually an alias of Char Aznable, the man himself, and I am absolutely desperate for him to be better. Honestly, Char in this game as a Pilot was nothing short of disappointing, and Pilots have definitely come a long way in being a critical aspect of a lot of Gunpla builds. 

It seems that Bandai has really been favoring 4* melee Pilots lately, and we could see a good shooter come out of this knucklehead as a pleasant nod, maybe even with some Ace tags for good measure.  I don't really think he's coming down as a Support, but he could always just join the conga line of In/Out-Fighters and soon-to-be Defenders.  Please let it be the former.

Kayra Su brings it home as this week's 3* Pilot, and even piloted the RGZ-91 Re-GZ during the time of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.  She was Londo Bell's number two pilot, and second only to Amuro Ray.  Hopefully we can see some greatness here, and I sort of expect a Middle Shooter or Support, honestly, and could boast an Ace tag if we're lucky.

This is some of the most exciting news I've seen with this game in the recent months, honestly. Since this game launched, I have felt that one thing that would really make our lives a lot easier would be Step-Up Banners of really any sort.  

Now that we're getting a Pilot Step-Up, you just know that there has to be Parts around the corner, and I'm definitely going to be watching for that. It's interesting in the fact that we're getting Attribute-specific Pilot Banners, but that allows you to pull for a Pilot you really want to get with increased chance to obtain it.

A lot of Gacha games implement step-up mechanics, and they're good when they're implemented in moderation and provide a benefit to paying and free players alike. I feel that what Bandai chose to do with these Banners are exactly that, and I'll explain why.

You have purchase limits, which are good because then people can't just go crazy on them and get an outrageous benefit for a lesser investment, furthering the perceived gap or divide between paying and free players.  But, while there are purchase limits, you can actually purchase these Step-Up Banners every time they appear on a rotation, so you'll get 3 attempts at each Step-Up Capsule over the course of 12/24 - 12/31. 

 Lastly, you need to give the players a real incentive to pay - some real value.  The first Step of the Banner costs 300 Haro Chips for a 5x Pilot Draw, which is a significant discount.  It appears that Step 2 and Step 3 are both 10x draws for normal 1500 Haro Chip costs, but Step 2 has a doubled drop rate for 4* Pilots, and Step 3 has at least one 4* Pilot guaranteed.

At 3300 HC, this is incredible value, and I expect to see some really crazy 10x draws from Steps 2 and 3 in our discord server.

They've listed the rotation and duration of each Banner, and further clarified that you will be able to open each Pilot Step-Up Capsule up to Step 3 again when the available Capsules are changed with each availablility period.

Here is the schedule:

12/24/2019 7:00 PM (PST) – 12/25 7:00 PM (PST)
AI Pilots Step-Up Capsules #1, #2, #3

12/25/2019 7:00 PM (PST) – 12/26 7:00 PM (PST)
AI Pilots Step-Up Capsules #1

12/26/2019 7:00 PM (PST) – 12/27 7:00 PM (PST)
AI Pilots Step-Up Capsules #2

12/27/2019 7:00 PM (PST) – 12/28 7:00 PM (PST)
AI Pilots Step-Up Capsules #3

12/28/2019 7:00 PM (PST) – 12/29 7:00 PM (PST)
AI Pilots Step-Up Capsules #1

12/29/2019 7:00 PM (PST) – 12/30 7:00 PM (PST)
AI Pilots Step-Up Capsules #2

12/30/2019 7:00 PM (PST) – 12/31 7:00 AM (PST)
AI Pilots Step-Up Capsules #3

It is extremely important to note that the first day of the Step-Up is the only day that features all three Capsules, and the last day has a listed duration of 12 hours, but it could very well be a typo, as each other day is 24 hours long in Banner duration.

Don't forget that each Banner only features Pilots of the listed Attribute type, so if you want a specific Pilot be absolutely sure what you're looking for.

We'll be back with more info once we know the details about Akatsuki and the second half of the Event!  And feel free to drop by our discord server and hang out!  Our next Gunpla Design Contest starts on January 1st, and the prize will be a $10 gift card for the OS of your choice to spend on whatever you want!

Catch you next time!