Should You Pull?
If you’re in need of a shining star on stage, not a bad choice if you have the resources. As we are very much in the year 2024, which has hopefully been a great start so far, it would appear that the stage is set for the last of the Pseudo Shikigami/Servant Friends! After Aya, Nitori, Flandre and even some swimsuit variants from the world of Eternal Summer, Lr Hata no Kokoro (Pseudo-Servant: Teireita) courtesy of the Poker-Faced Play Ultra Festival Prayer is ready to take the stage! As usual, this Prayer comes with another new 4★ Story Card and a pre-existing 5★ one! So how does this performer fare on the Touhou LostWord stage?
Just like the Pseudo Shikigami pair and the devilish Pseudo Servant that came before, this Destroy-Class Friend is very much on a similar level, for the right reasons. When you see “Destroy-Class Friend”, we have every reason to expect CRIT buffs like CRIT ATK and CRIT Accuracy, which Lr Kokoro not only has in her kit, but is able to support the team with them. She also has a decent Killer range mainly supported by her destructive role (provided she has enough CRIT Accuracy) and also has the Yin ATK and Spirit Power to support both herself and her teammates! In terms of power, self-sufficiency and offensive support, you can definitely count on Lr Kokoro to perform the above whether it be through Skills or Spell Card effects.
But there is more that this masked menreiki can bring to the stage, as she comes with her own form of Bind/Stat Debuff dispelling through Skill 2, as well as a team Bind/Stat Debuff dispel from Spell Card 1’s Post-ATK. She also comes with some Barrier restoration for the team from Spell Card 2’s Post-ATK, so that little bit of utility alongside the aforementioned offensive power above could keep both her team and herself afloat.
Of course, as an aspiring performer, Lr Kokoro will want her big break on the stage, and speaking of breaks, she is very good in terms of Blind anomaly inflictions and breaks, with the main sources of inflictions being from Skill 1 and Spell Card 1, being capable of breaking 5 Blind anomalies all in the same turn! Blind breaks are also executed via any other attack barring her Spread Shot in some way, and as the Star of the show, this can be supported by her main element of choice, being Star! There is a little bit of a clash between Wood and Water elements but this isn’t too much of an issue in the grand scheme of things, or compared to how other Friends go about their elements. All in all though, Lr Kokoro is definitely not a bad breaker by any means…
…However, if there is one gap in Lr Kokoro’s Skillset, it’s her struggle to get her Accuracy buffs going. Even with the bullet line buffs for Accuracy, if those bullets fail to connect, then it might be a bit frustrating to go about without any Accuracy support from Story Cards or Allies, especially if the target(s) like their Evasion buffs or Accuracy debuffs. That said, that is the only glaring weakness with Lr Kokoro really, and even then, it’s not as severe with its kind of weakness, as even a slight jumpstart in Accuracy can do her some good.
But with that said, with this Prayer comes a couple of co-stars in the form of Story Card Spotlight! Returning as this Prayer’s 5★ Story Card is Wakey-Wakey, with its main effects being the team buff in Yin DEF and the team Barrier restoration. However, the new 4★ Story Card alongside it is another one with Flandre Scarlet in it called Secret Outing! This one’s effects aren’t the most impressive though sadly, as it boosts the team’s CRIT Evasion by 2 Stages (2T) and will take 30% less damage from Scarlet Devil Mansion enemies (2T).
Featured Story Card "Wakey-Wakey!"!
Featured Story Card "Secret Outing"!
So as we are reaching our curtain call phase of the article, is Lr Kokoro worth going for? Well if you have the Seal Crystals (1250) just in case luck isn’t on your side, you like Hata no Kokoro in general and/or need a Star elemental Destroy-Class Friend assuming you are desperate for Star breakers, this Pseudo Servant will be a helpful performer for you. That said, there are a few slight issues that may deter one from pulling on this Prayer, such as how there are already quite a few Friends who are notable Star breakers, like L80 Sakuya Izayoi, C3 Marisa Kirisame, L80 Flandre Scarlet, F1 Sanae Kochiya, A7A Marisa Kirisame and L1 Tsukasa Kudamaki. Another potential issue is that while C3 Yuyuko Saigyouji and C3 Youmu Konpaku will no longer be available by the time this Prayer goes live, not only would they have potentially taken a lot of your Seal Crystals if you went for either/both, but January 18th marks the arrival of Reimu Hakurei (Karma Speed), the next Relic in game which may be one to watch out for.
So with that said, Lr Hata no Kokoro’s Prayer has its merits, but also its adversities. It’s worth skipping if you have less than 1250 Seal Crystals, have a strong selection of Star breakers and/or are looking forward to the next Relic Friend. However, if you are a fan of Hata no Kokoro, and need a Star-based Friend, by all means, go for it!
So for those who are willing to take the stage to hopefully pick up the Poker-Faced Pseudo Servant, best of luck to those who are praying for this menreiki to come their way before the final curtain call!
Quick Overview
Lr Hata no Kokoro is a Destroy-Class Friend with helpful buffs and utility for both herself and the team, breaks via Star element and Blind anomalies and solid CRIT damage potential.
Powerful Poker-Faced Performer
Playing the Destroy-Class Card, Lr Kokoro is most certainly capable of hitting hard with her Spell Cards and Last Word. With a passable Killer range backed up by her natural CRIT potential on her later lines (with enough CRIT Accuracy), this menreiki is able to perform to critical acclaim with her offensive buffs and Slice Scaling, and with self-inflicted Blind anomalies on bullet lines boosting her own Yin ATK, CRIT ATK and CRIT Accuracy, Lr Kokoro is sure to thrive on the big stage!
Solo Act’s Support and Self-Sufficiency
Lr Kokoro is able to bring a good amount of offensive buffs to the table such as Yin ATK, CRIT ATK, CRIT Accuracy and Spirit Power through her Skills alone, with her Ability providing the team CRIT ATK when Grazing and her Spell Card effects including more of CRIT ATK and CRIT Accuracy buffs alongside Agility and a lot of Spirit Power for the team after her Last Word. On top of that, Spell Card 2’s Post-ATK grant the team 2 Barriers and on top of a Skill’s self-Bind/Stat Debuff Removal of 2, Spell Card 1’s Post-ATK removes 1 of the team’s Bind/Stat Debuff Removal. With all this as part of Lr Kokoro’s kit, she can definitely perform strongly as a supporter as well as a self-sufficient buffer.
Blinded by the Star of the Show
Flash, bang wallop! With Skill 1 inflicting 3 layers of Blind onto her enemies and Spell Card 1’s Pre-ATK also inflicting another 2 layers of it onto them, being able to break 5 of them in 1 turn on her own with this same Spell Card is nothing to overlook when it comes to the masked Star in question. She can also break Blind anomalies with Spell Card 2, Last Word and even her Focus Shot if she wanted. And speaking of Star, Lr Kokoro has a strong amount of Star breaks in her arsenal which can definitely back up her Blind breaks if necessary.
Star of the Show’s Elemental Interference
While the Blind anomaly breaks and strong Star elemental breaks are very good, Lr Kokoro does have to come to terms with her Wood and Water elements clashing a bit, meaning that if a second element is required for this pseudo Backup Dancer to fall back on, the clash between Wood and Water could be an issue, although Spell Card 1 is more Wood-dominant in terms of elements. If the Star and Blind break combo is doing the job just fine however, this may not be too big of an issue.
Slight Inaccuracies on Stage
She might be both self-sufficient and supportive, but there is one slight roadblock in Lr Kokoro’s pursuit to critical acclaim; her Accuracy buffs. Granted, she gains these on various bullet lines in her kit, but in order for them to activate, those specific bullet lines would need to hit, which isn’t always set in stone. This issue is slightly amplified further due to Lr Kokoro being a Destroy-Class Friend with most bullet lines having less than 75% Accuracy, but once she reaps the benefits of a Story Card/ally that can grant her those helpful Accuracy buffs, this issue is safely quelled. To an extent, she might also struggle somewhat with Agility buffs for her Slice scaling outside of her Last Word.
