Should You Pull?
If you are itching for a small but destructive inchling, feel free. If not, she can be skipped. It’s been a while since we had two Friends releasing on the same day instead of the usual one, and this time, these two have something in common, a very tiny thing in fact. One of these Friends are A14 Shinmyoumaru Sukuna (Shining) of the Prayer “Shining Needle Princess Festival”, coming with a returning 5★ Story Card and an Ascending Step-UP (60GC, 160GC, 260GC, 360GC, 460GC). Just like the effects of the Miracle Mallet on inchlings, the God Crystal cost consistently increases. But what does the Miracle Mallet wielding inchling of justice have to bring to the table?
Well this Destroy-Class Friend strives to prove that big things come in small packages, especially with her handy team buffs like with Yang ATK, Accuracy, CRIT Accuracy and Yang DEF across her Skills and Spell Cards. She does manage to go a little further for herself as well with her access to additional CRIT ATK, decent Spirit Power gain and handy Evasion/CRIT DEF/CRIT Evasion debuffs.
A14 Shinmyoumaru can also use means such as her 25% increase in bullets when their elements are resisted and Hard Scaling to increase her damage output (going hand in hand with Yang DEF) backed up by defensive buffs from self-inflicted Blind/Poison anomalies and on paper, has a very strong range of Killers, including the beloved Gensokyo and Youkai Killers, although her main Killers are actually not the widest ranged ones collectively (the main Killers in her kit being Tsukumogami, Magician, Maid, Doll, Collector, Incident Resolver, Yin-Yang Orb and Shrine Maiden). At least with enough CRIT Accuracy, her later bullet lines can still naturally land Critical hits!
However, A14 Shinmyoumaru isn’t always in her element, if you like…although the elements themselves are fine for what they are, mainly focusing on Metal and bringing a little Wood as backup. There are some very slight Moon appearances in her Focus Shot and Last Word as well as a rainbow theme in elements in her Spell Card 2, but it’s manageable here. The real issue lies in her anomaly breaking, which at first, her Poison inflicting from her Skill and her ability to break Poison anomalies via Spell Cards, Last Word or even her Focus Shot can come in handy, but…let’s take a look at her Spell Card 2 shall we?
Huh? Burn inflicting? And no way to break Burn? Did A14 Shinmyoumaru get too fired up? Anyways, if this inchling is trying to focus on anomaly breaking, issues may arise when trying to achieve a full break on specific enemies. This could always be mitigated should an ally come in with Burn breaking of their own but ironically enough, her fellow amanojaku isn’t one of those in question.
Another vexing factor when it comes to A14 Shinmyoumaru is her Last Word. Being a mix of Laser and Sharp in terms of bullet types and there currently not being a Story Card that can truly give that boost to every bullet has its downsides to say the least. There could always be that time where this changes, and A14 Shinmyoumaru can reach new heights with her Last Word’s power as a result of this, but currently it’s going to be a bit awkward to work with at the moment, leaving 50% Metal/50% Laser boosting cards to be your best bet when going all out with her damage.
Speaking of cards, let’s remind ourselves of the returning 5★ Story Card that is Ancient River! With long-lasting effects where both CRIT Accuracy and CRIT ATK are boosted by 2 stages for 3 Turns (for Destroy-Class Friends only), backed up by a 25% boost in Water, it’s a rather strong card for Friends of the same role as A14 Shinmyoumaru! Similar can be said about a lot of Destroy-Class Friends in general when it comes to using this card, and it’s never a bad pick to help keep their CRIT-based offensive buffs up and alive!
Featured Story Card "Ancient River"!
But as for whether it’s a good idea to go for A14 Shinmyoumaru or not…well, with a recent influx of Metal breakers, a rapidly-approaching Anniversary Season on May 11th and a Dev Letter on April 10th, this one, like Prayer, like a certain Unofficial Tiny God’s Prayer should be taken with caution. If there are any benefits to this one however, it does have that Ascending Step-UP as a Festival Friend, and being just that, She is also a cheaper Friend to raise that can fulfill her role as a Destroyer decently well all things considered, but of course, being a Festival Friend will mean that future opportunities to pick her up will come around, and aside from one or two God Crystal Step-UP Prayers, unless you may be lacking a decent Metal breaker or a serviceable Destroyer, or most importantly really like Shinmyoumaru Sukuna in general, this one doesn’t necessarily demand your Seal Crystals especially given the aforementioned approaching Anniversary Season!
ˢᵒ ᶦᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃʳᵉ ᶦⁿᶜʰᶦⁿᵍ ᶜˡᵒˢᵉ ᵉⁿᵒᵘᵍʰ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᶦˢ ˢʰᶦⁿᶦⁿᵍ ᴾʳᵃʸᵉʳ ᵇᵉˢᵗ ᵒᶠ ˡᵘᶜᵏ ᵗᵒ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃⁿᵈ ʰᵒᵖᵉᶠᵘˡˡʸ, ᵗʰᵉ ᴹᶦʳᵃᶜˡᵉ ᴹᵃˡˡᵉᵗ ʷᶦᵉˡᵈᶦⁿᵍ ᴵⁿᶜʰˡᶦⁿᵍ ʷᶦˡˡ ᵃʳʳᶦᵛᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐᵒᵛᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ⁿᵉᵉᵈˡᵉ ᶦⁿ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᶠᵃᵛᵒᵘʳᵎ
Quick Overview
A14 Shinmyoumaru is a Destroy-Class Friend who doesn’t give an inch with her support via Yang ATK, Accuracy and CRIT Accuracy, additional CRIT ATK buffs/CRIT DEF and CRIT Evasion debuffs and some Poison anomaly inflict/break potential.
Critically Acclaimed Growing Buffs
Whether it’s for herself or for the party, A14 Shinmyoumaru is capable of providing the buffs (and even some debuffs) needed to thrive. Accuracy, Yang ATK, CRIT Accuracy and Yang DEF, other allies will reap the rewards of the inchling’s miracle buffs here. As for herself, she goes even further with personal CRIT ATK buffs, decent Spirit Power gain and some helpful debuffs, mainly CRIT DEF and CRIT Evasion ones. These kinds of buffs/debuffs can definitely be great for both fellow Destroy-Class teammates and/or Yang-based ones.
Giant Killing Range, Dwarfed Damage Output?
A14 Shinmyoumaru actually has a strong range of Killers on top of her potential to land guaranteed CRITs with enough CRIT Accuracy. These Killers include Gensokyo and Youkai which hit a large number of enemies, although they appear on the main bullet lines sadly. Those go to ones such as Tsukumogami, Magician, Maid, Doll, Collector, Incident Resolver, Yin-Yang Orb and Shrine Maiden. These are a decent handful of Killers, but it seems like compared to A14 Seija, this inchling got the…short end of the stick. She does however increase her power in other ways such as her 25% damage increase if her bullets’ elements are resisted, she benefits from Hard Scaling fairly well and gains defensive buffs from Poison/Blind anomaly inflictions.
Wishes For Big Breaks, Inchling-Sized Payoff?
While at first glance, A14 Shinmyoumaru’s elemental breaking potential looks alright all things considered, having its Metal and Wood breaks to work with (despite little bits of Moon as well as a rainbow-themed Spell Card 2), her anomaly inflict/break potential is just very odd to say the least. The Poison anomaly inflicting looks alright to begin with, achieved with Skill 2 and with these being broken through multiple attacks in her kit, however, completely out of nowhere comes a Spell Card’s Burn anomaly infliction, obstructing her own anomaly breaking potential as she is unable to break any Burn barriers. Maybe this can be mitigated if there are any allies that can also break Burn anomalies, but fittingly enough, A14 Seija isn’t one of those “foes”.
