Digest Apr 2

Welcome to the second issue of the Dx2 Digest! This is going to be EXTREMELY packed week, we apologize in advanced for the long article!

All times and dates mentioned are in JPT.

• Issue: 2
• Date: 2021/04/22 - 2021/04/28
• Written by User:Reika

Featured Banner

Dimensional Banner is getting rerun with two new demon additions! For an in-depth analysis of them, scroll down below.

• New Demons: Thor A, Surt A
• Also Featured: Shiva A, Susano-o A, Garuda A, Quetzalcoatl A, Lakshmi A

Most of the Dimensionals are pretty useful for PVP, consider rolling one of the banners if you want to shake up your PVP teams. Check Tier List for an idea of how they can be used.

There are four different type of banners this time, make sure you don't end up accidentally rolling the wrong one! An important note is there are no single-demon guarantees this time. This means you could theoretically roll an infinite times and never get a Surt A. If you are chasing a specific demon, you might want to reconsider.

Featured Dimensional Step-up Summons

Brief Description: 9,000 gems for a Guaranteed Surt A or Thor A at the end, and bonus 100 Dimensional Tomes. Limited to one cycle, this banners will refresh next week when Part 2 of the event commences. This means it will be made available again if you exhausted it, and more crucially your step progress will be reset!!

Verdict: This is the best banner to roll if you are chasing after either of the new demons. Doing this twice will net you at least two copies of either new demon, while giving enough Tomes to perform an Absolute Summon.

Special Dimensional Step-up Summons

Brief Description: 5,500 gems for a Guaranteed Dimensional Demon, and bonus 60 Dimensional Tomes. Limited to one cycle.

Verdict: This is a good banner to roll for if your roster lacks Dimensionals (or simply for Dimensional panels). Note that this banner does not have boosted rates for Surt A and Thor A, all dimensionals share the same rate for this banner.

Dimensional Step-up Summons

Brief Description: 9,000 gems for 100 Dimensional Tomes. Limited to two cycles.

Verdict: This banner is purely for those who have exhausted all the other banners and need more Dimensional Tomes. You should stay far away from this one, though doing just the discounted step 1 isn't a bad idea.

Dimensional Gem Summons

Brief Description: 100 gems for 1 try and 1 Dimensional Tome.

Verdict: This is for those who have exhausted every single step-up available. Avoid this like 16 Scourges.

Dimensional Absolute Summons

Brief Description: 200 Dimensional Tomes for 1 random Dimensional.

Verdict: Remember that Dimensional Tomes have no Expiry. Thor A and Surt A have 33% rates each, if you are chasing either of them consider cashing in your tomes here, otherwise you can save them for later when the Dimensional you want goes on rate up.

Other Banners

Golden Week Gem Summons

This banner is only available for 100 pulls, and contains the regular gem pool demons + several banner ones. The biggest draw for this banner is a doubled rate for 5★ demons (6%), though it is shared across the entire pool which is like 50+ demons at this point. As a bonus, you also get 2x Parchment Pieces per summon.

• Highlight Demons: Masakado A, Xi Wangmu
• Also Featured: Tokisada, Kali, Maya, Demonee-Ho, Frost Ace, Mother Harlot, Guan Yu, Daisoujou

Verdict: This is a highly divisive banner. While you can potentially get a lot of 5★ demons from it due to the increased rate, the chances of getting good 5★ demons are rather low due to the large pool. Since there is no incentive to do a 10 pull (same rates regardless), you could treat this as a "scratch the gacha itch" banner and do YOLO 100 gems rolls whenever you feel the urge to.

Golden Week Absolute Summons

200 parchments gets you one of the following demons.

• Highlight Demons: Masakado A, Xi Wangmu
• Also Featured: Tokisada, Kali, Maya, Demonee-Ho, Frost Ace, Mother Harlot, Guan Yu, Daisoujou

Verdict: This is a great banner! These demons are either banner-only, Abs only or flat out unavailable elsewhere like Xi Wangmu, if you have saved up Parchment Pieces consider using them here!

Skill Box Summons

There are four skill box summons available this time.

Box 1

• Available Skills: Elec Survivor, Elec Amp, Debilitate

Verdict: The only source of Elec Survivor so far. This is a great skill for Anat, as it ensures she won't be blown up by Surt A's Twilight Inferno. Elec Amp is a great skill for your Elec demons.

=Box 2

• Available Skills: Fire Survivor, Fire Amp, Luster Candy

Verdict: The only source of Fire Survivor so far, though unlike the Elec variant this is a lot more niche, with Azazel probably being the best candidate, Quetzalcoatl A might appreciate it as well. Luster Candy is amazing for Democalypse, while Fire Amp is always useful. Probably the best of the boxes to pull.

=Boxes 3 and 4

• Available Skills: All elemental Weak Pierces

Verdict: Only pull if you are desperate for Dark Pierce Weak for OG Alice, or Ice Pierce Weak for Hresvelgr. The rest of the weak pierce skills are rather outdated nowadays.

New Demon Analysis

These are preliminary observations, full writeup will be added to the Tier List after some testing this week.

Thor A

• Not only does Megingjord provide him Crit Resistance, it also reduces Physical-type damage which beefs him up against Third Eye and Sword of Actuation. This makes him very bulky especially with innate Life Surge.
• Thunderous Hammer is a ramping skill that reaches full potential after two casts. At max boost level, it casts a second swing after the first much like Berserk, which is useful for breaking Endures.
  • In addition, if the first part of the skill manages to kill the target, the chain effect will go off on a separate demon, effectively letting you clean up two demons in one go.
• The sheer Base Power of Thunderous Hammer makes him very useful for Elec Democalypse, even though the boss has massive crit resistance.
• His middling AGI and LUK might lead to accuracy issues though.
• Force weakness is a painful thing to have, especially with Atropos running around.

Surt A

• Intimidating Stance in Purple!
• Twilight Inferno is useful against frail T1 teams, who might just explode to the damage.
• Great synergy with Moirai sisters: Lachesis provides him buff control and Intimidating Stance, Atropos further adds to the passive chain effects. You can also run Cybele as your third Lady to boost both of their attacks, or run Xi Wangmu for more staying power.
• Eruption deals AOE Fire damage and follows up with a random hit AOE if successful, useful for cleaning up Endures. Note that it will not proc if Eruption is Anti-Pierced though!
• P2 virtually guarantees he will not have MP issues, which is helpful considering Eruption's relatively high MP cost (6 MP even when maxed).

Showcase Video for Surt A here:

• Rank 3k+ until Rank 500: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwxI6f8-Hho
• Rank 500+ until Rank 104: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SofsJY8qa88

New Patch Changes

New Armaments

This update brings us 2 news Swords and Shields, created from Metatron and Garuda A. The Metatron set attempts to turn the Main Character into a tanky Almighty caster, while the Garuda A set is evasion focused.

Verdict: These items are very synergy-heavy and require a lot of investment to shine. Unless you have 8-10 spare copies of them lying around, you should stick to more orthodox options like Huang Di.

Metatron Sword

Pros:

• +10% Magic damage aura is very useful for Magic-based teams like Moirai sisters, since it boosts both parts of Passionate Rage
• Pillar of Godly Light is a decent ST Nuke that breaks Endures, useful for sniping evasive targets.

Cons:

• Huang Di sword is still better
• Almighty damage is difficult to boost

Metatron Shield

Pros:

• The only Shield to grant Enduring Soul.
• Provides 10% reduction from ALL types of magic, including Almighty. Panels increase this further.
• +10% boost to all Magic damage makes this shield a lot more universal compared to the others.

Cons:

• The resistances are mostly useless since it's missing the main one - Phys

Garuda A Sword

Pros:

• The only source of Force Pierce for the MC.
• Evasion Aura is very useful for Dodge Comps, especially if P2 is unlocked.

Cons:

• Tempest Talon's random AOE follow-up is horrible due to the MC's shield wasting hits.
• Huang Di sword is still better.

Garuda A Shield

Pros:

• Innate Evade. Including the bonus from both passives this shield alone gives 40% Evasion (50% if P2).
• Provides Repel Fire and Drain Force, which is very useful if Demiurge is used.

Cons:

• Ice weakness
• Does not give much bulk HP, as it lacks Life Gain or Life Surge found on other shields.
• Dazzling Wings only activates if the MC evades an attack, unlike the actual Garuda A.

Demon Buffs

Full list here: https://d2-megaten-l.sega.com/en/news/detail/086862.html

Big Winners

• Lilith A: Going from 0% to 30% Crit on Temptation is huge, especially if you have P2.
• Nergal: Every drop of infliction counts when running Nergal, especially against resistive targets like Angra Mainyu. -1 MP to Plague of Babylon also means he can T1 it even with Sick Brands versus Alice A, without external MP Support.
• Asura Lord: Extra crit makes him clap harder, and synergizes well with his Aura.
• Mahakala: This is a buff for those using Mahakala for PVE/PVP and a huge nerf for those using him on the boss phase in Fire Democalypse. As the Boss will always cast Rakukaja on his first turn, the concentrated Wrathful Flame will now hit the boss at neutral defense, instead of the boss under Rakunda.
• Indrajit: +20% Battle Speed is a great boost for a demon that wants to go first.
• Asura: Crit increase is great especially on the chain effect, since it cannot utilize Rebellion.
• Quetzalcoatl A: P2 now applying Luster Candy is great to cancel out debuffs from Goddess Fan.

Decent Buffs

• Garuda: Prior to this Vahana was worse than Epitome of Illusion.
• Red Rider: Full Pierce on Bloodshed makes him a lot more playable at P0 now.
• Siegfried: The extra damage and accuracy helps to make AW Phys runs smoother.
• Azazel: The buffs to Fallen Grigori are nice. Pretend the buffs to Guillotine Blaze don't exist.
• Black Maria: Moving her big nuke one turn ahead is decent, but doesn't address her main problem: low fractional damage cap (3,200 damage).
• Kali: An overall buff that also reduces her reliance on the opposing team running Auto-Rebellion
• Yama: The extended duration gives your BOS Vanity 12 team a bit more leeway now.
• Susano-o A: A small base damage buff, and Heavenly Valor now ignores counters.
• Garuda A: +12 AGI is a pretty significant buff Battlespeed wise.
• Raphael: Tailwind gets a rather decent damage buff, perfect for the upcoming Force Democalypse
• Aniel: Glorious Bolt Base Power increase is nice, but God's Grace is still useless for most the part.

Almost makes no difference

• Marici: Her whole kit revolves around Shimmer Arrow, the Daylight Blade buffs won't really affect her much.
• Pale Rider: He already had decent infliction chance to begin with, and against demons with high status resistance you typically worry about other ailments before Poison anyway.
• Black Rider: Fractional damage buffed but still capped at 300 damage, lol.
• Trumpeter: Extra 20% Mute chance is the last thing he needs.
• Huang Di: Extra 10% accuracy does not justify not turning him into the best sword for Battle Tower.
• Demonee-Ho: Crit rate buff on a demon who gets infinite Rebellion on P2.
• Maya: The Base Power buff is too small to be of note.
• Ixtab: Increasing the damage of a skill that does 100% Mortal ಠ_ಠ
• Gabriel: Almost nobody uses Ascension as a revive spell.
• Uriel: Almost nobody uses Sunrise as a revive spell.

Quality of Life changes

Lots of QoL changes. I won't go into details for these, you can read about them from the website here: https://d2-megaten-l.sega.com/en/news/detail/086860.html

Events

100 Free Summons

We are getting 10 summons each day for 10 days total! The free summons will also have Masakado A in the pool, so cross your fingers and hope you get lucky!!

Black Sun AGSP Event

AG SP returns, with a new reward introduced: A clear Selector! This allows you to pick one demon to summon in a Clear archetype, which should greatly help with multifusions, Kartikeya especially.

• Part 1 Starts: 22 April 2021, 3 pm
• Part 1 Ends: 28 April 2021, 11.59 pm
• Part 2 Starts: 29 April 2021, 12 midnight
• Part 2 Ends: 6 May 2021, 2 pm

Democalypse

Democalypse is ON this week, with Force as the bonus area.

• Season: 36
• Elements: Light, Phys, Force
• Before Cull: 19 April 2021, 12 noon
• During Cull: 23 April 2021, 12 noon

This will be the first Democalypse to remove the Prelim modifier cap. As such, expect optimal Prelim teams to change.

The optimal Force Boss teams should remain the same as the previous Force bonus cull, as none of the demons released since then are related to Force.

• • Force Tier List
  • Light Tier List
  • Phys Tier List

Optimal Force Team A

Garuda A Skills Force Enhancement Merciless Blow

Susano-o Skills Force Enhancement Force Amp

Mot Skills Luster Candy Killing Wind

Optimal Force Team B

Uriel Skills Merciless Blow Killing Wind

Raphael Skills Merciless Blow Force Amp

Seraph Skills Master Assassin Killing Wind

Battle Tower

• Season: 4
• Round: 2

Round two of Battle Tower begins this week!

List of handicaps:

• • Attack first at start of battle (-30%)
  • Party immune to ailments (-30%)
  • +15% to enemy damage output (+20%)
  • +25% to enemy damage output (+20%)
  • -80% to party Phys damage output (+20%)
  • +50% to enemy Fire/Force damage output (+20%) This display is bugged on the Global client, the damage increase is to Force, not Elec!!
  • Enemy nulls mortal (+20%)
  • +50% to enemy HP (+20%)

List of sidegoals:

• • Activate an Almighty skill (+1500)
  • Perform a Physical attack (normal attack included) (+1500)
  • Win without ally being downed (+1500)

Meta Analysis

This section attempts to analyze the Tower meta. All teams are assumed to be running full debilitating handicaps (+120%) and trying to clear all 3 side goals (+4500).

• Some notes on the damage reduction handicap: The handicap interacts additively with any boosts you have, instead of being a flat out reduction of final damage. This makes it a lot less painful than one would think.
  • Let's take Ardha for example, with Phys Amp and Master Assassin transfer. Sahasvara (10%) + innate Epitome of Carnage (15%) + transferred Phys Amp (25%) + Master Assassin (20%) = 70% boost
  • So in reality you are going from 170% down to 90%, which is slightly less than half of your "usual" damage. The more damage boosts you can stack, the lesser the effect of the handicap.

• Defense:
  • Bulky Slow IS Teams: A combination of Null Mortal, +50% HP and -80% reduced Phys damage dealt means they will likely survive the first turn, especially if double Intimidating Stance is included.
    • Surt A looks to be perfect for this: Not only does he have Intimidating Stance in Purple, he also gets to abuse the +50% Fire damage handicap.
  • Moirai Sisters: In addition to all the points covered above, Atropos also gets a whopping +90% to the second part of her chain. You can also forgo Atropos for the bulky Xi Wangmu + Lachesis + Clotho core and have the MC solo carry DPS with +40% damage, but this is not recommended unless you have a P3 Rama shield and good Ailment Resist Demonites, as the team is otherwise prone to getting shut down by Ailments like 16 Scourges.
  • Fast teams: These teams can very likely deny the third goal, especially if Huang Di sword is not used (so players can't cheese it with Double Stance + Repel shield tricking the AI into Yinglong Flash) and/or if Masakado A is included. On the flip side, getting outsped will likely mean conferring full points to the attacker.
  • Everyone's favorite purple bug Angra Mainyu is of course unaffected by any of the handicaps, and 16 Scourges is still as strong as ever. The Daisoujou + Xi Wangmu + Angra Mainyu works just as well this season, so you should definitely prepare for this.

• Offense:
  • With slow teams looking to be a popular defense, an anti-slow team core should be greatly considered.
  • Skull Knight is a clear winner this season. Not only will he net you two goals on his own, his damage is unaffected by handicaps and will allow you to quickly assassinate dangerous targets, especially if supported by Masakado A. The last slot can be something like Asura Lord or Shiva A who can serve as extra DPS, or an ailment demon like Angra Mainyu or Motoko Kusanagi to lock down the rest of the team (specifically the MC!) while you mop up key threats.
  • Demiurge + Angra Mainyu is a great counter to Moirai, as it stops the second half of Passionate Rage from firing (haha get it, fire), while also netting you the first goal for free thanks to False God (chain effects count towards side goals). If you pair him with a Drain Elec demon like Mother Harlot or the upcoming Thor A, his heal might be enough to keep everyone alive for the third side goal.
  • Ward brands work again this season, making splashed Angra Mainyu a bit easier to deal with. If this catches on though, expect to start seeing Barrier Break on their Daisoujou again.
  • A fast team should also be considered, though you will probably need some sort of Ailment control to keep everyone alive for the third goal. With 80% reduced Phys damage and +50% HP (mainly concerns their MC), it will be difficult to sweep them in one turn, before their MC inevitably kills your Hresvelgr or Kartikeya on the swingback. Transfer Drain or some cheap Almighty spell to Hresvelgr, and remember to Mortal Jihad once with Kartikeya to complete all side goals.

• Risky Picks:
  • Even though Ailments are unaffected by the handicaps, team-wide Null Mortal means a single cleric like Daisoujou will instantly hard-counter your entire team, as you cannot simply mortal him to solve the problem. In addition, panelled Moirai sisters also hard-counter Ailments, making dedicated Ailments a very risky pick this season. On the flip side, they completely trivialize slow teams without Daisoujou, so weigh your options carefully.