Digest Apr 3

Welcome to the third issue of the Dx2 Digest! After the madness that was last week, things are looking a bit more chill this week.

All times and dates mentioned are in JPT.

• Issue: 3
• Date: 2021/04/29 - 2021/05/05
• Written by User:Reika

Changes to Random PVP

The latest patch introduced a change to Random PVP: You now lose less points when losing a random match (roughly half from testing). This is an extremely welcome change that makes Random PVP less punishing, as a single win will offset multiple losses now.

Surt A had a huge impact upon launch, fitting very well in Moirai Sister teams and also Repel + Double Intimidating Stance teams. In return, players ran Ardha + Demiurge as a counter, as the pair would stop both Surt A and Atropos chains while providing hefty heals to keep the team healthy. Endure-type skills were also teched onto T1 teams to prevent them from being outright exploded by Surt A - examples include Elec Survivor on Anat and Fire Survivor on Uriel.

The changes to Random PVP + players randoming to test out Surt A comps leads to a massive overall point gain, with the amount of Legends quitupling from 16 to 86 players. Hopefully this trend sticks!

Featured Banner

Everyone's favorite OP Purple Bug is getting a rerun!

• Featured Demons: Angra Mainyu, Ardha
• Also Featured: Guan Yu, Tokisada, Daisoujou, Mother Harlot

Brief Description: 27,500 gems for a Guaranteed Angra Mainyu or Ardha at the end, if you perform the Tome Summon. It's a very pricey banner but fortunately you get to pick which to Tome.

Verdict: This is a very difficult banner to judge. On one hand, Angra Mainyu is the best demon in the game right now, with no other demon even coming close. Ardha isn't a bad pickup either, being strong counter for Moirai and Surt A comps (though he really needs Demiurge to shine). On the other hand, it's extremely expensive to tome. You will have to decide if 27,500 gems for the current best demon is worth it, especially with 3.5 Anniversary about 3 months away.

Other Banners

Dimensional Summons

Carry-over banner from last week.

• 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.

Verdict: This is the best banner to roll if you are chasing after either of the new demons, as it's the only one with a guarantee at the end.

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.

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

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 Uriel probably being the best candidate, Quetzalcoatl A and Azazel 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.

Events

100 Free Summons

Part 2 resumes on 2021/05/01 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 2 kicks off this week with Kasane Magatama as a ranking reward, so expect this week to be more contested.

• Part 2 Starts: 29 April 2021, 12 midnight
• Part 2 Ends: 6 May 2021, 2 pm

Democalypse

Democalypse is OFF this week, though simulations will open early next week.

• Season: 37
• Elements: Dark, Elec, Fire
• Before Cull: 03 May 2021, 12 noon
• During Cull: 07 May 2021, 12 noon

Surt A will no doubt be used in some fashion, as his Rakunda chain effect will help neutralize the Rakukaja that both the Horde and the Boss will cast.

• Fire Tier List
• Dark Tier List
• Elec Tier List

Battle Tower

• Season: 4
• Round: 3

Round three 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 is perfect for this: Not only does he have Intimidating Stance in Purple, he also gets to abuse the +50% Fire damage handicap. It's also difficult to win without killing him, which in turn ensures Twilight Inferno will go off and likely deny them the third side-goal of winning without casualties.
    • Ward brands are very powerful on defense this season, as it means Angra Mainyu offenses cannot just disable you with 16 Scourges without running some form of Barrier Break.
  • 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 Ardha, 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. Watch out for Daisoujou with Barrier Break though!
  • 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.
  • Endure skills like Enduring Soul and/or Fire Survivor are very useful to keep everyone alive for the third goal. Don't overestimate it though - with the bonus damage handicap several demons are able to knock you down to ES immediately after a single skill.

• 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.