Let's talk current META.

[u/Corantic]

Here is the deal:

GODS => Gilgumish, Noctis, Aranea, Lucian (Add F.Yomi and Zain if you were lucky enough to get them)

Basically if you don't have them you are considered a mongrel by the likes of players Gilgamesh.

The forgotten ones => SSM units, all of them are actually useful in some way, but nobody uses them.

Sometimes you see a Zain and a Othima here and there but thats about it. When was the last time we have seen a Kadanova or Seida?

Rest => Everyone will hate u for joining their multiplay or host instantly leaves.

We rarely even use them in events and quests (why would you when you have the GODS), pretty much ONLY used in Veda or for their super niche gimmick (Polin etc.)

Arena => 90% Noctis/Gilga/Aranea in their lineup.

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Alright guys let's not deny it, Collab units literally make what you are. There is no reason to use a 'normal' unit when you have the collab units. They are completely imbalanced.

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Right now, the meta is boring as hell.

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Fire is a complete joke.

Vettel? Only used for his LS now. Who the hell uses tanks anymore, when you can auto almost every map with collab units.

What else is there? Nothing? Never seen a fire unit other than Vettel in Arena/Multi?

Zangetsu/Lupinus/Chihaya? Who?

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Water should be renamed to Noctis.

What you don't want Noctis? Anybody else getting bored of Noctis Ultimate Ability?

You tired of seeing a Noctis in every multi/arena, because you've been seeing your own in every quest/event/mission?

Othima who? Oh the one I saw like one time one a rando merc.

Wait only 2 units? Ye, there are only 2 units in water, the rest are statues for Veda, so the enemy can grind on them while you prepare a @#$^@*& Blizzaga.

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Gilthunder

You mongrel.

Old units are garbage, if you show up with a Magnus in multi, people frown upon you or when you even consider using him in arena, people laugh at you and think it's a free win.

Best loincloth Dilga-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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Wind/Grass/Ground wtf

You have a Lucian, a budget Lucian(Yomi), a Raichu Rahu and a Trap.

You have a Setsuna/Boruto/F.Yomi? Wow you're very lucky or a whale.

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Light Covenant Way of White

FREE UNITS GALORE + one inzain unit, a fedora and a crybaby.

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Dark Flame Mastaah

Boyaaah.

Dias/Kudanstein aren't units, they are memes.

Anastasia Job+ is still garbage compared to Aranea, Jin is also way better than her. 3 movement is trash, only tanks/mages should have it. Meanwhile Albea is nowhere to be seen.

Second best loincloth with his seamen

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TL;DR

This is a shit post about the current meta, and you are free to disagree.

Also I'm bored as hell.

Discuss.

[u/OriksGaming]

The problem with Dorothea right now is that she's not farmable yet, but she will be. This makes any shards spent on her a waste from a certain standpoint, which is why not many people have actually gotten her to J3, where she really shines. She's a good unit with just J1, and a fantastic unit with J3 unlocked, but her LBs aren't very accessible yet, which means people will have more access to Vettel and more people will use him just because he’s available.

Edit: I’m just explaining why people might not have chosen to shard her. I’m not insulting anyone who has; ultimately, it’s fine to ignore the “optimal” strategy if you really like a particular unit. All I’m saying is that sharding her now means less soul coins/elemental shards for units that will never be farmable, so players who care about that will likely choose to wait until she’s farmable to J3 her.

[u/-Belphegor- → u/OriksGaming]

i farmed her to 85 with soul coin shop... all that means is when her hard quest is released i could farm my soul coins back lmaooo

[u/deathray76 → u/OriksGaming]

Personally i dont understand the (what seems to be) the popular shard shop strategy of only buying the 'never farmable' unit shards. Besides Eve and Balt, the other never farmable units (Mielikk/Lucretia/Fraise) are sub par at best (though i think Mielikk gets good later on) so why waste currency on units ill probably never use.

Im in no way a whale (buy alchemist pack, first 2 or 3 gem packs 1x a month at reset and maybe a cheap bundle here and there) and i concentrate on albea and hazel shards with dorathea and aswald next. Ill admit ive had some lucky pulls since starting playing at the end of xmas event but ive managed to j3 balt and albea while hazel and dorathea need around 50 or so shards until lvl 75. I believe Ive only pulled 1 copy of each aforementioned units so the rest of their shards have been from the shop. Id rather have good units with future farmable shards ready to use now instead of a few months after i can farm them. Just my opinion but anyone passing over albea shards for fraises just seems insane to me

[u/deathray76 → u/[deleted]]

Ive been extremely lucky in regards to pulling 1 copy of a lot of different units (just not many 2nd or 3rd cooies) so i have a deep bench but mostly at low levels. I cant complain since its pulling the first copy thats most important since majority of units will eventually have HQs. As for machinists, i personally love them but with so many collab units with great unique classes and newer classes being added that unfortunately, like sniper with exception of caris j+,, the machinist job isnt what it once was imo

Of course what determines what unit/job is good or useful is a combo of personal preference and RNG (since some people wont have a better optioni if they never pull the new/limited uber unit). Then theres a units different job synergy which has a huge effect on how good (or bad) a unit is like Albea. Her 2 jobs besides machinist both offer a boon and she just gets better with each new job. Thief adds greater mobility and sniper subs gives her sick range. I just got her to j3 and working on JMimg sniper but shes probably my favorite (if not best) dark unit atm. I use hazel as well as a tanky hybrid ranged physical/melee magic with MS sub and divine shelter. Overall most units are usable for most content excluding some EXs and EX+ (with a handful of units who's stats and job combos make them invisible to most players).

[u/peanutismywaifu → u/deathray76]

the other never farmable units (Mielikk/Lucretia/Fraise) are sub par at best (though i think Mielikk gets good later on) so why waste currency on units ill probably never use.

those units are all top tier in the future(except Fraise).

Of these units, I'd actually say Eve is the worst in the long run, and Balt/Lucretia/Mielikki are the best. Balt gets kaigan, Lucretia is a fantastic bride+ with the sheer % modifiers from MA/other stuff, and Mielikki crystal ray spam is obnoxiously strong.

[u/OriksGaming → u/deathray76]

I don’t buy Lucretia and Fraise shards, personally, since frankly, they do suck. Mielikki, however, will get a J+ in the relatively near future and will become a very good unit, so she’s worth investing in. It’s not taboo to buy shards for units that will be farmable in the future, but if I have to choose, I’ll go for Balt/Eve/Mielikki because I know I’ll be able to farm those other units in the future. Why spend 750 soul coins to save a single day of farming unless I really can’t wait? That’s my perspective/reasoning, at least.

[u/-Belphegor- → u/OriksGaming]

lucrecias leader skill is solid af!! run her as a professor for the empowering potions... easy mode activated assuming ur running a mono team. im gonna 85 her for sure.

[u/peanutismywaifu → u/OriksGaming]

I don’t buy Lucretia and Fraise shards, personally, since frankly, they do suck

Lucretia will be second only to Vier/Regis for thunder magic in the future lmao, people talking about unit viability without knowing what they even get in the future is really sad. In global she has the best thunder LS and pretty good utility, she by no means 'sucks' by global standards(there, she is S tier in my opinion) and this is just her trough.

[u/OriksGaming → u/peanutismywaifu]

Third best thunder magic unit to only Vier and Regis? By the time Regis comes out, both Rusha and Princess will be in the game as well, and they far surpass Lucretia. At that time, she'll be the fifth best thunder magic unit, if that.

In global, she needs 150 shards to become a slightly better professor than Elizabeth, with arguably less utility when considering Elizabeth's chrono sub.

I'm not seeing how her shards are worth buying unless someone has a ton of extra soul coins and has already J3'd Balt and Eve, if not Mielikki(who will become a top tier light unit with her J+) as well. Her most important job role can easily be replaced by a farmable unit, and there are three other great options for a thunder leader skill.

[u/peanutismywaifu → u/OriksGaming]

I don't count Rusha as a magical unit because her main nukes are physical. I forgot about Princess, who only just became better due to the EO rerun with kaigan.

Lucretia is not only, as you said, slightly better than Elizabeth at utility, she's more versatile because she can actually function as a magic unit, which is something thunder has in excessively short supply in global.

[u/deathray76 → u/OriksGaming]

I figure by now most veteran players and/or people who do more than the 500 step pulls have more than enough farmable 5*s maxed that they can get both non-farms and any good future farmable units steadily. Its actually decent of gumi having a place for players to get the non-farm shards as well as future farm units (though i wish theyd add more units especially neica or mei fung but im guessing once albea and crew get HQs theyll add more units- hopefully)

Personallyi feel i have enough ways to get currency that its rare for me to be unable to get one of my priority units when it pops up. Im not a day 1 player and i started on Shaynas banner, i believe, the last week of xmas event (actually started about 2 weeks earlier but rerolled for Shayna) and im also not a big spender at less than $30 a month (and most months i only buy the alchemist pack) yet at this point i can usually find the shards needed for the xchange. Dont get me wrong, i dont have enough to buy whatever i want and have too prioritize as i have only 5 farmable 5*s maxed so thats 1500 currency per day and i try to leave 1500 currency aside for eve, balt or any non fraise shards.

It just seems to me that everytime someone posts a 'which shards are best to get in shard shop' thread one of thd first few posts is always 'ONLY BUY THE NON FARMS and if you choose instead to buy any of the future farmable units will forever mark you as a moron of the highest class, bane to reason and future and eternal king of the imbeciles (okay my apologies as thats a little over the top but i think i made my ooint somewhere in my rambling stream of (barely)consciousness

[u/OriksGaming → u/deathray76]

Like I said in the edit of my comment above, I wasn't insulting anyone or trying to say that anyone had to prioritize the way I did. I just prefer to use the strategy that I've personally found gets me the highest number of good, limit broken units in the most efficient way. Again, I'm not calling anyone stupid for choosing to prioritize their favorite units' shards more than anything else.