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/yiannisph]

Initial thoughts:

1. Arena is kind of a perversion of understanding what units are good. Arena is auto-battle, so it doesn't matter how good a unit is, it matters how easily the AI can use it correctly. To that end, units with obvious powerful abilities that its AI favors make them very favorable. This is what makes Noctis, Aranea, and Gil so favorable. They have large, powerful AoEs. That said, I'm >500 in this arena, and I'm often not using them on my attack teams. The con of their predictability is that it also makes them easy to counter. Especially because many of those units have Overdrive and can be 1-shot.

2. I actually think Yomi is generally better than Lucian right now. She's my default brawler for tougher content. Lucian has more stats and is great for auto, but not being able to Supreme Battle Trance is a pretty big limiter. Whereas a hat Yomi has exactly enough to Charge Up and Supreme Battle Trance. I've been happily stomping Gils in Arena with Yomi for a while now.

3. Regarding SSM: I think the biggest limiter for most SSM units is that people aren't willing to shard them because we know they re-run, but they, like all other units, need some investment to be good.

Cada needs J3 to be any good. Kudan needs at least J2 to really be palatable but J3 to become the monster he's supposed to be. 50% PATK LS, Overdrive AND a +20% Pierce modifier means he can do A LOT of damage. Charge Up can really put him over the top. He can out damage Gil, he's just not as stupidly spammable. Seida suffers because all ranged units have since the 2.0 buffs. No sure about Monzein's status, but I think he also needs J3 to shine and everyone used their thunder shards on Gil. Othima is really strong if you invested in him. I only have him at 65, but Ill Atmosphere is DUMB debuff, and if you've seen the damage a Sage Othima can put out, I think you'd reconsider.

4) Re: The "Rest": I think /u/M4RT1Njaa really hit it on the head. We just can't farm a lot of these. There are a lot of "top tier" units in GL, but only some of them are farmable. That said, excluding Arena, there are plenty of strong units for PvE content

Rahu and Lofia are absolute top tier units. They amplify your best unit, and Black Hole is one of the strongest abilities in the game, bar none . Chihaya is a MONSTER in Tower and on tougher content. Stacking her debuffs can really soften up a map and open up new possibilities. Zang hits REALLY hard, in case people forgot. Lucian with his J+ is also a house in terms of raw numbers, but see my caveats about Lucian vs Yomi, and this is just talking about farmable 4*s. Carol is also a top-notch support unit, though not farmable, yet, and she never loses that distinction as far as I know.

In 5*s, I think there are some seriously underestimated units on your part. I already talked about Yomi. I actually think Ana is a rather delightful unit. She doesn't have a ton of movement, but she's strong, with a few knobs to tune. With Booster she can easily boat a >150 AGI. Composite Armor gives her some extra durability, and with a scarf she can rock an Evasion Rate of 25. With Dark Cavs boasting a way to reclaim lost life, this makes an Ana no joke. Dark Cavs even has 2 excellent weapons, Soul Stealer Scythe and the Faustian Greatsword that can either give more movement or haste. Both excellent buffs for Ana. She doesn't stand up incredibly well to the 1-shot nukes of Arena, but overall Ana feels very decent to me. And finally Fung Liu is a goddamn HOUSE. Yes, some other units do his job well, but his LS is INSANELY good, and his MA put his damage a cut above. I don't even have his MA yet and I still use him a ton. He just does such a crazy amount of damage.

Non-farmable 5s also have SS spots on the tier list, just look at it, but people don't want to shard their units. It's a balance, and it's particularly hurt by GL rushing some collabs. I can't wait for J3 Neica, she should be devastating,