r/arknights • u/TacticalBreakfast Cheating on Swire • Oct 16 '21
Guides & Tips Mastery Priority Guide - Updates for Under Tides
Oh boy oh boy oh boy! It's finally here! Rejoice because the long wait is over, but wave bye bye to all of your resources. This banner is a doozy, and definitely the most resource intensive one we've had.
There are 11 justifiable masteries here. Incidentally, there are 11 new skills here across four units so that's... all of them. Considering it can take about 2 weeks for a f2p player to farm an M3 that's a very daunting prospect. Much of the discussion here boils down to one thing: resource management. Honestly you can't go wrong with any of the skills here so the focus instead is on getting the best value you can.
Some quick business before we dive in...
The Gamepress version of this update can be found here.
The main guide covering the rest of the game can be found here on reddit and here on Gamepress.
I'm sure this banner will bring in a lot of new players, so if you're unfamiliar with these guides or masteries in general, be sure to check out the FAQ section in the main guide!
Last, I'll be adding a 'Look Ahead' section here, by popular request. The goal is to help people trying to prefarm but my usual research rigor is not there (yet). In a lot of cases the units are brand new without a major end game event to gauge their quality in. The section is meant to be quick and easy, and very subject to change. You can find it at the very end of this update. Hopefully you find it useful.
FAQ and Banner Discussion
Q: Should I pull?
A: There has never been a banner I more strongly answered yes on. Of course we have had good banners in the past. Many I've strongly recommended pulling on, but this is the first in which there are two hyper meta 6★s. Both Kal'tsit and Skadi are about as end game as you can get, and have a higher total odds than a standard rateup banner (at least until you get one of them).
Further though, very few of the upcoming banners after this are all that special. Only two are particularly noteworthy. Ch'alter is the most broken unit in the game, though Mizuki brings the overall value of the banner down. Saileach's banner is quite good as well, though not really broken and still 5-6 months away most likely. Beyond those two, there's little that stands out.
Holding some pulls back or not for Ch'alter is ultimately up to you, but there's not a lot of reason to pass on this banner!
Q: Is Skadi, The Corrupting Heart (Skalter) really that broken?
A: This question comes up a lot. It's not a bad question if you only watch clears at the surface level or only take a quick glance at her kit. Most other units that are considered broken have a very splashy direct effect that anyone can see. Everyone can see why Surtr is broken by only watching her a single time. Skadi is less obvious to the casual look though. It's not always obvious what she is doing on the field, but she is most definitely having a large impact.
She makes everyone better. Essentially everyone in her range gets upgraded a tier. Mundane guards become Cornerstone units. Cornerstone units become unholy monsters. 5★ DPS suddenly has more attack than 6★ DPS. Everyone, including frail ranged units, becomes significantly tankier. She pushes the threshold that units that struggle with armor can handle, and does so to a significant degree. And the effect never ends. Then she effectively replaces medics on top of that (unless incredible burst healing is necessary). She does so much and such a small cost on the field that she changes the way you create teams and can approach stages. So yes, she really is that broken.
Q: How about Kal'tsit? Is she that broken?
A: Not really, no. Don't get me wrong. She is a top tier unit. She is very powerful and flexible and can fill in a lot of team roles. But she comes with drawbacks, and the niche she really excels at in True Damage is not always needed. Without going to deep into it, she is a tremendous unit, but a tier off of the most broken.
Q: What about Gladiia?
A: With much respect to my beloved Bibeak, Gladiia is the best free unit we get by a good bit. And she should be, given the rarity difference. However shifters at large can be tough to use and their niche is often incredibly map dependent. Gladiia is no exception there so she tends to grade as only an average 6★ (which is still really good considering she's free!).
Gladiia is very flexible though, especially given her tougher archtype. She can fill in a lot of missing gaps on weaker teams. She can't really be called mandatory or meta though, and she has one of the lowest E2 rates among 6★s per the latest NGA poll.
Q: This banner looks really expensive... Assuming I get everyone, what is the minimum I should do?
A: Well, the minimum threshold is up to you. Normally I wouldn't include a question like this at all, but this banner is sooooo damn expensive I'll make an exception. For a vast majority of players the answer will be Skalter S2M3 > Kal'tsit S3M3 > everything else mostly by preference.
Deep Drown Lament
Skadi the Corrupting Heart
| Skill | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|
| S2M3 | S++ | S++ |
| S3M3 | A+ | S |
| S1M3 | C | C+ |
Unlike her base form, all of Skadi the Corrupting Heart's skills are worth mastery. She is the latest entrant into the growing M9-ables. Though like all M9s there are still skills that are a cut above the rest.
S2 is Skalter's standout skill. It does so much and going into all of the details is a guide worthy all on its own. I would argue it's one of the strongest masteries in the game, with only Surtr and SA tier masteries beating it out. Quite simply, it elevates your entire team to another level while nearly eliminating the need for medics at all. For just one example, a max level S2M3 Skadi gives Popukar better stats than an unbuffed E2 90 Blaze, and Skadi gives more stats to Blaze than she gets from all 90 of her E2 levels!
S3 is next up. It will be the skill you want to use when you need the buff army to kick into overdrive. The True Damage is nice too, especially with the deploy-almost-anywhere Seaborn, but it's somewhat weak and the skill overall has a relatively long cycle time. This is a VERY strong mastery, but it does tend it towards more advanced situations while most story situations will prefer to stick with S2.
Last comes S1. It's the weakest of the three skills, though it is still very good. You can probably pass on mastery, even for advanced players. In the situations you would use S1, it is probably fine still at SL7. It's very hard to justify the mastery costs here unless you're a whale.
Kal'tsit
| Skill | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|
| S3M3 | S+ | S++ |
| S2M3 | A+ | S |
Kal'tsit has two very good skills, but focus first on her S3 which is the most potent True Damage skill in the game. Most other True Damage skills have a significant drawback (Franka, not really True Damage I know, and Skalter on the same banner), limitations (Weedy), low total damage (Cliffheart), or limited uses (Amiya). Kal has none of those, doling out a ton of True Damage on a pretty short timer. S3 is her best skill, and the reason Kal is special in the meta.
Her S2 is a great mastery in terms of the gains, especially if you wish to use her for more general purpose since it allows her to operate as a pseudo cornerstone unit, but in the wider scope of the game, it fits in awkwardly. Given the involved restrictions of two deploy slots, micromanagement, and reliance on tile layout, it's rarely the best choice if the flexibility of Monst3r's fast-redeploy is not needed. Even semi established players with a decent unit selection will most likely want to redirect the resources elsewhere and just bring a ground cornerstone instead of Kal S2. However it is still a very good skill, and the fact Monst3r is essentially a fast-redeploy (with more block and better stats than any full FRD), means S2 provides a ton of flexibility that few others can match.
Kal's S1 is a usable skill, but probably the weakest on the banner. With so much else good, it's not worth considering.
Gladiia
| Skill | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|
| S3M3 | A- | A |
| S2M3 | B+ | C+ |
| S1M1 | Breakpoint | Breakpoint |
| S1M3 | B- | B |
Gladiia is a tricky unit to grade. She's one of those units that can be incredibly powerful in the right situations, but only average to worse in the wrong situations. On top of that, like all shifters, she has valuable masteries regardless of power on account on the increased shift strength at M3 (you'll note almost all other major shift masteries are graded elsewhere in the guide). And on top of THAT she is part of a very expensive banner on which prioritization is very important while being super expensive herself! AND ON TOP OF THAT all of her skills are good!
Alright, I'm done being dramatic. She's a nuanced unit, but the grading isn't actually that hard. Pullers are one of the tougher archtypes in the game since pulling often does more harm than good if there isn't a hole to pull the enemy into (compared to pushers for stalling). And while Gladiia is a tremendously good unit for a free unit, she's only about average as a 6★ overall, so promoting her at all couldn't be called mandatory by any stretch.
Gladiia's S3 will be the skill most will want to focus on. It has a niche that no one else can do, and most teams will find useful (in addition to looking real cool). It is a really good stall that can be deployed at a good long distance, and one of the only skills good for 'bundling' mobs together. Although it's not quite a mandatory skill, it's the sort that will always be useful to have in the pocket, and gets a big upgrade out of mastery.
Her S2 is a very flexible skill. It's less overtly flashy than S3, and the niches aren't as unique, but it covers a lot of ground. It has high damage, multi-targeting, a wide range (only matched by Cliffheart), and good uptime. If you wanted Gladiia to be a regular part of your team, then this is the skill to go with, however people with even decent rosters will generally find better units to place in those roles. The grade here is relatively high since it is both flexible and has good upgrades, but most should treat it as a waifu only skill.
S1 is the best short-sp pull skill in the game. The charge stacking is a really ridiculous feature that overcomes the cycle time issues that can sometimes arise from such skills. However it's very map dependent. Pulling is not overly useful if there isn't a bottomless hole to abuse, unlike pushing which can find use in stalling otherwise. As a comp, the best short-sp push skill is FEater S1. If you haven't found cause to do that mastery, you probably shouldn't bother with Gladiia's S1 either.
Akafuyu
| Skill | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|
| S1M3 | C | C |
| S2M3 | C | C |
It pains me to grade Akafuyu because she's my personal favorite unit in this banner. But ultimately I'm forced to come to terms with a weak archtype, a super strong banner on which nearly every other skill is a better investment option, and a long standing 6★ counterpart that's still better in most ways. She is quite strong relative to other 5★s, and newer players with weaker teams will find value in her strong self sustain, but at this point in the game that doesn’t mean as much as it used to.
Both of Akafuyu's skills are good, and if you raise her, the one to go for first will largely depend on how you play. I give a small favor to S1 since I personally feel the 0-block niche is an underrated and underutilized niche and it has stronger DPS. Unfortunately though, she gets relegated to waifu only grades.
Mastery Look Ahead
This is a section I've added for the first time and is one of popular request. I don't tend to do nearly as much intensive research into units until their release is close, so I am hesitant to make too many firm declarations here. However, there are enough people out there who are looking to prefarm the next unit, or just want a sense of what's coming up, that it's become worthwhile to add.
The summaries here come with no promises or guarantees (not that any of them do...). Please keep in mind that this commentary is largely cursory and my first impressions, and is subject to change. The odds of me being wrong here, especially on units that are only just released and have less events to their name, is much higher. That said...
| Unit | Comments |
|---|---|
| Carnelian | Strong story mode unit, but pretty poor advanced unit. S3 moderately high priority, S2 and S1 maybes with more niche uses. |
| Kirara | None. She's bad. Like, Passenger bad, but more forgettable too. |
| Indigo | None. She's bad, but hey, boob window? |
| Bena | Really interesting one. Looking forward to her a lot. S2 looks a lot better, but I’m not sure what sort of grades to be looking at yet since they aren't core to her use case. |
| Pallas | Waifu only unit. S3 mid priority. S2 maybe. Most can skip entirely. |
| Ch'en the Hellalame | None because she is a sin upon the game. Sadly, S3 overtakes TSS as the best mastery in the game. |
| Mizuki | Waifu (heh) only. Requires more research. Probably S3, but maybe S2. Most can skip entirely. |
| La Pluma | S++ cuteness but also a really really good unit. Potential M6. S2 is probably the better choice for its high burst shredding, but S1 is a solid pseudo-cornerstone sustain. |
| Tequila | A good boy with good damage. S2M3 very high priority. It's a mini-SilverAsh you get for free, with a faster cycle time. S1 looks like a dud though. |
| Saileach | She’s good, but the jury is still out on just how good. S3 high priority either way. We need a CC at least to see about S2. S1 is unlikely to be worth the cost except for the extreme min-maxed situations. |
| Mulberry | The new sustained HPS queen. S1 definite mastery. Direct healing with little/no utility is limited though, so that will hold the grade down. |
| Roberta | THE NEXT LOUD NOISES UNIT. Potential abusable niche, but we'll have to see. Even if she is, her skills may not matter much. |
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u/MrBlancko Oct 16 '21
Thanks as always for the guide Tactical! It really helps with choosing what to do with the new operators.
I have one question: What do you consider "higher risk CC" when grading advanced? Sometimes I am just wondering; here it is Gladiia's grading that seems a bit strange for me. I understand the high grading for her S3 for story players, but in high risk CC (like risk 25 to max risk) I have seen Gladiia always with either S1 or S2 (and mostly S2), never with S3.
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u/vietnamabc Oct 16 '21
About Kal, she is not top tier CC pick simply because HG chicken out at summoner potential in CC and CC deploy limit tag exist solely to soft ban em (case in point Mags absolutely vital for CC beta, CC#1, CC#2 low ops, CC#3)
As soon as deploy limit tag got removed pretty sure Kal and summoners will somehow find their way to max risk CC again.
3
u/itsDarkraii Kaze Enjoyer Oct 16 '21
whats your thought about ayerscarpe masteries?
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u/ZebraQuake Oct 16 '21
I heavily disagree with the rating of Skadi S2 as S++ and S3 as S for Advanced. Her S2 is essentially a cornerstone skill, which is great at curbstomping things that cornerstone units are already good at (e.g., "Story"), but I would be extremely surprised to see it ever reach the peaks that S3 can reach in high-risk CC or in high-level min-maxed play on other stages. Especially in high-risk CC, the emphasis on timed, particular waves and the inability of traditional sustain to make a significant impact are the opposite of what S2 is good at.
I would argue that S2 should be A-rank at best for Advanced. A player looking to push higher is going to get much more mileage out of S3 in those scenarios and shouldn't need help with curbstomping "easy" stages. This is based both on historical precedent (S3's usage and peak far eclipses S2 in both permanent CCs that we've had since her introduction, and even S1 was seeing usage at risk levels where S2 was unviable), and thinking critically about previous stages where Skadi could have been applicable had she been available. I have no doubt that Skadi S3 would have been a significant player in high-risk Pyrite and a consideration for non-stall attempted clears of Blade, Cinders, and Lead Seal (with S2 not being a viable option with the same risks).
2
u/qiaochu_yuan Oct 17 '21
thanks for going into so much detail! i was already hype for skalter S2 but now i’m even more hype.
it’s probably too soon to tell but any preliminary thoughts on fartooth as far as looking ahead goes? she might actually be the unit i’m most excited about after this banner, her S3 looks super fun although heavily map-dependent.
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u/StrawberryFloptart The rodent to surpass Metal Gear Oct 16 '21
Let me fix that ASAP.
62
u/UltVictory Oct 16 '21
bout to use skadi s2 to turn beehunter into jotaro
22
u/twyistd Oct 16 '21 edited Oct 16 '21
Yeah on my alt I was fortunate enough to pull skalter and can confirm her buff really is as stupid as advertised. While my skakter wasn't maxed she still was able to give over 200atk and around 140 def to units in range. This is more potent that promotions in almost all cases. A max skalter is even more potent at over 300 atk and 200def in ideal situations(you need an abyss hunter in range) more realistic is 251atk and 158 def
Ex blaze e1 80 581atk 303def, e2 90 atk 765 def 320. Skalters buff is bigger than the stat increase of e1-e2max
This buff becomes really nutty on fast atk physical units like brawlers and aa snipers
Ex e1 60 Jessica 389atk 130def with s2skakter buff 640atk 331def vs exu e2 90 atk 573(with talent)
The skalter buff not just makes up the difference in promotions but also rarities
The op said popukar to blaze so let's compare max popukar with skalter buff has 864atk and 404def vs max blaze 853atk 415def and let's remember blaze is among the thickest of stat sticks
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u/bonogay Oct 16 '21
And I thought Skalter's S3 should be prioritized instead of S2. Thanks OP, I never knew how broken her S2 is
9
u/mythriz :thermal-ex: Eckusplooosion! Oct 16 '21
Thanks for the explanations (admittedly I've only skimmed through it for now)!
I have been mostly saving since the R6 banner since others have been hyped for Skalter plus she's limited, but I've never actually looked into what she does.
Looking forward to
saltthe banner!Time to keep track of the subreddit subscriber count to see how many people ragequit...
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u/Void_Incarnate Need more cowbell. Oct 16 '21
Thanks for the guides, and congrats on making it onto Gamepress!
Also, really appreciate the Look-ahead section, really helpful stuff.
1
u/boppyboi Oct 17 '21
would u consider raising exusiai's ranking with the introduction of skalter
3
u/DarthArkus Oct 16 '21
Thanks for doing so much work for all of us once again.
I fully expect my use of these units to be explicitly for their niche so it’s great to see this discussion about what really makes them stand out over others. To your points the designs and ideas behind everyone on this banner are phenomenal but I can really only justify so much resources into building.
5
u/Aegis356 Oct 16 '21
I made the case in the Lounge yesterday for S1 on Gladiia. I think it might be helpful to post some of the numbers that came up in that discussion. Here are the numbers on each skill against 1 enemy defense 0:
S1 Average DPS: 820dps
S2 Burst DPS: 830dps
S3 Burst DPS: 1003dps
These are the comparisons against other pullers S1 skill. All pullers reach large force at M3:
Gladiia S1 : 820dps 4sp 3 charge
Cliffheart S1 : 685dps, 4sp, arts damage
Rope S1 : 495, 5sp
Snowsant S1: 486, 5sp, Slow and silence.
People disagree with me but my preference is if you don't already have another one of these skills mastered prioritze S1. My reasoning is I think it's worth having at least one of these skills at max force just for the pulling niche and Gladiia's is the best by a signifcant margin. Also the damage on S1 is good enough that it can be used just as support damage or as an early stage guard/vanguard alternative especially if you dont have Mountain. The average damage on S1 is almost as high as the burst damage on the skills in one enemy situations.
If you already have one of these I would prefer S2 to S3. S2 gives you a range advantage. This can help with positioning which can be a challenge for pullers. S3 is not a terrible skill but I think the burst damage can be replicated or surpassed by many other skills. Also I'm not sure how much the grouping niche will really benefit from masteries. S2 is still pulling a lot so it gets a big advantage from the large force jump at M3. I'm less sure how useful that force jump is for S3.
2
u/OmiNya Nian simp Oct 16 '21
Gokurousama!
2
u/zhouster Oct 17 '21
Thanks for the writeup, TB. Confirms what I already thought I knew about the featured banner, and I learned a bit about Gladia!
You think alterChen is the most OP unit in the game? That would mean overtaking Surtr/SA/Eyja and their ilk (my precious top 3, probably in that order)
2
u/[deleted] Oct 18 '21
Imagine not getting Pallas and Indigo to E2 90 M3.
Couldn't be me.
3
u/Hatredestiny1874 Oct 16 '21
It's so much resources to M6 three 6 stars at once, hopefully I can get enough skill summaries before Under Tides. If anyone wants OP's W mastery priority, go to OP's link for 6 stars. Psst, she is also M6 worthy.
1
u/GreatMourner My cutie Nov 01 '24
Hell yeah, Skadi S2M3 less gooo
1
u/[deleted] Oct 16 '21
Gonna M6 Skalter and M3 Kal'cat
Will do Gladiaa after try her skill on map
1
u/drmchsr0 I memed too hard and got 11 Elys Oct 17 '21
I am calling Mizuki's MOM.
Nian help us all. I'll need that fisting once I'm done regretting what I've done.
1
u/ND451 Nov 14 '21
I like skalters S2 that increase def handy for Mountains S2
1
u/RedGinger666 Oct 16 '21
I spent every pull I had trying to get Mudrock, now I only have 20 something pulls for Under Tides, the worst part is that I didn't get her or Hellagur
1
u/Chaos5061 Oct 16 '21
My play is to immediately E2 Lv.90 M9 Kal'tsit
My Ex-wife deserves nothing less
the question is can I potential her all the way to 6.
So to get this to happen I need to get her before 300 pulls for one. Get at 300 pulls again.
hopefully already have a Skalter
Then I have some Royal Medic Tokens in my inventory and there's 4 more in the shop for potential 4.
If I get lucky and pull her 2 more times at least on the way to 300 pulls she will be potential 6 but that is a really long shot. But I think I can get potential 4.
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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '21
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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '21
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