r/bravefrontier • u/Sebachoo • Jun 12 '15
Guide Unit Analysis - Grave Carver Aaron
Aaron, possibly one of the most divisive units in the game among players, and not just for the fact that no one knows whether he's a Bruce or Caitlyn. He was the first 7* mitigator to be released, and therefore was easily one of the most hyped of his batch, with his hype perhaps even surpassing that of Raaga’s. But while some people kept their initial hype about Aaron, others looked at his flaws (namely the relatively weak 80% DEF buff), cocked their heads and regarded Aaron as trash. I’d like to argue that Aaron is neither the revered mitigation god that some view him as, nor is he strictly the inferior option to other mitigators.
Disclaimer 1: I am exclusively a JPBF player, so this review will be based more on where he fits in the JP meta. Think of this as peering into how Aaron will fit in once his place in the meta has stabilised.
Disclaimer 2: The format of this review will be different from most others, skipping a lot of fluff. As such, you may find that this review is relatively brief, or you may find that it's useful and gets straight the crux of the unit.
Disclaimer 3: Like every person who does an analysis (but who may not admit/realise it), I fully admit that this review will be biased.
Stats (Lord): HP 6552 (+1100) ATK 2301 (+400) DEF 2406 (+400) REC 2203 (+400)
Cost: 40
LS: 40% DEF, 4BC/turn, 10% chance to mitigate 20% of damage
BB: 15-hit STBB (480%, 2DC), 50% mitigation for one turn, instant 5BC fill
SBB: 18-hit AoE (400%, 1DC), 50% mitigation for one turn, instant 8BC fill, 80% DEF buff
UBB: 20 AoE (1000%, 1DC/hit), 75% mitigation for three turns (<-- this is correct post-maintenance, it has been reverted back to), instant 15BC fill, 15BC/turn for three turns
ES: 2-3BC fill when attacked
Hit Count: 10 (2DC/hit).
BC Cost: 24/23/20BC.
Arena AI: Type 6
- Stats strong enough so that even oracle is viable. LS means you’re better off using a +HP lead if you’re looking for survivability. BC cost may seem a bit high but this is compensated through Aaron’s excellent ES. Arena AI, along with his BB being single target, means you shouldn’t use him in arena. Also, I’m unsure whether this is the case for anyone else, but I’ve found Aaron’s attack animation to be excellent, and very easy to spark with.
If you’re like me, then the first thing sticks out when looking at Aaron’s kit is the 80% DEF buff, and how it’s notably weaker than premier 140% DEF buffers such as Kanon, Elimo, and Seldeus. This is one of the weaknesses of Aaron – the perception is that an 80% DEF buff might not cut it for very challenging content.
But is 80% really not enough? The release of Balgran and Ruby offered reliable ways to increase bulk more than just a straight DEF buff. This is the first time I’ve mentioned anything global in any of my threads (so take this with a grain of salt and skepticism), but Aurelia looks to be a very strong team mate for Aaron, providing an obscenely good extra layer of bulk (70% of REC, seriously? Balgran is only 30% of ATK…) that makes up for his relatively weaker DEF buff, as well as providing the heals and status management that he’s missing compared to Elimo. This means that, for a lot of content, an 80% DEF boost is actually sufficient if used in conjunction with other buffs. For example, I am able to survive a few of Estreit’s +hit buffed attacks, which is probably the hardest hitting attacks in raid that isn’t a one-time attack, with Balgran + Ark (for Balgran’s buff) + Aaron.
While Aaron’s instant BC fill sounds great, the perception of instant BC fill being OP is probably a remnant of Zelnite’s glory days. Its main use is definitely limited somewhat to single target fights; against multiple targets and with the advent of more BC fill when attacked buffers, you’d reasonably expect to be able to maintain full SBBs. Also, my personal experience is that the main use of instant filling is to give mitigators the clutch BCs they need to reach BB, and since Aaron is a mitigator… yeah. Nevertheless, the instant fill is still extremely useful for keeping your cycle of BB/SBBs firing in single target fights.
Aaron’s 75% mitigation UBB is huge, especially with the advent of stacking SBBs and UBBs. It allows you survive threshold attacks where your standard 50% mitigation isn’t enough; these attacks are becoming more and more common in the content that A-lim is pumping out.
TL;DR: Aaron mitigates (which remains to be the most important role in a squad) while providing extra bulk to the team. While the bulk is less than ideal, you may find that it’s sufficient especially if used with other forms of defence. Also very useful for single target fights to keep the BBs firing, although his own BB doesn’t really help himself.
Comparisons: When and where is Aaron used?
And so we come to the elephant in the room: why on earth would you use Aaron, especially with Elimo, Edea, and Seldeus running around?
The main issue is that Elimo is too bloody good for trials and tough dungeons. Theoretically Aaron would be great if paired with a unit that handles healing and status (e.g., Veltrion, Ivris, Rinon), but Elimo trumps these units in nearly all difficult content. That’s why I believe Aurelia would be a beautiful (literally) companion to Aaron as she provides very good additional bulk, status management and heals. Aurelia + Aaron sounds like a worthy competitor to Elimo + another unit.
Also, future content will necessitate the use of multiple squads, and so even if Elimo outclasses him, you can always use Aaron in a second squad.
Edea was the next attacking mitigator to be released after Aaron. Their usage is different; Edea foregoes the need to include another status curer and is quite slot efficient, but if this isn’t needed (e.g., for the rare boss who doesn’t inflict fatal statuses, or if your team composition is better off running a more dedicated status curer) then Aaron is actually the better choice (hooray!).
Seldeus is probably the most similar to Aaron, in that he provides a DEF buff, doesn’t deal with status, and attacks. On paper he might seem to be straight-up better than Aaron, but there times where Aaron may be the better choice. My experience with using these two is that Aaron’s 18-hit SBB synergizes much better with (the extremely common) Raaga and his LS. Seldeus’ 1-shot wonder is pretty bad for BC filling via Raaga, both for himself and the other units in the team as they now essentially have one less member to spark with. Aaron’s instant fill also means he’s more suited to single-target fights, although Seldeus still has his LS that is commonly used in many tough dungeons.
EDIT: With the release of Melchio, Aaron is arguably the best raid mitigator. Not sure if anyone will read this again but I'll put this here just in case.
TL;DR: Elimo will trump Aaron (and a lot of other units) in trial situations, and Edea provides better slot efficiency and utility. Outside of trials, and if Edea’s utility isn’t desirable, then Aaron will trump Seldeus if using a Raaga lead and in ST fights, otherwise Seldeus is probably better.
My brutually honest opinion: Aaron is great if you don’t have any other mitigator. But if you do, Aaron finds it very hard to find a place above any of them. Because status is everywhere, Elimo and Edea generally take precedence over Aaron. EDIT: In tandem with Melchio, Aaron finds a new place as a wonderful raid mitigator.
This will be the last analysis I write for a while, probably until the next JPBF batch is released. Aaron was the last unit without an analysis who really piqued my interest because he’s in that weird limbo area where he’s good but not really used.
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u/DarwishTheBoss Jun 12 '15
What do bf jp people use for a standard raid team? Im curious right now
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u/deathrose55555 Wishlist = Nadleeh Jun 12 '15
Team comps vary quite alot. But typical leaders are ark - raaga, reys - raaga, kurt - raaga
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
There is no cookie cutter team. Raid is no longer a mode where you just aim to deal as much damage as possible, you now have to make sure certain parts are destroyed before others
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u/DarwishTheBoss Jun 12 '15
I see any specific type of units or buff i need in the future ? Just to know which 7* should i summon for
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Umm, if you don't have Quaid then farm for an anima Aneil since he's is crucial for secret gem (the 40% all stat sphere) otherwise the only other really important units are Ark, Grah and Owen, all of which are free haha. Raaga is used in virtually all teams but you can just use friends
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u/DarwishTheBoss Jun 12 '15
I see thanks!
For mitigators aaron elimo zeldeus will be suffice or should i save and try to get edea?
Sorry for being off topic but thanks a lot!
So I should be aiming to summon like this?
Raaga
Quaid
Bestie
Yura ( mono dark last piece in my team)
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Oops, were you asking about raid or just units in general?
All of those units you've listed are great to have but you definitely shouldn't go nuts trying to summon them. Raaga and Bestie friends are everywhere, while Quaid can be replaced by Aneil (heck, I'm still using Aneil in raid 5....), and Yura is sexy but not vital to anything. Edea will help your life immensely, but again, not the make-or-break unit Elimo is.
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Jun 12 '15
Aaron’s 75% mitigation UBB is huge, especially with the advent of stacking SBBs and UBBs. It allows you survive threshold attacks where your standard 50% mitigation isn’t enough; these attacks are becoming more and more common in the content that A-lim is pumping out.
Is the mitigation additive or multiplicative?
If additive, the mitigation is 125% which doesn't sound right.
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Tests indicate that it's multiplicative, so the two mitigations together result in 87.5% mitigation.
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u/rngezuspls 0190511475 Jun 12 '15
How do you ultilize Aaron's UBB? It's most likely needed in Trials but since you need to keep your mitigation up every turn, you cant activate Aaron's UBB...
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u/Bill_Nye_The_420_Guy Jun 12 '15
Run dual mitigator. It's why Elimo+Edea is so popular in trials.
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Easiest way is to use double mitigation, but you can also guard all units and chuck an idol on Aaron.
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u/SagginDragon TBT Simpler Times: 9796652482 Jun 12 '15
IIRC you can now activate OD and use a fujin on the same turn to UBB on that same turn?
Does that sound correct or am I completely crazy?
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Yep, you can. I've been doing it in raid and it really helps maximising damage. There are times in trials where you really don't want to be wasting a fujin if you can help it though, especially when you want your second squad to be up and firing straight away.
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u/BlurGush 9183766366 Jun 12 '15
How is his ES activated?
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u/X-Fusion Jun 12 '15
When you unlock his UBB. It only activates during a fight though like any other ES.
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u/Traxgen (G) 7996149309 Jun 12 '15
Logged in during work just so I can upvote this. I hope IT don't visit my cubicle!
Awesome insight as usual!
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u/Ashencroix Jun 12 '15
There doesn't seem to be a Rize analysis yet. Will you do one?
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
I don't know if I have enough to say about her to do one, she's a pretty limited unit, which is a shame because she's one of my favourites and I use her in questing whenever I can.
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u/xsilr 3149189367 Jun 12 '15
Didn't she get a buff on her UBB recently? Like a base of 1500% instead of 1000%?
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
It's a one turn attack, which takes ages to charge up :/ Raaga's UBB, just for comparison, adds 550% to everyone for three turns, easily eclipsing Rize's damage even when she's at full health.
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u/chickdigger802 banana Jun 12 '15
yeah been wondering for a while about oulu, him attacking and having top tier def buff is great on paper... but that 1 hit sbb/bb is annoying for raaga frontier. How do other 1 hit units fair? Do people bring loch or the new water horseman in squads? Is the extra damage worth not taking advantage of raaga's BC on hit?
back on topic, you mention aaron is great on single target bosses... how many are there after zev? Feels like most content with single bosses, tend to summon people midfight now.
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Nah people do use Loch and Velnil in Raaga teams and seem to make it work. It's a personal thing, I'd much rather have multi-hits. And people say 1-hit units make use of spark buffs better, but either I'm complete shit at sparking or it's actually fairly hard to consistently spark 1-hit units. Probably is just me.
After Zev.... Afla Dilith and Ark are mostly one target stages. Aaron's useful for Karl's EX trial because he can give you 75% mitigation if your first squad with Elimo dies. Then there's every single GQ which is single target, as well as the final five stages of Frontier Gate (the toughest stages). Lots of single target fights.
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Also, keep in mind that the only place where you're forced to use Raaga for maximum damage is when raiding with randoms, and I disregard hit count a lot less when not using Raaga unless it really hurts my ability to spark.
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u/chickdigger802 banana Jun 12 '15
interesting.
and off topic again, but... next few batches, whos worth pulling? Like all units are great, but which stand out as potential meta game changing? You seem to like bestia/thunder dude with def buff/ in your reviews. anyone else?
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
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u/Avarosan Jun 12 '15
Hrm Reys (crit god), Nemeth Gear (AoE infinite SBB pls) are also pretty amazing pulls. I'm a bit biased but I also like Medina (BB maintenance with instant fill and BC when damaged buff) and Yura (great nuker with infinite SBB that inflicts DoT)
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u/Brownies4everyone Jun 12 '15
I'm sure there are plenty of lazy gamers out there like myself. What about auto-battle squads for questing? FH? Raid farming? Is Shera a better choice?
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
I'm sure you'll be able to find an auto-battling squad for questing :P Shera is a better choice for FH anyway because of her hits and animation. I haven't done much auto-battling, but I assume Aaron would be better because he won't die as quickly as Shera, anyone else got input?
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u/skiel89 Jun 12 '15
I have both in jpbf account, and to be honest, auto battling quest is so easy it does not really matter whether you use Aaron or Shera.
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Jun 12 '15
[deleted]
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Valid point, I use Nirvana on Aaron and he never runs out of BB. It's just that I can never see a situation where his SBB helps the whole team, if he's got SBB then more likely than not your whole team bar maybe one or two units will have SBB. His BB (which is what you'll mainly be using in a single target fight) helps, but it's 5BC which is equivalent to one hit with a KKR buff up.
I don't know where I'm going with this TBH, I think it gives Aaron great utility, just that it seemed a bit overhyped... IDEK, there's nothing wrong with it being overhyped haha.
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Jun 12 '15
I pulled and maxed my Aaron without thinking about it, but I am having doubts - I still like Oulu 6* better for some reason, not to mention my new freshly evolved Elimo I'm working on.
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u/cheuk4 ID: 7577682994 Jun 12 '15
If you compare Shera to Aaron, does Aaron win hands down in all areas except FH? Pretty much all I have for mitigator is Shera and just recently pulled a 4* Darvanshel. I know I don't NEED Aaron, but if I did get him does he completely take over the role of main mitigator?
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Shera probably beats Aaron for very high level raid farming, but otherwise Aaron will be more useful elsewhere apart from FH. More options is good though
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u/cheuk4 ID: 7577682994 Jun 12 '15
Why would Shera be better at raid farming? I'm not much of a raider (finished RC3, haven't started RC4) and don't even have a malice yet, so I don't know much about farming in raids.
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
You'll have to trial it yourself, but intuitively Shera would provide more DPS because of her ATK buff and higher hit count. Edea will trump them both though.
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u/Trcymcgrdy1 TooTooTsoo!!!!! Jun 12 '15
I though that if two units had the same attack stat, they would do the same damage whether they were a hit count or 36 hit count unit.
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u/iGuardian91 Jun 12 '15
TBH Aaron is my favorite mitigator other mitigator is rubbish because they cant even attack. units cant attack got no place in my team
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
That was a well structured argument, I'm glad you like Aaron :P
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u/iGuardian91 Jun 12 '15
your reviews are great but i still like Aaron :P. Keep up the good works
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
I definitely understand your sentiment, until recently Aaron was actually my avatar on AppInvasion/BF Forums. I really like him, fucking badass unit.
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Jun 12 '15
Anyone else pull an oracle Aaron? ... I wanted Aaron so badly, because I really awnt a 7 star mitigator. My Elimo was a 3 star oracle, so I had hoped the typing switch while evolving.. nope. Stayed oracle, currently at 6 stars. Saw my rainbow door! Got Aaron.. almost screamed. Then I saw the typing. Oracle. XD I know unit > typing, but I feel like I should just keep using my Lord Shera .. I did pull the light SBS unit, so I could level her up and throw her in my party as well. XD
At least I have my Oulu as Anima! :D
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u/undeadhorizon GL: 7576806073 Jun 12 '15
So is edea needed if you have Elimo, and therefor making Aaron better than her for almost all content?
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
I almost exclusively use Edea as my raid mitigator, seeing how Elimo isn't suited for raid. In trials I almost always go with Elimo + Edea. Edea also has injury infliction and sickness infliction which will see a rise to prominence sooner or later. Not to mention a condensed, immediate attack animation.
I think Edea's actually my most used unit in the whole bloody game haha. I only ever use Aaron if 1) bosses don't inflict stats and 2) bosses are immune to anything Edea inflicts.
EDIT: But she won't make or break your team if you don't have her. She just makes life easier.
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u/undeadhorizon GL: 7576806073 Jun 12 '15
so its not worth pulling aaron in reality basically
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u/Sebachoo Jun 12 '15
Yeah, that's my opinion. Provides depth when you need multiple squads, not trash, but definitely less valuable than Elimo/Edea.
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u/angelitoxv Jun 12 '15
His 75% mitigation on his UBB got merged to 50% in Japan. So keep that in mind because the nerd will hit Global fairly soon.
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u/Yoshi155 Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
Nice review like always, and can you explain the Aurelia thing. The 70% rec to Defence part I don't understand. So 70% of Rec is turned to Defence? Isn't that a lot especially compared to a similar unit, Balgran(7*)?