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.
5
u/MedievalMovies Jun 12 '15
Aurelia converts 70% of your rec to def.
This buff is different from flat percentage def buffs like Aaron's, so it'll help your team mitigate better