Introduction
Oh boy, our next limited banner is here! Luckily (or maybe not for clicks), this one is a lot less dramatic than the last. I'm personally quite excited for this though, as I found Nearl's kit to be lots of fun and Flametail has been one of my most anticipated units since the original Maria Nearl event (love me my redheads). This is a doozy of an update too with 5 new units, the biggest single update to date, and most are pretty interesting too! So let's get into it.
This article specifically covers the new units from the Near Light event, You can find the full version of the guide here, or on the banner below which covers all of the other noteworthy masteries in the game
FAQ and Banner Discussion
Q: Should I pull?
A: Probably yes, but it's not the slam dunk the last few limited banners have been. Nearl is a far more balanced limited than the previous limiteds, however she is probably still the strongest unit ahead of us outside of Ling who is quite a bit different on the meta scale, and now maybe Horn who is quite far off still. Flametail too is a very strong unit with a surprising amount of meta applications. So while I wouldn't quite call this a 'must pull' to the same extent that Skalter and Ch'alter were, it's definitely one of the best ahead of us that we know of.
Q: Why isn't Nearl the Radiant Knight as broken as the previous limiteds?
A: There's a few reasons, though the main one is that her S3 damage just isn't as high (Surtr in particular) or easy to use (Kal’tsit in particular) as comparable units. In typical HG balance fashion, they scaled back her damage due to the fact it's True Damage, however RES shred is so common that Surtr alone still out damages Nearl against fairly high RES targets. And though she does more damage than an S3 Kal’tsit, the rapid cycle time on Kal’s skills and lack of blocking concerns tends to make her easier to use (though Kal has her own issues which is beyond the scope of this article). Ultimately other top-meta units just bring more to the role, which leaves Nearl's meta value in her S2.
However to clarify something, that is largely an end game discussion. For many players, her S3 will be a tremendous addition to the team. It just isn't *quite* tuned as high as Surtr is, which leaves her quite a bit more balanced overall, at least in comparison.
Q: Doesn't the Kazmierez requirement on Nearl's S2 make it useless?
A: Not at all. The increase is only about 20s which hasn't stopped her from being used in high risk CC. It's an annoyance to be sure, but not anywhere close to being a show stopper.
Q: Why do you say that Flametail is good? I thought you had said she was bad in previous look-aheads?
A: I did say she was bad, once upon a time, and I will fully admit it was a bad take (though to be fair, lots of people underestimated her too, not just me!). She's an example of why our foresight on global can be a great thing because in the 6 months since her release on CN, she has certainly proven her value.
What she brings is a DPS that's comparable to Saga, but with very high survivability and far more consistency, both important things in the metagame. She still isn't perfect though, rating more as 'above average with a good niche' rather than 'stupid good'. Her uptime is short and her cycle time, though really good, requires micromanagement that can hurt her already relatively low DP generation, as well as just being annoying to handle in general. Plus, given the prevalence of the Flagpipe meta and the low importance of Pioneer Vanguards in general still mutes her value a lot of the time.
Q: Should I buy Honeyberry from the red cert shop?
A: A Wandering Medic is not a 'must' own, but one is extremely useful to own. Newer players should stick with buying chip catalysts still as the key E2s are far more important, however for middle game to late game players, Honeyberry is a really valuable purchase (much more so than Breeze). You don't really need two of them though, so if you already picked up Mulberry from the Saileach banner, there's no pressing need to pick up Honeyberry as well.
If you are still attempting to decide between the two Wandering Medics, I would suggest Mulberry to save on costs (assuming you already own Mul or it wouldn’t be a decision!). But you can find a longer writeup on the topic of Honeyberry vs Mulberry by /u/Boelthor over on reddit here that goes into a lot of details on the number difference between them.
600 red certs can be a daunting total, though remember it only comes out to around 7-8 OP of sanity which is only about 2.5 pulls worth. Though still expensive, it's not nearly as expensive as it may seem on the surface (another reason to avoid her for now as a newer player).
Q: Should I buy Honeyberry potentials?
A: If you have to ask, the answer is no. They are extremely expensive for a minimal gain. The base summon will more than cover your needs.
Q: I hear a new 4* Wandering Medic (Chestnut) just came out on CN. Should I just wait for Chestnut for my Wandering Medic needs?
A: No, for two reasons. For one, he's six months away still. That's six months of content in which elemental healing continues to hold value. It simply isn't worth saving a few resources to try to wait that out. If you did make it through that content without a Wandering Medic, which is certainly possible, you wouldn't need Chestnut at all!
But more importantly, Chestnut just isn't very good. A lot of the value in both Honeyberry and Mulberry is that they are extremely good normal medics in addition to their elemental healing role. Chestnut is a pretty poor medic which makes him extremely niche in comparison. It's a somewhat rare situation where the 5*s absolutely justify the extra cost over the 4* option.
Q: Should I buy Pudding?
A: Maybe, though probably not. She can be a really useful addition to a lot of weaker teams and is a useful option to have for the roguelike. However there are a number of strong casters including Click who most people will casually get with pulls and time, and Amiya who everyone has for free. Though Pudding is strong in a vacuum, not many people will get full value out of her either, and Ethan is the stronger buy if you haven't grabbed him already.
Q: WHERE'S MY IS#2 UPDATE?
A: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAaaa.
Hopefully in the next week or two. It's proving to be a huge amount of work. First draft is done but it's over 10k words alone...
Near Light - Path to Radiant
Nearl the Radiant Knight
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S3M3 | S+ | S- | S |
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S2M1 | Breakpoint | ||
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S2M3 | A+ | S+ | S- |
Nearl's alter form has two skills that are definitely worth mastery, though the best option to target will depend on how you intend to use her, the type of player you are, and what other tools you have available.
Her S3 is her daily driver skill. It is another great option in the realm of big DPS nukes which are very valuable. However the issue with it is that it tends to be a slightly weaker version of Surtr's S3 and a slightly harder to use version of Kal’tsit’s S3. For more established teams, the value that damage bomb brings is somewhat limited. Though those who are newer and less established will find tremendous value in it.
Advanced players will find quite a bit more use out of her S2 which is her unique niche and will want to prioritize it above S3 (if not passing on S3 entirely). Purely story players will still get use out of it as well, but may not find investment into mastery nearly as valuable as the deploy limit bypass is a lot less important under normal conditions.
She is a strong IS pick, only hurt by how common place meta guards are. However she brings a level of flexibility and tankiness that the other top picks don't have. For use in IS, you'll likely want to master both skills, especially if you lack the other end game nuke guards like SilverAsh and Surtr.
Lastly, S1 is a good skill with really surprising damage, but it is ultimately a waifu only tier skill. It's her best skill for lane holding, but 1-block lane holders generally have a pretty tough time plus you have to give up the opportunity cost of her better skills, so it's not an option most people should consider.
Flametail
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S3M3 | A+ | S | A |
In the age of Flagpipe, Flametail brings a shocking amount of utility that has continually proven itself in the end game since her release. Dodges don't usually have a lot of value but her very high chance on S3 makes her virtually invulnerable a third of the time while maintaining good DPS (for a Vanguard).
Mastery in her S3 has the best return on value of any Pioneer Vanguard skill, providing relatively large improvements to her cycle time which is vitally important to her role. Her grades are relatively high here compared to her meta value as a unit. The strength of the Flagpipe meta really hurts her overall value so she is not a must raise. However her S3 masteries are incredibly valuable if you do choose to raise her, bringing her grades up a bit.
Her S2 is modestly popular for it's team support, but the associated dodge chance is far lower which adds an unpalatable component of RNG to the mix. The mastery gains on it are also far lower, so most people shouldn't bother and it is ungraded here.
Although capable in IS, she is on the weaker end of picks. Vanguards as a class are just not that valuable thanks to Myrtle and the restrictions of Hope costs. Still, she is a competent fighter, and her sustain and DPS are both useful. S3 mastery is still the key skill for that role in IS.
Corroserum
| None |
Corroserum is, disappointingly, the worst 5* we've gotten since Kirara. His best skill-up damage is Skyfire-tier and often worse than most unit's no-skill damage. His only niche is one better served by other units as well. Lappland is better in nearly all regards, and Podenco is both less expensive and has better uptime. There just isn't any reason to raise him outside of personal desire. I don't even really have a good suggestion for which skill to favor if you wanted to raise him anyway! S1 is his better damage skill, but S2 favors his niche (tiny as it is), but both are so poor that neither stands out. Unfortunately, there just isn't a whole lot here.
Wild Mane
| None |
Wildmane is a fairly interesting unit and she can do some pretty creative things that make for nice clips. For a vast majority of players however, it's a really tough niche to make enough use of to justify the cost. Most players shouldn’t raise her at all and thus she is ungraded. For those that do wish to raise her though, both skills make for viable options with the best option depending on what you want to get out of her. S2 makes her a stronger on field operator, with an actual attack multiplier and an interesting application as a staller, but note she does not get a force increase at M3 which limits the value. S1 meanwhile gets a pretty big gain out of mastery and has some pretty interesting uses once she has her module with the Break the Ice event. But a lack of attack multiplier ultimately limits where that will be useful.
Honeyberry
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S1M3 | A- | B- | A |
Although Honeyberry is very competitive to Mulberry, if not better at the role, her masteries are not quite as good. She does her role pretty well at SL7 already, though masteries do still have value. Her S1 is the more valuable mastery with an incredibly high elemental healing. It does not have the breakpoint it appears to at M1 since she can’t hold charges (it remains every third attack) while it improves (surprisingly) to every second attack at M3 thanks to a quirk in ST medic animations. That results in a pretty big gain to her overall output.
Her S2 is a good skill in a vacuum. It is clearly her better skill for raw healing, but suffers from a few flaws. For one, the gains are just not that impressive on it, with really modest gains to both regular hps and elemental hps. For two, her S1 maintains a significantly higher elemental healing, her main value versus Mulberry. For three, the overall healing is just subpar, not matching either common AoE medics or common ST medics. That leaves the main value in the skill in her range and coverage, but to point one, it just doesn’t need mastery to reach that goal. This leaves S2 as a very usable skill, but mastery as a matter of personal desire for completion only.
Pudding
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S2M3 | A- | B- | A |
Pudding is a very solid 4* option, bringing competitive damage and cycle time to a weak class and archtype. She doesn't quite surpass Click as the premiere 4* Caster, but she is a competitive option. Both of her skills are good options for mastery, but favor her S2. Her S1 is the better control skill but the damage is significantly worse and she doesn't reach 100% uptime on the slow, so there's usually better options for that. Her S2 meanwhile is what makes her special as a chain caster. As long as there's at least 2 enemies, she reaches her full damage potential, something the higher rarity Leizi struggles with.
A small note is I say that Click is better, yet Click is only rated as B in the main guide. The difference is because I will likely be raising Click's grade with the IS guide update soon.
The Grading System
Story vs Advanced
There are very few absolute answers when it comes to prioritizing upgrades. A major determining factor is what exactly your goals are. Now, there are actually many more types of players than these two, but the most obvious delineation as far as which masteries to think about comes down to the type of content you're most interested in clearing. If you only find value in first time story clears and risk 18 CC, then your goals will be different for someone looking to reach high-risk (25+) in CC.
Story - A story player is a player who is only interest in rewarded content. This means all normal stages and challenge modes (without added personal challenges), risk 8 on CC daily stages, and risk 18 on CC permanent stages
Advanced - An advanced player here is any player interested in non-reward topics such as higher risk CC and more min-maxed gameplay or specialty clears.
A note on the topic of the Advanced grades is that these grades should not be taken as specific advice for a specific CC. There may be an occasional specific note to provide some context or example, but the intention here is to be more general than a particular event and prioritize skills that will be broadly useful in multiple scenarios. A skill appearing once in a high-risk CC is not enough for inclusion here as CCs tend to lend themselves to niche scenarios that can't really be planned for. Further still, Advanced grades encompass all min/maxed gameplay and do not, strictly speaking, have to be about CCs.
The Grades
S - These skills are the cream of the crop. They are skills that everyone with the unit should do and give a high priority to. Units with S tier skills get an outsized value from them, either because the skill is incredibly powerful or because it changes how the unit is used.
A - These skills are powerful skills that most players who have the unit should do. These are among the most powerful skills in the game, but less overtly overpowered than the S-tier skills.
B - These skills are reasonably powerful and worthy of consideration, but have a factor which hold them back. The impact may be relatively small for the cost, the unit may not be especially powerful already, the unit may not fit well into the meta, or there may be a better version available, among other examples.
C - These skills are strong enough to be noted, but should only be done by the most end game of players with nothing else to do. There's value in them, but in the end of the day, most players will have something better to be doing.
Breakpoint - Not a true grade, but a designator given to an M1 that gives an unusually large benefit. In most cases, these should be prioritized immediately after the E2, thanks to their low cost and high value. Note that there are many M2 and M3 breakpoints but they are not considered breakpoints for this purpose as the cost is much more expensive. Also note that some breakpoints on valueless skills are excluded as well.
Please remember all rankings here are considered independent of E2 priority, but do consider overall unit strength. And most important, these grades should be treated as guidelines rather than absolute requirements.
Mastery Look Ahead
Chapter 10 units are in, and boy does Horn look good...
| Break the Ice | ||
| Kjera | Welfare | Don't be fooled by her low base attack. She joins Click as one of the very few good low rarity casters. She is marginally better than Click, though it's a bit tough to say if she's worth the extra cost, especially with how valuable the low cost Click is in IS#2. Either way, S2 is the obvious mastery choice here, though the gains are a touch anemic. |
| Aurora | Gacha | She's unlikely to be anything special because of her archtype and reliance on other freezers. I do however like her potential as an interesting fun unit with her absolutely ridiculous per hit potential and shorter SP cost than Eune. S2 will be the go to most likely. Don't be tricked by her recent CC appearance with S1 (unless you're aiming for max risk). It's a niche scenario unlikely to arise again. |
| Gnosis | Gacha | A more DPS oriented version of Suzuran with shorter cooldowns on his control. However he is dependent on units not being freeze immune and has comparatively poor uptime, which keeps Suzuran the preference at high risk CC. However he is frequently the better choice in story scenarios and the roguelike mode. Both S2 and S3 are important masteries for his functionality. S2 especially has very important masteries. |
| Crimson Solitare | ||
| Shalem | Welfare | He has high enough damage in an interesting niche to be a viable consideration, however he is ultimately nothing too special either which leaves him mostly as a unit of personal desire. S2 is the best mastery choice here. |
| Who is Real Rerun | ||
| Nine-Colored Deer | Welfare | Her gorgeous art aside, 9CD is not a very good unit. Abjurer's are a very weak archtype and she doesn't have a meaningful niche like Quercus does (or frankly even Tsukinogi, as small as that niche is). Her main value is in her base skill which doesn't even require E2 to use, so she just isn't worth raising outside of personal desire. |
| Invitation to Wine | ||
| Kroos the Keen Glint | Welfare | Alter Kroos is one of the best welfares we have ever gotten, and maybe the best in terms of broad applicability. She gives stiff competition to the existing set of 5* AA snipers, GreyThroat especially, though they all hold varying niches over her still. I personally think she is the best option among them with her high DPS, high total damage, built in crowd control, and camouflage utility that will remain long term relevant. Admittedly though that is a fairly controversial opinion and subject to a lot of debate. Like the other three though, the strength of the 6* options drastically limits her meta value so her main value will be for newer players who lack better options. S2 is her better skill for general purpose and has better mastery gains, but those with meta teams will likely find more value in S1 which has a stronger niche versus the higher rarity options. |
| Blacknight | Gacha | A long awaited higher rarity Beanstalk. And she does not disappoint. She requires a bit more finesse than the more bruteforce-ish Beanstalk, but brings good utility with a very high ceiling as a reward for the effort. Both of her skills are viable and will be graded, though S2 is the better choice overall. Mastery on it is a mixed bag however with an important increase to duration but modest gains elsewhere. |
| Lee | Gacha | Lee is one of those units that's really hard to rank. He has a lot of flexibility and utility and is capable of doing some really impressive things. But his archetype will always keep him out of the meta, and his most impressive showcases tend to be against content that has easier solutions. A lot of players will find him simply not worth the effort despite his potential. He is worth raising and using, especially if you're willing to put in some brain power, but he is not a "can't miss" sort of unit either. Both S2 and S3 are good skills, but perhaps unpopularly, I think S2 is his best mastery. S3 just does not need mastery to do what it does (no force upgrade), while mastery on S2 is quite important to his overall damage output. That said though a lot of people will prefer his S3 so the best mastery here mostly depends on how you intend to use him. |
| Ling | Gacha Limited | Oh what to say about Ling. Entire articles can be written on her, and surely will be. I'll keep it short here (for now). Ling is functionally a cornerstone unit (similar to Thorns or Mountain). She is so powerful that most people no longer consider Ling clears when it comes to "low OP clear records". She bucks the idea that summoners are for "big-brained" players only. The dragons have such high stats that even the worst of players can solo most of the game with her. Yet like most cornerstones, she can feel like unnecessary overkill after a certain point. S3 is by far her standout skill and will be among the highest priority masteries. S2 will be graded as well, though it is significantly lower priority than S3 is. |
| A Light Spark in Darkness | ||
| Quercus | Gacha | Unlike the other abjurers, Quercus actually has a pretty decent and useful niche in her S2 SP charging. It's still a bit of a gimmick though, and isn't usually worth giving up the team slot for. There's also an interesting question of if it's best to leave her at E1 Level 1 and pass on mastery which will affect her overall priority as well. |
| Goldenglow | Gacha | Our long awaited pink doggo (I know) is here at last and our patience is rewarded by a very solid caster. She doesn't surpass Eyja, especially in a CC context, but she pretty cleanly beats out Ceobe in all but a few niche circumstances. Her S3 is probably the highest priority option since her lack of an overriding targeting priority on a global range skill is a unique and very powerful niche. It deserves special note in the context of the upcoming roguelike mode where it is a tremendously valuable skill and plays well with commonly used relics. However her S1 is her highest DPS skill with very valuable mastery gains and the better choice when the global range is unnecessary. Her S2 is a decent skill, but is the odd one out for mastery consideration. It's niche is far smaller than S1 and S3 and the mastery gains on it are pretty bad. It's a safe skip unless waifu. |
| Guiding Ahead | ||
| Enforcer | Welfare | How many times can I say stroke in one paragraph? This stroker is a surprisingly interesting stroker. He strokes in a way the other strokers can't since he is able to stroke enemies through his tile, such as if they are being blocked from behind. Even better, his stroke skills don't deal damage, another unique trait among the strokers, further increasing his stroking niche. Like most strokers, he has big masteries upgrades thanks to a stroke force increase at M3. Both of his stroking skills will be good targets, though S2 will be graded higher thanks to its better stroke force. Seriously, who thought "Push Stroker" was a good name for this archtype? |
| Kazemaru | Gacha | One of my personal favorite upcoming units. Her kit plays to the strength of the archetype far better than Bena does, with her S1 being usable right off of respawn and her S2 providing really strong synergy with the whole doll gimmick. Both of her skills are good mastery options, though she’s still a luxury unit overall. I favor S2 here for the more impactful on-demand arts nuke. |
| Fiametta | Gacha | Her kit is a little bit awkward which will likely prevent her from ever being an end-game CC unit, however she does enough damage to be competent in the story, and is considered a well above average IS#2 unit. That’s largely due to her S2 which gives her a strong burst that’s spammable in fairly common conditions. Her S3 has its places too, though its overall DPS is not as impressive. |
| Chapter 10 - Shatterpoint | ||
| Heidi | Welfare | Heidi's kit will certainly enable some creative things with her block manipulation, and her Inspire effect is shockingly high, being comparable to Skalter's S3. However short uptimes (only 10 seconds on S1) in a tough archtype, as well as not stacking with Skalter, will hold her back from being anything too special. Most players won't get much value from her, but should you want to raise her anyway, stick with S1 which has the stronger mastery gains and more useful niche. |
| Chestnut | Gacha | Unlike Mulberry and Honeyberry, he's a really poor regular medic, which drastically limits his value. Six months ago on CN time there may have been value in his low rarity elemental healing versus the relatively expensive Berries, but being so far off now, there just isn't any reason to wait. If you are an active player now reading this look-ahead, he is a unit to avoid (and probably will be even for new players). Just raise Honeyberry or Mulberry instead who are worth much more long term despite their costs. Neither skill stands out as a good mastery either, though I would favor S1 since S2 is limiting on one of the more valuable aspects of the archtype. |
| Rockrock | Gacha | Lost a bit in the hype around Horn, Rockrock actually has some shocking DPS, almost matching Goldenglow's S1 single-target DPS. For a 5* that's pretty incredible. Unfortunately she has a long cycle time thanks to Overdrive, and brings no other utility like GG does which limits her. She'll be a viable option for newer players with weak caster cores, though even then because of the mandatory and free Amiya, even that role is limited. S2 is her stronger skill and a very strong mastery. |
| Horn | Gacha | Horn looks to be a monster of a unit, bringing all the advantages of her archetype, with SilverAsh levels of damage, none of the drawbacks of Ashlock, and a fast cycle time to boot. All 3 of her skills look like viable mastery options, with strong niches in different places. S3 and S2 stand above S1, but which of the top two comes out ahead remains to be seen. She's still very new so we'll need some time still to see just exactly how good she'll be in IS or a CC, but at least right now she looks to be an incredibly strong option who will need an M6 and possibly an M9. |
