Horn
Translation Credits: Jetroyz, Iana
"Tempest Platoon Captain Horn reporting in, Doctor. I've witnessed your procedures and the calibre of Rhodes Island's operators. Me and my soldiers will be under your command in our upcoming partnership."
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After the end of the County Hillock incident, what had come of the warrior known as Horn was unknown to all.
Much evidence would suggest that she was captured after the battle with Dublinn Lieutenant, Mandragora.
Considering Mandragora's cruel designs and reckless undertakings, save for Bagpipe, few believed that she still lived.
However, Rhodes had signed a cooperative agreement with Bagpipe. If any relevant information was to come out of Victoria, she would be alerted post-haste, and support provided when the time is right.
The good news is, the Elite Operator, Misery, previously dispatched to Londinium, has indeed discovered Horn's trails, and her current condition is much better than expected.
Thereafter, Misery will assist Horn in making contact with our Londinium Special Operations Unit.
As the commander of Victoria's Tempest Platoon, 2nd Division, Horn not only poses great importance to Bagpipe, but may also prove to be key in forthcoming operations.
Of course, the conditions of this operation are that - after enduring all the pain that Dublinn had inflicted and witnessing the Sarkaz's ruthless methods, she is willing to continue the struggle.
In that regard, we share Bagpipe's complete certainty.
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Race: Lupo
Origin: Victoria
Proficiencies: Londinium-style calligraphy, application of weapons(military)
"Sometimes, the wind doesn't simply echo the sound of your voice. Sometimes, it sings."
"Tempest Platoon Captain Horn reporting in, Doctor. I've witnessed your procedures and the calibre of Rhodes Island's operators. Me and my soldiers will be under your command in our upcoming partnership."
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Illustrator: m9nokuro
CV: Megumi Toyoguchi
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Horn is a 6★ Defender [Fortress] whose kit is geared entirely around doing damage.
Talents and Skills
Archetype: Defender [Fortress]
Trait: When not blocking enemies, uses ranged AoE Physical attacks
Talent 1: When deployed, all Defender Operators gain ATK
Overdrive: Skill bar has 2 sections. When half of the skill duration has passed/half of the skill ammo has been used, activate additional effects
Skill 1 The next attack deals a certain amount of Physical damage. If the attack is a ranged attack, increase splash area and illuminate the area for several seconds, removing Invisibility from enemy units. Can hold charges
Skill 2: When skill is activated, every attack deals a certain amount of Physical splash damage
Overdrive: Every attack deals an aditional amount of Arts splash damage. When manually deactivating the skill, fire all remaining ammunition and lose a certain amount of HP Activating the skill grants a certain amount of ammunition, and the skill ends when all ammunition is consumed.
Skill can be deactivated at any time.
Skill 3: When skill is activated, reduce Attack Interval and increase ATK
Overdrive: Further increase ATK and continually lose HP (HP loss percentage continually increases, capping at a certain rate)
Skill can be deactivated at any time.
First Impressions
Note: These are first impressions and based on conjecture since we don’t know the exact details.
[Horn] will be only the second Defender [Fortress], and the first 6 Star. Like Ashlock, her kit is geared entirely towards damage, which supports their use as a damage oriented melee-sniper type Operator. As a melee unit, their attack range and splash damage offer a unique tactical option.
Her first Talent will be a welcome sight for Defender-knights players, but outside of that it probably won't have a very noticeable effect, though it certainly synergizes well with her own use. Talent 2 is still unknown at the time of this writing.
Her S1 is noticeable for its ability to remove enemy invisibility/stealth but suffers from the problem that the attack actually has to happen for the invisibility to be removed. Since Invisible enemies aren't targetable themselves, it means she has to attack a nearby non-invisible enemy to reveal them. If none are present, she won't be able to unstealth, which limits its applicability.
S2 will be the best skill to use if you want her to block, as it allows her to retain her splash damage when blocking. In normal cases, this Archetype will revert to single target melee damage if blocking, which severely reduces their potential DPS and impact. It also adds an Arts component to the damage when in Overdrive, but mixed-type damage is not a very efficient option in most cases because of the double mitigation issues. Deactivation unleashes all remaining ammo, which seems like a nice burst option and a good way to not waste ammo, and the ammo mechanic itself makes it easy to maximize the skills efficiency, though it requires more manual effort.
S3 is a straight-foward burst damage option, with overdrive increasing damage even further.
As the first 6 Star Operator to use the Overdrive mechanic, it will be interesting to see how well it works in practice. The drawback for her is HP loss, which means she will likely need to be covered by a healer of some sort.
As far as impact on the meta, the exact numbers are needed to know how well she'll perform as a DPS Operator, and her Talent 2 is an unknown. However, the meta is typically not very friendly to hybrid roles, so as a hybrid defensive/offensive Archetype she has some hurdles in her way from the start.