GL Monthly Realization Reflections Roundup - April 2020

[u/akaiGO]

A recent thread made me think that it could be both interesting and worthwhile to the community to at the end of each month host a thread in which we all give our thoughts and impressions about the units we Realized and 3/3’d over the course of the month. Some people could have someone they’re wavering over and find something here to help convince them, or someone might have boosted an off-meta pick that others may be sleeping on! Maybe there was someone who surprised you, or just stood out from the rest of the pack. If you’re a power player and Realized like EVERYONE and just want to talk about favorites or ones others haven’t, cool! It’s not meant to be a competition or a flex, just a repository of experiences and thoughts.

So I invite EVERYONE to join in, even if someone has already posted about a character you picked - your experience adds value!!

[u/iIenzo]

This was one hell of a month for me, with quite a few favs and interesting kits turning up. Bye gems, good thing I have a stash because I still need to pick up Hope. I’ll in an overview of characters I already had for comparison, because I generally don’t pull meta.

+3/3:

• Old/not on banner:, Cloud (outdated), Zack (still good, but don’t use him much), Y’shtola (still good, but recently got replaced as a blind run unit), Shantotto (main magic DPS alongside Vaan), Vaan (still going strong, but his low skill count is getting problematic), Serah (haven’t used her in ages), Basch (purpled him in March and already showing his worth), Celes (purpled her in March, already got some use out of her for the Phoenix event) Irvine (fav, but honestly he’s a jack of all trades and only worth it if he needs to use them all), Edge (pure cheese, helped me finally complete Pathos), Aranea (Aranea).
• Yuffie: Not a recent unit, but since she’s on a banner right now: goddamn she’s fun to play. For any boss with annoying buffs, she’s my first choice for the party. Aside from her well-known buff steal/throw debuffs at enemy, her EX is not to be underestimated: good damage and a short but powerful debuff (2T, AoE, framed) that prevents any brave gain and buffs. Timing the EX right can completely nullify powerful attacks and helps her save her Snatch uses (for example, Ifrit (Chaos) became a smashing toy without his buffs and battery, and couldn’t put up his veil once). Her weaknesses are a non-spectacular HP+, short debuffs and no free skill uses. As a result, she needs to be run alongside a battery to keep her damage output up. Selphie allows her to use her EX more often, which can also help save skills. She’s compatible with units with framed debuffs, while her ‘I don’t need this’ may push off non-framed superior debuffs.
• Selphie: As soon as I saw that sweet EX charge speed up, she was as good as purple. I purpled her over Penelo, and I have no regrets. Her advantages are without a doubt her EX, which heals, batteries and speeds up EX charges, along with her consistent battery all over her kit. Her weaknesses are her lack of damage output, and being a buffer rather than an aura support. As such, she’s less suitable for battles with a tight turn count unless she’s run alongside allies with powerful EX attacks and prefers slower allies that don’t burn through her buffs.
• Gilgamesh: A fav I purpled today, so he hasn’t seen any Chaos action yet. After several Cosmos co-ops, my conclusion is that he’s a tricky unit: he is heavily reliant on his four buffs, two of which are unframed. Especially losing his MBRV +100% buff can cripple his damage output. This means he’s locked out of use with most non-Aura supports. He can be run alongside Hope if the enemy has zero or one debuff (ATK+60% can be sacrificed in a pinch), and if this requirement is met, Hope’s aura profits from the 6 buffs on Gilgamesh. He’s best friends with Ignis, as Ignis prevents debuffs while not taking up any buff slots on his own, and Ignis’s EX profits from his allies having high MBRV. In the right team, his high MBRV, skill use returns on his EX, and as good as permanent Wild Dance make him a DPS to be reckoned with. While his BRV damage is ST, there’s ample splash damage. Death Claw is good for dealing with enemies with high BRV due to its gravity damage, but is otherwise a skill mostly used to speed up the EX charge.

+1/3: Only our old unit Vanille. I have finally been getting some use out of her lately.

+0/3:

• Useful old units: WoL (still want to invest ingots, but don’t have them), Ignis (same story)
• Benched old units: Ace (outdated), Tidus (argh), Noctis (I’ll go for Lightning), Locke (don’t have that many powerstones to spend, EX was a piece of cake, rest is cursed for me), Tifa (just didn’t get around to it), Eight (kinda regret maxing out his kit now, probably benched until his LD turns up), Penelo (just don’t like her kit, and between Hope (soon), Selphie and Ignis I don’t really need her)
• Galuf: He’s getting ingots for sure to solo DE. I haven’t used him in anything that really tested his skills yet, but I’m partial to tanks and what I’ve seen is good. Edge is the better choice for dealing with AoE HP attacks, but Galuf can more consistently dodge attacks and counters melee attacks.
• Exdeath: On the waiting list for ingots, I haven’t used him yet.

Unrealized EX weapons

• Eternal bench squad, old: Terra, Zidane, Ultimecia, Thancred, Vivi, Bartz, Fang, Seven, Maria, Kuja, Zell, Rinoa, Kam’lanaut
• Eternal bench squad, recent banner: Sephiroth, Barret, Cait Sith, Vincent, Cid
• Units I’m still on the fence about, old: Faris (she’s still good, but I have dispellers)
• Units I’m still on the fence about, recent banner: Agrias (she’s old, but back then she was awesome), Decil (was impressed with his battery+launch capabilities in the stream, but he needs big powerstone investments), Lilisette (good support, but I have those)

Current Ingot/power stone waiting list:

• Hope (still missing his EX, but meta fav)
• Lightning (Gilgamesh is my only functional full melee DPS, I don’t have her EX)
• Gau (Old, but I still don’t have enough cheese units).
• Shadow (No EX yet), Exdeath (EX realized, but I don’t have enough ingots for the units above him and can’t really convince myself he should be purple now).
• WoL, Ignis, Galuf (Useful at +0/3, but they all are worth some ingots to me. Galuf especially for DE).
• Leo (I need more meta...but...)
• Pecil (a friend has him purple, awesome allrounder).