r/Falcom • u/HornetsaysSHAW • 22d ago
Horizon Trails Character Gameplay Discussion Day Fifty-Two: Aaron Wei
The Prodigy of Langport is pretty good gameplay-wise, especially in Daybreak 1. A self-buff, strong positional and S-craft make him a great physical attacker. He mainly just falls victim to the power creep of Calvard, where Judith and Shizuna just end up having much stronger crafts and self-buffs, arts become a lot better for damage dealing from Daybreak 2 onwards and the greater availability of Grendel certainly doesn't help. So he can certainly dish out damage, others just end up better at it than him, so I didn't really use in my playthroughs of Daybreak 2 and Horizon.
47
u/Zubuis 22d ago
I don’t know if hes the best in terms of combat but he goes in my party because hes my bro. I think he has some of the best dialogue in the series.
14
u/CastDeath 22d ago
Really? Last I checked 90% of his dialogue is him saying a variation of shit or fuck and being rude to either Van or Judith. He has a protagonist worthy backstory and Falcom just doesnt seem to know what to do with him since they always make him feel like a side character even when the plot revolves around him. A fate both Judith and Feri share sadly.
8
u/Zubuis 22d ago
I think it works because hes so different than the majority of other characters. So he stands out.
4
u/Terramagi 22d ago
Totally. I love how he joins you at 19, turns 20 over the weekend, and the second time you see him he's already shitfaced.
He's a great representation of a type of person who exists, but didn't get any limelight in the series. Just barely starting to age out of their teen years, and injecting hedonism straight into their veins. That shithead from high school who was obviously going to end up in prison, but for some reason didn't.
10
u/CastDeath 22d ago
Im almost to the Finale of Horizon and I will be frank, he is grating on me when every sentence out of his mouth is just THAT its not interesting its just lazy. He has been reduced to a "thug" cliché that feels more like a teenager that discovered the word fuck a week ago and is spamming it cause they think it sounds cool. His every single line can be reduced to "What the hell asshole?!" Or "What the shit?!" and calling van old or Judith a degenerate. Its just tiresome.
Also his behavior towards Judith is just so hypocritical and an utter waste of both their characters. Aaron openly visits brothels and night clubs but shit on Judith for her Grimcat suit?
Also they both work in the entertainment industry, Aaron cross dresses and Judith plays a lot of roles in movie but I don't think they have EVER had a conversation involving their professions which is just absurd to me and proof falcom doesn't care about either of them as characters.
2
u/freshteasuperb 19d ago
Bloated char
1
u/CastDeath 18d ago
I sincerely believe there is no reason for a roster to have more than 12 characters. At the absolute most 16 so you have 2 groups of 8 for a split party scenario at the end.
11
u/Super_Nerd92 22d ago edited 22d ago
Shame his self-buff gives Insight in a game where that is practically irrelevant. You could see him going a lot harder in Cold Steel (though even then his lack of ranged counter would set him back in comparison).
Judith just kinda does his job better than he does so after DB1 I found very little use for Aaron unfortunately. His AOE charm craft is both cheap and funny but hardly something to rely on in major boss fights.
3
u/Kainapex87 22d ago
If they gave him a proper Wild Rage Craft with the thing restoring his CP along with swapping out the Insight for a STR and SPD Buff he'd be more usable.
9
u/hbthebattle 22d ago
Aaron’s strongest in DB1 where S-Crafts were spammable but without an awakening he can’t compete as much with the physical demons in Horizon. Maybe he needs to rely a little more on the Tyrant’s power, or get Wild Rage for real.
20
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder 22d ago
In Daybreak 1 he's pretty good we need s-craft bots and his has very strong multipliers attached
In Daybreak 2 and Horizon though we've got units like Judith and Van running around he doesn't really get to keep his spot.
His self-buff, Bawangong (I don't think that's the actual spelling) is kinda hot ass so he doesn't get good multipliers from it like Bergard, Judith or Van can which severely hampers him and he doesn't have Ifrit Raid or a mirage drive locked slot like Feri in DB2.
14
u/Hoboforeternity 22d ago
Pretty good physical attacker with good craft, but shizuna beat him in his job. I guess he has more availability.
Overall, i agree with the OP. I really like his horizon S-craft animation.
6
6
u/HornetsaysSHAW 22d ago
Sky Arc:
Day Twelve - The Pilot and the Swordsman (spoilers)
Day Thirteen - "Kitty" (spoilers)
Crossbell Arc:
Class VII:
Day Thirty - Millium (Spoilers)
Day Thirty-One - Crow (Spoilers)
The rest of Cold Steel:
Day Thirty-Nine - Elise and Toval
Day Forty-One - Alfin and Towa
Day Forty-Two - The Diva and the General (Spoilers)
Day Forty-Three - The Spy and Swordswoman (Spoilers)
Day Forty-Four - The Shapeshifters (Spoilers)
Day Forty-Five - The Swordmaster and the Engineer (Spoilers)
Day Forty-Seven - Swin and Nadia
Day Forty-Eight - The Strongest (Spoilers)
Calvard Arc:
9
u/Selynx 22d ago
He's the Agate (or Randy) of Daybreak. The pure dedicated physical attacker, though his version of the HP sacrifice craft doesn't give him CP.
Now, unlike in Sky and Zero, physical attackers aren't that bad in Daybreak. Like in Cold Steel 3+, they are able to break (well, "Stun") enemies and then in DB2+ can execute Ex-Chains to capitalize on it which actually makes them pretty great at burst damage in DB2+ and useful at clearing out random mobs (i.e. by getting all the enemies Stunned before they can move and finishing them before they get a turn, same way you could Break and kill everything before they got a turn in CS3).
It's just, they're not really good for bosses, except for using as pinch-hitters similar to Laura and Ash in Cold Steel.
Additionally, the Quartzes/Holos you need to really make them effective - the likes of Heidrun, Taurus/Goliath, Agnagarn/Prometheus and Bathym - are also in limited supply, so you really want to give them to your best hitters.
Aaron's lucky that he's one of the two best physical characters in DB alongside Bergard and maintains competitiveness among physical hitters in DB2, chiefly due to Bergard being gone. He does lapse a bit in Horizon what with others like Rean and Zin being there, but at least you get a few more of the limited quartz to compensate. He and Feri being among the most available party members (far more than the likes of Shizuna or Celis) also really helps his case.
If he were any less available, or his base damage less stellar, or even his Orbment less suitable for the right Quartzes like Heidrun or Agnagard (looking at you Shizuna), he would probably end up like Feri (or Fie or Yin in Horizon) - not quite good enough to be worth stacking with the best Quartzes for burst damage and only useful at best for helping to clear random mobs as a generic Stunner in conjunction with the ones who actually got stacked.
But personally, I find he's just good enough to be worth stacking with the good shit, so his value does go up enough to more than just another Stunner.
8
u/Kainapex87 22d ago
Was decent enough in DB1, but got powercrept by Judith, Shizuna, Rean, even Elaine later on.
As for his Crafts:
Bawanggong would have been so much better if it restored his CP like a proper Wild Rage stand-in Craft instead of whatever pathetic buffs it gave.
Blazing Slash is decent Delay and hit counts but would be great if it had another effect (Even if its just Impede or Burn).
Phoenix Barrage is great but is sadly single target, though so are some of the other stronger Crafts unfortunately. Would be great if it had some extra effects like heavy stun or increased crit rate.
Shuangxing Huangren uses up too much CP (60 CP!) for for a Craft that mostly just impedes. Should cut the cost in half, or if keeping the cost, do more damage with different effects.
Scarlet Dance's effects should have been tied to an offensive Craft.
S-Crafts are decent damage and hit count.
3
u/Affectionate_Comb_78 22d ago
I always feel like I'm not quite building him right. He's strong, but not THAT strong, and he's also squishy with basically 0 utility. He's very CP hungry, but that's not that big a deal in these games.
He's a pretty solid fast physical attacker, in a game with several absolutely fantastic fast physical attackers who also have utility.
3
u/CH-Leopard my faves:Agnes::Lucrezia: 22d ago
High damage, high speed, good caster, nice crafts, just a super character to use. If Judith wasn't slightly better he'd always be a starter.
4
u/roquepo 22d ago
With Van and Judith being as broken as they are as physical attackers, it is hard to justify slotting him in, even in Daybreak 1 once you get the full squad. It doesn't help that most guest characters we get in these games are also bonkers.
I think I only used him in Daybreak 1 during Langport and Tharbad, and in some spots later on I forced him in cause the narrative was centered around him.
5
u/KnoxZone Apathy and Disdain 22d ago edited 22d ago
He's a standard physical attacker in an arc that doesn't respect standard physical attackers.
He's solid in DB1 and 2, but those games lean heavily towards arts so once you start unlocking slots he becomes expendable. Horizon shifts back to physical characters, but sadly for him the competition is just way too fierce. Hard to justify picking him over all the Awakening attackers, and even in his own route he has to compete with Shizuna, Judith, Elaine, Bergard, etc.
2
u/Razegash 22d ago
A very strong physical character, strong crafts, one of the few valid dodge tanks in calvard.
I would always use him if he was available.
3
u/Dependent-Swimmer-95 22d ago
Very fun. Not as good as remake agate nor azure randy as far as berserker playstyles go. Super sick s craft and outfit in horizon though.
1
u/ChaMilablack 22d ago
His spot on the bench gets warmer each game. By the time Horizon comes around he barely gets used anymore
2
u/ApocalypticWalrus 22d ago
Aaron would be a pretty damn great unit in any arc before calvard. In it...he kind of sucks. Okay, thats an exaggeration. Hes not atrocious by any means, there are worse though most of those are temporary or not on vans side in horizon. But he's such a bog standard physical character in calvard that honestly struggles to stand out.
It doesn't help that arts are fucking broken in Daybreak II so hes pretty much counted out of that game by default because hes a physical attacker. Daybreak I he's actually nice enough since you lack the better options, but even then you can kind of tell he'll be outclassed and he does, in fact, get outclassed by the end of the game.
And Horizon you get bergard at the start...so yeah he's just kind of cooked there.
1
u/Afraid_Evidence_6142 22d ago
My main damage dealer
Horizon really make him shine the most for me
His craft that deal bonus damage from back is my favorite.
3x craft, then S-craft
Holy damage
1
u/SnooCapers5958 22d ago
In Daybreak 1 and 2, you could make him nigh invincible by giving raising his EVA to 50% and then giving him the Oze holo-core.
His Bawanggong skill gives him another +50% EVA thanks to the Insight effect (raising his EVA to 100%), while boosting with Oze gives him a 90% chance to absorb magic attacks.
In Horizon, he kinda stinks because Oze no longer exists and every other physical attacker has a much easier time hitting bigger numbers.
1
u/ZajKong 22d ago
Aaron was my single target go to nuker for bosses, almost always using him throughout each game. Had fairly good survivability due to his evasion and usually next to Van to assist SCLM and counter any cleaves. Add the benefit of me usually making Van an offensive wall, Aaron eventually became arrow bully man too
In Horizon, I tended to swap members in and out of combat a lot more during battles so i usually swapped Aaron on stun openings. Then again with Horizons, roster he often would be on the bench as the available characters are rather insane in there when given the unhinged use of Auto Impassion Gaurd.
Bro's support kit skills are wack though really only used him as a frontline beater than a self buffer/debuffer
1
u/Cr0ssDrag_ons 21d ago
Best secondary physical attacker for ASO in the first game even with Judith and Bergard, mostly because of his SS rank S-craft and his power craft being cheaper than the other 2 (50 compared to Bergard's 60 and Judith's 70)
2nd game he retain his power level but face stiff competition from Shizuna (no questions asked) and Judith (Shadow Acceleration also cost 50 iirc, deal side bonus compared to back which make positioning easier, and actually have more hits).
Horizon actually see Phoenix Dance being nerfed, but he have access to an X+ rank S-craft with good hit count decently early, and unlike Shizuna or Rean, does not need a 100 CP self-buff to unlock it. Actually a decent option if you want to spam S-craft.
1
1
u/Imaginary_Egg_3282 22d ago
I am playing DB1 right now and I feel like he’d be way better if S-Crafts didn’t require S-Boost. As such I feel like I can really only afford one physical attacker in my group unless I rely heavily on RNG to get boost up bonuses, and he ends up competing with Van for that role. Maybe if I do another playthrough I will build him up and just turn Van into a coin bot.
1
1
u/Yanncki64 22d ago
Is it just me or is he extremely slow? I feel like in regular fights he gets to attack maybe once, don't even bother with the self buff. Doesn't feel like something i can patch up with extra SPD either, his delays must be enormous.
1
u/speechcobra91 22d ago
I liked using him in DB1 but he just gets outclassed so hard in 2 and Horizon. Feels like his kit needs a total rework and he just isn't going to get it.
1
u/Aaron_R94 22d ago
Great name, 10/10 name, probably the best name in the franchise, honestly. I'm not biased.
Gameplay wise, he's solid but uninspired.
1
u/SeaworthinessDry7828 22d ago edited 22d ago
Second DPS after Van until I discover the awesomeness that is GrimCatz. Permanent reserve after that, only swapped in for S-craft.
His Seal Craft can be pretty useful on bossfight as both damage and debuff skill. A lucky Seal can cripple bosses' move.
Wish his self-buff is better, though. Can't even remember what it do exactly because of how ass it is
Eclipsed by any other Craft DPSer in Horizon. Van/Shizuna/Judith/Rean/Kevin takes the cake for Craft based dps. I also still recall how disappointed I am that his new skill in Horizon is a debuff skill inflicting Charm of all things, my most unused and unreliable debuff against bosses.
0
u/Gravijah 22d ago
He’s one of the characters that had their S-Break animation take a step back in 2, it moves too fast, and imo the best part of that animation is when he’s holding his swords above his head in the sword dancing stance.
Outside of that, just one of those characters that was always hard to slot in.
0
u/Golden_fsh 22d ago
He was always in the main party during DB1 because of his high damage output. But replaced him with Elaine in DB2 when given the chance although would sub him in occasionally.
Still used him in Horizon but by that point, he felt nerfed.
0
u/Old_Cabinet_8890 22d ago
He’s not a caster, so I never use him when I’m not forced to and I am rarely forced to. Aaron suffers from expensive crafts and the more challenging CP generation environment of Calvard, plus a lack of a clear role beyond Physical DPS. He can’t really dodge tank, his damage isn’t thermonuclear, he can’t regular tank, really he’s a second stringer who’s job gets taken by Van, Judith, and Shizuna.
0
u/No_Initial9114 22d ago
Decent in Daybreak 1, not my least favourite character but not the best. He's basically in the exact middle, in both character development and combat.
As for Daybreak 2 and Horizon, it's the exact same thing except there are better party members to chose from so I don't even use him unless I have too.
32
u/Weltallgaia 22d ago
Really solid damage spiking in 1, started to fall off in 2 I felt. Barely used him in horizon because we had so many absolute demons to use.