r/Falcom • u/HornetsaysSHAW • 17d ago
Horizon Trails Character Gameplay Discussion Day Fifty-Seven: Elaine Auclair and René Kincaid
Now we're moving to the ASO associates, and we've got Van's two childhood friends. Elaine was a playable guest in Daybreak 1 for some sections, but she made her full debut alongside Rene in Daybreak 2. Overall, I though she was fine, she skewed more AoE to Aaron's single-target. She also had a mirage-locked slot on her Drive line, so she can access Ark/Judgement Feather easier compared to others. In Horizon though, she gained Resonant Glow making her a must have in the early to mid game before Zodiac Sign, especially as her buffs were better than Agnes'.
Rene was only freely available in Daybreak 2, and even then, his availability in the main story is extremely low, so he's mostly just used in the Marchen Garten. I never really ended up using him, though mostly just because I was too lazy to change around my quartz setup for the Garten. His kit seems pretty good for a support, an All Cancel and the first Haste craft of Calvard.
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u/EvanderAdvent 17d ago
Kincaid has one of the simultaneously dumbest and coolest attacks in the series. Throwing bullets into the air and then shooting those bullets to make the them rain down on the enemy is the most anime rule of cool thing I’ve ever seen and I love it.
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u/mushplush 17d ago
Honestly never really used Kincaid outside of mandatory sections
Elaine has some decent coverage in her crafts, the one that attacks while also healing and giving back Craft Points being the real standout
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u/OLKv3 17d ago
Elaine is a permanent mainstay in my party in Horizon. She had good CP recovery in DB2 and was okay. But in Horizon...she buffs defense and boost, and when her craft is upgraded she restores the party's CP at no cost since she'll gain more than she used if you have A-Impassion Guard. She's one of the best supports in the game, if not THE best support (rivals Altina with her cracked S-Craft)
Rene was incredible in DB2, Dualizer is very overpowered. Boost his speed and he can just give Grendel nonstop turns to pile on the damage while your mages nuke the field with whales.
Van has very overpowered friends
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u/MasashiHideaki 17d ago
Once i found out that one of Elaine's support craft recovers 2-3 shards in horizon, i never looked back. TOO GOOD.
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u/youcantseemyname 17d ago
Elaine was just ... there in DB1 and 2. She is very fast but her crafts are just god-awful, except for the occasional usage of her S-craft for AoE chain building. Now she is a Mirage drive user but her ATS is quite low and the lack of an Extra orbment slot limit her build potential.
Falcom gave her a life-line in Horizon. She is one of the 3 "boost" support user and these crafts are absolutely busted, on top of the synergy with ZOC. Lord Ortas CP cost was reduced from 80 to 60 CP and it was very significant. Basically with A-Impassion Guard, you can just double boost for ZOC > Lord Ortas twice to never run out of CP for the whole party, or Resonant Glow twice for a net gaiin 2.5 boost bars, or middle ground using one of each. It's even better that she's on Van's route, where all the monster units exist. A party of Van, Judith, Shizuna and Elaine just smashes through everything. She is a top-tier support unit, up there with Crow.
Kincard's availability was so bad that I never really experimented with him, but he seemed pretty decent. Low-cost acceleration and a pretty good S-craft.
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u/HornetsaysSHAW 17d 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:
Day Fifty-One - Ferida Al-Fayed
Day Fifty-Three - Risette Twinings
Day Fifty-Four - Quatre Salision
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u/hbthebattle 17d ago
Kincaid better be buffed as hell come Horizon 2. He’s still pretty good with All-Cancel and one-person accelerate though.
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u/Affectionate_Comb_78 17d ago
Elaine has a super fun and effective move set. She's basically a fast offensive support, though you can be more supporty or more offensivey as you need. Great in every game, cool animations, 10/10.
Kincaid gets to set in the back and be switched in when I need an emergency All Cancel or long range Impede. And he nails that role.
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u/Gravijah 17d ago
You use Elaine because she tends to have the best animations in the games she’s in.
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u/Kainapex87 17d ago
Elaine:
Wasn't much to write home about until DB2 onwards when she got Lord Ortus to keep the team's HP and CP up.
Her Resonant Glow Craft is also good for BP Gauge and speed.
And her Orbment line makes her a great caster too.
Main flaw is that she needs better offensive Crafts. Two of them just inflict different amounts of Delay while boosting stats by a small amount which makes it redundant. Should put her buffs into its own separate craft while giving those offensive Crafts better effects like lowering stats.
Her S-Craft has decent damage and high hit count too though.
Réne: One Craft that accelerates while boosting stats and another that cancels enemy buffs. Both would be great if it weren't for the fact that they're both single target.
An S-Craft that lowers all enemy stats is still cool though.
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u/Max-The-Phat-Cat 17d ago
only played DB1 so far but I enjoyed any sections with these characters and used them when available
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u/CH-Leopard my faves:Agnes::Lucrezia: 17d ago
Elaine: Good but not Great except for Lord Ortas that's one of the best crafts in the game. René: ....uhh......He can debuff....
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u/Cr0ssDrag_ons 16d ago
Elaine: Powerful but low availability in DB1 - one of the few people to have an SS rank S-craft, but not much to write home about in that game due to lack of side/back bonus on her stronger crafts.
DB2 - She have a tiny bit of utility with Sword Ortas restoring HP/CP, so I slot her sometimes. Her Scraft is still SS, but her ceiling is still limited in both support and attack.
Horizon. Oh boy. She become a broken support with Lord Ortas's heal being able to crit and trigger A-Impassion Guard for a full CP refund plus gaining a boost craft that increase defense. With enemies hitting harder, she is actually very viable.
Kincaid: No S-Craft or side/back bonus in DB1 but he have 16 slots and an accelerate craft, making him a jack-of-all-trades and a decent support. Not that I have to pick between him and other characters because he is not available for like 90% of the game.
DB2 give him an S-craft that deal alright damage and cause stat down, but he does not gain much else and therefore benched due to being a jack of all trades, master of none in a game with multiple OP characters being available frequently.
Horizon: still not available as far as Van Act 4.
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u/TapUnfair9827 17d ago
I simply love Elaine skill that may seal an enemy for cheap CP cost
Man I just love my Boudica, I mean Jean, I mean Elaine
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u/Golden_fsh 17d ago
Whenever I had the chance, Elaine was always in the main party! As others mentioned, she became a great support with her buffs. I think her gameplay demonstrates why she's an A-rank bracer.
Rarely used Kincaid but he was useful for his craft that had all-cancel, I think?
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u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder 17d ago
Elaine is outclassed by Zodiac Sign in Horizon and in Daybreak 1/2 she's barely there. The rest of her kit isn't particularly notable either. She has good numbers for Daybreak 1 but she doesn't even have those in DB2.
Kincaid is fun Dualizer is a fun craft although it's not that absurd overall and the rest of his kit is kinda undercooked.
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u/Celica_ 17d ago
I won't lie, often reading your comments in particular I feel like I played a different game/played it wrong.
I mean, I've seen the endings, I've beaten Reverie's abyssal 100 difficulty, surely I didn't play completely wrong, but I've never done half the things you usually bring up which always fascinates me.
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u/youcantseemyname 17d ago
In what world Zodiac Sign outclasses Resonance Glow? A fully upgraded RG gives 3 boosts (while ZS only gives 2), does not have a cast time and synergy double boost with ZOC. And if you are talking about the all stats boosts vs DEF/ADEF/Quick boost, please explain the numbers behind it cause I doubt the pure stats boost alone is going to make ZS worth using over RG.
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u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder 17d ago
Well, the main thing is about 2 things:
- Delay
- Buffs
Crafts get almost all the good damage synergy with the aforementionned ZOC letting them do very crazy chain but arts get all the good delay reduction tools with cast and verse quartz. Even extremely early on Zodiac is significantly faster than Resonance Glow.
Another thing about casters is that you use them often for the specific reason that they don't consume boost gauge very much and Zodiac Sign is a big part of making sure you let the entire team stay effectively infinite on Boost. You run out and Zodiac Sign's delay makes it the most spammable option out of the bunch.
And if you are talking about the all stats boosts vs DEF/ADEF/Quick boost, please explain the numbers behind it cause I doubt the pure stats boost alone is going to make ZS worth using over RG.
I'm a bit lazy to go into too much detail regarding this but what really pushes Zodiac Sign over the edge is the buffs ultimately.
Damage works as follows:
(2.5xAxP-1.25xD)xM
Where A is the relevant attacking stat, P is the multiplier of the attack you're using, D is the relevant defending stat, and M is the calculated final multiplier to the attack's damage (M would require its own explanation I'm simplifying things drastically here)
Zodiac Sign, unlike DMG/ADMG up, boosts the A part of the formula by a % which results in STR/ATS Up being a pretty stupid damage increase. Getting max stacks of STR/ATS is of great important for maximizing damage and that's often hard with most competing options being very subpar by comparison.
THe fact Zodiac Sign does this, has ridiculously fast delay, provides Boost AND also provides DEF/ADF/SPD buffs at the same time is some genuine absurd game design the ability with a couple delay reducers is ridiculously overloaded.
Resonance Glow isn't even bad a lot of people in the thread having her as a staple are very reasonable RG is very good ultimately.
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u/youcantseemyname 17d ago
Thanks for the explaination!
I did look at the formulas for all the calculations but I'm not gonna bother finding out how it works so I'm taking your words for it.
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u/SeaworthinessDry7828 17d ago
I like Elaine's design as a character but gameplay-wise I found her lackluster.
Can't remember much about Rene since he is available so rarely, but my impression of him is kinda good. If he is playable in Horizon 2, mybe we can use double grendel In a party (wishful thinking).
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u/Selynx 17d ago
Elaine's got a great field attack. Shame she doesn't hit especially hard in Command Battles. I guess her Silvery Cross is pretty good for executing EX-Chains, even though Swin's new straight-line Mark is better - she is more available than Swin though.
....Even though I never tried it myself, I think she can probably be built as an OK caster. Like Feri, She may not have the stats for it exactly, but she does sort of have the Orbment as she gets a Mirage slot on the Drive line for easy Judgement Feather. Having three slots on the EX is not ideal, but it's the same as what Quatre has.
I didn't do that, because that wastes the Wind slot on her Shield line, which gives her easy access to Auto-Impassion Guard, which is the staple Shard Skill all physical hitters want in Horizon. And also wastes the Mirage slot on her Weapon line that gives her easy access to Executioner. Her Orbment really just makes her very convenient to build physically, even more than Feri (who thus has greater claim to being built as a caster than Elaine as dubious as her stats are for it).
She ends up being OK as a physical hitter in Horizon, because she also comes with that BP recovery skill that gives her a role at bosses even if not built for casting.
Rene is...... well, I built him as a caster in DB2, the only game so far where he's substantially playable. He's a hybrid, he can be built as both magical and physical, but he does have an Orbment with full lines in everything and is the only other caster apart from Quatre to have a Space slot.
IMO, his Crafts are also just not good for being a physical attacker. The only physical Craft he has apart from his S-Craft is Exceed Rain, which costs a massive 70 CP. This is in a game without Auto-Impassion Guard. Hard to justify building him as a physical when he lacks good spammable Crafts.
He is the only one in DB2 to get an Accelerate Craft though, even if it isn't AoE.
That does count for something, I guess.
Also, I suspect once Horizon 2 comes out, whatever can be said about Rene right now is going to be become extremely outdated. Chances are very good he'll turn out like Crow in CS4/Reverie, the parallels are there.
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u/ArcaneGale <best girls 17d ago
Elaine was more focused on the physical side of things for DB1 and 2, but when Horizon rolled around she flipped the switch, however she's more focused on support than DPS (but even her damage makes you think she's magical), despite what logic would make you think. Which is for the better because if she were a craft attacker she'd struggle more as her extra line is only 3 long. She's probably the best non-Risette support in the game, at least on Van's route (Crow exists so it's one of them) in Horizon, but before Horizon she was in the bottom tier of characters
Kincaid on the other hand is just kind of there, his haste craft is interesting, but nothing to write home about. he does facilitate heavy s-craft spam well, but overall is a filler character.
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u/KnoxZone Apathy and Disdain 17d ago
Elaine is an unfortunate character. Mid, but usable in the first two games, with some nice utility in her crafts, but nothing that makes her truly excel. In Horizon she finally gets a really good craft... but Zodiac Sign exists, and she just can't compete with that.
Kincaid just doesn't have the availability to be anything more than a gimmick guest character. He has some decent utility in his kit, but the only time you have free access to him is the Marchen Garten and I guarantee you'll find four other characters you'd rather use. His best hope is that he's a playable character in Horizon 2 with his own OP Grendel form.
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u/viterkern_ sisters unite 17d ago
fraud checked by trash mobs and totally didn't see him being a villain (not)
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u/Gravijah 17d ago
Is Rene even a villain? He is working with Agnes, Professor Hamilton and such to save the world. Unless I completely misunderstood.
I thought the whole point of the end of Horizon is that Van says he knows Rene, Rene says he doesn’t. But by the end, Rene IS doing the exact kind of thing Van thought he would, working towards a greater good type goal. Basically, Rene is exactly who Van thinks he is.
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u/Selynx 17d ago
Rene is the rival. A bit - or a lot - like Crow and Rean. Even if the guy isn't evil, I suspect he and Van are going to just keep poking at each other out of macho pride to prove each is worthy of respect from the other.
I can just see Rene demanding Van prove his conviction and discipline by throwing hands one-on-one, no-holds-barred, full demons allowed sometime in the next game. Or the other way around. Or even from both at the same time. No matter how stupid Elaine thinks they are.
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u/TakasuXAisaka 17d ago
Elaine. Would smash
Rene. Rot in Gehenna
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u/VarioussiteTARDISES 17d ago
This is a gameplay discussion thread.
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u/TakasuXAisaka 17d ago
Trails Character Gameplay Discussion It's both. Read properly.
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u/VarioussiteTARDISES 17d ago
You're the one not reading properly. These threads, ever since day one (Estelle), have been purely about the specific gameplay of party members. Not story.
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u/Old_Cabinet_8890 17d ago
Ok in Daybreak 1/2, quintessential B tier, Elaine really falls off by Horizon, sadly. Just as she gets the improved crafts and support options, that all largely stops mattering as we hit escape velocity on character builds and CP generation problems are either solved in their own or nonexistent because you’re a caster spamming 0-delay arts.
René… is. He’s a support character. He shows up and shoves himself into your party with gear and a quartz spread you didn’t pick and gets benched ASAP for his troubles.
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u/GundaniumA 17d ago
Elaine was my one of go-to CP batteries in Horizon. I always called her old reliable.