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« on: August 28, 2018, 04:42:39 AM »
Brown Dust - Korean tactical SRPG where battles are automated but decided entirely by how you place your units in a grid and their attack order. Heavily strategic in terms of team-building. Incredibly basic and generic plot, surprisingly fun characterization that would otherwise make for unremarkable storytelling. As I only have time for mobile games nowadays, this is a phone release. English language available but only open in Asia/Japan servers. Korean language is a separate client. One of the more "recent" mobile games (2017 in KR, 2018 in the rest of the world) where the player character is a Plot-Important NPC which I will give some props for. Decent music, lack of voice lines might turn people off (though the Korean client had voice lines in an update a couple of weeks ago), most importantly, game balance is playable and in a good state at the moment. Low rarity characters (henceforth referred to by their in-game term 'mercenaries' as the main character is a mercenary captain) are definitely usable, especially considering most of the story characters are of the lowest premium rarity (3*). Will be going through the plot important characters first.
Carlson (3*) - Knight-errant who tossed aside his dream of becoming a knight to join the side of his bro, the main character. Generic tank type, creates a barrier for himself which directly cuts incoming damage by a percentage after attacking. Upon awakening, he also gains a temporary immunity to DoT damage along with the barrier. Probably the worst of the plot-important PCs because his kit is so boring.
Rigenette (3*) - Ditzy, cute young girl who is skilled with a bow. Attacks the unit who is behind the front-most unit in her row. Inflicts Stun and a 2nd bonus hit of damage based off her own ATK. Upon awakening, adds mHP based poison damage which is tripled when afflicted on other Warriors. Incredibly useful budget Skip attacker; she can surprisingly hit hard with Assault runes due to her average ATK. Unfortunately she's limited by her below average HP and her lack of AoE.
Beatrice (3*) - Stubborn, out-spoken barbarian girl from the tribal nation. Wields a pole-axe and is designed to smash apart Defenders/tanks by dealing bonus damage to them with Iron Wall Strike. Dismantles tanks by herself but is otherwise unremarkable. However, she is the source of most of the fun banter in the story.
Maria (3*) - Snarky magician who also is the in-game Rune NPC. Makes a lot of funny comments and one-liners at the expense of others, MC included. One of the strongest magicians in the entire game despite being 3* due to her absurd AoE and her kit. As a magician, she requires 1 round of charge time before attacking. At +9 skill, her AoE extends from 1x3 to 1x4. Naturally dispels all buffs on the enemy and adds a bonus damage hit which scales based off her own ATK. Upon awakening, she adds a 20% stat debuff curse to enemies who are still alive after being nuked by a magic laser to the face. In an arena meta where people often front-load their attackers in a single line, Maria can destroy them easily.
Arines (3*) - Witty supporter who has an unknown god's blessing. One of the premier 3* supporters in the game and continues to be very popular up until today due to her 3x3 AoE and her incredibly potent buffs. Increases allies' ATK and Crit Rate, while also giving them a moderate barrier. Upon awakening she will also cleanse stat debuffs. It is absolutely worth to +9 her.
Eunice (3*) - Alchemist in the empire's marketplace, well-known for her concoctions. She has some connections with the black market. Provides decent healing and applies a regeneration effect to 3x3 AoE at +9, while buffing ATK.
Refithea (5*, requires 1500 Ancient Coins to buy) - Fairy princess and last surviving member of her family. One of the Six Devils who worked with the main character's father to rebel against his empire's ruler because he had made a pact with an evil god. She only agreed to work with him because the main character's dad had betrothed her to him. The main character is clearly uncomfortable with the idea of being made to marry a 200 year old loli and deliberately puts it off. Hard to use supporter but when used correctly can heavily buff your attackers.
Nartas (5*, requires 1500 Ancient Coins to buy) - A magician who is cursed with eternal youth due to an experiment with dark magic gone wrong. One of the Six Devils who worked with the main character's father. Is also probably over a hundred years old. Is wise and seems to know what he is doing. His magic attack will hit an entire row unless it is blocked by Cecilia, who absorbs AoE effects. Cleanses buffs on still-living targets and prevents them from temporarily receiving new ones. Afterwards, he gains high defense to protect himself temporarily. Upon awakening he gains permanent debuff immunity!
Celia (5*, can only be made through mercenary fusion) - Outcast who was said to be the descendant of a cursed witch, so she hid herself away. The main character's dad convinced her to join him to 'save the world' and became one of the Six Devils. Currently possesses the largest AoE spell in the game, a whopping 5x5 square, allowing her to cover a large area of the enemy side. Unfortunately marred by requiring players to bleed a lot in order to fuse her, she is not a viable option for F2P players. Otherwise, when used correctly, she can be a devastating force.
Astrid (5*, can only be made through mercenary fusion) - The guardian knight of the current ruler of the Karian Empire, Iserna, who rose to the throne after her brother Adel died and her father Altair II, the emperor who the main character's own dad rebelled against, also was killed. Clearly tsundere. One of the most potent tanks in the game, and is definitely worth making. Upon awakening she gets DoT immunity allowing her to tank more effectively, since Bleed deals triple damage to defenders. Her taunt is potent and at +3 she begins to counter enemy damage based off the attacker's ATK.
Elija (5*) - Crown princess of the Allan Alliance, the tribal nation where Beatrice comes from. Despite her righteous bearing and good personality, she actually isn't very good in the game. Her concentrated fire is too awkward and is only useful against one World Boss.
Vermont (5*) - President of the Mercenary Contest Committee which hosts friendly combats between mercenary companies. During the rule of Altair II, he and the main character's father were two of the most loyal and best knights in the entire Karian Empire. Originally sentenced to death for failing to stop the dad from succeeding in rebellion, he was instead exiled due to public pleas to reduce the sentence. His goal in establishing the committee is to use mercenaries as a deterrent towards new rebellions and other chaotic activities. Currently weaksauce and unusable in Asia/Japan, but gets an incredible buff in Korea that makes him pretty powerful when used correctly, since he requires to be hit for gain power. His grand-daughter is a 4* unit named Alche.
Foxy (5*) - President of the Guild Association. She used to run a mercenary company of her own before the day the MC's dad killed Altair II, but after the fact, she became more famous. She established the Guild Association under the same logic as worker's unions. Currently mediocre in Asia/Japan, but gets solid buffs in Korea that makes her quite scary to face in PvP.
Lorang (5*, only available through mercenary fusion) - A rival mercenary captain to the MC who looks suspiciously like Kirito from SAO. He has a raging crush on Maria since studying magic with her before and wants to marry her, even though it is clear the feelings aren't reciprocated. He believes he's a talented genius even though all of his accomplishments are from his hard work rather than raw talent. He came from a rich family and didn't have to work if he didn't want to, but chose to do so in order to make a name for himself. He's not that good in-game though. He has a good AoE but only hits the front-most unit, furthermore he needs charge time to inflict his ailments.
Yuria (4*) - The princess of her country, the Republic of Sbern, due to being the daughter of its head. She carries herself like a secretary and indeed works as one at its Command Center, she shares her father's beliefs of equality and the non-existence of social classes. She has a very unique kit, stunning and dispelling buffs from enemies hiding in the backline. As a Defender, she has reasonably good defensive stats, but is often used more as a stunner and a bruiser. Incredibly solid at higher skill levels. She gains DoT immunity after attack on awakening, increasing her resiliency as Bleed is one of her bigger weaknesses
Alche (4*) - Grand-daughter of Vermont who was born with superhuman strength. Vermont taught her basic skills in swordsmanship as a way for her to control her strength, but Alche fell in love with knightly tales of honor and chivalry and looked to become a young lady of the justice. Though timid and childish before her grandfather, she becomes ruthless towards anyone else. With her massive steel hammer, Alche will rip apart defenders with her insane Iron Wall Strike, also destroying their barriers and counter-attack effects. In a Defender oriented pvp meta, Alche is one of the PvP rulers.
Lucrezia (4*) - A succubus who wants to resurrect a demon king who shares the same name as the MC's dad, Fabian. No one knows if Demon King Fabian is at all related to the MC's dad, only that It Is A Bad Thing. Not at all memorable in game aside from being used as merc fusion fodder.
Non-plot important characters I've been using -
Cordelia (3*) - An aspirant knight who, through sheer force of will and lots of training, won a competition and obtained the Flame Lotus Sword. She seeks to temper herself through combat and become a powerful fighter. One of the premier 3* attackers due to her 1x3 attack AoE and ability to inflict bonus damage and Burn on the enemy. Upon awakening she will also place a weak barrier on herself to make up for her lack of defense.
Mercedes (3*) - No backstory. Mercedes is unique for being one of only low-rarity taunt tanks in the game. Her taunt allows her to attract damage to herself so she can counter with ferocious 85% enemy ATK counters. Unfortunately her taunt, which is only obtained through awakening and thus can't be boosted, has a shorter duration than one would like. When used well, Mercedes is a terrifying force especially when you lack taunters like Astrid and Glacia.
Julie (3*) - No backstory. Incredibly useful Supporter who cleanses attack interference effects on allies while healing them. Attack interference effects include debuffs such as Charm, Silence, Stun and the like, making her a very good niche pick in PvP.
Edan (3*) - No backstory. Useful supporter who cleanses DoT effects on allies while granting them immunity to DoTs. He also provides massive healing. His only weakness is that his target AoE is in an X, making targets vulnerable to ferocious attacks like Octavia, Alche, Verona, and others.
Deka (4*) - No backstory. Warrior who deals solid damage while stunning them. Upon awakening, he gains an ability that lets him deal even more damage when low on health. Even better, he skips the front-most enemy and attacks in a + AoE.
Rafina (5*) - A mechanic girl who had fantasies of integrating ancient tech with herself, so she made a mecha suit. She attacks in the same AoE as Deka, but has the benefit of having tanky stats while also dealing insane damage with her Power Armor ability. Also, she breaks barriers. She is, quite frankly, one of the most broken units right now. She is set to receive nerfs in Korea.
Hell (4*) - A sultry looking magician who works in the underworld. Has PERM Masochism upon awakening, allowing her to heal 18% of her max HP every time she gets hit. After casting a spell, she uses herself as bait to force enemies to attack her so she can counter with her ridiculous base ATK and at the same time receive minimal damage due to her high barrier. Build her as a tank and you can't go wrong.
Zenon (4*) - A vampire count who wanted to court a succubus (Elize) who is deeply in love with the main character. Like Hell, he has PERM Masochism except it heals 24% of his max HP. He is a warrior too, who will bloodsuck enemies as life steal. At +3, he gains Weakening Counter which debuffs enemies who hit him by a bit. Currently a popular pick in arena due to the players lack of ways to DPS him, but will fall off as the Asia server life goes on. Still a very solid PvE merc.
Elize (5*) - A succubus who is deeply in love with the main character after reading too many romance novels about succubi finding true love. She has never seduced a man before. Her spell will charm enemies in a 3x3 radius, making her rather annoying to face, but is otherwise unremarkable.
Ventana (5*) - A former knight who quit her post due to wanting to avoid politics and intrigue. By chance, she acquired a holy sword and has been using it for herself. She is wanted by the group who actually owns the sword. Destroys focused enemies and enemies who uses taunts. Upon awakening, she increases her defense by an absurd amount before attacking, allowing her to heavily mitigate counter attack damage. One of the strongest physical attackers currently in the game.
Dalvi (5*) - A nine-tailed fox who doesn't like people seeing her true form. Her transformation is a gimmick in the battle - when she is in fox form, she becomes immune to debuffs, and when she attacks, she does a bonus attack which is totally ITD, making her ideal for killing tanks. When she is in human form, she heals a portion of her HP every turn tick. Though tricky to use, she can be strategically utilized to immediately take out annoying tanks.
Glacia (5*) - A noble of Sbern, she was bored and found a demigod's relic by serendipity, a magic ice shield, which called out to her. She now uses it to protect her territory and loved ones. A very powerful CC tank, she freezes anyone who hits her. Her Ice Barrier had been buffed as of late and added a plethora of defensive bonuses to her. Upon awakening she gains immunity to attack interference effects meaning she can't be frozen herself. At +3 she gains taunt, forcing enemies to freeze themselves. Her above average ATK and 25% crit rate make her physical damage deceptively scary.
Viola (4*) - A purveyor of justice who became a vigilante, but due to her cruel methods and circumstances of her birth, she was also ostracized and seen as a monster. She retreated to the underworld due to this treatment where she continues to be a fighter for good despite her edgy and black-cloaked appearance. At +9, Viola will hit the entire back column no matter where she stands. She applies Decomposition on her attack, which is a fierce mHP-based poison that can also crit. At the same time, she can also silence and curse enemies while preventing them from enjoying buffs. One of the best debuffers in the game.
Eunrang (4*) - A ninja-like assassin who got her name due to the dagger she uses. Ferociously attacks enemies in the back with crits, silencing them after awakening. At +3, her AGI stat will factor into her final crit rate, making her one of the strongest back attackers in the game.
Wiggle (3*) - A skeleton who doesn't know anything about itself or its past, only that it gotta blow up! A suicide bomber who deals massive damage at the cost of its own life. Has game-best ATK out of everyone in the entire game.
Octavia (4*) - A banshee who just wishes to be loved and cherished due to heavy neglect. She rides a heart-filled bomb that blows up and charms enemies who happen to still be alive after the blast.
Chalkle (4*) - A skeleton who doesn't know anything about its past, and often laments this fact. However, it hates the lull before the storm of it raining fire and brimstone towards its targets. Is a magician and counters enemies who attack it before it attacks by blowing up in the attacker's face. If it manages to explode on the next turn, it inflicts a powerful burning DoT on them. Additionally, at +3, it gains a lasting crit rate boosting effect which allows it to build up high crit rate before blowing up.
...too many mercs to write about. will stop it here for now and see if people are interested in more ramblings
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