As usual, Global ratings are my own opinions relative to other character or TMs available at the time this is written (effectively, rating on a curve where a 10/10 unit is the best, or tied with the best, at this exact moment -- not forever), with Japanese ratings coming from altema.jp and are based on the characters current max rarity in Japan. Japanese TM ratings are on a scale from: Unranked, A, S, SS, to SSS.

Also, thank you /u/Nazta for datamining Elza so I can go to sleep!

KARL:

Rarity: 4★ to 5★

Global Party Rating: 6/10

Karl is a physical damage dealer who has fairly high ATK for a 5★ unit (114 ATK 20%), a decent selection of weapons (dagger, sword, axe, and spear), and a more limiting selection of equipable armor types than most other physical attackers (limited to helm, light armor, and heavy armor only.)

For support skills, Karl brings a 3 Turn Group 40% ATK/MAG buff which is equivalent to the offensive half of both Cheer and Focus -- unfortunately for challenging content you will miss the DEF/SPR half of Cheer/Focus (and they do not stack.)

For passives, Karl brings Demon Killer and Beast Killer as well as 20% increased summon damage.

Offensively his highest single target ability is Gleaming Cleave which is 3/4 of a Barrage (3x 80% random target physical attack.) He also has a 140% single target wind physical attack, and a 180% AOE Thunder Physical attack.

His limit burst is a AOE 6 hit ice physical attack and debuffs ATK/MAG but the ATK/MAG debuff is only as strong as the ATK/MAG debuff portion of Full Break unless you rank up his LB -- something which is simply not worth the time or resources on a 5★ max character. (250% AoE 6 Hit Ice Physical Attack & AoE 3 Turn -30% ATK/MAG Debuff -> 345% AoE 6 Hit Ice Physical Attack & AoE 3 Turn -49% ATK/MAG Debuff depending on LB rank)

Japanese Character Rating (altema.jp): 75/100

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Seal of Destruction - 8/10

Materia - ATK and MAG 20% / HP 10%

This is our third chance at a 20% ATK materia (First being the $75 USD bundle, second being Fencer's TM) and 20% ATK is still exciting and a bit more HP never hurts. I wish the secondary stat was anything but MAG (there are already higher MAG materia and no one really benefits from both other than 6★ Bartz) but obviously still great. The relative value of this will go down when the ATK 10% materia recipe is available next story update and then again with a Final Fantasy Type-0 banner when we get access to an easier to pull 3* base unit with a 20% ATK materia (which gives 20% DEF) from Cinque. It's good today but less impressive in a month (give or take.)

Japanese TM Rating (altema.jp): A Tier

Why would you want Karl?: Karl's TM is his best quality and is currently the only ATK materia we can stock up on -- as mentioned above, this will become less exciting shortly and as one of three 4★ base characters on this banner it's not worth pulling him just for this TM. For anyone with a decent team at this point, Karl will be forgotten as soon as the Brave Frontier event is over. Any barrage user will out damage Karl as he lacks a decent offensive ability.

Is he FUTURE-PROOF?: No. Karl does not currently have a 6★ upgrade in Japan. Karl does have access to Ability Enhancements in Japan, but as he's still limited to 5★ I'm not going to list them out as no one should dedicate the resources to Ability Enhancements on 5★ unit. Follow the character's page link if you're curious!

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SERIA:

Rarity: 4★ to 5★

Global Party Rating: 5/10

Seria is a physical damage dealer who has fairly low ATK for a 5★ unit (106 ATK 10%), a pretty solid weapon selection (dagger, sword, greatsword, and katana) and only slightly limiting equipment options (hat, light armor, and heavy armor)

For support skills, Seria brings a 3 Turn Group 40% DEF/SPR buff which is equivilant to the defensive half of both Cheer and Focus. I argue that this is more useful than Karl's ATK/MAG buff as many teams are focused on a single damage type (all physical or all magical) and can then still have a buff for DEF and SPR while only bringing Cheer or Focus (whichever of the two your team needs.) If I was going to only bring either an ATK/MAG buff or a DEF/SPR buff to challenging content I would, at this point, value defensive stats more -- your team composition will determine how useful, worthless or somewhere in-between this ability is.

For passives, Seria brings Bird Killer and Demon killer as well as 20% increased summon damage.

Offensively, her hardest hitting ability is a 190% AOE fire physical attack and if fire is not usable her fall-back is a 140% AOE physical attack.

Her limit burst is a AOE 4 hit fire physical attack and debuffs DEF/SPR but the DEF/SPR debuff is only as strong as the DEF/SPR debuff portion of Full Break unless you rank up her LB -- something which is simply not worth the time or resources on a 5★ max character. (250% AoE 4 Hit Fire Physical Attack & AoE 3 Turn -30% DEF/SPR Debuff -> 345% AoE 4 Hit Fire Physical Attack & AoE 3 Turn -49% DEF/SPR Debuff)

Japanese Character Rating (altema.jp): 70/100

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Seal of Protection - 3/10 4/10

Ability - DEF and SPR 20% / MP 10% HP 10%

Extra defensive stats are alright, and decent on your tank, but not impactful and the addition of MP (instead of HP) feels out of place. (edit: Originally listed as MP rather than HP like it is in Japan. Changed for Global though. Thanks /u/kozilla) (edit2: Apparently it was never MP and I have no idea where I got that from.)

Japanese TM Rating (altema.jp): Unranked (like, this isn't even listed on the UNRANKED section -- it's super unranked -- unranked² )

Why would you want Seria?: Seria can't justify her 4★ rarity. She might have a place in your fire chaining groups (but many mages out-class her for that niche) and she can buff DEF/SPR if you don't already have a better option, but overall she's underwhelming with no decent single target damage abilities. As soon as the Brave Frontier event is over, she'll just be eating up a unit slot.

Is she FUTURE-PROOF?: No. Seria does not currently have a 6★ upgrade in Japan.

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TILITH:

Rarity: 4★ to 5★

Global Party Rating: 8/10

Tilith is a heal/support unit with high SPR (119 SPR 20%) but this is offset by her inability to equip any weapon types. She does have standard healer equipment types (hat, clothing, and robe.)

For white mage abilities, she brings an equivilant to dispel and her only healing ability is Goddess' Miracle which heals as much as Curaja and has an AOE Esuna built in (AoE ~1000 HP Heal w/ 3.4x Mod & AoE Cure Poison, Blind, Sleep, Silence, Paralyze, Confuse.) If there are status effect(s) to cure this is fantastic, in every other case this is Curaja that costs 67% more MP (25 MP vs Curaja's 15 MP.)

For support she brings two main skills. The first is Rainbow Veil, which is 3 turn group 40% resist buff to all elements (except dark) for 50 MP. Another comparable ability, if you're running a 6★ CoD, you have access to her Omni-Veil which is a 3 turn group 30% resist buff to all elements (including dark) for 53 MP. In mixed element encounters either are fantastic, but if the encounter is only using one (or two) elements you are better off bringing the appropriate bar-element-ra skill (on a character who can equip green magic) as they are a 3 turn group 50% resist buff for only 12 MP.

The second is Celestial Light, which is a group 40% ATK/DEF/MAG/SPR buff (equivalent to the stat increases of Cheer and Focus combined) for 53 MP but it unfortunately only lasts 2 turns causing Tilith to expend much of her mana, and many of her turns, to maintain it.

Her limit burst is a single target ability which heals the target, doubles the limit burst gauge fill rate for 3 turns, and cures poison, silence, and paralysis. (ST ~1800 HP Heal w/ 3.6x Mod & 3 Turn 100% LB Fill Rate & ST Cure Poison, Silence, Paralyze -> ST ~1800 HP Heal w/ 4.55x Mod & 3 Turn 100% LB Fill Rate & ST Cure Poison, Silence, Paralyze)

One final note on Tilith: all of her abilities are 'abilities' and not spells. This means if you happen to have a Dual Cast TM completed, it is of no benefit to her as it will not work with her skill-set.

Japanese Character Rating (altema.jp): 97/100

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Goddess's Protection - 7/10

Materia - All status effect immunity

Handy on status effect heavy fights, useless anywhere else. It's effectively Kefka's Ribbon but as a materia rather than an accessory -- which of the two is better depends on which materia or accessory you're replacing to equip it.

Japanese TM Rating (altema.jp): S Tier

Why would you want Tilith?: If you want Tilith, it is soley because you have seen or heard what 6★ Tilith can do. 6★ Tilith is amazing. 6★ Tilith is also most likely months away, with Tilith returning at the same time she gets her 6★ upgrade. At 5★, Tilith has several useful, but expensive, abilities without the MP restore abilities of her 6★ form to maintain them. She will also have a smaller group heal than other Curaja capable healers (excluding Alma) due to her not being able to equip a staff (without Roselia's TM)

Is she FUTURE-PROOF?: Yes. Tilith has a 6★ upgrade in Japan and it is fantastic. Click through to her character page to see her full 6★ skillset.

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ELZA:

Rarity: 5★ to 6★

Global Party Rating: 9/10

Elza is a physical attacker with very high ATK (146 ATK 20% 50% with spears), limited exclusively to spears for weapons (so no blade mastery...), and pretty standard physical attacker equipment (hat, clothes, and light armor)

Passively she has Man-Eater, Demon Killer, 50% Dark Resist (with a spear equipped -- yes it's her only weapon type but equip weapon TMs exist), Auto-Refresh (Recover 5% MP per Turn -- like nearly all 5★ base units), 20% HP, and gains a 30% DEF/SPR buff when below 30% HP.

For support she brings Ravaging Blow (200% 1 Hit Phys ST -50% DEF/SPR Debuff for 3 Turns) the strongest DEF/SPR debuff currently available on global. If you're able to land this debuff it will increase your party's damage by 20% over Delita's DEF/SPR breaks, 40% over Full Break, 70% over Armor Break / Mental Break, or 100% over no physical breaks at all. She also brings Enfeebling Slash (140% 1 Hit Phys ST 30% Chance to Poison/Disease) -- one of the few abilities in the game to inflict disease (which lowers base stats by 10% and stacks with breaks)

Offensively, her highest damage ability is Madness Rush (3x 140% Phys RT Attacks 100% LB Fill Rate Self Buff for 3 Turns) which will behave like a harder hitting (420% vs Barrage's 320%) 3 hit Barrage. Like Barrage, this is a random target ability making it impossible to aim for a specific target and virtually impossible to chain with.

She has self-utility skills in the form of Dark Prayer (Self 50% ATK/DEF/MAG/SPR Buff for 4 Turns Cure all Ailments) but it's not worth using a turn on her for the minor gains over just using Cheer or Embolden (15 more ATK than Cheer, 7 more ATK than Embolden.) Her second is Dark Favor (90% HP, 3 Turns Auto-Revive Self Buff) but this is only particularly useful if you're sure she's going to die (for instance if she's low and your healer is already dead) -- I suspect that rarely will you use this ability, but at some point it may allow her to be the last woman standing and finish off a fight for you. Finally she has Lance (ST 80% Attack w/ 20% HP Drain & ST 30% Attack w/ 10% MP Drain) giving her access to some HP/MP sustain.

Finally her Limit Burst is 270%/390% (depending on LB rank) 10 Hits Phys AoE Dark Element.

Japanese Character Rating (altema.jp): N/A - GLOBAL EXCLUSIVE

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Demon Scythe - 8/10

Spear - 120 ATK, Dark Element

This is the highest damage spear in the game so that makes it a great TM to come with this spear-only user, but on just about any other character, I would rather complete another Excalibur (120 Holy) or Dark Knight Cecil's TM greatsword Deathbringer (120 Dark, Man-Eater) is a better Dark Element weapon as spear is just a less common weapon type.

Japanese TM Rating (altema.jp): N/A - GLOBAL EXCLUSIVE

Why would you want Elza?: She has massive ATK, and useful "killers" (man-eater / demon killer) but no native dual wield puts her behind Lightning / Luneth and being spears-only greatly limits her ability reach the ATK levels of a TM farmer and/or whale's Lightning or Luneth.

Is she FUTURE-PROOF?: Yes. Elza is released with 6★ but no dark resist debuff, and her inability to generate (outside of her LB) or finish a chain limits her long term potential.

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SHOULD YOU PULL?: Probably not. So real talk: this is a pretty awful banner. We have one 5★ base (which as we know are incredibly unlikely to pull) and then there are three 4★ base units vying for your gold crystals; two would have been disappointing even if they were 3★ rarity (one does have a great, for the moment, TM but is less exciting with time) and the third is pretty good right now (worse than 6★ Refia if you managed to pull her; better or worse than Lenna depending on your team composition and the encounter) but will be amazing later (and will also return when she becomes amazing.) The opportunity for disappointment on this banner is much much higher than most banners. If you are going to go all in for Tilith, I would check the reported rates on the summon survey first to decide if the risk is worth the reward -- if you are F2P (or more minnow than whale) I would not recommend you invest your resources here. If you're trying to decide between pulling for Refia or Tilith, Refia is on the better banner (only one 4★ unit making her rate higher and better consolation prizes) but in the future Tilith will be a stronger unit than Refia unless you get a Dual Cast TM for her (at which point Refia remains competitive.)