Hello everyone, /u/DefiantHermit here for a quick SYP on the Reid Rate Up Banner. Quick and simple banner for a raid we’re not actually getting, with an already released unit, so this shouldn’t be too long.

Reid

Element: Fire
Type: Sword
Role: DPS

Overview:

Reid is part of the initial batch of Fire units with a clearly defined role as a DPS and already facing fierce competition for his role. He has average HP, poor DEF and a pretty good ATK stat (6th highest as of this post). This is an expected spread for a dedicated damage dealer and it’s shared amongst same role units in other elements.

Reid’s awakening skill provides a 10% ATK boost to Fire allies, alongside a flat 20 OL boost to fire allies when an enemy breaks. As we can see, both these bonuses are limited to Fire allies, making this rather mediocre in rainbow teams. The ATK buff is expected for a DPS and the OL boost seems to be pretty helpful in raids to give your units that don’t have their MAs ready an extra push so they don’t miss out on the break time.

As far as skills are concerned, Reid’s kit is rather bland but follows closely to other damage units:

Here we have two artes with very high modifiers. Rising Phoenix is currently only beaten by Asbel and Sonic Chaos is leagues above what most units have to offer, so Reid can definitely pack a punch. The catch here, as you may have noticed, is the high CD count for both Artes, which will have Reid using Normal Attack quite a bit. Additionally, we see that hitcount is too low to be considered a sub-hitgen, so he’s quite literally a dedicated damage dealer.

His Mystic Arte is a 276% -> 380% ST skill with 10 -> 11 hits, costing 240 OL. Modifiers are still on the high end of things, but so is OL cost. 240 means you should expect a cycle time between 4 to 5 turns without external assistance (stones or buffs), depending on elemental advantage and crits.

In the end, Reid’s kit is stacked in terms of modifiers, but everything goes on the more slow route/cycle. This is not necessarily bad, per se, but it makes a lot of faster damage dealers more

Elemental Context:

There’s a very clear comparison that has to be done here, as Reid has direct role in-element competition with Stahn. Stahn sports higher ATK stat, but lower modifiers on his standard artes. His MA is very slightly behind in mods, but costs 60 less OL, which makes his MA cycle 1 turn faster. With factors varying like this, it’s better to try sprinkle some math around:

We’re going to take some quick assumptions to simplify things. This is not meant to be final damage, as there are tons of factors to account for, but this should be a sufficient method of comparing the units:

• 60 OL per turn
• No Awakening Skills, no stones, no subgrid; only base stats and skills
• No Hitgens or other party members
• No random crits

Reid’s Rotation

Sonic Chaos > Rising Phoenix > Normal > Normal MA > Normal > Sonic Chaos > Normal > Rising Phoenix MA > Normal > Normal

200% > 230% > 100% > 100% 380% > 100% > 200% > 100% > 230% 380% > 100% > 100%

Turns total: 10
Total Modifier: 2220%
Total “Damage”: 75,480
Average DPT: 7,548
Peak Turn: 20,740

Stahn’s Rotation

Beast > Searing Gale > Normal MA > Beast > Normal > Searing Gale MA > Beast > Normal > Normal MA

160% > 150% > 100% 360% > 160% > 100% > 150% 360% > 160% > 100% > 100% 360%

Turns total: 9
Total Modifier: 2260%
Total “Damage”: 88,140
Average DPT: 9,793
Peak Turn: 19,890

Analysis

Here, we see the power of a lower cost MA, as it’s able to offset Stahn’s relatively lower normal artes modifiers by being more frequently usable, giving him a roughly 30% damage boost, even though his “peak”/burst damage potential is 4% weaker.

That said, with the current roster, I think the difference is way too small to say one unit is clearly better than the other, especially since we don’t even have full teams of SSRs for each element. There is a clear edge on Stahn simply due to the sheer power of MA timing (and higher ATK), but Reid should be just as proficient if you need a dedicated Fire DPS.

Off-Element Context:

Reid can be compared to several other dedicated DPS in their own elements, but given the game mechanics, each one of them should have the edge in content where they are in advantage, element-wise. If you’re on the case where there’s neutrality, I believe Reid is quite behind other DPS options due to slow cycles and blandness of kit.

Memoria Stone:

My personal opinion is that, among the current effects we have available on Memoria Stones, OL generation is one of the most desirable ones. It has tremendous potential both on damage dealing and on support units, as consistently lowering MA cycle times, even if by 1 turn can have game changing consequences.

Right now, OL generation comes in one of two forms: a smaller passive income every turn or a bigger boost at the start of the fight. Unless the content you’re running requires a burst relatively quickly (like Arena or some cheese Tower strat) or it is unlikely that you’ll see multiple activations of MAs across the board, passive OL boosting is usually the winner between both effects simply because you get more OL out of it in the long run.

Unfortunately, Reid’s stone has the second effect: 40 -> 80 OL Gauge of fire allies at the start of battle. At max awakening, this is providing 1.5 turns of OL gen, which can be pretty decent depending on the circumstances. After your first MA, however, you basically have an effectless stone. Not only that, but at base this is pretty bad if compared to passive generation from several R and SR pieces.

To wrap this up, as far as stats are concerned, Reid’s offer a pretty high ATK boost, alongside mediocre DEF and HP, matching the unit’s statline and making the stone have an offensive lean.

Should You Pull?

I’d say this is a very safe no, even if you lack in the Fire department. Reid is a dedicated DPS, a role which we should see multiple units competing in and where powercreep will be more prevalent. Not only that, but he already faces competition now in his own element and he’s not winning. Save your gems for better upcoming units!