Hello everyone, /u/DefiantHermit here for another instalment of the SYP series, this time featuring the first EX Summon unit!

Dhaos

Element: Light
Type: Artes
Role: Hit Generator

Overview:

After a period of uncertainty regarding the summer units, we’re getting our first actual limited unit in Dhaos, increasing the Light roster as a dedicated HitGen. His stat spread roughly follows what you expect of his role: High base HP, below average DEF and above average ATK. Only thing to note here is that we see a shift from an HP DEF focus to a higher ATK lean.

His Awakening skill provides a flat 30% ATK boost to Artes-type team mates, which is strictly offensive while not adding any hitcount requirements. Numbers are pretty good and above what you expect even for dedicated SSR DPS (around the ~23% mark when hitcount threshold is hit), but here we see a weapon-type restriction instead of an elemental one. Right now there aren’t many prevalent Arte users, specially in the Light roster, so while this is a powerful ability in its own right, it might be a while until we have the proper units to see this shine.

As far as skills are concerned, here’s Dhaos set:

His first arte is a bland one, with high modifiers, but a single hit and no additional effect. It goes a bit away from Dhaos’ role as a hitgen, but his above average ATK should be a neat combination with this arte, although somewhat unimpressive. His second arte is what sells part of the unit, though. 12 Hits AoE on-demand is a fantastic skill for multiple-enemy content like Arena and Tower.

Being able to rack up 48 hits on a non-MA is still unheard of and should prove to be very valuable on content you can abuse this on, better even with the chance to apply Dispel. Cooldown is also not as bad as it could have been and you’ll definitely appreciate it not being 5 turns every once in a while.

That said, it’s not without its downfalls as even if you account for the self-ramp in between hits, the modifiers are pitiful. Not that you expect your hitgen to be dealing the bulk of your damage, though, so this is rather minimal.

Finally, his Mystic Arte is a 210% 28 > 42 Hits ST attack, costing 240 OL. Cost is appropriate comparing it to similar MAs and it’s even on the lower end of things (Yuri’s 260 for 38 hits, Lloyd’s 230 for 22 and Vicious is 210 for 25). I was actually expecting something way more prohibitive, but at 240, you should expect 4 to 5 turns between casts depending on content. If you want to go the extra mile, an MLB Keele stone requires a single crit to get an MA cast every 3 turns regardless of element, which is excellent for a hitgen.

Elemental Context:

There are currently no dedicated or even proficient hitgens as far as Light units go, even taking SRs into account. This means Dhaos is released in an uncontested field and given his skillset, competition needs to be fierce for him to stand down. That said, Dark/Light units have that perk of being effective on all elements, so coming up next:

Off-Element Context:

Dhaos should be a proficient dedicated hitgen for Arena and Tower with minimal effort and even allowing excellent 76~90 hit turns with MA AoE Arte if you get them to line up. On content with a single enemy (i.e raids) you’ll see his power drop a bit, as Judgment’s hitgen potential diminishes, but with investment into his MA, he should be competitive with pretty much all other dedicated hitgens.

That said, the “elemental neutrality” will likely make elemental-advantageous hitgens more desirable, as guaranteed higher OL income for MA usage is shaping up to be a major player in content. Once again, though, Dhaos has the advantage of being in the same element as Keele, which definitely helps levelling the playing field.

Memoria Stone:

Dhaos’ Memoria Stone provides a 15% -> 30% ATK boost for Arte-type units. It’s a pretty high boost at Max, but again coming with a very strict and unexplored weapon-type restriction.

Unrestricted ATK boost stones fall in the 15%~17% range for SR/Rs and 24% for SSR (Kanata’s). So if you have a base Dhaos’ stone, it’s a better option to grab a maxed R/SR instead.

That said, flat ATK stones have a massive slot competition with %CritDamage stones, as break is a major mechanic, making the effective comparative boost severely towards CritD stones.

To wrap things up, as far as stat distribution goes, Dhaos’ stone provides a pretty solid ATK and HP boost, with average DEF, making it a solid spread for damage dealers, aligned with the stone’s effect.

Should You Pull?

This is actually a pretty tough evaluation to make. We’re still unsure of the specifics of the “EX” summon system, but a good deal of the players in the discord believe it will work like a Gala Banner in DL. Namely, this is going to be a semi-regular banner (maybe once every 1~2 months?) where they feature a new unit as a rate up, but previous EX units appear in the pool.

Regardless, Dhaos in of himself is a proficient and effective hitgen, safely competing with every other hitgen currently available (especially if you invest in Keele) and excelling in multiple unit content. His Light typing should make him usable in all types of elemental contexts without penalties, but at the cost of lower performance vs advantageous units, especially regarding survivability and extra OL generation.

Even though the hit mechanic is relevant and prevalent in all game modes, hit gens are not currently necessary for any content, as they provide strict damage boosts that can be found elsewhere (DEF breaks) and on several units. If you’re severely lacking a hitgen and/or is having trouble with Arena/Tower, Dhaos will be a fine addition to your roster, but don't expect him to outperform in Raids without heavy investment.

It’s unfortunate that you will not be able to get additional copies as off-pulls on non-EX banners, which significantly (?) reduces the pace of getting a max awaken Dhaos. However, that is not yet a necessity and I believe it’s going to be some time still until content will be geared towards awakened units. Dhaos works fine as a single copy unit due to his role and higher bulk as well, so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, at least this early on.

If you decide to dip your toes into the banner, good luck! And if you do manage to get Dhaos, yaaay!