Hello everyone, /u/DefiantHermit here for another instalment of the SYP series, today featuring Ludger Yuna!

Yuna

Element: Wind
Type: Artes
Role: Debuffer

Overview:

Yuna finally gets her unit release and she’s… almost a carbon copy of Ludger. Stat-wise, she comes with high HP and DEF, but an atrocious ATK stat (lowest among SSRs) (30,000 HP | 1,950 ATK | 3,000 DEF). Bulk is pretty on point, so she’s quite resilient, but don’t expect her to be dishing out any meaningful damage.

Her awakening skill provides an unrestricted 6% DEF buff to allies, alongside a 16% ATK to wind units at 20 hits. Once again a split skill, but with more of an offensive focus. 6% DEF feels really shitty compared to the standard 10%, but the ATK buff is very nice for your Wind team.

As far as skills go,

As you can see, this is almost identical to Ludger’s skillset, with some minor differences in hitcount and an increase in the ATK break (5% -> 10%). These skills have below average modifiers and, coupled with Yuna’s low ATK, are solely meant as debuffs.

Her Mystic Arte completes the kit as a 250% -> 350%, 8 -> 9 Hit ST skill, costing 190 OL. Once again very similar to Ludger in terms of modifiers, with reduced hitcount, but 30 less OL as well. 190 leads to a guaranteed turn 3 cast on Water raids, but she’s 12 OL shy on off-elements with the bonus from her ascension board, meaning she requires some assistance to achieve consistency.

So basically we have a consistent debuffer that can also output an okay amount of hits (16~17) during break turns, with no investment required on Water and with a simple OL stone everywhere else.

Elemental Context:

Wind is becoming a packed element, with 3 new SSRs released aside from the initial cast. That said, there are no debuffers that fulfil the same role as Yuna there yet, so she’ll definitely have her niche.

While her ATK is lower, we know Ludger is used, even outside of his element, so it’s not too farfetched to say that Yuna will be used, at least on Water content. That said, I’m still sceptical, simply because I don’t think the low hitcount and terrible ATK is worth a slot over other dedicated debuffers or better hitgens, even if off-element.

That said, we get a free SR copy from story, with her memoria also available for shard exchange. This actually makes her free copy better than the SSR version, since you can instantly MLB her and make use of her great wind dmg boosting passive on the backline.

Off-Element Context:

The only situation I see someone using SSR Yuna over Ludger is if they don’t have Ludger themselves. 74% higher base ATK, with marginal bulk reduction; a typing that is usable in all raids without penalty and a more well-defined awakening skill.

And it’s not even just Ludger, really. S.Rutee does a much better job at offensive debuffing and will likely contribute more to the team in terms of damage as well (if you don’t have Yuna’s passive unlocked). Currently there are no real reasons to need the ATK debuff.

Memoria Stone:

If you thought the Ludger comparison was over, I got some news for ya lmao. Yuna stone has the exact same effect, giving 10% -> 20% Evasion with no restrictions, but with a defensive stat focus: double the HP, half the ATK, same DEF (16,000 HP | 650 ATK | 1,250 DEF).

Evasion stones are very powerful survivability tools, especially in arena. Denying not only damage, but also OL gain from a miss can significantly change tides of battle, but it obviously come at the cost of other effects.

For everywhere else, Evasion is still a tricky mechanic to evaluate. In raids, you’re much better off using strictly damaging or consistency stones (namely CritDamage and OL gain) because your main goal is to reach 25k contribution as fast as possible when aiding. On Tower it has a better case for itself, but it also has more competition vs straight bulk stones or even OL gains again.

Should You Pull?

Yuna is almost exactly like a Wind Ludger, but with 45% less ATK in trade for some extra bulk and a better ATK break. Ludger is considered a good unit because he can not only debuff on raids, but also contribute to your team’s damage, aside from having a neutral element.

Ludger is used in raids, so Yuna will also find a home, if you want to use her. That said, the free SR version is significantly more attractive for everyone but whales, as the value of her awakening skill more than compensates for the lack of an MA, as she won’t output relevant damage regardless.

This is an extremely safe skip, even if you like the assets, as you’re getting the SR version for free anyway. If you’re considering doing a few multies, do yourself a favor… don’t.