Hey guys, welcome to the latest New Unit Analysis! Today we'll be having a look at Gravion the Earth representative for this batch of new units.

We'll be looking at Gravion's capacity as an earth unit as well as how he fairs as a unit to stack your damage buffs on. We'll also of course be looking to see how he fits into the current metagame and how he'll fare in the future.

Disclaimer: As always, I try to keep these as objective as possible, but they're ultimately my opinion and yours may differ. Please read them with an open mind and a view to make your own decisions. :>

Gravion vs. Twins, Edea, Dilma, Loch

Gravion's Stats:

Lord: HP 6173 ATK 2182 DEF 1836 REC 1245

Max Imp Bonuses: HP 750 ATK 400 DEF 200 REC 300

LS: 20% boost to DEF and HP of all allies and chance (10%) to mitigate a small amount of damage (20%)

Hit count: 7 (drop check count 2/hit)

BB: 10 hit multiple target earth elemental damage (36BC to fill, 380% damage)

SBB: 12 hit multiple target earth elemental damage (79BC to fill, 750% damage, damage distribution 80%)

• First of all, thanks again to /u/bahblah for the precious, precious numbers. They've made my life so much easier (and a bit harder too; need to find the time to go back and change the older analyses). Golem's a pretty straightforward unit. Monstrous stats apart from a still abysmal REC value (though at least it isn't so bad that it might as well be 0 anymore), an average hit count and a BB/SBB that is literally just HULK SMASH, dealing massive damage, but with no other particularly significant features of note. That huge damage multiplier is unfortunately also tagged with an unfortunate BB fill rate, only really rivalled by Tilith, but if you can stomach that, he'll certainly pack a huge punch with a few offensive buffs underneath his belt. Unfortunately, further examination of the game data has also revealed an usual finding in some units. Not all units deal 100% of their potential damage when they attack, some deal more and some deal less. It just so happens that for Gravion's SBB, he deals less and only 80% of his actual damage potential gets distributed amongst his hits. Things like this I will always include in my analyses, if you don't see it listed, you can assume that the damage distribution is 100%. His Leader skill in contrast, is purely defensive in nature, which is pretty incongruent with his role in a party. He's probably not a great leader choice since he doesn't really have any synergy in that role, unlike his fellow defensive leader, Oulu.

• First up for comparison today is fellow earth unit, the Twins. Compared to the dastardly duo Gravion has better HP ( 250), ATK ( 395) and DEF ( 190) but less REC (-505). As you can see, the Twins aren't exactly lacking in the stats department, yet Gravion completely decimates them in every stat except REC. The REC loss is pretty significant, but in terms of raw statistical power, Gravion probably wins out overall. Comparing their BBs, they both have no added effect but Gravion's BB has a higher damage modifier ( 380% vs. 230%) at the cost of an 8BC slower fill rate, the difference in damage here is quite large when you consider Gravion's superior ATK as well so Gravion definitely wins out here. Comparing their SBBs, Gravion gains a massive 750% damage modifier compared to the Twins' 440%, but an equally massive BC cost of 79BC vs. the Twins' 48BC fill rate, while the Twins gain a Heal over time buff on theirs, making them suitable as a pseudo healer if the need arises. Overall, they're both quite powerful, as far as Earth units go, but probably filler in the face of Luly and Ophelia's 6* forms. If you can find a use for the Twins' healing (or their Leader Skill, obviously), then they're a good choice, but otherwise I'd probably run with Gravion for the superior stats and the raw damage.

• Up next is Edea, our second Earth unit up for comparison. Compared to the armoured lady, Gravion has better HP ( 595), ATK ( 375) and DEF ( 30) but loses out in REC (-300). As you can see, a trend in Gravion's stat comparisons is apparent. He again, wins quite significantly (except in DEF, but the larger HP advantage compensates for this) in every stat except REC, and again, the REC advantage probably isn't enough to tip the scales in Edea's favour so Gravion wins out statistically. Comparing their SBBs, Gravion has the distinction of actually having a higher damage modifier than Edea's SBB with his own ( 750% damage modifier and higher ATK vs. Edea's 640%) even though it's multiple target (though after his damage distribution is factored in, he probably deals less damage to a single target). Edea's got a much faster fill rate though, so for single target enemies, she probably outputs more damage over time unless you can maintain infinite SBB spam with Gravion (pretty difficult). In addition she packs a walloping 90% chance to Poison (and inflict... sickness, I guess) and a 25% damage mitigation buff which means she serves a dual role as a defensive unit as well. I personally think Edea's an underrated unit and that she has a lot of unutilised utility so overall I think she's the unit with more use, but again, if you want sheer damage, Golem's your man... thing.

• Next on the list is Dilma, who JUST recently got a 6* evolution. Compared to the earthen bare-fisted monk, Gravion has better HP ( 120) and DEF ( 355) but less ATK (-20) and REC (-790). As you can see, Gravion is significantly bulkier with slightly higher HP and much higher DEF while their offensive stat is pretty much identical. Dilma does pull ahead very significantly with his sky high REC stat though. Overall these two are probably about on par stat-wise, since Gravion's REC is pretty damn bad, but his DEF stat does reduce the need for REC somewhat since he'll be taking less damage, I'd still be hesitant to call his stats strictly better though. Really the deciding factor about whether you want to use Dilma or Gravion is how much sheer Multiple target damage they do with their BB/SBBs. Dilma has his DEF ignore ability as well, which we'll ignore since it's pretty much negligible at the large numbers we're talking about. Dilma's SBB modifier sits at a really nice 580% with a BC cost of only 40 to fill completely. Gravion's seems higher at first glance at 750%, but keep in mind that he doesn't distribute 100% of his damage like Dilma does, so he actually ends up dealing less damage than Dilma overall for a higher BC cost. Who knows whether this was intentional on Gumi's part or not. In addition, Dilma has his self-buff which fully heals him for 3 turns meaning he's literally invincible for 3 turns unless he gets one-shot. Plus even though Dilma's only got 2 hits on his SBB, that just means he's much easier to get full spark damage with the appropriate teammates. Overall I do think Dilma probably wins this comparison.

• The last unit for today is Loch. Compared to the bow wielding God Piercer, Gravion has better HP ( 375), ATK ( 435) and DEF ( 240) but of course, less REC (-455). No surprises here, again Gravion dominates in all stats but REC and the differences are large enough that the REC advantage Loch has probably doesn't manage to cover the gap so Gravion wins statistically. These two will mainly be competing for the damage dealing slot, so comparing their SBBs (which is the main reason you'd choose one over the other), Loch has a damage modifier of 700% which is almost as high as Gravion's 750%, but unlike poor Gravion who only distributes 80% of his total damage in his SBB, Loch unleashes 100% in one massive hit. In addition, if you're skilled (or have the right units to make it easy), Loch's single hit SBB stands to gain the most benefit from sparking, since you only have to land the one spark for maximum benefit. Gravion does have the higher base ATK so he crosses the gap here but without running the numbers, I don't think he can outdamage Loch with his 80% handicap and this does bridge the handicap allowing Gravion to outdamage Loch at max potential since his raw damage modifier is higher, thanks /u/Xerte, however it's much harder to spark all of Gravion's hits than all of Loch's. I'd have to say that Loch probably wins in the damage dealing role over Gravion in most scenarios as well.

• Gravion's all about the damage and he delivers for the most part. Unfortunately his weird 80% handicap stops him from being the absolute top of the top in this field with Dilma and Loch around but his damage modifier is high enough that he's still way up there in terms of delivering sheer amounts of damage. He may not be the most popular unit, but he's definitely workable in his niche.

Gravion: Indepth Look

• It should be apparent just from looking at those numbers but he has fantastic stats in all departments except REC. Scoring way above average in every parameter.

• The REC is a hindrance for sure, and 1245 is pretty bad, but it's not as unworkable as his previous evolution so it's pretty acceptable in everything but the Anima typing.

• Gravion's Leader Skill is the same as Oulu's and is in fact probably the best purely defensive leader skill in the game. Unfortunately, Gravion himself just isn't a defensive unit so it synergises poorly with his role. Stick to Oulu or even Grah if you want a defensive leader, but Gravion will do in a pinch if you're desperate.

• Gravion's hit counts aren't actually as bad as you might expect for a unit that looks like he does (though I guess having 4 arms and legs might explain it). I mean, they're not great, but 7 normal hits and 10 and 12 for BB/SBB is pretty acceptable overall.

• Gravion's claim to fame is his absolutely massive damage modifier on a MT BB/SBB. He doesn't have any added effects and his fill rate is abysmal so he really depends on being able to dish out large amounts of damage upon activating his SBB to be relevant.

• Thankfully, he comes fully equipped to do that with a 750% damage modifier. Unfortunately though, for some strange reason, Alim/Gumi have saw fit to ensure that Golem actually only distributes 80% of his total potential damage when he uses his SBB.

• What do I mean by this? Well, the glorious datamine has revealed a lot of information, including what percentage of damage each hit of various attacks do and for some units, if you add up the percentages, they don't quite equal 100%. Some of them equal more than 100%, some of them less. Most of them are spot on 100% so if I don't mention it, you can assume that to be the case.

• Unfortunately in Gravion's case, his damage distribution only adds up to 80%, which means he only delivers 80% of his potential damage, which hurts his viability as a damage dealer quite a bit.

• That said, he still hits plenty hard because 750% as a damage modifier is still absurdly huge, but it does mean that the likes of Loch and Dilma who definitely shouldn't be outdamaging him, manage to do so.

• His main niche is still that of a damage dealing unit though, best used in the setting of crit teams or crit/weakness teams to maximise his damage output. That means he really likes Zebra and Mare as leaders. The next best option for him would be the spark damage increasing leaders like Leorone or Behemoth.

• Damage boosting leaders like Earth damage leaders or rainbow damage leaders are less effective since they only stack on damage additively which means they add a relatively small percentage of damage to his overall output since his original damage modifier is so high.

• This also means ATK boosters don't add a whole lot of damage percentage wise either for the same reasons as above. That said, units like Michele are still some of the damage boosters around so this is no reason not to use them on the same team.

• But the buffs Gravion REALLY likes are spark buffs and crit rate buffs (and crit damage too if that was available as a buff, but it's not) since they affect total damage, not base damage and so increase his damage by a LOT. This means he appreciates units like Douglas (who also gives him 30 hits to spark off), Bordebegia, Duel-SGX, Sodis, Raydn, Behemoth etc. etc.

• Gravion also enjoys teammates that can generate a lot of BC to fuel his high cost SBB, so units like Felneus in the leader position, Douglas, Duel-SGX etc. with high hit counts or BC generating buffs are good options as teammates as well.

• In terms of future prospects, Gravion already faces a bit of competition with Dilma and Loch around, and there are some hard hitters down the track as well. Mariudeths and Azael for instance look like they'll be carrying some pretty hefty modifiers but we'll have to see what further datamines reveal.

• Gravion's a really good unit if you need a multiple target damage dealer. There are stronger choices out there, but Gravion is definitely a heavy hitter. However outside that niche, he doesn't have a huge role to play.

Typing Discussion

• As always, the most important thing to note here is that if typing is the only thing holding you back from using a unit, you should definitely just go ahead and use them. Please don't discard units because their typing isn't 'optimal'.

• I like Oracle for Gravion. His REC is low enough that he'd benefit a lot from the typing and his HP remains perfectly respectable at almost 5.9k.

• Guardian'd be my next choice. The extra DEF means you take less damage which in turn means you can tolerate having low REC a bit better.

• His natural stat distribution isn't all too bad so I think Lord is a pretty good choice for third, though you could probably make an argument that Breaker to boost his damage is about on par since he's primarily a damage dealing unit anyway. You could probably even make an argument for Breaker being even higher up, up to you really.

• Lastly probably Anima. Golem's one of the few units where Anima is probably more detrimental than helpful since his REC is already really tenuous and Anima drops it to almost unusable levels. Still usable with the right sphere strategies though, for sure (Soul spear comes to mind and Magress' sphere in JPBF is a perfect choice for Gravion)

That's it guys, hope you enjoyed the read!

As always, I welcome your comments/criticims/encouragements. Please drop an upvote to show your support if you found this helpful. I'd really appreciate the sentiment. <3

Until next time!

Links to previous Analyses