Hey guys, welcome to the latest New Unit Analysis! Today we'll be talking about Leorone, who you might recognise from the Chronicles of Narnia, as Aslan.

We'll be looking at how he compares to some fellow light units and other support characters as well as how he fares in the current metagame and 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. :>

Leorone vs. Sefia, Melchio, Zelban, Michele

Leorone's Stats:

Lord: HP 5944 ATK 2000 DEF 1711 REC 2000

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

LS: Boost to spark damage and increase in BC production during spark (Spark damage 50%, BC drop rate during spark 30%)

Hit count: 6 (drop check count 2/hit)

BB: Increases ATK/DEF/REC of all allies for 3 turns (25BC to fill, ATK 65%, DEF 65%, REC 65%)

SBB: 10 hit multiple target Light damage and increases ATK/DEF/REC of all allies for 3 turns (40BC to fill, ATK 70%, DEF 70%, REC 70%, damage modifier 360%)

• It's plain as day that Leorone has golden stats. I mean you take one look and see his lowest stat is DEF which is still sitting at a fantastic 1.7k while his ATK and REC are phenomenal. His HP doesn't particularly stand out, but it's hardly weak either. Leorone is the stat monster to end stat monsters currently. His Leader skill is very good, allowing him to supplement BB-spam's relatively low damage output while still maintaining very good BB fill rates. His hit count is pretty sad and his attack animation isn't anythign special either. Leorone is a support unit through and through and his BB and previous evolutions reflected that, providing the only whole party ATK/DEF/REC buff in the game, a very powerful combination of buffs. His SBB gains a multiple target attack on top of that, for BC generation and to tack on a bit of extra damage which is very handy. Plus he looks awesome guys.

• First up for comparison today is Sefia. Compared to swordswoman of eight blades, Leorone has better REC ( 555) but actually loses by small margins in every other stat: HP (-55), ATK (-80), DEF (-70). In actuality, the differences in those stats is so low that you can basically call Leorone on par with Sefia in all those areas and the one area he does win in, he wins by significant margins, so despite losing in 3 out of 4 stats, Leorone probably still wins the battle statistically. Sefia easily wins in hit count though with her 10 hits to Leorone's 6. Comparing their SBBs, Sefia has the better damage multiplier ( 460% vs. 360%) and also a high (70%) chance to inflict paralysis, but Leorone's ATK/DEF/REC buff just a fantastic asset to any team that he's on. On a mono-light team, ideally you'd run both concurrently for Sefia's LS and Leorone's buffs, on any other team archetype, I'd say generally you'd get more utility out of Leorone unless you're running duplicate buffs. Overall though, I'd give this one to Leorone for sheer utility.

• Next up is Melchio. Compared to our 10-winged harbinger of doom, Leorone has better HP ( 435), ATK ( 230) and REC ( 190) but less DEF (-100). The DEF difference here isn't enough to outscale Leorone's HP advantage so Melchio loses in both bulk and offensive power here, and to add insult to injury also loses in sustainability since Leorone's REC is absurdly high. Leorone definitely wins statistically. Comparing their hit counts, Melchio's 13 hits (and yeah, it's 13, not 15) is pretty awesome, not matched by many and definitely beats Leorone's pithy 6 hit combo. Comparing their SBBs, it's Melchio's light attribute buff, hit count, status immunity almost guaranteed weakness damage vs. Leorone's superior damage multiplier and ATK/DEF/REC buff. The damage modifier difference here isn't as significant as in other cases, Melchio sporting 300% vs. Leorone's 360%, but it is amplified by the difference in base ATK between the two, Melchio makes that up and then some when he does weakness damage and Leorone doesn't though. Ultimately though, the deciding factor when choosing to use one over the other (and feel free to use both at once, honestly) is which buff you prefer. In battles where status runs rampant, you need the extra hit count or you already have a buffer that renders Leorone a tad redundant (seeing as his buffs are fairly common), Melchio is probably the better choice, otherwise Leorone is just very solid all round. Too context dependent to call a true winner here but on most top tier teams, I'd argue that Melchio runs into less problems with buff redundancy.

• Third we have Zelban. Compared to Atro's instructor, Leorone has better HP ( 420) and ATK ( 500), exactly equal REC and less DEF (-120). Again, the large HP difference isn't really overcome by Zelban's slightly better DEF and the ATK difference here is massive so Leorone definitely wins statistically again. There's not really much of an appreciable difference here in hit count (7 for Zelban vs. 6 for Leorone) so Zelban doesn't really make up any ground here. Comparing their SBBs, their damage modifiers are basically equal (360% for Leorone, 350% for Zelban), but Zelban's terrible ATK stat means he deals much less damage overall than Leorone so Leorone has the offensive advantage for sure. Hit count wise, Zelban wins, but only by 2 hits, so not by a large margin. Comparing their buffs, Zelban has the highest DEF buff in the game so he definitely wins there (115% vs. Leorone's 70%), but Leorone also has an ATK and REC buff under his belt and while DEF buffs are good, they actually don't scale all that well in practice since only 0.3 of your DEF is actually used to mitigate damage. So the difference in buff strength isn't actually as large as you might expect (only around 12-13%*DEF actual damage mitigation per ATK). Zelban's earth buff is also actually a really good buff, but I still don't think it's enough to tip you over to using Zelban over Leorone considering that Leorone is just a much better unit individually as well. Leorone takes this one.

• Lastly we have Michele. Compared to the foul-mouthed axe-wielder, Leorone has better HP ( 410), ATK ( 70), DEF ( 205) and REC ( 205). So yeah, beats her in every stat, Leorone is a stat monster. Michele's certainly not a top tier unit because of her stats though. Her hit count is phenomenal at 15 vs. Leorone's sad 6 hit combo for one, and her SBB is fantastic as well. Comparing their SBBs, like Zelban, Michele only increases one stat compared to Leorone's three, but by huge amounts. Michele sports the largest ATK buff in the game at 115%, while Leorone is stuck at 70%. Leorone also has his DEF/REC buffs under his belt while Michele has her superior SBB hit count (18) and fire attribute buff under hers. All in all, if you want to maximise damage, Michele's your obvious bet who not only provides an extra element attribute to inflict weakness damage with but also the stronger buff and extra hit count for maintaining BB-spam. I'd say that due to her hit count and fire attribute buff she's probably the more useful unit overall in most cases, but it's fair to say that their ATK buffs aren't actually all that far apart in strength when used on units with high enough damage modifiers (e.g. Kajah, Dilma, Loch, Gravion) so Leorone's a pretty acceptable alternative. You might even just prefer him because he gives a more defensive tint to your party.

• Leorone's a great unit. He'd have much more shine to him if Global had followed the JP release schedule since he wouldn't have to contend with the likes of Michele and his Leader Skill would have had more lustre, but he's still excellent through a combination of great buffs and excellent stats.

Leorone: Indepth Look

• Like I've already said, phenomenal stats. People have been throwing around terms like "highest weighted stat total in the game", which is a bit rubbish because they've chosen an arbitrary way to weight ATK/DEF/REC against HP which probably doesn't reflect what's going on in game accurately, but the sentiment that he is without a doubt one of the strongest units statistically in the game is true enough.

• His Leader Skill is actually really good. There was a time in JPBF where Leorone was a very sought after leader to use in conjunction with Felneus, but alas, not so in Global.

• In the era before Duel-SGX (which was when he was meant to be released), his leader skill would have had a lot more lustre to it, since spark damage was the most practical way to augment the relatively low damage of BB-spam teams.

• With the advent of Duel-SGX, suddenly Zebra leaders surged in popularity to use in conjunction with BB-spam, if not full crit, since he provides a much more potent source of damage augmentation that's technically available for free as long as you have a Duel-SGX.

• Not everyone has a Duel-SGX though, and Leorone's LS is actually still pretty damn good. It's definitely not a bad choice to use at all in conjunction with an Ares' leader since it gives you a good boost to overall damage while allowing you to maintain excellent BC generation capabilities.

• Leorone is primarily a support unit. His buff boosts all 3 major stats (HP doesn't really get boosted by anything, understandably) and Leorone is the only unit in existence capable of providing all 3 buffs at once, which is fantastic.

• Providing all 3 buffs comes at a price though, his buffs aren't as strong as some units with individual buffs (i.e. Michele's batch), and all of the buffs are relatively common individually so you'll often find that you run into a little redundancy with Leorone's buffs if you try to include him in your teams.

• His MT attack on his SBB is pretty nice, since he can now put his excellent ATK stat to work. 10 hits is okay, but not amazing. Still certainly better than nothing though

• His main competition in this department is Michele who provides probably his most sort after buff (ATK) in a stronger form and has other attributes like fantastic hit count and the fire attribute buff under her belt which makes her a more attractive option in a lot of cases.

• You shouldn't discount the value of Leorone's DEF/REC buffs though, particularly his REC buff. It's actually really potent. People who have used Leorone extensively will know that you definitely see a difference in your sustainability. Suddenly those heart crystals seem like mini-potions so if you want a defensive spin to your party configuration, you can't go wrong with Leorone.

• In addition, he's a fantastic pull particularly for beginning players since he's really the whole package in one handy unit and instantly makes most teams a lot stronger just by being on it.

• Mono-light is also on the precipice of being pretty viable with their own version of BB-spam on the horizon with Zellha arriving soon (though we'll have to wait for her 6* evolution for this to truly take effect) and Leorone is BY FAR the best provider of his buffs for that element. A shoe-in for mono-light BB-spam for sure.

• For teammates, Leorone himself doesn't particularly need any teammates to function since he's the one supporting THEM. Since he provides 3 buffs in one, he works well on pretty much every team, it'd be easier to list the units he DOESN'T work well with, which are basically units that have overlap with his buffs (e.g. Michele, Zelban, Lucina, Elimo etc.).

• That's not to say he can't be used with those units, but he does lose some of his efficiency.

• In terms of future prospects, he's still unique in the fact that he provides all 3 buffs in one unit so he really just continues on like he does in the current metagame, still facing competition from the likes of Michele etc. I guess Dalvanshel gives him a run for his money in his defensive niche but that's not really a good comparison either.

• All in all, a very good unit, who's only real problem is that he's a jack of all trades, master of none.

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'.

• Leorone really likes Anima. He's got so much REC that he cares nothing for the drop and he gets a nice HP boost for basically free. Plus he preserves his ATK for use on his newfound offensive SBB, which is very nice.

• Guardian next. Dropping his ATK stat is a shame considering his offensive SBB but he's still primarily a support unit and survivability is therefore very important for him.

• Lord in the middle, his natural stat distribution is excellent, just look at those numbers.

• He gets some use out of Breaker with his naturally high ATK and offensive SBB so this comes next. Hurting his DEF isn't ideal though, given his supportive nature and the fact that DEF was always his 'weakest' stat anyway.

• Lastly Oracle, there's not really a unit in existence that needs more than 2k REC. He has such high stat totals that he hardly suffers too badly from this typing though. Definitely still useable.

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

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

Until next time!

Links to previous Analyses