Hey guys, welcome to (another) latest New Unit Analysis! We'll be talking about Luther today as well, just as promised since his batch is very strong and deserves a timely analysis.

We'll be seeing how Luther functions as a principal BC generator as well as a spark buffer in this analysis before taking a look at his general role in the current metagame and his future prospects.

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. :>

Defiant God Luther vs. Bordebegia, Raydn, Douglas, Zellha

Luther's Stats:

Lord: HP 6021 ATK 2179 DEF 1718 REC 1718

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

LS: Increase in damage and BC drop rate during spark (Spark damage 50%, Spark BC drop rate 30%)

Hit count: 10 (drop check count 2/hit)

BB: 15 hit single target Fire damage and chance to inflict Paralysis and Weaken (15BC to fill, Paralysis 80%, Weaken 80%, damage modifier 450%)

SBB: 28 hit multiple target Fire damage and increase damage dealt during spark for all allies for 3 turns (45BC to fill, spark damage 50%, damage modifier 400%)

• Luther's definitely no slouch in the stat department. He's got extremely strong ATK, breaks 6k HP and has pretty decent DEF at 1.7k backed up by a solid REC stat, there's really not much to complain about in the stat department. He doesn't quite top the charts in any particular stat but he gets pretty close with his ATK and everything else is above average at worst. His Leader skill is identical to Leorone's meaning he's actually a very good option as a BB-spam leader, providing pretty decent BC generation ability as well as a substantial damage bonus (spark is really nice). His normal attack has a pretty average total drop check count of 20 meaning it's nothing particularly special. His BB isn't why he's so talked about, but it's probably underestimated a little. It fills extremely quickly and provides more damage output after buffs are laid down than his SBB against a single target with some nice statuses. His SBB is the real kicker though: 28 hits multiple target is as good as it sounds and the spark damage boost is very welcome even if it's not as strong as the 70% tier spark buffs. Very nice.

• First unit up for comparison today is Bordebegia. Compared to the centaur, Luther has better ATK ( 120), DEF ( 65) and REC ( 155) but loses in HP (-200). Pretty minor differences overall. Bordebegia ends up a bit bulkier with his superior HP since the DEF difference is small but Luther hits a bit harder. I don't really think Bordebegia's edge in bulk means he ends up surviving anything Luther wouldn't so I'd probably give Luther the stat advantage for this one. These 2 units have a lot in common. They're both fire units, and they both have BB-spam leader skills, Bordebegia's is probably better for pure BC generation but Luther gives a pretty significant increase in damage so you'll want to go with Luther if you're satisfied with your sustainability. Comparing their BBs/SBB, they both provide a spark buff and in this case Bordebegia's spark buff is stronger at 70% vs. Luther's 50%, in addition Bordebegia has a weak crit rate buff on his SBB which is useful if you have no alternative but can make things a bit annoying when you have a stronger crit buffer that you intend to use. Bordebegia also has stronger damage modifiers overall, particularly against multiple enemies with his 480% SBB. However, Luther makes up for all this by having far superior fill rates (15BC/45BC vs. 34BC/62BC) and far superior BC generation abilities with his 28 hits which also give a large hit count for other units to spark off of. All in all these attributes probably bring more to the table than Bordebegia's more potent buffs for the most part so Luther probably wins out in most situations.

• Next up is Raydn. Compared to the spear fisted guardian, Luther has better ATK ( 270) and REC ( 40), equivalent HP (-1) but less DEF (-195). The REC difference here is pretty negligible. Raydn's obviously a bit bulkier than Luther with his superior DEF but HP is probably the most important stat for bulk and they're equal in that regard. Luther hits harder than Raydn by a fair margin so I think this one has to go to Luther as well since I don't think that DEF difference is enough to beat Luther's offensive advantage. Comparing their BBs/SBBs, once again Raydn has the superior spark buff at 70% and Raydn has the minor bonus of also having DEF ignore under his belt which is nice. This time round though, the damage modifier for Raydn's SBB isn't a big enough upgrade over Luther's ( 430% vs. 400%) to mean that he does more damage than the Defiant God, particularly when ATK buffs are factored in. In addition Luther pretty much doubles Raydn's SBB BC generation capabilities and provides additional team support through his high hit count allowing for many sparks. You do lose out on a bit of spark damage, but overall, again, I think I'd pick Luther over Raydn in most situations. He's really good.

• Thirdly today is the original BB-spam king, Douglas. Compared to our long-reigning king, Luther wins in every stat. He has better HP ( 20), ATK ( 705), DEF ( 30) and REC ( 385). So yeah, clearly Luther wins. To Douglas' credit, they have comparable bulk (basically equal) but Douglas just gets trounced in ATK and REC so Luther is definitely the better unit statistically. Comparing their SBBs, Douglas has always been famous for his 30 hit SBB with a brilliant hit animation and the fantastic spark buff. Luther matches him pound for pound in spark buff power and while he doesn't quite get up to 30 hits, 28 hits is close enough to not matter and has a better damage modifier ( 400% vs. 350%) meaning he does significantly more damage after factoring in his ludicrously higher base ATK. Luther even wins in fill rate but only by a slight margin (45BC vs. Douglas' 47BC). However it should be noted that Douglas' attack animation is by far the better one for sparking. So basically for all intents and purposes, attack animation aside, Luther's basically a much improved version of Douglas, you might think. You'd probably be right for most content, Luther's basically Douglas 2.0. However don't get rid of your Douglasses just yet, there's still life in the guy. There are actually situations where too much damage can be a bad thing and sparking animation is all important. Mainly, I'm talking about Frontier Hunter where killing units too quickly can net you a lower score due to the loss in spark bonus points. Here Douglas still shines as one of the premiere units and will continue to do so for quite a while. Luther's still very good here obviously and probably better than Douglas in basically every other situation but it's definitely something to keep in mind.

Note: I would like to point out here that Douglas' -50% BC drop rate 'penalty' was recently revealed to actually have been secretly a buff. It seems that the game ignores the '-' sign and treats it as a 50% boost to drop rate so Douglas really is still relevant.

• Lastly for today is Zellha. Compared to his war starting trickster of a batch-mate, Luther has better ATK ( 330) and DEF ( 15) but less HP (-20) and REC (-180). These two units have basically equivalent bulk since the differences in HP and DEF are too small to matter but Luther has much superior ATK while losing slightly in REC. I have no trouble giving this comparison to Luther since he not only wins in absolute numbers, but his REC is sufficient enough that Zellha's REC advantage matters very little. Comparing their SBBs, Zellha wins in hit count as well as total drop count and BC generation ability but only by a very slim margin. 28 hits/drop checks vs. 30 hits/drop checks is a very small difference. Unfortunately for Zellha, not only is her base ATK significantly weaker, but her damage modifier is too ( 350% vs. Luther's 400%) so she loses out pretty significantly from a damage perspective. Their hit animations are pretty comparable to eachother as well. In terms of auxillary effects, Zellha has a pretty decent chance of inflicting Injury (which is useful) and Weakness (which is not useful) but honestly these statuses probably pale in comparison to Luther's Spark damage buff in the grand scheme of things. All in all Zellha is a very good unit, but other than being arguably a better offensive element (Light vs. Fire since Light has 'no weak'), she doesn't have a whole lot going for her in comparison to this beast of a unit. Worth considering using over a second Luther if you already have one on your squad though.

• Luther's a beast. In everything other than FH (where he probably loses to Douglas but is still a formidable unit), he replaces what was probably one of the top most units in the metagame for most content.

Luther: Indepth Look

• Nice stats. In particular that ATK stat is really something for a unit that generates as much BC as Luther does. BB-spam teams really got a damage upgrade with the introduction of Luther.

• HP is good at 6k, not spectacular, but pretty decent overall. It's pretty rare for a unit to break 6.1k so it's a bit unfair for me to call it 'average'. His DEF is solid too at 1.7k and his REC is plenty sufficient at 1.7k as well.

• His Leader skill is the same as Leorone's. It's a very nice option to use if you want to be able to BB-spam effectively while also maintaining a bit of extra damage on the side.

• Damage-wise, it beats out Dia's LS by quite a large margin, 50% spark outscales 50% ATK by a long-shot and Luther doesn't even have to run a specific elemental team set up to take advantage of it.

• It's difficult to objectively evaluate how his 30% BC production weighs up to the other BB gauge affecting leader skills, but if Leorone's stint in JPBF was any indication it was sufficient with an Ares' co-leader but probably won't cut it alone.

• His regular BB deserves a mention since it's a bit overlooked. It's completely different from his SBB. It's Single target, has a pretty decent damage modifier at 450%, generates 2 statuses with good probability (one of which is useful, the other not so much) and most importantly, charges lightning quick.

• This is important in raid battles mostly where even with the best BB-spam squads, you'll probably find that while infinite BB is possible, infinite SBB isn't and in those situations Luther can still output good damage.

• His SBB is his main attraction for sure though. 28 hits with a spark damage buff was always going to be insane. His spark damage buff isn't as strong as say, Raydn's, but it's still plenty powerful and the the sheer amound of BC generation potential and sparking potential Luther has is obviously very powerful.

• Plus the damage modifier isn't even bad at 400%, how is that fair? Douglas had his abysmal ATK and sad damage modifier to contend with but Luther isn't having any of that.

• That said, like I mentioned in the comparison section, sometimes you can do TOO much damage, and in FH, Luther suffers slightly from this. Not enough that he's bad in any way shape or form, but enough that Douglas probably performs more optimally even now since enemies will survive till turn 3 for more spark bonus points abuse.

• For everything else though, I think Luther's pretty safe as the current go-to guy for spark damage and BC generation. He's so strong.

• And yeah, I'd just like to reiterate that Luther is still very good for FH, I don't want people not using him in FH because of what I've said.

• He fits into any non-arena team archetype since he's just universally a strong unit but he obviously pairs well with other BB-spam squad members with complementary buffs so the likes of Zelnite, Exvehl, Duel-SGX, Michele, Melchio, Lunaris and Zellha. Leader-wise, again any team archetype is fine so most leaders not named Dia (and even then, with the correct friend, it's fine) are compatible but special mention to Deemo who really loves Luther's ability to spark with people.

• Arena wise, 15BC fill rate for his BB is very nice and his ATK power is also nice, but his BB's only single target so that sucks. It'll definitely kill whoever it connects with but there are probably more optimal units to use on an Arena squad.

• In terms of future prospects. Well, there's Erza who is just unfairly good and basically does everything Luther does bit a bit better which sucks. But does that make Luther bad in the future? Er... no. Luther is still top tier for sure.

• Congratulations if you pulled a Luther, you've got yourself one heck of a good unit!

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'.

• Thoughts may have changed since the Batch Analysis - a word of warning.

• Anima is probably his most optimal type, his REC is sufficient to take the hit just fine and HP can always use a boost and his ATK remains intact.

• I actually like Breaker second best to be honest. One of his best features is that he deals very good damage for a unit of his role so boosting that further (to a pretty ridiculous 2.3k) is certainly a good thing. His DEF suffers slightly but 1.5k with 6k HP isn't too terrible and I doubt there's a lot out there that gives Breaker Luther trouble that wouldn't also kill say, Guardian Luther.

• Lord and Guardian Luther are both still excellent though. Luther's natural stat distribution is pretty solid and Guardian makes him pretty durable with 1.9k DEF though at the cost of reducing his ATK to just under 2k which is still fine, but a pity.

• Lastly Luther has too much REC and not enough HP to want this typing, unfortunately. Keeping his ATK intact is pretty cool though.

That's it guys! All done, just as promised.

As always, I welcome your comments/criticims/encouragements. If you enjoyed the read, please drop an upvote on your way out, I'd really appreciate the support. <3

Until next time!

Links to previous Analyses