Hey guys, welcome to the latest New Unit Analysis! Today we'll be having a look at Zelnite, one of the most anticipated members of this latest batch.

We'll go through how Zelnite compares to other similar units and then we'll see how he fits into 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. :>

Thief God Zelnite vs. Lodin, Uda, Ronel, Phee

Zelnite's stats:

Lord: HP 6022 ATK 2003 DEF 1910 REC 1920

Max imp bonuses: HP 750 ATK 300 DEF 300 REC 300

LS: Boost to BC, HC, Zel, Karma and Item drop rate (BC drop rate 18%, HC drop rate 18%, item drop rate 3%, Karma drop rate 10%, Zel drop rate 15%)

Hit count: 13 (drop check count 2/hit)

BB: 14 hit multiple target Earth damage and instantly fills allies' BB gauge by a small amount (28BC to fill, BB gauge fill 8BC, damage modifier 240%)

SBB: 17 hit multiple target Earth damage, instantly fills allies' BB gauge by a small amount and boost to BC, HC, and Item drop rate for 3 turns (48BC to fill, BB gauge fill 8BC, BC drop rate 15%, HC drop rate 15%, item drop rate 3%, damage modifier 400%)

• After imps, Zelnite has better stats than Maxwell. Yeah. He's pretty good. Boasting not a single stat below 1.9k, Zelnite is definitely way up there in stat total and his HP surpasses 6k which is pretty good as well. His imp bonuses are average, but they don't need to be amazing when you have a base stat total that looks like Zelnite's. Zelnite is the ultimate utility unit with a LS that boosts drop rates of absolutely everything, making farming a breeze. In addition, the boost to BC and HC drop rate means he acts as a very acceptable BB spam leader as well. His normal attack is actually very good at 26 total drop checks making him a solid arena unit. His BB and SBB can both (almost) instantaneously fill the BB gauge of your units, which is a very rare effect that has a few interesting applications we'll discuss later down the track. In addition, his SBB again, increases drop rates for pretty much everything making Zelnite one of the premiere farming units in the game as well as a formidable BB gauge sustaining utility unit. His reputation is well deserved indeed.

• First unit up for comparison today is Lodin. Compared to the one-winged warrior, Zelnite has better HP ( 850), DEF ( 380) and REC ( 95) but loses out in ATK (-120). While Lodin does hit a bit harder, his offensive power is definitely completely eclipsed by Zelnite's much better bulk. Imps don't help Lodin out much either, so Zelnite definitely wins statistically. Lodin also has a BB gauge filling LS, though his works by increasing the effectiveness of BC rather than increasing the drop rate. Due to the way Zelnite's BC drop rate increasing LS scales with BC production, Zelnite actually is probably the more potent BB gauge sustaining leader. The in-depth comparison has the calculation to show this. Lodin does tack on a bit of extra ATK when he's on a rainbow team, but ATK boosting in general isn't a particularly good way to up your offense and the rest of Zelnite's LS attributes probably outscale that advantage Lodin has particularly since there's no elemental requirement. Comparing their BBs/SBBs, Lodin is one of the only other units capable of insta-filling the BB-gauge by a small amount. However, the difference here is that Lodin only has it available on his non-damaging BB while Zelnite has it on his damaging BB and his damaging SBB so Zelnite's definitely a better user of it. Overall, unless you need Lodin's thunder elemental buff, he's pretty much outright inferior to Zelnite, dealing less damage after damage modifiers (particularly if imped), having overall worse BB gauge manipulating buffs and not having other attributes like HC drop rate buffs or item farming buffs. And at 40BC, his fill rate isn't significantly better than Zelnite's either so Zelnite definitely wins overall.

• Second today is Uda. Compared to the God with an inferiority complex, Zelnite has better ATK ( 55) and REC ( 220) but less HP (-10) and DEF (-40). There's not much to say about these two statistically, they're basically identical statistically, the only significant difference being REC and that doesn't impact too much on gameplay at the levels we're talking about. Even their imp bonuses are identical. Zelnite probably wins technically based on stat total, but you can think of them as functionally identical statistically. Leader skill comparison is interesting. If you consider the skills in a vacuum, Zelnite actually has the very slightly stronger LS for most units increasing average BC production by 51%, that 18% looks small but it's actually really potent. In actuality though, when you add in BC drop rate buffs like Uda's SBB or even Zelnite's own SBB, the relative effectiveness of Zelnite's LS drops off slightly as a percentage so Uda is still more potent as a BB-spam leader. However, it's very close. Zelnite is almost as effective as Uda is and provides a whole heap of other benefits to the table including HC drop rate increases and better farming abilities. Comparing their SBBs, it's similar, Uda's BC drop rate buff is more potent (25% vs. 15%), but Zelnite gives a whole bunch of other bonuses including again, HC drop rate and importantly his incredibly useful 8BC insta-fill. The rest of their attributes are pretty similar so there's really not a whole lot of reason to use Uda over Zelnite (which is unfortunate since Uda is a fairly recent unit) unless your set-up is such that Zelnite's not quite enough to net you SBB-spam consistently, but with most top end set-ups, that'd be rare. This doesn't mean Uda isn't great, it's just that Zelnite is kind of insane.

• Next up is Ronel. Compared to the power-crazy angel, Zelnite has better ATK ( 125), DEF ( 180) and REC ( 120) but less HP (-10). HP is pretty much identical and Zelnite wins in every other stat so it's pretty safe to say that he wins statistically. Both units have identical imp caps. Comparing their SBBs, Zelnite's BC and HC drop rates are actually directly inferior to Ronel's ( 15% for each for Zelnite, 25% for each for Ronel), so don't underestimate the angel, but Zelnite has other things going for him. First of all, although Ronel has a better damage modifier of 480% vs. Zelnite's 400%, Zelnite's higher base ATK means they either do comparable damage with no buffs or Zelnite starts to beat her once you add in some ATK augmentation, in addition, Zelnite has the very useful and important instant BB-gauge fill effect. Being able to restore 8BC at will can ensure the difference between life and death if your Healer/Damage mitigator wasn't ready for a turn. Zelnite obviously also has his farming abilities in his favour and finally, importantly, Zelnite's SBB fill cost is less obnoxious than Ronel's at 48BC to fill compared to her 64BC. Overall, despite Ronel putting up a good fight with her powerful buffs, this comparison definitely goes to Zelnite.

• Lastly we have Phee. Compared to the genocide proponent, Zelnite has better HP ( 45), ATK ( 280) and DEF ( 50) but less REC (-130). Zelnite has pretty sky high REC already so Phee's one advantage isn't really that significant. These two units have pretty comparable bulk though Zelnite wins very slightly here and the real clincher is that Zelnite hits much harder than Phee which means he wins this comparison statistically. With Imps Phee actuall ends up getting the best of Zelnite HP-wise, but the differences elsewhere are exacerbated so Zelnite still wins. As a BB-spam leader, Zelnite is actually probably more potent than Phee since she doesn't quite get up to a Ares' level on her own while Zelnite is more comparable but they're both pretty good options. Comparing their SBBs, Phee is the queen of HC generation with her BB and SBB both giving powerful HC drop rate buffs ( 25% on SBB vs. Zelnite's 15%). Interestingly, if you use Zelnite as a leader, he surpasses her in HC generation (only slightly though) since his LS stacks with his SBB but Phee still wins overall since her SBB's self HC drop rate buff means she drops a guaranteed 15HC with her SBB. Where she can't keep up is BB gauge maintenance and there Zelnite has a pretty awesome combination of good LS, a BC drop rate buff on SBB and an 8BC insta fill. It doesn't help Phee that Zelnite also does more damage than her since while they have the same damage modifier, Zelnite's base ATK is much stronger. Phee's a good unit, but Zelnite's versatility probably means he beats her overall.

• Zelnite's a bit of a jack of all trades, master of...all trades type unit. He might not be TOP of the TOP in any one role, but he performs all of them to a VERY high standard in one handy package so he's just excellent all round.

Zelnite: Indepth Look

• Pretty amazing stats. As far as baseline stats go, not quite on par with Maxwell (but who is), but given Maxwell's low imp caps, Zelnite actually ends up with stronger stats than her in every category after max Imps so that's very impressive.

• His LS is on par with Ares'. If you look at the numbers, you might not understand how he can compare to an Ares' Excelsior LS in term sof BC generation, but let me assure you he can.

• The base drop rate of BC per check for most units is 35%, Zelnite increases BC drop rate with his LS by 18% giving a total of 53% drop rate. 53/35 = 151%, so this is a 51% increase in actual BC production for most units which is equivalent in power to Ares' excelsior which increases the effect of BC by 50% and more powerful than the likes of Lodin/Dia who only increase BC effect by 30%.

• The reason it's not QUITE as good as Ares' is that as soon as you add a BC drop rate buff from another source (even Zelnite's own SBB buff), the proportion by which his LS increases BC production becomes less than 51%, so with any BC drop rate on board, Ares' will be the stronger skill in potency.

• However Zelnite comes pretty close to matching it and for most team setups, Zelnite will be adequate in allowing you to maintain consistent BB-spam on 2 targets which is basically the threshold you need to reach to be effective and once you hit that threshold, there's no point in going any higher.

• Zelnite's LS also carries a host of other capabilities. Obviously for farming Zel/Items, you can't really beat him, but we won't focus on those since they're not relevant to his battle prowess. Very useful for farming materials for spheres though.

• His HC drop rate LS effect is also very potent. The base drop rate for HC is 10% for most units, so Zelnite more than doubles your party's HC drop rate just by being the leader.

• This combination of BC and HC production is what makes Zelnite such a good leader and basically almost obsoletes other BB-spam leaders if you have. Felneus and Uda really have their work cut out for them to be used in lieu of Zelnite. However Deemo is still excellent because her LS is so powerful. In addition, Lilly Matah keeps her niche as well since she's still the queen of single target BC generation. Zellha and Phee struggle a bit to keep up with Zelnite as well.

• His normal attack is very nice at 26 drop checksand Zelnite actually makes a pretty excellent Arena unit, particularly as a leader. He faces the problem of not producing a lot of first turn damage though.

• His BB and SBB are excellent too. They share an 8BC insta-fill, an effect currently only shared by Lodin (I believe), and Lodin's unable to do damage while using it. In the future, Shida will boast a slightly stronger effect but again, can't deal damage while using it.

• This effect has a lot of applications as you don't have to end your turn in order to gain BC from it, it aids in maintaining your BB gauges for BB spam for one, and importantly, you can also use it to get off emergency heals/damage mitigation BBs in Trials/Raid Battles in those situations where you're just short of BC.

• This effect alone makes Zelnite one of the most versatile units in the game.

• In addition to this, he also has a fairly weak BC drop rate and HC drop rate buff on his SBB. While they don't compare in potency to the likes of Phee or Ronel or Uda etc. in power, having both of them in the one unit IN CONJUNCTION with his instant fill makes him a very effective unit all round.

• Zelnite fares very well as the leader of a BB-spam squad, so he pairs well with units that have high drop check counts as well as units that can provide offensive buffs for the rest of the team since he doesn't provide any of his own. Units like Luther, Elza, Hogar, Dilma, Michele, Duel-SGX, Maxwell etc. are all fantastic units for Zelnite to pair with.

• Currently, even in JPBF, Zelnite's probably the best general purpose BB-spam leader in the game so he's got a fairly long run ahead of him.

• BB-spam leader/squad member, pseudo-healer, unique mid-turn BB-gauge manipulator, item farmer, arena leader Zelnite can do it all in one and performs each role to a high standard.

• Where he loses out is BB-sustaining against single target fights where BC gen is scarce. In those situations, batchmate Lilly Matah reigns supreme and effects like the likes of Cardes' that retain part of your BB gauge become more valuable.

• Fantastic unit. End of story.

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 from the batch overview

• Anima Frontier. He's got excellent REC and his HP is only slightly above average so this typing helps him quite a lot.

• Breaker/Lord next, these two types are probably on par but I personally prefer Breaker for Zelnite because I don't think the loss in DEF really hurts him all that much.

• Guardian 4th, 200 extra DEF (cf. Lord) means 67 extra damage mitigation per attack, so even after 10 attacks in a single turn, you're still only taking 670 less damage compared to Lord Zelnite.

• Lastly Oracle, for the same reasons that Anima is good.

That's it guys! Hope you enjoyed the read.

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

Until next time!

Links to previous Analyses