Hey guys, welcome to the latest New Unit Analysis! Today we'll be talking about Hogar, the latest powerhouse to be released in global waters.

We'll see how Hogar compares to other hard hitters as well as how he fares as an ATK buffer. Then we'll see how he fits into the current metagame and his future prospects.

Rates are not yet up - Please do NOT try to summon just yet

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. :>

Brave God Hogar vs. Azael, Mariudeth, Dilma, Michele

Hogar's stats:

Lord: HP 6178 ATK 2321 DEF 1903 REC 1452

Max imp bonuses: HP 1000 ATK 200 DEF 200 REC 200

LS: Increase in damage dealt during spark (spark damage 75%)

Hit count: 5 (drop check count 4/hit)

BB: 6 hit multiple target Light damage (15BC to fill, drop check count 2/hit, damage modifier 160%)

SBB: 2 hit multiple target Light damage and increase to ATK of all allies for 3 turns (40BC to fill, ATK 70%, intrinsic BC drop rate 30%, intrinsic crit rate 20%, drop check count 13/hit, damage modifier 580%)

• Hogar has some really great stats. His HP is excellent, being one of those rare units that actually breaks 6.1k, and only gets better after imps with his excellent HP imp cap. His ATK is also phenomenal, landing him a place as one of the hardest hitting units in the game. His DEF is great too, meaning he's exceptionally bulky. His REC is definitely low for the current era of units, but even Hogar has enough REC after imps to get by with pretty much any typing. Aside from HP, his imp caps are below average, but his excellent base stats ensure he's a top tier unit statistically. His LS is a pure spark damage augmenting LS which we haven't seen in a while. It's a good offensive option in the absence of a Maxwell/Zebra or an absence of a crit rate buffer. His normal attack reaches 20 total drop checks, just tipping over the average range, and making him a very strong arena candidate. His BB is also a quintessential arena BB, and we'll discuss those a bit later on in the In-depth section. His SBB is VERY powerful and very reminiscent of Dilma's and I hope we all now know that Dilma is amongst the most powerful units in the game due to the hidden aspects of his SBB so this bodes well for Hogar.

• Our first unit up for comparison today is Azael. Compared to the Angel of Judgement, Hogar has better HP ( 175) and ATK ( 220) but loses out in DEF (-50) and REC (-115). Comparable stats overall but it's pretty clear that Hogar has it better off in the stats that matter for a hard-hitter, that is HP and ATK, so he probably wins overall statistically. As Arena units, both are light type, and have multiple target BBs. Hogar wins slightly in normal attack drop checks and more significantly in normal attack damage. Hogar's BB fills very quickly, but with Halloween spheres around, Azael's very viable for second turn BBs as well in certain set ups and his higher damage modifier ( 240% vs. 160%) means that his BBs will certainly hurt more. I'd still personally run with Hogar most of the time though because his turn 1 damage is going to be higher and even Hogar's weak BB will probably net you a comfortable win on turn 2. Comparing their SBBs again, Azael has the higher damage modifier at 700% vs. Hogar's 580%, however Hogar's higher ATK means that while he doesn't actually ever beat Azael in damage potential, the difference between the two is fairly minimal. Azael also has 30 drop checks which just beats out Hogar's 26, but not by any significant margin (and on average Hogar wins due to his intrinsic buffs) and a dual element SBB. Hogar in his favour has a much better chance to actually reach his max damage potential due to his 2 hits being much easier to spark than Azael so in most circumstances he'll be doing more overall damage than Azael despite having a lower ceiling to his damage potential. In addition, Hogar's fill rate is FAR superior at 40BC vs. Azael's 55BC, he comes with a useful ATK buff and he has his innate crit and drop rate buffs as well. Overall, I definitely think Hogar is the superior unit.

• Next up is Mariudeth. Compared to the Ex-Emperor of Agni, Hogar has better HP ( 105) and DEF ( 100) but less ATK (-25) and REC (-90). Hogar's the bulkier of the two units, but ATK is the stat that's most important for these two and Mariudeth wins there. It's by a pretty negligible margin, even after imps though so I'd probably still give this one to Hogar statistically, just barely. Both units have sort of second-line damage augmenting LSs that won't be first choice if you have Maxwell/Zebra but are good options if you lack either. Don't dismiss Hogar's LS either, it's actually probably comparable to Mariudeths since crits are never guaranteed. Comparing their SBBs, both have a damage modifier of 580%, and since their base ATKs are roughly the same, they both end up with similar potential damage. Both units are easy to get full sparks as well with low hit counts but 2 hits is a bit easier than 3. Mariudeth has his fairly powerful crit buff which fills in the roll of a powerful damage augmenting buff. Hogar meanwhile is individually a better unit since he produces more BC (26 drop checks vs. 15 and 30% BC drop rate intrinsically), is of a better offensive element and has an intrinsic crit buff on top of his ATK buff. And most importantly, has a 40BC fill rate compared to Mariudeth's 47BC. Overall though, two units that actually work together fantastically on a team if you have someone they can both spark off of. Mariudeth is more vital if you need him for his crit buff but Hogar is individually the better unit if you just need a damage dealer (or if you need an ATK buff).

• Thirdly today is Dilma. Compared to Nemia/Zeln's senpai, Hogar has better HP ( 125), ATK ( 120) and DEF ( 420) but less REC (-585). Hogar definitely has the better base stats at a glance, however after you add in ATK imps, Dilma actually overtakes Hogar in ATK due to his high cap. He only ends up having 80 ATK so Hogar still does negligibly different damage and ends up bulkier so I think Hogar still wins statistically but well done to Dilma. Again both these units are viable for the Arena. Dilma does slightly better on the first turn at max Imps and does more damage with his BB but Hogar will fill more consistently and is a better element (quite important!) so I'd probably still go with Hogar but Dilma is excellent too. Comparing their SBBs, both units have 580% damage modifiers and 40BC fill rates and lots of hidden buffs. Hogar is better at BC generation with his 26 drop checks (Dilma has 24) and a higher intrinsic BC drop rate buff (30% vs. Dilma's 20%). Both units have the same intrinsic crit rate and both units only produce 2 hits so are easy to spark fully with. Hogar is of the better offensive element and has a nice ATK buff but Dilma has DEF ignore and his self-full heal. Overall, it's very close between the two, but I think Hogar's probably the better unit overall (thought not by much at all) outside of situations where DEF ignore is important. You may appreciate Dilma's lack of an ATK buff if you're running a unit like Kuhla or Kuda though since you won't have to adjust the order of your BBs.

• Lastly we have Michele. Compared to the vulgar noble, Hogar has better HP ( 645), ATK ( 395) and DEF ( 400) but less REC (-340). Hogar wins in pretty much all the important areas by really large margins so it's fairly obvious that he's the superior unit statistically. Comparing their SBBs, Michele definitely provides the larger ATK buff at 115% vs. Hogar's 70%, so if you really want to be maximising your ATK buffs you'd be looking at her. However, ATK buffs in the grand scheme of buffs are actually relatively unimportant when compared to crit rate, elemental weakness and spark because they stack additively with the SBB modifier, a difference of 45% ATK is actually relatively inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. I did a quick bit of math (that someone should check), and the rest of your squad needs to have a total base ATK of 14476 for Michele's superior buff to outscale Hogar's superior damage which is... basically impossible to achieve. Importantly, Michele's fire attribute buff is still important against Earthern foes though, so definitely still a useful unit. Hogar in contrast does much more damage with better base ATK and a better damage modifier ( 580% vs. 350%), has better BC generation abilities (26 drop checks vs. 18, 30% BC drop rate) and his intrinsic crit buff. Michele fills slightly faster but at 40BC Hogar's no slouch here either so overall I think Hogar's definitely the better unit overall in all situations except those that would benefit from the Fire attribute buff.

• Monstrous unit number 2 from this batch.

Hogar: Indepth Look

• Great stats. Phenomenal HP/ATK/DEF with a hit in REC, but still probably enough to get by in most scenarios. Does border on a slightly low though.

• Imp boosts his nice HP even further making him very bulky, but his other caps are all below average. Not ideal, but his base stats are so nice that it doesn't matter.

• LS is a pure spark leader skill which is rare nowadays. It's actually a really good option as a damage augmenting leader skill. It's at least on par with Maridueth's crit damage boost since the maximum crit rate you can achieve is 70%, meaning on average you're going to be doing 1.75x damage.

• This means if you can spark about 78% of your hits Hogar's LS matches Mariudeth's

• Admittedly still overall inferior to Maxwell's LS and probably Zebra's/Mare's as well for damage though.

• Normal attack hits 20 drop checks which is enough to suffice Hogar in the Arena which is all that matters.

• His BB is the typical 'arena God' type attack being MT, having a low BC cost and dealing terrible damage.

• With the advent of the Halloween spheres, BC generation is absurd in the Arena nowadays so most of the 'Arena Gods' have fallen out of favour since they don't quite do enough damage to compete. They're still perfectly viable, obviously, they're just no longer the best of the best in the Arena.

• Hogar is an exception because his base ATK is ridiculous. This combined with his unresisted Light typing means that he is still one of the best Arena units in the game. His turn 1 damage is phenomenal and while his BB is weak, his base ATK is high enough that he'll still destroy everyone in his path.

• Hogar's SBB is his other shining glory though. Most people think of Hogar as an Arena unit only and that's not okay. He's actually one of the best damage dealing units in the entire game.

• Like Dilma's he has a 580% modifier and 2 hits, making it already excellent because with base ATK like Hogar, you're going to be dealing a lot of damage, and with practice, sparking Hogar consistently should definitely be within the realms of possibility.

• In addition Hogar has a 70% ATK buff which doesn't sound particularly powerful, but you can think of it as a bonus. If you're using other more powerful ATK buffers like Kuhla, Michele or Kuda, don't fret, just use Hogar last, that's generally when you want to use him in your BB order anyway.

• If you're worried about losing out on team damage by using Hogar as your sole ATK buffer in lieu of Michele, don't be because while ATK buffs are nice when you have them, the fact that Hogar himself is so strong actually contributes more damage than Michele would with her higher ATK buff.

• Hogar, like Dilma has a whole bunch of hidden buffs on his SBB. Firstly, it has 13 drop checks per hit giving a total of 26 which is actually really amazing.

• In addition, he has a 30% intrinsic BC drop rate buff which means that Hogar is actually a really potent BC generator.

• He also has an intrinsic 20% crit rate buff which is also fantastic, particularly for teams where SGX isn't going to be your crit buffer of choice.

• Let's not forget his ludicrously low 40BC fill rate which sits right at the level where it can be filled by Tilith's BB from empty. Something to keep in mind for the Cardes fight.

• Basically in conjunction with being one of the best Arena units in the game, Hogar is also one of the best damaging units in the game, and a fantastic fit onto pretty much any squad. He's just really solid.

• He pairs especially well with Mariudeth (crit buff, fellow hard hitter), Garnan/Bordebegia (Spark, crit, no buff overlap), Elza/Luther/Douglas/Deemo (spark buff, high hit count to spark with) and notably, Sodis (Light ATK buff, spark buff). However any unit that can augment damage in a way distinct from applying an ATK buff, Hogar appreciates.

• Obviously damage augmenting LSs from the likes of Maxwell, Zebra, Mariudeth, Hogar himself etc. are the leaders Hogar likes to be associated with, but he also does exceptionally well on BB-spam teams.

• There are lots of viable alternatives to Hogar, the closest being Dilma who is very similar and still extremely good. Other hard hitters include Azael, Mariudeth and Kajah who also hit very hard but have a few drawbacks that Hogar avoids (e.g. BC generation/Fill cost). In terms of future prospects, you're still looking at one of the best offensive options for any squad even in JPBF.

• Use him guys, he's excellent. He's also the perfect unit for Movember. <3

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'.

• Breaker for Hogar seems ideal. He's both a damage dealer AND an arena specialist and Breaker is probably the most ideal typing for both roles, maximising his damage output.

• Anima's excellent too, it actually leaves his REC a bit low, but it's still very manageable and the extra bulk is appreciated.

• Lord to preserve that damage.

• Oracle's fourth since again, it preserves ATK and Hogar does actually gain some benefit to the REC boost.

• Finally Guardian's ATK penalty hurts Hogar more than it helps him but as always, is still perfectly viable.

That's it guys, hope you found that helpful!

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

Until next time!

Links to previous Analyses