Hey guys! Long time no see, was a hectic last couple of weeks because of work. :> Welcome to the Latest New Unit Analysis, in any case. We'll be talking about Zurg today.

We won't be doing any comparisons, not because there aren't any relevant ones, but mostly because I'm going to be away for a few weeks in the near future and I want to get a head start pre-writing some analyses before I go so you guys still have regular updates while I'm gone.

Let's get started!

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. :>

God of Decay Zurg

Zurg's stats:

Lord: HP 5300 ATK 1800 DEF 1500 REC 1100

Max imp bonuses: HP 500 ATK 160 DEF 160 REC 280

LS: Boost ATK proportional to %HP remaining (ATK (current HP/Max HP * 100)%)

Hit count: 11 (drop check count 2/hit)

BB: 13 hit multiple target Dark damage, chance to inflict Weakness and Injury (30BC to fill, Weak 60%, Injury 60%, damage modifier 200%)

Zurg: Indepth Look

• Zurg is the 3rd of the series of farmable bosses that we encounter during the questline.

• Like Mare and Zebra, Zurg comes with his own unique Leader Skill that isn't replicated by any other unit, but is also limited to his 5* form. He is free though, so there's no real downside to getting him except time/energy/frustration.

• Without a 6* evolution, Zurg's stats are pretty bad and don't really keep up with the 6* metagame that well.

• He doesn't fare too badly and is certainly very good for a 5* unit. His ATK is actually pretty decent, rivalling Farlon's 6* ATK, but with 5300 HP, he's pretty fragile with terrible REC. Basically statistically, he's well below the current standard and even his most impressive stat (ATK) is only mediocre in the current metagame.

• His Imp caps are pretty bad too, so he doesn't get a lot of help there.

• However stats never kept Zebra and Mare from being viable for a long time. The interesting thing about these units are their unique Leader Skills.

• While Zebra and Mare have had their spotlight stolen recently by their various nerfs and the introduction of the outright superior Maxwell, Zurg is still very strong in his own little niche.

• Zurg's Leader Skill is an ATK boosting Leader Skill. It boosts the ATK of all your units by a percentage equal to the percentage of HP they had remaining.

• For example, if a unit is at full health (i.e. 100% HP remaining), Zurg grants 100% to that unit's ATK. If your unit had 25% HP remaining, they would only receive 25% ATK.

• ATK boosting leader skills are generally falling out of favour for most in-game content. While they definitely increase your normal attack damage by a large amount, because they stack additively with large BB/SBB damage modifiers, whenever you use your BB/SBB, the percentage by which ATK boosts increase your damage becomes relatively small in comparison to say, crit damage, elemental weakness damage or spark damage.

• For most situations, you are much better off running a Crit damage Leader (Maxwell, Zebra, Mariudeth etc.), Elemental weakness damage Leader (Mare, Maxwell, etc.) or even a spark damage leader (Many options). These leader skills will increase your damage much more noticeably than Zurg.

• In addition Zurg offers no other component to his Leader Skill than damage augmentation so even units like Dia/Lodin have a one-up on him since they also offer some BB-spam utility.

• Sounds pretty bad right? Zurg isn't a particularly great unit for general questing, Frontier Hunter, Vortex dungeons, Trials etc. I mean, he's okay, but there are definitely much better units out there for the leader position and he doesn't offer enough outside the Leader Skill to be worth taking.

• However there's one area of the game that he does very well in and that's the Arena.

• The Arena is a bit different from other areas of the game. ATK boosting leader skills are actually very strong in this context. This is because they are the most reliable and potent way of augmenting the damage of normal attacks.

• Normal attacks are kind of the key to Arena. BBs are important because they win you matches when they go off, but augmenting the damage of BBs isn't super important since most of them kill even with no damage augmentation.

• Your number one priority should probably still be getting to the point where you can be ready to unleash at least 3-4 or even 5 BBs by your second turn in the Arena.

• Prior to the Halloween event and the release of Lexida from Selena's dungeon, this was a difficult feat to achieve without the help of a BB-gauge fill augmenting Leader and/or units with low BB-gauge fill count (e.g. Farlon, Hogar, Ophelia, Lira etc.)

• However with the release of the 2 Halloween spheres and Lexida (which give units like Grybe, Elza, Kuda and the like insane BC generation), it's very easy to fill the majority of your squads BB-gauges regardless of what units you choose to use.

• With BC generation no longer being as much of an issue, Zurg becomes one of the best Arena leaders in the game.

• For one, Zurg's LS has no restrictions. You can use anyone you like with him.

• Secondly, there is no one else that gives you better damage augmentation on normal attacks. In the Arena, you are guaranteed to go first and your units start with 100% HP, which means on your first turn, Zurg gives 100% ATK to all your units. The only unit to come close to that is Rhein who gives 75% ATK for the first 2 turns.

• However Rhein's LS, like Lugina's fails to stack with Amanohabakens while Zurg's stacks just fine and even if it didn't it'd still be better.

• Zurg by far gives you the best possible Arena first turn available in Global at the moment. He allows units with high base ATK to one-shot anything they touch in the Arena and with BC generation coming from Lexida/Hallowed Skull/Sinister Orb, you'll still be able to fill your BB gauges just fine by second turn.

• And you should be using those orbs, because the extra damage they provide to normal attacks through their extra attacks stacks multiplicatively with Zurg's LS (though this is the same for any ATK boosting LS).

• Despite being a 5* unit, I think Zurg is probably the best Arena Leader available in the game at this point in time. Later on when crazy things like Turn 1 BBs are possible, Zurg might not be so dominant, but he's truly excellent at the moment.

• If you don't have all 3 of those spheres, 2 is definitely enough (Hallowed Skull Lexida), if you weren't around for Halloween, Lexida alone with units like Elza/Kuda should also be pretty acceptable, but otherwise you may want to consider sticking with Lodin/Dia/other tried and true arena leaders.

• As for how Zurg fares in the arena himself. Not too badly. His low stats actually don't matter as much in the Arena since really ATK is the only stat to care about (and HP to some extent). While his HP isn't great, his ATK is actually pretty acceptable. It's not amazing by any stretch of the imagination but it equals for instance, Farlon who has been regarded as an Arena God for quite some time.

• He is also a dark type unit, so no one resists his element.

• His normal attack is pretty decent as well 22 total drop checks is definitely above average.

• His BB is a bit of a let down. It's multiple target which is nice, but its fill rate is a bit steep. If it goes off, it'll still wipe or put a dent on the enemy team but you may find difficulty actually filling it because it costs 30BC. The bonus status effects are useless in the Arena since your opponents will be dead.

• Zurg actually has a great Arena AI set though:

• Check 1: Use BB on random target (60% chance)

• Check 2: Use BB on enemy with highest ATK (20% chance)

• Check 3: Use normal attack on enemy with lowest HP (30% chance)

• Check 4: Use normal attack on random enemy (100% chance)

• No HP threshold requirement on using his BB means he has one of the best chances to do so if he manages to fill it. Not bad at all.

• Zurg appreciates teammates with high drop checks on their normal attacks because his LS does not provide any help with BB gauge filling. This includes units like Grybe, Elza, Kuda, Melchio Lucina etc.

• He also enjoys units with high base ATK to really take advantage of his massive ATK boost. Grybe, Elza and Kuda are ideal candidates but units like Hogar/Dilma are also good choices since while Hogar's drop check count isn't as high end as the three just mentioned, he has a very fast BB gauge fill rate to make up for it.

• Sphere choices for the team should probably include some combination of: Lexida, Hallowed Skull, Sinister Orb, Amanohabaken and the Aegis Cloak ideally.

• Personally I see this as the new Arena meta (if there is such a thing), and he'll remain top tier until the BB gauge cost reduction Leader Skill is buffed and turn 1 BBs become a thing.

• Basically in summary, Zurg is a unit that has a very specialised niche (Arena) that he does very well. He's not a particularly notable unit outside that niche, but he's definitely very strong in the Arena with the right units to support him.

• Plus he's free, so you might as well farm for him.

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'.

• Easy as pie.

• Breaker is the standard Arena type and applies to Zurg. Damage is all important in the Arena since nothing survives for long.

• Anima next since it offers bonus survivability without sacrificing damage.

• Lord next because it doesn't sacrifice damage

• Oracle next because it doesn't sacrifice damage

• Guardian last because it DOES sacrifice damage

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