The second limited unit in this game arrived! As an AoE Sniper, she’s automatically one of my favorite units, no question asked. I’m not even hiding my bias, that’s right. But in the interest of making a guide I swear I will try to keep things objective. So get your snacks and drinks ready, since this is the longest post I've ever made and I apologize for the wall. I'll bold up the part that I think is important though, so look out for those.
​
​
I know she's a Sarkaz, but is that a bat on the top right of the background? Is she a Vampire like Warfarin and Closure?

Overview

AoE Sniper is actually better than what people give them credit for, but that’s just relativity and the people’s tendency for extreme/exaggeration statement. They share one or two weaknesses as AoE Caster but have enough of other stuffs to make up for them partially. With long range, splash damage, high evasion, team support damage amplifier, hard crowd control, consistent damage, and a big burst capable to rival that of Firewatch, W enters the Arknights world as a playable operator.

Stats

- Offensive stats:
Of all snipers, AoE Sniper’s base ATK is one of the highest, losing only to Wide Range Sniper, and whatever Rosa’s archetype is. And because W is a 6* unit, she will have the highest ATK among the AoE Snipers, and as a quick note, losing to Ambriel by only 40 ATK at max. As with high base ATK units though, their attack rate often is reduced to compensate. AoE Snipers attack once every 2.8s, which is just longer than Wide Range Sniper (2.7s), and just faster than Medics (2.85s), and AoE casters (2.9s). Control Specialists are their own thing we don’t count them.
- Defensive stats:
Despite that high ATK, their HP isn’t that massively shafted to balance it out. AoE Snipers’ HP is actually among the highest of the Snipers, but W’s HP isn’t necessarily notable among her kin. She lost out to Shirayuki by 25HP at max, lost out to May(!) and Exu. As for DEF, she’s average among the sniper, if not below average. Now that’s for base stats only, W has something else to offer her even more survivability with her kit, which we will get into later on.
- Cost:
As with any AoE unit in this game, their cost is higher in respect, and for AoE Sniper, it’s quite bad for one other reason as well. For W specifically, she gets hit by 1 other reason, she’s a 6* unit, the highest rarity in the game. Starting at 25 base, she can get as high as 29, gaining 2 extra DP per promotion level. AoE sniper is one of the archetypes that gain additional DP at E2, but there are always justifications for it, which we will get into it right now.

Range

AoE Sniper has the second longest range in the game, losing only to Ifrit, and tied with Wide Range Sniper and Rosa, excluding the side range. They are also the only archetype so far to gain extra range at E2, which is one of the main reasons for the extra increased cost at E2.
From left to right: AoE Sniper's range at E0, E1, and E2.
Now the extra range at E2 is the more important part, at least in my eyes. The little range at E1 rarely comes into play, as it is rarely that you would be able to let a range unit to look straight into an enemy lane. Usually, the range tile will be on the side of the route, and so the range on the side matters more often than the middle one. If you can use that middle range at E1, it’s either an Ifrit spot (Aak put that medicine gun down), or you’re looking in perpendicular from the path and the extra range at E2 still help you cover the area much further.

Trait

Deal AoE Physical damage.
This is why they are called AoE Sniper. Whenever they fire their projectile, at impact it explodes and deal damage in a certain radius around the impact location. This radius is 1. If the enemy died while their projectile is midair, it will still do AoE damage at the dead enemy’s location, the effect is just not shown (as I have (not) seen from Meteorite’s effect). AoE casters attack enemies instantly, so it doesn’t work there.

Talent

Available at E1 – Ambush:

After being deployed for 10 seconds, gain 40% Physical and Arts Evasion, and become less likely to be targeted by enemies.
At E2, upgraded to 60% Evasion.
An indicator that the talent is working: some red mist appear around W
The first talent is amazing for her survivability, and adding to all of her defensive stats earlier, which turns it from average to good. 40% is admittedly low enough to make the chance inconsistent, but 60% is more than enough. Additionally, W also reduces her target priority from the enemies, means that they will only target her if she’s the only one in her range (or if she’s deployed last along with Ethan and Manticore and other people with the same thing). So with the two of them combined, where W is less targeted from enemies, AND also dodges 60% of the attack that do come her way, W becomes more “tankier” than her stats suggest. Like this meme by ucky
Now, it may sound like some stupid anti-synergy, since enemies will target her less, making the Evasion redundant. But afraid not, as you can also place her closer to the enemies, and take the hits as the enemy approaches, but stop once the enemies find your other allies. That way, it put less strain on your frontline blocker. Or it can be used to solo a lane with less healing needed.
It’s even more amazing when you consider the fact that, with W’s deploy cost, she’s more likely to be the second last or last unit deployed. Unless your vanguards can handle the waves up until you have enough for both W and your dedicated lane blocker to shift the aggro from W to that blocker. Well, with W’s talent, now you don’t have to do that, as you can just plop W after anyone and she will still be the lowest priority target, just ensure that she lives for 10s first, and bam, problems solved.
You can’t play this talent quite like Firewatch’s S1 or April’s S2 (woah spoiler alert!), as even though 60% Evasion is a huge number, it’s still ultimately a chance. You also can’t drop straight down in the middle of a bunch of ranged enemies like April too, as it need 10s to activate, while Firewatch can just straight up avoid any attack if her skill is up. (no it’s not my Firewatch bias… kinda). You can put her alone in a lane with minimal support though, like with someone who has global regen, or just time it in a way that she’ll end up with a little HP left, because it’s not like she has to stay at full health to deal full damage. The talent allows her to solo in a lane in that way, and you can practically save a healer slot when carefully calculated. (just reset the stage til you get the correct RNG roll lul)
However, if you’re like me, and abused AoE Sniper long range to it’s limit, their location is probably going to be away from the frontline by like a large distance, a distance that not many enemies can reach without walking through the blockers, then the talent is admittedly not as useful. Of course not all map is just 1 lane funneling type, so it doesn’t work like that all the time (it does work against large/global range enemy like Mortar or Faust though). Basically, all of that is just to say, this talent really covers most issues that come with her archetype.
The talent is also good at dodging everyone who are pulling for her.
cough... anyway

Available at E2 – Insult to injury:

Stunned enemies in W’s range takes 18% extra physical damage.
tl;dr at ends of this section
Now the second talent is also amazing. It’s just like Sesa’s talent except more useful more flexible/accessible. Any enemies that is stunned inside her range will take 118% of any physical damage during the stunned duration, and no spoilers intended, but W’s skills can cause quite a lot of stuns.
This talent is a Final Damage Multiplier, which is a multiplier that is calculated after all enemy’s defense stat. Which sounds awful, given that the physical damage formula is (ATK – DEF) * Final Multiplier, which lessen the effect of the multiplication. The good news is all Final Damage Multiplier stack multiplicatively, i.e. if we have, say, E2 Pramanix talent working, that’s 118% * 130% = 153.4%. It can snowball fast, if we give Sesa’s talent with 14% as well, that’s 174.876% multiplier to the final damage. You’re not necessarily going to have all of that multipliers all the time, so we’re just having 18% for now. It’s still quite good even if it’s affected by DEF though, as I will argue in S3 section.
Considering that it’s a Final Damage Multiplier though, that means it can increase the minimum damage from 5% to… 5.9% yay. But the more important thing is, this is a debuff to the enemies, which means all allies will benefit from W’s talent, making her a team player as well. Well, okay, just the physical damage allies though, but the physical damage dealing allies are more numerous than the arts one, as also stated in my old Sesa guide, and unlike Sesa, W can combo with every physical damage ally, unlike Sesa who can’t really teamwork with long range units, and SA (I mean, who would stay alive to be blocked while SA is S3-ing amirite?). Even if it only boosts physical damage, people like Mostima can still benefit from this talent, assuming if the rest of the squad still deals physical damage.
As spoiled above, W’s skills cause stuns herself, so this is where it gets even better. The stun is applied before the damage instance is dealt (just like any other debuff), which means, W get the bonus damage herself, so at E2 she basically has free bonus damage to all of her skills. It is still not a guaranteed damage buff always, as you need the enemies to be inside W’s range to achieve this, and those skills has quite a bit of an explosion radius.
Now I know what you’re thinking, Suzuran also has something similar and it doesn’t work with her own attack, why is that? Well there are actually 2 layers to her talent, she causes sluggish to hit enemies, and then applies Weakening to sluggish-ed enemies in her range, but it kicks in a little too late, even if the slow is applies before the damage. I mean, I’m no HG members, but I assume it’s to avoid the simple fact that if it works like that, any of Suzuran’s basic attack is automatically amplified, which sounds strong, while anyone else with a similar Final Damage Multiplier debuff has some other working attached to it (below 40% HP, blocked with allies, stunned through skills or allies,…) which doesn’t amplifies their basic attack all the time. But those are all conjectures and guesses, just know that this talent amplifies all of W’s skills if she hits enemies inside her range, and boost all physical allies at the same time.
That was quite a lot for just 2 talents… now on to her skills.

Skills

- RIIC Skills – always available – Patience: When W is a trainer, increase mastery SPEED for all Sniper by 30%.
Upgraded at E2: if the training is for mastery 3, further increases the training speed by 65%
Available at E2, separated skill – Insipid: When W is a trainer, increases morale consumption by 1 per hour when training a Sniper skill to mastery 3.
This is still a problem for some people, but this type of base skill increases training speed, not reduces training time. A speed increases of 30% led to about 23% reduction in training time, like Ptilopsis’ talent. But unlike Ptilopsis’ talent, any unit in the training room already gains 5% training speed, so it’s actually 35%, which is about 25.92% time reduced.
At E2, the speed remains the same for any masteries except the third one, where it is boosted to 95% (I mean, I hope it is that good, since the drawbacks of double morale consumption attached at E2 is quite bad.
I shouldn’t diddle around much with base skills, so let’s continue.

First skill: King of Heart

Btw if you want the TL;DR for all 3 skills, look for the bolded line in each mini section, or something ;-;
- Description:
Immediately launches a grenade, dealing physical damage to all enemies in explosion radius and stuns them.
- Stats at level 7:
310% AoE physical damage, stuns for 2.1s, costs 19 SP, no initial SP, Auto Recovery, manual activation.
- Masteries:
M3 increases the damage to 350%, stun duration to 3s, and reduces SP cost to 16.
- Further details:
This skill functions essentially like Meteorite S2. Upon clicking the skill, she will launch an attack with the stats mentioned above. This attack does not affect attack interval… in a way.
W (and Meteorite), performs an attack every 2.8s with no other ATK SPD buffs. Using W’s S1 or Meteorite’s S2 will not change that interval but will interrupt the normal attack that comes with those intervals. Let me put it this way, after they launch an attack, you can wait 2.5s, use the skill, and W/Meteorite will immediately launch the next attack that comes at 2.8s. It will cancel any attack animation currently ongoing, so be careful with that. The video will hopefully clarify what I mean.
Don't use it when she's about to make a normal attack though
The explosion has a radius of 1.2 tile. While that increased area sounds not that significant compared to the basic radius of 1, it is 44% larger in area covered, which is more significant than it seems.
- Usage:
Don’t.
.
Let me backtrack though. The skill is actually just fine, even without the trick I mentioned. You can think of it as if W is shooting out Projekt Red’s S2 but without Red’s talent, which is actually better than it sounds. A bit spoiler again, but it is the only skill in W’s kit that is a near instant AoE stun.
The problem is, if you need this skill from W, something has already gone wrong. The delayed stun from S2 and S3 don’t matter 95% of the time. Her S2 has less stun duration, but also less cost, her S3 has longer cooldown, but is 5 levels stronger, and so, the time where you need her S1, is when you need to deal with a clump of drones (will explain in S2 section), in less than 33-39s and more than 16-19s, constantly. For that, a suggestion to replace W with an AA sniper is valid, and this is one of the few cases where Meteorite is better, since her S1 blast damage is just too good at not caring who’s in the radius.

Second skill: Jack in the Box

- Description:
The next attack instead set a mine that last 2 minutes in a deployable tile (both ranged and melee tiles). The mine will detonate when an enemy is nearby, dealing AoE physical damage and stuns for a duration.
- Stats at level 7:
250% physical damage, 1.8s stun, 10 SP cost, no initial SP, Auto Recovery, auto activation.
- Masteries:
M1 reduces the SP cost to 9, damage to 260%.
M3 reduces SP cost again to 8, damage to 280%, stuns duration to 2.2s
- Further details:
The mine can only be placed inside W’s range, but on any deployable tile. If there are no enemies in range, W will place mine randomly on any valid tile. The mine can be “retreated”, if you don’t like the random targeting because it’s blocking an important spot for your other operator, just click on the mine, then retreat it like any other operator. (It also works for Silence’s drone and Shamare’s doll).
As long as there is an enemy in range, W will plant a mine in their place. She will auto aim the mine at the tile of the enemies is on with the same priority as her normal attack. That is to say, whoever she’s attacking, when the skill is up, she will put the mine on that guy… if possible. What if she cannot place a mine on that tile, but other tiles are free? Well then it’s random as you can see from the clip below, where both valid enemies are on top of another ally, and thus she cannot place the mine. It’s treated as if there are no enemies in her range, because she wouldn’t even attempt to place a mine nearby that tile. Look at this for example
If there is a valid place on an enemy that is not her current priority, then the mine goes to that guy. In that clip, if I retreat Myrtle, then the mine is always placed there, regardless of her target priority. In this case, it’s probably the next valid enemy that is mine-able that also fit her target priority. In the CN wiki, they said something about if there are 2 enemies in range that is the same priority (least path left to blue box), then it goes to the one with higher HP (if I’m reading the google translate correctly). The mine priority also ignores the Guerilla Defender aggro, from what I’ve seen.
The skill converts W’s next attack into planting a mine, and so she will not perform the normal attack for that interval when the skill is up. It is important in a sense that, if the skill is done charging when W just finished her normal attack, she will have to wait for that 2.8s interval to pass before using it. It can be important at times, especially considering that…
The mine takes 1.5s to explode after triggered. It’s a considerable amount of time in conjunction with that attack time earlier.
The triggering range is 1.35 tiles away from the center. Incidentally, the explosion radius is also 1.35 tiles. This means 2 (or 2.5) things.

• The mines can trigger on someone who’s diagonally away from the tile but not too far. It’s not exactly like 8 tiles around itself like Waai Fu S2 or Phantom S3, but it’s close enough. Quick video to see how bad it can potentially be
• That also means fast enemies can outrun the explosion as well. To outrun a mine in the longest route, they need to cover 2.7 tiles in 1.5s. Only Sarkaz Lancer so far in this game is able to do so, and only when they gained max speed.

I am speed
But the more important part of fast enemies is that, if they are just slightly fast enough, they can run enough distance to reach a different mine and thus triggering more mines than needed in order to kill them. Especially if 2 mines are close together, as someone can just go up to the first one, trigger it, go to the second one, trigger that one as well, and died from the first mine because it was delayed. That means if your other DPS is not enough, you can easily waste a lot of mine after all those times spent stacking them up. The enemies only need to cover at maximum 1.35 tiles per 1.5s, that’s a movement rate of 0.9. Do you know how many enemies have at least 0.9 mvm spd? I don’t actually, please tell me. That of course doesn’t matter if there is no mine stacked and W is just using each one as it comes.
thanks to 777ucky for the clip since I was getting lazy when I get to this part lul
Another important part of the trigger radius is that, despite being confined in W’s range only, it can still be triggered by enemies outside her range. Effectively, with this skill, W has an extra layer of damagin range outside of her base range, which is nothing to scoff at, especially considering that she can use this skill with or without enemies.
Or, if you want to be cheeky, you can find maps where there are non-deployable tiles and point W to that area. This forces the mines to be in a few specific locations only, with some working from your other operators. That way you can guaranteed that there is always a mine in your selected location. And speaking of which, if there are no valid tile in her range at all and she gain a charge for the mine, she will just hold it forever, until a valid tile shows up. That can be good or bad, depends on how you play your cards (no not the King of Heart card).
If you still remember what I said back in her first skill, you’d be asking why her S1 is used for drones. Well, it’s because the mines cannot hit drones. They cannot be triggered by drone, and they cannot damage drone if triggered by someone else. An explanation is that since the mine is on the ground, its explosion cannot hit drone. Which is a bad explanation, because Sesa’s S2 bombs also stay on the ground, and they hit drones just fine. Sesa is good confirmed???
Some miscellaneous infos about the mines:

• The mines actually have stats, apparently. None of the stats matter though, since it’s invincible, cannot be attacked, cannot block, and all damages are calculated using W’s ATK.
• You can see if a mine is triggered or not. When triggered it will start flashing red.
• If W is retreated, all of the mines are instantly gone, without any damage (same for the 2mins timer).
• Once a mine is out, it is instantly ready and can be instantly triggered (important for those who plays Techies a lil bit too much).

- Usage: look for the → for the most important part
Best for when you want to deal with constant wave of enemies that is a little bit stronger than trash mobs without paying your mind to W. And if they are just trash mobs, her auto attack couple with other operators would be more than enough to clean those. The stacking mines strat doesn’t work that well either given the waste usage against enemy’s speed, but it still works fine more often than not, and is a great way to make use of downtime between wave.
The triggeexplosion radius can be used to extend her range, true, but it should not a strat to be based around, while still worth it to remember when you’re trying to find space to put W. And speaking of space, since the mine need a deployable tile to work, sometimes you may find W not able to bunch up mines together due to the map’s layout, and so it is kinda map dependent. Technically her allies are also fighting for location as well, but as the commander, you should be able to pacify them and plan around it.
very quick 2 examples of maps with enemies on a lane with undeployable tiles
Oh and regarding the extend range through the mine’s explosion radius, if a mine is at the edge of W’s range, the enemy that trigger it has a chance to be damaged and stunned from outside of her range, and thus not receiving the damage amp from her E2 talent, which is also not that great.
This skill is usually compared to Meteorite’s S1, and in the general calculation, W wins out by a little bit (W slightly loses out in ideal conditions for Meteorite, which neve… rarely happen). Technically, Meteorite is still better to deal with drones, as her massive splash doesn’t really care who she’s targeting.
→ Remember what I said about holding a lane solo back in her first talent? This skill is the best to work with it. Usually, when we’re talking about solo-ing a lane, it’s assumed that the lane’s enemies’ density will be light. Enemies will be appearing in a small amount over an amount of time. The evasion chance then is helpful for not needing much babysitting, maybe for even the whole run, and the fact that the lane has low density means that W will have all the time to stack up mine, and so the extra loss of mine per enemy doesn’t matter either.
For running alongside with other ops, do remember the limitation of deployable tile. To maximize the amount of available mine, it’s generally considered best to place W as forward as possible, as her long range will cover more area. In that case, her first talent will be fully used. As a ranged enemy approaching, they will attack her, since they see her first, where it will miss 60% of the time, but as those enemies move a little further, they will face other operators, by then they will stop attacking W due to the lower priority. It can spread the damage out to multiple operators, making them less likely to be in a low enough HP that they’ll die in the next hit.
→ If you want to use the long range to push W in the backline to save space for shorter range unit, this skill still works, but in a different way. If there’s no available tile in her range left, but a mine is in 1 of those tiles, you can chain stun the enemy that triggers that mine. Since W has to hold her charge until a space is available, once a mine is gone, W will instantly replace it. Effectively, you get double the stun duration (well it depends on her attack interval at the time, but still), and double damage, making it a pseudo burst damage of sort.
really great for when you can force the mine to be where you want it to be
This skill gives consistent and automated damage for an operator that lacks said consistent damage (because of her innate stats). However, covering weaknesses is for the weak-minded fool! Okay calm down just a joke. But if you’re not familiar with AoE Sniper, or any archetype with slow but powerful strike, consistent DPS skill is the way for you to start stepping into learning how to use them, and this skill give you the most stun uptime for all of W’s skill (note: not stun duration, stun uptime).
→ There are more issues with S2 than you’d expect, but nothing too major individually. And hey not like every other operator have no issues with their consistent skills.
But if you want a little more explosive, you’ll come to love her third skill, which is intricated, interesting, and is what I’d recommend to master, for a variety of reasons.

Third skill: D12

- Description:
Place bomb on a few enemies in range, prioritizing enemies with highest current HP. After 3 seconds, the bombs explode, each one dealing AoE Physical damage and stun for a duration
- Stats at level 7:
Target 3 enemies, dealing 280% damage, stuns 4s, cost 39 SP, 17 initial SP, Auto Recovery, manual activation.
- Masteries:
M1 target 4 enemies, 290% damage, cost 37 SP, 18 initial SP.
M3 deal 310% damage, stuns 5s, cost 33 SP, 20 initial SP.
- Further details:
3 bombs that deals 280% damage eh? I wonder if I have heard something similar somewhere… No Wind, you must not lose focus, you’re better than this.
As described, once the bombs latched, it will explode after 3 seconds. This skill has the longest delay from skill activation to stun of all of W’s kit, about 3.5s from tapping the skill to when it explodes.
The bomb has an explosion radius of 1.2, just like her first skill.
If an enemy with a bomb attached die before 3s is up, the bomb immediately explodes and deals the damage and stun. It’s quite hard to actually do it where it matters, because it targets enemies with highest current HP, so one of the enemies has to have the 4th lowest HP among them, but also higher than all of the non-selected enemies, and to be easily killed from that HP amount too.
Regarding her E2 talent, since there is a 3 seconds delay, you’ll find that W may target a bomb on an enemy, but then they walk out of her range before it goes off. Fast enemies are one thing, but it also applies for cases where W is facing perpendicular to the enemies’ path, where her width of range is only 3 tiles, unlike the amazing 5 tiles of length.
All of the damage stacks completely, if all 4 bombs are close together, all 4 affected enemies will take 4 times the damage (or 3 each before mastery). That is a yuuuge burst of damage that not many will survive. If someone survived, they will proceed to be stunned for a long duration afterward, and this skill has the longest stun of all of W’s skills.
Unlike Firewatch, you can easily aim all bombs close together, because it doesn’t have the 1 bomb per tile restriction and enemy tends to clump together when blocked by your frontline. But like Firewatch, I will advocate that stacking all the bombs together is not the only way to use the skill. You can just as well drop this to a scatter group of enemies and expand the stun area massively, split up between 2 lanes (check the enemies’ HP first though) and basically cover 2 lanes at once. What I have said about using Firewatch’s S2 can still apply here, albeit slightly differently.
The bomb’s damage is actually determined on cast, not on hit! What that means is, if you are buffing W in order to get one of those orgasm-worthy explosions, you need to buff W first before using the skill. Then the bomb’s base damage is finally determined, and thus dealing that damage after the 3s delay. This may be why the bomb do not show any red number when exploded, unlike the other skills that also has a high multiplier, like Firewatch, but also Meteorite, Sesa… This video will make it clearer.
Remember: Buff before skill!
Thanks to ucky with the W nuke video that helped me realized this lul. I know, it won’t matter most of the time, since people seem to associate buffing with meme-ing, but it’s worth putting it in the back of your mind when you are going for it.
Also, you can also see the effect of W’s E2 talent, as staying on the field will obliterate the Defender, while going off field will only kill the middle guy. Yes, if it’s calculated before DEF, then it’s going to be even more destructive, but as a team support effect, this is probably the better way to balance it, I supposed.
- Usage:
As you can already guess from the description, the skill is best for annihilating a group of enemies close together. It can kill even the tankiest of enemies, or at the very least, badly wounded them. Take the new Guerilla defender with 1300 DEF and 15k HP, at S3M3 lv56, 4 bombs leave the guy with ((935*310%)-1300)*4*1.18 = 7544.9, that’s like half of his HP already.
But I have also said that you shouldn’t feel like you can only use the skill that way. The cooldown is pretty long before masteries, true, so if you just want to delete big group of things, keep doing it. I usually do that too. I just also wouldn’t hesitate to use it for other cases where I really need it. Example cases like where you need this guy down faster, but he’s not with 3 other enemies, or even if he’s alone inside W’s range, you can still use this skill for a 4-5s stun after a 3s delay. It’s not the best way to use this skill, but it’s not terrible too.
Because of the manual activation, you can be in control of when you want to blow enemies up, as with the many cases to use this skill I have presented. A controllable burst of damage and long duration stun is just that amazing. What that really mean is, this skill is more flexible to use than people give it credit for. The only problem is the long cooldown before M3, and even at M3, it still has a long enough cooldown to force you to make every use count. (I mastered nuking with Firewatch 50SP cost, what does 33SP cost even means lul). You can use E2 Ptilopsis to make it faster though!
→ You can combo with other allies to make a huge explosion too, you don’t have to time it yourself with enemies’ waves. The best allies are one that can easily clump enemies together, like Magallan, Suzuran, FEater, Weedy S2 (not S3 because enemies will just die). DEF reduction allies also work, like Pramanix and Shamare. Late shoutout to Manticore S2, but it stuns enemies every hit, and guess what W’s E2 talent can do?
→ Just remember the most important thing, timing. Every time you use the skill, you have to ask, “are those guys I’m about to blow up the most dangerous threat for the next 40s?”. If yes, blow them up. If no, ask yourself “will my other units able to handle those upcoming guys if W isn’t ready yet?”. If you’re going blind in a map so you can’t tell ahead, then make sure you can answer yes to the second question before using the skill. When you can answer yes to that question, do whatever. You can also ask “can I hold them long enough to allow W the time to recharge her skill?” Depends on which type of enemies, you can actually freely use the skill when you feel like it, if you have a great block squad. You may also ask “if I save this skill too much and missed the chance to use the skill and failed the run, then what?” Then you live and you learn. As said above, nuking a bunch of enemies isn’t the only way to use the skill, and so you can make it a panic button to stun/kill 1 guy that is about to leak, even that is a not terrible usage of the skill, just learn the tempo better so you don’t have to panic yourself with leaks next time.

Some conclusions/thoughts

You may have heard “M1 both S2 and S3 first and see which one you like better” in the megathread a “few” times. I’m not sure if I want to make a definitive answer, but if I have to make one, I’ll have to say “S2 if you’re unfamiliar with AoE Snipers or any slow attacking unit, S3 if you are used to, or prefer, precise timing and decision making”. It still depends on situation, of course, and M1 both skills are certainly a great stop point, as it is both cheap, and unlocks a major breakpoint of each skill.
Each skill has their own way to be abused to fit what you need, but remember, W alone won’t the only damage operator in your squad, so you can just adjust the team, and expands your tools’ variety, rather than adjust how a tool is used just to fit what you need.
If you are questioning whether or not to invest in W or other lower rarity AoE Sniper, just go with W. A 6* investment is costly, but it’s also worth the price more. There will be cases where Shirayuki, Meteorite, or even Sesa can be better, but before those cases show up, you would already use W enough time before that, and as said, W’s skill is still flexible enough to partially fill whatever you’d need of those lower rarity AoE Snipers. Just don’t be like me and build all of them, well unless you want to.
AoE Snipers might not be great for general usage, because AA Sniper can shoot faster and cheaper to deploy. But if you can work for it, you can beat all of the game with only AoE Snipers and 1 or 2 supportive units (and a little bit of overleveling and bruteforcing). So if you want to start using AoE Sniper, but are afraid of the learning curve, don’t be. You can just slowly learn about them by adding them to your squad that you're already used to play with. And as said in the first talent section, it can cover a major weakness of AoE Sniper, and couple with many hard crowd control abilities, W is a great starting location to step in to the world of slow but powerful nuke damage units.
Now all that left is to pull W, ezpz.
.
How are you guys doing in this banner? Oh wait wrong question, if you have W and built her, how did you find her? Is there anything I missed, since I’m pretty sure I always miss something? And biased, don’t forget biased, which is strange since I don’t like W as a character that much, but for gameplay, one of the best, nearly on par with Firewatch (you’re still the #1 pls put that radio down). Anyway, jokes aside, hope you enjoy the post, and hope to see you next time for… someone, idk yet.

Sellout section kek

Other guide posts that is gathered in this post by u/LastChancellor
And Indra guide by u/Boelthor since the other dood didn't update his post yet lul.
Completely unrelated to the sellout, below is my biased opinion, tread carefully.
Why do I think S3 is flexible? I consider instant nuke skills are one of the hardest skill types to use, but it is also one of the most intriguing because of its possibilities. If you find yourself worry about the future threat too much, you will easily find situations where when those threats do show up, enough time has passed that if you used it earlier, the skill would have been up by now anyway. So you find yourself constantly have to ask 1 big question “can I use it now and still be fine before it comes back up?” Answering that question is the best part of these nuke skills, as whenever you can answer yes to it, depends on how the skill functions, people’s playstyle, strategy, team lineup, map, and enemies’ route and composition. And that’s why I think it’s the most flexible type of skill. Because if you just switch up a few things, and the way to use the skill change, or the timing change, and it can fit the playstyle of anyone who’s willing to go with it.

Ok, I'll preface this with this being my first time on reddit so I apologies if the formatting is weird, I'll try my hardest to adhere to the rules. - also you can skip the pre-amble at the start, it's just describing my motivations behind sinking premium skills into the Trio + Veronica
yes there is a tl;dr at the bottom
Also I should mention that I'm a returning player from back when Book 3 was still being advertised but not yet released, back then things were a little simpler & the meta wasn't shifting every 8 days like it feels now 😅, I'm completely F2P & I started just after christmas(so I guess I've been back in the game for 2 months now). Anyway, I was completely overwhelmed by how many +10 perfect IV's(then I learned they revamped the merge system to be EVEN MORE op) perfectly tailored seasonal teams etc etc.... Basically things that seemed to kill the game for me as a free player before I even started because I knew I'd never have a full team of "perfect" units just like how I envisioned/so badly wanted them.
Then I thought f**k it, I can still enjoy this game that I'm super nostalgic about for many reasons. I'll just play with the canonical main characters & only them(and yes I have a headcannon for why Veronica counts). It helps that the game kind of keeps them relevant as rotating bonus units & in my mind the story/paralouges made more sense since my characters were the ones actually experiencing the plot(also I high-key have always wanted to do this but they're just sooooo bad - at least they were back then). Also Idk if this is an unpopular opinion? I like the Norse + Celtic aesthetic of the original Feh & Askr trio & genuinely enjoy their design/think they're pretty.
But yes this was mostly done "for the meme" & to satisfy my completionism + perfectionist mentality without going crazy - since these characters can't be merged, they're free & they're canonical, it just felt... right. Like I can still "complete" the game by maxing them out & not feel pressured to get new characters. Also it's kind of fun basking in the F2P mentality(I'm absolutely not bashing or anything like that, If I could I'd prob get the Feh pass for the extra stats on Alfonse + Sharena, if you like the game & are ok with spending money then that's okay as long as you're having fun, I personally just can't afford to/wouldn't want to do it, I like food too much)
I developed my own headcannnon for Veronica joining as well(I had to re-roll about 600 times to get her, no that's not an exaggeration, I did it for 13 hours for 3 days straight and I swear on my last try where I finally committed to quitting if I didn't get her I finally did with a 0.03% chance of getting her or something like that since she wasn't on the banner) because: a. god I needed a good unit(especially a healer). b. she's a FEH main character like the trio. c.she doesn't really seem to be the villain post Book 2(granted I haven't touched book 4 or 5 yet so idk). d. she has magic damage & is a PERFECT support unit. e. her special attack animation art has the same style/flair that the Askr Trio have so that's a neat addition. P.S. if they ever move Summoner Unit/Kiran into the general gameplay modes then my entire headcannon is screwed 😅😅😅😅😅
Fate Blessed me with the New Years banner where I exploited the hell out of the 8% to get NY!Alfonse + NY!Peony for their skills(RIP my 9 NY!Lethe's sitting in storage because all I wanted was 4 Peony's) to get their seemingly "meta proof" skills that helped build my team into... something comeptent. Anyway enough is enough, here are my builds(I used a unit builder screen shot because I'm still not done all the dragon flowers + Sharena's Atk/Def Bond seal is still Level 2 instead of 3 & I wanted to paint the perfect picture) - (also I listed veronica as +10 merged because I have 450+ orbs I've been saving with her name written on them for a veronica banner):
​
- General things to start:

• The Themes of this Build are:
  • Stick together :)
  • If you attack, they better not get back up
  • Maximum damage because, Lol? our stats are shit in every other department, we can't take a hit. Seriously this is the only way we could possibly keep up
  • Say it with me: if they target your Res you gotta kill them first + stay out of their range(really much easier said than done, seriously, everyone is magic now)
• Anna got the S-support because my girl needed the bump in Stats the most, also she's the only one who will actually always use All of her stats/she's the most versatile
• The Atk/Spd Bond 4 is Amazing not just for the in-combat(thank god the update shows them in the pre-battle preview) bonuses which can't be penaltied, but mostly because it stops any kind of penalty to Atk or Spd
• I will consistently get something like a minimum of 8 - to an average of 24-32 extra attack In-combat because of the sheer stacking of Atk Joint drives, Veronica being a goddess support with her built in Drive Atk/Spd & Def/Res Rein is amazing for this as well + each unit's own skills that add to damage etc...
• I went with Glimmer + special spiral(mostly because it was easy to get with NY! Alfonse kindly offering them up) instead of Moonbow since with all the atk stacking, even if my boosted atk won't kill you, it'll hurt like hell. Add Glimmer which boosts the damage dealt by half & it gives it the extra kick needed to actually kill you(seriously it's come in clutch too many times to count)
  • Everyone has special spiral because I want to Proc Glimmer as soon as possible & then KEEP IT. seriously, with this build, Glimmer is a must because it synergies so well
  • Also, Glimmers animation looks pretty & fits my head cannon of Askr being a Kingdom that "travels the stars & realms to explore new world". I'm just a weird person it's okay
    • Also everyone is Light Blessed because it's on theme/matches Askr's colours(and it looks pretty in the special animation which procs ALOT thanks to special spiral, I like having units that are perpetually fully charged)
• Everyone has Swap(Anna alternates between Swap & Reposition) for movement play + strategy since they all have to be bunched together most of the time(occasionally detachments of 2 units can break off but only if I'm feeling very confident or Stupid)

​
- Ok, Now let's do Alfonse:
​
https://preview.redd.it/6kcg9omqf3h61.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=c209d9b467f6a99d28d3ac183490d0d00e43cc8a
​
You guys, I think I really Unleashed The Bench with this one

• Right off the bat, I didn't put bonfire + Wrath on him because yes the Glimmer combo has worked better with this team set up & their need to always be next to each other. Also I'm upset that Open The Future can't be given to him and I'm a sentimatically stubborn person(I just think its more fitting that he gets the ability because it's animation is the Askr Crest but like pfft, whatever, I'm not bitter, I swear, I don't need Beautiful on theme Bonfire + Sol, I'm not crying, you are!)
• Atk/Def unity came off of my free Dimitri pull & it's just what the doctor ordered, with it Alfonse is the only person allowed to be 2 spaces away from his allies 😅😅😅😅. + as I've noted earlier, I love not having any penalties on me, Atk/Def Unity doubles down on this by turning them into in combat bonuses & I absoloutly love it. this is also why I didn't make him go T R I P L E B R A Z E N
• The +Def refine not only gives him a golden 'on theme' Aura(as you can tell my priorities are in the right place, he looks spectacular by the way) but semi-consistentaly let's him be able to go toe-to-toe with other physical tanky units AND if by some miracle he does get Open The Future in the future, then I could run it on him(I know it'll never happen & I hope this ages terribly)
• But yeah feel free to let me know what you think about this one, if he gets slightly damaged then suddenly he kinda forgets what the weapon triangle even is & will literally Kill anything in his path(Guess all that bench time made him pissed)

​
- Next is Sharena:
Aka maybe she's too friendly
​
https://preview.redd.it/7y6ojrmqf3h61.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=675542b54c71bee74b8a59bb36265a65c49dffa4

• As mentioned earlier, she'll get consistent +24 atk or something like that & a healthly balanced +10 boost to her Defense & on average +15-17 to her speed(thanks to Veronica's Refine + their Ally Support)
• She's my Swap Queen, If she's standing next to someone then she'll take a hit or 2(as long as they're physical) & will absloutly demolish any poor unfourtanate soul who gets in her way
• Since my team up revolves around everyone being glued to the hips, her Triple Bond + Joint Drive Atk really shines
• Also My favourite colour is Purple so I enjoy the specialty weapon refines Aura's :)
• Does anyone have any thoughts, opinions, suggestions?

​
Next is Anna:
The well-rounded teleporter(who will absolutely kill you) ❤️
​
https://preview.redd.it/xbjcdqmqf3h61.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=84dda834c8926a3ff37247e33b3049a85cfa5f51

• It is INSANELY FUN to teleport all over the place with Anna, since this team dynamic dictates that everyone should most of the time be within 2 spaces of any given unit, she can always come & wreck shit up or just be there to proc your Bond skills.
  • seriously though, this comes in handy for my team because not all maps are kind to my play style & having a Cavalier + A teleporter who if you hurt her just gives her more utility(if she's under 50% HP she can teleport next to ANYONE on my team no matter where, when she's above 50% it's limited to those within 2 spaces which still provides an insane amount of mobility & potential strategy) Kinda circumvents this disadvantage
• Like I said earlier, Anna is the only one who will use all of her stats to the fullest, with an emphasis on spd. She's the only one on my team I'd even consider putting in harms way of a Magical unit thanks to her Res Stat. and always(for the most part) being next to someone gives her a ton of extra Atk to make her Glimmer really shine
• Any thoughts or Suggestions for this one? I'd love to hear feedback or anything I might have overlooked(Sorcery blade would've been cool as a sacred seal but the damage isn't worth it when everyone is merged and/or a balanced unit. + Veronica doesn't count as a magic Ally sooooo yeah)

​
Last & the opposite of Least, My Super Supportive Glass Cannon(we like her, she's the only one who can do magic damage + is usually safe from counterattacks). Veronica!:
​
https://preview.redd.it/zcrq7tmqf3h61.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=90fe5077409414bdfb113de48aa80ed0ffa45b1d

• Honestly I think this one is pretty self explanatory, shes mounted so the extra mobility with this type of team is a god send
• She can heal + buff already super buffed stats AND she can Debuff quite a lot too! very helpful when a unit gets caught out alone or is just close enough to being able to kill someone
• She is a NUKE herself, good lord She'll usually double people & have super stacked In-combat Atk stats
• She's not allowed anywhere near the danger area as she is very squishy. Sorry I'm kind of getting Tired of typing so much & just want to post this already 😅😅😅
• let me know any of your thoughts/recommendations on this one?

​
Tl;Dr : I'm sentimental & made a Head cannon Fire emblem heroes Title team That is super overpowered in attack damage in order to keep them up with the Meta, I'm a returning(but new? player) and I exploited the New years banner to make these builds. Please let me know If i missed anything or advice for improvements(yes I've tinkered with Spurn) since this is THE ONLY TEAM I USE, I refuse to add other team members in AR or do any multi-team battles because that breaks the immersion for me with how I set up my headcannon that allows me to be a F2P completionism in a Gacha game.
Thanks for enduring my super long first ever post on Reddit!

Background

Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well. I want to thank everyone who has reached out in the last few weeks regarding my posts for pack analysis and flipping. I am happy to see so many people dive in and get themselves up and running with the code, it is great!
This post is going to be a little different. I am not scraping anything or building something custom to analyze my packs/games/market history. Instead, I am here to hopefully spark a conversation on something that I find quite important. That is, the use of the term “RNG.” Typing it out, it makes me feel uneasy.
I searched the term “RNG” this morning, and it was overwhelming. The term is being misused and it has unfortunately littered this community’s perception of how computation works. As an engineer, I am at the end of my wits with this term being used out of context. It is stated as a matter of fact and arguing against it is blasphemy.

Goal of this post

The goal of my post is to not disprove RNG. That would require me to write tens of thousands of lines of code to retrieve the source code of the game, breaking the warranty of my PS4, all while likely risking legal action from SDS.
Instead, my goal is to propose a computation model that can be seen as an alternative to “RNG” as the community calls it. This will hopefully by proxy do the following:

1. Provide context to just how complex this game is in terms of variables and their influence on outcomes
2. Provide a mental model of how the slightest changes in inputs can alter the outcome
3. Provide a new sense of appreciation for the product that is MLB The Show and its developers. These cats are extremely intelligent, and their hard work shows

I would like to provide a model that generates outputs between a pitcher and a hitter based on various conditions. The model uses over a dozen variables, making it semi-complex enough to get realistic batting averages and outcomes. Many times when we have something go against us, we see PCI placement and our timing window and rage when we see the outcome. A 2 variable outcome would make this game beyond boring. I would be a .750 hitter if that was the case.
Instead, there are many other variables and factors that likely influence the outcome of an at bat. We all know this from our experience(s) with the game in real life, but I am sick of reading “this is a video game, perfect should mean perfect.” Yuck. I do not want to think like that. Mathematics and computation makes the world a little less dull for me, so I want to share with you a model I have cooked up to help me appreciate the game for what it is.

The model

Before I describe it, I want to make a few things clear:

1. I am not saying that this is exactly how the classification engine for outcomes works
2. I am not saying that the weights and variables are the exact same variables used in the outcome classification algorithms by SDS
3. I am using pseudo-code in many places. This means that I am creating a model based on logical operations, without knowledge of the exact mathematical functions used. I am introducing a concept, trying to prove a point of complexity, not how it actually operates and performs for outcome classification. A model like this would need to be tested and tuned over hundreds of iterations before it could really go into a production setting.

The model that I propose is broken into seven parts:

1. Pre-pitch conditions (pitcher)
2. Pitch selection
3. Pitcher execution
4. Hitter conditions
5. Batter swing variance
6. Batter execution
7. Results

I am going to use the following variables throughout this post. Some of these variables are used in functions to calculate a metric that is in then fed into subsequent functions.
Pre-pitch conditions (h9, bb/9, h/9, stamina, confidence)
Pitch selection (velocity, break, control)
Pitcher execution (timing, accuracy, pitch_selection_idx)
Hitter conditions (contact, power, vision
Swing conditions (timing, pci_placement)
Hitter execution (hitter conditions, swing conditions, elevation, wind)
Results (pitcher score – hitter score)
​
The idea is that both the pitcher and hitter start off with an indexed number. This measures how good they are. These are the conditions before a pitch is ever thrown. Someone must have an advantage here… most of the time it will be the pitcher. We know this already. Hitting is hard in real life, plus the pitcher has 8 other dudes helping him get you out.
The pitcher then selects a pitch. That pitch needs to be factored into how well the pitcher can execute the pitch, and whether the pitcher will gain an advantage on that pitch.
Think of Kluber and the choice between his sinker and change up. The velocity, break, and control of those pitches need to be weighted and accounted for. Then you have the pitchers timing and accuracy. If he throws a sinker with perfect timing and accuracy, his indexed score will skyrocket. If he throws the change up (less break/control/speed), and it hangs or is poorly executed, then his score drops. Makes sense, right?
A key is assigned to accuracy and timing. For each value, the number either decreases or increases. The numbers are always variable.
timing_idx = {'very late': -5, 'late': -3, 'perfect': 5, 'early': -3}
accuracy_idx = {'very late': -5, 'late': -3, 'perfect': 5, 'early': -3}
pci_placement_idx = {'one_thru_five': -5, 'six_thru_10': 0, 'eleven_thru_fourteen': 5, 'fifteen': 10}
swing_timing_idx = {'very_late_early': -5, 'just_early_late': 0, 'okay': 2, 'good': 5, 'perfect': 10}
elevation_idx = {'low': 0, 'medium': 3, 'high': 5}
wind_idx = {'in': -5, 'netural': 0, 'out': 5}
​
This sets the stage for each function. We have dictionaries for how to add/subtract values.
def pre_pitch_conditions(hr_per_9, bb_per_9, h_per_9, stamina, confidence):
pre_pitch_idx = ((hr_per_9 *.50) + (bb_per_9 *.5) + (h_per_9 *.50) + (stamina *.5) + (confidence *.50)) / 3
return pre_pitch_idx
​
def pitch_selection(velocity, pitch_break, control):
pitch_selection_idx = ((velocity *.4) + (pitch_break *.4) + (control *.3) /3)
return pitch_selection_idx
​
def pitch_execution(pitch_idx, selection, timing, accuracy):
timing_key = choice(list(timing.values()))
accuracy_key = choice(list(accuracy.values()))
variance = (timing_key + accuracy_key) + selection
total_score = (pitch_idx *.5) + (variance *.5) + 10
return variance, total_score
The batter must execute as well. You can’t just walk up there with high contact/powevision. You need to have good timing and good PCI placement. Oh, and you must account for wind/elevation and the fact that the pitcher has 8 other guys with him!
PCI placement and timing are also assigned keys. The better the timing and placement, the better the score. Execute poorly and points are docked. Makes sense.
A score is calculated on his swing with his attributes and then passed as a final hitter index.
def pre_hitter_conditions(contact, power, vision):
hitter_condition_idx = ((contact *.4) + (power *.3) + (vision *.3) / 3)
return hitter_condition_idx
​
def swing_conditions(hitter_timing, pci_placement):
timing_key = choice(list(hitter_timing.values()))
pci_key = choice(list(pci_placement.values()))
swing_variance = pci_key + timing_key
return swing_variance, pci_key, timing_key
​
def hitter_execution(hitter_idx, swing_variance, elevation, wind):
elevation_key = choice(list(elevation.values()))
wind_key = choice(list(wind.values()))
hitter_score = hitter_idx + swing_variance + elevation_key + wind_key
return hitter_score
These two numbers: the final pitcher score and final hitter score are evaluated to see who wins the match up. A simple index of 0 is used here. If < 0, the pitcher. If > 0, the hitter. This is pseudo-code remember… it is a model of how it might work.
​
https://preview.redd.it/uxxqnf3itki51.png?width=3000&format=png&auto=webp&s=266c2a8adcfacde5d0a5e1a57f5a1507c8b52ae8
When you go to execute the model, you pass in the values for each respective player.
I ran a matchup of live series Gerrit Cole vs. live series Mike Trout 250 times.
Each time, Gerrit throws his fastball with full stamina and 90 confidence. The guy is a stud.
# hr_per_9, bb_per_9, h_per_9, stamina, confidence
pre_pitch_idx = pre_pitch_conditions(57, 70, 88, 90, 90)
# velocity, break, control
selection = pitch_selection(97, 99, 95)
Trout comes to the plate being Mike Trout… you get it.
# contact, power, vision
pre_hitter_idx = pre_hitter_conditions(90, 112, 58)
The timing/accuracy/execution of Cole and Trout were variable based on a dictionary of values with the weighted scores.
The result was Trout going 88 /250. That is a .352 batting average
An example of the results can be seen below.
​
https://preview.redd.it/twabzi87tki51.png?width=1351&format=png&auto=webp&s=4bebc17bd00913ca36cc8b234733acbd5e0b7812
​

Finishing thoughts

I expect ridicule and disdain for this post. If that is how it is, then so be it. If you do that though, please be respectful and come with logical and meaningful feedback. I would like to discuss this, not argue and be shut down. I do have credentials to speak at a high-level regarding computation and logical operations. This model is not perfect, it is not intended to be. It is intended to show complexity and make you think about all of the variables in play, and how they relate, and how they can provide an outcome that sometimes is way out of your control.
I would like the community to start appreciating SDS more. I am by no means affiliated with them. This is my first year of DD and I have been more than thrilled to play the game. I have been around the game long enough to know that the game in real life is absolute madness with variables that impact outcomes. We should expect the same in a video game.
Furthering that thought, I would like everyone to think about the complexity of all of this. I wrote around 100 lines of code fucking around… their classification algorithms are likely thousands, if not tens of thousands of lines of code with actual data to support those decision. Each update provides them enough information to tune and improve their gaming engine and classification systems. That is amazing when you think about it. Think about how much data they must sift through… the noise they have to filter out, the tuning of an algorithm with enough regression testing to identify what would improve/break the game. It is amazing, and we should all tip our hats to them.
Let me know your thoughts.
​
https://preview.redd.it/4712l69c1li51.jpg?width=666&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3237b431191b40c2fd089471c54a9a401be8269d