Introduction

The Rurouni Kenshin REM makes a triumphant return after a prolonged absence from Puzzle and Dragons. With this inception, the REM gains 3 new cards along with the ability to Limit Break and grant Super Awakenings to the 6-star cards. Furthermore, players will have the option of using the Monster Exchange System to trade in for all of the 6* cards.

As a whole, the Rurouni Kenshin Collab is reasonable overall but may not be worth heavily rolling for the average player. This is not because the cards are weak, but the top prizes are more niche/geared towards players who are interested in farming more efficiently. In addition, there is hope/speculation that NA will gain Persona or Magic the Gather Collabs and they may have more potential overall.

This article will summarize each card’s strengths and weaknesses to give you a better idea of whether or not it is worth spending your Magic Stones here.

Video commentary

—video coming soon—

Overview

Kenshin REM
6 Star base
5 Star base
4 Star base

Kenshin REM – June 8, 2018
S
A
B
C
D

All 6-star cards are available for trade within the Monster Exchange System.

Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking

Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them.

Limit Break and Super Awakenings

The 6* cards in the Kenshin Collab will have the ability to be Limit Broken along with receiving Super Awakenings. These additional awakenings can add significant power but only function in solo mode.

Any card that can qualify for Limit Breaking will having their level displayed in blue and feeding a Super Snow Globe will push them beyond the level 99 cap.

6 Star base

All 6* base cards can be acquired via the Monster Exchange System.

 Saito – B

Active: Deal 200000 damage to 1 enemy. Ignore enemy element and defense. Randomly spawn 5 Dark orbs from non Dark orbs. (10 turn CD)

Leader Skill: ATK x3 for clearing each Dark orbs in a cross formation. All attribute cards ATK x2.5, RCV x2.5 on the turn a skill is used. ( Multiple skills will not stack )

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:   
Worth trading for via Monster Exchange? No

or

No skyfall matches. Dark attribute cards ATK x2, RCV x2. ATK x3 when simultaneously clearing 6 connected Dark orbs. ATK x1 for each additional orb, up to ATK x8 at 11 connected orb.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:   
Worth trading for via Monster Exchange? No

Pros	Cons
Two unique evolutions Two distinct LS Dark cross Row farming Active produces dark orbs VDP  SA synergy with Leader Skill 200,000 True Damgae	Niche farming leader Cheaper options exist Colour cross form is orb hungry and requires an active

Saito makes a lackluster return to the Kenshin Collab as he is not fulfilling any particular niche very well.

His original colour cross form is far too orb hungry for practical usage along with Dark lacking a 1-turn active card. Some may argue Cerberus  can be a 2-turn solution, but the lack of any secondary effect along with low weighted stats (unless used in coop) hold him back.

On the other hand, the Dark row/blob version has gained new relevancy as a farming leader through the introduction of the farmable Reincarnated Satan. Satan’s active can produce a full board of Dark orbs which enables massive damage potential; however, far cheaper options exist through Zeus Dios  or Glavenus Hunter .

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Kenshin – A

Active: Increase skyfall chance of Fire & Light orbs by 10% for 2 turn. Randomly spawn 2 Fire & Light orbs from non Fire & Light orbs. (11 turn CD)

Leader Skill: ATK  x3 for clearing each Fire or Light orbs in a cross formation. All attribute cards ATK x2.5, 25% all damage reduction when attacking with Fire and Light combos at the same time.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:   
Worth trading for via Monster Exchange? No

or

Active: Fire attribute ATK x3 for 1 turn. Increase skyfall chance of Fire orbs by 25% for 1 turn (14 turn CD)

Leader Skill: Change the board to 7×6 size. Fire attribute cards HP x1.5, ATK x1.5. All attribute cards ATK x2.5 when reaching 2 set of Fire combos. ATK x1.5 for each additional combo, up to ATK x7 when reaching 5 combos

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:   
Worth trading for via Monster Exchange? No

Pros	Cons
Two distinct evolutions Colour Cross is superior Gains full bind immunity via SA Explosive damage via crosses Has viable 7×6 pairings	Orb hungry/fragile on 6×5 Orb Enhances are “wasteful”

Kenshin is one of the original cards of the Rurouni Kenshin Collab and gains more value through his current buffs. For the most part, his original Fire/Light evolution is superior due to a much stronger Leader Skill which has only become more solidified through 7×6.

Generally speaking, Colour Cross leaders are “capped” for damage output on a normal board as it will only allow for 3 crosses and while it is often more than enough damage with 2, orb hungriness begins to set in.

This is further stressed by Kenshin’s need to match Fire and Light to trigger a damage reduction component which means one will be taking away from his cross potential if a shield is required.

Thankfully, 7×6 catapults Colour Cross leaders to new heights as the additional orbs allow for both more crosses to be formed as well as more consistent activation. Furthermore, Kenshin has wonderful 7×6 pairings that may not even require a leader swap depending on the dungeon.

Presently speaking, Ilmina  is a Fantastic pairing as she offers both a wonderful active and syngergistic leader skill. Both leaders offer 25% damage reduction when matching Fire and Light combos which should almost always be doable on a 7×6 board. This pairing offers massive damage burst potential when hitting 4+ colour crosses and can offset the need to bring a Leader Swap active.

Overall, Kenshin is a powerful card, but is not as meta defining as Edward , Yusuke , and Diablos .

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 Hiko Seijuro – S

Active: Ignores  enemy damage absorb effects for 1 turn ( does not include combo shield, attribute absorb, and damage void ). +2 combo count for 1 turn. (20 turn CD)

Leader Skill: Dragon & Attacker type cards HP x1.5, ATK x4. All attribute cards ATK x2.5, RCV x2.5 when reaching Light & Light combos.

Awakenings:        
Super Awakenings:   
Worth trading for via Monster Exchange? Maybe

or

Hiko Seijuro

Active: Ignores  enemy damage absorb effects for 1 turn ( does not include combo shield, attribute absorb, and damage void ). +2 combo count for 1 turn. (20 turn CD)

Leader Skill: No skyfall matches. Light attribute cards All Stats x1.5. All attribute cards ATK x4 when reaching 2 set of Light combos. ATK x4 for each additional combo, up to ATK x8 when reaching 3 combos

Awakenings:        
Super Awakenings:   
Worth trading for via Monster Exchange? Maybe

Pros	Cons
Dual purpose active Fujin  Damage Absorb Void +2 combo count Viable to use as a sub or inherit 3 SB  is a blessing in 3P Can Monster Exchange for	Less value in dupes Or if you own a Damage Absorb Void Super Awakenings only work in solo mode

Hiko Seijuro can either be a strong card to own or incredibly valuable and all depends on if you own a Damage Absorb Void active such as Fujin . I say this because owning at least 1 Damage Absorb Void active is invaluable but greatly diminishes in value if one owns more.

Presently speaking, most leaders have the ability to dish out explosive damage which places them at the mercy of Absorption spawns such as Sopdet and Vishnu. As such, owning a Damage Absorb Void active can be invaluable when progressing through certain content. Of course it is possible to use a different team/set up and it is possible to clear all the content in the game by piggybacking off a friend, but not everyone wants to do this. My Mantastic account does not own one but is still able to clear all content but of course owning one would make some things easier.

As such, having access to your first Damage Absorb Void active can be invaluable as it gives you more flexibility moving forward and makes Hiko Seijuro a possible consideration for trading via the Monster Exchange System.

This potential trade can be valuable provided your box is lacking this type of active and thankfully it comes with a valuable secondary effect along with having viability as a sub as well.

Adding +2 combos is quite powerful and makes forming various patterns such as FUA  and Boxes  significantly easier and is a beneficial secondary effect overall. Furthermore, Hiko Seijuro comes with a 20 turn cooldown which is only 1 more than Fujin (who uses 1 turn haste as the secondary effect) which makes Hiko’s active arguably more efficient.

Finally, one can use Hiko as a sub on their teams due to their beneficial awakenings that are only further enhanced via Super Awakenings. Just remember that Super Awakenings only work in solo mode which can place a damper on their usage if playing with other players.

---

 Yukishiro Enishi (New) – A

Active: No skyfall combos for 1 turn. Change bottom-most row into Wood orbs. (4 turn CD)

Leader Skill: Wood attribute cards ATK x2, RCV x2. Increases time limit of orb movement by 2 seconds. All attribute cards ATK x4, 25% all damage reduction when attacking with 6+ Wood orbs at the same time.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:   
Worth trading for via Monster Exchange?  No

Pros	Cons
4-turn base active Synergy with his LS Can form a silly farming set up Requires 3 (plus friend) of him	Requires duplicates of himself to shine Low merit as better farming leads exist

At first glance, Enishi seems like a lackluster Wood farming card that falls behind other options but is actually amazingly powerful with the right set up.

This is because with three Enishi plus friend, one can form a row farming system with no skyfalls that can still combo or take advantage of skyfalls if needed. This enables Enishi to potentially swipe farm through significantly harder content as the only real stopping points are Resolves/Combo shields. With that being said, resolves can be countered via his own natural FUA2  awakening or the innate damage control that comes with no Skyfalls.

With that being said, this is a truly luxurious build that is naturally efficient but not truly needed for the average player.

A sample Arena 3 speed clear:
—

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 Shishio Makoto (New) –

Active: Change  top-most row into Fire orbs and bottom-most row into Dark orbs. Fire & Dark attribute cards ATK x2 for 1 turn (12 turn CD)

Leader Skill: Fire & Dark attribute cards ATK x5. All attribute cards ATK x2.5, 25% all damage reduction when attacking with 5+ Fire or Dark orbs at the same time.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:   
Worth trading for via Monster Exchange?  Maybe

Pros	Cons
Efficient Fire or Dark farming 5 orbs results in full activation Has utility awakenings Easy to activate damage and damage reduction Unconditional 25x ATK Huge base ATK	Mostly used as a farming leader May not be the goal of all players Still can be used as a traditional leader but not as effective overall

Shishio can be favourably compared against other farming leaders like Yamamoto  in that both can fully activate from a small number of orbs; however, Shishio is essentially better in every way.

Yamamoto suffers from a lack of utility awakenings that can place some constraints on team building/active skill usage. On the other hand, Shishio is fully bind immune, comes with a SBR, along with two Skill Boosts. These awakenings give him more flexibility in harder content along with enabling him to tackle some content like a traditional leader. Furthermore, Shishio can activate from either 5 Fire or 5 Dark orbs which opens up team building options.

Despite all of these wonderful aspects, Shishio may not be practical for the average player as their goals may not be purely focused on efficient farming. While this is a important aspect of PAD, it often requires coop play along with a somewhat “boring” playstyle after the team has been theory crafted. As such, the value Shishio  brings to a Monster Box is tied what your own goals are. One can use him as a traditional leader, but for the most part, stronger options exist.

---

5 star base

Many of the 5 and 4-star cards are underwhelming and only the noteworthy ones will have a more detailed analysis.

 Tomoe (New) – S

Active: 30% damage reduction for 8 turns. Change 2nd row from the top into Light orbs (13 turn CD)

Leader Skill: Balanced  type cards ATK x3. ATK x2 for clearing each Light orbs in a cross formation.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings: None

Pros	Cons
Incredible high value active 8 turn shield enables for prolonged stalling Can enable teams to repeatedly survive high damage attacks Situationally helpful awakenings	Low weighted stats

Tomoe is the only new 5-star card from the Rurouni Kenshin Collab and comes with an incredible active skill along with situationally valuable awakenings.

Being able to reduce all incoming damage by 30% for 8 turns on only a 13 turn cooldown is simply ridiculous and can enable all teams to achieve survive lethal incoming damage. Presently speaking, unevolved Susano was the longest/highest value shielding option with 50% for 5 turns on a 15 turn cooldown so Tomoe is not too far fetched overall.

As such, the type of active you would like to inherit comes down to the type of dungeon being played through and how much shielding is required and for how long.

Outside of a shielding role, Tomoe can sometimes be used as a situational sub if one needs the shield to either come up faster or to take advantage of her defensive awakenings. With a natural 10% damage reduction to both Fire and Dark damage along with 60% resistance to Jammers, Tomoe can possibly be used in certain challenges. With that being said, being able to have a 8/13 up time on the shield is amazingly valuable for some teams as it grants them significantly more effective health.

---

 Aoshi – D

Active: Increase skyfall chance of Water orbs by 15% for 2 turns. Randomly spawn 6 Water orbs from non Water orbs (4 turn CD)

Pros	Cons
Water skyfall buff Spawns 6 Water orbs	Low value overall No real place to use effectively

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 Sanosuke – C

Active: Reduce enemies’ defense to 0 for 1 turn. Effects carry forward on sweep. Deal 100000 Wood damage to 1 enemy in exchange for reducing HP by 50%. Affected by enemy element and defense (7 turn CD)

Awakenings:     

Pros	Cons
Full DEF break Short 7 turn cooldown Situational Killers	DEF Break has less value with strong LS & Guard Break

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Seta Sorijo – D

Active: Deal 99 damage to 1 enemy. Ignore enemy element and defense. Randomly spawn 2 Light orbs from non Light orbs. (3 turn CD)

Pros	Cons
99 Damage slips under specific thresholds Instantly kills evolved Zeal	Rarely need this active

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4 star base

 Kaoru – A

Active: Change top-most row into Water orbs and bottom-most row into Light orbs. Recover 50% of max HP. (12 turn CD)

Pros	Cons
Amazing multi purpose active Water & Light orb generation Rows can be used to add combos 50% Heal	Used as only an inherit

Kaoru has an amazingly powerful active that fulfills two functions: orb generation and healing. While the orb generation aspect is quite straight forward, it has the additional benefit of adding combos to a mono-colour board.

For example, if one uses a Zeus Dios  active, they will have only a single combo barring skyfalls. As such, it makes it impossible to overcome combo shields but using Kaoru’s active produces 12 additional orbs to produce enough combos for most encounters.

With that being said, there are other dual row forming actives but Kaoru stands out due to the 50% heal component. This healing aspect can naturally help teams with poor recovery but has more applications on HP-conditional teams. Most notably, Zeus Verse  and Yog  can greatly benefit from the 50% healing to stay in their activation zone.

Overall, Kaoru is an amazing Silver egg to roll and is arguably one of the best silvers available.

---

 Makimachi Misao – D

Active: Change  Light & Jammer orbs to Fire orbs. Recover 30% of max HP (6 turn CD)

Pros	Cons
Removes hazards 30% heal	Better options exist for both healing and orb changing Removing Light breaks Yog and Zeus Verse

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Takani Megumi – C

Active: Change  Dark, Jammer, Poison & Mortal Poison orbs to Heart orbs. Bind recovery for 5 turn. (9 turn CD)

Pros	Cons
Removes Hazards Produces Heart orbs 5 turn bind clear	Does not clear Awoken Binds Stronger options exist

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 Honjo Kamatari – D

Active: Deal 99 damage to all enemies. Ignore enemy element and defense. Increase skyfall chance of Wood orbs by 15% for 3 turns. (8 turn CD)

Pros	Cons
99 True Damage Can execute evolved Zeal	Niche active Hard to justify using

 Myojin Yahiko – D

Active: Change right-most column into Light orbs. (5 turn CD)

Pros	Cons
Makes a column of Light orbs	Almost any orb changer is stronger

Conclusion

The Rurouni Kenshin Collab offers a wide variety of cards that will add depth to your Monster Box as several cards cannot be replicated otherwise. With that being said, most of these unique/powerful cards are geared towards end game players or those who want to min-max their experience. It is completely possible for the average player to ignore this Collab and not truly regret it as the prize cards may not be a strong fit for their Monster Box or goals.

Let me know what you think about the Rurouni Kenshin event in the comments below and if you plan on rolling.

Happy Puzzling!

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