Introduction

Latent Tamadras have been available for a prolong period of time now and is a way to add a certain level of customization to an individual card. By default, all cards come with 6 available slots and Reincarnated monsters can be bumped up to 8.

With that being said, there are now numerous different Latents available and it can become overwhelming when deciding how to best use them at this point in time.

As such, this article will examine the 6 distinct categories Latents can fall into: Skill Delay Resists, new AA4 latents, Killers, stat modifiers, Damage Reduction, and Extra Slot Tamadras to give players a better understanding of how to best use this resource in this day and age.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Skill Delay Resists – 1 slot

Skill Delay Resists (SDR) will always make for a solid default choice when unsure of what to put on a monster. This is because each SDR will prevent a single turn of skill delay which helps ensure your actives remain intact when pushing through challenging content.

As such, it is not uncommon to stack these on most cards for your team as having access to your base or inherited active is is always helpful. It is also rare that you would never want to use either of these actives and is the reason why SDRs are the best choice if unsure.

With that being said, you should not just throw them on to cards willy-nilly as there are many other powerful options available but cards who tend to make the most out of these Latents are those who lack personal damage along with those carrying a key active such as Damage Absorption Void or something that counters Poison Skyfalls.

For myself, I have heavily SDR-ed cards such as Diaochan and Polowne as both are my utility solutions who also carry key inherits/actives to overcome problematic encounters.

Alt. Arena 4 Latents – 6 slots

Each of the following Latents will occupy 6 slots on a given monsters which will prevent you from using other options unless the card in question is Reincarnated and has been fused Extra Latent Slots.

Due to their high opportunity cost to use and great difficulty in acquiring, these Latents are naturally quite strong but have specific uses.

Leader Change Resist

The Leader Change Resist Latent will prevent your leader from ever being swapped within a dungeon. For the most part, these is a relatively niche mechanic and it only helps yourself as friends taking your leader will not benefit whatsoever from this Latent.

At this point in time, this Latent can be used to ensure smoother/faster clears if playing through content where you know your leader will be swapped.

While being leader swapped can be problematic, it is still a relatively niche mechanic at this point in time but has the potential to provide more consistency once everything else has been taken care of.

While it has the most value on your leader, it is possible to place this latent on a sub in order to prevent that particular one from being swapped. This is not consistent as it will only protect you if that particular card is chosen as the swap but leaves your leader’s latents open and available for something more meaningful.

Anti Jammer Skyfall

This Latent will provide you protection from enemies generating Jammer Skyfalls which is an underwhelming mechanic overall. This is because Jammers only take up dead space on a board, they do not harm you when matched like Poison and makes this latent lackluster overall.

Perhaps if GungHo introduces a dungeon with Hera-Ur followed by Lakshmi will this become truly relevant but at the same time, I highly doubt this particular combo would ever occur.

Anti Poison Skyfall

On the other hand, the Anti Poison Skyfall Latent (the in-game name sounds silly) is tremendously valuable as it will prevent enemies from activating Poison Skyfalls.

This mechanic is most lethal in the higher level Arenas as the Poison orbs will get out of hand and players are forced to either bring their own Jammer Skyfall buff (overwrites debuffs) or have immunity to Poison damage.

As such, being able to completely prevent a mechanic from occurring without using an active is something worth striving towards as you can then free up an entire inheritance slot for something else.

Generally speaking this latent works best on your utility cards and can be used in lieu of SDR as their active may not require as much delay protection as it will be used for other purposes.

Void Damage Penetration

The VDP Latent is arguably the best of the AA4 latents as it enables the owning card to ignore Void mechanics when matching all 5 colours plus Hearts. As such, this is perfect to use Rainbow teams as they will be matching these elements already and one of their biggest weaknesses is difficulty in dealing with Void spawns.

With this in mind, it is best to use this VDP Latent on your highest damaging card who at this point in time would be Aten due to his unparalleled damage output against multi-type spawns. Barring Aten, other high damage output cards such as Dyer are also fantastic candidates for this Latent.

While this is meaningful, you must be aware that only the owning card will be able to ignore the Void mechanic and you still run the risk of your other cards providing no contribution. As such, this Latent works best against lower health Void spawns where your single VDP-Latented card can execute on their own. You will still need to bring other Void Damage Void actives for tankier spawns but being able to ignore earlier/more fragile encounters is meaningful.

Attribute Absorption Penetration

Finally, the Attribute Absorption Void Latent enables the owning card to ignore any colour absorb at all times. Unfortunately, it is only the owning card who will ignore the Absorption which is the problem as all your other cards will heal the spawn in question.

This is different compared to Void mechanics as overshooting the threshold does not lose progress but with Attribute Absorb, your other cards will heal the spawn.

As such, this is a difficult latent to use efficiently as it is ideally placed on your later subs or friend’s leader to ensure the final hits are not Absorbed while also being aware of what colours are being Absorbed ahead of time. This naturally breaks down when the colours absorbed are random.

Killer Latents – 2 slots

Killer Latents have been around for a prolong period of time and will enable the owning card to deal 1.5x personal damage against their respective typing and will multiplicatively stack with other Killer Latents and offensive awakenings. Just be aware that each Killer Latent is tied to a specific typing for the owning card with Balance type cards being able to use all Killer Latents.

For the most part, these Latents are used either on high personal damage (eg. multiple , , etc.) cards or those who already have multiple natural Killers. This is because you want to bolster their output as much as possible to help ensure the spawn in question dies.

For example, the Balance type Hiei can use any Latent while also enjoying triple 7 Combo and VDP . As such, he may often be your damage solution and granting him an additional 1.5^3 = 3.375x personal damage is meaningful.

On the other hand, someone like Lucifer who comes with 2 God Killers along with the ability to wield 4 God Killer Latents becomes a tremendously efficient anti God solution.

While Lucifer’s Latents are more straightforward, Hiei’s will depend on the dungeon you are intending to play through as Arena 6/AA4 prefer God Killers, Colosseum favours Machine Killers, and AA3 is heavily populated by Devils.

Stat modifier Latents – 1-2 slots

We currently have Latents that can improve a monster’s stats for each of the three categories along with their + forms that take up 2 slots but provide more benefits. For the most part, these Latents are situations/niche but do have some applications.

Firstly, the RCV+ Latents are phenomenal on cards with naturally high RCV who ideally have Enhanced Heal Orb awakenings . This is because these cards can provide a phenomenal amount of healing when matching exactly 4 connected Hearts and being able to further increase this output is meaningful. Cards such as Amaterasu or Lakshmi love these Latents as they are often the only source of healing on a given team.

The following picture showcases just how much additional RCV Amaterasu enjoys from 4 RCV+ Latents.

On the other hand, ATK+ latents help dedicated Button cards deal more damage as Buttons scale off the owning card’s ATK value. While Button farming is not for everyone, it is something to be aware of as the few extra points of ATK could result in a floor being Button more easily.

Finally, HP+ latents are less valuable as there is no way to truly abuse HP compared to ATK and RCV and most teams tend to have enough Effective Health to tank all reasonable hits/preemptives.

Damage Reduction Latents – 1-2 slots

Damage Reduction Latents come in all 5 colours that provide 1% Damage Reduction and their + forms providing 2.5%. For the most part, these are relatively niche Latents with one common usage being for Cheese teams.

Cheese teams are those that change an opposing spawn to a specific colour and then reduce that new colour’s incoming damage to the point where you cannot die. While this is not a fast method, it is safe when set up correctly but the Dark Damage Reduction latents have additional value in Alt. Arena 3.

This is because Alt. Arena 3 has a 100% preemptive Gravity which will execute any team that does not have innate Damage Reduction. As such, having even just one on your team will prevent dying to this mechanic.

Extra Latent Slot

Extra Latent Slot Tamadras are a relatively rare resource that allows players to add a 7th and 8th slot to Reincarnated cards. This grants additional flexibility and while we have been given several of these for free, most players will have a finite supply until Arena 6, Alt. Arena 4, or Colosseum 2 can be regularly cleared. As such, I want to highlight the best places to use this Latent in order to maximize the benefits.

Firstly, cards like Amaterasu or Lakshmi will greatly benefit from an additional 2 slots as you can then place an additional RCV+ to further bolster their healing output. This same logic can be applied to your dedicated Button cards for their ATK stat such as Vajrabhairava .

On the other hand, dedicated Killer cards such as Lucifer will enjoy an additional 1.5x personal damage thanks to the 4th God Killer Latent.

I am less inclined to use these Latents on purely SDR cards as 5-6 should often be enough but an exception can be made for those cards who have one of the 6-slot Alt. Arena 4 Latents in order to provide an additional 2 SDR.

Conclusion

Latent awakenings are a key part of team building and having the correct Latents on your cards will help you clear more challenging content.

Generally speaking, Killers are best used on high personal damage cards or those who already come with the same Killer awakenings, AA4 Latents are specific for certain scenarios, stat modifiers for key RCV or ATK cards, and Skill Delay Resists as a default option if nothing else is appealing.

Let me know how you use your Latent Tamadras in the comments below along with whether or not you agree with my analysis.

Happy Puzzling!

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