Tag Archives: Weapon Assist

Skill Inheritance

Understanding Weapon Assists / Skill Inheritance + Strategies for Optimizing Their Use

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Introduction

PAD is a wildly complex game that can incredibly overwhelming to newer players as the entire concept of an early game experience has largely been removed due to Powercreep along with Normal and Technical Dungeons being incredibly old and out of date.

This can give new players a false sense of security when they are using 2021 teams to clear 2014 content as they will be wildly unprepared when faced with modestly challenging content.

As such, I would like to take the time to discuss a key mechanic of PAD: Weapon Assists / Skill Inheritance. This mechanic is vital to your success when playing through challenging content and adds another layer when it comes to team building. In fact, Weapon Assists tend to be solid cards to invest in as they tend to be Powercrept at a slower rate compared to Leaders or subs.

This article will provide a brief history of Weapon Assists, how they function, and how to optimize their usage.

Video commentary

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A brief history

Weapon Assists actually came out after the ability to Inherit/Assist cards and we referred to them as Skill Inheritance at the time. Eventually GungHo released Weapon Assists and changed the terminology which is why the term inherits/assists are often used interchangeably. Continue reading Understanding Weapon Assists / Skill Inheritance + Strategies for Optimizing Their Use →

Collab REM Reviews

Monster Hunter Collab Review and Analysis – September 2020

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Introduction

The Monster Hunter Collab returns to North America and contains an absurd number of different cards along with multiple evolutions. Furthermore, every single card has one Weapon Assist with the top rarity having two options.

This greatly decreases the frustration associated with duplicates as most cards will have value along with the several bottom rarity cards providing numerous Resists Jammer Resist Poison resist Blind Resist.

While the bottom rarity is not as strong relatively speaking to other options, they are still respectable cards and many can be used to help round out your inheritance options. As such, if you have never rolled here before, there is value to be found as almost every Weapon Assist will be helpful.

With this in mind, I would love to outline the pros and cons for each card to give players a better understanding of what to expect in the Monster Hunger Collab Rare Egg Machine.

On a different note, this is my longest article to date at 10,538 words.

Video commentary

—video coming Monday—

Overview

Monster Hunter Collab Pros & Cons – September 2020
Pros
Cons
  • BIG Weighted Stats all around
  • All cards have a Weapon Assist
    • 7-star cards have two
  • 1/5 chance for any top rarity card
  • Value at every rarity
  • Huge rolling pool
    • Harder to roll dupes
  • Has returned numerous times
    • Older players will have little motivation to roll
  • Bottom rarity is no longer as dominating as before
    • Less rolls should be used overall
  • 10 Magic Stone cost
    • More expensive to Monster Exchange
  • Overall, not as game changing as before
  • Huge rolling pool
    • Harder to roll what you want
Monster Hunter Collab REM
7 Star base
(20% total)		  
6 Star base
(40% total)		  
5 Star base
(40% total)		  
Monster Hunter Collab – September 2020
S
A
B
C
D

Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking

Icons show Revo or Transformed state if possible

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

The bottom rarity should be the main motivation to roll in an event and here is a brief summary showcasing their awakenings and/or Weapon Assists if applicable. Awakenings in (brackets) are Super Awakenings.

  • Skill Boost Skill Boost Skill Lock Resist Skill Lock Resist Time Extend  ( Balance killer) – B
      Balance killer Enhnaced Fire Orb Enhnaced Fire Orb Enhnaced Fire Orb Enhnaced Fire Orb Imp ATK
  • Skill Boost Skill Boost Skill Lock Resist Time Extend Time Extend 45 Healer Killer physical killer 37 ( Skill Boost) – B
    Poison resist Poison resist Poison resist Imp ATK
  • Skill Boost Time Extend Time Extend Enhnaced Fire Orb Enhnaced Fire Orb Enhnaced Fire Orb Enhnaced Fire Orb 45 45 ( 45 ) – D
    Imp ATK Imp ATK Imp ATK Time Extend Fire Row Fire Row
  • Skill Boost Skill Boost Skill Lock Resist Blind Resist Blind Resist Poison resist Poison resist 45 ( 45 ) – B
    Blind Resist Blind Resist Blind Resist Imp ATK
  • Skill Boost Skill Boost Skill Lock Resist Water Row Water Row Water Row Water Row 45  ( ) – D
    Imp HP Imp HP Imp ATK Time Extend Blind Resist Jammer Resist
  • TPA TPA TPA TPA TPA Time Extend Skill Boost Skill Boost 45 ( TPA 45) – C
    Balance killer 42 Time Extend Imp ATK
  • Time Extend Skill Boost Skill Lock Resist TPA TPA TPA TPA  ( TPA ) – D
    RCV Latent RCV Latent Imp ATK Bind Clear awakening Bind Clear awakening
  • Skill Lock Resist Time Extend Time Extend Time Extend Time Extend Skill Boost Healer Killer Healer Killer ( Time Extend ) – B
    Jammer Resist Jammer Resist Jammer Resist Imp ATK

Continue reading Monster Hunter Collab Review and Analysis – September 2020 →

Random Thoughts

Chuan is Fantastic

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Introduction

With the return of the Dragonbound & Dragon Caller event, Chuan will be made available once again through the Monster Exchange system. Since her debut, Chuan has gone through various hurdles of viability and at this point in time, she has never been better.

This is because she has both a powerful Weapon Assist and leader/sub form. As such, I encourage all players to actively pursue her during the next two weeks.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Weapon Assist

Awakenings:  Dark row Dark row Dark row Dark row
Active: Reduce HP by 20%; Deal 50x Dark damage to an enemy; Change the top row to Dark orbs (34 -> 4 turn CD)

Pros
Cons
  • Provides Bind Immunity
  • Four Dark Rows Dark row
  • Long or short CD
  • Farmable
  • –

Chuan’s Base form has now been transformed into a Weapon Assist which means she will transfer over awakenings when used as inherit. Thus, this could be many player’s first Full Bind Immune Weapon that also provides sizable Passive damage via Rows Dark row.  Continue reading Chuan is Fantastic →

Random Thoughts

PAD Academy Student Handbook is Valuable

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Introduction

The PAD Academy REM is in full swing and while it is lackluster, the farmable Academy Student Handbook is valuable and worth farming for most players. The Handbook functions as a Weapon Assist that provides the following awakenings: Poison resist Blind Resist Imp HP Imp ATK RCV Latent along with +1s orb movement time for 9 turns on a 14 -> 9 cooldown.

The Student Handbook follows the trend of other Collab farmables i that players need to repeatedly play the dungeon to acquire Bronze-Gold drops and Monster Exchange them for the Rainbow variety. Unfortunately, current Collab events require significantly more farming as each tier requires 5 fodder (5 Bronze -> 1 Silver, 5 Silver -> 1 Gold, 5 Gold -> 1 Rainbow, 5 Rainbow = Handbook). Thus, 5 Rainbow tokens requires a total of 625 Bronze tokens.

Despite this large farming hurdle, the fact that the Handbook is farmable (with large amounts of stamina) makes it quite valuable compared to other Resist options as it does not require limited (Rainbow Event Medals) or Premium (Magic Stones) currencies to acquire.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Value of a Resist Weapon Assist

Weapon Assists have become invaluable when playing through harder content as they are able to provide additional awakenings to counter various mechanics. At this point in time, those that provide Resistance (Blind Resist Jammer Resist Poison resist ) tend to be the most valuable as they can trivialize certain spawns and mechanics. As such, striving for 100% Resistance against a particular mechanic is a reliable way to improve consistency. Continue reading PAD Academy Student Handbook is Valuable →

Godfest, Monster Analysis

Dracoblader Godfest + New GFE (Sericha & Kio) Review

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Introduction

This coming Friday marks the debut of two new Godfest Exclusives (GFE), Sericha and Kio , along with a regular 5-Magic Stone Godfest. For the most part, this Godfest should be skipped as it will feature lackluster rates due to the non-Super status and mostly exists to bait players into trying to roll the two new cards.

As a whole, the two new Godfest Exclusives are wonderfully powerful and unique but will have significantly less applications for the average player. Their main strength comes from their Weapon Assist forms as they are able to transfer awakenings that were never available before.

This article will be focusing on the strengths of the two new Godfest Exclusives, Sericha and Kio.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Do not roll in the Godfest

Low rates combined with the eventual return of Monster Hunter and YYH Collab means players should be saving their Magic Stones.

New Godfest Exclusives

The two new Godfest Exclusives may seem strange at first due to the mediocre value of their evolved forms and some players being unaware of how powerful the Weapon Assists are. Continue reading Dracoblader Godfest + New GFE (Sericha & Kio) Review →

Monster Analysis

[First Impressions] Great Witches Weapon Assist Evolutions – Madoo, Reeche, & Zela

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Introduction

The North American server is 2-3 months behind Japan and while this is can be problematic, it does give us a chance to fully prepare for any new content coming to Puzzle and Dragons.

The First Impression series is a type of video I produce on my YT YouTube channel and lets me voice my opinions on newly announced content.

For this video, I gave my initial reaction to the Great Witches Weapon Assist  evolutions along with the precedence it sets along with what I feel makes a strong Weapon Assist.

Video commentary

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Weapon Assist forms

All Weapon Assist forms are able to transfer over sizable stats due to their high weighted stats.

Madoo:  Fire Row Fire Row Fire Row Fire Row  Imp HP

Reeche:  TPA  Imp HP

Zela:  Wood Row Wood Row Wood Row Wood Row  Imp HP

General thoughts

Weapon Assist  evolutions enable the card to transfer over awakenings when inherited on another monster. The Weapon Assist retains the same base stats and active skill while also permanently committing them to an inherit as the process is irreversible.

For myself, I look for three things in a Weapon Assist: beneficial awakenings, a useful active skill, a long cooldown to act as a better skill delay buffer.

With this in mind, Reeche’s Weapon Assist is the big winner of the three released as she covers all the criteria. This is because she is on-colour and can provide massive stats to Beach Fujin  which means she can take the 7 Combo 45 Super Awakening to bring her personal damage up to 8x.

The main concern I have for this trend of continuously buffing 7* GFE is that GungHo is raising the Powercreep for rare cards. In the past, many teams were locked behind 6* GFE which made many of them inaccessible to the average player even if they had some of the cards.

Over time, the need use 6* GFE has declined and most are now used as trade fodder for rare Collab cards. While owning a 7* GFE is nice and is not mandatory, the fact that GungHo is continuously buffing them (Super Awakenings, Weapon Assist) is somewhat alarming when you consider how little love is given to Pantheon cards. I understand that this is a business but when you realize that the majority of teams run little to no Pantheon cards is alarming.

Conclusion

The Weapon Assist forms the Great Witches gives them even more value and flexibility. With that in mind, it would not be wise to convert any into a Weapon Assist if it is the only copy you own as they provide a great amount of value in their base/evolved forms. Furthermore, the Weapon Assists would also act as a deterent for using them as Trade Fodder for 10-stone events.

Let me know what you think about these Weapon Assist evolutions in the comments below.

Happy Puzzling!

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Random Thoughts

Farmable Persona Collab Drops Review

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Introduction

The Persona Collab will be arriving in North America Monday, July 16 and comes with both an REM and Farmable component. Generally speaking, most farmables that come with Collabs are for Fan Service, but Persona is unique in that there are 4 Weapon Assists  available.

This article will briefly outline the 6 farmable cards in the Persona Collab to help you better plan out your stamina usage during the event.

My regular REM review will be coming soon.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Weapon Assist

Weapon Assist cards are able to be inherited like most cards, but they will also transfer over several awakenings to the base card. This has become somewhat invaluable when pushing through challenging content as it enables your subs to become significantly stronger as they can now hold more than 9 awakenings.  Continue reading Farmable Persona Collab Drops Review →