Introduction
- Regular Attack
- Arts Damage
- Position
- Ranged
Dusk, a Splash Caster coming from her very own limited banner, takes on the daunting task of achieving relevance as a splash caster. As the branch is plagued with issues such as limited utility, poor range, and awful attack speed, Dusk's competitiveness against even the best of the casters is even more impressive. Dusk brings a strong, versatile kit that performs much better than the rest of her branch peers.
Operator Stats
- Health
- 1801
- Attack Power
- 1028
- Defense
- 127
- Attack Speed
- 2.9 sec
- Arts Resistance
- 20%
- Block
- 1
- Redeploy Time
- 70 sec
- DP Cost
- 34
- Range
Y1 Y2 Y3 X1 active cell active cell active cell X2 operator cell active cell active cell X3 active cell active cell active cell
Her most notable stat difference is her much considerably higher ATK stat compared to the rest of her branch. It helps set her up to be a better damage dealer, alongside a kit that allows her to make the most out of her scaling ATK.
Strengths
- Summon from talent allows for some immediate utility after deployment
- Stacking ATK buff improves her output as time goes on
- Can provide both strong consistent splash damage or controlled AOE damage bursts
- Crowd control utility can potentially be some of the best in the game
- All aspects of kit address branch weaknesses
Weaknesses
- Very high DP cost can mean placing her early to build talent stacks is difficult
- Poor damage output when skills are not active
- Crowd control utility cycling and initial SP leave something to be desired, limiting its usage
Talents
Sublimity
When Dusk or a 'Freeling' defeats an enemy, Dusk gains ATK +2%, stacking up to 15 times
This talent is very powerful, as it helps her damage output scale up throughout the level. Earlier to middle parts of a level will usually have a good amount of weaker enemies for her to get the last hit on for easier build-up of the talent. This makes it reasonable to expect at least a decent boost from it whenever she’s used. You’ll know when she’s got full stacks by the glow on her sword, as it will start leaving a glowing trail. It should be kept in mind that this +30% bonus is additive with other attack buffs.
Finishing Touch
The first attack after deployment will summon a 'Freeling' (lasts for 25 seconds) at the target's location (only on deployable ground tiles)
This serves to help her usage a bit in DP-tight maps, so placing her earlier isn’t an immediate death sentence. The summon can help buy the time in the early game that she needs to charge up her skills.
Note: Dusk’s summons do not scale with her operator level, do not take up deploy limit, and automatically disappear after 25s. Their stats are as follows:
Summon Stats
- Health
- 1997
- Attack Power
- 398
- Defense
- 302
- Attack Speed
- 1.9 sec
- Arts Resistance
- 50%
- Block
- 2
- Redeploy Time
- 10 sec
- DP Cost
- 0
- Range
Y1 Y2 Y3 X1 empty cell active cell empty cell X2 active cell operator cell active cell X3 empty cell active cell empty cell
The summon has impressive stats, and its whopping 50 RES allows it to serve as a strong damage sponge against enemies using arts. Being 2-block is a great help for stalling enemies. While their ATK stat is low, it should be noted that they deal Arts damage and will hold their own against armored enemies.
Skills
Transcendental Stroke
Per Second RecoveryAuto Trigger- Initial SP
- 0
- SP Cost
- 5
- Duration
- Infinite
The next attack has increased splash area and deals 250% ATK as Arts damage
Can store 3 charges
Note: This skill increases splash radius to 1.7 tiles
As far as generic S1s go, this skill is positively incredible, albeit with a very real requirement for mastery. This skill works exactly as you’d expect, enhancing her next auto-attack if a charge is available. The strength of this skill comes from sheer numbers backed by her high ATK stat as well as massive splash radius, even competing with Eyja S2. The splash radius increases her reach in a way, allowing Dusk to hit multiple enemies with much more ease, alleviating the small attack range. This means her average damage output is in practice much better than other Dispersion Casters.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- Mastery 3
- Priority
- Medium
The skill has high consistent damage output and is one of the best options for consistent Arts splash damage. It gains an additional charge at M1 that many see as a power spike, but in practice it does not change much in terms of her overall performance and only serves to provide a small boost if there is a longer period between waves. The reason that’s not impactful is because the situation this skill excels in is when there is very little downtime, so that extra charge never really gets made use. If you are planning to use this a lot, then getting it to M3 is recommended as the lowered SP charges does wonders for making the skill more consistent where it excels.
Flowing Ink
Per Second RecoveryManual Trigger- Initial SP
- 25
- SP Cost
- 38
- Duration
- 20 sec
Range expands, ATK +55%, ASPD +55 and attacks all enemies within range. Increase Arts damage dealt to enemies with less than 50% HP to 130%
| Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | active cell | active cell | active cell | active cell |
| X2 | operator cell | active cell | active cell | active cell |
| X3 | active cell | active cell | active cell | active cell |
The skill is built around having qualities that deal with the major issues of the archetype. That comes from the high ASPD buff, increased range, and true AOE instead of splash allowing her to hit all enemies within that range. The increase multiplier against enemies with lower health does wonders, as she can benefit from the ATK buffs she will be getting from both the skill and her talent stacks to full effect. It serves as an alternative to her S1, where instead of excelling against more constant waves of enemies, this skill is best used as a controlled burst for stronger more focused waves or select elite enemies.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- Mastery 3
- Priority
- Medium
The skill gains a lot from masteries, benefitting from a good increase to ATK, ASPD, Multiplier, duration and SP cost. The multiplier is only increased with M1, but the rest of the gains are all considerable and make for a good improvement in her performance. Most notably the skill has high initial SP gains from the first two masteries, which allows the skill to be used much quicker after deployment. This means that she can catch earlier waves quicker with the skill and start building her talent stacks with it and be ready for later, more dangerous waves with higher damage output.
Image over Form
Per Second RecoveryManual Trigger- Initial SP
- 70
- SP Cost
- 100
- Duration
- 60 sec
Attack Interval increases and prioritize attacking unblocked enemies. Range and splash area expand, ATK +120% and every attack summons/refreshes a 'Freeling' (lasts for 25 seconds) at the target's location (only on deployable ground tiles)
| Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | active cell | active cell | active cell | empty cell |
| X2 | active cell | active cell | active cell | active cell |
| X3 | operator cell | active cell | active cell | active cell |
| X4 | active cell | active cell | active cell | active cell |
| X5 | active cell | active cell | active cell | empty cell |
Note: This skill increases splash radius to 1.7 tiles
“Refreshing”: restores summon HP to 100%, as well as resetting its 25s lifetime All summons are retreated if Dusk ever leaves the field for any reason.
This skill places utility over damage, but can still deal a respectable amount of it thanks to its ability to group up enemies combined with a large splash radius. The skill has an impressive duration, which will allow you to lock down entire sections of the map and create chokepoints for enemies. The constant refreshing and spawning of summons allows this to happen, making anything slow and hard-hitting a sitting duck for the entire duration of the skill. This skill can potentially provide some of the best stalling in the game, and the summons will also pick up enemy aggro as they appear, allowing them to act as another tool for baiting enemy ranged attacks. As long as there is an open tile for her to attack an enemy in, it’s hard to go wrong with this skill.
This skill has incredible potential due to its amazing duration; however, it does suffer massively from its very high SP cost combined with low initial SP. This leads to a low amount of skill activations in most stages, and the poor initial SP means that using it as a helidrop is unrealistic. This does severely limit its usage in most situations, so while it does have its niche, it's also less practical than her other two skills.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- None
- Priority
- --
The skill does not stand to improve significantly with mastery, as the greatest draw of said mastery is to improve her initial SP. However, even when at M3, the skill still needs to charge a whopping 30 SP to be used after deployment which means it remains a poor choice for helidropping even after all the investment. Putting so many resources into the skill for the sole reason of initial SP cannot be recommended for the majority of players.
Modules
- Attack Power
- +80
- Health
- +190
Untitled Scroll
SPC-X
| Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | active cell | active cell | active cell | empty cell |
| X2 | operator cell | active cell | active cell | active cell |
| X3 | active cell | active cell | active cell | empty cell |
The base module simply allows for more flexible placement with the additional tile of range. A single additional tile is more useful for splash branches than others, as the splash attacks can also hit other nearby tiles too. The upgrades don’t do anything besides adding more stats. Additional HP isn’t useful, and the additional ATK is okay but does not help with the branch’s low DPS issues.
- Recommended Stage
- Stage 1
- Priority
- Low
The stat impact is low, while the bonus range doesn’t matter much to help with the usual issues of the branch. Dusk can make good use of the additional tile with her S1 for example, since the additional range makes it easy for her large splash to hit targets a fair bit outside her original range. But this improved target acquisition isn’t going to be a very worthwhile improvement by itself, making this a low priority for most. The second module level is not strong enough to warrant upgrading, while the third level is a minimal boost.
- Attack Power
- +82
- Attack Speed
- +7
- DP Cost
- -8
"Sleepless Nights"
SPC-Y
Synergy
Rosmontis
Rosmontis’ S3 deals monstrous damage, but only being able to hit blocked targets remains its primary limitation. Dusk S3 is the perfect solution to this, being able to place a chump blocker almost anywhere that isn’t a banned tile without the need to commit resources such as deploy limit and DP. Dusk and Rosmontis used together will stem the tide of almost any number of enemies.
Carnelian
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Dusk makes a good pair with Carnelian - more specifically, her S3. The skill has good range and incredible damage once ramped up, but she needs her enemies to sit still inside said range, something that may prove difficult at times. Dusk fixes this issue with ease, giving Carnelian plenty of time to ramp up her damage, while also drawing ranged aggro away from her as her resistances lower during her skill.