Introduction
- Regular Attack
- Physical Damage
- Position
- Melee
Flametail is a Pioneer Vanguard capable of providing some good offense alongside dodge-based utility and survivability. Her DP production is decent on top of having some nice off-skill survivability and damage output thanks to her talents. Her power ceiling as a damage dealer depends on how much she can dodge, since it allows her to deal multi-hit and multi-target damage on her next attack. She excels against multiple low to mid threat targets, where she can dodge multiple hits and use her talent to clear easily.
Operator Stats
- Health
- 2138
- Attack Power
- 611
- Defense
- 392
- Attack Speed
- 1.07 sec
- Arts Resistance
- 0%
- Block
- 2
- Redeploy Time
- 70 sec
- DP Cost
- 14
- Range
Y1 Y2 X1 operator cell active cell
Flametail has all-rounder stats, with good base survivability and ATK. Her trust stats go entirely into ATK to help her offense, as she already focuses on survivability through evasion. This gives her a solid base as an early-to-mid wave clearer and will easily be able to deal with most enemies at those points in a mission.
Strengths
- Good mix of survivability and damage output
- Can provide strong DP burst alongside evasion utility
- Some of the best early wave clearing among vanguards
- Great skill cycle for quick bursts of damage and survivability
Weaknesses
- Relies entirely on dodge RNG for survivability
- Low skill durations makes her weaker in prolonged fights, especially against stronger enemies
- Due to the random nature of evasion, the buffs are inconsistent in improving the survivability of your allies.
Talents
Vanguard Swordsmanship
After dodging an attack, the next attack deals two hits and attacks all blocked enemies
Flametail’s first talent makes her attack twice after dodging an instance of damage. Upon reaching E2, this double attack hits enemies equal to her block count. This is what allows her to reach a high damage output, especially when dealing with multiple enemies. Given Flametail’s kit is built around constant evasion, this talent synergizes well with her kit and makes it activate often.
Keep in mind that consecutive dodges will stack multiple uses of this talent.
Pinus Sylvestris Leader
When deployed, all 'Kazimierz' Operators gain 22% Physical Dodge
Flametail’s second talent boosts the physical dodge of all Kazimierz Faction operators whenever she is deployed. This helps boost her damage passively, as it allows for Talent 1 to proc without her skills. Do keep in mind that evasion stacks with diminishing returns; the more evasion buffs you stack, the less effective they are. This means that this talent does not have a lot of impact on Flametail when her skills are active, as they already give her high evasion.
On another note, all members of the Pinus Sylvestris Knightclub faction count as being part of the Kazimierz Faction and benefit from this talent.
Skills
Quick Intuition
Per Second RecoveryAuto Trigger- Initial SP
- 9
- SP Cost
- 18
- Duration
- 0 sec
Immediately gains 6 DP and dodge the next Physical attack
A unique take on the basic auto-cast DP skills other pioneers have. While the skill grants slightly worse DP generation in comparison to the others, it grants Flametail a guaranteed dodge on the next physical hit. Keep in mind that the guaranteed dodge does not stack, so you can only have one at a time.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- None
- Priority
- --
Improving the mastery of this skill will only provide a minor initial SP improvement and SP cost reduction of 1 at M3. These upgrades are almost entirely useless, since it only really improves helidrop capability which is useless for this skill. It’s a weak skill, and Flametail provides much better performance with her other skills.
'Pinus Sylvestris'
Per Second RecoveryManual Trigger- Initial SP
- 30
- SP Cost
- 40
- Duration
- 0 sec
Immediately gains 13 DP; Deals 240% ATK as Physical damage twice to up to 6 nearby enemies and Stuns them for 0.5 seconds. Allied units within Attack Range gain 50% Physical Dodge for 10 seconds
| Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | Y5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | empty cell | empty cell | active cell | empty cell | empty cell |
| X2 | empty cell | active cell | active cell | active cell | empty cell |
| X3 | active cell | active cell | operator cell | active cell | active cell |
| X4 | empty cell | active cell | active cell | active cell | empty cell |
| X5 | empty cell | empty cell | active cell | empty cell | empty cell |
This skill allows Flametail to provide utility and can be used as a helidrop skill. It provides DP, a damage burst, a stun, and an evasion boost to the operators located within its range. The stun itself is very short, and her main utility comes from the evasion boost. It helps with your team’s survivability while allowing Flametail to proc her first talent more often, indirectly increasing her damage output.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- Mastery 3
- Priority
- Low
This skill has its spot and can be put to good use with its effects. However, evasion as a utility option is not very reliable. There are similar helidrop options that are overall going to be more useful among the vanguards. If you want to use this skill, however, masteries will help its helidrop capabilities by increasing the initial SP. Furthermore, it has a good improvement to its damage multiplier and a small evasion buff increase.
Flameheart
Per Second RecoveryManual Trigger- Initial SP
- 6
- SP Cost
- 16
- Duration
- 8 sec
Gradually gains 8 DP over the skill duration. Attack Interval reduces, ATK +90%, Block +1 and gain 80% Physical and Arts Dodge
Flametail’s main offensive and defensive skill which allows her to serve as a powerhouse, notably against low-mid threat enemies. It has overall nice DP production, but most importantly every single self-buff improves her talent 1 effect. Higher evasion means more talent procs, but it then suffers from not stacking multiple uses when it procs so often. This is where the attack interval comes in, allowing for faster attacks to waste less consecutive dodges. Increased block count means a higher power ceiling with the talent hitting an additional enemy, and ATK buffs go very well together with multi-hit attacks. It’s a character defining skill that improves every aspect of Flametail that you would want to make the most out of her kit.
However, one of the skill’s main strengths is also one of its biggest weaknesses; the skill cycle. The skill can be used very often with its very low cost, but it has a very short duration at only 8 seconds. Many hard hitting enemies have very slow attacks, which means she will only have the opportunity to try and dodge 2-3 hits at most while the skill is active. Thankfully, enemies early in a level where vanguards excel in are mostly full of multiple weaker enemies where this skill’s quick cycle is a boon. Just be wary of what you’ll be facing to get the most out of this skill.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- Mastery 3
- Priority
- Medium
This skill has the most potential and general usability. Masteries will increase the ATK buff, improve initial SP, and reduce the SP cost. It allows her to make her skill cycle even greater while considerably improving her damage output against higher DEF enemies which she will struggle more against.
Synergy
Bagpipe
True for every vanguard, but this can be especially notable with Flametail due to her S2 and S3 having some of the better initial SP costs among vanguards. This is most notable for S2, which allows her to have one of best DP bursts in the game with its initial, which is a strength that Texas’ own S2 shares. It then serves as an alternative to Texas, where instead of excelling with stalling support from the stun, it helps protect your team from hard-hitting physical enemies that may be stun immune anyway. It’s lacking in consistency due to RNG, but it’s noteworthy enough to be an option available.