Introduction
- Regular Attack
- Physical Damage
- Position
- Melee
Kafka is an Executor Specialist with a specialty on crowd-control using the sleep status effect alongside Arts damage. She’s one of the easiest and most consistent options for sleep with little downtime, making chaining crowd-control very easy with proper use.
Operator Stats
- Health
- 2025
- Attack Power
- 525
- Defense
- 311
- Attack Speed
- 0.93 sec
- Arts Resistance
- 0%
- Block
- 1
- Redeploy Time
- 18 sec
- DP Cost
- 9
- Range
Y1 Y2 X1 operator cell active cell
Strengths
- Requires no investment at all to get the most out of her sleep utility from S1, as its duration isn’t improved with skill levels
- Sleep duration is long and remains after retreat; with fast-redeployment this allows for very low downtime between uses
- Camouflage and 0-block from talent allows her to safely use her skills
Weaknesses
- S1 damage bomb only happens at the end of the sleep duration, requiring you to wait if all you want is the damage
- S2 range can be very map dependent if you want to get a lot out of it
Talents
Misdirection
When skill is active, ATK +15%, Block becomes 0 and Kafka gains Camouflage
The talent primarily serves to allow Kafka to make full use of her skills. This could be for S1’s Arts burst once the sleep effect ends, or for additional damage with her attacks during S2. The ATK buff is a nice boost to the bursts of damage in both skills.
Skills
Cube of Absurdism
Passive- Initial SP
- 0
- SP Cost
- 0
- Duration
- Infinite
After deployment, stops attacking for 5 seconds, and at the same time puts all surrounding ground enemies to Sleep. When the skill ends, deals 450% ATK as Arts damage to all surrounding ground enemies
| Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | empty cell | active cell | empty cell |
| X2 | active cell | operator cell | active cell |
| X3 | empty cell | active cell | empty cell |
Kafka’s staple skill, having the sleep crowd-control she’s known for. Since the skill’s duration does not increase beyond 5s at level 1, it means you can use this skill effectively without upgrading her at all in any way. This also keeps her at a cheaper deployment cost, which can be potentially impactful. The main reason to upgrade this skill is for the arts damage, in which case it’s a decent burst.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- Mastery 3
- Priority
- Low
The main reason to upgrade Kafka beyond E0, and to upgrade the skill, is if you want to maximize the damage it does. The low priority is because this is a fairly niche application, but can be impactful and give leeway in strategies that depend on it.
Shears of Surrealism
Passive- Initial SP
- 0
- SP Cost
- 0
- Duration
- Infinite
After deployment, immediately deals 400% ATK as Arts damage to all enemies within the frontal target tile; For the next 15 seconds, continuously attacks ground units in that target tile with Arts damage
| Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | operator cell | empty cell | empty cell | active cell |
An alternative to S1 if all you want is damage. It lacks any utility, but the burst will be instantaneous alongside the unique range for additional attacks. It’s overall much more limiting, as the burst has considerably less coverage than S1. The range is a double-edged sword, allowing for more unique usages of it while also limiting many others. The additional damage from attacks don’t make up for the skill’s limitations and lack of utility, making the skill overall less effective than S1.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- None
- Priority
- --
The skill is simply too unimpressive and unwieldy to be able to be recommended investment over S1, even when damage is the objective. Masteries don’t remedy this, since the burst still remains weaker than S1’s while the improvement in duration isn’t very impressive. S2 is a very niche luxury option that only players interested in said applications should consider mastering it.
Modules
- Attack Power
- +60
- Health
- +120
Rubik's Cube Pendant
EXE-Y
This module simply serves to increase Kafka’s burst damage on both her skills and DPS when using S2. The first stage grants her a trait with an easy condition for her to meet due to how Kafka is used. Further stages simply upgrade her ATK buff from talent. The bonus ATK stat reinforces this further, while the additional HP stat is mostly useless for Kafka due to her talent keeping her safe.
- Recommended Stage
- None
- Priority
- --
The module by itself isn’t too bad to help net additional damage when using her for the burst—however, the main use for Kafka is still the sleep utility from S1. If you’re using Kafka for the instant sleep and instant retreat, this module does nothing and is a wasteful investment. It may still help in situations where you’re using Kafka for fast-redeploy Arts damage, but can be ignored by most players.
Synergy
SilverAsh
Kafka has the longest reliable crowd-control out of her class branch. SilverAsh makes a considerable difference by just existing thanks to his redeployment reduction, allowing for Kafka to effectively only have an 11.2s downtime between sleeps (9.4s with Potential 4). It’s something that can be very impactful in the strategies that Kafka excels at, where chaining crowd controls effectively is the key to victory.
Sleep Operators
The sleep crowd control can be very powerful, even if it makes enemies normally untargetable. As sleep options become more readily available, chaining them together for very long chains of crowd-control (and even permanent) becomes possible. This can enable stall strats to clear certain challenges.
Together with Kafka, the more reliable sleep options to bring together for chaining are most notably Blacknight and Blemishine. Other options for sleep include Erato, Iris, and Sora, though those are nowhere as effective as the aforementioned ones.