Post by Pikachu on Sept 16, 2014 4:23:34 GMT -5
Rerolling: Do this for a decent leader. It is painful, but less painful than being stuck halfway through the game where you feel you have too much to lose to restart and yet cannot continue. The endgame for PAD is actually really rewarding to play, so I wouldn't want people to miss it.
What makes a good leader? Attack multipliers. High attack multipliers means you auto-shred dungeons for a good while, regardless of whether you have good subs or not. There are some leaders which give multipliers to different stats. Make sure at least one of them is to Attack. Otherwise, it's not worth using as a starting leader. ATK + HP is better than ATK + RCV because you gotta be able to take a hit before RCV means anything. On the other hand, later on, ATK + RCV type leaders are better for stalling for active skills.
Best Leaders (These are the best because they will last forever. My opinion varies slightly from consensus, but unlike a lot of NA players, I pay attention to what Japan does because they're more open minded to what is possible in their teams. Also, these opinions are from the lens of STARTING leaders, with the long-term in mind. End game has a plethora of leaders that are incredibly fun to play, but just require you to gather a team before it can work.)
Incarnation of Kirin, Sakuya - (Leader ability: Match and attack with Fire, Water, Wood, Light for 5x boost to attack) She is viable all the way to endgame. Her active ability is meaningless in the beginning of the game when things have low life, but 20% off a boss with 3 million HP is freaking awesome. Kirin is a bit hard to play without the right subs to change orbs to ensure you have the right match, but her payoff is huge. Paired with another friend, this leads to 25x damage.
Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao - (Leader ability: Match and attack with 4 different types of orbs or Match Hearts and attack with 3 different types of orbs for 4x to attack) DQXQ is much easier to play, and sets up your board off their active ability so you can match Water, Wood, Light, and Heart. Paired with a friend, it nets 16x attack, which is not as strong as Kirin, but will get you incredibly far as a starting leader. I think DQXQ is the best starting leader out there because you don't even need to worry about the quality of your subs so long as your typing is right. DQXQ with an Echidna on your team will get you all the way up to the second to last tier of Normal Dungeons with very little problem.
Umisachi & Yamasachi - (Leader Ability: Match Water, Wood, Light, Dark for 5x to attack) U&Y are also really good, and they're like a hybrid between Kirin and DQXQ. They can hit the 25x multiplier threshold and their active ability sets changes fire and heart orbs to water and wood respectively, which makes them easier to use than Kirin. That said, they are not as good as Kirin because of her gravity ability, but U&Y can tackle end game for sure.
Horus - (Leader Ability: Match 4 different types of attack orbs for 4x to attack) Less powerful than the above 3, but once evolved, you can match 5 types, including hearts, for 5x to attack. Less flexible than DQXQ, but has a higher ceiling for damage output.
Isis - (Leader Ability: Match and attack with 3 different types of orbs for 3x attack) Isis is like an easier Horus with a smaller damage cap. She is still a flexible leader and 9x is nothing to cough at. When you evolve her to her Ultimate form, her ability expands to allow an additional .5x to your attack for each matched type beyond your original 3, for a cap of 4.5x. Although her payoff is not immense, she is incredibly easy to play for what you get out of her, so that's a major plus.
Good Leaders (Not the best because it either doesn't get you quite as far as the above leaders, takes more skill, or requires a team composition for you to get a good payoff.)
Kushinada - (Leader Ability: 1.5x to attack when you have 3 combos. Adds another .5x for each subsequent additional combo you match, up to 20 combos for 10x to attack) Kushinada will shred everything up to midgame just fine. Then you have an issue where you have to be able to take a few more hits and brawl with stronger bosses because her multipliers usually won't reach the levels of the leaders under the "Best" category. For reference, a 5 combo nets a 6.25x multiplier, which is respectable, but doesn't help with strong spike damage unless you have a very specific setup. I personally started with Kushinada and she's been really good to me, but she has some shortcomings starting from mid to late game that can only be overcome by team comps. On the other hand, her upper bound of damage and skill level make her viable for end game, and she is one of the most rewarding leaders to play. Also, she is a beast in Tricolor dungeons, as well as a top-tier sub on a good number of teams.
All other Chinese Gods not named Sakuya [Leilan, Karin, Mei Mei, Haku] - (Leader ability: Match 3 specific attack types, depending on the God you roll, for 3.5x to your attack) Lower general damage output than DQXQ, but they have a stronger spike capacity due to the fact that all of their active will change the ENTIRE board to orbs which match the attack types needed to activate their ability. A higher number of orbs also results in a higher amount of damage. Their sustained damage just isn't quite as good, and sometimes you can get orb trolled more easily. That said, they are worth keeping as a starter, particularly now that they have all received their Ultimate Evolutions which makes them end game viable.
Bastet - (Leader Ability: Combos of 4 or more will give you 2.5x to your attack) Bastet is like a Kushinada that requires a higher ceiling to activate, but a more efficient payoff. Once she goes through her Ultimate Evolution, each combo after 4 will add .5x, to a max of 7x. Bastet's active ability makes all your attacks into mass attacks for 3 turns. For certain scenarios, Bastet is freaking awesome. I personally think she needs a little bit of work to consistently pull off, but the combos of 4 or more aren't restricted by color or anything, so the flexibility is nice. It's just that Bastet needs evolving before you get huge results off of her, which is why she is in this category and not the above one.
Lu Bu - (Leader Ability: 3x ATK and 1.5x HP to Devils) Lu Bu is pretty good, especially when you build a team comp. He has 0 RCV, though, so he sacrifices all semblance of defense for offense. Lu Bu is both a phenomenal leader and sub, and is often played on the most top tier team in the game, led by Red Sonia.
Borderline Leaders (Borderline because the leader ability is average, or requires effort to put together a team to take advantage of the leader ability, or a higher skill benchmark needed to play the team)
Archangel Metatron - (Leader Ability: 3.5x ATK to all Healers when above 80% HP) Otherwise known as L. Metatron. Getting Healers together is a slight chore. The ones you can generally farm for aren't great, although the condition for having a constant 10.5x ATK is easy to fulfill. That said, when you pair her up with some Valkyries or other Gods that evolve into a Healer subtype, suddenly, your team can get very strong.
Valkyrie - (Leader Ability: 3x ATK to Healers) You will only likely get the Light type on your rerolls, but you can get other color types during events. Either way, they're keepable, but you will need a bit more time to get the most out of your leader, similar to Archangel Metatron.
Ares/Hermes/Artemis - (Leader Ability: 2x ATK to Fire, Water, Wood, respectively) Not spectacular, but when evolved, also adds a 2x to HP on top of the existing Leader Ability. It's good to be able to take a hit, but I personally prefer wiping out threats before they can hit me.
Cao Cao - (Leader Ability: 3x ATK to Attackers) Easy to get subs for because Attackers drop naturally. Your team will just be made of paper because Attacker subs early on have little HP and RCV. You will have a sky high attack, relative to where you are, so that's good.
Liu Bei - (Leader Ability: 3x ATK and 1.5x RCV to Attackers when HP is >50%) Liu Bei's leader ability makes less sense when you consider that 1.5x RCV for a low RCV type is not worth much. Also does not kick in once your HP is low, when you need it the most. He's less good than Cao Cao because of this, but is keepable. Not end-game viable though.
More to come later.
What makes a good leader? Attack multipliers. High attack multipliers means you auto-shred dungeons for a good while, regardless of whether you have good subs or not. There are some leaders which give multipliers to different stats. Make sure at least one of them is to Attack. Otherwise, it's not worth using as a starting leader. ATK + HP is better than ATK + RCV because you gotta be able to take a hit before RCV means anything. On the other hand, later on, ATK + RCV type leaders are better for stalling for active skills.
Best Leaders (These are the best because they will last forever. My opinion varies slightly from consensus, but unlike a lot of NA players, I pay attention to what Japan does because they're more open minded to what is possible in their teams. Also, these opinions are from the lens of STARTING leaders, with the long-term in mind. End game has a plethora of leaders that are incredibly fun to play, but just require you to gather a team before it can work.)
Incarnation of Kirin, Sakuya - (Leader ability: Match and attack with Fire, Water, Wood, Light for 5x boost to attack) She is viable all the way to endgame. Her active ability is meaningless in the beginning of the game when things have low life, but 20% off a boss with 3 million HP is freaking awesome. Kirin is a bit hard to play without the right subs to change orbs to ensure you have the right match, but her payoff is huge. Paired with another friend, this leads to 25x damage.
Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao - (Leader ability: Match and attack with 4 different types of orbs or Match Hearts and attack with 3 different types of orbs for 4x to attack) DQXQ is much easier to play, and sets up your board off their active ability so you can match Water, Wood, Light, and Heart. Paired with a friend, it nets 16x attack, which is not as strong as Kirin, but will get you incredibly far as a starting leader. I think DQXQ is the best starting leader out there because you don't even need to worry about the quality of your subs so long as your typing is right. DQXQ with an Echidna on your team will get you all the way up to the second to last tier of Normal Dungeons with very little problem.
Umisachi & Yamasachi - (Leader Ability: Match Water, Wood, Light, Dark for 5x to attack) U&Y are also really good, and they're like a hybrid between Kirin and DQXQ. They can hit the 25x multiplier threshold and their active ability sets changes fire and heart orbs to water and wood respectively, which makes them easier to use than Kirin. That said, they are not as good as Kirin because of her gravity ability, but U&Y can tackle end game for sure.
Horus - (Leader Ability: Match 4 different types of attack orbs for 4x to attack) Less powerful than the above 3, but once evolved, you can match 5 types, including hearts, for 5x to attack. Less flexible than DQXQ, but has a higher ceiling for damage output.
Isis - (Leader Ability: Match and attack with 3 different types of orbs for 3x attack) Isis is like an easier Horus with a smaller damage cap. She is still a flexible leader and 9x is nothing to cough at. When you evolve her to her Ultimate form, her ability expands to allow an additional .5x to your attack for each matched type beyond your original 3, for a cap of 4.5x. Although her payoff is not immense, she is incredibly easy to play for what you get out of her, so that's a major plus.
Good Leaders (Not the best because it either doesn't get you quite as far as the above leaders, takes more skill, or requires a team composition for you to get a good payoff.)
Kushinada - (Leader Ability: 1.5x to attack when you have 3 combos. Adds another .5x for each subsequent additional combo you match, up to 20 combos for 10x to attack) Kushinada will shred everything up to midgame just fine. Then you have an issue where you have to be able to take a few more hits and brawl with stronger bosses because her multipliers usually won't reach the levels of the leaders under the "Best" category. For reference, a 5 combo nets a 6.25x multiplier, which is respectable, but doesn't help with strong spike damage unless you have a very specific setup. I personally started with Kushinada and she's been really good to me, but she has some shortcomings starting from mid to late game that can only be overcome by team comps. On the other hand, her upper bound of damage and skill level make her viable for end game, and she is one of the most rewarding leaders to play. Also, she is a beast in Tricolor dungeons, as well as a top-tier sub on a good number of teams.
All other Chinese Gods not named Sakuya [Leilan, Karin, Mei Mei, Haku] - (Leader ability: Match 3 specific attack types, depending on the God you roll, for 3.5x to your attack) Lower general damage output than DQXQ, but they have a stronger spike capacity due to the fact that all of their active will change the ENTIRE board to orbs which match the attack types needed to activate their ability. A higher number of orbs also results in a higher amount of damage. Their sustained damage just isn't quite as good, and sometimes you can get orb trolled more easily. That said, they are worth keeping as a starter, particularly now that they have all received their Ultimate Evolutions which makes them end game viable.
Bastet - (Leader Ability: Combos of 4 or more will give you 2.5x to your attack) Bastet is like a Kushinada that requires a higher ceiling to activate, but a more efficient payoff. Once she goes through her Ultimate Evolution, each combo after 4 will add .5x, to a max of 7x. Bastet's active ability makes all your attacks into mass attacks for 3 turns. For certain scenarios, Bastet is freaking awesome. I personally think she needs a little bit of work to consistently pull off, but the combos of 4 or more aren't restricted by color or anything, so the flexibility is nice. It's just that Bastet needs evolving before you get huge results off of her, which is why she is in this category and not the above one.
Lu Bu - (Leader Ability: 3x ATK and 1.5x HP to Devils) Lu Bu is pretty good, especially when you build a team comp. He has 0 RCV, though, so he sacrifices all semblance of defense for offense. Lu Bu is both a phenomenal leader and sub, and is often played on the most top tier team in the game, led by Red Sonia.
Borderline Leaders (Borderline because the leader ability is average, or requires effort to put together a team to take advantage of the leader ability, or a higher skill benchmark needed to play the team)
Archangel Metatron - (Leader Ability: 3.5x ATK to all Healers when above 80% HP) Otherwise known as L. Metatron. Getting Healers together is a slight chore. The ones you can generally farm for aren't great, although the condition for having a constant 10.5x ATK is easy to fulfill. That said, when you pair her up with some Valkyries or other Gods that evolve into a Healer subtype, suddenly, your team can get very strong.
Valkyrie - (Leader Ability: 3x ATK to Healers) You will only likely get the Light type on your rerolls, but you can get other color types during events. Either way, they're keepable, but you will need a bit more time to get the most out of your leader, similar to Archangel Metatron.
Ares/Hermes/Artemis - (Leader Ability: 2x ATK to Fire, Water, Wood, respectively) Not spectacular, but when evolved, also adds a 2x to HP on top of the existing Leader Ability. It's good to be able to take a hit, but I personally prefer wiping out threats before they can hit me.
Cao Cao - (Leader Ability: 3x ATK to Attackers) Easy to get subs for because Attackers drop naturally. Your team will just be made of paper because Attacker subs early on have little HP and RCV. You will have a sky high attack, relative to where you are, so that's good.
Liu Bei - (Leader Ability: 3x ATK and 1.5x RCV to Attackers when HP is >50%) Liu Bei's leader ability makes less sense when you consider that 1.5x RCV for a low RCV type is not worth much. Also does not kick in once your HP is low, when you need it the most. He's less good than Cao Cao because of this, but is keepable. Not end-game viable though.
More to come later.