Along with Palatinus Equinox's Signature Equipment, we are also introduced to Spina Astera's Equipment, Astral Divide: Pisces and the Stigmata set Ragna. Most captains should already have a free Ragna piece by now, so let's take a look at what it can do, and how the New PRI-Arm along with the stigmata boosts Spina Astera's Performance.

So now then, onto the details!

PRI ARM

ASTRAL DIVIDE: PISCES

1. Introduction:

Description:

As a weapon forged by the might of the stars, this scythe inherited the strength of Durandal The Holy Blade. It can not only unleash fiery flames like stellar jets, but also sunder spaces precisely like a surgical knife, just as versatile as Aphrodite.

3. Overview and Skills:

*All values are based on lvl 65.

[ATK: 415 CRT: 39]

Active Skill:

Showcase:

- On top of dealing tons of fire damage, the active skill also inflicts Flared state on enemies, which makes them take bonus fire damage. Flared state is denoted by a purple mark above enemies

Passive Skill 1:

Passive Skill 2:

3. Damage Comparison:

Spina Astera is the first Scythe-type Fire Damage dealer in the game, hence any other scythe currently in the game doesn't really put up a fight to her Signature Weapon. But just in case, we will be using the DPS Check stage in the Beta Client to determine just how superior Astral Divide: Pisces is when compared to the other scythes.

[**For the sake of focusing on end-game-related content, we will stick mostly to the PRI Scythes available to us, and we will only be comparing them with Astral Divide: Pisces for now. I might do a Non-PRI comparison soon enough.]

[But first, as always,

DISCLAIMER: The following test is just a simple demonstration in similar situations. These results can vary quite a bit depending on enemies/weathers/team comps/playstyle etc. ]

As usual, we will be doing this comparison by doing a full burst rotation on a target 3 times with each weapon and recording the average damage observed out of the three runs.

This time around, we will be using the following Team setup:

Rotation:

Midnight Absinthe Ultimate > AE switch in and Ultimate > Spina Astera QTE > Charge Attack > Basic Attack Sequence 1 to 5 > Activate Weapon Skill > Charge Attack > Charge Attack again > Ultimate > Final Charge attack

Enemy (Training Dummy):

We will be testing out SpA on a mech Type Enemy to negate any type advantage/disadvantage.

(**Training Dummy has 2200 Physical DEF and 40% Elemental Resist)

RESULT:

- Astral Divide: Pisces undoubtedly performs the best by a very big margin.

- Sanguine Gaze: Union performs around 20% lower when compared to Astral Divide, and the 2nd best overall

- Path to Acheron, Skadi of Thrymheim, and Iris of Helheim perform almost similar but way lower than the 1st two options.

The difference between the performance should be awfully clear now, and it is rightfully so since Pisces is the only weapon that fits into SpA's skill set.

And like always, if you don't have any of the above-mentioned scythes, just go with the one with the highest ATK stat.

4. Conclusion:

By now, there should be no doubt that Pisces is pretty much necessary if you want to use Spina Astera most effectively. And with the special supply available for her gears, it shouldn't be very difficult to obtain her weapon (agreed, only if your luck says so).

But I'd say that if you have already invested in the more important valks/gears like Azure Empyrea, Herrscher of Sentience, Margrave, Shattered Swords, Turgenev, etc., going for Spina Astera's Equipment can possibly prove to be pretty worthwhile in the future.

STIGMATA

SHICKSAL MENTOR SET

1. Overview

**All values are based on lvl 50.

Ragna (T)

[HP: 386 ATK: 137 DEF: 66]

- Unrestricted TDM.

- Combo/ Charged attacks boost the host's fire dmg (can be reset).

- Pretty much like an upgraded version of Thales T

Ragna (M)

[HP: 459 ATK: 21 DEF: 221 CRT: 8]

- Hitting enemies with charged attacks 10 times makes them take bonus fire damage.

- Also reduces the enemies' damage done to the host.

- Both effects last for 10s and can be reset.

- not really worth using as a standalone stigmata piece, use only if you have multiple Ragna Stigs.

Ragna (B)

[HP: 423 ATK: 98 DEF: 66 CRT: 8]

- Some more Unrestricted TDM

- Charge attacks boosts Fire DMG and restores HP for the host

- Triggering it repeatedly increases the duration

Set Effects:

2 set Effect:

- Charge attacks boost Move speed and Fire DMG for the host (duration of the can be reset by repeated charge attacks).

- When Equipped on Rita, gives her 20% bonus TDM.

3 set Effect:

- Charged Attacks deal bonus DMG.

- When equipped by Rita, charge attacks deal an extra 50% bonus Fire Damage.

2. Comparison With Other Sets:

Now, if we put Ragna, Thales, and Leeuwenhoek with each other as mixed sets, we get some pretty interesting results.

So let's see how much of a difference the f2p fire sets have.

As for the testing conditions, they remain the same as in the weapon comparison above. We just change the lineup a bit:

The rotation pattern also stays the same:

Midnight Absinthe Ultimate > AE switch in and Ultimate > Spina Astera QTE > Charge Attack > Basic Attack Sequence 1 to 5 > Activate Weapon Skill > Charge Attack > Charge Attack again > Ultimate > Final Charge attack

Training Dummy:

(**Training Dummy has 2200 Physical DEF and 40% Elemental Resist)

The following are the various sets we will be testing out on Spina Astera:

RESULT:

- It's pretty much certain that the full Ragna set will be at the top, so no surprise there.

- Ragna TB Thales M is the second-best performing option, so if you manage to get Ragna T or B from the supply, you can claim the other one from the free Ragna Box that we got.

- Ragna TM Lwh B performs pretty decently, but still lags behind the first two options quite a bit.

- Lwh TB Thales M is fully farmable, so for a free set, its performance is quite decent.

- Thales TM Ragna B/Lwh B show almost the same performance, also shows us the proof that one Ragna stigmata isn't really enough to make a difference.

- Lwh TB Ragna M performs the lowest as Ragna M as a standalone is probably the worst part of the set. Its activation requirements are high and it should only be used if you own multiple Ragna pieces.

- Shakespeare Adrift is there just for the memes, don't use it.

3. Conclusion:

It's a given at this point that any valkyrie will get a very significant damage boost when equipped with her signature weapon/stigmata set. And Spina Astera is no exception to this fact.

Although I'd say, prioritize the weapon more (which must also be clear by now), you can work on getting the stigmata later. Till then Leeuwenhoek and Thales can work as pretty good alternatives. And, if you end up acquiring one more piece from the supply, you can mix and match to get pretty good results.

So yeah, that's pretty much it, prioritize the weapon, farm Thales and Leeuwenhoek if you can't pull the whole set, and enjoy using Spina Astera.

Phew, that was a long one.

I hop you found some useful information in this review of mine.

Do feel free to check my other posts if you want~

[v5.5 Beta Preview/Guide] New S-rank Valkyrie: Palatinus Equinox

[v5.5 Beta Preview/Guide] New PRI-ARM: Midnight Ataegina and Stigma Set: Bianka Theatre

[v5.5 Beta Preview/Guide] New S-rank Valkyrie: Spina Astera

[v5.5 Beta Preview/Guide- Masters Edition] New Weapons- Midnight Eclipse and Astral Rend: Dwarf

Until next time!

[emoji]

Red Dragon

UID: 200016842

(Eu Server)