Thread: HBC's FKG 6* Tier List

Dangerous on the outside, sweet on the inside. Goddess of the Shore. Banana Ocean's Flash. My one and only Red Ginger / レッドジンジャー.

Greetings, gentlemen. Commander Kurenai on post for this special discourse.

I am very grateful to Commander Wutan for letting me have a wall of text word on my beautiful waifu. My fellow brothers of the Council, I apologize for the delay.

I hail from a tropical island nation, so it is only natural for me to have an affinity for Red Ginger.

In case you're wondering why she has yet to see action, I want to full spec her before she goes out on the field. I am still lacking enough Super Ampules and Rainbow Equipment Flowers to do that, so for now, she's just chilling out and taking her precious time. While I opted not to use her yet for the said reason, I've had plenty of observations of her from specific Japanese comrades right from Day 1. (I don't blame Commander Dusk that he forgot I also own her.)

I may echo Ninja's opinions at some points in this post as we both hold a high regard for her.

Statistics
Let's start with 36-24-36...... er, I believe that's her vital statistics.

With 21,624 max HP*, Red Ginger has one of the highest health pools in the game, second only to Dendrobium. As one of her strong points, this works to her advantage as it serves as an ample reservoir of health that can be improved by Healing Boost, preventing turnover of stolen HP. She is also top 5 in overall force at 31,842 max points*, only bested by Dendrobium, Hanamizuki, Black Baccara, and Hatsuyukisou. By virtue of this, she is an asset by providing a lot of raw power to any ship color in Whale Airship.
*Excludes boosts from Ampules and Super Ampules.

Red Ginger's 700 base speed (net of 850) makes her individually one of the fastest. "This mobility unit's the truth!" says Ludacris. I personally like blitz-ing most dungeons, so I will find a nice spot for her no matter what. When I was a newbie on DMM, I thought those Japanese whales who dealt lots of damage on raid bosses, those men of great culture, with Ginger as their waifu or assistant had blazing-fast helpers and so I befriended them. With access to those parties (>1400 speed) in the beginning, I easily farmed even top-tier event stages by letting the helper get to the goal so that my 4 very slow White Clover parties (200 speed) could collect stuff around the stage without them having to fight enemies (that was my go-to strategy for the first event until my golds were strong enough).

On the flip side, Red Ginger's DEF is about average, though it wouldn't have been an issue had she gotten a different ability instead of Counter. Her DEF doesn't particularly do justice to her Counter as well as Super Counter since her Defend (which also relies on DEF) isn't likely to frequently proc for Super Counter to trigger compared to a true counter-puncher rainbow such as Saffron. Of course, attack is the one stat in dire need of a buff. 6,944 max ATK* is indeed glaringly low (!!!) for an offensive-oriented rainbow with a single-target drain skill, when those with AOE skills such as Nadeshiko break 8,000 ATK, or even 9,000 when fully ampuled! To be honest, I really hate bringing up this part.
*Excludes boosts from Ampules and Super Ampules.

« Incoming rant »

->Open Spoiler<-

Come on, devs! You designed her with an HP drain skill, but you failed to buff the important stat that went with it. I'm still waiting for you to do it. Step up your game!

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Skill
Once upon a time, and for a long time, Red Ginger's Crimson Serenade had the best skill damage multiplier in the game at x4.3, arguably the strongest at the time as it also drains HP. Then there was a huge wave of character buffs last year, and she lost the one thing that made her special. Even so, she is worth investing skill flowers into as it not only improves her life drain proc, it also improves her passive to boost others' skill proc. 38% max proc (post-June 11 buff) is pretty much the standard for an HP drain skill.

Did I mention her skill animation is simply badass?

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Abilities
Gotta go fast, gotta go faster, fa-fa-fa-fa-faster!
Speed is quite a trait among Banana Ocean girls, and Red Ginger is not an exception with her high speed and a 150 party speed boost. I know that 99% find it a nuisance, but on my end, I actually find it useful as I tend to sortie with one party having >150 speed advantage than others. My waifu will fit right in. Less than 600 party speed bores me to death.

Red Ginger is one of the distinct rainbows with a x1.28 ~ x1.36* skill activation boost to all party members based on skill level, which I consider an upgrade from the affection-based x1.2 boost that most rainbows have. Recently, her ATK boost to all party members was buffed from 20% to 30%, and on top of that, she got a new 15% skill damage boost to all party members. These abilities mesh well with one another, further raising everyone's damage output. This ability triad should be the best part of her arsenal.

I was still on the other version when I first learned of her bloom release on DMM in November 2016, and while I was initially happy with the abilities she got, it eventually dawned upon me that she should have had a more fitting ability instead of Counter. Counter isn't particularly bad on its own, and when given to the right character (e.g. Saffron, Tatarian Aster, Water Dropwort), it has its merits. Red Ginger would have been better off with evasion, HP- or speed-based damage, or even auto-heal like that of Soapwort or Purslane. Nevertheless, she has the potential to deal a good amount of damage from Super Counter when geared up.

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Synergy
Red Ginger's set of ablities render her a versatile character, and because many rainbows are getting skill activation-based abilities on top of unique ones, she functions in almost any setup. In lieu of Yamabuki, she can function as a damage source in a 70% attack debuff + high activation lineup with Counter/Super Counter as secondary damage.

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Final Grade
Waifu barely slipped into S-. I predicted her to be A-tier to most people, but as hazubando, I have faith that she can be stronger than an A when maxed out in all aspects, short of being broken (Yamabuki).

Let me end with a clip by Windranger from DOTA 2. I know Ginger is not even a gingerhead, but you get my point. I'm disappointed with the way they treat her.

Japan, what has my waifu done to y'all?

Originally Posted by Kurenai

I may echo Ninja's opinions at some points in this post as we both hold a high regard for her.

Final Grade
Waifu barely slipped into S-. I predicted her to be A-tier to most people, but as hazubando, I have faith that she can be stronger than an A when maxed out in all aspects, short of being broken (Yamabuki).

Yeah! Totally knew it and spot on! *BROFIST!!!* Believe in the teddy bear loving waifu!!!

Ah, yes I indeed forgot about comrade Kurenai and his waifu. Forgive my rudeness.😯

About Cattleya got buff.
I will still remain my old verdict C.
If she has her TP increase or she get advance activation passive I'll put her in B.
One upgrade buff can't change anything.

@twilight Not even wide buff helping? 48%buff on everyone is very good and damage buff from skill should make her better as sweeper. Well not like it will help easing her fragility though...

@Kurenai

No Problem, fellow Commander

@all

The Discussion about Red Ginger is coming to an end.

Result:

2x S-Vote
5x A-Vote

She will join company with Dendrobium in A-Tier.

Next Girl:



Deadline: 14.06.2018

During Cactus Discussion you can also vote if Cattleya should slide into B-Tier or not. Maotd and Twilight already voted in that regard.

What i think about Cactus:

Stats:
Her HP is definetely on the lower end of the Spectrum. That's somewhat compensated by her amazing Defense Stat of 3516. Her Atk however is low compared to most other Rainbows. 7372 Atk. isn't really good for High-Offensive Ability-Sets like hers.

Verdict: C-Tier

Skill Act. Chance and Skill Damage:

Holy Moly and all that Jazz. 36 % Skill Act. Chance on Level 1, 46% Skill Act. Chance on Level 5. In the right team you don't even have to feed her a single Skill Bloom if you don't want to. That's really n1 since usually you get only one Skill Bloom each month.

She deals 5x to one enemy (it was 4x before that). That recent buff is really good for her especially due to the fact that she is able to attack twice in one round.

Verdict: That section is amazing. I have to give S-Tier here. Like i did in my Red Ginger vote.

Abilities:

Increases Attack Power for party members by 22%. A little bit above Average. Solid, not spectacular.

Increases Shine Crystal Drop Rates by 30%. Here we go again. One of my most hated Abilities at this rate. Why have so many girls who are dedicated to another archetype and have nothing to do with Solar Blast this Crystal Drop Ability??? And it's not even 50% but only 30%.
A gimmick Ability. Nothing more, nothing less.

Increases Critical Activation Rate for Party Members by 15%. 20% is Standard. So it's a little bit lower than average but not that big of a deal. You can compensate for it fairly easy. You can only reach 80% Crit Chance anyway. Should be easy to reach the cap with your other 4 party members.

After attacking an enemy, there's a 60% chance to act again (I call this Double Strike from now on). Here we go. That and the Ability after this one are one of her Main Selling Points. 60% chance to inflict x10 damage to one enemy in 1 turn. Yes Please!!!

There are four different types of Double Strike Girls:

1. First Turn Nukers like Dendrobium. This type always attack twice on the first turn. Guaranteed. But only on the first turn.
2. Girls with a 40% chance to attack again on every turn
3. Girls with a 50% chance to attack again on every turn
4. Girls like Cactus with a 60% chance to attack again on every turn.

60 % is obviously the best and it's rare. Right of the bat i don't exactly know how many of her type exist. But it's only a few.

Increases Critical Damage for party members by 40%. Really Really n1. Imagine 5 Crit Girls with that buff. 200% Crit Damage. It's possible.

Verdict: Despite the fact that her Crystal Drop Ability is semi-useless her other Abilities are either solid or kick ass. A-

Teambuilding options: Obviously she works best in a Crit Squad. She can deal insane amount of Damage there.
She also performs fine in Double Strike Squads and Old School Skill.Act.Squads.

Final Verdict: I waver between B+ and A-. Due to the fact that we put Dendrobium in A-Tier and i genuinely think that Cactus outperforms her in Damage i will vote for A-Tier

So it's Saboten turn next. It's will be a couple more until I can give verdict from experience so for now... paper only again.

Saboten is the girl who got lots of rebuff through out the course of the game lifetime. Back then she seriously lacking in many departments that she was branded 'meh' as no one really thrilling getting her. I don't know how things are in Nutaku for her now but in DMM as is now? I think Saboten is one of the most powerful boss killer in the game, that is if under correct composition and support. Now let's take a look at her, the girl who is calm and cool as freezer outside but has a burning passionate inside. (Or as she claimed)

1. Raw stat: Noting so exciting except for her defense. 3500+def is definitely high end and it will help her a lot if she ever gets counter and while her HP is on a low side, she won't fall down TOO quick. (Emphasis on 'too' as she got zero survival ability) The worst part though, is her atk which is low for total offense oriented character. Such a shame...
Grading: C

2. Skill: Sabouten has the highest skill activation at 46% top. Even at lv.1 her rate is similar or even surpass the majority of the girls at 36%. The damage after the latest buff is awesome 5x. Considered how low her atk is this skill is godsend to help Saboten goes 'ORAORAORA' on pests. Combined with her abilities and Saboten has chance to dish out 10x on enemy every turn. And well... what to say besides YES?
Grading: S

3. Abilities: Her atk buff is nothing to say much, 20% buff is very average but definitely not bad. Crit chance and crit damage duo are always needed synergy for crit team. 15% chance is tad low but considered that crit chance capped at 80% and girls with crit buff is like, lying around everywhere now, it's so easy to form a team. 40% crit damage is currently at top game and definitely welcome since this one doesn't have max capped.
The real juicy part of her is the 60% chance to double act. Like I said in skill part, her low atk got covered by this awesome skill+ability synergy. It's 5x at worst and 10x at best when she's under enough skill act boost, and it's much easier than most girls with her high natural skill act rate. Her best spot in the team is obviously the back, or at least after sweeper.
Then there's a completely gimmick part that I don't know why it's here. 30% shine crystal drop rate plus for team is nothing amazing and it's not even worked for whaleship, only for party Sabouten is in. At least her attack got many hits so it generate lots of shine crystals but well... it's nothing to be excited and there's a lots of abilities that would aid her better. One step short from perfection.
Grading: A-

Final verdict: Saboten is strong girl with beastly skill and a great ability to sync with that. She is, however, very dependent for support whether it's atk buff, damage buff, skill activation, or crit to function properly as boss killer. 10x damage is sometimes inconsistent with 60% chance to dish this amazing damage out. Once you geared her properly however, not many bosses can withstand her oraora onslaught. So here, A for her deeds. A little bit to A- side since she needed lots of supports and can't carry the team alone though.

Extra: Not much to say about her, I like her for her skill animation mostly rather than any waifu factors. So well, this is the first thing comes to my mind when seeing her skill.

Cactus. One of the few 6* I have, but on Nutaku.

Stats:
HP: How can I say that... even 5* have more HP than her. Even the thiniestglass has more HP.
ATK: Just like HP. Her ATK stat is depper than Lotus Lake abysses.
DEF: That's a good stat, but with her bad HP it's not useful.

Skill
x5 damages to one enemy with 46% skill act.
x5 damages with 46% skill act.
46% skill act. I'm pretty sure it's the best skill chance of every girls in the game. Just add a little x1.2 skill act girl and she is over 50% skill activation chances.
With x5 damages on one enemy, that's very good.

Abilities
Increases Shine Crystal drop rates for all by 30%.
Just no. Even worse than Cattleya Solar Gauge ability. BUT, that bad ability is usefull for the incomming stuff.

+20% ATK for all
Not the higest buff in the game but it's decent at least. Not good, not bad. It can help the other girls but with her low ATK, it's not that good on herself. But it helps anyway since she will be an hyper offensive girl.

Crit Rate +15% & Crit Damages +40%
The Crit Rate buff is good but not that good but Crit Damage buff is really nice. But she may need other Crit allies to be a solid Crit girl. I mean, she is very solid but with some Crit Chance buf support.

60% chance to Act Again.
Re-act girls are so underestimated. It's a rare and broken ability, espacially on girls like Cactus. 60% is the best chance of react in the game (just behind the 100% but turn 1 only). And THAT'S her hidden trump card.
Without it, she is just a good offensive 6* with high skill chance. With this ability, she is like TWO good offensive 6* with high skill chance, 60% of the time.
Now, use her with the right allies (with Crit,skill act and damages buff) and she will be a monster.
Even a 5* with re-act can be very good if she re-act. A 6* like Cactus with all her assets is just OP.


Conclusion
Despite her poor stats (espacially ATK) and that bad Crystal Drop ability, she has an awesome skill+skill act and a good set of abilities.
Like I said earlier, Crystal Drop help her a lot. Not by itself but it's bad enough to allow her a lo of other abilities to balance it. I'm sure if she had something better, she would not have Crit or the Re-act. And she would be... just good.
That Re-act just make all for her. She can do her job twice ahd she do it well. Her recent Skill damage boost make her even better.
If she is used in the right team, she can be one of the best offensive girls I guess.
I already said that but re-act is a strong underestimated game style. It's a high risk, high reward style due to the RNG and the lack of re-act chance buff but if the re-act occurs, it can totally change a battle.

Final verdict:
A glass canon made of pure glass and pure canon. She could deserve a S-tier for her ridiculous power but I will only give her a solid A Tier. In my opinion, she lacks a little something to be S Tier. A tiny tiny not important thing like... HP drain. For me, the S Tier hare the girls able to survive the hardest battles and carry all the hopes of her dead friends by herselves. Even with that incredible power, Cactus can't do that. If she had just x4 damages and HP drain, she may be able to win against the Death and kick her ass with ORAORAORAORA power.

Cactus is a rainbow I have not had on either Nutaku nor DMM. So this will be interesting.

Initial grading

Stats
Looking at her stats is kind of surprising. Her defense is really awesome. Talk about a wall of a flower knight girl. Unfortunately through, her HP makes that wall not so thick. And her attack is not really bad, but not really great either. That is really disappointing. Why give someone so much defense if they can't do anything with it? I've experience with this on League of Legends as Leona. She can be the tank the drives fear into the other team but she does very little in the form of actual damage. What makes her stand out is her abilities to stun enemies with her abilities. So with disappointing stats, let's look on if Cactus can make it up with her abilities like Leona does.

Abilities
Increasing Attack power for team is noting new or special. Even with the revamping of the Solar Blast, I still do not give it much weight unless you really build a powerful solar team for that sole purpose. But since I am at the stage whether I either annihilate enemies too quick to really consider using it or the enemies are so tough that it doesn't do anything much in the fight. So, unless you are a new player that needs solar blast, abilities like crystal drop are pretty much worthless in my opinion. Critical activation rate is nice ability and the critical damage 40% makes it even better. What really stands out is her 60% chance to act again after attacking. Considering her high trigger rate for her ORAORAORA skill, this can be devastating. So her abilities really do help her out with her lackluster stats.

Against normal enemies, Cactus is going to wreck. Against much stronger that will take more than a couple rounds like Nidhogg battles, she isn't going to last very long at all because of her stats. Unlike a rainbow like Red Ginger who can fit well with just about any team combo, Cactus in my opinion forces you to develop the team around her to make her the most effective; hopefully you have the right girls to do so. A powerful canon yes, but a glass canon that may only survive a couple rounds in higher tier play. Final verdict: B+

Waifu judgment
You don't have a whole lot of green haired beauties in this game, but Cactus is certainly one of them! Physical attributes speaking, I kinda wish her hair was a bit longer and breasts a bit bigger but those are just my preferences. She certainly is a fine looking woman who is also a snazzy dresser. Her outfits in her artwork certainly are colorful and classy. I certainly wouldn't having her as a waifu either. Final waifu verdict: A