Quote Originally Posted by Cobblemaniac View Post
Noted... It's probably my instinctual reliance on Sol that's hurting my gameplay at this point isn't it?
It's not necessarily wrong. It's slower, but it is safer, that's for sure.

Note that as you are weak, a powerful healer like Sol will entirely change your runs. It is very easy to get used to this as a norm. As you grow stronger and stronger, you will probably not even notice that you don't need Sols in your teams anymore. At which point of this you are at? I don't know. The only way for you to know is to experiment.

Even if you're past the point where Sol is no longer REQUIRED for you to clear content but you ENJOY it - then go ahead. Except in content where time-limits are a thing (which we don't have yet) there is no game mechanic that punishes you for playing in that way. In the end, Kamihime is a game. Your enjoyment is the primary thing here.
Quote Originally Posted by Cobblemaniac View Post
The first case is Zephyrus over Sol. Heal-wise, err... yes I probably don't need the ridiculous heal power Sol has, plus Ithaqhua is already there. You might have seen this question before, but how much damage tradeoff would I be doing with a simple switch to an R same element hime?
While the exact answer will depend on your exact damage output (which I don't have acess to), let's consider a few possibilities:
Off-element Sol does 0 damage, everyone on-element does 1 damage. Bringing 5 damage over 4 damage is a 20% increase. For the record, Vine taking Def Down from 40% to 50% is a 16% damage increase, so 20% is a LOT.

But, realistically, Sol isn't going to do 0 damage. So let's look at the two extremes, somewhat realistic:
For my Water team that runs Sunday AQ4 with Sol (fuck Thunder waves! ;_; ), at -50% Def, I punch Fire stuff for 50k, and I think Sol punches for 10k-ish? This should be about the highest you can get without whaling in Nutaku. So, Sol does 0.2 damage, so 5 vs. 4.2 = 16% increase.
Meanwhile, a team with absolutely no Grid but elemental advantage and Eidolons, Sol will be doing at best half damage compared to on-element guys (100% Assault for both Sol and on-element Himes, but 235% Element modifier for on-element Himes is over double damage). So 5 vs. 4.5 = 10% increase.

tl;dr; With lazy math, taking a on-element R Hime over off-element is a 10-16% damage increase, depending on where your grid is at. Are R Hime good damage dealers? No, no they're not. But there's very few exceptions to off-element Hime who can compare to on-element Hime (such as SR Beelz!).
Quote Originally Posted by Cobblemaniac View Post
-- I ask this mainly because I still see Zephy as replaceable by Sol, especially in a situation where I do want to have that stupid strong heal buff. -- Next question regards... lack of wind Orpheus. I find this a tad bit confusing since I believe you have expressed your love for zeal quite a few times (with Raiko and fire Beelz anyway). Any reason why she wouldn't fit in the team?
I put these together since the answer is related.

First off, Zeal. Is it good? Yes it is. But let's have a look at duration:
Wind Ramiel/Wind Orpheus: 2 turns
Raiko: 3 turns
SSR Beelz: 5 turns
This... is what makes me a bit skeptical about Wind Zeal users. Is +20 team-wide burst good? Again, yes, yes it is. But there's another problem:

Party slots.

Now, for you, Zephyrus is probably the stronger healer than than Ithaqua. I haven't done the actual maths, but because preventing damage is basically a heal, Zephyrus should be able to keep you healthier than Ithaqua alone. Add in Ithaqua's heals, and Zephyrus-Ithaqua combo is basically a two-slot pre-Awakening Sol, so should keep you safe. So, can you afford to run Zephyrus-Wind Orpheus? That's up for you to find out.
Quote Originally Posted by Cobblemaniac View Post
Last question has to do with Cybele. If I replace Ithaqua with Cybele to free up my EX slot from the B frame debuffs:
A. How viable/ dumb is that option?
B. If A is viable, what would you slot in as the EX?
It is something to keep in mind. That is something that'll benefit you if you need to use that EX slot for Cleanse, Dispel or something else like Provisional Forest.

On a side note that came to mind from this, Joan(BP)-Gaia-Hastur-Zeph-Cybele would probably do well. You'd trade a small loss in damage output for damage reduction, and with Joan-Gaia you'd already have an incredible amount of anti-Overdrive capability.
Quote Originally Posted by Cobblemaniac View Post
My sides.

What!

It's true, Awakened Gaia under Guard-Intercept-Berserk will hit like a truck berserker! Bonus points for content which often does triple attacks, like Phoenix or Ult Wind.