Quote Originally Posted by sanahtlig View Post
Yes, all of this was already in the quote or implied by context--which was also qualified as speculation amidst other speculation in a thread focused on a different topic. That said, I am definitely interested in your ideas on when Hercules + PF is superior to Shingen.

Again, I appreciate your perspective, but I'd also appreciate not being combative for its own sake, though I realize this is fashionable in certain sections of the community. I'm sure you didn't join this community just to pick a fight with me, right? ...right?
I have zero interest in you or your personal beef with whatever. But you can be sure that you will attract my attention if you speak of any misinformed insight and theory-crafting, genuine or not.

Anyway back on topic. I do not believe Heracles is superior over Shingen, nor is the other way around. As a matter of fact I find both equally viable and there is no reason to dismiss one over the other. Since this thread is about Light, I will focus on Light builds for these two and in what ways they excel.

Both heroes are both perfectly capable at using PF. Both also have good DATA rate, which in turn means consistent lead in burst gauge (so you don't end up waiting for the hero's gauge to perform FB).

Heracles covers the much needed debuff gap for Light Team. The nature of her nuke also gives her good synergy with Light, an element where party buff is abundant and can give Heracles so many buff stacks that she can reach straight for dmg cap with minimal debuff. She is also nigh unkillable during the 5T in which her def + reflect + regen buff is active. Should your party starts falling apart, you can almost be certain that Heracles will be the last 2 or 3 standing. A hero that can stay alive = more chance to use summon actives especially when one of those can turn the tide of battle.

Shingen can provide an okay-ish party DATA buff and is fast enough to burst twice before any other of team is ready for burst, further speeding up your FB speed. Light team units, before Tishtrya, Takeminakata and the advent of Mike AW, tend to be notoriously sluggish. Their only saving grace was Managarmr whose active is a very strong DATA buff, but still no where close to satisfactory. Shingen provides Light team a much needed boost in the speed department.

Choosing between Heracles and Shingen is like choosing between Raw Power and Speed. 'One Man Army' vs 'Slightly Faster Burst Cycle.' In the end it's entirely up to personal preference. I should mention though, Shingen has recently lost her edge against Heracles exactly because of the 3 mentioned units. But hey you can't really expect everyone to have those readily available so this point is half moot.

Example Heracles and Shingen builds... I was going to say that. But then I realize all my builds works with both Heracles and Shingen with only minor differences in performance, the differences I already mentioned above. In the end, just pick whoever suits your play style more. There's simply no logical nor practical purpose in trying to place one above the other. IMHO there would be more room for discussion if this were a comparison vs Arthur or Morgan -shrug-