Much as I loath to make a thread about only this, but... Awakening opinions?

[Eab1990]

I'd take Victoria's AW ability over Bashira's since those goblin archers can be tanked by way more units than liches can. Defense is easy to find, MR not so much. Sure, liches are way rarer than goblin archers and the like, but they also tend to be harder to deal with (if you don't have Sophie, Sybilla, Clissa, etc. then you often end up swapping lightning rods; black goblin archers hit hard sure, but drop a mage then Gellius/Bernice with heal support and they'll melt easily enough).

TLDR: Bernice is a common enough unit that can tank Goblin Archers (even black ones with skill) while most of the units necessary to lightning rod multiple liches are Black rarity, or at least platinum, but it all depends on team availability. Bashira's skill blows away Victoria's most of the time though, so there's that.

You shouldn't have an archer focus-firing on lichs to begin with though. Unless said archer is Nanaly. Or the lich is literally alone.

Lichs are bad for both AW Bashira and AW Victoria, it's just that Bashira is less screwed by it since she also prioritizes other enemies that can, y'know, actually hurt her and other ranged allies, thus potentially removing the need to throw down a tank to be saved for later (read: lichs again). Whereas Victoria won't target the enemy archers/cannoneers, so if a group of those show up with a lich, she's definitely screwed without a tank.

[IvanLedah21]

You shouldn't have an archer focus-firing on lichs to begin with though. Unless said archer is Nanaly. Or the lich is literally alone.

Lichs are bad for both AW Bashira and AW Victoria, it's just that Bashira is less screwed by it since she also prioritizes other enemies that can, y'know, actually hurt her and other ranged allies, thus potentially removing the need to throw down a tank to be saved for later (read: lichs again). Whereas Victoria won't target the enemy archers/cannoneers, so if a group of those show up with a lich, she's definitely screwed without a tank.

Fair enough except... when are you EVER going to throw down ANY archer and leave her vulnerable to targeted fire? My point is killing liches quickly is generally more vital than killing enemy archers since archers are easier to tank than liches unless you have certain units like Sophie, most of whom are black rarity and therefore not commonly owned. Also, do liches have high defense? Otherwise I don't see an issue with killing them with archers (unless you have an AW VH lol). Any physical ranged unit should do as long as they're protected from attacks by tanks/lightning rods and if you're not lucky enough to have a high-quality lightning rod you're going to need to do swapping and having Victoria focus on the lich means it dies sooner, therefore fewer lightning rod swaps needed.

Also, I acknowledged in my recommendation post that TC doesn't have Bernice, the reason I brought her up is to show that there are plenty of units that can tank archers that aren't rare summons, while the units that can tank liches are much rarer and most of them are Plat or Black.


Now to be fair, I have a lot of premium units so this isn't an issue I've had to deal with, so my theoretical statements here could be inaccurate in practice. I'm talking how it looks on paper.

[buttlover]

Nah, Victoria's AW ability sucks.

AW Bashira is good for those times you need to get rid of pesky black goblin archers and the like.

It's less useful if you have to deal with lichs or other ranged bosses when there are other enemies she needs to focus on instead. Memento's maps screwed me up a bit thanks to that.

Indeed victoria is a worse version of bashira, at least bashira's SAW makes her a mini-nanaly, lucky OP doesn't have her so its moot point.
I was trying to encourage spica since he has already AW rita.

Either way MalusCorvus, just to empathize, spica is the 2nd archer I'll recommend for AW.
Belinda is the mage I'll recommend, and Iris + cuterie because its easy to AW + usefulness.
If you still lack a good HA and those AW, just go with your highest unit that can block at least 3.

[IvanLedah21]

So, I've been holding off on Awakening any units for a while, with the result that I have nearly 300 Demon Crystals and a lot of silver units, so material is no option. There are quite a few units I have that I could Awaken if I so pleased, but left to my own devices I'd just Awaken the ones I think are cool, with no regard to usefulness... so, I thought I'd get a second opinion!

First, units I've already Awakened: Katie, Rita, Sybilla, and Liana.

Second, the tally of the units I could awaken now or soon, in order of UP cost: Waltz, Cuterie, Cypria, Kerry, Cloris, Bashira, Vincent, Iris, Saki, Beatrice, Momiji, Garrett, Elva, Zola, Cyrus, Mehlis, and Sasha.

Third, the ones I'd really like to Awaken at some point. I've been angling to Awaken Momiji for some time, because the thought of blocking 3 units at once, with Strength of the Fierce God active (and because of Liana's skill, I suspect I use Momiji more than a lot of others do), is quite entertaining. On the tank front, however, I am tempted to Awaken Garrett, largely because he's the only heavy infantry unit of Gold rank or higher than I have, although from what I can tell Elva and Dark Knights in general serve a similar niche albeit more focused on offensive power, and Elva's a unit I want to be useful. Other than one of those three I don't really have a preference, although I'm oddly inclined to Awaken Vincent (mostly because I was lucky, or unlucky, enough to get a second copy of him), or Mehlis.

Since I generally Awaken units because I think it'd be neat rather than for practical purposes, at least when left to myself, I thought I'd get some advice before I make too egregious an error. ...And yes, I have a feeling someone's going to recommend Awakening Bashira. Consider it noted.

You don't have Bernice, huh? Garret is meh, IMO so you might want Elva despite the cost since she's superior to your only Gold+ Heavy Garret.

Agreed with Buttlover, WHERE ON THAT LIST IS SPICA???

....

Anyways, my recommended order:
Spica >> Iris > Cuterie (if gifts are your thing, if not, disregard) > Elva >>> Sasha > Zola > Vincent > Saki >>> Mehlis > Momiji > Beatrice
The rest aren't worth the fodder IMO, except maybe Waltz and Kerry. Cypria isn't a full-time duelist, she's dropped specifically for Assassinate gambling 90% of the time she's used, Cloris has assassinate, a RNG based ability, Garret is outclassed by Elva and you shouldn't need another defensive unit besides Leanne, Cyrus is outclassed by Sasha and Zola and I prefer Mehlis' AW ability.

Reasoning for the recommended:
Spica: No-brainer, powering up herself, Bashira and Rita YES YES YES
Iris: Stronger healer, much more cost-effective than Liana? Yes please.
Cuterie: gift farming, 'nuff said
Elva: To be your 2ndary blocker, bulky dps ftw
Sasha: Because who doesn't like faster attacks from the mage with the highest raw power of the platinums?
Zola: -10 range to attack faster, plus she's cheaper than Sasha or even Mehlis/Cyrus and very helpful in Crystal Keeper
Vincent: decent AW ability, very useful for ripping through undead when they come, the low Attack stat is deceptive as he always fires 3 shots
Saki: ranged melee, black stats and 1 sec initial skill timer
Mehlis: for when you want a cheaper, but weaker Sasha
Momiji: decent duelist and her skill can either be gatekeeper or with Liana massive boost with little penalty
Beatrice: decent ranged option but I'm not a fan of chance-based abilities (considering Sasha/Mehlis have basically the same thing but 100% instead of 20%, not much contest there)

Waltz and Kerry are options if you use them a lot, otherwise I wouldn't bother. It is worth noting that Waltz will boost Vincent and skill-using Bashira/Elva through the roof on damage output.