User blog:Linathan/Unit Spotlight: Ice Bastion Zeldeus

Ice Bastion Zeldeus
[Leader Skill] Ice God's Sanctuary (30% boost to max HP and Def of all allies & probable slight damage reduction )

[Brave Burst] Lastrum Guard ( Powerful water attack on all foes & reduces damage taken by 50% for 1 turn; Cost: 25 BC, DC: 25 BC)

[Super Brave Burst] A.G.W. ( Powerful water attack on all foes, boosts Def for 3 turns & reduces damage taken by 50% for 1 turn; Cost: 20 BC, DC: 25 BC)

[Ultimate Brave Burst] Full Degeneration (20 combo massive water attack on all foes, boosts Def and boosts Atk relative to Def for 3 turns & reduces damage taken by 75% for 2 turns; Cost: 40 BC, DC: 20 BC)

[Extra Skill] Demon Puppet's Will ( Boosts BB/SBB Atk for 3 turns & when Golem Core is equipped, 20% boost to all parameters)

About Scoring System
For my analyses, I enforce a scoring system. Each category is out of 10 points. The final score will be the average of all of the category scores. Note that my analyses are based on my opinion. You are free to agree or disagree with the points that I have here. The categories are listed below: Typing will be under stats.
 * Leader Skill
 * Brave Burst
 * Super Brave Burst (only for 6* units and above)
 * Ultimate Brave Burst (only for 7* units)
 * Extra Skill (only for 7* units)
 * Arena
 * Stats
 * Usefulness

Note: Scoring will be different for 7* units compared to 6* units due to the fact that 7* units have two more categories than 6* units. For example, a 6* unit with an 8.5 rating cannot be compared with a 7* unit with a 7.5 rating.

Summary
It's time we talk about our ultimate ice cream machine, Zeldeus!

Perfect as an air conditioner! Perfect as a place to stay home! Perfect to fit in your house! Perfect to autonomous Anthropogenic Global Warming! Wait, that's not what A.G.W. stands for... Sue me.

Leader Skill
Score: 9/10

Zeldeus boosts HP and Def by 30%, much like Kanon. This is a very beneficial boost to units all around. Recently, it has become essential to carry HP leads in the hardest content in the game, such as Trial X3, GGC: Michele, etc. Zeldeus deems worthy in that department.

What makes this Leader Skill rather a bit underwhelming is his probable damage reduction. While it is very useful, it's not something a player can rely on all the time. Zeldeus has a 20% chance of reducing damage by 20%. Thinking about that, you still have to be quite lucky to utilize it. Besides, mitigation now stacks multiplicatively so additional mitigation buffs become less effective.

Some units to compare include Kanon and Grahdens. Kanon does the similar thing of boosting HP and Def by 30%. Even better, he provides status immunity. Though, Kanon generally wouldn't be used as a lead as he cures status ailments with his BB/SBB anyway, unless Leader Skill locks and Stat Down debuffs are present. On the other hand, Grahdens boosts all stats by 35% and mitigates 15% of the damage taken from Light and Dark enemies. This mitigation is effective throughout and does not rely on RNG.

Brave Burst
Score: 8/10

Zeldeus becomes the first damage mitigator to ever have a mitigation BB that targets all enemies. Zeldeus's BB utilizes a 260% damage modifier, which is slightly lower than average. However, this can be fixed by giving Zeldeus the Golem Core, which will boost the damage modifier to 360%. At least it's much higher than normal, right?

Damage mitigation is very self-explanatory. It's one of, if not, the most essential squad role in the game. There are far too many enemies that deal high damage and it becomes a necessity to carry a damage mitigator.

Zeldeus's BB is also a one-hit BB, which makes it easier to Spark with high-hit count attacks.

Unfortunately, even though Zeldeus is the first damage mitigator to use an AoE BB, he already becomes outclassed by our virtuous champion, Krantz. Krantz provides much more with his mitigation BB compared to Zeldeus who only applies mitigation and nothing else.

Super Brave Burst
Score: 9/10

Zeldeus's SBB utilizes a 450% damage modifier. This is actually lower than the average 500% you see on most 7* units. This may be low, but you can get around that problem just fine. With its Extra Skill active, Zeldeus receives a 100% BB Atk boost, which will boost his SBB damage modifier up to 550%. Neat, huh?

As explained before, damage mitigation is always a necessity to have in a squad as it will help relieve half of the damage units take.

Like SBB, Zeldeus's BB is also a one-hit BB, which makes it easier to Spark with high-hit count attacks.

The 140% Def buff is really nice. Actually, it's the best in the game on BB/SBB. Def buffs are necessary to reduce the damage from unfixed attacks. This is notable in most hard content, like GGC: Sefia and Kikuri, GGC: Michele, Trial X3, etc.

Ultimate Brave Burst
Score: 9/10

Very good. This 1000% damage modifier UBB boosts Def by 140%, which can be stacked with its SBB Def buff. Combining the SBB and UBB Def buffs will equal a total of a 280% Def buff. Even better, this UBB mitigates 75% of the damage taken for 2 turns. You do not have to worry about not using Zeldeus's BB/SBB as the new BB/SBB + UBB stacking system allows stacked mitigation.

A unit to compare this UBB to is Elimo. Her UBB casts 75% mitigation for three turns, unlike Zeldeus's which only lasts for two turns. Elimo heals with her UBB and does not attack, while Zeldeus does the opposite.

Extra Skill
Score: 8/10

There has to be some sort of way to use Golem Core. I know! Equip it to Zeldeus!

Zeldeus boosts BB Atk by 100% when BB/SBB is used. Unfortunately, this isn't the best in the game as there is Zenia who boosts BB Atk by 200%. What people have been asking about is whether or not Zeldeus's BB Atk stacks with other BB Atk buffs. The answer to that is no. This is still treated as a buff coming from BB/SBB and it will not stack with other BB Atk buffs that units like Lava, Zenia, Loch, etc. provide.

Arena
Score: 9/10

There's a reason why Zeldeus was so good in Water Vortex Arena.

Zeldeus has a 40 BC normal attack Drop Check, which is very good to use in Arena. It's actually ranked one of the highest in the game.

If Zeldeus is equipped with the Golem Core, there's a good chance that his SBB can one-shot the entire opponent's team. This is due to the boosted power of his SBB and the damage output that comes with it.

As a lead, Zeldeus is decent. His 30% boost to HP and Def is very good for survival, but Arena isn't much of a survival game. Heck, Bestie can do better. Bestie boosts HP and Atk by 30% and reduces BC cost by 25%. Zeldeus can reduce damage by 20%, but you have to rely on the small 20% chance to make it happen, causing it to become unreliable to use.

Stats
Score: 9/10

Being a huge ice tower, Zeldeus has got to look tough. His HP and Def are very high. Though, overall, his Atk is right-on average, which hinders his damage output. His Rec is relatively decent so it shouldn't have much of a problem recovering HP, especially with the fact that healers and HC buffers exist in the game.

In terms of typing, my type preference for Zeldeus is...

Anima > Guardian > Lord > Breaker > Oracle

Usefulness
Score: 10/10

This ice tower proves to be quite the damage mitigator. Upgrades itself to not only attack, but to also become the first damage mitigator to attack all enemies using BB. Despite his Brave Bursts only having 1 hit count, they still have high Drop Checks to produce a sufficient amount of BC.

What also makes himself so useful is that he becomes tied with having the best Def buff in the game on BB/SBB. In later content, enemy damage output becomes so high that 50% mitigation alone won't help to reduce the amount of damage units take to survive. Def buffs are quite essential to have in squads to help support the mitigation that is applied.

Sphere Recommendations

 * Buffer Jewel & Heresy Orb
 * Golem Core & Heresy Orb
 * Golem Core & Four Bonds
 * Golem Core & Heavenly Bud
 * Golem Core & Flag Flower

Conclusion
Total Score: 8.9/10

Great! Now, this living ice fortress is all set and ready to protect Lira all he wants. Would you want to live in a Zeldeus? Yes! No!

Comment below on what you think of Zeldeus! Would you summon Zeldeus so you could live in it? Do you think he'd make a perfect unit to use in let's say a tower defense game? Leave a comment below!

Check out my list of analyses in [http://bravefrontierglobal.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Linathan/Spotlights:_Table_of_Contents! Spotlights: Table of Contents!]

Check out my other Unit Spotlights:
 * Leviathan Sage Elimo
 * Virtuous Champion Krantz
 * Lance Champion Vernil
 * Heavenly Emperor Kanon