User blog:Linathan/Unit Spotlight: Phoenix Wings Lava

Phoenix Wings Lava
[Leader Skill] Black Flame's Power (100% boost to Atk power of Fire types & BB gauge fills hugely after each turn )

[Brave Burst] Crimson Caldia (15 combo powerful Fire attack on all enemies & adds chance of ignoring opponents' Def when attacking for all allies for 2 turns; Cost: 25 BC, DC: 15 BC)

[Super Brave Burst] Ragnarok Deffert (18 combo powerful Fire attack on all enemies & boosts all allies' attack BB Atk for 3 turns & all allies' attack ignore Def for 2 turns; Cost: 20 BC, DC: 18 BC)

[Ultimate Brave Burst] Gravis Flamma Ardens (21 combo massive Fire attack on all enemies & boosts all allies' attack BB Atk for 3 turns & enormously boosts Atk of Fire types for 3 turns ; Cost: 20 BC, DC: 21 BC)

[Extra Skill] Inherited Wings of Flame ( Adds chance of slightly recovering HP and chance of slight BB boost when attacked )
 * Note: Lava provides a guaranteed chance of ignoring enemies' Def with her BB and SBB.

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
Lava, one of the first units to ever arrive in the Rare Summon gate throughout the history of Brave Frontier. She was cool when she first got her wings in her 5* form. Then, she got cooler wings in her 6* form. Now... her wings are even cooler?

We've all wanted Lava in the past, and then we never wanted her again once the metagame started changing, and now, we want her again. We have only one company to thank for her 7* evolution, Alim!

Leader Skill
Score: 7/10

Lava's Leader Skill boosts 100% Atk of all Fire-types. This is great as Fire units will be dealing a lot more damage. The 4 BC fill is also really nice too as this applies to all units.

However, the problem with this type of Leader Skill is the lack of diversity in the squad. This Atk boost only applies to Fire units only. You would have to create a mono-Fire team to achieve the full effect of Lava's Leader Skill. Even if other units have their BB gauges boosted each turn, 4 BC isn't the best in the game. Currently, Alma has the best BB gauge fill on Leader Skill in the game, being 5 BC per turn.

Brave Burst
Score: 7/10

Lava's BB utilizes a 260% damage modifier. This is an alright damage modifier, but it's lower than an average 7* unit. The average damage modifier is 280% and for her to have a lower damage modifier than average is quite disappointing as little of a difference it is.

Remember when Lava had to get her SBB to apply the ignore-Def buff? Now, Lava can freely use that buff along with other units with just her BB. This bypasses enemies' Def and even Def buffs simply because units are treating enemies' Def as 0.

But that's all Lava's BB has to offer? This is rather disappointing. We'd expect much more from a 7* unit's BB.

Super Brave Burst
Score: 8/10

Now, we get into some interesting mechanics with Lava's SBB. Her SBB utilizes a 500% damage modifier, which is the average damage modifier for 7* units. Like her BB, Lava's SBB also provides an ignore-Def buff to all allies. This is great against bosses with high Def and Def buffs as ignore-Def will treat the enemies' Def as 0.

Here comes the interesting part. Lava is the second unit to utilize a BB modifier buff (first in JP). She boosts the damage modifiers of BB, SBB, and UBB by 200%. Comparing damage calculations between with and without the buff, the difference in damage is quite big.

Keep in mind that this buff is additive to all damage modifiers. For Lava's case, her SBB damage modifier becomes 700% (500% SBB damage modifier + 200% from buff).

Ultimate Brave Burst
Score: 10/10

Lava boosts Atk of all Fire units by 300%. This isn't some ordinary Atk buff. This buff can stack on top of other Atk buffs, like Michele's, Zergel's, Ultor's, etc. This may only apply to Fire units, but the 300% Atk buff is insane if you apply that to even just one unit. The damage output doesn't stop here, however.

This 1000% damage modifier UBB increases BB damage modifiers by 500%, massively increasing damage output. Considering that the standard average for SBB damage modifiers is 500%, with Lava's UBB buff, most 7* units' SBB damage modifiers will become just as strong as an average UBB damage modifier.

Extra Skill
Score: 8/10

Lava is able to recover some HP he lost with a 25% probability. This can be useful especially when taking tons of damage, yet still surviving. However, this isn't reliable because it relies on RNG. Lava isn't always going to recover HP due to RNG weighing down on her, disciple or not. Regardless of how strong disciples are, RNGesus will always be there topping every god in the game.

The BB regen when attack is nice too, but it relies on RNG as well. Lava has a 50% chance to boost his BB gauge by 2-3 BC. 50% might seem a bit high for a probability-based effect, but when compared to other units that utilize this effect, they have a guaranteed chance of proccing, such as Aaron's Extra Skill, Fei's Leader Skill, etc. Still a nice effect to have as it can save you in the long run.

Speaking of probability, there might be RNGesus weighing Lava down with her Extra Skill, but don't forget as the more times Lava is hit, the closer the number of successes become in relation to the probability. You might not see the probability kick in for the first few times Lava gets hit, but you will see that in a longer battle where Lava is hit hundreds of times that Lava is closer to activating his Extra Skill 25% or 50% of the time.

Arena
Score: 9/10

Lava has a 30 BC Drop Check on her normal attack and a 260% BB damage modifier. Both of these are great as the high Drop Checks will help fill everyone's BB gauges ready for the second turn a lot easier and the damage modifier is enough to deal high amounts of damage.

Lava's Leader Skill can also come into play. This is where you only focus on killing units using normal attacks. Remember Zurg's Leader Skill? 100% maximum boost to ATK at max HP? Lava can boost all Fire units' ATK by 100%, which can dominate most units in Arena. Additionally, Lava's 4 BC fill can help towards filling everyone's BB gauges ready for the second turn. However, this mono-Fire method is not reliable as opponents may carry Water units that can take Fire attacks.

Stats
Score: 9/10

Overall, Lava's stats are high and balanced with each other. Her high HP, Atk, and Def and mediocre Rec help Lava survive well, deal sufficient amounts of damage, and recover well.

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

Anima > Guardian > Lord > Breaker > Oracle

Usefulness
Score: 8/10

Even though Lava is one of the only few units that utilize the BB damage modifier buffs, she doesn't provide much utility for the squad in other areas. There is Dion who outclasses her role in the squad as he boosts BB damage modifiers by 200% with his SBB as well. On top of that, Dion provides a 60% critical rate buff on his BB.

This is not to say that Lava is useless. She is definitely useful in terms of providing high damage utility for the squad, but there are a number of aspects that she's lacking. Her 200% damage modifier buff helps to vastly boost the overall damage output of your squad and that can come in useful when dealing with situations where you have to push an enemy to a certain threshold within a certain amount of turns. Examples include Trial 005's Zevalhua with Glorious and Trial X3's Xie'Jing with Soul Siphon and Soul Extinguish.

Conclusion
Total Score: 8.3/10

I used to feel super-bummed out for pulling five Lavas, but now, not so much. Plus, she's a classic retro unit we all love. Do all of these old unit evolutions remind you of times when their 6* forms were released?

Did Lava bring back good old memories from the past? Yes! No! Well... you know... I started a bit late...

Comment below on what you think of Lava! Did she bring back good ol' memories? Would you use Vargas and Lava in the same squad? Leave them in the comments down 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:
 * Flame Legend Vargas
 * Temptress Xie'Jing
 * Zevalhua the Supreme
 * Demon Champion Raaga