User blog:Linathan/Unit Spotlight: Boltdrive Zedus

Boltdrive Zedus
[Leader Skill] Zedus' Providence (Large boost in critical hit damage , damage dealt during Spark  & 15% boost to critical hit rate)

[Brave Burst] Thunder Blitz (9 combo powerful Thunder attack on single enemy & boost to Spark damage  for 3 turns; Cost: 24 BC, DC: 18 BC)

[Super Brave Burst] Judgment (3 combo massive Thunder attack on all enemies, boost to Spark damage  for 3 turns & adds chance of decreasing Atk and Def  for 1 turn; Cost: 30 BC, DC: 24 BC)

Note: At the time of writing this analysis, the Wiki hasn't updated Zedus's page. This analysis uses the updated data of Zedus, which got patched on March 22. This means Zedus no longer has a 100% crit chance on his BB and SBB unlike before.

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

Summary
Zedus, the fifth of the Soul Bound Saga series, made its way from Puzzle Trooper to Brave Frontier on March 2015. Resembling the Greek God Zeus, Zedus rules the sky and thunder. Wait... What are we talking about now?

We are talking about Zedus. Think of him as the Spark variant of Maxwell with some handy tricks up his sleeve. Do you think we have yet another broken unit in Global? Thought Ultor and pre-March Hadaron was broken? I swear... if someone says "Buff Zedus pls!"

Let's take a look at Zeus, shall we?

Leader Skill
Score: 10/10

Amazing. It's interesting to make variants of Maxwell. Zedus boosts crit damage by 125%, similar to Maxwell. As an added bonus, all Spark damage is boosted by 40%.

One may think: Zedus's Leader Skill only boosts Spark damage by 40%. Combined with the crit damage boost and the frequent Sparks occuring, you have more options for squads when using Zedus as your Leader compared to Maxwell. The extra part in Maxwell's Leader Skill boosts Elemental Weakness damage by 100%, but that is only if you use the original element of the attacking unit against an enemy of the weaker element. Maxwell's Leader Skill is fairly limited compared to Zedus's. Zedus's Leader Skill boosts Spark damage by 40%, which can be achieved by any unit. Sparks are universal unlike Elemental Weakness damage is limited to certain elements.

As an added bonus, Zedus increases crit chance by 15%, which is perfect for Zedus's crit damage boost. Double Zedus Leads could potentially replace double Maxwell Leads. One would reach maximum Crit chance (70%) if Double Zedus Leads are used and if Maxwell's Crit chance boost (30%) is applied.

Of course, this does not mean that double Maxwell Leads are useless. Maxwell actually deals more damage with her Leader Skill if the entire squad is composed of an element that is strong against an enemy with a weaker element. For example, you would deal more damage to Cardes (Dark element) with a complete mono-Light team including double Maxwell Leads. The only disadvantage to using these kinds of mono-Element squads is the lack of variety, which is more the reason why the squad is called mono in the first place.

With double Zedus Leads, you can use units from a bigger variety due to Sparks happening so often in questing. For example, a team Zedus would best fit in would be: Zedus (Lead), Lario, Cardes, Maxwell, Shera, Zedus (Friend). All of the sub-units have high hit counts on their SBBs and with Zedus's low hit count, Zedus would deal a ton of damage as his low hit count attacks are easier to Spark with the many hits that Lario, Rosetta, Maxwell, and Shera are dealing.

Brave Burst
Score: 9/10

If you thought Ultor's Brave Burst was strong, then you might think Zedus's Brave Burst is also strong. Zedus's BB damage multiplier is a whopping 550%! Wow! Can you name a unit with a damage multiplier that high with just BB? Comment below!

In all seriousness, this BB is insane. It might only be single-target, but it still deals a great deal of damage. As an added bonus, Zedus's BB increases Spark damage by 60%, which is relatively high for just using Brave Burst.

Super Brave Burst
Score: 9/10

Insane. Just plain insane.

You may be frowning at Zedus's 3-hit count on his SBB. This low hit count is actually perfect. With a super whopping multiplier of 600%, which almost rivals Maxwell's by a shy of 60%, Zedus can deal massive amounts of damage if all three hits are Sparked.

What? How can you achieve that? Simple.

Remember the squad I mentioned earlier? The one with double Zedus Leads, Maxwell, Cardes, Lario, and Shera? Since the sub-units have very high hit counts, ranging from 26 hits to 40 hits, Both Zedus are bound to spark with their SBBs to deal massive amounts of damage if SBBs are activated quick and effectively.

Not to mention, even though Zedus has a low hit count with his SBB, he still has high drop checks for his SBB, which is 24. With high Drop Checks in your squad, you shouldn't have too much problem with filling everyone's SBB gauges with double Zedus Leads.

As an added bonus, Zedus has a 50% chance in reducing enemies' ATK and DEF by 50% for 1 turn. This probability is actually pretty high compared to other units. However, this part of his SBB should not be relied on as there is a 50% that Zedus may fail to inflict ATK Down and DEF Down. It is also worth noting that DEF Down is almost useless as you can use a unit with ignore-DEF.

Ultimate Brave Burst
This unit does not have Ultimate Brave Burst. If it did, it'd probably be a 1-hit with an over 9000% multiplier.

Extra Skill
This unit does not have Extra Skill. If it did, it'd probably turn your sub-units into Maxwell... seriously...

Arena
Score: 6/10

Zedus might perform well in other quests, but not as well in Arena. Zedus's Leader Skill is almost like Maxwell's, but with an added 15% crit chance bonus, 40% to Spark damage, and without the Elemental Weakness damage bonus. Sparks rarely happen in Arena as you cannot control your units and their targets. In terms of Crits, the Leader Skill is not reliable as Crits are based on RNG. Even with the 15% crit chance bonus and Amanohabaken + Havoc Axe combos, there is still that 35% chance that your unit(s) won't Crit.

As a sub unit, Zedus has an abysmal Drop Check of 10. In Arena, it is a kill-and-win type of game. Zedus's low Drop Check is so bad that everyone might not get BBs filled up for the 2nd turn. Additionally, Zedus's BB is single-target, which is a huge downfall. What if your opponent kills all of your units but Zedus? Zedus will only help to contribute against one enemy, causing you to lose the match.

Stats
Score: 9/10

Like other Soul Bound Saga units, Zedus's stats are very high, topping Maxwell's stats except REC, which is not important. Zedus's ATK and DEF stats are balanced. With Zedus's high ATK contributing to his super-strong SBB, Zedus can deal massive amounts of damage. With Zedus's high DEF, Zedus can tank quite well. On top of that, Zedus has very high HP to take hits very well. REC doesn't show much importance as Zedus can easily be recovered with healers and HC buffers. However, Zedus is mostly going to deal damage if he is going to be used as a Lead. Anima or Breaker would be the prefered type.

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

Anima = Breaker > Lord > Guardian > Oracle

Usefulness
Score 9/10

Zedus can practically be used anywhere, just like Maxwell. Zedus deals a lot of damage not only as a Leader, but also as a sub-unit. In Raid, double Zedus Leads can deal massive amounts of damage. Mistzug, the final boss of RC3, can switch elements, which may cause double Maxwell Leads to deal less damage when the elements become inconsistent with Mistzug's element change. Zedus, on the other hand, can deal more Spark damage with his Leader Skill and Sparks can be achieved by any unit.

When compared to Maxwell, Zedus gives the player more options to create their Squads with a bigger variety of units. Maxwell, however, is limited to one element if the player wishes to apply the Elemental Weakness damage to all units.

Conclusion
Total Score: 8.7/10

Truly outstanding. Now we have a Sparking Maxwell Lead. Double Zedus Leads might take over the metagame instead of double Maxwell Leads. Since Sparks are relatively easy to do, double Zedus Leads may yield more damage given a variety of units.

Get Zedus while his rates are up! Your 10 Rare Summons may be worth it after all!

Comment below on what you think about Zedus! Is he the new Maxwell? Is he the Sparking Thunder God (badum-tss)? And if you have a unit in mind, don't be afraid to leave it in the comments below!

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

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