User blog:Linathan/Unit Spotlight: Imperator Zedus

Imperator Zedus
[Leader Skill] Testament of the Almighty ( Greatly boosts critical damage and Spark damage & 20% boost to critical hit rate)

[Brave Burst] Thunder Impulse (11 combo powerful Thunder and Light attack on all foes, boosts Spark damage & boosts all Elemental Weakness damage for 3 turns ; Cost: 27 BC, DC: 25 BC)

[Super Brave Burst] Retribution (12 combo powerful Thunder and Light attack on all foes, boosts critical and Spark damage for 3 turns & chance of reducing enemies' Atk and Def for 1 turn ; Cost: 26 BC, DC: 28 BC)

[Ultimate Brave Burst] For Athensphere! (14 combo massive Thunder and Light attack on all foes, huge boost to critical damage, Spark damage & Elemental Weakness damage for 3 turns ; Cost: 26 BC, DC: 35 BC)

[Extra Skill] Soul of the Supreme (20% boost to all parameters & adds critical hit rate boost to BB/SBB for 3 turns when Spear of Zedus is equipped)

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
We looked down at Zedus for being a mediocre crit lead at the start. Now, Zedus finally got a 7* form and everything is all better. A further look into Zedus, he's actually one of the best damage utility units in the game. How? Read more!

Leader Skill
Score: 10/10

Barring elemental crit booster leads like Kira, Maxwell, Dion, etc., Zedus's Leader Skill has proven to be one of the best damage utility Leader Skills in the game. Here's why.

The 150% crit damage boost is what's seen on most crit Leader Skills out there. It is currently the highest critical damage boost in the game, tied with Maxwell, Zebra, Dion, Kira, etc. This shows a huge significant boost in the damage inflicted when critical hits are landed. Critical rate doesn't serve a problem either as Zedus is able to boost critical rate by 60% thanks to his Extra Skill.

Next comes the 80% Spark damage boost. Unlike other crit leads that have additional damage utility such as elemental weakness damage boosts, Zedus is the first of his kind to have additional damage utility involve a Spark boost, and it's a good boost too. Unlike elemental damage boosters requiring the original element to take effect, the Spark boost is beneficial to all units. There are more units that can benefit from the Spark boost compared to a limited party from elemental weakness boosts. Additionally, this boost can be stacked with Zedus's Spark buffs from his BB/SBB/UBB.

Zedus also provides an innate 20% critical rate boost, which is quite useful, especially against enemies with high critical rate resistance. Even with a 60% critical rate buff from Zedus's Extra Skill, the innate 20% critical rate can help bypass critical rate resistance by a good portion.

Brave Burst
Score: 9/10

Zedus's BB utilizes a 350% damage modifier, which is much higher than the typical 280% damage modifier that most 7* use. This BB also never deals weak damage thanks to its multi-element attacking capabilities. With a very high damage modifier and high Atk stat, the damage output will be very high.

Zedus provides a 70% Spark buff, which is an okay Spark buff to use. It's definitely not the best Spark buff in the game as Sharl holds the title of having the best Spark buff in the game on SBB being 100%.

Zedus also provides a 50% elemental weakness damage buff. This is great as Zedus is one of the few elemental weakness damage buffers in the game. Pairing this along with the Spark buff works wonders. Do note that only the original element of the units attacking will be affected by this damage boost. This means that elemental buffs will not work, such as buffs from Shida, Quaid, Griff, etc.

Super Brave Burst
Score: 10/10

The more damage utility, the better!

Zedus's SBB utilizes a 600% damage modifier, which is much higher than the typical 600% damage modifier that most 7* use. Like his BB, this SBB never deals weak damage thanks to its multi-element attacking capabilities. The damage output will be very high given Zedus's high Atk and SBB damage modifier.

Basically, Zedus replicates his BB and makes it even better. Only difference is that Zedus uses an 80% Spark buff instead of a 70% Spark buff.

Additionally, Zedus provides a 50% critical damage buff, which is a significant damage utility buff that pairs very well with Zedus's Leader Skill. With this crit damage boost and Zedus's Leader Skill, the total critical damage bonus will become 200%. Furthermore, there shouldn't be a problem with landing criticals, especially with Zedus's Extra Skill providing the 60% critical rate buff.

But wait! There's still more! Zedus also has a 50% chance of reducing Atk and Def by 50%. These are currently the best Atk Down and Def Down debuffs in the game on BB/SBB. 50% is also the highest probability on BB/SBB, allowing Zedus to inflict Atk and Def Down at a much easier rate. However, there really isn't a point in using Def Down when there's ignore-Def present in the squad. Def is treated as 0 and Def Down cannot reduce Def any further due to the debuff being multiplicative.

With this SBB alone, Zedus provides so much damage utility for the squad, much more compared to his 6* form. Zedus uses some of the best buffs of their kind in the game, especially the critical damage buff and the Atk and Def Down debuffs.

Ultimate Brave Burst
Score: 10/10

We saw Nemethgear give Light squads the ability to one-shot Xie'Jing in Trial X3. Now, Zedus can do the same too?

Zedus's SBB utilizes a 1200% damage modifier, which is much higher than the typical 1000% damage modifier that most 7* use. Like his BB and SBB, this UBB never deals weak damage thanks to its multi-element attacking capabilities. The damage output will be very high given Zedus's high Atk and UBB damage modifier.

Like his SBB, Zedus's UBB takes whatever is included in his SBB and makes it a ton better. Instead of an 80% Spark buff, a 50% elemental damage buff, and a 50% crit damage buff, Zedus's UBB provides a 120% Spark buff, a 150% elemental damage buff, and a 300% critical damage buff. Before, Nemethgear had the best damage utility in the game. Now, Zedus has taken the title of having the best UBB in terms of damage utility. Combining these buffs together from this UBB alone, if all hits were to be sparked, affected by crit landing, and affected by elemental weakness, the overall damage will become multiplied by 10.8. That is a 1080% boost to the base damage calculation formula. What an insane number...

Welp, enjoy your UBB. This thing can one can one-shot most content now. Now, if only if there was a way to give this UBB extra credit...

Extra Skill
Score: 9/10

When Spear of Zedus is equipped, Zedus receives a 20% boost to all stats. Combining the boosts from Spear of Zedus and this Extra Skill, it is as if Zedus were to be equipped with the Occult Treasure. Very nice boost as Zedus receives additional benefits from the sphere itself.

Furthermore, Zedus provides a 60% crit rate buff when BB/SBB is used. This makes it a lot easier for units to land crits and receive benefits from the critical damage boosts that Zedus provides with his Leader Skill and his Brave Bursts.

Arena
Score: 8/10

Zedus is alright in Arena compared to other 7* units released in the game. His normal attack Drop Check is 24 BC, which is just above average. It's not bad, but not all too great either.

However, what is really nice is the critical rate boost from Zedus's Leader Skill. Though, it relies a lot on luck, which can be quite detrimental if the squad is not dealing enough crits.

Zedus's Atk is very high to take advantage of in Arena, allowing his normal attacks to deal heavy amounts of damage in one turn.

Stats
Score: 9/10

Very, very high stats for a 7*. Very high versatility with Zedus's stats, including high HP, high Atk, and high Def. Rec may be on the low side compared to other 7* units, but it doesn't serve much of a problem if units are able to produce enough HC or heal sufficiently.

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

Anima = Breaker > Guardian > Lord > Oracle

Usefulness
Score: 10/10

With the amount of damage utility Zedus provides, there is no way one could say no to Zedus. The amount of damage utility is enough to become the best damage utility unit in the game. Back when Zedus was released, he was shadowed by other crit leads. Now, Zedus comes back with even better damage utility.

Zedus is also the first crit lead to have Spark boosts on his Leader Skill. Unlike elemental damage crit boosters like Kira, Dion, and Maxwell, Zedus's Leader Skill can be used by all units. Elemental damage boosts only apply if the original element is used, which limits the amount of units that can benefit from them.

Sphere Recommendations

 * Spear of Zedus & Heresy Orb
 * Spear of Zedus & Geldnite Axe
 * Spear of Zedus & Penta-Locus
 * Spear of Zedus & Heavenly Bud
 * Spear of Zedus & Revelation Book
 * Spear of Zedus & Flag Flower

Conclusion
Total Score: 9.4/10

HUGE upgrade from his 6* form and he's definitely shown to have improved by a longshot. Andaria or Zedus? Andaria! Zedus!

Comment below on what you think of Zedus! Do you enjoy using him in raid? Ever thought of Zedus and Gazia being best buddies (uhhhh...)? 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:
 * Indomitable Flare Griff
 * Demon Champion Raaga
 * Mad Heretic Gazia
 * Deathless Hadaron