2B – review and ratings!

Disclaimer

This is an early review for 2B, so her rating can change in the future as we do more testing.

Information

• Rarity: SSR
• Burst: III
• Weapon: AR
• Class: Defender
• Element: Fire
• Manufacturer: Abnormal
• Squad: YoRHa

Skills

Review

Introduction

2B is both a sword and a shield. Why choose between offensive and defensive when you can be both at the same time? In short, 2B is what Crow wishes to be, but she can’t because of unknown reasons. She boasts a titanic amount of HP and can demolish enemies with ease thanks to her conversion gimmick. Oh, and she is also the unit with the highest real-time attack in Nikke!

Performance Analysis

2B is an offensive defender whose ATK scales off her HP. She has a low basic attack multiplier, and around half of her output is from Burst Skill. While her basic attack multiplier is concerningly low, her burst damage makes up for it, dealing over 3,000% at higher levels provided there is only a single enemy. This makes her quite similar to Maxwell in gameplay, whose damage heavily relies on Burst Skill. Burst damage like this usually benefits a lot from short-term but huge bonuses such as the one given by Novel’s Burst Skill.

One special thing to note about 2B is that her offensive strength scales linearly with her HP. This means any MAX HP buffs invoked by herself or other teammates will significantly boost her ATK. However, as a defender, her base ATK stat is poor, which means all buffs that increase ATK based in the target character will be much less effective. Even then, the efficacy of ATK buffs is also inferior to HP buffs, so there is no reason to pair her with ATK-buffing units. Instead, pair her with units that boost her MAX HP instead. Detailed team compositions will be discussed later.

Furthermore, 2B is more suited to longer fights as her damage increases with time. Her S1, which is vital to her output, requires her to burst three times before reaching its max value. This makes her powerful for boss fights but weak in normal stages.

Investments

2B relies a lot on her HP stat, which can only be gained from bond levels, equipment upgrades, limit breaks, and skill buffs. She scales extremely well with skill upgrades too, which must be prioritized.

For equipment, we recommend overloading her Body and maxing its level. This piece of gear provides a tremendous amount of HP. Her helmet and boots can also be upgraded, but these are less rewarding. To conserve materials, you can leave her Helmet and Boots at level 2 or 3 once overloaded.

What about OL? As a defender, 2B has a low base attack value, which means she benefits less from OL lines and buffs that increase ATK based on the target character (Noir is an exception). Furthermore, she alone already acquires too much attack from her S2, making attack buffs much less effective. Nevertheless, she still benefits from Elemental Damage, and critical hits can also help multiply her already insane damage. Hit Rate can allow her to hit enemy’s core more conveniently, but since most of her damage is contained within her burst, it is probably not that valuable.

While rerolling, keep in mind that ATK lines are less favorable for 2B, although they do boost her output a little. It is recommended to obtain Elemental DMG instead or situationally CRIT and Hit Rate. However, if you are tight on rocks, feel free to keep your ATK rolls (though you need to max her Head and Gloves for them to be more relevant).

As for Skill Levels, we recommend prioritizing her S2, the core of her kit. You MUST level it up to 10 as soon as possible, else she will not be able to perform well. After that, you may choose to upgrade her S1 to increase her MAX HP, which in turn boosts her ATK. Or, you can upgrade her Burst to increase her overall DPS. For people with tight budgets, I recommend leaving her S1 and Burst at 5 respectively to save up Blue Manuals. That being said, upgrading her Burst is more important than her S1, as her Max HP can also be boosted with the help of other units, including but not limited to Noise, Mast, Frima, Quency, Rapunzel, and SMary.

Use 5-10-5 as a starting point, then develop your 2B based on the number of materials you have. Prioritize Burst upgrades but keep in mind that A2 will be coming soon too, and she wants you to save some for her.

Team Compositions

As mentioned earlier, 2B is about MAX HP buffs. Fortunately, some other buffs and debuffs can also benefit her without any dilution/degradation, such as Damage Taken and CRIT. Meanwhile, ATK is significantly diluted, so it is inferior. Part Damage is a big no because her burst damage does NOT aim for parts. Keep this in mind when you are forming your team. Prioritize MAX HP, Damage Taken, and CRIT if available! We are not sure whether it is a bug or not, but Jackal’s Burst Skill also buffs 2B’s entire Burst damage (both instances).

Since 2B is a B3 character, let’s discuss what combinations of B1 and B2 that would help 2B deal the most damage:

• Noise, Frima, and SMary are strong contenders for B1.
  • Noise provides the highest MAX HP buff out of the 3, but she has a cooldown of 40s. While this may seem hideous, if you time it with 2B’s Burst Skill, it will have a major impact. She can also help the team alive for longer periods and deflect bothersome projectiles away from key units. However, her regenerative capabilities on Burst might interfere with Mast’s S1 and deactivate her critical damage buff.
  • Frima is theoretically the best out of the 3 because she provides consistent MAX HP buffs, and those MAX HP buffs scale off the target’s HP instead of the caster’s. This allows even an uninvested Frima to be useful. However, her usage is very uncommon, so upgrading her might not be the best idea. Her burst’s MAX HP buff is only 4s, but that is enough for 2B to unleash suffering with her Burst Skill.
  • Last but not least, SMary is like a sidegrade to Frima. She provides more heal, but then her MAX HP buffs scale off the caster’s HP. This means you will need to invest in her equipment to make her as strong as Noise or Frima. Similar to Noise’s, her healing will deactivate Mast’s S1 critical damage buff, so you should only use SMary as a last option.

Since Noise’s burst has a 40s cooldown, you want to pair her with another B1. In this case, we recommend using Volume as you will need her CDR. We discourage using B2 CDR in this case because you want to always have Mast/Novel in the team to maximize 2B’s damage. As for Frima and SMary, you can choose among Volume, Dolla, or SHelm based on your 5-team needs and your target boss.

• Mast, Quency, and Novel are strong contenders for B2.
  • Mast is the universal Best-in-Slot for 2B. Not pairing Mast with 2B is a terrible move. She provides an enormous MAX HP buff that surpasses the other support units (even Noise), and it is only on 20s cooldown. Mast is a steal. Not only that, she also allows 2B to further boost her damage with fierce critical hits.
    • Be informed that Mast’s MAX HP buff on Burst is dependent on her own MAX HP (like SMary’s). This means limit breaks, bonds, and gear upgrades will significantly increase the effectiveness of her buffs.
  • If you do not have Mast, Quency is the way. Quency provides a substantial amount of MAX HP buff to the two highest attackers every 20s, which is inferior to Mast but is a great alternative regardless. She also heals those units and herself every rotation.
    • Quency’s MAX HP buff scales off the target unit’s HP, so in some cases, hers might be stronger despite Mast’s attractive numbers. This also denotes that Quency requires little to no investment to use. Quency might also be better than Mast if the boss deals too much damage, more than what your healer can handle.
  • Novel is probably Mast’s rival. In longer fights, there is a chance that Novel may outdamage Mast due to the fact that 2B already gains a lot of MAX HP from S1 and support buffs from the B1 unit. Novel’s main focus is maximizing Burst Damage.

With that being said, you may start to wonder: if I use Mast with 2B, then what’s going to happen to my Guillotine? Worry not, Guillotine and 2B actually share a similar nature. Initially, at the beginning of battles, both Guillotine and 2B will benefit more from Mast as their personal skills require time to activate. However, as time goes, Guillotine’s HP will be low enough to utilize Mast’s burst effectively, whereas 2B will have maximum stacks of her S1, diluting Mast’s buff. In these cases, once they reach maximum performance, Novel will actually boost their damage more. The problem here lies in the fact that Mast’s burst cannot really lower a low-HP Guillotine anymore after a certain point (so it becomes less effective), but 2B will always somewhat benefit from it. In other words, use Mast with 2B instead. Save Novel for your other teams.

We also discourage pairing 2B with Guillotine as that will adversely impact your team’s burst generation. Instead, use units that grant high burst generation, such as Scarlet or shotguns. Low-burst generation will only result in damage loss. Most MAX HP buffers also heal the entire team, and Guillotine despises those.

All things considered, here are some example teams that you can use:

1. Noise Mast/Quency 2B FLEX Volume
   One of the best teams that allows 2B to enjoy full damage since the start of the battle. Noise and Mast will allow 2B to deal significant burst damage since the very first second, and it’s just going to get better overtime. Note that Mast’s burst level needs to be high enough so that 2B’s Burst Damage will land before the Critical Damage buff from Mast S1 gets deactivated by Noise’s healing overtime.
2. Frima Mast/Quency 2B FLEX Volume/Dolla/SHelm
   The actual best team. Another optimal variant that allows 2B to consistently deal damage since the start of the battle. Frima also does not overheal Mast, which will keep her Critical Damage buff active for the entire 7s. This team is versatile and should work against most bosses that do not deal too much damage. Use SHelm against Electric bosses. Period. Leave Frima at 1/3/3 to save Blue Manuals or stretch to 1/3/5 if you have plenty. Frima does not need other forms of investments.
3. Noise Novel 2B FLEX Volume
   This team focuses on maximizing 2B’s burst damage especially after 2B reaches maximum stacks of S1. Her damage will be low until that point but patience comes a long way! For this team to work, you may need huge investments in Noise’s Burst, Novel’s Burst, and 2B’s Burst.
4. Frima Novel 2B FLEX Volume/Dolla/SHelm
   The same team as the first one, but you use Frima instead. There should be no big difference in damage as long as both are equally invested.
5. SMary Mast/Quency/Novel 2B FLEX Volume/Dolla/SHelm
   For people who detest Frima, SMary is an alternative. However, if you pair her with Mast, you are guaranteed to deactivate her Critical Damage buff. This team probably only works if the boss deals a ton of damage that you need SMary’s heal to survive.
6. Volume Mast 2B FLEX Rapunzel
   Rapunzel has a sneaky MAX HP buff in her S2. It’s low, but maybe you just don’t have the other units? This team might be better against bosses that force you to use revival skills.
7. Frima/SMary Dolla/SHelm 2B FLEX Rapunzel
   The copium team. Why, just why?

PVP Usage

The new hotshot in Arena, 2B has graciously landed to mercilessly slice the enemy team clean. While she may not be meta-defining, she is one of the best DPS out there. Remember Scarlet? She is similar, just slightly weaker as she relies on support units. Unlike Scarlet who sharpens her blade with ATK buffs, 2B needs to fortify herself to prepare for an unforgiving strike. She must be paired with units that grant her MAX HP in order for her to turn the tide, such as Noise, Mast, and Blanc. Jackal also has a special connection with her, as she gives her burst an independent damage multiplier.

While Blanc is a general debuffer, she also gives MAX HP to lowest-HP unit, so if your 2B’s HP is low enough, Blanc will turn her into a beast!

One advantage 2B has over Scarlet is that she is a defender, so she can make use of Biscuit’s immunity to protect herself from an otherwise fatal hit. Use this to your advantage and craft creative teams to overwhelm your opponents!

To use 2B in PvP, you need to invest in her Burst Skill. Note that her burst consists of two instances: one is split among 5 units, and the last one to the highest HP enemy. She can be a great sniper!

Performance screenshots

This is a damage test against Blacksmith, with Frima at 1/1/1, 2B at 5/10/5, Mast at 5/3/5. Team will perform better if Frima is more invested. Scarlet’s damage is inflated because she wipes one set of rocks. Noise’s variant is faster because she taunts the tentacle (while in Frima’s case, 2B gets tentacled, wasting some time). Besides that, with Frima, you normally use Dolla/SHelm for more DPS (not Volume).

This is a damage test against Gravedigger. Against bosses with hard-to-hit or absent cores, 2B can easily outdamage Scarlet.

Pros

• 2B is mathematically the highest-attack unit in the game.
• 2B is the only unit whose DPS increases with MAX HP buffs, so she does not steal most other DPS’ support units.
• Limit Breaks are super valuable. They not only buff her base ATK (even if it is trivial) but also her HP (which means more ATK)!
• She can absorb tons of damage before dying, even as a damage dealer.
• Her AoE damage in S2 might sound weak, but as a screen wiper, it does wipe the screen (even against those nasty projectiles).
• Her Burst Skill is one of the strongest in terms of immediate burst damage.

Cons

• EXPENSIVE. Need high investments. Without investments, she is even worse than most units.
• Shines only with certain units such as Mast, Noise, Quency, Novel, Frima, Jackal, and SMary since ATK-buffs are less effective on her. Jackal might be a bug.
• Her damage is low at first but insane as time goes and reaches its peak after activating Burst Skill three times.
• In some cases, gear upgrades are needed not only on herself but also on supports (Mast, etc). This also includes upgrading those supports’ skills to make them more relevant.
• Limited AND collab unit at the same time, so unless you MLB her now, you will have to wait who knows how long for a rerun.

Ratings

• Story – SS (early), S (late)
• Bossing – SSS (solo), SS (with adds)
• PVP – SS

Should you pull?

Yes! She’s a great damage dealer for both new and veteran players who shines in every game mode, but keep in mind that you will have to heavily invest in her to perform at the peak level.

Credits

Huge thanks to Kisenix for writing this monstrosity of a guide on such short notice!