A cunning Tank who is good at confusing enemies with powerful illusions.
To learn more about Phraesto check the sections below. Use the tabs to quickly switch to the kind of information you're looking for.
Last updated
Phraesto profile has been last updated at: December 5th, 2024.
To learn more about Phraesto check the sections below. Use the tabs to quickly switch to the kind of information you're looking for.
Profile
Review
Guides
Profile
Skills
Ultimate
Futile Echo
Unlocks at level 1
Cooldown: 1.25s
Range: 2 Tiles
Initial Energy: 0
Passive: Phraesto sacrifices 12% of his max HP, summoning an identical Illusion during the preparation stage. This Illusion inherits 100% of Phraesto stats and can cast all his skills. When both Phraesto and his Illusion are positioned in the same row, they each receive a 30% damage reduction effect, lasting until one of them is defeated.
Active: Phraesto deals 200% + 20% damage to enemies within 2 tiles, recovering himself 160% + 15% HP for each enemy hit.
Unlocks at level 51: Increases the damage dealt to 240% + 20%.
Unlocks at level 111: Increases the damage dealt to 280% + 20%.
Unlocks at level 171: Increases the damage dealt to 320% + 20%.
Unlocks at level 231: Increases the damage dealt to 360% + 20%.
Skill I
Crimson Contract
Unlocks at level 11
Cooldown: 14s
Range: 1 Tile
Phraesto and his Illusion each sign a permanent contract with different allied heroes positioned behind them when a battle starts, reducing the recipient's HP by 6%. Phraesto increases the recipient's Energy Recovery Speed by 14%, while the llusion increases the recipient's DMG Reduction by 14%. The terms of each contract remain undetected by enemies before the battle starts.
Active: Phraesto launches 3 strikes against an enemy in front, dealing 100% + 10% damage with the first 2 hits and 140% + 20% damage with the 3rd hit.
Unlocks at level 71: Phrase to warrants his receiving an extra 80 Energy. The Illusion grants the recipient a 180% shield for 6s.
Unlocks at level 131: Increases the damage of the 3rd hit to 210% + 20%.
Unlocks at level 191: Increases the damage of the 3rd hit to 280% + 20%.
Skill II
Vicious Sting
Unlocks at level 31
Cooldown: 11s
Range: 1 Tile
Phrases to stings an enemy in front, dealing 50% damage and inflicting them with Paralyzing Venom for 6s. Enemies afflicted with Paralyzing Venom have their Haste reduced by 30 and Vitality reduced by 45. They also lose 2% + 20.4% of their max HP per second, while restoring 3% of the caster's max HP per second. Enemy HP loss can't exceed 40% of Phraesto ATK per second.
Unlocks at level 91: Increases the enemv's lost HP over second to 2.5% + 20.4% of their max HP.
Unlocks at level 151: Increases the max HP ratio restored per second for Paralyzing Venom's caster to 4.5%.
Unlocks at level 211: Increases the enemv's lost HP over second to 3.3% + 20.4% of their max HP.
Hero Focus
Hero Focus
Unlocks after reaching Legendary+
Cooldown: -
Range: 1 tile
Phraesto increases the Phys & Magic DEF of both himself and his Illusion by 30%. Whenever one of them loses 10% of max HP, the other gains 15 Energy.
Level 2: Phraesto increases the Phys & Magic DEF of both himself and his Illusion by 40%. Whenever one of them loses 10% of max HP, the other gains 20 Energy.
Level 3: Phraesto increases the Phys & Magic DEF of both himself and his Illusion by 50%. Whenever one of them loses 10% of max HP, the other gains 25 Energy.
EX. Skill
Unlocks after reaching Mythic+
Cooldown: -
Range: 1 Tile
Phraesto taunts the enemy who dealt the most damage if his Illusion is defeated before he is, dealing 500% damage and stunning them for 4.5s.
Unlocks at Ex. Weapon +5: Increases the skill damage to 600%.
Unlocks at Ex. Weapon +10: Increases the skill damage to 700%.
Unlocks at Ex. Weapon +15: Phraesto summons a new Illusion in front of himself if the previous Illusion is defeated before he is. The new Illusion inherits only 60% of Phraesto's max HP. Triggers once at most per battle.
Enhance Force
Enhance Force
Unlocks after reaching Supreme+
Affects: Ultimate
When both Phraesto and his Illusion are positioned in the same row, they each receive a shield equal to 570% of their ATK when a battle starts, lasting up to 12s.
Season 2 Charm
To check the Charm's set bonus for Phraesto go to our Season 2 Charms guide.
Phraestoimages aren't available yet. They will be added soon.
Review
Review
Phraesto is a stall tank with a unique gimmick of having a clone that inherits 100% of his stats and can cast all his skills and act individually. Aside from the obvious benefit of having two tanks in the formation by the cost of one slot, Phraesto also counts with a passive of 30% damage reduction if he’s placed in the same row as his clone. His skill “Vicious Sting” grants him extra sustain, along with his Legendary+ passive, which further amps up his Phys & Magic DEF.
On the utility side, Phraesto’s “Crimson Contract” grants DMG reduction to allies placed behind his clone, and Energy Recovery Speed to allies placed behind his true body. Adding this to his stalling capabilities, Phraesto can be very good for AFK pushing at high deficit and certain Arena tactics. Adding to that, due to being a Hypogean, he’s very versatile to add to team comps and facilitates achieving high faction bonus.
As no hero is perfect, Phraesto’s problems aren’t small. The elephant in the room comes in the form of his cost. Phraesto needs at least Legendary+ to become functional, and Mythic+ to start shining. He peaks at Supreme+, when he gains a shield at the beginning of the battle. As if the cost wasn’t already high enough, his game-changer passive is locked behind his EX+15. This passive allows Phraesto to summon a new illusion after the first one dies. It can also benefit from summon-related utility, such as Florabelle’s shield, unlike the initial illusion.
Another issue comes with his low damage output. Damage isn’t something expected from tanks, but considering that Phraesto's damage is below almost every other tank despite acting as two characters, as of the writing of this review, it has raised questions that part of his kit may be bugged. All things considered, other heroes should be favored for high-damage content such as bosses.
Conclusion
Phraesto is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to survivability. He can keep a solid frontline with high sustain, taunts, stun, and even buffs that will ensure the safety and increase the potential of your backline. Unfortunately, he’s arguably the most expensive character in the game to even become functional, being out of reach even for most spenders. He doesn’t bring anything game-breaking or vital, which makes him an easy skip for anyone who isn’t a whale.
Seasonal Skill
Phraesto’s seasonal skill is one of his biggest cons when it comes to using him at low copies. It taunts enemies after each Ultimate cast, which is relatively often since both his main body and his clone can cast Ultimate. This becomes a downside because unless you have Phraesto at a high investment, this passive becomes a death sentence to him. If you have him at high investment, however, it will reinforce his positive aspects as a frontline that have already been discussed in this review.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Best stall tank in the game (at higher dupes),
Makes progression under high deficit a breeze (but again, at higher dupes only),
Can buff two allies at the same time,
Can CC and Taunt enemies.
Cons
Requires dupes to perform - he only starts to work at L+, but you need M+ or even S+ if you want to use him at a higher deficit,
Due to his 'line' passive, sometimes he forces you to be creative with team placement, which isn't always possible on stages with tile restrictions,
Shines mostly in pushing AFK Stages under high deficit, so he's not as versatile as other Hypo/Cele characters.
Ratings
General Ratings
S+
AFK Stages
S
Battle Drill
S+
PVP
S+
Dream Realm (Overall)
Dream Realm Ratings
S+
Skyclops
S+
Croaker
S+
Necrodrakon
S+
Snow Stomper
S+
Lone Gaze
S+
Alpha Bear
S+
Orson
S+
Crystal Beetle
Guides
EX Investment
The EX investment information were created with the help of Seas0n, the creator of the
AFK Analytica community that supports AFK Arena and AFK Journey.
You can find their website here and their discord here.
Since the
Temporal Essence
and
Twilight Essence
are very hard to obtain, you have to be really careful with the using them to upgrade the EX weapon. And in this guide we ordered all characters by the priority when it comes to how much they need investment in their EX weapon to work well and where should you stop to get the best bang for your buck.
Why does the +8 breakpoint appear so often?
Because the raw stats you get from upgrading the EX weapon help you more than the passive in some cases. Also, to upgrade the EX from +5 to +8 you need only 30x
Temporal Essence
, while the remaining two levels require additional 45x
Temporal Essence
. So you get the best bang for your buck stopping at +8.
Color explanation:
+0 - the base investment for the character,
+5/8 - the next step that you should do when investing into that character,
+10/15 - the final step you should do when investing into that character - you can go beyond that later though once you have the Essences to spare.
