Jill ValentineInformation and Guide

Can you give a brief summary about this unit?

Jill, in terms of meta, is a weak DPS. She is not better than most units in the market and lacks the damage to be ubiquitous. She is just your run-of-the-mill Electric DPS that will only have presence in Electric SR, and possibly will not see use since she is very replaceable despite our tragic lack of Electric DPS (our last Electric Raid was 9 months ago!). That said, Jill still has some damage, so she will see some use in the next few Electric SRs if lucky.

Jill has two ways of dealing damage: basic attack with True DMG, which relies on core hit, crit, and damage distance, as well as Sustained DMG from S2. Her pistol is classified as an AR with an above-average multiplier but a lower fire rate, shooting 2.5 times per second. Her kit also has a special gimmick that dissuades increasing Max Ammo. With the first 9 ammo in every magazine, Jill deals increased basic attack damage. She also applies Sustained DMG debuff with the first shot.

All in all, a single-target-focused unit with the capability of synthetic AoE through heavy manual control during Burst (reload after every shot + shoot every mob), but since her Sustained DMG doesn't stack, her single-target damage is limited. We think she is held back by kit design, so there is no realistic way to scale her.

Where can I expect her to be used?

Strictly Electric-weak SR for now. There is nothing about her that makes her viable for Neutral. Low damage, low scalability. She is relevant for Electric-weak due to the lack of DPS there. If in the future we get new ones superior to her, she will be replaced.

She has two saving graces, however. First of all, her basic attacks during Burst are all True DMG, which is great against high DEF enemies. Some bosses also exhibit this feature, which can be an advantageous scenario for her. Another saving grace is her Sustained DMG, which can be successively initiated on multiple enemies during Burst. Through a deliberate manual play, you can achieve an ‘acceptable’ level of AoE competency, although compared to other story pushers, she is clunkier. She is similar to Phantom in this fashion but weaker.

In PvP, Jill is a P1 pressurer. She can immediately set off her Sustained DMG on P1 and follow it up with swift deadly basic attacks (if she Bursts). This Sustained DMG also helps with burst gen, which we have calculated to be slightly higher than non-clip SGs. She can either be off-burst or in-burst. When Bursting, Jill becomes a hyper soldier, increasing reload speed and relentlessly damaging the enemy's front tank. In this regard, she is similar to Asuka.

Should I pull her?

Unlike with Ada, our answer is depends, but leaning to no. Judging by math, Jill is skippable. She doesn't have the same domineering atmosphere as Ada. She lacks damage and cannot act as a support, restricting her use to Electric SR. 

There are 2 reasons why you should get: You care about the next & future Electric SRs; the extra score from running Jill will bear fruit. Or, you care about collecting every unit, especially limited ones, since they likely won't return.

There are also 2 reasons why you shouldn't get her: Firstly, if you lack the gems to pull, prioritize Ada or pull neither; avoid resorting to Gold Mileage unless you really hate missing limited(s). There is also an RH rerun at the end of October, followed by 3rd Anniversary. Secondly, her low damage means her usage and presence may not be enduring. Once she is out of meta, she belongs to the collection.

Should I get dupes? No, not for a second-rate elemental DPS. Focus on units that need dupes the most or have better presence.

Should I get her with mileage? No.

Kit Analysis

As a brief introduction to her kit, Jill is the first pistol to be classified as an AR unit. The extra unique part is that she also has a low fire rate, which is probably a gimmick they added to give us the feel that she is using a pistol and not a rifle. Let's get right into her skills now, shall we?

Skill 1

Jill deals increased damage with the first 9 basic attacks from a full magazine. This +30% heightens its raw multiplier from 71.09% to 92.42%. Since Jill shoots 2.5s per second, her basic attack damage per second is therefore 177.72% per second without the buff and 231.04% with it.

This is not a lot for a DPS. Despite it still being higher than regular ARs, compared to SGs and Scarlet (324.96%) discounting reload time, it still is lower. Jill is most comparable to Asuka (225.12%). As long as Jill continues to reload for the buff, she is fine. But, this also means she scales backward with Max Ammo, although its negative impact can be mitigated through manual reloading (inconvenient).

Jill also grants herself 35% True DMG▲, which compounds with other buffs. This buff activates on using Burst Skill and is only effective during Burst because that's when she deals True DMG.

Skill 2

Jill's first ammo from a full magazine applies a long 30s Sustained DMG debuff on the target it hits. The duration is good, but the multiplier (192% per second) is small. This means it won't deal as much damage as Mihara's (501.6%) or Raven's (680.46%). That said, it still is one of Jill's primary damage sources alongside basic attack. This skill 

• Due to its long duration, you don't have to repetitively apply it. An auto Jill will reapply it every 4.5~5s anyway.

• The long duration is handy for when you want to apply the debuff on multiple enemies. With Burst fixing reload speed to 99.96%, you can quickly reload + fire one shot each time.

• Note that DoT only applies 1 second after the first shot hit. 

• While this may not be ideal for AoE situations because Sustained DMG takes time to kill, doing this still mathematically increases her max concurrent damage output against mobs. In fact, it's probably better than just dumping the whole mag on a single mob (if AoE damage is preferred)..

Jill also increases her personal ATK upon entering Full Burst. +40% is a pretty low value. Don't expect it to buff her that much, but in return, she won't be too ATK-diluted to benefit poorly from ATK buff. Unlike S1, ATK▲ also activates during others' Burst and affects her Sustained DMG, so this skill is more important to level.

Burst Skill

Jill empowers herself, fixing her reload speed to 99.96% (almost instant reload but with the usual reload hiccup). The reload hiccup is not important because her 2.5 fire rate limits her to shooting once every 0.4s anyway. When empowered, Jill also gains massive Hit Rate +80.78% and Attack Damage +75% for 10 seconds. Her basic attacks will also be True DMG.

• Hit Rate is not enough for a laser beam, but her shots will be accurate enough to handle faraway mobs and bosses (esp. their cores).

• ATK DMG massively improves damage during Burst; affects both Normal Attacks and Sustained DMG.

• Her basic attacks becoming True DMG is good against bosses with high DEF, especially when you need to break parts (the low multiplier may make them unsuitable for Mirror Container-type slippers, however).

• It is also good for mobbing at higher deficits. Together with the increased Hit Rate (which consequently affects her core-hit accuracy), she can deal massive damage per shot on mobs.

Tier List

Campaign (LD): B | Campaign (HD): B

As there are a lot of Electric DPS that are good in Campaign, Jill's ratings will be lower because she will be an inferior alternative rather than the best replacement. Do not over-compare her to other units from different elements.

Jill is a single-target-focused DPS with tiny mobbing potential through Burst and S2. Her advantage over other Sustained DMG dealers is that her Sustained DMG is quicker to reapply thanks to her self-Reload Speed buff. It can be inconvenient to do, but it is what it is.

One of Jill's severe weaknesses is a lack of distinct AoE. Unlike TVesti who can incinerate everyone instantly with 4 shots, Jill takes time, and that excludes the fact that she can't even cover the entire screen. Having True DMG is good, but it's only on basic attack and during Burst, which is a fairly small window. During this period, her single-target damage will be good but not great. Her ATK buff is also small, so outside Burst, where she loses True DMG, she won't deal much damage. Not to mention, her Sustained DMG doesn’t have True DMG either.

Bossing: B

Jill is weak in Bossing. While she is relevant for Electric-weak SR, her damage potential is middling. Outside SR, she won't be used at all. There is barely any way to scale her—since she doesn't want Ammo. ATK & ELE are still good as usual, but is it worth it to invest in a unit that is barely out damaging neutral DPS when fully built, that too in a situation that favours her? At most, go for ELE if you care about SR; ATK can come as a bonus.

This character doesn't have any supporting power nor special effects that improve QoL (like Mari's AoE). If ShiftUp had to sell her, it would be in the next Raid and related to High DEF enemies/part breaking.

PvP: C

Jill is nothing more than a P1 pressurer when she Bursts, similar to Asuka. The only difference is that she still deals Sustained DMG as an off-burst, so she’s slightly better but it’s negligible. Her burst gen is fair, only slightly higher than Non-Clip SGs. Well, at least she doesn’t feed as much as them and can still deal good damage, so C tier is probably appropriate.

For your information, Jill generates 1.1% burst energy per damage inflicted, either via basic attacks or Sustained DMG. Her basic attack rate is 2.5/s, and her Sustained DMG only starts ticking 1 second after application. Since 1 RL ≈ 1.233s, we can estimate her cumulative burst gen @ 2 & 3RL to be 8.8% & 11% respectively.

Investments

Gear Investments

As a non-meta unit (still relevant for Electric SR), gear investments on Jill should prioritize ELE over anything. It is not worth it to chase ATK, although you can take it if it's given as a bonus line. You don't need Ammo too as that will reduce her damage or lead to inconvenience if you want to maintain it.

• Essential: -

• Ideal: 4× ELE, 4× ATK

• Passable: -

• Priority: Low

• Notes: Chase ELE. ATK should only be taken if it comes as a bonus line; do not chase it. Must avoid Max Ammo (else manual is needed to maintain ideal).

Skill Investments

ShiftUp putting Normal Damage Multiplier/True DMG▲ behind S1 and Sustained DMG/ATK▲ behind S2 can only mean one thing. They want you to invest in both skills. Hence, let's just follow their whims.

In general, prioritize S2 over S1 because that 192% damage per second is a lot and can apply on multiple enemies at the same time. However, you should still invest in all of them equally.

Tip: Usually, during Anniversary, we get 3 Skill Resets. You can utilize this to max Jill and reset her later.

• Skill 1: 7~10

  • Affects Normal Damage Multiplier.

  • Only affects Basic Attack damage.

• Skill 2: 7~10

  • The primary source of Jill's damage.

  • Can apply on multiple enemies at the same time, improving Jill's maximum concurrent damage per second.

• Burst Skill: 7~10

  • Affects both S1 & S2's damage.

  • Level does not increase Reload Speed. Usable at Lv. 1.

  • Due to buff scaling, 7+ is still recommended.

  • Hit Rate can be important in Campaign for hitting cores and against certain bosses.

Cube Investments

Jill can still benefit from Resilience when Burst is off, despite it becoming useless when Burst is on. Bastion should be avoided at all costs because it goes against her kit, unless its level is greatly higher than Resilience, the element is advantageous, and you're willing to manual her.

Mathematically, Destruction can be better than Resilience when the enemy sports a permanent part. This is because it directly affects output and doesn't "deactivate" on Burst.

In PvP, Tempering can be considered. 

Doll Investments

Jill deserves SR 5 at most, although SR 15 is needed to keep up with the competition. Plus, SR 15 gives more Core Damage (AR-Specific Skill), so if Core Damage is important, maybe there is benefit to upgrading it. However, in general, SR 0/SR 5 is the economic stopping point and is enough for most players, even for those who chase T100 in Electric SR. 

Priority: Low.