Ein
A juvenile scientist with genuine love for fashion, a rather unlikely yet deadly combination that bridges logics and expressions, Ein holds a promising future commanders must protect. As a Missilis Attacker, she fights with a unique armament that periodically deals true damage to a random enemy, Near Feathers. She is also capable of maintaining a steady rhythm with her regular Sniper Rifle, boosting her ATK and Charged Damage at opportune moments.
Can you give a brief summary about this unit?
Ein has middling AoE capabilities but remarkable single-target lethality. Despite satisfactory performance across multiple game modes, Solo Raid remains her principal battlefield. All things considered, we expect her performance to conveniently surpass Scarlet's in similar setups with even higher growth potential as her ATK buff is less diluted. Her kit also accepts True Damage buffs, which Scarlet cannot make use of. Overall, she is a very promising unit that might have a chance to still be relevant in the future in element-neutral Raids, replacing Scarlet and going together with SAnis, or maybe in the True Damage team alongisde treasured up Laplace and Frima. It all really depends on the boss' design.
Should I pull this unit?
If you care about Raids, then yes, you should. Her True Damage counters the boss Mirror Container very well, which is obvious since it is designed exclusively for her. This boss barricades itself with layers of DEF buffs, and units without enough ATK will struggle at penetrating its rock-hard defenses. Outside of this boss, she still has a high chance of being deployed alongside SAnis in everyone's favorite easy-to-run team.
As a bonus, she can also be used in PvP as a tauntable delayed AoE damage dealer, despite still not being quite meta. Similar to SBS and 2B, her hard counter is any taunter + immunity (from Biscuit, for example) who can redirect her Near Feathers' attacks away from key units. However, unless taunted, her drones will able to punish squishies throughout Full Burst, and let's not forget the guaranteed small AoE damage upon activation.
Now, if you don't care much about Raids or PvP, and can still reach top ranks without her, then there is no rush getting her. In fact, she will be obtainable from Standard. By doing this, you can instead get SHelm/SAnis or save for future units. A wonderful collab shall indulge us any week now.
Last but not least, do NOT use Gold Tickets on her.
Kit Analysis
![Kit](/static/330915d0dc159657fd6178d9760abeec/edb28/ein_skill.webp)
Ein is a damage dealer, and her performance is determined mainly by two things: her normal attacks & Near Feathers' cumulative damage. Against bosses with exposed cores and with buffs that empower regular attacks (i.e. Reload Speed/Core Damage), her normal attacks tend to hold a greater share. Otherwise, her damage will mainly come from Near Feathers, which also synergizes with True Damage buffs provided by herself and other fringe units. This assumes that her skills are adequately leveled, as she is heavily skill-dependent.
What is True Damage?
True Damage is a type of damage that bypasses DEF completely. For example, a unit with 300 ATK hitting a unit with 100 DEF would normally have a modified ATK of 200. However, if it is True Damage, the ATK will pass through unprocessed, staying at 300.
Having True Damage is a tactical advantage as it allows Ein to benefit from niché supports, like FrimaT. If better supports or partners as her B3 will ever be released, then she will be dominating alongside them. She can also handle enemies of high DEF, like Mirror Container, without compromising her damage. Being an Electric, she also pairs well with SAnis.
Buffs and Feathers Make You Fly
A simple skill, easy to explain. Ein's S1 summons 4 Near Feathers upon entering battle, which helps provide a tiny bit of Burst Energy to help cycle through Full Burst(s) faster. Apart from this, she also provides herself with a substantial ATK buff, which activates every time the team enters Burst Stage 3, even when she is not activating her Burst Skill! This allows her to strengthen her basic damage during her own and during other units' Full Burst(s).
The ATK buff takes effect before Burst Skill is activated since it triggers upon entering Burst Stage 3 (when B3 choices appear). Therefore, it also affects her Burst Skill damage!
True Damage Carnival
Here is where the real fun begins. Let us start dismantling Near Feathers:
Near Feather Facts
- Whenever a Near Feather is summoned (i.e. whenever Ein uses Burst Skill), the feathers shoot lasers on random enemy units on the screen and deal True Damage. If there is one enemy, all the damage is dealt to that one single opponent.
- In normal team comps, at the start of the stage/battle, every ~3 seconds, there is one shot from Near Feathers which helps cycle through rotations faster in both PvE and PvP.
- Every time Ein uses Burst Skill, there are 34 instances of Near Feather dealing damage, with 1-4 of them occurring after Full Burst ends.
- During the downtime of when Ein is not in her own Burst, there are usually 6 instances of Near Feathers dealing damage (with CDR), in relation to S1.
- Near Feathers can CRIT but not Core Hit. They are affected by Full Burst Multiplier (0.5×) but not Damage Distance (0.3×).
All of these help Ein deal immense damage during her Burst, which can be used either as a screen-clearing tool or as a focus-target DPS, kind of like how Distributed Damage works. But, this is not her only damage source. Ein has one trick up her sleeve left to show—increasing her Charge Damage considerably after every Fully Charged shot. This makes her a super auto-friendly unit to use, minimizing the need to spam like one would with Alice or Trony. You would still want to perform quick shots between Full Bursts to accelerate rotations, however.
Even. More. Buffs. And An Additional Small AoE.
Simply put, her Burst Skill summons Near Feathers, which activates her Skill 2 and allows her to unleash a rain of destruction, repeatedly dealing True Damage to enemies while also enhancing her True Damage and Charge Damage even further!
Finally, she has a 'small' True Damage nuke. These tiny multipliers are not to be scoffed at as they actually benefit from the ATK buff from S1, True Damage buff from Burst Skill, and Full Burst Bonus Multiplier (0.5×) all at once!
Usage Analysis and Tier List
Campaign (LD) - SS | Campaign (HD) - S
Admirable performance in Campaign due to her semi-sequential attacks, which can be considered a delayed wave clear. This is similar to how Modernia takes time to clear waves, but that also means she can clear mobs that spawn a bit later. Meanwhile, instant wipes will only clear mobs that are currently on the screen. Ein's S2 allows her to spread Near Feathers' damage across multiple enemies, which is better for Low Deficit as enemies are more delicate, and together with her small AoE + Basic Attack, she can multitask and hunt down tanks at the same time. However, she is not as effective in High Deficit because you want to kill mobs as quickly as possible, suffering from the same fate SBS endures. If the damage pool is overly spread out, then no one dies, basically.
Ein provides herself with a massive ATK lift every time the team enters Burst Stage 3. In High Deficit, where units' ATK and mobs' DEF converge, her basic attack damage will still be somewhat stable. Moreover, her skills deal True Damage, ignoring enemy's DEF!
Boss (Solo) - SS | Boss (Adds) - S
Damage wise, Ein surpasses Scarlet against solo bosses, but her wipe is not as strong as Scarlet's when it comes to confronting too many mobs at the same time. She is similar to Sakura in a way that their effectiveness rises significantly as the number of enemies decreases. This allows them to focus their skill attacks on a single target. But, does this mean they are bad against adds? Not really. Their attacks are still, well, a wave-clearing tool. And for Ein specifically, she has a small screenwide AoE in her Burst Skill, which should be enough for eradicating low-HP critters.
Let's not forget to mention that Ein is a True Damage dealer, which again, allows her to be paired with niché supports like FrimaT (Frima Treasure). This frees up the more generic supports for those with straightforward attack methods, enhancing compositional flexibility in Solo Raids.
![Kit](/static/150d36eee9b161b6bbb0d121bc7e3896/32f18/ein_dmg.webp)
PVP - S
Ow, we didn't expect another PvP superstar to be released. Summer Sakura introduced a delayed barrage alongside a well-executed targeted chip damage. Now, we are showcased a guaranteed small AoE damage (untauntable) paired with substantial AoE pressure! While there is randomness in play with Near Feathers, it is almost impossible for them not to strike an enemy or two. Unless taunted, they can deal considerable damage across 10s, inflicting continuous chip damage. Her approach is similar to SBS (more destructive in total but without the guarantee) and 2B (no guarantee + countered by Rosanna). Since she is already outfitted with an ATK + True Damage buff, she is not as reliant on DMG buffs/debuffs as the other wipers, but you still need them because her multipliers are not enough alone.
Investments
Gear Investments
Ein has a lot of ATK buff in her kit, which activates every time the team enters Burst Stage 3. We can safely assume that the uptime is very high, so constant dilution is to be expected. Thus, she scales better with Elemental DMG, but after that, there is nothing better than ATK. You will need a bunch of Max Ammo too, so rotations become more efficient and her basic attacks become more prominent.
- Essential: None
- Ideal: 4× Elemental Damage, 4× ATK, 1~2× Max Ammo
- Passable: Max Ammo, Charge Speed, CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG
- Priority: Medium
Skill Investments
- Skill 1: 7-10
- Huge ATK buff warrants an upgrade to the fullest.
- Skill 2: 7~10
- Her main source of True Damage (aka Near Feathers). Also increases Charge Damage.
- Burst Skill: 7~10
- A major portion of her powerful short-lasting buffs resides here. True Damage, Charge Damage all significantly contribute to her DPS. Also increases Nuke Damage.
Suggested Progression Path
PVE investment
1/1/1 → 4/4/4 → 7/7/7 (→ 10/10/10)
PVP investment
1/1/1 → 4/4/4 → 7/7/7 (→ 10/10/10)
Priority
Medium
Cube Investments
![Guide](/static/51f9f2f8fd70a4b9ed4599e74d2a61d3/15e42/cube_3_sm.png)
With Reload Speed team, Resilience is the best. Otherwise, Bastion is the best if you have at least 1× Max Ammo, else use Resilience for more comfortable magazine handling.
PvE Team Compositions
Team #1: Electric Bunny Team
In Solo Raid, when the boss demonstrates an Elemental Shield skill, most of the time you will be required to place at least one unit of the advantageous element in each team. Against Water Bosses (weak to Electric), there are not many flexible B3 DPS options for the Bunny Team. Guillotine hates healing, and PrivM is better off with her specialized supports. This in turn limits our options to Scarlet and Ein. While both are valid, Scarlet is more optimal with a Reload Team as her damage is purely from basic attacks. This hypothetically makes Ein the best candidate.
Team #2: The New S.Anis Wombo Combo
Exia being used here is her Treasure Version!
The revolutionized SAnis Team. This takes full advantage of Anis's ability to support her Electric squadmates! Exia (Treasure) also provides offensive buffs, and all of them combined have the ability to deal immense damage! Here, Biscuit buffs SAnis and ExiaT, while S.Helm/Dolla provides the CDR for the team to work.
Team #3: The Boring SAnis Team
A pretty simple team that all of us have seen on the leaderboards. Dorothy provides CDR, S.Anis & Ein step on the DPS pedal, and Privaty provides the necessary Reload Speed buffs, as well as Ammo Reduction for SAnis. The B2s are the survivability supports to ensure the team stays alive.
Team #4: Privaty-Less? No Problem.
Frima being used here is her Treasure Version!
If Privaty is to be used in another team, usually with Crown and the piercers (Alice & SBS), then this team is an excellent alternative. SAnis provides ATK and Reload Speed buff to Ein and Scarlet, and we can avoid wasting our Full Burst chance triggering Scarlet's pointless Burst Skill against bosses. Although neither Ein and Scarlet will achieve perfect Reload Skip (~110%), the reload duration will still be trimmed significantly. Additionally, Frima (Treasure) will provide True Damage buff for Ein, boosting her damage, while also healing the team. Pepper and SMary can be used as alternatives if FrimaT is unavailable.
Team #5: True Damage Team... Completed?
Frima being used here is her Treasure Version!
While we need more potent replacements over Rem and Dolla/S.Helm for a better True Damage team, this can absolutely perform at a decent level! The downside is that Frima (Treasure) and Laplace need to have their Favorite Items, which are expensive time investments. Frima also needs Treasure Phase 3 to be a viable support, which can take up to 1.5 months to get.
PvP Team Compositions
Ein has tons of similarities with Summer Sakura in her PvP capabilities, so her teams will be similar
Team #1: High Power Nuke (3RL)
Opponent running a slow team? This team can effectively counter it. The Blanc version of this team will fare well against most Noah-less teams. Defenders who are Taunters + Biscuit may also prove effective against this team.
Team #2: Indom, the Savior of DPS with Delayed AoE (3RL)
Noir, B.Soda, and Drake are the best choices for Clip SG here. Hits less harder than the previous team but you save some critical resources. Again, will fare well against Noah-less teams, but otherwise may struggle. Defenders who are Taunters + Biscuit may also prove effective against this team.
Team #3: Fast Nuke (2~2.5RL)
Water Main B3s like Emilia and Privaty can run into trouble when against this comp since Ein can hunt them down with nuke.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Capable of unleashing great amounts of True Damage, allowing her to handle high-DEF enemies like a boss.
- Her personal ATK and True Damage buffs are massive, and the former has high uptime.
- Noteworthy Charge Damage buffs that empower her basic attacks.
- Auto-friendly SR unit.
- Small but useful AoE damage in Burst Skill that can benefit from all active Full Burst buffs.
- Having True Damage means she can be paired with True Damage buffers, whom no one else wants, freeing up the generic supports for generic units.
- Damage is quite stable and does not fluctuate too much regardless of whether there is a core or not.
- So... frickin'... cute!
Cons
- Heavily skill-dependent.
- Does not pair well with Charge Damage buffs because of severe dilution.
- ATK is slightly diluted for Ein.
- Against multiple enemies, her focus target damage, especially against bosses, is lowered substantially due to spread.
- Her Near Feathers are tauntable in PvP.
- An alluring bait banner alongside Summer units and just before a potential collab, but she is not limited and can be put in Wishlist.
- Skill description is too vague. You need to test her in practice to understand the secret details.