Maiden: Ice Rose Guide & Review

An icy heart and personality on the outside, but just as loving and caring from the inside. Maiden: Ice Rose joins the Commander’s party as they set out on an adventure in a world filled with Guillotine’s ideals. Compared to the Normal Maiden, it seems that xMaiden has been given buffs not only in the skillset aspect, but also physically (cough, what a ginormous cake, cough). Sorry for that cough, winter has arrived and people have been getting sick, so stay warm, cozy and healthy! A Defender only by name, let us dive in together and check out what this Icy Mage has in store for us!

Can you give a brief summary about this unit?

Maiden is a support and DPS character whose skills revolve around obtaining and spending MP. She can either buff the team by replenishing MP or consume all of them to buff herself and deal devastating damage. When consuming MP stack(s), she strengthens herself by increasing her ATK relative to her final Max HP and inflicts a monstrous multi-hit attack to the target closest to the crosshair. She then empowers her normal attacks for a while, during which a large portion of her HP is also translated into ATK.

XMaiden will see a lot of use in PvE bossing scenarios (esp. Mirror Container AI), thanks to her impactful Elemental DMG buffs that she bestows to her allies (more apparent if they have less Elemental DMG OL and skills due to dilution, ironically). Not only that, she can also act as a secondary DPS or a primary DPS depending on your team comp. With Cinderella being the best Electric damage dealer, it is more likely that you will see XMaiden as a support outside Raid content. However, even as a support, she can still deal a lot of damage thanks to her MP accumulation maneuvers!

Her mobbing performance is a bit disappointing as she suffers from the incapability of dealing notable AoE damage. Her skills can only target one enemy at a time, and her base normal attack damage pales in comparison to her S2 damage. She also requires stacking Max HP to reach full potential, which may take between 75-100s (unless you use Flora). This makes her not short-battle friendly. Despite her drawbacks, she can still be used as an alternative B3 in your Electric comp, as an Elemental DMG buffer for your other Electric DPS, or straight up as a provisional DPS and burst gen support if there really is nothing better (like in Elysion Tower).

In PvP, she is niche as a Main DPS but still a very capable generalist burst generation filler unit, since her burst gen is quite high, even if not near the level of Clip RLs. She is designed for extended combats, not short-lived ones. Without personal Max HP buffs, she will have to rely on her teammates to strengthen her attacks, but that itself is not enough. Her lack of AoE damage means she is countered the same way as Alice and RH are, and that is a glaring problem. Nevertheless, she is still a good battery and offers a generous amount of burst gen. She inflicts decent single-target pressure enough to be classified as a good PvP unit, whether in-burst or off-burst. Her supportive skill may be useful in some scenarios.

Should I pull this unit?

Definitely. While XMaiden may not be the top-notch Electric damage dealer (that title belongs to Cinderella), she is still an incredible support and an extraordinary secondary DPS. She possesses a special kit that lets her store all of her damage and unleash all of it at the final second to absolutely butcher the enemy. Her Elemental DMG supportive skill makes her one of the best sidekicks for Cinderella, or literally any Electric DPS that exists. Don't have those DPS? Don't worry, you can still use her as a primary DPS! She is very versatile when it comes to roles. Essential for Raid and strong in PvP, and solid for Elysion Tower.

Copies are not mandatory but welcome if you already have a built (and limit-broken) Cinderella or SAnis because you will need a good support to match their breathtaking performance. However, it is less important than dupes are for them.

If you only have a limited number of resources and don't have both XMaiden and XLud, and you are just starting out, XLud would probably be the better option for you. She is just more present in the overall meta and thrives against any element (an excellent B3 support that’s not uber-broken but works anywhere). She is also really good in campaign because MG has perfect accuracy.

Comparing that to XMaiden whose main purpose is to push the potential of the best Electric comp further, you are going to find it hard to gain value out of her without having Cinderella, Ein, and/or SAnis. Now, this recommendation may change if you have a perfectly built Cinderella, Ein, or SAnis, as then XMaiden’s value will go up significantly. In that case, we leave the decision to you. In a perfect world, you don’t want to miss both.

In the end, we would like to remind you that no matter what, you should keep 200 Golden Mileage Tickets (or an equivalent of that in pulls) for the upcoming New Year (usually Pilgrim) Nikke, who is probably going to be super overpowered. Who knows RH might rerun as well?

XMaiden wields a Rocket Launcher that stores 6 ammo in total at base form and has a reload time of 2.0s. It has a regular range/radius but generates more burst gen than average (at 1.82 per hit). Thanks to her S2, she also triggers one proc of additional damage upon full-charging any valid non-terrain target, increasing her burst gen by an additional 1.82 per shot. However, since most of her basic attack damage comes from S2, XMaiden has weak collateral damage.

She also gets a butt upgrade cough, I mean design upgrade. That damn cough again..

Recover or Replenish

■ Activates when entering Burst Stage 1. Affects self when MP is 0.

MP recovers by 1. MP can be accumulated up to a maximum of 12. All accumulated MP is consumed when using Burst Skill.

■ Activates when entering Full Burst. Affects self when MP is above 1.

MP replenishes by 1. MP can be accumulated up to a maximum of 12. All accumulated MP is consumed when using Burst Skill.

■ Activates when attacking with Full Charge for 6 time(s). Affects self.

Max HP ▲ 6.34% without restoring HP for 15 sec, stacks up to 10 time(s).

XMaiden regulates a special resource called MP, which has a visual effect in battle. MP can stack up to 12 and re-charges in two ways: if it is 0, then she gains +1 upon entering Burst Stage I, and if she has more than 1 upon entering Full Burst, then she recovers +1 more. In other words:

• If she has 0 MP upon starting a burst cycle, she will end up having 2 MP upon entering Full Burst. This is because both the first and second line of the skill are triggered.
• If she has 1 MP upon initiating a cycle, she will still only have 2 MP upon entering Full Burst because the first one does not trigger.
• Similarly, if she uses Burst Skill in a rotation (which consumes all her MP to 0 immediately), then she will not replenish any MP upon entering Full Burst in that rotation. This is because the second part of the skill does not trigger (Burst Skill takes precedence over S1 in activation order).

No, It Cannot Be Refreshed

MP cannot be refreshed by external means, such as by using stack refresh, and can only be replenished by natural means.

Every time Maiden performs a full charge for 6 time(s), she also gains a stack of Max HP that stacks up to 10 times and lasts for 15s. As long as she keeps shooting, this can be considered permanent. In base form, without Max Ammo & Charge Speed OL, it will take around 75-100s to reach max stacks. Stack refreshers can help charge this faster, most notably Flora (+1 stack every 1.67s), who can lower the time requirement to just ~14s with enough Max Ammo and/or No Reload. The Max HP plays an important role in determining the output of her Burst Skill and also affects her basic attacks' damage thereafter. Yes, 63.4%▲ MAX HP (at maximum stacks at maximum level) is a big number.

Is It Useful? Do I Really Need It?

Max HP▲ does not affect the strength of her supportive skills and has no immediate impact if she never uses Burst Skill, which would be the case if you are using her as a full support. Invest smartly.

Greed or Modesty

■ Activates when MP is replenished. Affects all Electric Code allies except for self.

Damage as strong element▲ 40.9% for 10 sec.

ATK ▲ 20.9% of caster's ATK for 10 sec.

■ Activates when MP is used. Affects self.

Damage as strong element ▲ 31.68% for 10 sec.

ATK ▲ 3.2% of caster's final Max HP for 10 sec.

■ Activates when attacking with Full Charge for 1 time(s). Affects1 enemy unit(s) nearest to the crosshair.

Deals 547.62% of final ATK as damage.

Maiden can buff the team or buff herself depending on whether she uses Burst Skill in that rotation.

• If she doesn't use Burst Skill, she will enhance other Electric units' Elemental DMG and ATK proportional to her own ATK. The direct impact of this skill will depend on the investment of your other electric DPS:
• Technically, Elemental DMG can be diluted. Therefore, the Elemental DMG can be more felt by units that don't have Elemental DMG skills & OL.
• However, if your other Electric units are more invested, then you will see more team damage gain from this support skill. So, don't forsake them!
• By following the same thinking process, you will gain more mileage if you pair XMaiden with stronger Electric units like Cinderella.
• Even then, this skill is nearly useless if the enemy is not Electric-weak and is totally useless if there are no Electric allies to buff.
• If she uses Burst Skill, she will not buff her teammates but instead boost her own Elemental DMG and ATK relative to her Max HP. Note that she does not have enhanced basic attacks outside her Burst Rotation(!), for ~16s out of each 26s (7s CDR). This greatly impacts her PvE performance at high stat deficit.

Caster's ATK

The supportive ATK buff is a caster's ATK, and since it is derived from defender stat, it is weaker than the number suggests.

Additionally, every time XMaiden performs a full charge on a valid target, she deals additional damage equal to 547.62% (at max level). This is very significant as the ratio is high, meaning that most of her basic attack damage is actually from this and not her normal attack multiplier. It can crit but cannot core-hit. And, as usual, RLs don't have damage distance bonus.

More Burst Gen Never Hurts

This extra additional damage is valuable in PvP as it gives her 25% more burst gen per shot. It also doubles her natural regeneration in PvE (no spam shot) against single targets. Epic!

Now or Last

■ Affects 1 enemy unit(s) nearest to the crosshair.

Deals damage equal to 1372.8% of ATK that is calculated based on 10% of the caster's final Max HP. Attacks continuously based on the current MP.

Based on the amount of MP she possesses, XMaiden will launch continuous attacks on a target. One MP means one attack, and since 12 MP is the max that you have, you can "delay" and store up to 13728% instantaneous damage. This is unaffected by the 1.5× Full Burst Multiplier, but it uses a different ATK stat set to XMaiden's ATK + 10% of her final Max HP. Given high stats, this can potentially exceed the destructiveness of 2B's katana or even Cindy's slippers!

Please Pay the EN Interns

The EN translation of this skill does not match the actual skill effect. The English version states that only 10% of the caster's final Max HP is accounted for in the Burst's ATK stat calculation (like Kilo's), but this is wrong. The ATK stat is actually still included but padded by the Max HP → ATK conversion. This was only recently fixed in the skill descriptions.

Since she does not lose out on much damage by not using Burst Skill (her MP stores that unused damage), fans entertained the idea of stationing her an off-burst unit and only using her Burst Skill at the end, at which point her MP would have reached max stacks, funneling all her Burst Damage into that one blast. This comes with abundant benefits; we'll discuss them in the next section.

Campaign (LD) - A | Campaign (HD) - A

Her DPS performance in high-stat-deficit mobbing is very limited, like Cindy, but at least Cindy has ATK buff on basic attack every rotation. Stat deficit is brutal for defenders. Her supportive off-burst performance should be fine, though, not broken but great, but it's limited to Electric comp against Water mobs. ATK is also more preferred in higher deficits, so SAnis and Maxwell can outperform XMaiden in most cases and when versus different elements (if buffing Supports/Attackers).

In low-stat-deficit mobbing, XMaiden will likely be able to manage some stages and mobs, and serve as a good burst generator. However, her lack of AoE damage (her S2 only targets one enemy, and her Burst Skill too) might be a shame. She cannot even stack Max HP or MP long enough to land a "devastating 12× combo on the stage boss for instant kill". Work around her weaknesses and perhaps you can clear more stages with her! We don't have many good Elysion units, so we are just gonna say here that she's probably good for Elysion Tower.

We don't have many good Elysion units, so we are just gonna say here that she's most likely good for Elysion Tower.

Mainly, we recommend using her as a unit to support Electric DPS only, and just do not burst with her if you plan to use her. Think of her as a Maxwell or Privaty of sorts, who only exists to buff Electric allies on Electric-weak stages.

Bossing - SS

BiS in the "Best Electric Bossing Comp Against Water Without CP Penalty" — Cinderella Rouge SAnis XMaiden Crown, whose main gameplay idea was highlighted in the Gameplay section. For Mirror Container AI, this might as well just be the best team that everyone would find comfortable clearing S9 with.

Against non-Electric-weak bosses, her supportive skills are weakened. Why so? That is because her supportive ATK buff is small (it scales off defender's stat), and ELE buff is useless. Because of that, she will likely be a DPS, where her Burst Skill will be used in every other rotation, but if you want, she still can be an off-burst support/DPS, just weaker.

Note that, when there is CP penalty and high stat deficit, XMaiden may suffer from "too little ATK" as a defender as she does not have ATK buff outside her Burst Rotation. Despite that, her supportive skill is still intact and profitable. A special exception would be against Mirror Container, which has a lot of DEF. Cindy + Ein + SAnis is likely still better there (hypothetical) because true damage is more effective in higher deficits.

PVP - S

xMaiden is a pretty decent Nikke to use in PvP for one very strong reason: Her Burst Generation. Her burst gen (sitting at 9.1 per RL) is ever so slightly higher than Clip Shotguns, who are notorious for feeding into Scarlet and Jackal. However, xMaiden, wielding a Rocket Launcher, is not prone to such disadvantages. Hence, not only does she have higher burst gen than Clip SGs, but she also does not feed.

This makes her a solid choice for being a Burst Gen filler, where before we would have had to use an SG to fill the burst gen requirement. A unit like this is highly appreciated in the meta, especially due to her extra tankiness allowing her to survive more than other units would. That said, on defense, she will not inflict backline pressure like SGs do, which may or may not be a good thing.

The fun does not stop here, however. xMaiden also hits super-duper hard with her normal shots, be it in burst, or outside of burst. Each fully charged shot, summing the base + S2 multiplier, deals ~700% damage. Being a Defender, she hits for 0.66× that of an Attacker unit, which means that she hits for almost double the value of what an average Attacker unit hits for normally outside of burst!

This just gets even better when she is in burst and she herself has used burst, since now she is able to get the HP → ATK buff from Skill 2, which allows her to hit immensely hard! While this is still a niche usage burst since it is a single target nuke followed by focus target damage that can only damage 1 unit seriously, this is still something to keep in the back of one’s mind. A team with no proper sustain can fall prey to xMaiden’s basic damage and lose. Overall, this is just a small addition to an already proven fact: xMaiden is a very viable unit for PvP, and will be an important unit for Champions Arena.

Gear Investments

XMaiden scales off her Max HP & ATK as an in-burst DPS, and partially scales off her Max HP & ATK as an off-burst support/DPS, and scales off her ATK only as a pure off-burst support. However, her supportive skill gear scaling is weak, so she can just work without OL; only her damage will be affected.

As an in-burst DPS, she hurriedly needs 1× Max Ammo to ensure she has enough ammo to keep shooting in the 10s Full Burst window without reloading at all (a single shot missed is a big damage loss). Charge Speed also allows her to reach max stacks of Max HP faster, the core of her damage buffs. There are also Charge Speed breakpoints that you can achieve — 2× Charge Speed will allow XMaiden to shoot 8 times guaranteed every 10s Full Burst instead of a hit-or-miss 7/8.

As an off-burst DPS or a support, she will still find good use out of 1× Max Ammo, but prioritizing ELE/ATK might be smarter for that final avalanche (12MP Burst Skill). Having 1× Max Ammo is good for flexibility, though.

Remember, don't over-OL/reroll a semi-DPS. OL meta ones instead. Save rocks as New Year is close.

• Essential: 0-1× Max Ammo
• Ideal: 4× ELE, 4× ATK, 0-1× Max Ammo
• Passable: 2-3× Charge Speed
• Priority: Medium

Skill Investments

There are two skill routes for XMaiden. One where you care about her DPS, and one where you don't. If you care about her DPS, invest in S1 and Burst Skill alongside S2. If you only care about supporting (and are willing to forsake her damage as a secondary DPS), focus on S2.

• Skill 1: 7~10
• More Max HP▲ means more personal damage as a DPS and more explosion damage as an off-burst secondary DPS + support. Diluted by other Max HP▲ buffs.
• Skill 2: 10
• Where her insanely broken supportive skills lie, and a significant portion of her personal damage buffs and basic attack (skill damage) ratio. Prioritize.
• Burst Skill: 7~10
• Upgrade if you want more damage out of her icicles. More important for off-burst support/DPS route than DPS route. Remember that it is affected by ATK + MAX HP, so upgrade other skills too and her/teammates' gear/OL!

Suggested Progression Path

 

PVE Investment

PVP Investment

Priority

Maiden: Ice Rose

PVE investment

4/7/4 → 4/10/4 → 7/10/7 (→ 10/10/10)

PVP investment

4/7/4 → 4/10/4 → 7/10/7 (→ 10/10/10)

Priority

High

Cube Investments

• Outside Raid, she is more likely to be deployed in the "Best Electric Bossing Comp Against Water Without CP Penalty" comp, which features Reload Speed buffers like Crown and SAnis. In this case, like usual, Resilience is always the best option because of Reload Speed stacking. In Raid, this may change depending on whether the boss is Electric-weak.
• That being said, without Reload Speed buffers, both Resilience and Bastion are similar in performance. Which one you like the most, or which one has the highest level, pick that. Just make sure she can shoot for the whole 10s of Full Burst when she uses Burst Skill.

Doll Investments

Good presence in PvE and PvP content and thus benefit from CP padding. Dolls give fixed HP, DEF, and ATK value, so they are more effective on Defenders who scale off Max HP. Weapon-specific buffs are pretty good. Her main team outside Raid will feature healerless comps, so Damage Taken▼ and Cover HP▲ are highly appreciated.

Verdict: SR 0 or SR 5

Team #1: The Best Electric Bossing Comp Aga-

Burst 3

Burst 1

Burst 3

Burst 3

Burst 2

The Best Electric Bossing Comp Against Water Without CP Penalty. Yes, that's right! Basically, in this comp, Rouge buffs Cindy's and XMaiden's Max HP. Cindy and SAnis alternate Burst until the Burst before the very end, where Rouge + Crown + XMaiden S1 + 12 MP unleash obliteration on the enemy. XMaiden will also buff Cindy's, SAnis's, and Rouge's ELE DMG and ATK nearly the whole run. Read the Gameplay Section above for detailed info.

Team #2: Ein and Exia took away Crown

Burst 3

Burst 1

Burst 3

Burst 2

Burst 3

In Raids, this team might pop up on electric weak bosses. The idea is to split the 4 mega DPS of electric into 2 teams. One team, with Crown, gets Exia, S.Anis and Ein. Exia Crown Ein S.Anis Dolla/DWife. The rest.. is this team. This team allows for funneling damage into Cinderella and xMaiden. With xLudmilla’s Damage Taken debuff, we are offered a new type of buff multiplier, which helps Cinderella and xMaiden deal even more damage!

Team #3: Elysion is Saved, Maybe

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 3

B3

Burst 3

B3

Finally, a good battery for Elysion Tower! XMaiden has good burst gen, so you don't have to rely on spamming DWife or Vesti anymore. DieselTr can ensure that the team never reloads (including XMaiden) and is protected via taunt, so if you use Guillotine, that's good. Mast is B2, and since XMaiden gains ATK buff only after Full Burst (in her rotation), you might need to invest in XMaiden just enough that her base ATK edges out at least 2 other non-Mast Nikke(s). Quiry might help, but might be a waste of a slot.

Team #4: STACK FASTERRRRR

Burst 3

Burst 1

Burst 3

Burst 2

Burst 2

Flora's and Crown's positions can be adjusted, but Crown's Burst Skill must be used (manual may be needed). Note that it might be smart to position Flora near XMaiden or the other B3 because they are more likely to be targeted if using Burst Skill that increases ATK.

In this comp, we focus on stacking XMaiden's MAX HP stacks as fast as possible, so she can be a lethal DPS. Note that in this comp, she is less of a support and more of a DPS, although she does have some supporting potential in her off-burst, buffing the other B3 (if Electric) and Flora.

If you use Ein (Flora can also buff Ein), you can go something like Rouge > Flora > Ein, then Rouge > Mast > XMaiden, but make sure XMaiden has more base ATK than Flora and Rouge (so Mast's Burst targets her).

If you prefer something else, SAnis can allow the maximization of uninvested Flora because she can reach the point of No Reload, so Max Ammo OL is no longer an urgent requirement. Otherwise, Flora without Max Ammo OL will be slower in building stacks and offer less DPS.

Simply Buffing with Burst Gen

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 3

Burst Flex

3RL - xMaiden in this team is simply used as a Burst Generation unit. But, if this team survives an AoE burst, it can allow for some serious damage output, where Anis targets the highest ATK unit and pressures the backline, and xMaiden pressures the frontline. Anis constantly heals up as well due to Biscuit looking out for her.

Block Them out of Your Life

Burst 3

Burst 2

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 1

3RL - can be 2RL if Lvl 7 quantum cube is given to xMaiden, Centi and Anis. A fast single-target nuke, where Noise is there to buff xMaiden’s Normal Attacks even more. Biscuit ensures xMaiden’s survival, while she tries to finish off the enemy team using her normal attacks. Any team without sustain will have a hard time facing off against this team.