Moran guide & review

Moran, the naive Queen of Underworld, has descended from her majestic throne! While she may be an oddball, treat her seriously as she is fearsome when she wants to be. As long as you are on her good side, she will do everything she can to protect you.... literally from story to gameplay.

She is Guillotine's best friend in Solo Raids. Unlike Noise, she is the only dependable B1 taunter with lifesteal and high HP who does not directly interfere with Guillotine's core mechanics — HP loss. Paired with certain units, her existence allows Guillotine to shine once again. In PvP, she has a formidable presence. A continuous full-screen taunt & damage reduction, complemented with notable single target damage & lifesteal (disclaimer: only with SAnis), makes her not only a shield but also a sword.

When Moran's kit dropped for the first time, many speculated that she would have outstanding damage, even as a 40s Defender B1. However, this was proven untrue after some tests. She still did some damage, however, so in game modes like Solo Raid where every million matters, she indeed does have an advantage. Unfortunately, her damage only exists when paired with certain units like SAnis, who boosts the ATK of all Electric units in team during Full Burst.

If offense is not Moran's specialty, then what is it? Well, her taunting ability is ridiculous. She has quite high uptime on taunts outside her Burst Skill and can guarantee full taunt when using Burst Skill. She is not too fat to i-frame and has a makeshift indomitability that takes the form of HP Recovery whenever she goes below 20% HP. To make this more reliable, she fortifies her DEF with HP loss, gradually turning into a rock the closer she is to death. Combine that with the Damage Reduction on Burst and Lifesteal (w/ SAnis), and she becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Skill 1

■ Activates at the start of the battle. Affects self.

DEF ▲ 3.51% with every 1% of HP loss.

■ Activates when landing 5 normal attacks when changing the weapon in use. Affects the target.

Deals 47.18% of final ATK as additional damage.

Moran's Skill 1 consists of two separate components. Its offensive half defines how much damage she will deal every 5 shots during her Burst Skill. The scaling is quite low, and without enough buffs, it is only useful in Solo Raid where every ounce of damage matters. Meanwhile, the other half boosts her DEF for every 1% HP lost. For some time, we have been blinded by the impression that DEF boost is bad. Well, in Moran's case, the value of the buff is actually big enough to turn this around. Furthermore, it synchronizes well with her Skill 2, helping it activate more consistently.

Skill 2

■ Activates when firing the final bullet. Affects 3 enemy units with the highest ATK.

Taunt for 4 sec.

■ Activates when HP falls below 20%. Affects self.

Effect changes according to the number of activation time. Perseverance: Effect of each phase does not stack.

Once: Max HP ▲ 91% for 3 sec. Activates once per battle.

Twice: Max HP ▲ 69.84% for 3 sec. Activates once per battle.

Three: Max HP ▲ 51.09% for 3 sec. Activates once per battle.

When not in Burst Skill, Moran relies on activating her Skill 2 to taunt enemies. It is similar to Makima's and Tia's, as in the taunt is not permanent and only sets in periodically. Unlike them, however, it is dependent on last bullet, so the interval cannot be shortened without Ammo Reduction or Reload Speed buffs. The good thing? Well, it can be un-triggered at will. What we mean is that, if you don't want her to taunt, then reload before she fires her last bullet.

Additionally, what's interesting about Moran's Skill 2 is its second component. Whenever she drops below 20%, she recovers a set amount of HP, triggering up to 3 times. This basically means she has a much higher effective MAX HP compared to other units. This skill is of immense importance to her kit as this her major tanking ability.

Burst

■ Affects self.

Change the Weapon in use:

Damage: 14.7% of final ATK

Lasts for: 10 sec

Additional Effects:

Recovers 36.14% of attack damage as HP for 10 sec.

Attract: Taunt all enemies for 10 sec.

Note: Cannot take cover while casting Burst skill.

■ Affects all allies.

Damage Taken ▼ 35.14% for 10 sec.

DEF ▲ 14.85% of caster's DEF for 10 sec.

Her Burst Skill is unique in a way that it provides a notable teamwide Damage Reduction for 10s, alongside a full-screen taunt for the same duration. This lets your team absorb some AoE damage, whereas Moran herself will tank all the single-target attacks. This can be pretty useful on some campaign stages, bosses with unpredictable targeting, and most importantly: PvP Arena. The DEF boost is minuscule and should not be affected by Skill 1 because it is based on caster's stats.

Another distinguishing characteristic of her Burst Skill is her weapon change, which may or may not be something that you actually want. During Burst Skill, she switches from AR to infinite-ammo SMG, which means she can continually fire for 10s and also several seconds after the Burst ends (AR fully reloaded). This can be particularly useful in PvP, where reloading will have enemy skip her.

Now, while wielding SMG, she also inflicts an instance of damage to the enemy every 5 shots (from Skill 1). This results in some bonus damage + lifesteal, especially in SR and when paired with caster's ATK offensive buffs, such as Mast (DEF loss) & SAnis. Otherwise, they are too small to bring any impact.

Moran will probably not have much use in Campaign, Tribe Tower, or Union Raids, but she might see use in Solo Raids and PvP.

Raids

Will likely be prominent against Water Bosses (weak to Electric) as her best team consists of SAnis and Guillotine. This is particularly true when the boss resides in MG's range and possesses a small core. They may still see usage outside their elemental advantage.

PVP

Moran proves herself to be quite useful in PvP. Let's start with the basics. She is a Defender who posseses a "long taunt" on burst, becoming only the 4th Nikke to have a long taunt duration. Noah, Nero and Ludmilla are the other 3 "long taunt" Defenders. If you've used Noah or Nero, you are probably aware that this means she can be paired with Biscuit to counter single-target focus Nikkes like Red Hood, Alice or SGs like Sugar. Moran + Noah + Biscuit have a special combination here, where they are able to taunt both bullets of SAnis's Skill 2, an excellent counter to the opponent SAnis.

Moran also provides a Damage Reduction for all allies on burst, which means she can act as a soft counter to unbuffed AoE attacks from Scarlet, Harran, or Maiden. This means she can also act as a "worse" Noise, since it is pretty much a weaker block instead of heals. When your team is severely injured from the AoE attack, use a healer to recover your team's HP while Moran tanks bullets for the team (with her taunt). Since Moran is a B1 unit, she also allows Biscuit to Burst, empowering your Summer Anis with ATK buff and lifesteal!

Gear Investments

As a buffed defender, investing in her OL for Arena is definitely worthwhile. Not only do you boost her CP, but you also increase her MAX HP and DEF. This will allow her to tank more effectively and rely less on RNG. In PvE, Hit Rate may increase her damage consistency.

Skill Investments

Her skills are all useful, and all of them contribute to her survival in different ways.

• Skill 1: 4-7
• Leave it at 4, unless your wallet is thick, in which case you may want to max this skill. This is especially true if you care a lot about Solo Raid. For cost efficiency, nevertheless, we suggest not upgrading beyond 7.

• Skill 2: 4-10
• Usable at 4, but you may want to invest a bit more to make it ideal. In fact, there is no harm in raising this to 10, epecially if your wallet is thick. Sometimes, that small HP recovery boost may be crucial.
• Burst: 4-10
• Again, she is already useful at 4, and any levels above that are a bonus. However, if you want more Damage Reduction especially in PvP, feel free to swipe your card! If you want more damage from her Burst Skill, also swipe your card! If you want more lifesteal, swipe it even harder! Your credit card is the limit. Jokes aside, this is a strong skill and can be extremely useful for PvP.

Cube Investments

For more taunting outside Burst Skill, use Resilience. For higher HP, use Vigor. If you feel like she taunts too much outside Full Burst and want to dial it back a bit, try Bastion. However, this is not recommended! You can still use Resilience and manual her if you are worried.

Team #1

Burst 1

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 3

This is perhaps her best PvE team right now and the only recommended one at that, a direct upgrade to the Noise variant where you are forced to heal Guillotine. It also avoids the use of SHelm, which practically offers nothing but CDR against non-Electric bosses. SAnis and Mast help increase her ATK and in turn her Burst Skill damage & lifesteal. Moran also taunts reliably, so Guillotine can concentrate on unloading her insane damage at lower HP without the fear of dying. Nevertheless, if there is too much AoE damage, this team may not work.

Team #1 - Moran allowing Biscuit to Burst

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 2

Burst Flex

When using Pepper, place her in Position 2. This is probably one of the best Moran teams, and it's hard to do better than this one. The synergy is top tier. Once Moran allows Biscuit to burst, the survival of your SAnis is nearly guaranteed. The speed of this team is 3RL (check out our PvP Burst Generation Guide for more info on PvP teams), which means it can handle a lot of teams despite being weak to Scarlet.

Team #2 - Noah AoE block

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst Flex

Slower team, overall weak against SBS, and also weak against most Scarlet teams if using SAnis. If using SBS/Red Hood, it is strong against 3RL-4RL non Noah-Biscuit combo opponents. Moran and Noah tank for the team while Anis: Sparkling Summer, Scarlet: Black Shadow or Red Hood dish out high DPS. Sugar is also an alternative if you lack other units.

Team #3 - Moran SG Team

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst Flex

SG

Burst Flex

SG

Burst Flex

SG

Keep in mind that the SGs we expect to use are Clip Shotguns like Sugar. You can find more about Weapon Types for PvP in our our PvP Burst Generation Guide. This is a simple team really. Moran protects Position 1, and the rest of the team are SG units who are capable of doing lethal damage to the opponent.

Moran is one of the missing piece to building the perfect Electric team, together with SAnis and Guillotine. She also sees tons of usage in PvP and offers a unique specialty that no other units can. If you care a lot about PvP or Solo Raid, one copy should suffice. Otherwise, you can save your wallet and wait for the next unit, which will most likely be a DPS as it coincides with Solo Raid.