Privaty: Unkind Maid guide & review

Our tsundere princess is now a maid?! An adorable one at that and bashful too! Whatever led to this fateful twist, many didn't expect that, but it was definitely a most desirable one. As a maid, Privaty is quite the reticent soul, and that's also the reason why she only works with certain units. In short, she is a DPS B3 unit outfitted with an exclusive shotgun, whose accuracy gradually increases with each hit, and a repertoire of abilities that heavily rely on hitting pellets.

Privaty: Unkind Maid (PrivM) offers something we've never witnessed before: a self-sufficient Shotgun that becomes accurate with each successive pellet (not shot, by the way)! Unlike other shotguns, she is believed to be able to rival the accuracy of Assault Rifles without any Hit Rate buff. In reality, this is not always the case due to its limited rate of fire. The accuracy cap is reached the instant she fires, but it will have already decreased by the time she fires her next shot. Furthermore, this extra advantage also comes with a steep cost; that is, her basic attack multiplier is lower than that of regular shotguns, clocking in at around 182% per shot. Worry not, however, as her skills will make up for that.

Skill 1

■ Activates when landing attacks 30 time(s) using pellets. Affects 2 enemy unit(s) nearest to the crosshair.

Deals 202.84% of final ATK as additional damage.

PrivM's Skill 1 deals bonus damage to two enemies closest to the crosshair after she lands a total of 30 pellets. When triggering, any excess pellet count carries over to the next cycle. This skill damage peaks at 202.84%, which is not that substantial against a single target, but it constitutes nearly 27% of her basic attack damage and grows to 36% with the presence of Leona (in Full Burst). Against two or more enemies, this skill doubles in power, but for now there seems to be not much value in mobbing with her. It can be handy in Arena, however.

Skill 2

■ Activates when more than 5 pellet(s) hit with a single normal attack. Affects self.

Reloading Speed ▲ 20.88% for 2 sec.

■ Activates when hitting 30 time(s) using pellets during Full Burst Time. Affects self.

Reload 1 round(s).

ATK ▲ 11.22%, stacks up to 5 time(s) and lasts for 2 sec.

An unrewarding skill with troublesome restrictions! Firstly, the reload speed value is extremely low. Unless you pair it with SAnis's or Privaty's buff, it is meaningless most of the time even at max level. Not only that, the ATK buff is difficult to trigger and maintain. Requiring 30 pellets per cycle, an unbuffed PrivM takes exactly 3 shots (2 seconds) to refresh the stack. The problem is the skill also lasts for 2 seconds only, which means she is stuck at 1 stack forever! This can easily be mitigated with Tove or Leona, who provides ATK Speed and Increased Pellet Count respectively. Be warned that she can still instantly lose all stacks whenever she reloads for a long time during Full Burst.

When triggering the ATK component, PrivM also restores 1 ammo. This amounts to 2x ammo efficiency when coupled with Leona or 1.5x without. To put simply, each ammo may contribute to 2 shots. This is the most important part of her skill, as it helps her avoid reloading, which in turn resets the aforementioned stacks.

Burst

■ Affects self.

Attack Damage ▲ 10.56% for 10 sec.

Critical Damage ▲ 88.17% for 10 sec.

■ Affects all enemies.

Deals 1066.66% of final ATK as damage.

Arrives with a powerful screen wipe that has a high multiplier (no ATK buff, though). Then, for the next 10s, PrivM gains bonus Critical Damage and Attack Damage, which we identify as a rare buff that rarely gets diluted. But, don't celebrate too early as this 'awesomeness' belies its low value and is quite negligible seeing that it only triggers once every 40s (if no CDR). Thankfully, there is no gimmick nor other limitations to be cautious of.

As opposed to her convoluted arsenal, PrivM's gameplay is surprisingly very simple. You just want to land as many pellets as possible at all times and ensure she continuously shoots during Full Burst + 2s afterward without reloading for too long (outside SAnis's/Privaty's buff). You can easily achieve this by reloading before every Full Burst. Using Bastion and with Leona, you are guaranteed to achieve this milestone even at base ammo. Aim for optimal damage distance too, marked with a blue crosshair.

Assuming you pair her with Tove and Leona, you want to ensure that Tove's stacks are at 3 before activating her burst skill. This would allow every SG unit to benefit from her maximum ATK buff for the entire Full Burst regardless of whether she loses any stacks thereafter. For optimal performance, nevertheless, you may want to RNG that Tove maintains her full stacks during Full Burst as this is everyone's primary DPS window.

Campaign

She can be thought of as a replica of Harran, who is used for her powerful screen wipe AOE attack at burst. PrivM can be thought of as an inferior replacement to Scarlet (who has a similar high damage AoE nuke at burst). She can perform surprisingly decent in the usual meta teams, but keep in mind that Maid Privaty will fall off heavily in high deficit campaign due to some major flaws. She has no self ATK buff outside burst like scarlet so her damage will fall off. This also means that she will stop screenclearing at high deficit. She cannot keep her attack buff stacked at all cuz she does not hit all of her pellets on enemies who are further away. To add to the last point, since she is not hitting all pellets her damage is reduced anyways, and her damage falls off even further due to less number of times her S1 is activated, hence she is reduced to having one utility only: Her AoE when she bursts, which is also weaker when compared to Scarlet's due to no self ATK buff.

Raids

Will probably see some usage in Solo Raid against bosses (like the current Solo Raid Boss: Crystal Chamber) with a giant body standing within SG's effective range. Superior against Water bosses. However, she needs Tove + Leona to even be worth investing.

Elysion Tower

PrivM's performance is mediocre in Elysion Tower due to being separated from Tove and Leona. Even so, her mediocrity is "great" for the current Elysion roster. Her screen wipe will be valuable in mob stages, but she will not perform well in boss stages due to the lack of Tove and Leona, which are usually the major wall in Elysion Tower. She can still benefit from 1 stack of ATK buff, which is better than nothing.

PVP

With a promising screen wipe if combined with Red Hood, XAnne, or both, offers an upgrade from Maiden's wipe in terms of pure damage. PrivM's Burst Skill boasts an astronomical multiplier that can easily benefit from ATK buffs. Sadly, she has a burst gen comparable to Poli or Naga, which can be unsightly. Regardless, she is remains to be a strong and viable choice for your 3rd team in PvP.

Differences between PrivM & Maiden:

• PrivM brings a higher-damage nuke overall than Maiden's when paired with damage buffers.
• PrivM generates significantly less burst gen (comparable to Poli).
• PrivMy does not rely on hitcount to achieve maximum potential, unlike Maiden who needs to trigger S1.

Thus, we can conclude two things:

• If burst gen is of utmost priority, and the hitcount requirement of Maiden's Skill 1 can be fulfilled, Maiden is a better choice.
• If a stronger nuke is needed, and lower burst gen is not a concern, go with PrivM.

Gear Investments

As explained in the Gameplay section above, you ideally want at least 1 Max Ammo to maximize her uptime. However, this is not mandatory. It is in fact much better to aim for ATK and ELE lines, which provide significant contribution to damage. Acquire them as primary lines. For the secondary lines, you can aim for 1x Max Ammo or as much Hit Rate/CRIT Rate/CRIT Damage as possible. She can work with many kinds of lines, so she is quite RNG-friendly.

Skill Investments

• Skill 1: 10
• Scales extremely well. Expect 1.3% DPS increase with each level, higher with Leona, topping out at 1.8%.

• Skill 2: 4-10
• Leave at 4 or 5 to save resources, otherwise 7 is acceptable for a minor damage increase. Expect around 0.6~0.7% DPS boost per level, which is quite low. This skyrockets if Full Burst extension by Modernia is used, in which case upgrading to 10 is desirable. Upgrading Tove's or Leona's skills first may bring more benefits.
• Burst: 4-7
• Effectiveness relies on CRIT Rate buffs the team can provide, but expect an average of 0.6~0.7% DPS boost as well per level. Leave at 4 or 5 to save resources. Upgrades are more impactful in Arena. Prioritize Tove's Burst Skill first in PvE.

Cube Investments

Most of the time, you will want to use Bastion and reload before every Full Burst to guarantee no reload during the DPS window, in case Tove loses stacks immediately. With 1 Max Ammo OL, Bastion allows you to reach ideal uptime. With reload speed buffs (SAnis's/Tove's), you may be able to get away with Resilience.

Team #1 - SAnis Funneling Strategy

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 3

Flex

Flex

SAnis's damage has been tested to stay uniform even with Tove in team because her ATK and ATK Speed buffs compensate for fewer S2 triggers. In this team, nonetheless, she can enjoy Leona's increased Optimal Range and CRIT Rate while also buffing PrivM's overall output.

Team #2 - SAnis Free Strategy

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 3

Flex

Flex

Often, bringing SAnis may not be the best idea. In such case, deploy one or more SG users that are properly invested. It is better to choose one who counters the element of the enemy, but for that you may need some ELE OL to make up for the kit disparity. Most of the time, you also need a healer, in which case Marciana or Helm can fit the bill for the FLEX spot. Otherwise, bring another DPS.

Team #3 - Full Burst Extension Strategy

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 3

Flex

Flex

In this team, Modernia uses her Burst Skill to extend Full Burst Time, so PrivM can enjoy her S2 ATK buffs longer. Modernia can also maintain maximum uptime as she reloads every time her Burst Skill ends. Requires 1 Max Ammo OL minimum.

Team #1 - Deceptive Rosanna Team

Burst 3

Burst 3

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 2

A team that can burst as fast as 2.5 RL if Rosanna's Sacrifice ability is triggered. This team revolves around sacrificing P1, which recharges Burst Gauge, and quickly activating Rosanna's Burst Skill to pick off key targets like Noise, Noah, or DPS units. Then, XAnne will revive as well as buff PrivM, which will in turn perform a full-screen AoE to finish off the rest.

Team #2 - Ordinary Wipe Team

Burst 3

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 2

Burst 1

A slower version of Maiden's variant which has a more powerful wipe but is more counterable by Noise/Noah due to the reduced burst gen.

Team #3 - Backline Pressure Team

Burst 1

Burst 1

Burst 2

Burst 3

Burst 3

A defense team in which PrivM does not burst. Here, her objective is to apply backline pressure with the help of her Skill 1, which hits P4 and also P5. It is recommended to bring frontline or teamwide pressure DPS in P3. This will quickly consume the attacker's Biscuit immunity charges or force them to protect their backline with Makima, lowering burst gen. Other units should provide stalling potential (like Noah, Biscuit, Moran). RH can be used as a support to buff primary B3 and PrivM's auto-attack. Counterable by fast-nuke teams.

Not that meta-changing right now, but if another unit is released to cover up SG teams' major weaknesses, PrivM can become more influential. Worth pulling/investing only if you have and can invest in Tove and Leona. If that applies to you, just wishlist or perhaps pull one if you love gambling.