PioneerBuild and Guide

True to his name, this 3-star Spirit arcanist pioneers the ability to Shift his own position in battle. His [Roving Salesman] Insight I grants him different buffs depending on where he’s standing:

1. Critical Rate +20%, Critical DMG +20%

2. DMG Bonus +20%, DMG Reduction +20%

3. DMG Reduction +20%, DMG Heal +20%

4. After being attacked, reflects 30% of the DMG. Cannot exceed 200% of Max HP.

As you can see, he gets more offense the further “forward” (left, on screen) he is, while he gets more defense the further “backward” he stands. His skills also follow this trend and allow him to slide around the battlefield. [Competitive Differentiation] deals single-target Mental DMG, then moves him forward. [To Future Business] is a [Counter] that grants him [Taunt], +25% Reality and Mental DEF, and moves him back 1 space at Rank 1. Finally, his Ultimate [Bridge the Gap] allows him to switch places with an ally, granting them the corresponding position buff from his Insight I for 1 round on top of a decent 2-round Shield.

Pioneer’s design is a breath of fresh air and reflects a more experimental design space Bluepoch seems to be trying out, which is always great to see. However, his kit suffers greatly from the low-rarity I2L50 curse. At first glance, being able to give +20% Crit Rate/DMG on Ult seems like the goal. Get Pioneer to the front, then swap with a DPS in the back to do burst damage, right? It’s not that easy, though: to get to 5 Moxie, you need to cast 5 of his skills. Unless you want to Pioneer [Taunt]ed while he moves forward (and thus losing his defensive position buffs), his [Counter] is a relatively dead card. [Competitive Differentiation] doesn’t feel worth the AP either because of his low ATK. Notably, it moves him forward after he attacks, so he doesn’t immediately benefit from his offensive position buffs. When you finally do get to cast his Ultimate, the buffs from [Roving Salesman] only last 1 round. Not only that, but fellow 2.0 character Mercuria gives that much Crit Rate and even more Crit DMG off of a skill and Insight passive.

No, Pioneer is more of a defensive buffer. His [To Future Business] seems to incentivize a tank role, and he has a surprisingly solid 6053 HP at max level—which beats out the squishiest of 6*, like 37. As a result, his Ultimate’s 2-round shield is pretty chunky. However, there isn’t much of a place for defensive buffers in the current meta, and if you need a tank, 1.9’s Kakania does a much, much better job.

What is he good for, then? Meme builds, mostly. Pioneer is one of the few characters who can infinitely stack up Brave New World’s passive since neither his Ultimate nor his Skill 2 do damage, allowing you to make one big damage number if you can keep him alive long enough to Ult a bunch of times in a row. If you’ve ever wanted both sides of Avgust’s buffs, you can also do that now. Also, as badly as he is outclassed by Mercuria, his Crit buffs do stack with hers because they’re a unique [Pos Stat]. Finally, he can synergize with future position-related kits and mechanics, making him more viable down the line.