Should you pull Noire?

If you’re free-to-play the answer is likely no (unless you really like her character). Her banner comes at an unfortunate time since she needs to compete with Liang and Recoleta (2.6), who sport much higher power and versatility. If pull currency isn’t an issue, Noire can be a fun pickup due to her Ultimate-repeating ability; her P3 is quite important as it allows her to comfortably repeat her Ultimate 2 more times guaranteed (with an 80% chance of a 3rd repeat).

Noire’s kit revolves around applying [Neg Status] effects and building up [Genius Idea] stacks to recast her Ultimate. Noire gets 2 [Genius Idea] stacks whenever an enemy is inflicted with [Spotlight] and 4–6 stacks when she casts her Skill 2. She also gets 1 Moxie when an enemy is inflicted with [Spotlight]. After she casts her Ultimate, there’s a 6% chance to recast it for each [Genius Idea] stack she has; at 8 stacks, this chance increases by 40%. At P0, [Genius Idea] stacks up to 10 times and each recast depletes 5 stacks.

At the start of the round, Noire applies the negative status [Spotlight] to the enemy with the highest HP%. Her Skill 1 also allows her to move all [Spotlight] stacks onto one enemy. When an enemy with [Spotlight] gets attacked by Noire, [Spotlight] inflicts 1 stack of [Rigidity], 2 rounds of [Poison], or 5 stacks of [Burn] on the enemy. Her Skill 2 triggers this [Neg Status] application from [Spotlight] extra times depending on incantation rank.

For each type of [Neg Status] on the enemy, her Ultimate’s Mental DMG increases by 100%, up to 500%. For each stack of [Neg Status], its PEN Rate increases by 3%, up to 30%.

Noire boasts considerable burst damage through her Ultimate and can gain Moxie easily. However, her recast potential improves a lot through her portraits. The table below shows the number of [Genius Idea] stacks and the chance for each recast to happen. At P0, Noire is guaranteed to recast her Ultimate once but is relatively unlikely to do so again, while P3 guarantees 2 recasts.

Noire mostly suffers from a lack of highly synergistic teammates at the moment. The [Neg Status] archetype isn’t as fully fleshed out as Inspiration or Follow-up Attack. It also straddles this weird line where it can work with Petrify or Poison but not perfectly. Noire’s teammates are a mix of generic supports (Vila, Argus, Mercuria, etc.) as well as the [Neg Status] characters introduced in this patch (Euphoria An-an Lee, Loggerhead). Euphoria Melania is also a welcome addition, but she synergizes with Recoleta much better. Despite both being Ultimate-centric characters, Recoleta and Noire don’t synergize perfectly as Recoleta makes Noire’s rotations so fast that Noire can’t stack [Genius Idea] quickly enough to keep up.

As mentioned above, Noire also suffers from unfortunate banner placement. Liang is a limited character in the same patch whose P1 is quite important and Recoleta is a very high-priority character for meta-oriented players. To a lesser degree, Aleph also represents competition for resources for his highly anticipated design and AP-positive role in the Inspiration team.

Pros & Cons

While she has a complete kit at P0, Noire’s P3 is where her Ultimate recasting really shines.

P1 makes each [Genius Idea] stack represent a 10% chance to recast (as opposed to 6%). P2 decreases the amount of [Genius Idea] depleted per recast from 5 to 4 stacks. Finally, P3 allows [Genius Idea] to stack up to 12 times, allowing the first 2 recasts to benefit from the 40% recast chance bonus from having 8 stacks.

Anjo Nala works great with Noire since she provides a lot of different types of [Neg Status] effects that Noire doesn’t get access to on her own, which helps her Ultimate reach that +500% multiplier. Noire’s Moxie generation and Plant afflatus help Anjo Nala cycle through her Ultimate very quickly.

Vila and Lopera can make up for Noire’s lack of Crit resonance pieces. As a Mental DMG dealer, Noire can enjoy the full effects of Vila’s buff. Lopera is just really good for buffing Crit Rate and Crit DMG, and Noire’s [Burn] application makes [Right on Target]’s activation condition feasible.

Melania’s Euphoria is a godsend for any Ultimate-based DPS. +36% Crit Rate and Crit DMG for Ultimates at full [Fixed Plan] stacks boost Noire’s damage while Moxie overflow and [Passion Drain] help her cycle her Ultimate even faster.

An-an Lee’s Euphoria buff is tailor-made for Noire’s kit, though it’s more that An-an Lee needs Noire than the other way around. An-an applies the same [Neg Status] effects as Noire, which helps Noire’s Ultimate reach max PEN rate while also converting [Rigidity] to [Petrify] for control. An-an’s incantation rank up effect also helps Noire proc [Spotlight] more often and gain [Genius Insight] faster.

Loggerhead similarly applies [Neg Status] effects from the same pool as Noire while also serving as an interesting sustain option. Noire’s consistent [Neg Status] application through [Spotlight] means Loggerhead can stack up a lot of Healing Done through her Insight III passive.

The Poison squad (Willow, Sotheby, Tuesday) can work alright with Noire but you run out of AP super fast. The focus on [Poison] also makes it very hard to reach 5 different types of [Neg Status] effects, though getting to 10 stacks of [Poison] for +30% PEN Rate is a piece of cake.

Here are the best Psychubes you can use on Noire:

Rehearsal of Dreams2.5

“Rehearsal of Dreams” is far and away the best psychube for Noire, as it sports a truly massive amount of Ultimate Might. I am not kidding when I say that Noire has no good substitute psychubes at the moment. It’s very sad.

Resonances

Code: APgkLUQtQi1AJlA8YzwwNBElADkCOxM0BQ

Resonance Pattern

Elucidation Ultimate Might (Recommended)

A few suggestions are listed below. 3-People teams are highlighted, with the 4th slot added at the side to provide a 4-P variation of the same team or even insights on possible variations of the 3-P team.

Standard Teams

Pew Pew Pew[GLB]

Damage Dealer

Sub DPS

Sustain

TEAM EXPLANATION

• 4th slot options: Lopera, Kakania, Argus, Mercuria
• Anjo Nala applies seven different [Neg Status] effects Noire does not have access to.
• [Bone and Blood] lets Anjo Nala get her Ultimate quickly.
• Noire’s self Moxie generation also helps Anjo Nala cycle even faster.
• Vila makes up for Noire’s lack of crit.

Where’d My AP Go[GLB]

Damage Dealer

Sub DPS

Sustain

TEAM EXPLANATION

• 4th slot options: Mercuria, Willow, Druvis III
• For people who want to run Noire on a [Poison] team.
• Noire’s [Neg Status] application helps Tuesday apply [Poison] quickly, which in turn lets Noire get to +30% PEN Rate on her Ultimate really quickly.
• Noire’s own [Poison] application benefits greatly from Tuesday’s array.
• Euphoria Sotheby is a great [Poison] sustain, though please note that her Reality DMG will dispel the enemy’s [Petrify].

Mono Plant[GLB]

Damage Dealer

Sub DPS

Sustain

TEAM EXPLANATION

• 4th slot options: An-an Lee, Kakania, Lopera, Mercuria, Vila
• Argus’ [Pinpointed] debuff is very strong; it also stacks up super quickly so Noire can get +30% PEN Rate on her Ultimate.
• Loggerhead provides some sustain with good [Neg Status] application.