Solo Leveling: AriseChoi Jong-InInformation and Guide

Choi Jong-In is one of the best DPS in the game, no questions asked. He applies an amazing debuff on entry and with his burn and skill reset when using his ultimate, he dishes out insane damage.

His inability to Crit may seem weak, but fully investing in Attack lets his damage explode due to his burns. Furthermore, his A1 will allow his damage to exponentially increase by changing his basic skill to a crater with far better range and triple the damage.

Choi Jong-In may not be able to crit, but is still a stellar DPS option. Let’s start off with the part that worries most people: Choi not being able to crit. They have counteracted this via his passive, increasing his damage by 40% in turn. This will make it where he has 0 rng while still having stable, good damage, while allowing his burns to do more damage as they’re based off of his attack.

The second part of his Passive is [The Ultimate Hunter], which activates when Choi uses his Ultimate. This ability increases his Attack and Defense Penetration by 12% while also resetting his Basic Skill cooldowns. So, while Choi cannot Crit, his strong skill damage allows him to keep up damage-wise in different ways. By using his Basic Skills twice in a row, with the second one being supercharged due to the [The Ultimate Hunter] buff, his damage is quite competitive with other DPS characters in the game. While Crit-focused units like Cha Hae-In might outshine him, Choi remains a viable option.

While keeping the fact he can use his basic skills twice in a row, with the second one being supercharged due to [The Ultimate Hunter] buff, his damage is quite competitive with other DPS in the game. Of course, we can see through a unit crit-focused such as Cha Hae-In will not allow Choi to be the best in the game, but a viable option nonetheless.

Something that proves to be valuable even when using him with Jinwoo is his Defense Decrease when using his support skill / swapping in. It will provide him and other a decent damage increase, and puts him in the tier of DPS that is able to buff Jinwoo’s damage at the same time.

Choi’s Personal Weapon, Equivalent Exchange, Increasing his attack by 5% and decreasing enemies burned by Choi by 7% for 5 seconds. This increases to an 18% attack increase and 20% defense decrease at max dupe. Compared to other carries' weapons, it is not a priority to dupe, as defense shred is common enough when playing Jinwoo and Fire doesn't lack Defense Penetration to begin with, so put more emphasis on carries whose weapons offer bigger personal boosts in damage.

The 8-piece Burning Curse set is the best for Choi, offering the biggest damage bonus of a base 30%, increasing up to 50% after 100 seconds. Other gear sets to consider include the 4-piece Armed or 4-piece One-Hit Kill sets, especially if Choi is A1/A3. Armed will increase his entire kit’s damage, while One-Hit Kill will help him get his Ultimate much quicker. Due to Choi not being able to Crit, he doesn’t have many options in either non-Curse gear or jewelry.

The jewelry sets to consider are Executioner and Berserker mainly. Executioner has guaranteed usage once you get the enemy below 70% HP, giving a 20% damage increase, whereas Berserker requires you to fall below 70% HP to get a 30% damage increase. If you consistently fall below this 70% HP threshold, you can run Berserker.

Choi fits very well into the mono Fire team. Do not hesitate to pair him with Yoo Soohyun and Emma, as each of these Hunters offers some form of teamwide buffs to the Fire team. You could also run him with an extra, dedicated supporter instead of Yoo if her damage is underwhelming for any reason, although you would lose out on a potential 20% extra Fire damage from her [Magic Reaction]. However, Choi has limited use outside of elemental advantaged content, so prioritize other characters in those situations.

Should You Pull?

Currently, there is a strong roster of fire SSRs, so there's no urgent need for Choi. If you don’t have any fire SSRs, going for Choi is not a bad idea, but it's not essential either. If you have a slot for him in the Custom Draw, putting him there is a good idea if you want to focus on your Fire team. However, if you've invested well in Yoo Soohyun, there may be little need for Choi in non-scoring content.

You don’t need to rush the process of getting Choi, as he can be pulled from the standard banner at any time. However, if you want a Fire DPS as a backup, and you don’t feel like summoning on Yoo Soohyun’s rate-up banner or waiting for her to be in the Custom Banner, then featuring Choi in the Custom Draw is advisable.

Investment

Choi Jong-In needs his A1 to function properly. For starters, it changes the [Rain of Flames] attack to [Mega Crater], providing much greater range and tripling its skill damage. This is when you see the true power of his buffs and debuffs combine, allowing his [Rain of Flames] to do incredible damage after reaching A1. The only other standout dupe is his A5, which allows him to get his ultimate much quicker.

Overall, stopping at A1 is a fine option for Choi Jong-In unless you aim to compete, in which case A5 will be the goal.