#S2 screenshot blocking analysis

[drconstellation]

Questioning the Questioner

Blocking in Scenes in S2: No. 1

Since I'm procrastinating a bit on the meta writing for various reasons (its happening, but slowly,) why don't I throw some short pieces on S2 blocking at you. Here's a related parallel pair.

As always, we need to remember that the screen right is the morally right angelic side, and the screen left is the shady demonic side.

Here we have Aziraphale's initial questioning of Gabriel upon his arrival in the bookshop. Gabriel is on the screen right of Aziraphale, so takes the moral angel side, while Aziraphale sits on the demonic left side of the screen. Aziraphale is asking most of the questions in this scene, so it seems the right place to be. Both of them are in the light, though, there are no shadows here for these two angels.

But notice the balance of the setting - Gabriel is more towards the middle of the shot, and is placed over the centre of the rug. This turns out to be no accident, but a very particular placement.

You might be familiar with the portal under the oculus, which turns out to be part of a Solomon's Magic Circle. But there is a side part to this array, which is placed exactly where the office section of the bookshop is, which can be used to summon and control both angels and demons. It's a place where the truth is demanded. It's just a shame that Gabriel can't seem to remember the answers to the questions that need to be answered.

The second screenshot in this pair is part of the "cupperty" sequence.

In comparison to the above screenshot, we have Muriel looking at her "cupperty" while conversing with a combined Aziraphale and Crowley team in S2E3. I did a more detailed meta around the tea here, but let us just address Crowley nearly sitting in Aziraphale's lap the dynamics of the moment.

Muriel, an angel, is sitting on the screen right. They are all in heavenly white, and there is even a beam of light focused on her cupperty. They have come to ask questions to verify the 25 lazurii miracle that was performed the other night.

On the other side, the screen left, we have Aziraphale and Crowley sitting together as one. As they sit in the shadows, they act as a team, Crowley asking questions to Muriel with a teasing kind of playfulness while Aziraphale tries to coach her on - both things Crowley the demon is known to do.

And how do we know this a significant shadow? The windows are on the east side of the shop, and its morning, just before Aziraphale heads off to Edinburgh. Also we have also just seen some of the side characters conversing in the coffee shop while ordering their morning coffee.

We have the same two chairs being used as well. Muriel sits on the ladder chair this time, while the more experienced angel/demon pair occupy the more comfortable lounge chair that is still positioned on the Magic Triangle.

We even have hot beverages in play. Gabriel's hot chocolate is more about comfort, while the cups of tea are about establishing a connection to Earth.

[rimeiii]

Some more analysis with the WHB gameplay!

Mostly about character classes, because there's some new things in the gacha trailer - including what seems to be a change in class icons. (or maybe the icons were placeholders previously? hm.)

(I will not be commenting on the gacha animations because I for the life of me cannot get over the fact that the placeholders for Belphie, Ferusama, and Asmo look like. Fucking pocong. Indonesians know what I'm talking about.)

Everything under the cut because this shit is long. I'm waiting for the maintenance in Arknights to end right now so...

So, this is the screenshot used in the gacha trailer. Toto (to the right of Beelzebub), I recall, was briefly seen in the previous trailer (2nd one I believe), where his icon was the one used for Marbas in the current iteration, and is used to denote a close range unit and marksmen. Which is why I think the icons in the previous trailers were more or less placeholders.

Anyways, we're seeing four main class icons in the meantime. There's a sword, a shield, what seems to be a cross, and a target.

Going by context clues alone, sword units deal close-range, melee damage. They probably have decent block (1-2), a high attack stat, and skills/ults that would most likely be DPS-focused or for survivability. Something like Nearl Alter?

See, Nearl Alter (The Radiant Knight) is a DPS-focused unit who deals true damage that cannot be mitigated. Sky-high HP and ATK as a Dreadnought Guard, which specializes in high melee damage. All three skills of her focuses on damage, with her first skill being infinite duration and giving her an increased attack range, her second skill making her a pseudo-Executioner/Fast-Redeploy unit without taking up a deployment slot, and her third skill being the bread and butter of her true damage skillset. Honestly, I would love to see some unique skillsets like this for WHB I'm ngl.

Next are shields. We briefly saw a shield character in Mammon in the second trailer (Bimet in the gacha trailer), and they're units with 3 block. As the name implies, they'll block enemy units from advancing, usually to let a more dedicated DPS unit take them out. Not quite sure how things will work in WHB, but from my experience, unless we're talking about a defender specifically built for dealing damage (read: Duelist, Fortress, and Juggernaut archetypes to an extent in Arknights), their attack stat isn't super impressive.

Common strategies with using Defenders in Arknights is to deploy all ranged/DPS Operators before deploying your Defender, because ranged Operators tend to be squishy and enemies capable of dealing ranged damage will attack the last deployed Operator in their attacking range. Some Defenders even have skills or are archetypes that help them tank better, even going so far as to reward being attacked! Hoshiguma's second skill, for instance, reflects a portion of physical damage back at her attacker, and Mudrock gains shields every few seconds that nullifies a damage instance and heals her (Juggernauts like Mudrock cannot be healed directly).

Not so sure how targeting is going to work in WHB, however. Maybe they'll attack the closest unit? Because it doesn't seem like redeploying in the middle of battle will be an option here.

Let's talk about the cross next! In the gacha trailer, the character in question associated with the cross is Marbas, whose character description all but says he is a healer. Which makes sense thematically. However, will he be a melee unit or a long-ranged healer, is what I want to know?

Arknights brain is real because yes, there are healing defenders in that game, under the subclass known as Guardians. There are also traditional medics, however - they're ranged units and tend to be squishy as well. Just saying though, having someone like Marbas be a ranged unit is such a waste of his huge, strong body...

All three of Saria's skills heal - single-target healing (S1), AoE healing (S2), and AoE healing plus debuffing enemies (S3). The same thing can be said about Shining - her first skill boosts her healing, her second skill casts a physical shield, and her third skill buffs the defense of every unit in her range.

And finally, the target (Zagan in the gacha trailer). Most likely, they're going to be the marksmen, if we're going with the descriptions given in-game. Ranged units that are usually able to deal large amounts of damage, but are comparatively squishy compared to most other units. Having one of Leviathan's units be a marksman is fueling all of my Sniperknights needs actually

Exusiai is such an insane sniper for shredding low-DEF enemies. You see her third skill? Yeah. She just deals more damage per hit, has a faster attack speed, and each attack hits more times consecutively. This is the sort of physical attack that works well with Defender units, and I hope we get synergies like this in WHB!

I do wonder if we'll get any more classes apart from these four. Path to Nowhere has umm 6 classes I believe? Meanwhile Arknights has 8 classes, in which each class is separated into several subclasses or archetypes to accommodate different playstyles. Because believe it or not, Decel Binders (slows enemy movement, like Suzuran and Glaucus) and Summoners (summons units to attack enemies onto the battlefield, like Ling and Deepcolor) belong in the same class, Supporters.

I'm still holding out for hope that the game will have different playstyles within the same archetype or class, to keep things fresh and not just become a pure DPS check. Like, did you know that in Arknights, we have what amounts to a fast-redeploy Marksman sniper in April, who has camouflage and can take out ranged enemies with ease? And for Executioner specialists, we not only have the DPS-focused Texas Alter (The Omertosa), but also the tank/bait that is Gravel? Having a variety like this keeps the game interesting and allows for reasonable difficulty without making enemies HP sponges, and I do wish WHB will have varieties like this!

or maybe i'm hoping for too much

BONUS: potentially crack, but I have some speculation of the type of characters some of these WHB characters could be in Arknights terms...I hope I didn't miss anyone, dear god.

Naberius: Wolf motif. Let him be a useful Vigil that would be awesome right aha...especially since Vigil's a Siracusan citizen and that place is ruled by the mafia...my man is so bad compared to previous free 6*s Gladiia and Lumen, help

Ronove: Dude has a knife in his art (which implies Executioners or Agents), but I'll be real, with his description I'd rather he be something like a Bard unit, who buffs surrounding friendlies. Something like Skadi Alter (The Corrupting Heart)...

Dantalian and Phenix: Executioners. Both of them. They go in, beat enemies up with high DPS, then go out. Again and again. That's Texas the Omertosa in a nutshell baby-

Leraye: Said to be a long-range marksman. He'd be a Deadeye like Ambriel, for sure - hell, Ambriel can attack out of her range with her second skill. Or Fartooth, with her infinite straight-line range on S3.

Belial: Similar to Leraye, he's said to be a long-distance penetrating assassin. Deadeyes actually target those with the lowest DEF first, which probably isn't 100% accurate to his description, but hey, quick HP shred.

Amon: Short-range? Gun??? Heavyshooter, like Pozyomka and Schwarz????

Stolas: Scattershot, according to his description. Probably a Spreadshooter like Aosta. Now we just need a Broca and a Chiave to complete the ABC gang-

Bael: Following the ABC gang theme, what if he plays like Broca, as a Centurion (deals melee physical damage to all enemies the unit is currently blocking)? He's a "short-distance fixed torture king" according to his preview description...and it doesn't look like he's holding a gun, either. He'd probably be very destructive in close quarters - a Centurion's specialty.

Foras: Space divider??? A friend of mine, a fellow Arknights player, speculated that this might mean he's a Push Stroker or a Hookmaster (probably Push Stroker because no way you're pulling anything with a coffin), or potentially a unit capable of shifting enemies (think Croissant S2). We honestly don't know.

Bathin: Is actually in a similar state of confusion with Foras. Dimension splitter? The actual fuck? Will he be able to reroute enemies by separating space (i.e. placing roadblocks or riot piles) or would he also be a unit who can shift enemies?????

Buer: His teaser art has a doggo around him, and mentions him making a contract with a dog demon iirc. Perhaps he would work as a Summoner...maybe not to the extent of OP-ness that is Ling, though. Though his preview does mention he's also a healer...Kal'tsit with Mon3tr? Or an Incantation Medic (a healer that can deal damage) like Reed Alter (The Flame Shadow) or Hibiscus Alter (The Purifier)?

Morax: The words "lunatic healer" makes me think about Warfarin for some reason, even though her playstyle is buffing her allies in battle, not transferring of wounds from patient to healer like Morax's character description implies.

Marbas: As stated earlier, I'd be immensely disappointed if Marbas isn't a sort of Guardian Defender. Waste of his muscles. Plus his teaser mentions his violence is dangerous to both angels and demons alike...Saria's passive has her gain stackable stat buffs while she's on the field.

Zagan: You know...he's a sniper, sure, but I'd like his talismans to come into play as a gimmick of sorts. Perhaps a mechanic like Lee, whose second skill "marks" an enemy for increased aggro, before exploding it for Arts damage...

Andrealphus: I see a scythe. I immediately think of Reaper Guards, like La Pluma, Highmore, or Executor Alter (The Ex Foedere).

Gusion: Ohhh this actually pains me. I love him, and I desperately want him, but his role description as a "short-distance destroyer" makes me think of Crusher Guards like Quartz...and holy fuck I hate using them. I used Quartz once on an IS3 run and I swore off using her immediately.

Paimon: The fact he has "saboteur" in his description makes me think he's more of a Supporter unit, most probably a Decel Binder or a Hexer. Someone who can apply debuffs.

Barbatos and Sitri: They have things in front of them - a coffin for Barbatos and an iron maiden (????) for Sitri. Would they act as shields? Defenders, perhaps?

Bimet: Confirmed a Defender from the preview. Kinda reminds me of Hoshiguma's skin with the spirits floating around.

Astaroth: Look I know he's a sniper but holy hell would it be hilarious if he'd be an annoying shit like Geek Supporters...casually inflicting grievous harm while actually buffing their allies...the self-stun meme on Spuria and Aak casually killing low-DEF allies with his fucking Durian Stimpack...

Eligos: Self-sacrifice tanker...there's two ways we can go about this. Either he's a Juggernaut (Defenders who cannot be healed directly) or he's the Gravel type of Executor Specialists (Fast redeployment time, we use her to tank strong attacks like Faust's arrows or Viviana's candle burst)