#tempo up! remix 1 sucks. i hate it

[ajentmm]

July 2023 Refine Theorycraft

July is here. It’s the big one three (and the other guys). Prepare for the worst. Also, at this point, I’m gonna be briefer with this cuz I got other games to play.

Chrom: Crowned Exalt

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 41/42/26/34/25 Max Invest 49/50/33/42/32

Randgríðr: Effective against flying and armored foes. Grants Atk+3. If foe's HP = 100% at start of combat, neutralizes penalties on unit and inflicts Atk/Def-6 on foe during combat.

To Change Fate! - Close Counter - Lull Atk/Def 3 - Rouse Def/Res 3 / Blue Feud 3

To Change Fate! II: Moves target ally to opposite side of unit and grants another action to unit. Grants Atk/Def+6 and [Bonus Doubler] to unit and Pair Up cohort (if any) for 1 turn and inflicts [Isolation] on unit and Pair Up cohort (if any) through their next action, and also, if used during turns 1 through 4, grants Special cooldown count-1 to unit and target ally. (Once per turn only. Does not stack.)

It’s Legendary Chrom. He’s here to change fate by repo-ing an ally, getting another turn, and getting Atk/Def+6, Bonus Doubler, and Isolation. He’s bulky, he ready with distant counter, and he’s popping both fliers and armors. Can you beat him with a speedy mage? Yes, but not if he attacks first with a self-refresh. Chrom was the first legendary after a run of bland legendary that can’t be beat with Auto-Battle, and required thinking. Which is why we hated him. Now . . . . well there’s three other Chroms that do the same thing and it’s not as special anymore. It’s not so much he got powerkepted, just that he is obligated to get a remix, so they made him as good as these new versions.

Randgríðr: Effective against flying and armored foes. Grants Atk+3. If foe initiate combat or foe's HP > 75% at start of combat, neutralizes penalties on unit and inflicts Atk/Def-6 on foe during combat.

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, inflict penalty to foe's Atk/Def-X during combat (X = 4 + number of [Bonus] and [Penalty] effects active on unit × 2, excludes stat bonuses and stat penalties), and also, if [Bonus] is active on unit, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.

Okay, so, I just stole form B!Chrom (again), and we are now inflicing made Atk/Def debuff on the foe, making magic attacks suck, and physical attacks do 0 damage, thus making the foe not follow-up, less of an issue. They I just gave him the guaranteed follow-up up if he isn’t low health, and he got the bonuses he would get from “Changing Fate”. This would result in Atk/Def -14, but if you gave him more keyword buffs, or the foe is just dropping a dictionary of keywords on your team, he will get stronger. It’s not as good as copying the [Bonus] from allies like B!Chrom can do, but L!Chrom is an infantry unit, he can get NFU in other ways.

Bramimond: The Enigma

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 39/40/27/21/35 Max Invest 47/48/34/28/43

Void Tome: Grants Atk+3. At start of combat, if foe's Atk ≥ 50 or if [Penalty] is active on foe, grants Atk/Def/Res+5 to unit during combat. At start of combat, if foe's Spd ≥ 35 or if [Penalty] is active on foe, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.

Luna - Atk/Def Push 4 - Lull Atk/Res 3 / Atk/Res Tempo 3 - Impenetrable Void

Impenetrable Void: Disables skills of all foes excluding foe in combat, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-5 on foe, and reduces the percentage of foe’s non-Special “reduce damage by X%” skills by 50% during combat *.

Bramimond was the first unit to introduce what we now call Feud (Oh yeah, L!Chrom has that now). This disabled all manner of Drive Skills that could grant a butt load of effects, from NFU, Tempo, and even “Life Unending” (Thanks Fallen!Maria, I guess). So, the enigma that invented these needs some more bells and whistles. How about Damage Reduction Reductions? It’s the hip new thing. After that, Bramimond can use their high increase Def/Res to tank better than the rest of these DR users, and get a guaranteed follow-up if you were too fast anyway. But what else?

Void Tome: Grants Atk+3. At start of combat, if foe's Atk ≥ 50 or if [Penalty] is active on foe, grants Atk/Def/Res+5 to unit during combat. At start of combat, if foe's Spd ≥ 35 or if [Penalty] is active on foe, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack and prevent foe from making a follow-up attack.

If unit's HP ≥ 25%, grant Atk/Def/Res+4 to unit, inflicts Atk/Res-X on foe (X = 4 + number of [Bonus] and [Penalty] effects active on foe × 4; max 16; excludes stat bonuses),neutralizes foe's bonuses to Spd/Def (from skills like Fortify, Rally, etc.), and reduces damage from foe's first attack by 40% during combat.

Might as well give them full breaker. I know they would fast enough to just be using NFU, but for the few units that can use it, like Armors or Calvary and Fliers on Enemy Phase, this will work. Then, to follow the theme of removing the foe’s will to live, I added Lull Atk/Res 4 to their weapon, modified to copy Summer Shamir’s weapon, since they got a new B slot anyway. And let’s, add the DR, for good luck.

Idunn: Dragonkin Duo

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 46/37/26/37/38 Max Invest 54/45/33/44/46

Zephyr Breath: Effective against armored foes. Grants Res+3. If a bonus granted by a skill like Rally or Hone is active on unit or if unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, neutralizes unit's penalties and inflicts Atk-6 on foe during combat, and foe cannot make a follow-up attack. If foe's Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def or Res.

Iceberg - Sturdy Stance 3 - Vengeful Fighter 3 - Goad Dragons

Duo Button: Grants Def/Res+6 and the following status to unit and allies within 5 rows and 5 columns centered on unit for 1 turn: "Neutralizes 'effective against dragons' bonuses and 'effective against armored' bonuses."

Here’s Spring Idunn, with her dou partner Fae. The first Idunn was both a tough nut the crack, and a nutcracker, so her new one is bringing the same armor effectiveness and neutralizes of penalties with her. And her Duo button gives her immunity to her own weaknesses and passes it to her armored and dragon friends.. it is only one turn, so you will need to kill the effective weapon user on the turn you activate it. If there is no one there, you can just activate it on the first enemy phase encounter, as it still give Def/Res. Now, what I found with this version is that she wasn’t as tanky as I expected, likely due to the button, and NFU being so common. So I thought, what’s something that Tiki and Halloween! Duma have? Decharging Special cooldown. But we did just get Rhea with an inheritable version of this skill. What else could we do? Well if she has Vengeful Fighter, she can’t use the other dragon exclusive b skills. Let’s put ‘em in here.

Zephyr Breath: Effective against armored foes. Grants Res+3. If a [Bonus] is active on unit or if unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, neutralizes unit's penalties, inflicts Atk/Res-6 on foe during combat, and foe cannot make a follow-up attack. If foe's Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def or Res.

If foe initiates combat or if foe's HP ≥ 75% at start of combat, inflicts Atk/Res-X on foe during combat (X = 11 - foe's max Special cooldown count value × 2; min 3; if foe does not have a Special skill, penalty = 3), reduces damage from attacks during combat and from area-of-effect Specials (excluding Røkkr area-of-effect Specials) by 40%, and also, if unit's Atk > foe's Res, deal damage equal to 25% of unit's Atk minus foe's Res.

With this refine, Idunn will be a great counter to low cooldown sweeper, with or without Snear. She can get Atk/Res -15 on a foe with 1 cooldown, or -9 minimum. The reduced Res with also make the check of Dragon Wrath more reliable. And instead of Dragon Wall, I just put 40%, no Res check needed. If I was to do “Reduce damage by 20% of Def or Res” I would have to pick for the player which to invest in, and I want to give them more freedom to invest in both stats.

Kempf: Conniving General

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 42/33/33/27/26 Max Invest 50/41/41/34/33

Venin Edge: Grants Def+3. After combat, if unit attacked, deals 10 damage to target and foes within 2 spaces of target, and inflicts status on those foes preventing counterattacks through their next actions.

Aegis – Fortress Res 3 – Savage Blow 3

You’ve fallen right into my trap! In America!

Kempf is here to take your enemy phase privileges with a sword that flashes the foe and deal 10 out of combat damage. There’s not much outside of that. Now, we did just get a GHB staff unit that can inflict “flash” of foe’s at the start of combat, we need to amp him up.

Venin Edge: Grants Def+3. At the start of turn 2-4, inflict status that “prevents unit’s counterattack” on nearest foe within 4 tile radius of unit through their next action. At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 to unit during combat. After combat, if unit attacked, deals 10 damage to target and foes within 2 spaces of target, and inflicts "prevents unit's counterattack" on those foes through their next actions.

At start of combat, if foe's HP ≤ 99% or if any [Bonus] or [Penalty] is active on foe, grant Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 to unit, inflicts Spd/Def-X on foe (X = number of [Bonus] and [Penalty] effects active on foe × 4; max 16; excludes stat bonuses and stat penalties), and neutralizes foe's bonuses to Spd/Def (from skills like Fortify, Rally, etc.) during combat.

So, I’ve updated the main effect to give him and nearby allies the main benefit of his “after combat effects” at the start of combat. It’s only on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th turn, and it works like Menace, so the closest foe Kempf can attack gets flashed, so those are the ones he should attack. And if he does attack that foe, he gets the other benefit, that same modified version of Spd/Def Lull 4 from Summer Shamir. It’s only going to give him -4 Spd/Def, thanks to the rest of his weapon, meaning you need to attack or get attacked by foe’s that are charged up with bonues, inherit skills that inflict more penalties (like Fatal Smoke), or team up with allies that inflict these penalties. Using his allies to weaken the foes, just so he can get the kill, is definitely in character with Kempf.

Perceval: Knightly Ideal

Prized Lance: Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). At start of combat, if it is unit’s first combat in player phase or if foe’s HP > 75%, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 during combat and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Enable [Canto (Rem.+1)] If unit initiates combat or unit is not adjacent to an ally, grant Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 during combat, neutralizes effects that prevent unit from making a follow-up attack, and grant Special cooldown charge +1 to unit per attack.

Gerik: Desert Tiger

Desert Tiger Battle-axe: If unit’s HP>=25%, inflict Atk/Spd/Def-5 on foe during combat, and also, if unit’s Spd > foe’s Spd -1, foe cannot counterattack.

If unit is within 3 tile radius of an ally, grant Atk/Spd +6 and grants Special cooldown charge +1 and deals damage = 15% of unit’s Spd per unit’s attack during combat. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Ross: His Father’s Son

Father’s Son Axe Hand-me-down Hackett: Mt.8 Grants Spd+4 Inflicts Def/Res-5 Unit attacks twice. (Even if foe initiates combat.)

If foe initiates combat or foe’s HP >75%, grant Special Cooldown charge +1 to unit per foe’s attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: Drake Improves Despite Himself

For such a popular rapper, Drake inspires more begrudging love than any comparable figure with the possible half-exception of Kanye West. Tell a Drake fan that you find the man as an obnoxious, immature, faux-sensitive manipulator who gets undue credit for portraying his lousy personality honestly, as if he had a choice, and the majority of responses begin with “Yeah, that’s totally true, but…” rather than “What a load of horse pucky”. Ambivalence is the appropriate response to his music; you’re supposed to hate him. Maybe casual listeners who enjoy his singles on the radio without bothering to dissect his seven Billboard 200-topping albums l can engage without getting sucked into an abusive relationship, but committed fans keep running lists of his character flaws, despise him for said flawed character, respect him for revealing said flawed character, respect him for his perpetual efforts to change, despise themselves for respecting him, despise him for making them despise themselves, and take perverse pleasure in the whole icky process. Drake purportedly worries about the emotional damage he wreaks on women who date him, but perhaps he should consider his poor fanbase.

Complaints about personality are irrelevant when the music in question, like most hip-hop, doesn’t code expressive and/or confessional, but Drake’s does. A typical Drake song simulates baring the soul: obsessing over fame and romantic anxiety  and otherwise publicizing insights best left in the therapist’s office. Claims about his honesty parse only if you believe the real-life Drake resembles the persona he plays; otherwise the question remains as to why, rather than making a show of refusing to hide an irritating persona, he doesn’t just construct a nicer one. The subtext of wealth and celebrity wrecks his potential as an everyman figure — one who might conceivably have eschewed megastar-specific afflictions for universal human error. Six years ago in The New Yorker Sasha Frere-Jones compared Drake to reality television, which still applies insofar as both turn valiant attempts at self-improvement into disingenuous public spectacle. For reasons I dare not speculate on, American consumers of mass media love watching affluent men and women of questionable intelligence and certain vulgarity fret over their own shallowness while struggling to speak in  pop-psychological cliches. Were Drake ever to work through his issues, as they say, he’d lose his audience; gone would be the suspense that comes from perpetual striving and the ever-present possibility of a relapse. He’s proven this a lucrative formula, with six of his seven #1 albums having gone platinum and the new More Life, out since March, sure to follow. As long as his singles get airplay, Drake will be suffering through public therapy for a very long time. Say this for narcissists: they fascinate.

Drake’s official albums are punishing, interminable slogs, where wispy, vacuous beats provide an appropriately empty external correlative to the lazily expositional male fantasies dribbling from his mouth; I’d quote lyrics if the ostensibly nice, sensitive guy who’s actually a callous sociopath strategically deploying his sensitive image weren’t by now such a familiar role. By contrast, his mixtapes adhere closer to established hip-hop standards of listenability, tempo, hookiness, general aural focus, and the like. When musical partner/in-house producer Noah “40” Shebib programs a juicy beat behind him, he’s capable of splendid results. On 2015’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, his most direct and compelling release, producers Shebib and Boi-1da deploy a strikingly light and agile set of melodic keyboard loops within the same signature airy style, while Drake discovers he can brag and sneer like a real rapper. Compare the sharpness of his rapping voice to his unctuous singing, which wobbles gauchely between velvety sigh and velvety whine. More Life, which he calls a “playlist” rather than an official album release, thus falls into the more tolerable category. Sprightly and energetic, it’s also looser and more expansive than If You’re Reading This. Richer textures, intermittent weird instruments woven into the electronic mesh, and an increasingly keen ear for savory R&B choruses mark a record that cruises through its bangers and earns its squishy moments. Sonic grace establishes a humane feel.

With artists who linger in the public spotlight, it’s important not to let familiarity and/or Stockholm syndrome trick you into mistaking your inactive gag reflex for substantive aesthetic quality, but especially toward the album’s beginning, some of these tracks abound with substance. “Passionfruit” simmers over a streamlined chillwave groove as Drake sighs a melody whose loveliness extends to his own vocal quaver. “Madiba Riddim,” cascading through a lilting guitar hook that shares its trebly tone and bittersweet prettiness with several African pop genres, also showcases Drake’s gentle soulfulness as a singer responding to rhythmic nuance and kinetic motion. “Get It Together” remixes South African DJ Black Coffee’s extended house track “Superman” into an abridged dance interlude, highlighting the original’s thumping percussion, shifty piano, and ominous electronic sitar-esque throb. Meanwhile, the starkly elegant beat in “Blem” snaps with a velocity dependent on the thinness of the synthesizers, as does “No Long Talk,” whose confident stride, simultaneously flippant and delicate, inhabits a mode more rappers should try. Such ear candy would delight more decisively of the music didn’t frame Drake’s performance as sincere confession to be taken seriously — if he weren’t also insisting “God knows I’m trying for you” (and never succeeding, because then he couldn’t make another album), moaning “Gonna have to teach me how to love you again” (you do all the work honey, he’s just too sexily damaged), coyly suggesting “You got issues that I won’t mention” (but he’ll mention that he won’t mention them), and threatening “I might just say how I feel” (as if he’s never opened up before). But his shtick can’t be laughed off; for the music to truly click requires caring about Drake’s feelings, and if you do, the sensual, mysterious calm captured on More Life transfixes. Moody guys excel at mood music.

Sublime moods last for only so long before dissipating. The highlights described above constitute five songs on a 22-song release. Although Quavo and Young Thug, among others, contribute enlivening guest verses, as usual with Drake half the album degenerates into atmospherically pro forma synth presets and rhythmically clumsy attempts at gravitas. Attenuated trifles bolster longer, more substantive songs. English pseudosoul singer Sampha and grime fixture Skepta get their own solo interludes, for mysterious reasons. At times More Life reminds me of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, that other massively messy compendium of celebrity talent, minus West’s considered sequencing and liquid musical flow. Piling on the guests, the weird samples, the tangential interlude-exercises, the unnecessary filler tracks providing connective tissue — there’s so much other stuff here that Drake himself almost disappears. Four years ago this excessive practice would have indicated a megastar’s ambition to craft a plushly immersive suite, but by now it also codes as an attempt at self-erasure. The “playlist” format ensures a casual lack of focus and the illusion of a lapse in creative control. Drake raps plenty, but fans of the statement album will miss his guiding hand. For those who dislike his persona, what better development could there be?

As with West, there remains the possibility that Drake actively and deliberately calculated this effect, but let’s not upset ourselves over the intentional fallacy. Cynics will interpret albums like More Life and indeed Pablo as indicators that external validation liquefies a performer’s talent and confidence, that money inspires the spurious notion that creative excess equals aesthetic quality, but these aren’t bad things, exactly, and to insist otherwise reveals a furtive craving for auteurism. More Life’s highlights are so tasty I only wish it were even messier, even more dissociated, even more unpredictable. That Drake made a halfway decent album despite himself is a triumph appropriate to our grotesque celebrity era. His ego having slipped from his fingers, he’s watching it, helplessly, floating away on the wind, watching his own subjectivity dissipate while losing himself in the music.

More Life (2017) and If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2015) are available from Amazon and other online retailers.

The post Drake Improves Despite Himself appeared first on Hyperallergic.

from Hyperallergic http://ift.tt/2p2Ditg via IFTTT