DL EVolk Build Recommendations (v2)

Character Build Recommendations for EVolk

- Note that might numbers below are recommended might values, which will allow you to comfortably enter groups and clear without seeing the difficult mechanics, assuming everybody's rotations are good. You can clear with less, but it will be more difficult to find successful, non-trap groups in pubs.
	- The MINIMUM might gate that players typically gate at are:
		- 9300 for DPS with Mana Spiral (MS)
		- 9000 for DPS without MS
		- 7500 for HLowen
	- These are the minimum values, and many will gate higher than this (the usual gates are 9500, 9000, and 8000 respectively)
- MUB HDT2 or Agito weapons are highly recommended for all characters, with one of these weapons almost being a hard requirement for DPS. However, healers and buffers may get away with less (though again, you probably won’t be finding pub groups).
    - Basically all DPS roles will prefer Agito over HDT2, except for Chelsea. However, HDT2 is still perfectly acceptable.
    - Due to the nature of these weapons, you can get away with less unbinds on the HDT2.
	- It is highly recommended to have at least 2 or 3 unbinds on HDT2, preferably being MUB.
	- However, Agito weapons, when they are not MUB, suffer a significant DPS loss. Please run Agito weapons only at MUB.
	- The recommended might section reflects this (except for a few characters who need MUB HDT2 to pass the usual minimum might gates).
- All characters, equipment, and dragons are assumed to be max level, max unbinds, etc. Characters and wyrmprints are also assumed to have max augments, for +600 total.
- Though EVolk is generally considered to be easier than mHMS, the stat requirements and investment required to consistently enter and clear are significantly higher. Please be aware that EVolk is extremely lategame content, and many will refuse gimped/budget characters, equipment, or dragons. Low facility level can also contribute to this.

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Tier 1
- Units that are used extremely often in groups – almost every group will have one of each of these units.
- Very easy to find rooms, provided you meet might and build requirements.
    - However, there have been a large number of Ezeliths lately (which is unsurprising, given how strong she is).
	- Despite this, it is still fairly easy to find groups, provided you are well-built.

Ezelith
- Might: ~9500 (HDT2)/~9800 (Agito)
- Twinfold Bonds + Elegant Escort/Levin’s Champion (EE heavily, heavily preferred, it is ~14% DPS loss if LC is used instead)
- Arctos/Apollo/Sakuya (Arctos heavily preferred, Sakuya not recommended)

After her Mana Spiral, Ezelith started to do insane amounts of damage, being able to dish out massive crits with the combination of her 100% crit rate and Arctos crit damage aura. Accordingly, she now works as the main DPS of lategame fire content, including EVolk. If you choose to build Ezelith without EE or Arctos, be aware that not having EE or Arctos will significantly gimp your damage. Using Apollo instead of Arctos does have comparable damage if your team can maintain extremely high burn uptime, but Arctos’s stun and incredible burst damage on break is highly valued, and the DPS loss becomes increasingly significant as the fight progresses due to less consistent burns.

Halloween Lowen
- Might: 7500+ (PSiren)/8000+ (fire dragon)
- Weapon: Agito/HDT2/Chimeratech/etc.
    - Can technically use any weapon as long as he can heal plague in one S2.
	- However, it is highly recommended to use higher tier weapons to pass might gates.
- From Whence He Comes + The Bridal Dragon/Castle Cheer Corps/Give Me Your Wounded/Elegant Escort (TBD preferred)
- Popstar Siren/Leviathan/Bronze Fafnir/Cerberus (PSiren heavily preferred)
    - Since healing & HP check isn’t very tight (and almost non-existent), it is highly recommended that HLowen run a support dragon.
	- However, regular DPS dragons, such as Cerb or Agni, and even HBH, Prom, and Phoenix can clear just fine.
    - Tip: If you’re struggling to meet might gates and/or set might gates yourself, use a build with inflated might to pass/set checks, then change to PSiren once done.

With his high amounts of healing and innate prep, HLowen became the healer of choice for EVolk – his built-in prep allows players to reach 100% skill prep with FWHC, an easily accessible print, and allows him to cleanse plague very early. Combined with his overall superior healing, other support effects, and his emergency heal in the form of skill charge, HLowen is a very robust pick for a healer for most content, EVolk included. TBD is preferred as the second print, as it allows Euden to ramp faster.

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Tier 2
- Typically two out of these three units will be used interchangeably to fill the remaining two slots in most teams. Since both Ezelith and Lowen are Sleep-resistant characters, it also helps that these characters are Stun-resistant to allow for a 2 Sleep 2 Stun comp, making it easier to clear orbs with less coordination.
- Some people will gate for certain combinations based on personal preference, but most teams seem to prefer Euden + Xania. However, rooms will typically accept HMym as well.

Euden
- Might: ~9300 (HDT2)/~9600 (Agito)
- The Shining Overlord + Elegant Escort
- Apollo/Sakuya/Cerberus (Apollo >= Sakuya > Cerb)
    - Euden can run any of these dragons successfully – however, dragon timings will slightly differ based on the dragon.

Euden becomes one hell of a ramping monster with his Mana Spiral – he now generates dragon gauge with his extremely low SP S1, has relatively decent skill modifiers, and with TSO and his built-in passives, he gains a hefty amount of STR per dragon for the remainder of the quest. He also gains the ability to burn, enabling the use of Elegant Escort. Sakuya offers better adventurer damage than Apollo, but Apollo offers a better dragonform. Cerb is a worse option, with Sakuya having better adventurer damage and Apollo having both better adventurer damage and dragonform, but still remains viable – in other words, just use whichever dragon you have maxed.

Xania
- Might: ~9300 (HDT2)/~9600 (Agito)
- Candy Couriers + Elegant Escort
- Apollo/Sakuya/Cerberus (Apollo > Sakuya > Cerb)

Along with many others, Xania joins the “now useful” group of adventurers with her Mana Spiral. Her innate DPS is lower than that of Euden or Ezelith – however, she brings frequent burns, leading to almost 100% uptime on burn, as well as the usual wand coability, making her a solid choice. She is also a ranged character, which leads to her being a good pick for rounding out teams – the nature of EVolk’s pattern encourages a 2 melee 2 ranged composition (2 nado prioritizes ranged units). However, using her

Halloween Mym
- Might: ~9000 (HDT2)/~9100 (Agito)
	- Rooms usually gate at 9k+ might, so may have trouble getting into rooms without MUB HDT2.
	- Because of this, HMym mains may want to host their own rooms.
- Weapon: Agito/HDT2
    - She’s here to be a steroid for Ezelith, and can get away with weaker weapons…
	- … but her basic attacks and dragonform still packs a punch, and you will struggle to pass might gates with weaker weapons.
- Kung Fu Masters + Elegant Escort/Jewels of the Sun (EE preferred)
    - JotS (and UboV) lets HMym hit a haste breakpoint, but that breakpoint is not very useful due to the nature of Volk’s behaviour.
- Apollo/Cerberus/Arctos (Apollo > Arctos > Cerb)

While she was rather unremarkable in mHMS, HMym becomes one hell of a drug for Ezelith players… HMym’s coability alone boosts Ezelith’s damage by ~11%, and HMym’s (de)buffs only serves to increase her usefulness – since Volk becomes a piñata during resentments and most of phase 2, her stationary zone has a pretty decent uptime. Her dragonform is also among the best in the game, allowing her to provide some extra oomph during break and blood moons. However, she lacks the ability to burn (outside of dragon), and has relatively low personal DPS. A great pick for Ramona mains from mHMS… if they pulled HMym during Halloween.

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Tier 3
- These characters are still strong, but fail to contribute as much as those in Tiers 1 and 2, and/or have a flaw that makes them less preferable. They are still often used to clear, and can find groups in a reasonable amount of time… though some may refuse to play with these characters.
    - It is highly recommended that these characters host their own rooms, since pubs will often gate them out.

Rena/Aoi
- Might: ~9000 (HDT2)/~9100 (Agito)
    - These are Rena might numbers, add ~400 might for Aoi.
- Valiant Crown/Resounding Rendition + Elegant Escort (VC for Rena, RR for Aoi)
- Sakuya/Apollo/Cerberus

Both Rena and Aoi brings burn and blade coability to the table… and that’s about it. Their inclusion typically results in a 3 Sleep composition as well (since Ezelith and HLowen are a part of most teams), which means that the last character must be a Stun-resistant character (or you can meme with RP…), which usually isn’t a problem, since the the other common picks are Stun-resistant. Do note that if they run with another burner, you may start to run out of burns later on in Phase 2. Rena is typically preferred over Aoi due to higher burn proc rate and better damage potential, but overall both are very similar. Also note that there are quite a few Rena running around, after having built her for mHMS.

Sarisse
- Might: ~9100 (HDT2)/~9200 (Agito)
- Forest Bonds + Elegant Escort
- Sakuya/Apollo

Sarisse offers a variety of benefits – she has dual resistance and is ranged, making it easier to get a 2 stun 2+ sleep comp, as well as a 2 melee 2 ranged comp. She also has very little problem maintaining max stacks for her S1 due to the inclusion of HLowen, and can pump out a fairly reasonable amount of damage. However, her damage often falls behind that of other options, and her lack of burn and more extensive support effects makes her a less popular choice.

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Other Notable Characters
- These characters can still clear comfortably, but have been knocked out of common usage by other characters due to issues with team synergy, lower damage, and/or innate flaws.

Naveed
Naveed doesn’t quite fit into the eVolk meta, despite getting a significant upgrade with his Mana Spiral… since Euden is better, inflicts burn, uses the same equipment, and everybody has Euden. It’s quite unfortunate for Naveedaddy… though he does just fine in clearing. Just be aware that he is sleep-resistant and not stun, and that he does not burn.

Emma
She’s still a wonderful buffer, but fails to contribute as much as HMym does, due to the existence of Ezelith. Also note that she is sleep-res, when the two most common characters for this fight are already sleep-resistant. She’s still useful in HMS since you want some defensive options to help you pass HP check, but said HP check doesn’t really exist in eVolk…

Nobunaga (and Mikoto)
They’re in a similar situation as Rena/Aoi, but with lesser damage output and no burn, making them worse alternatives for less popular characters. Nobu does have the ability to knock off buffs, and Mikoto is stun-resistant, but neither property is really worth running them.

VHilde (and Verica)
They can both heal the fight just fine, but HLowen is preferred due to a variety of factors (i.e. built-in prep and force charge, buffs, high heal output to patch up mistakes, etc… plus he’s cute). VHilde is actually used in speedrun comps due to her energy and built-in prep, but is not recommended in pubs and most groups.

Ramona
Unfortunately for Ramona, she no longer holds the throne of top DPS in fire, and doesn’t have much else going for her, aside from her high damage output. It also doesn’t help that there’s a pretty long DPS downtime at the start of the fight due to blades and Ramona’s long S1 animation. However, she still has fairly sizeable output, and can smash Volk during his piñata phases.