Burst Speed + Mechanics

※ This article is translated from the original Japanese article.Images remain in Japanese.

1. Basics of Burst Gauge Generation

1.1 Normal Attacks and Hit Count

　The hit count is a key factor that determines both burst charging and DPS.

　When the burst gauge reaches 100%, the burst skill can be activated.
　In the arena, the hit count is determined per weapon type and even per character.
　The two weapons to pay attention to in particular are the Rocket Launcher (RL) and the Shotgun (SG).

◆ Rocket Launcher (RL)

　Because the shell explodes on impact, it engulfs covers, barriers, and decoys while still hitting the main body. The explosion radius varies by character.

• Scarlet: Black Shadow / Cinderella: hits 1 target.
• Emilia / Vesti: Tactical Upgrade / A2 / Anis: Star: hits 3 targets.
• Others: hits 2 targets.

　Since the July 25, 2024 update, dual-wield weapon characteristics are also applied in the arena.
　As a result, Noah's hit count doubled, and the burst gauge charging speed roughly doubled from around that time.

◆ Shotgun (SG)

　A single shot fires 10 pellets, meaning each shot produces 10 hits.

　Previously, an SG placed in position 5 would start shooting before the other positions right after combat began, sometimes causing several pellets to miss on the first shot.
　This has since been fixed: characters in all positions now begin shooting at the same time, and the opening shots no longer miss.

1.2 Generation via Skills and Buffs

　Rosanna: gains 36.54% every time anyone — ally or enemy — is downed.
　Helm (Treasure): gains 14.31% each time a full-charge attack is fired.
　These fixed-value additions are not affected by Quantum Cube effects.

2. Basic Combat Mechanics

2.1 Weapon Type Characteristics

　Note that the blast of a normal RL often reaches the barrier of the character in position 3.

• If you don't want to lose the barrier, or you don't want to needlessly accelerate the opponent, placing a barrier character in positions 1, 2, or 3 is not recommended.
• Conversely, you can place Centi (Treasure) in position 3 to intentionally let the barrier be broken and trigger recovery.
  Placing decoys or barriers in positions 1, 2, or 3, or next to taunting characters such as Noah or Noise, is also a strategy to shorten the opponent's indomitable duration.

2.2 Hits on Objects

　Barriers, decoys, and covers cannot block any AoE bursts.
　Strong AoE attacks such as Liberalio or Scarlet pass right through, so these objects cannot be used to block them.

　Likewise, barriers, decoys, and covers cannot block Scarlet's reflect.
　In the example, Nero's HP gauge is being chipped away even while the barrier and cover are still up.

　For detailed stats of each object, see 7. Object Status Details.

2.3 Target Selection Rules

　First, note that the order before combat starts differs from the order once combat starts. Only the defending side appears with its positions reversed.

　Target selection for each weapon is as follows.

• Attacking SR: targets position 5.
• Defending SG: targets position 5.
• Otherwise: targets position 1.

※ This VS image generator is being implemented on a new page, but it is still in development and not yet released.

　Bursts are activated from the left of the team composition screen for both defense and offense. → On the combat screen, only the defending side activates from the right.

3. Formula and Special Behaviors

　You can observe each character's gauge progression in detail with this site's Arena EX.

4. Definition and Unit (RL) of Burst Speed

　The "speed" referred to here is not attack speed but the speed at which the burst gauge fills. The burst gauge basically fills at the moment an attack hits.

　As special cases, Jackal generates burst from a debuff that activates after taking 10 hits, and Scarlet deals damage and also fills the burst gauge when she reflects.

4.1 What 3RL / 4RL Mean

　The unit commonly used both domestically and internationally is RL (short for Rocket Launcher).

• 3RL: the timing when the rocket launcher's 3rd shot lands
• 4RL: the timing when the rocket launcher's 4th shot lands

　1 RL is roughly 1.216 to 1.250 seconds. The burst-charge speed of other weapons is judged using this rocket-launcher impact as the baseline.

　In the arena, activating bursts too late is often disadvantageous.
　Conversely, when leveraging skills such as Blanc's indomitable, deliberately delaying burst activation can sometimes be advantageous.

　Even with the same weapon, the achievable burst speed varies. For quick details, refer to the speed tables at the bottom of each tool.
　You can also pick characters in Arena EX and observe them on the graph.

　By grasping both your speed and the opponent's, you can tell whether the skills that decide victory will land in time.
　For example, you can land Scarlet's slash before the opponent's Noah, or activate your own Moran to endure before the opponent's burst 3 lands.
　This knowledge ties directly to winning or losing.

　As an application, you can also vary the speed by carefully selecting the rocket launcher's charge speed or by equipping Quantum Cubes.

4.2 Motion Shortening in the Arena

　Rocket launchers and snipers have slightly shorter attack intervals than in normal combat.
　This is presumed to be because combat is fought with SD characters, so motion duration is shortened.

5. Activation and Application Time Lag

　For most characters, the skill effect is applied roughly 0.1 seconds after the burst activates.
　This time lag can also be confirmed in the Arena EX graph. As verification proceeds, each character's skill-application timing becomes more accurate.

5.1 Burst Activation Delay

　There is a slight pause between each burst. Unlike normal combat, the arena is fully auto, so
　you cannot speed up burst activation by mashing the button.

　Approximate times have been measured and reflected in the various tools.

• Burst MAX → Burst 1 / Burst re-1 / Λ:1 activation time: about 0.433 seconds
• First burst skill activation → next burst activation: about 0.533 seconds

　Knowing these times offers the following advantages.

• When carefully selecting charge speeds, you can simulate how quickly a team can land the decisive blow and against which compositions it has more winning paths.
  Precious custom modules can be saved.
• Conversely, it also helps when you want to bring forward the application of Noise's or Moran's burst skills to bolster survivability.

　Combining inter-burst time-lag and speed information with charge speed and Quantum Cubes broadens your strategic options.

5.2 Skill Application Lag

　The following cases have been observed as concrete examples of this time lag.

• Noah's invulnerability: after burst activation, it takes about 0.1 seconds before the invulnerability-specific damage indicator appears.
• Blanc's indomitable failure: if the indomitable target dies during the brief interval between Blanc activating her burst and the effect being applied, it does not function.
  Applying indomitable to an already-downed character becomes meaningless.
• Rapunzel's revive failure: when the enemy's Rosanna and our Rapunzel activate burst at the same time, Rapunzel's revive sometimes fails.
  At the moment of simultaneous activation, Rosanna's burst has not yet landed, so no revive target exists; the revive is presumed not to apply.

6. Combat Power Debuff Mechanics

　In the arena, when the combat-power gap between teams exceeds 15.4%, the lower-power side receives a debuff.
　The moment the gap exceeds 15.4%, stats are reduced by roughly 20% all at once,
　and as the gap widens to 20%, 30%, and so on, the debuff is said to ultimately reach up to 90%.

※ This is calculated per matched team, not by the total combat power.
　The combined 3-team value shown in Special Arena rankings has no bearing on the combat-power debuff check.

　The PvP contents to which this applies are as follows.

• Rookie Arena: applies
• Special Arena: applies
• Champion Arena: likely does not apply

Usage Examples

　Since this debuff applies firmly to the opponent as well, in Special Arena you can field your high-combat-power team against the opponent's lowest-combat-power team
　to advantageously push the fight.

　Conversely, on defense it is safer to compose three teams so that none of them has too low a combat-power value.
　If a team's power is too low and the debuff kicks in, even a finely tuned Rosanna landing a critical may fail to defeat the opponent.

Arena EX Calculatorthird Calculator

7. Object Status Details

　A status comparison of barriers, decoys, and covers is as follows.

Barrier

　The barrier's defense was 0. The advantage code does not apply. Criticals do occur.

Decoy

　Decoys are not affected by either skill-based damage mitigation or cube-based damage mitigation.
　However, the Defense Cube does apply. As with the barrier, the advantage code does not apply. Criticals do occur.
　Example: with mitigation active, Rei herself took 33,095 damage, but the decoy took 1.5× the un-mitigated number.

Cover

　The cover's HP and defense depend on the NIKKE's level. This is confirmed by it taking the same damage regardless of class or element.
　Raising the NIKKE's HP or defense does not raise the cover's base stats. Criticals do occur.

Related Pages

• Team Builder — burst-speed simulation
• Arena EX — detailed simulation