Chaos Zero Nightmare (CZN)NineBuild and Guide

• Incinerate: Cards with Incinerate trigger additional effects when Exhausted.
• Honed Edge: Honed Edge provides a 20% (multiplicative) damage buff to all of Nine’s defense-based damage per stack, up to a maximum of 3.
• Honed Edge+: Can be obtained from one of Nine’s epiphanies and replaces Honed Edge. Is functionally identical to the standard Honed Edge but also affects teammates as well as Nine.

6

Reflection: Zero

Ego Skill

250% Defense-Based Damage to all enemies.
+50% Damage Amount for each point of the combined Cost of the 2 highest-Cost cards, then Exhaust those cards

Show Effects

Reflection: Zero

Reflection Zero is Nine’s Ego Skill. It costs 6 Ego Points to use and will deal DEF-Based damage to every enemy. Furthermore, it will also increase the damage it deals by 50% by Exhausting the two highest cost cards in your hand. The damage increases per cost of the cards you exhausted (e.g., exhausting a 3 cost Hew + a 1 cost card will result in a 200% damage increase) - This can be a double-edged sword as you don’t get to choose the other card you want to exhaust. A fine tool for levelling up Hew, but it can be awkward to use due to its downside. Doesn’t meaningfully affect Nine’s damage output, though.

1

Slash

Attack

100% Defense-Based Damage

Slash

Slash is Nine's basic attack. It deals moderate defense-based damage, and when you have her potential node 3-1 activated, it also increases the damage of Exhaust-based cards by 15% for the turn, stacking up to twice. This basic attack is better than most characters thanks to its higher-than-average damage and buffing, which can be solid in Chaos, but once you get deeper into runs or are aiming for save decks, this card is usually removed.

1

Back-Edge Parry

Skill

100% Shield

Show Effects

Back-Edge Parry

Back-Edge Parry is Nine’s other basic starting card; it provides a shield with no other effects. This card is always the first removal target.

3

Hew

Attack

[Unique][Initiation][Exhaust][Ephemeral]

350% Defense-Based Damage.
Incinerate: Create 1 Hew Lv. 1

Show Effects

Hew

Hew is Nine’s bread and butter skill, which her entire kit revolves around. Hew starts as a 3-cost attack card with 4 tags, [Unique], [Exhaust], [Ephemeral], and [Initiation]. It also has another pseudo tag called [Incinerate]. Outside of that, it deals Defense-Based damage to a single enemy. Incinerate is an additional effect that occurs when the card is exhausted. What makes Hew worth using, and Nine a functional character, is this card's Incinerate effect, which, upon triggering, creates a new copy of Hew to your hand but with a higher level, so base Hew will add Hew Lv1 upon incineration. Each level of Hew increases the base damage of the card up to a limit depending on the epiphany you’re using (All Hew variants go up to Lv3, with the exception of Hew (Extreme), which goes up to Lv5). When using the maximum level Hew, the Incinerate effect changes to creating a new base copy of Hew, but at the start of the next turn. Note: Divine and Standard epiphanies on this card are not applied to levelled up versions and therefore have much less effect on Nine’s most important card.

1

Experienced Strike

Attack

140% Defense-Based Damage.
20% DMG-Based Shield.
Increase Damage Amount of Exhaust Pile cards by 20% for 1 turn.

Show Effects

Experienced Strike

Experienced Strike is a 1-cost single-target attack card that deals Defense-Based damage and also provides 20% of the damage dealt as shield. It also has an added effect that provides a 20% (multiplicative) damage boost to Exhaust cards for 1 turn. This effect changes with the various epiphanies, which can change the way you build your deck. The main choice, though, is usually similar to its base effect, as buffing Hew’s damage usually comes out as the top priority.

1

Fatal Strike

Attack

140% Defense-Based Damage.
Increase Damage Amount by 20% for each Cost of the highest-Cost Exhaust card, then Exhaust that card.

Show Effects

Fatal Strike

Fatal Strike is also a 1-cost single-target attack card that deals Defense-Based damage. It has the added effect of dealing increased damage by 20% for each cost of the highest-cost card in your hand that has the [Exhaust] tag, and will then also exhaust that card. Eg, Exhausting a 3-cost Hew will increase the damage by 60%. This card helps provide an additional source of exhaust for Hew to ensure you’re cycling through every Lv. each turn to maximize your damage output. Very useful in Hew (Extreme) decks that have 6 full Lvl’s of Hew to get through per turn.

0

Counterblade

Upgrade

[Unique]

When Shield is gained through an ability, gain 1 Honed Edge.

Show Effects

Counterblade

Counterblade is a 0-cost Upgrade card that has the [Unique] tag. When a shield is gained through an ability, you gain 1 Honed Edge stack, up to a maximum of 3 stacks. Honed Edge provides a 20% multiplicative damage increase to attack cards that deal Defense-Based damage. This buff only lasts a single turn and will need to be built back up each turn. Certain Epiphanies allow Nine to gain Honed Edge, so be on the lookout for those.

1

Fighting Spirit

Skill

Activate 1 highest-Cost Attack Card(s) of this unit in hand, then Exhaust those cards.

Show Effects

Fighting Spirit

Fighting Spirit is a 1-cost Skill card that activates the highest cost attack card(s) of Nine in hand, and then exhausts the card(s) used. This card allows you to bypass the high cost of Hew and is the key card you’ll want to duplicate during your Chaos runs. When using this card, the main downside is that you are not able to choose your target for Hew, unless you have Nine at E1 or above.

Potential Priority

Crit Rate% > Crit DMG% > Unique Card DMG% > Common Card DMG% = Basic Card DMG%

Here's some information about Nine's Potentials:

• 3-1: Nine’s 3-1 potential adds an additional effect to her starting attack card “Slash”. When using Slash, it grants a buff that lasts until the end of the turn that increases the damage of cards that have the [Exhaust] tag by 15% (Multiplicative) per stack, to a maximum of 2. This can help in the early stages of Chaos for some extra damage. Not relevant in most cases in Save modes, though.
• 5-1: Nine’s 5-1 potential grants an additive 5% damage to Nine's basic attack card “Slash”, and if Nine's defense is greater than 250, it adds an additional 5% for a total of 10%. This isn’t a crucial node to be taking, but it can help in the earlier stages of Chaos.
• 7: Nine’s 7 potential grants +5% Order Attribute damage if her Defense stat is over 300, for every 10 defense over 300, it will also grant an additional 2% up to a maximum of 10%, meaning 350 defense will be the breakpoint to fully utilize this potential node, granting a total of 15% order attribute damage. This node provides a solid damage boost across the board for Nine and is worth capitalizing on.
• Make sure you’re always hitting 350 DEF on the character sheet if possible to fully unlock this potential’s power; if you’re not, consider swapping some memory fragments around.

Note

We have given a star rating for each Epiphany, showing how strong and useful it is - with 1★ being the lowest rating and 5★ the highest.

Card 1

3

Hew (Extreme)

Attack

[Unique][Initiation][Exhaust][Ephemeral]

300% Defense-Based Damage.
Incinerate: Create 1 Hew (Extreme) Lv. 1.

Show Effects

★★★★★

3

Hew (Ironclad)

Attack

[Unique][Initiation][Exhaust][Ephemeral]

400% Defense-Based Damage.
200% Shield.
Incinerate: Create 1 Hew (Ironclad) Lv. 1.

Show Effects

★★★

3

Hew (Massacre)

Attack

[Unique][Initiation][Exhaust][Ephemeral]

400% Defense-Based Damage to all enemies.
Decrease Damage Amount by 10% for each target.
Incinerate: Create 1 Hew (Massacre) Lv. 1.

Show Effects

★★

3

Hew (Ambush)

Attack

[Unique][Initiation][Exhaust][Retain]

400% Defense-Based Damage.
On ally Counterattack, activate this card.
Incinerate: Create 1 Hew (Ambush) Lv. 1.

Show Effects

★★

3

Hew (Flash)

Attack

[Unique][Initiation][Ignition][Exhaust][Retain]

400% Defense-Based Damage.
Incinerate: Create 1 Hew (Flash) Lv. 1.

Show Effects

★★★

Neutral Epiphany

★

Epiphanies:

• Hew (Extreme)
  [★★★★★] - Extreme is the only Hew Epiphany with different level scaling, with lower starting ratios but much higher ending ratios and overall higher damage potential. Because of this, it’s the clear choice for most damage-based Nine builds, provided you can play in a way that allows you to get through all Lvls each turn
• Hew (Ironclad)
  [★★★] - Nine’s most defensive option for Hew. The Ironclad Epiphany has a flat 240% Shield at all levels of Hew and the same damage ratios as all Hew Epiphanies besides (Extreme). The Ironclad Epiphany can be used to allow her to generate substantial shields, repositioning her as a DEF-damage hybrid character if that’s what you’re after.
• Hew (Massacre)
  [★★] - The AoE variant of Hew. When used, instead of attacking a single enemy, it targets all enemies, but deals 10% less damage per target. This is a multiplicative reduction, which is a significant trade-off for multi-target damage. Can be taken if you absolutely need pure AoE damage, but puts Nine in competition with other dedicated AoE order damage dealers like Yuki and Amir.
• Hew (Ambush)
  [★★] - Removes the [Ephemeral] tag whilst adding the [Retain] tag. When an ally counterattacks, it activates itself. While this might seem conditionally strong, it can currently activate only once per turn (no matter how many counterattacks activate), which means its relative value is quite low on-top of being very conditional.
• Hew (Flash)
  [★★★] - Flash receives cost reduction upon [Exhaust] card used, including ally [Exhaust] cards. This allows [Exhaust] heavy teams to remove Hue’s biggest downside and allow all its Lvls to be played each turn freely in theory. To do this, though, you’ll need a very specific team capable of spamming a huge amount of Exhaust cards each turn, something which isn’t always possible to achieve.
• Neutral [★] - Unfortunately, as Hew exhausts itself and creates a new copy of a card, neutral and divine Epiphanies are only applied to the base version, so besides the Hew created from the max Lvl: start-of-turn create effect, you will not get any additional value from neutral or divine Epiphanies. Thus, they are not recommended.

Divine Epiphanies:

Similar to neutral Epiphanies, Divines will only be applied to the base version (the starting version and the version created through max lvl Hew Start of Turn effect). While this makes divines significantly less valuable on Nine, if you have excess PTS, which is common on Nine, you can consider taking the ‘Vulnerable 2’ divine for up to 2 vuln per turn.

Card 2

1

Experienced Strike I

Attack

210% Defense-Based Damage.
20% DMG-Based Shield.
Increase Damage Amount of Exhaust cards by 30% for 1 turn.

Show Effects

★★★★

1

Experienced Strike II

Attack

210% Defense-Based Damage.
20% DMG-Based Shield.
If a card was Exhausted this turn, increase Damage Amount of this card by 30% for 1 turn until used.

Show Effects

★

1

Experienced Strike III

Attack

210% Defense-Based Damage.
20% DMG-Based Shield.
Increase Shield Gain Amount of Skill Cards by 30% for 1 turn.

Show Effects

★★

1

Experienced Strike IV

Attack

140% Defense-Based Damage.
20% DMG-Based Shield.
+60% Damage Amount for each Exhaust card in hand.

Show Effects

★

1

Experienced Strike V

Attack

210% Defense-Based Damage.
20% DMG-Based Shield.
For 1 turn, when an Exhaust card is activated, 1 Counterattack.

Show Effects

★★

Neutral Epiphany

★★★★★

Epiphanies:

• Experienced Strike I
  [★★★★] - Provides a slightly higher damage value and a 30% multiplicative damage buff compared to 20% on the base card. Not a bad choice, but definitely not the most optimal if presented with a strong Neutral Epiphany.
• Experienced Strike II
  [★] - Increases the Experienced Strike II card by 30% (multiplicative) if a card was exhausted. Because of the inherent 20% DMG-Based shield of this card, it will be one of the better shielding options for Nine. However, taking this card comes at the cost of buffs, which are usually more important to Nine’s strategies, making it a less common choice.
• Experienced Strike III
  [★★] - Changes the buff to increase all shield gain from skill cards, including allies, by 30% (multiplicative). This makes it a strong option to pair with shield skills of a high base ratio. If all you want it to maximize shielding, this Epiphany is strong, but in most Nine builds, damage is the focus, making this Epiphany less attractive compared to other choices.
• Experienced Strike IV
  [★] - Adds an additional effect which gives +60% additive bonus based on the number of [Exhaust] cards in hand for a max value of +540% ratio, but this version has no base increase in ratio from other Epiphany options, leaving it at 186% base vs the 252% of others. If you can get max value from its buffs and afford to play it, it can be a good additional damage card. However, it usually requires a lot of focus to maximize its value, which can interfere with Nine’s core Hew strategy, making it tough to include easily.
• Experienced Strike V
  [★★] - The counter-attack option for Nine. Whenever a card with [Exhaust] is activated, gain 1 Counterattack. This is the best option for counter-attack-based Nine builds, as Nine doesn’t have any other ways to generate counter-attack built into her kit. This card has its uses in Counterattack builds but doesn’t fit into Nine’s usual game plan outside of that, reducing it to a specialist niche option.
• Neutral [★★★★★] - The best Epiphany for Experienced Strike is, in most cases, a Neutral Epiphany, as none of the signature options are major contributors in most builds. Some of the options to look out for are: Vulnerability 1 and Draw 1.

Divine Epiphanies:

The best Divines to aim for are -1 cost reduction and Vulnerable 2 on hit. These aren’t mandatory, but are both nice inclusions if you can hit them.

Card 3

1

Fatal Strike I

Attack

210% Defense-Based Damage.
Increase Damage Amount by 30% for each Cost of the highest-Cost Exhaust card in hand, then Exhaust that card.

Show Effects

★★★★

2

Fatal Strike II

Attack

260% Defense-Based Damage.
Increase Damage Amount by 20% for each Cost of the highest-Cost card in hand.

★

5

Fatal Strike III

Skill

[Unique][Ignition][Retain]

Change Hew in hand to its final level.

Show Effects

★★★

1

Fatal Strike IV

Skill

Exhaust 2 random Exhaust cards of other Combatants in hand.
For each card Exhausted through this ability, increase Damage Amount of the next used Attack Card of this unit by 30% until used.

Show Effects

★★

1

Fatal Strike V

Attack

[Retain]

210% Defense-Based Damage.
Increase Damage Amount by 80% for each ally owning Counterattack.

Show Effects

★

Neutral Epiphany

★★★★★

Epiphanies:

• Fatal Strike I
  [★★★★] - Similar to Experienced Strike I, it has slightly higher values than the base card, but ultimately, a strong neutral Epiphany will be preferred if presented with the option.
• Fatal Strike II
  [★] - Better scaling than Fatal Strike I, and also does not consume cards in order to activate. But the increased AP cost of 2 makes it hard to use, and the loss of exhausting a card in some Nine builds is actually a downside.
• Fatal Strike III
  [★★★] - Able to instantly change Hew into its max level, given 5 exhausts happen while it is in hand, or you have the AP to play it. This can be useful in Nine builds that have less interest in using all levels of Hew and instead want a single attack they can stack maximum buffs on. Strong in those combo-based decks, but not generically useful like other Epiphanies.
• Fatal Strike IV
  [★★] - The effect is changed to exhaust 2 random cards of other combatants and increase the next attack card by 30% (multiplicative) until used. This can be valuable for scenarios where you can manipulate your hand to guarantee value on its random exhaust, such as having it hit a card with an ‘Incinerate:’ effect. However, this takes proper planning and deck building to facilitate; otherwise, you’ll just exhaust the key cards you need.
• Fatal Strike V
  [★] - The bonus effect is changed to give 80% damage for each ally that has counterattack, up to a max of 240%. However, much like Experienced Strike IV, the highest scaling on it is far surpassed by even low scaling on Hew, so it's usually just better to build around Hew instead.
• Neutral [★★★★★] - Similar to Experience Strike, the best Epiphany for Fatal Strike is, in most cases, a Neutral Epiphany, as none of the signature options are major contributors in most builds. Some of the options to look out for are: Vulnerability 1 and Draw 1.

Divine Epiphanies:

The best Divines to aim for are -1 cost reduction and Vulnerable 2 on hit. These aren’t mandatory, but are both nice inclusions if you can hit them.

Card 4

0

Counterblade I

Upgrade

[Unique]

When a card is Exhausted, 1 Honed Edge.

Show Effects

★★★★★

0

Counterblade II

Upgrade

[Unique]

Increase Shield Gain Amount by 15%, and when Shield is gained through an ability, 1 Honed Edge.

Show Effects

★★

0

Counterblade III

Upgrade

[Initiation][Unique]

When Shield is gained through an ability, 1 Honed Edge.

Show Effects

★★★

0

Counterblade IV

Upgrade

[Unique]

When Counterattack is gained, 1 Honed Edge+.

Show Effects

★★★

1

Counterblade V

Upgrade

[Unique]

At the start of the turn, activate Hew in hand 1 time(s).

Show Effects

★★★

Neutral Epiphany

★★

Epiphanies:

• Counterblade I
  [★★★★★] - The most consistent way for Nine to obtain Honed Edge stacks, without another team member fulfilling the requirements. As Nine is focused on exhausting Hew multiple times in a turn, this Epiphany will give you the most consistent damage and uptime.
• Counterblade II
  [★★] - Increases shield gain by a multiplicative 15%, which is great for shielding that has high base ratios. But retains Honed Edge acquisition method of needing shielding, which limits its use to Nine compositions that are able to shield multiple times per turn, restricting her team-building options.
• Counterblade III
  [★★★] - Similar to the base card, but now it is given the [Initiation] tag, meaning you’ll always have this in your opening hand to immediately start gaining stacks and dishing out damage. But you may need to have a consistent shielder on the team to maintain 3 stacks, as the only Shield Nine provides is from Experienced Strike. Gaining shields via sources such as Equipment or a Partner does not grant stacks of Honed Edge.
• Counterblade IV
  [★★★] - Specific to counterattack-focused builds. The buff is also changed to Honed Edge+. The buff differs from the standard Honed Edge as it now also affects your teammates, giving Nine some teamwide utility. Strong in counter-based teams but not useful outside of them.
• Counterblade V
  [★★★] - Sacrifices the ability to generate Honed Edge completely, but activates a Hew card in your hand at the start of the turn. This reduces Nine’s reliance on Fighting Spirit or hard using Hew and removes AP pressure from her. This choice can be very useful for some Extreme builds that aim to use the majority of the cards levels for damage, but the fact that you don’t control when the Hew is used can interfere with rotations. Also, this Epiphany has no use in single-hit Nine builds.
• Neutral [★★] - The neutral Epiphanies for this card are mostly effects that give additive buffs (like Morale or Resolve), which are not utilized well by Nine herself.

Divine Epiphanies:

Divine Epiphanies provide negligible value on this card; therefore, an Epiphany that synergizes with your build should be prioritized over divines.

Recommended Loadout

100%

Line of Justice [4-PC]

[4-PC]: +20% Critical Chance of cards that cost 2 or more.

Flex

The theoretical maximum damage set for Nine, but only after you achieve sufficient Card DMG% (multiplicative) from other sources. The reason for this is that the Crit Rate from this set affects Hew, even if you trigger it with Fighting Spirit and at high Card DMG% saturation, it becomes more valuable as Crit Rate isn’t a stat that is easily accessible.

Note: Use

Tetra's Authority [2-PC]

if your Nine is below 350 Defense in the character screen; without it, use

Executioner's Tool [2-PC]

if she is around or above it.

99.38%

Beast's Yearning [4-PC]

[4-PC]: Increases Damage Amount of Justice and Order Exhaust Attack Cards by 30% (5 times per turn).

Flex

Beast’s Yearning at standard levels of Card DMG% (multiplicative) and gear levels is about on par with the damage output of 4P Line of Justice for Nine in save data game modes. But in Chaos, it’s usually able to pull ahead as the equipment and decks of your combatants are usually much weaker, leading to less saturation of Card DMG%, diminishing Line of Justice’s advantage. The higher your Card DMG%, the more this set falls behind Line of Justice in save data modes. This is particularly relevant when running with characters like Orlea with huge buffs.

Note: Use

Tetra's Authority [2-PC]

if your Nine is below 350 Defense in the character screen; without it, use

Executioner's Tool [2-PC]

if she is around or above it.

96.36%

Bullet of Order [4-PC]

[4-PC]: When Attack Cards are used, increase Damage Amount of Order Cards by 10% for 1 turn (Max 2 times).

Flex

A worse version of Beast’s Yearning in almost all scenarios; you should only use it if you already farmed it. Has all the same strengths and weaknesses as Beast’s Yearning, will be more useful with a low amount of Card DMG% (multiplicative), but falls off when you have a lot of it.

Note: Use

Tetra's Authority [2-PC]

if your Nine is below 350 Defense in the character screen; without it, use

Executioner's Tool [2-PC]

if she is around or above it.

94.98%

Executioner's Tool [2-PC]

[2-PC]: +25% Critical Damage.

Tetra's Authority [2-PC]

[2-PC]: +12% Defense.

Flex

2/2/2 is also a viable option on Nine and allows her to maintain okay damage while also having the flexibility of choosing between many options for the third 2P. Black Wing is being used for the displayed calculations, but if you’re able to consistently secure Agony on your target, Cursed Corpse should be used instead. This will lead to a large increase in damage compared to what is shown. All up 2/2/2 has the potential to beat out 4P Bullet and 4P Beast if you have a lot of Card DMG% or if you’re able to apply Agony. Otherwise, it’s just a nice, flexible choice to use if you don’t want to farm new sets.

Weapon

• 

  Millenium Arbor
• 

  Brilliant Eternal Flame?
• 

  Dagger That Tricked the Shadow
• 

  Obsidian Sword
• 

  Veiled Thorn

Armor

• 

  Shell of Aberration
• 

  Announcement of Catastrophe
• 

  Mask of Flames
• 

  Fairy King's Crown
• 

  Phytotype Synthetic

Trinket

• 

  Rage Potion
• 

  Summoned Lump of Light
• 

  Luminescent Shroom
• 

  Quantum Collector

Comments - Weapons

1. 

   Millenium Arbor
   - Only the best option if you’re not applying Vulnerability consistently through other means. If you are, use a different weapon. Also not nearly as useful on builds where Nine only uses a single massive hit per turn.
2. 

   Brilliant Eternal Flame?
   - One of Nine’s strongest weapons, but it comes from the card copy event, which will require you to give that up. Also, a Mythic slot, which blocks other choices.
3. 

   Dagger That Tricked the Shadow
   - 12% Crit DMG is always a competive option if you can find it in your runs and nothing better turns up or is required for your build.
4. 

   Obsidian Sword
   - Very easy to find and grants 12% (Multiplicative) damage to everything. It's never the best, but if you have nothing else you should definitely grab it.
5. 

   Veiled Thorn
   - The English tooltip for this weapon is wrong. What it actually does is, the turn after no allies (including the wearer) attack, gain a 50% (multiplicative) damage increase for 1 turn. This is a niche weapon option for Nine builds that choose to spend multi turns accumulating buffs in order to deliver a single huge Hew attack. Can be strong in these builds, but not competitive with options above outside of them.

Comments - Armor

1. 

   Shell of Aberration
   or
   

   Announcement of Catastrophe
   - Both Armours provide 12% combat DEF - a rare and powerful stat for any Defense scaler, making it a top choice which can even beat out other damage focused armours and be worth taking over other mythics.
2. 

   Mask of Flames
   - Provides a 35% (Multiplicative) damage boost against enemies which are Vulnerable. Damage boosts this large are rare on Armours, making this one of the best choices for maxing out damage potential so long as you can consistently keep Vulnerable applied.
3. 

   Fairy King's Crown
   - The Crit Rate this armour provides is almost always in demand and a competitive option, making it a piece worth seeking out unless you're able to obtain better more specialized options.
4. 

   Phytotype Synthetic
   - An option for Nine in teams with shielding that can trigger it and who are targeting landing one massive Hew per turn. Less effective in builds that deal their damage over churning through all Levels of Hew.

Comments - Trinkets

1. 

   Rage Potion
   - One of the very few damage options available in the accessory slot in S2’s Chaos for Nine. When aligned on high levels of Hew is a nice damage increase, but it needs to be played around to be effective.
2. 

   Summoned Lump of Light
   - An alternative option to Rage Potion with a lower damage bonus but a more deterministic trigger. Has the downside of usually not being able to land on Nine’s largest Hew hits and only triggering once per turn.
3. 

   Luminescent Shroom
   - One of the best accessories for Nine if you’re playing her within Spore teams at the same time as churning through a large amount of attack cards like in Extreme builds. Useless outside of Spore teams though.
4. 

   Quantum Collector
   - An option for burst damage, but it loses most of its value in longer fights.

Important!

CZN is a game of randomness; sometimes you’ll be offered generic or Divine epiphanies that are stronger than a character's standard five options. In these cases, breaking the listed build can result in an even more powerful save. Adjust as you see fit!

Removal

• Back-Edge Parry
  - Removed in every Nine deck
• Slash
  - Removed in almost every Nine deck but can be kept in some specific strategies that have a large amount of Draw power and AP generation, allowing them to be played each turn for the buffs they provide.

Conditional Removal

• Experienced Strike
  - Not always removed, but can be in some Nine builds that favor a leaner more consistent deck with less draw and AP commitments, and which are ok giving up the buffs this card provides.
• Fatal Strike
  - Similar to the above, if the Exhaust and Combo potential of this card isn’t required for your Nine build, it can be removed in order to make decks more consistent and less AP heavy. Should only be removed if you’re sure you don’t need it to level up Nine’s Hew each turn, though.

Copying

• Fighting Spirit
  - Most Nine decks that use copies will want to prioritize getting enough copies of Fighting Spirit in order to be able to play all levels of their chosen Hew per turn. For Extreme decks, this usually means as many copies as possible, but for non-extreme deck,s this can be just 2 or 3.
• No Copies - For Nine decks that opt to skip to the maximum level of Hew or Lvl it up through other means using no copies is actually a fairly common choice. These decks instead focus on a slimmer deck for consistency.

Veronica

• Provides outstanding 0-cost draw through Repose.
• One of the only draw characters able to get a draw divine on a draw card (Repose), making the ceiling of her draw extremely high.
• Can provide some additional AOE damage.

Nia

• Provides the opportunity to discard and re-draw cards that have strategic merit for activating Hew from within the deck via equipment, refines, alongside another of Nia’s cards, G-Chord. This is a high-end playstyle, but one that allows Nine to both draw cards and play them for cheaper (as G-Chord is 1-cost while Hew 4 is 3 and Hew 5 is 2).
• Can provide a reasonable amount of healing on top of supporting draw in Save Data modes.
• Nia is very complex to play, but can allow for consistent turn-to-turn play with Nine. While strong in Save usually not recommended in Chaos due to her weak start.

Mika

• Mika’s default AP-generation can allow you to hit most of Nine’s AP requirements even in her most AP-intensive teams with just Mika’s cards alone.
• Has a conditionally high ratio shield skill in Blessing of the Wave, which has synergy with some of Nine’s epiphanies.
• Beginner and F2P friendly.
• In extremely optimized decks, the need for a dedicated AP battery can often be sidestepped through Divine AP epiphanies.

Orlea

• Orlea offers a ton of Vulnerability application, which is ideal for maximizing Nine’s damage.
• Also provides great multiplicative card damage increases through her Softie creations, which are a huge damage boost to Nine’s damage. Alongside 4p Glory Reign for a 15% multiplicative team buff that lasts the entire battle.
• Strong user of S2’s Contaminated Spore card mechanics because of her ability to manually activate it without ending turn and through multiple avenues.
• She can provide additional shielding in some builds, which can activate Counterblades that require shielding.
• Orlea herself offers no draw nor AP without divine epiphanies, which is an important factor to keep in mind if valuing consistency turn-to-turn.

Beryl

• Strong user of S2’s Contaminated Spore card mechanics because of her ability to manually activate it without ending turn. The built-in ‘Draw 1’ effect attached to the card is an amazing bonus on an already fantastic card that alternatives may need a divine epiphany to replicate.
• Able to easily activate 4p Glory Reign for a 15% multiplicative team buff that lasts the entire battle.

Rei

• In low-turn content, Rei can provide excellent draw, making her amazing as a draw support for OTK, especially with the addition of the Ebony Lumen card, which she can make great use of via Snack-Time.
• Able to easily activate 4p Glory Reign for a 15% multiplicative team buff that lasts the entire battle.
• Rei’s additive buffs are inconsequential and recommended to be removed for Nine, but she can also be used with her upgrades (and additional ones) to buff Nine with Quantum Collector for one of the best Nine OTK set-ups.

Important!

If you’re losing runs when playing a damage-focused composition either to sanity or dying, consider using a team with more defensive characters - so including both a shielder and healer. This is especially important in the Zero System mode.

Chaos

For Chaos, Nine has a few supports who both keep her alive and offer additional benefits such as damage boosts, AP generation, or card draw. We recommend bringing at least one of these to your runs. Outside of this, the third and final slot can be any character you’d like; you can bring another support, a shielder, or another damage dealer to help Nine take down enemies quicker.

Damage

Support

Flex

Flex

Save Modes

Generic - buffing:

Damage

Support

Support

Generic - comfort:

Damage

Support

Support

One-Hew Wonder:

Damage

Support

Support

Double Buff:

Damage

Support

Support