Neon: Vision EyeInformation and Guide

Missed opportunity to call her Neo-Neon. But fret not, Firepower needs no introduction! ShiftUp may have failed to make Neon lore-accurate once… or twice before, but they have succeeded this time! All it took was a few years to understand just how powerful firepower can be!

But, how strong is this firepower? Let’s find out below just how good Elysion’s finest soldie….! Oh!? What’s this!? She is Missilis now!? Welp, you get the gist. Let’s start reading:

Can you give a brief summary about this unit?

NeonVE is an amazing Electric DPS with high synergy with existing Electric buffers, which includes Anis: Star’s Projectile Explosion DMG buff, allowing her to outperform all her competitions in her element. Relying less on Burst Skill Damage and more on continuous damage during Full Burst, she can effectively make use of Full Burst buffs, unlike Cindy whose damage is frontloaded. That being said, her relevance diminishes outside her forte, turning her into just an acceptable Neutral DPS comparable to Raven and Liberalio. She's outclassed by her competitions in this case in burst gen (SWHA, Liberalio) and scalability/team-building flexibility (MiharaBC). However, since her damage is triggered by basic attacks, you can run NeonVE + Liberalio in Neutral, which surpasses SBS + Liberalio.

This competence, however, doesn't translate as effectively into mobbing. While NeonVE can still deliver screen-wide damage, it doesn't have that "additional DMG" booster to it. She depends solely on basic attack multiplier and increased range during Burst (500 → 1500), which enables her to hit a large swarm of mobs like TVesti. When the stage target shows up, however, she can snipe it while providing some suppressive fire, preferably with Super Firepower active, but we know that may not be possible all the time because you might Burst with her earlier — that's fine. Her high ATK buff accoutres her for high deficit fights, although units with True DMG do that better. While late-game players may not see use for Campaign, beginners can use her just fine. In fact, both parties can still enjoy some Firepower Action in Missilis Tower, paired with Ein and replacing LaplaceTr/QuencyEQ/Maxwell.

In Arena, Neon is not as stellar as she purports to be. Besides her low burst gen (2.96% per RL), her immunity to damage and debuffs (which come handy in PvE for Union Raid and against Crystal Chamber/Egovista) is niche, lasting for 3s and requiring a prior instance of damage to trigger. Against teams that instantly wipe and do not provide a chance to immune first, she will immediately die. Against Nayuta, TVesti (first volley), Cindy, and Scarlet, she may have a chance to live. You don't see them all the time, and you can't tell if you'll face them on Defense. Her AoE is lackluster too. It's still plenty of damage but not destructive enough to beat someone like Moran. If you pair her with Anis, you may see more damage due to Projectile Explosion DMG buff but nothing too fancy. Note that it's continuous and not instant, making her counter Noah somewhat but also countered by instant wipes if unprotected. Another niche she has is baiting Rosanna. If she has the highest base ATK in the team, she can bait Rosanna to dispel or kill her instead of others. Depending on whether she has taken prior damage, she will either take damage then get dispelled or block the damage then be dispelled. In both cases, the dispel can work in her favor as it resets the 20s cooldown timer for her immunity to activate again, ultimately extending it.

P.S.: Take extra caution when pairing her with Blanc, because most of the time, you will be caught off guard since Neon may not be the lowest-HP unit by the time Blanc bursts due to her invulnerability.

Should I pull or mileage this unit?

Yes, but she is not as crucial as Anis. While Neon is an awesome Electric damage dealer (better than Cindy in established AnisOS SAnis XMaiden comps, herein referred to as "Standard Electric Comp") and a decent Neutral one, there are many units who serve the same role too, such as Cindy, Liberalio, XDiesel, SWHA, and MiharaBC. Therefore, at the end of the day, unless you lack all the meta units, you'll end up using her only in Electric-weak. On the other hand, Anis will have a 100% usage rate everywhere, by both veterans and newcomers, making her a necessity. In other words:

• If you are an endgame player, pull Neon because she will be important for ranking in Electric-weak SR, UR, and other Bossing content. As Neon scales better with the Standard Electric Comp compared to Cindy, Neon will easily trump Cindy outside SR.

• If you are not an endgame player and you don't have Cindy, pull Neon because she is the second Electric hypercarry. She will allow you to breeze through Electric-weak bosses in Campaign and Interception with ease.

• If you have to choose between Anis and Neon, prioritize Anis first, then pull Neon if you have spare resources. Neon will be your Bossing carry in ALL elements, especially in Raids, and help your Missilis/Pilgrim Tower.

Should I get dupes?

Neon does have a lot of self-ATK, and it's comparable to SWHA's, but she is not as "present" as her. Her content coverage is larger for newcomers and smaller for late-game players, unlike SWHA who has high usage in all elements if you don't have elemental specialists built. Because of that, dupes for her are optional. If you are competitive in Electric-weak SR/UR, there may be a reason, but everyone else should avoid.

If you are desperate to MLB someone, MLB Anis instead, as she is more universal and strengthens the team; less selfish.

Kit Analysis

(6 Turns to Charge) My Super Firepower!

NeonVE has an unorthodox DPS rhythm that peaks every 6 cycles. In this section, we will refer to the cycle where she peaks as "Super Firepower" and the other cycles as "Firepower Charge".

NeonVE operates on a stamina called Firepower Gauge, which starts at 100 at the start of the battle. If there is 100, it is fully consumed upon using Burst Skill, triggering Super Firepower, granting her higher additional DMG from basic attacks and ATK▲ for 10s. After that, Firepower Gauge resets to 0, and she will have to refill it.

She can refill it by using Burst Skill. When Firepower Gauge is below 100, her Burst Skill will instead activate "Firepower Charge", allowing her to fill the bar through basic attacks and instant recovery at the end of its lifetime. It will take 2 Firepower Charge(s), aka 2 Burst Skills, to fully recharge the bar.

Fortunately, her damage doesn't just plummet without Super Firepower. She still delivers considerable damage! Even so, you want to make sure she gets her deserved 3 Super Firepower(s), which can happen in rotations numbered 1-7-13 or 2-8-14. Do note that you need high CDR and burst gen from the team to achieve this! Build a proper team for her!

An additional effect that Firepower Charge gives is that, at the end of Full Burst, NeonVE will accrue more personal burst gen (proportional?) to the amount of filled Firepower Gauge. It's actually substantial and can help smoothen rotations. If necessary, manual Full-Charge NeonVE after Firepower Charge Bursts to exploit this.

Charge Speed = More Damage

NeonVE deals damage solely from basic attacks, which trigger additional DMG from Skill 1. This means, the faster she lands them, the more damage she deals. This makes her scale with Charge Speed OL as well as supportive buffs (e.g. Liberalio's S1). Since Charge Speed scales exponentially as it grows, unlike ATK, there is a reason for compounding it. If you have all the resources it takes to hyperbuild her, especially if you have plans to use her in Neutral, be sure to consider this.

Note that you will have to reach certain breakpoints for Charge Speed buffs to increase her damage.

Immunity (to Physical Harassments)

After SNeon’s maltreatment in the first year, Neon hasn't been highly regarded in the community. She was even sidelined in the story. Now, it's her comeback!

Because she has a healthy body, up to 5 times per battle, every time she takes any instance of damage, any subsequent damage and debuffs are blocked for 3s. This has a cooldown of 20s.

Due to the immunity requiring a preliminary instance of damage, it is not functional for blocking one instance of lethal attack. However, lethal attacks that come in a wave are rendered ineffective. Some bosses, especially those that target highest ATK or a specific position, do this, such as Egovista (DoT on P3), Nihilister (AoE Fire Breath), Crystal Chamber, Mirror Container, etc. This immunity allows Neon to keep firing and not having to cover powerful attacks, improving her damage. If the team can survive with her and without a healer, it will also immensely improve the team's damage.

Note: Attacks that give debuff without dealing damage will NOT activate this passive. NeonVE will still be debuffed.

Explosive Firepower

NeonVE's Basic Attack range expands when using Burst Skill, from 500 → 1500, matching AnisOS's range and TVesti's during Burst. This allows her to hit multiple enemies and projectiles at the same time. In PvE, this is good for exterminating low-HP critters and projectiles (which can improve the team's damage by allowing you to ignore them) and splashing parts. In PvP, this makes her able to injure the entire enemy fleet.

Be careful, against Volleyballs, NeonVE may not have enough damage to kill them at once. Either avoid Bursting with her when they spawn, or don't use NeonVE at all. She is not particularly suitable for mobbing despite being usable for it.

Tier List & Usage Analysis

Campaign: SS

NeonVE's mobbing is weaker than her bossing, but she is better than the S-rankers when it comes to performance, so you can assume she's S+. She is also still the best Electric DPS for Electric-weak Campaign Bosses.

Neon's S1 has a stipulation that says her Full Charge(s) only inflict additional DMG on stage targets, which means Neon's damage against mobs is literally just her basic attack coefficient. This makes her similar to A2 or Emilia, who also has incredible range and deals continuous damage throughout Full Burst. 

However, she is better; she has more buffs and she doesn't have a long charge that makes her vulnerable. In addition, she deals extra damage against stage targets, so she can snipe them when they spawn while providing some AoE cover fire.

The issue: Neon doesn't have this luxury on Defense Stages, where there are no stage targets. Fortunately, NeonVE is still usable there, but just don't expect too much from her. In Missilis Tower, for example, other mobbers may be worse than her.

Bossing: SS

NeonVE is indeed our new Electric Goddess, replacing Cindy in most Electric-weak content, thanks to her impactful self-buffs and better synergy with existing meta supports. However, she is not SSS-material yet because her presence is predominantly in Electric-weak, which has comparatively lower standards than other elements. She also doesn't have special skills or abilities like RRH or SWHA do—no burst gen, no dual element, etc.

Now, you may wonder—how does NeonVE have better synergy with existing units? You see, most of her damage is continuous throughout Full Burst, whereas Cindy's is frontloaded, meaning most of it is dealt at the start of her burst. NeonVE can fully utilize Full Burst buffs, such as those from Crown, Anis: Star, SAnis, Liberalio, and XMaiden, whereas Cindy struggles to fully take advantage of them. Cindy, on the other hand, scales better with buffs that trigger before Full Burst, irrespective of their duration, such as Rouge's and Liter's. In a vacuum, Cindy would outdamage Neon, but in an actual team, Neon would beat Cindy because she's more scalable.

An additional upper hand that NeonVE has is her Immunity. Some bosses are very ruthless when it comes to damage, especially in Campaign, and Neon's Immunity might just solve that without requiring a whole team overhaul. Being able to ignore attacks and reduce cover time will improve her damage. Not only that, NeonVE's large basic attack range during Burst will also clear projectiles for the team, so you can ignore them!

In conclusion, NeonVE has a substantial impact on Electric-weak, but on Neutral, she is more limited. The current meta in Neutral is: pack as much DPS as possible without using the meta supports that the meta element DPS take. That means, sometimes, what's important is the vacuum damage (raw damage) of a unit. NeonVE isn't the best at that—but she still competes fiercely with Liberalio and the gang. Obviously, SWHA is better than her and XDiesel/MiharaBC potentially, but if you can somehow make NeonVE + Liberalio happen (Liberalio buffs NeonVE's Charge Speed), you might see wonders.

Beginners may find NeonVE usable for Neutral, whereas veterans will have to wait if future unit(s) or boss(es) benefit her more. Remember, beginners should focus on cost-efficiency. If you are building her, build her for Neutral too.

PvP: S

NeonVE's kit looks like it's made for PvP, but if you can read (legend says gacha players can't read) and try to dive deep into her skills and value, you will come to find out that she's niche.

Firstly, her damage. How strong is her damage in PvP? Although her additional DMG remains inactive, her damage is not that bad given her 1500 range and massive buffs. Due to her damage type being overtime AoE (not instant), she needs to be in a team that can protect her. Given enough time, she should be able to kill Glass Cannon teams with ease. However, she will struggle (not have enough damage) against teams that are heavily guarded, for example Moran + Noah comps or stall teams.

Secondly, her burst gen. How much is her burst gen in PvP? NeonVE has a LOWER than standard burst gen rated at 0.74/shot, and with 500 range pre-Burst, this equals to 4 shots * 0.74 = 2.96 per RL or 5.92 @ 2 RL. This makes building around her expensive.

Thirdly, her Immunity. How useful is that in PvP? It's only situationally useful. You see, for it to trigger, it needs a prior instance of damage. For example, if there are 4 hits, the 1st hit will deal damage, and the rest will get blocked. What does this mean? Against enemies that deliver instant lethal damage, NeonVE is not surviving them. Meanwhile, against units whose damage comes in phases, like Cindy, NeonVE will block everything aside from the initial hit.

Her position also influences when her Immunity will trigger. In P1/P2, an RL shot will immediately trigger it, potentially providing protection for instant enemy B3. In P4, she can delay her Immune and save it for later, potentially blocking stronger attacks. There is also a special interaction with Rosanna, who can dispel her but also reset the cooldown, which allows her to extend her Immunity. Because positions and what units she faces matter, NeonVE feels more like an attack unit than defense.

Investments

Gear Investments

Neon has one of the most complex OL recommendations because she scales with ATK and CS somewhat equally, with bias toward CS if paired with Liberalio. Here's the complete breakdown:

• ELE: The most crucial line. Defines her damage against Electric-weak, where she shines in.

• ATK: The most reliable damage-boosting line. Better with more dupes but can be diluted by external ATK buffs.

• CS: Boosts damage more than ATK but makes her more reliant on Ammo/Reload Speed. CS scales exponentially, strengthening at higher total values. Because of that, it is the reverse of dilution; more is better. CS also boosts burst gen in PvE and PvP.

• Max Ammo: 1× Max Ammo is mandatory because NeonVE cannot fully abuse infinite Reload Speed (she still chokes even at >110%). 2× Max Ammo is also welcome and can be taken over ATK/CS.

We recommend focusing on ELE first and foremost, then ATK ≈ CS, but make sure to get at least 1× Max Ammo.

• Ideal: 4× ELE, 4× CS, 2-3× ATK, 1-2× Max Ammo

• Filler: -

• Priority: 10

• Note: Check the Full Guide for a better explanation on what lines she wants.

Skill Investments

NeonVE scales on all 3 skills equally, so they should be upgraded at the same time. If you only plan to use her for PvP, you can skip maxing S1.

• Skill 1: 10

  • Boosts the additional DMG dealt to stage targets on Full Charge(s), the pillar of her Bossing damage and helps boost viability in non-Defense Stage mobbing.

  • The above does not work in PvP.

• Skill 2: 10

  • Boosts the ATK value gained by self upon entering Full Burst. Works everywhere.

  • Boosts the amount of personal burst gen after Firepower Charge Bursts.

• Burst Skill: 10

  • Improves ATK DMG.

  • Does not affect range boost; constant from Lv. 1.

Cube Investments

NeonVE can scale better with either Bastion or Resilience depending on team configuration and the amount of ammo. If she is in a Reload Speed comp, Resilience may always be better. If max Reload Speed is achieved, and the boss has a permanent part, Destruction may be better. If neither case applies, opt for the following:

• With Liberalio & ~10 ammo: Use Bastion to ensure full uptime during Full Burst if low CS% OL or Resilience with high CS%.

• With Liberalio & ≥13 ammo: Use Resilience if low CS% OL or Bastion if high CS%.

• Without Liberalio & ~10 ammo: Use Bastion if high CS% OL (or Resilience if you don't mind reloading inside FB).

• Without Liberalio & ≥13 ammo: Use Resilience.

In PvP, if PvE options don't fancy you, you can use Tempering or Vigor to improve survivability, although she already has Immunity. Bastion is probably preferred to make sure she never reloads once till the end of Full Burst. Sometimes, Adjutant can help with more damage or team Burst speed.

Doll Investments

NeonVE has an incredible presence in Electric-weak and lots of self ATK buffs, especially Bossing, so it is imperative that you give her the best Doll. This is even more true if you use her in Neutral. Not only that, if you use her in Missilis Tower or Campaign, you will need CP from Dolls.

Meanwhile, in PvP, she is more niche. The CP is useful there, however, and the damage gain may be necessary for successful wipes.