Takina InoueInformation and Guide

Have Shift Up finally succumbed to the glory of True Damage and released the true damage duo who will change the bossing meta forever? The answer is… it depends on what we get in the future. Takina does bring some new things to the table. Primarily, she is now the biggest true damage buffer. If we get someone with insane True DMG DPS, she will become the pillar. In Campaign at least, we can see how that’s true because of TVesti. In Bossing? Lots of possibilities still. Let’s dive right into yet another True Damage case study as ShiftUp fiddles around with True DMG numbers.

Can you give a brief summary about this unit?

Takina is an awesome buffer that rivals Crown in offense for True DMG DPS, but since True DMG is niche, she is as niche as them. Takina also has considerable personal damage and infinite ammo, which like Velvet, make her a good provisional DPS for beginners. She also stuns all enemies every 15s, which can come handy in mobbing (or in PvP if the fight ever lasts that long). Takina also has an instant high ATK buff at the beginning of battles and at the end of Full Bursts, which can help with redirecting Rosanna's dispel or taking MirandaTr's/Maxwell's ATK buff (which can be a good or bad thing).

In terms of realistic use cases, we expect Takina to have a place in Iron-weak SR, Electric-weak SR, and especially Campaign. In Iron-weak SR, she can form a team alone with True DMG DPS, such as Chisato, LaplaceTr, and Ada Wong, and with ATK-based Supports such as Maxwell & PrivTr (or HelmTr, less ideal but she works). In Electric-weak, she will likely be BiS in MirandaTr Takina Ein Ada crit comp. In Campaign, she pairs super well with TVesti & Ada for a True Damage funnel comp. Her stun is overpowered and can stop enemies from attacking for 8s+ if one gets good timing! She can also join Siren & PrivatyTr for some stun-stalling action on Defense Stages. Sakana is also BiS for Campaign Altruia.

Should I pull or mileage this unit?

Realistically, Takina currently sits around A tier in the Bossing TL. She is crucial for Iron-weak True DMG compositions and pushes Electric-weak one step further. These attributes make her biased towards Campaign and Museum, since those are where True Damage shines their brightest. In fact, without her, there is no reason to run someone like Chisato, so she's definitely worth a pull if you at least have Chisato. In the future, Takina's presence/tier may rise if more True DMG is released for other elements, because as we said earlier, she is like Crown to True DMG DPS. As a dedicated support, she is also not contested.

Therefore:

• If you are a fan of pushing the limits of high-deficit Campaign and have TVesti/Ein, Takina is a must pull.

• If you have Chisato, you should get Takina to make good use of them together in Iron-Weak Bossing content.

• If you do not have Chisato, you can still get Takina for Electric-weak SR or Iron-weak SR, but expect less impact.

• If in the future a meta True DMG DPS is released and you don't have Takina, it will be a massive disadvantage! We may raise her bossing tiers accordingly if this happens.

• If you are a beginner, Takina won't be meta for you unless you have one of the following units built: Ein, TVesti, Ada, or Chisato, but she has more worth than a random B2, plus her "fake" infinite ammo during Burst is handy for beginners.

• If you are a collector, feel free to get one copy.

If you have to choose between Takina & Chisato, Takina is significantly more important. She is an enabler for True DMG teams and has a broader presence, which makes her more versatile.

Should I get dupes?

Takina's ATK buff is massive but fleeting, and she is a Supporter, so she doesn't scale on dupes as much as most units. Her ATK buff is also for herself, not for the team. However, if you care about her damage + build her DPS in SR or use her in Campaign, then you will see value in dupes, especially if SU releases more True DMG DPS in the future, increasing her presence. A small damage boost + CP padding are always welcome. That said, we are not fortune tellers, so we cannot justify dupes for regular players or even competitive ones at the moment because she's niche.

Do note that she's limited, so if you want dupes, it's now or never.

Kit Analysis

Skill 1

■ Activates at the start of battle and when Full Burst ends. Affects self.

ATK ▲ 80.04% for 5 sec.

■ Activates when entering Full Burst. Affects self.

True Damage ▲ 35.05% for 15 sec.

• This skill is all about personal damage.

• ATK buff makes her easier to take MirandaTr's/Maxwell's ATK buff (which can be a good or bad thing) and receive Rosanna’s dispel.

• If you rotate Full Burst fast, ATK will bleed into FB, boosting her damage. If you rotate slowly, you benefit from S2 more but lose this bleeding bonus.

• True DMG▲ improves her personal damage significantly if she rotates fast because S2 doesn’t line up with it, leading to less dilution. If you rotate slowly, S2 will dilute it.

• There is an important caveat about this skill. Read the Key Inferences section below.

Skill 2

Cooldown: 15s

■ Affects all enemies.

Damage Taken ▲ 10.09% for 5 sec.

Stuns for 2 sec.

• Stun is useful against mobs because a well-timed stun, despite it activating automatically, can make mobs not attack for a long time like a sakana. It doesn’t work against bosses, though.

• Can be useful in or against stall teams in PvP.

• Damage Taken lasts for 5 sec. It’s not strong, but it’s still good if you can line it up with strong buffs/damaging skills, such as Liter’s ATK buff.

Cooldown: 15s

■ Affects all allies.

True Damage ▲ 140.49% for 10 sec.

• The biggest True DMG buff in the game and can be activated in-burst and off-burst. Insane!

• Can be timed to align with Full Burst, which can yield more damage or no, depending on investment, DPS B3, and content.

• Takina is the biggest beneficiary of this buff because her damage is 99% True DMG. However, this doesn’t necessarily translate to team damage. If the B3 deals more damage, like TVesti/Ada in Campaign, they will provide higher numbers.

• Dilutes the ATK DMG-category buff pool. Makes ATK buffs significantly more valuable for Takina.

Burst Skill

■ Cooldown:

20 seconds

■ Affects self.

Changes the weapon in use.

Damage: 200.64% of final ATK

Duration: 10 sec

Additional Effects

Affects self: Normal attacks deal true damage for 10 sec.

Affects targets hit: Damage Taken ▲ 6.04% for 5 sec.

• Shoots 2.5/sec but 24 times per Full Burst due to weapon change, generating a total of 4,815% of True DMG.

• Has 200% core damage, but good luck landing those high-spread shots.

• Technically she changes her weapon into Shotgun, with only 1 Pellet. (but game still treats her as Sniper Rifle, which means buff for SR will apply, while buff for SG won’t)

• Hit Rate is similar to AR, and she requires ~40% Hit Rate to core shot comfortably.

• Also makes enemies hit take 6.04%▲ more damage. This value is too small for her to become a universal B2, but it adds up with her S2’s True DMG buff for True DMG DPS. 

• Damage Taken lingers for ~5 secs after FB, which means it can buff Burst Skills’ damage of following rotations (if fast).

Key Inferences

Takina has 4,815% True DMG every rotation if she Bursts. This can only mean one thing. She is one that benefits from her own 140% True DMG buff the most. Because of this, you ideally want to line up her Burst with S2’s timing, limiting your rotations to 15s each. However, depending on the B3 and element, this can be better or worse than just rotating ASAP. Experiment yourself to see which one yields the best result for your investments, DPS B3, and content.

Takina’s big 10% Damage Taken buff also lasts 5s. We ideally don’t want this to land outside FB. Additionally, if you pair her with Liter, the value of this Damage Taken will rise tremendously as Liter’s buff is also big but only 5s. You want to make them coincide, but test if it’s better than rotating faster.

If you want Takina to take MirandaTr’s buff (in Electric-weak SR’s MirandaTr Takina Ein Ada CDR comp, for example), which can be better if she is invested since off-burst Ein/Ada doesn’t deal much, make sure to hit MirandaTr’s ATK buff before her 80% ATK drops. Otherwise, wait for it to drop first to let both Ada + Ein receive it. The bursting B3 must get the guaranteed Crit buff and one of the ATK buffs. To achieve that:

• Full Burst must only be entered after Takina’s ATK drops.

• Takina can take MirandaTr’s ATK buff in only one of the rotations, and that is when the B3 with the highest base ATK is Bursting. For example, if Ein’s base ATK > Ada’s base ATK, Takina can take one of the ATK buffs during Ein’s Full Burst, but she shouldn’t during Ada’s Full Burst because otherwise Ein and Takina will take both ATK buffs.

Takina has a lot of ATK DMG-category buffs, so she wants ATK more for personal damage. This can be an important consideration for SR, allowing her to be split for True DMG DPS and made a funnel team for.

Takina's True DMG coming mostly from basic attacks makes Sakana one of the best Part Breakers against high deficit bosses in Campaign. 

Tier List & Usage Analysis

Campaign: SS

A strong Campaign contender! Not only in Campaign Bossing but also in Mobbing. To start, Takina has insane True DMG buffs, and True DMG is good in Campaign, and TVesti & Ada are meta in Campaign. What does this mean? She is meta because she can buff meta DPS.

The old meta had been Siren/MoranTr Crown Ein Ada MastM or a variant of this with RRH, Nayuta, or HelmTr. Now, it's time for a change. Takina has completely acquired this off-burst slot into hers, and the best generic mobbing team has become Siren/MoranTr Crown TVesti Ada Takina. Yes, this works in every element. You can swap units in and out depending on the stage, i.e. sometimes Nayuta is better than Crown. Note that Takina is an off-burst support here—an important distinction!

She can also stun every 15s, which can open a window of opportunity or buy time for stalling/rotations. With good timing (which can be deliberately controlled), you can lock an enemy out of a fight for a long time.

To utilize her, you may have to learn how to do intentional stalling to align buffs with damaging skills because Takina’s True DMG buff goes up and down; it’s similar to MastM but based on timing instead of number of Burst rotations.

Campaign Bossing is a little bit different. We decided to discuss that in the Bossing section, but in short, Takina is meta for True DMG DPS, who are meta for some Campaign bosses.

Because of this, we are placing her in SS with Partner tag because of her True DMG niche.

Bossing: A

Before we start, Takina provides a massive buff to True Damage DPS. However, as of her release, a hyper-meta True Damage DPS does not exist yet. If that comes to be, her rating will improve. Her rating in A reflects her presence currently.

Because Takina is like Crown to True DMG DPS, we can safely assume that her usefulness will depend on the True DMG DPS. If they are strong, so is she. With that said, there are currently 3 outlets for her to shine:

• Campaign Bossing: All Campaign Bosses are fought under heavy deficit, which makes True DMG very valuable. We have 3 candidates: MC, Ziz, and Altruia, and all have their specific DPS (Ein & Ada, Tacticals, and Chisato/LaplaceTr). Takina has been proven to be BiS against MC and Altruia because you have 2 'strong enough' DPS there.

• Museum: Museum has a notably high DEF. Takina having True DMG, alongside True DMG DPS, can be a powerful asset there. Sakana’s spotlight!

• Solo Raid: True DMG comps have dedicated supports (Takina, Ada), which means like SGs, they can have their own team in SR and not contest universal supports. While they rarely show up in UR, like SGs, missing them is a disadvantage if you plan to be competitive. Treat Takina as a Tove. We just need a strong True DMG DPS to make her relevant in every element. Currently, we only have "mid" DPS. Chisato, for instance, is dependent on enemy range. It is also possible to make her a DPS or build a funnel team by giving her more ATK supports.

Note that, to make her fully relevant in Museum & SR, you will need to invest in her DPS, especially in Iron-weak.

PvP: C

Sakana can be used in four ways:

• Redirect Rosanna's Dispel: Takina's 80% ATK buff is instantaneous and can be used to redirect Rosanna's dispel away from key DPS. However, as it lasts 5s, and as she is a Supporter, she cannot be targeted by her snipe or redirect most ‘highest ATK’ skills in time.

• For Stall/Anti Stall: Takina’s stun can activate if you use her in stall teams or against stall teams and may open a window of opportunity to strike.

• Damage Taken B2 + Sniper Rifle: Not the most suitable, but she can give Damage Taken and uses Sniper Rifle, so she doesn’t feed. Note that the Damage Taken is only for enemies Sakana hits with Burst.

• DPS B2: She can Burst to deal damage, but it’s very weak. Deals more against Electrics.

Investments

Gear Investments

ELE for personal DPS in Iron-weak content, and ATK for personal DPS in other elements. Max Ammo is only useful if you need her to burst gen; 2× is very comfy or 1× + Bastion/Wingman, but this locks you out of Rupture/Destruction cube. Hit Rate if you need her to land shots/core shots. Crit Rate for a slight boost in damage, especially with MirandaTr’s Crit DMG buffs. Crit DMG is fine if it comes for free.

• Ideal: 4× ELE, 4× ATK, 2× Max Ammo

• Filler: 2× Hit Rate, 2× Crit Rate, 2× Crit DMG

• Priority: Medium

• Note: OL is for personal DPS only or CP padding. ELE & ATK give the most boost since Takina’s personal ATK buff is mostly outside Full Burst. Some comps require Takina to be the burst gen, so ideally get 2× Max Ammo as she has no infinite ammo outside FB (or 1× + Bastion/Wingman). Crit Rate is slightly more preferred than Crit DMG due to MirandaTr’s SR comp.

Skill Investments

• Skill 1: 1~10

  • ATK buff activates pre-Full Burst means its damage impact is not big, but in fast rotations,.it bleeds into FB, boosting Takina’s damage.

  • Higher ATK buff makes it easier for Takina to take MirandaTr’s/Maxwell’s ATK buff (which can be good or bad) and receive Rosanna’s dispel.

  • Boosts personal damage, although it’s diluted by S2 (if you slow down rotations to line up S2 with FB).

  • 7+ recommended for SR.

  • If you are using Takina as off-burst (such as in Campaign), you do NOT need this skill.

• Skill 2: 10

  • Must be 10, no matter what.

  • This is what sells Takina, a gargantuan True DMG buff that can be in-burst or off-burst alongside Damage Taken.

• Burst Skill: 1~10

  • Increases Damage Taken & personal damage, which are substantial in SR.

  • 10 recommended for SR.

  • If you are using Takina as off-burst (such as in Campaign), you do NOT need this skill.

Cube Investments

In PvE, due to infinite ammo during FB, Takina scales best on Rupture, and Destruction if her basic attacks hit parts >50% of the time. If burst gen is needed between Full Burst, and she is the team’s battery, and you don’t have 2× Max Ammo or feel like you need more ammo, then Bastion can be an extra ammo line. Wingman can achieve the same too, especially if you have 0× Max Ammo. If no Rupture, Destruction is inactive, and you don’t need Max Ammo boost, use your highest-level cube for ELE/ATK stat.

In PvP, if Takina Bursts, Rupture is best, but otherwise Tempering & Vigor provide the most survivability.

Doll Investments

Whether Takina should be Doll-ed depends on whether you use her in Campaign & SR. If you need the CP padding for Campaign or build her DPS in SR, you need to Doll her. SR 5 is the golden Sakana standard, and SR 15 is recommended if you’re serious about Iron-weak SR since she deals quite some damage.