MarshaBuild and Guide

The first new Sustain unit in a while, Marsha forms the basis of 3.X healers/shielders very well.

Her kit is not that difficult, also because we’ve sort of seen it before. Marsha is similar to Kiperina in a lot of ways; but she edges out in most cases due to Kiperina’s focus on Impromptu whereas Marsha is only ‘sort of’ tied to Lingering Glow (she is a much more general sustain).

At the time of writing this, Marsha is considered the best sustain in the game. Let’s take a look at her in detail:

Her “Insight: Humanitarian Aid” provides the basis for her kit. At Insight 1, Marsha applies [Shield]s regularly through her [Frontline Care] stacks, which allow her to auto-cast “Burden Unspoken” whenever an ally is attacked. She also provides DMG Reduction to allies with her [Shield]. On top of this, she dispels [Control] statuses from allies and grants them [Pardon], which makes them immune to the first [Control] effect that would hit them. In addition, [Morning Prayer] will improve the team’s [Lingering Glow] generation, increase the max [Burn] stacks on enemies, and grant a bit of Crit DMG to allies.

At Insight 3, she starts stacking her own Crit Rate and DMG with [Pain’s Recompense], inflict Mass [Burn] at the start of the round and starts cycling her Moxie. She gains +1 upon entering combat, and whenever she lands a Crit or consumes [Frontline Care] after that.

[Frontline Care] functions very similarly to Ms. NewBabel’s Euphoria, triggering when an ally is hit to cast “Burden Unspoken”. Which is a simple [Shield] application that also dispels one random debuff from allies. If the target already has a shield  (from say, her combat entry) their values stack. The important thing here is that she also extends the duration of the existing shield to 3 rounds. This circumvents the problem that a lot of shielders face: having to reapply their shields when the duration is over.

The rest of her kit is pretty simple. 

“Virtue of Restraint” is a single-target attack that inflicts [Burn] and grants Marsha a stack of [Pain’s Recompense].

Her Ultimate, “Advice to the Violent", is an interesting one. It deals damage to all enemies, inflicts stacks of [Burn], grants Marsha [Pain’s Recompense] and then converts all stacks of it into [Discipline Forged] for all allies. This grants them a large amount of Crit Rate, Crit DMG and Incantation Might.

Marsha is an incredibly strong sustain. Shielders in general are valued higher than healers in end-game content due to enemy damage often scaling into one-hit territory there, and outside of Impromptu, Marsha is the one unit with consistent and high-value shields that she can also extend the duration of (meaning that she essentially applies an infinite shield so long as they aren’t destroyed during the round).

On top of her shield value and consistency, her ability to cleanse all manner of debuffs and even grant partial immunity to [Control] is incredibly strong. In addition, her other buffs including +DMG Reduction, +Crit Rate, +Crit DMG and +Incantation Might are all of great import, keeping both your team safe while providing a large amount of offensive buffing.

The reason she can be used outside of the Lingering Glow archetype is because her kit isn’t all that limited to its gimmick. The only exclusive effect she has is [Morning Prayer], which increases [Lingering Glow] accumulation, max [Burn] stacks on enemies and grants up to +10% Crit DMG to allies. These effects either only support the archetype, or are small enough to where losing out on them for her powerful sustain and buffs is okay.

Gameplay:

As a sustain, Marsha doesn’t require much thinking. Like Kiperina, most of her value is given to her without using any AP. She will naturally accumulate Moxie through her Insight 3, so she naturally builds towards her Ultimate buffs, and her shielding comes entirely AFK.

In Lingering Glow teams, you’ll occasionally want to cast “Virtue of Restraint” to inflict extra [Burn], generate [Pain’s Recompense] and build to her Ultimate faster in order to line it up with Beryl’s burst turns. In addition, her active cast “Burden Unspoken” can be used to clutch out high incoming damage due to it’s increased shield value and cleanse.