Should you pull Mr. Duncan?

You should pull Duncan

• If you want a damage dealer who can provide support for the team via his bullets.
• Counters, counters, counters.
• If you appreciate an old man design which is quite rare in the game. (Gordon)
• If you need a Beast Afflatus who is a decent DMG Dealer in comparison to people lower rarity than him (but will be outclassed by his peers and 6 stars.)

If you’re here only for the best and strongest characters, Mr. Duncan is not going to be that person. However, he’s not unusable, no one in this game truly is. That said, to put it plainly, he is quite outclassed by other damage dealers, especially those of higher rarity. He is not a bad character and can get you through most of the game’s content, but he doesn’t stand out in any meaningful way and lacks a distinct niche aside from being a decent 5-star beatstick. Ultimately, he’s not someone I can objectively recommend pulling for unless you like his design or character. (Valid I still use Matilda).

Mr. Duncan, for better or worse, is probably one of the simplest character gameplay designs we’ve seen in a while, reminiscent of the OG characters who have been in the roster the longest. His gameplay essentially revolves around the mechanic of [Bullets]. He gains them either from his counter skill, which lets him acquire 2 bullets from the [Veteran’s Cartridge], or through his Insight III passive. With Insight III, he generates bullets for the entire team whenever he lands a critical hit or defeats an enemy, granting all allies one type of bullet. Additionally, every 3 critical hits he lands, he gains Moxie.

Now, you’re probably wondering: what do the bullets even do? Looking at the [Veteran’s Cartridge], it contains 2 types of bullets: [Acid Bullets] and [Shrapnel Bullets]. The effects are pretty simple: the Acid Bullet lowers the target’s defense by 5% (lasting 2 rounds) and can be stacked up to 5 times, while the Shrapnel Bullet lets you deal 50% additional damage. And that’s kind of the bulk of his kit.

He provides bullets for himself and others, gains Moxie quickly, and can use his Ultimate, which also increases Crit Rate by 10% for each type of bullet you have. This is further buffed by his Insight I, which provides [Ceremonious] (you gain a stack every 2 times an ally triggers [Bullets]), increasing his Ultimate Might by 3%. This can stack up to 100 times, making his potential Ultimate damage quite good. Though realistically the buff is only 3%, I can’t think of many ways to spam [Bullets] to the point where you can get his damage that high, at least not right now.

Additionally, things I didn’t mention: he has a Mass Attack, with a bit of random additional Genesis DMG included. He has counters with [Quick Draw] which when you have bullets, will launch Rapid Counter-Fire, which does single target damage and the unique part about it is, he can land the counter before they even hit him.

Pros & Cons

As a 5 star his Portrays are significantly easier to get I would say. His P5 is really good for him, but even as a 5 Star that can be a bit hard to get. He also has a lot of boosts related to his Crit Rate, Genesis DMG, and Counter DMG being improved. All very useful buffs and if you can get them it would definitely help him, but not necessarily required.

Notable synergies include:

Lopera

J

Future notable synergies:

Ms. NewBabel

Lopera: Someone who’s also releasing in the same version, unfortunately in different banners. She’s also a character who utilizes bullets and she can convert them into buffs depending on if they’re in front of her or behind her in the team lineup. I recommend giving the Ultimate Buff bullet which means putting Duncan behind Lopera as that is where his main source of DMG will be from.

J/Ms. Newbabel: If you want to focus on Duncan's counter portion of the kit, I think he makes a great partner with both of these two. J should benefit from the counters, and Ms. Newbabel provides defense, taunt, etc. With the new Euphoria buffs, she’s extremely powerful and can provide crit rate and extra actions.

Here are the best Psychubes you can use on Mr. Duncan:

Luxurious Leisure

Brave New World

“Luxurious Leisure” is likely Duncan’s best-in-slot option, as his main source of damage is probably his Ultimate. He gains Moxie fast enough to utilize it well and is great for longer battles.

"Brave New World" is also a great option to increase his damage, as he'll likely be using his Ultimate quite a bit.

For the most part, he also works well with the "Generic Damage Dealer" Psychubes like Hopscotch, His Bounden Duty, and Her Second Life, so you can be flexible if you want.

Resonance Pattern

A few suggestions are listed below. 3-People teams are highlighted, with the 4th slot added at the side to provide a 4-P variation of the same team or even insights on possible variations of the 3-P team.

Standard Teams

Hunks and Fire (Bullets)[GLB]

Damage Dealer

Support

Sub-DPS

TEAM EXPLANATION

• 4th slot options: Tooth Fairy
• This is a review of Mr. Duncan, so he’ll be our main DMG dealer. As mentioned earlier, Lopera is a great option for Mr. Duncan, and I recommend placing him behind her to get the Ultimate buff. She also has [Bullet], which will help Mr. Duncan’s kit activate faster. Isolde is a strong support/Sub-DPS who can significantly increase the team’s damage output, and she can benefit from Lopera’s Incantation Bullet. Both of them apply burn. Tooth Fairy is the usual healer for the team, but her crit support is invaluable, as Mr. Duncan can take great advantage of that.

Same Version Gang (And J, I guess)[GLB]

Damage Dealer

Support

Sustain

TEAM EXPLANATION

• 4th slot options: J
• I wanted to list Anjo Nala as one of his particularly good synergies, but in reality, Anjo Nala is just kind of good with anybody, including Duncan. The best part is that if you're pulling for Duncan, you might get Anjo Nala. She can fit into almost any team. Anjo Nala has a unique ability to form a contract with a character, taking their Moxie every time they do, and she can use both her own and the bonded ally's Ultimate at the same time. Depending on the Afflatus of the bonded ally, she will apply different effects. In this case, since Duncan is a Beast-type, both of them will get 8% Crit DMG and Reality Def. She also gains buffs based on what the bound ally does. Since Duncan is a Beast, she gains Moxie whenever he consumes AP, which is great. Lopera is here for the reasons already mentioned above. J can take really good advantage of Duncan’s counters.