[Haute Couture::Le Noir Brand Manager] Don Quixote

Haute Couture: Le Noir Brand Manager Don Quixote is a Charge-Tremor Identity that focuses on supporting fellow Le Noir Identities with various buffs and effects, and this Identity introduces yet another Tremor type, namely Tremor - Conservation. Let's talk about the new effects first.

• Tremor - Conservation - Weaker Tremor - Reverb at first, but once the attacker has enough Charge AND is a Le Noir Identity, then it is stronger. However, without Le Noir Identities bursting Tremor - Conservation, it will be gone very, very fast unless a specific team has been made and piloted, which is not for everybody since if Tremor Burst is triggered by NON Le Noir Identities, additional Count will be consumed.

• Promised Nail - Effect inflicted by Haute Couture::Le Noir Brand Manager Don Quixote’s skills. Once per burst, once per skill, it will do, at best, a whopping 10 bonus sloth damage per stack. Even though it can be stacked up to 30, excess after 10 is mostly used by Don Quixote’s Skill 3-2 to do additional damage. And said excess above 10 is rare to see, and Skill 3-2 can be used rather frequently, and said skill Consumes all Promised Nails. Additionally, 1 Bind is inflicted if the enemy has 4+ Promised Nails, which is not that useful in the long run, but can sometimes be, rarely, helpful.

• Sanctum of Conservation - Buff (mostly for Le Noir Identities) and debuff galore that can be uptimed permanently. All allies gain up to 10% of their Max HP as a shield, based on Don Quixote’s Charge Potency; Le Noir gain offense and defense levels, enemies lose 1 Min and Max Speed, take more Stagger damage from bursts, and Charge Identities do more damage; Le Noir do even more. Due to the ease of its infliction and uptime, it is a really great effect.

• Blessing of the Obsidian God - Even if Identity is already a Charge one, it needs an obligatory ramp-up mechanic. For Don Quixote, it is Blessing of the Obsidian God that gives her a shield per turn, converts all coins to unbreakable ones, and prevents her from being staggered. Stacks up to 100. Fills up really fast, and 100 of it is consumed to turn her counter into Skill 3-2, even as an unopposed attack.

Now that we covered effects, let's look briefly at passives. 

First, Malleus Promissionis, which makes Don start with 10 Preservation (Charge) Count and gives other Le Noir allied Identities +2 Charge Count at battle start. Really helps Don hit higher charge Potency early, skipping the beginning part of the usual ramp-up. What is more, even though Don Quixote skills do not consume Charge Count as per the usual Charge Identity gameplay loop, instead, whenever Promised Nail, Don Quixote will consume Charge Count, and the skill will count as Charge Consuming. Consumption will vary based on Charge Count.

Next, Mission of Conservation is about how Blessing of the Obsidian God is gained. Basically, by consuming charge or gaining it past the cap, on top of allied Identities with shields (supplied conveniently by Don’s Sanctum) being hit. If the hit Identity is Charge, more Blessing will be gained. In the era of every enemy alongside their family having unbreakable coins, getting hit for chip damage is common.

The Lord's Will and Values Be With Us… is the next passive, which allows Skill 1-2 to be used before an allied Le Noir identity uses their skill, and provides Don with access to additional Final and Clash Power, and also provides additional Charge Count supply to herself and the other ally with the lowest Charge Count whenever Tremor Burst is +triggered on an enemy with Promised Nail. This bonus Charge Count, even though it is only 2, can be a difference maker.

Nearly the last passive, Obsidian Covenant, provides a very important 2 Haste to Don as long as Sanctum of Conservation is present. Helps ensure Don is faster than the rest of the team to inflict Promised Nail and apply Tremor - Conservation before the rest of the team can do their thing. Also an obligatory bonus damage modifier based on Charge Potency on Don against the main target of her attack.

Lastly, Formation Conservation, which provides -2% damage taken per Charge Identity on the field at Combat Start. Cool and simple support passive.

Now that we went through passive exhibition, let's look at skills.

• Skill 1-1 - Cometh the Nail - 2 Coins - Min Roll 11 - Max Roll 21 (Clash 22) - Potentially very nicely high-rolling Skill 1 that is mainly used for supplying additional Charge Count to fellow Le Noir ally with lowest charge, ramping up their, well, ramp up.

• Skill 1-2 - Judgment! - 1 Coin - Min Roll 10 - Max Roll 13 - Unclashable skill that comes from the “The Lord's Will and Values Be With Us…” passive, which allows Don to consume potentially up to 8 (12 with usage of Skill 3-2) Charge Count per turn, as long as there is at least 1 Le Noir allied Identity, which means she can gain +1 Charge Potency every 2 turns, leading to a very decent and fast ramp-up. Skill inflicts 1 Promised Nail and Tremor Potency.

• Skill 2 - Summoneth the Nail - 2 Coins - Min Roll 16 - Max Roll 30 (Clash 32) - Another very high-rolling skill with great overall status infliction and Charge gain.

• Skill 3-1 - I Sever Thine Advent! - 3 Coins - Min Roll 17 - Max Roll 35 (Clash 38) - One of the two ways of gaining Sanctum of Conservation, alongside providing bonus Offense Level Up and Defense Level Up to self and 1 other Le Noir identity. Those are at Combat Start, meaning in Clash and dealing damage buffs above will take effect. Also, this skill converts Tremor to Tremor - Conservation, which is followed by 1, potentially 2, Tremor Bursts. Decent damage if enough Tremor Potency has been bursted.

• Skill 3-2 - With Each Smite, I Sever Thine Advent! - 3 Coins - Min Roll 18 - Max Roll 40 (In Clash 43) - Not spammable as Heishou Faust Skill 3-2, but starting from turn 4, every 4 turns this skill can be used, which is really nice and consistent for a skill that has potential for really great damage regardless of the various conditions this skill has. Even though it comes from a normal Counter, unlike normal Counters of the rest of the Identities, Skill 3-2 will be used regardless of whether Don Quixote is hit or not, which is very welcome. While not on the level of some other dedicated damage dealers, this skill is not a joke. The only issue with that skill is that, due to how consistent it can be in use, reaching any high number of Promised Nail is impossible unless, for some reason, usage of this skill is not needed. 

• Defensive Skill - Normal Counter (been a while with that on Non Middle Identity, eh?) - Witness Ye in Silence - 2 Coins - Min Roll 13 - Max Roll 19 - Second way of applying Sanctum of Conservation on top of SP healing self and 1 other Le Noir Identity, yet another on top of allowing for use of Skill 3-2 whenever Blessing of the Obsidian God is stacked.

As we went through passives and skills, let's wrap it up. Haute Couture::Le Noir Brand Manager Don Quixote is really fun, strong, and especially super hot Identity. This Identity will only get stronger with more Le Noir Identities or Identities that interact with Le Noir, as that is the only thing holding her back, as not many Identities, at the time of writing this review, can benefit from her supporting abilities or Tremor - Conservation.

E.G.O. Synergies

• From Teth to WAW, Don Quixote has access to all manner of Charge E.G.O. that can speed up her Charge Potency gain (Electric Screaming) or boost supporting abilities (Telepole and In the Name of Love and Hate) without sacrificing much if base skills are not used.