Drake: Great VillainInformation and Guide

Foreword

Muahahaha… is the laugh that welcomes you when you click her event. You may ask: Who is Drake? She is a villain, an electrician, a moron, and a racer.

Can you give a brief summary?

Drake: Great Villain (abbreviated as VDrake) is a DPS and support hybrid who can play in-burst and off-burst. Regardless of playstyle, she deals meaningful single-target damage via S1 and considerably buffs the team's Max HP proportional to her base HP. When Burst is used, she gains ATK DMG▲ and delivers a modest AoE nuke, which can be buffed by Trina if desired.

As a Defender with HP → ATK conversion, she scales with Max HP▲ best. Her best partners are Rouge and MOM for ingoing synergy and MOM, Lapluh, and Cindy for outgoing. She doesn't scale with Tove as much as ordinary SGs do because not only do ATK buffs barely buff her damage, she has fixed Charge Time, which is unaffected by Tove's ATK SPD. There exist soft partners such as Velvet, who can buff her Charge Damage.

With Lapluh, VDrake becomes very relevant in any Wind-weak Bossing content. Whether against Kraken in AI, Annihilio in Campaign, or Raid bosses, they're ready to wreak some havoc. You can run something like Siren Nayuta Lapluh VDrake Velvet or Lapluh Rouge VDrake Trina Mom. A beginner without SBS + Lib built should consider them.

In PvP, VDrake is similar to but also very different from XMaiden. They share two characteristics: being a B3 Defender, who can utilize Biscuit; and having continuous single-target damage that can bypass Biscuit's Immunity. However, they have more differences than similarities. For more insight, read the PvP section.

Should I pull or mileage this unit?

For players without SBS and Liberalio, the answer is YES, especially if you have Lapluh (Laplace: Ultimate Hero). Lapluh and VDrake will carry you in all Wind-weak Bossing content, which you might be struggling with at the moment. If you don’t have Lapluh, VDrake can still technically carry you but to a lesser extent. A strength that she has over competitors is that she is quite cheap if you’re not aiming for maximum performance. Aside from 4× ELE, she doesn’t gain much from other rolls.

For players with SBS and Liberalio, VDrake is PROMISING if you want to be competitive in Wind-weak UR (for double hits) or SR, given that you also build Lapluh and Rouge. She performs okay in contents with CP Deficit such as Tower and Campaign due to her stupidly high amount of ATK that triggers all time. For most players, you will never deal 1 damage with VDrake, although she can’t match True Damage.

For both types of players, she is not worth 200 Gold Mileage since she is a 2% unit. If you cannot pull her or your gems are low, please skip.

Should I get dupes?

If you are a spender, DrakeV scales surprisingly well due to her shared ATK buff pool from ATK▲ and Max HP▲. Dupes boost both groups simultaneously, whereas external ATK▲ will be diluted.

Kit Analysis

Super Duper Overdrive

Whenever the team enters Full Burst triggered by any B3, VDrake activates Super Duper Overdrive, which turns her weapon into a Charged Shotgun with pellets. She fires up to 6 charged shots, each dealing 243.75% × 300% damage every 1.5s (fixed).

• Still as inaccurate as regular shotguns. Missing pellets = damage loss. Pellet increase doesn't increase damage.

• Can crit and core-hit. Damage oscillates depending if the boss's body or core is reachable.

• Charged Damage and buffs that apply to Shotgun-wielding allies work.

• Charge Speed buff doesn't apply due to fixed Charge Time, neither does Attack Speed because it's incompatible.

  • Fixed Charge Time allows her to ignore Charge Time debuffs, which can be essential in UR once we get a Wind-weak Boss that applies such.

• Shotgun Doll's Weapon Skill doesn't apply during this state.

After shooting 6 times, VDrake loses all ammo and immediately reloads.

• Makes her regular SG damage (non-Charged) almost nonexistent since VDrake will reacquire Charged Shots in ≤4.04s.

  • This makes Max Ammo useless (but not anti-synergistic) on VDrake, significantly reducing investment costs.

• Makes her a less ideal target for Blanc's Indomitability in PvP.

• Since reload lasts 1.5s, if Resilience is used, she's back to shooting after FB ends.

HP = ATK

VDrake gains ATK proportional to 6.23% of her final Max HP. Including base ATK, this is equal to 238~240% of Attacker's ATK factoring in Doll. With S2 fully stacked, expect ~72% more.

• Updates dynamically.

• For each 1% of Max HP increase, VDrake gains ATK equal to 1.71325% of Attacker's ATK. This allows her to scale with Max HP▲ buffers, such as Rouge and Mom.

• As this skill is instant and she wields a Shotgun, she has extreme early pressure in PvP. However, it also makes her susceptible to Rosanna's Dispel.

Max HP for Everybody

Whenever Full Burst ends, the entire team gains 10.5% of VDrake's base Max HP (without restoring HP), stacking up to 4 times and lasting permanently.

• This is huge for all Max HP-dependent DPS as the boost is based on a Defender's HP. Cindy, XMaiden, Mom, and especially Lapluh greatly enjoy this.

• Stack increasers make this ramp up faster, but there is no team yet where this is viable.

Special Villain Technique

Upon using Burst Skill, VDrake gains ATK DMG▲ and nukes all enemies with 1350% of final ATK.

• About 76% of Lib's nuke damage without S2's Max HP▲ and external buffs, which is not the strongest and is only realistically 6~7% of her damage. However, Trina can buff this.

• This skill is useful against mobs and projectiles, allowing you to focus on key targets.

• Without Trina, this skill's effect is fairly weak. She has the option to go off-burst in that case, but Bursting might still be better in Wind-weak.

Tier List & Usage Analysis

Campaign

VDrake is heavily set back by her poor accuracy as a Shotgun user. She can't carry you if her Charged Shots can't land. Should you insist on using her, she can be used for:

• Burst Wiping: Her Burst Skill deals damage to all enemies, which is great against mobs. However, it's not enough because the value is low, bar no continuous follow-up.

• Buffing Max HP: She can be used to buff Lapluh, Mom, or Cindy, but she needs to stack. Indiscernible impact most of the time, but consider Missilis Tower if you bring Lapluh and Mom.

Bossing

VDrake is an acceptable DPS and a solid support to Max HP-dependent units such as Lapluh, Cindy, XMaiden, and Mom. As a duo or trio, she can be used in 3 ways:

• w/ Laplace: Ultimate Hero : In Wind-weak, pair her with Lapluh, ideally Rouge, and optionally Trina/Mom. VDrake will buff Lapluh's damage and Mom's support, and Mom and Rouge will buff her damage. Start with VDrake's Burst if you can hit 14 Full Bursts, otherwise start with Lapluh's. If you are using both Mom and Trina, Burst Mom with VDrake, then Trina with Lapluh.

• w/ Cinderella or Maiden: Ice Rose : In Electric-weak, if you don't have Arca-Isa for Cindy or you want to build a funnel XMaiden comp, it may not be the worst idea to pair them with VDrake.

• w/ Laplace: Ultimate Hero + Cinderella: It's not completely unreasonable to run VDrake off-burst in Neutral. Pair her with Lapluh + Cindy and an apt B1/B2, such as Rouge and Mom.

She can also be run solo with ATK DMG and CHG DMG buffers. A team such as Siren Nayuta VDrake B3 Velvet might work. You typically run VDrake (and Lapluh) against all Wind-weak Bosses if you don't have SBS + Lib. If you have SBS + Lib, you will likely see them only in Raids, whether as UR Team 2 or SR Team 2/3. 

PvP

VDrake can be said to be similar to XMaiden because she is a Defender (can benefit from Biscuit), is a B3, and can bypass Biscuit's Immunity in Full Burst thanks to strong single-target attacks. However, in most cases, she is worse than XMaiden because she is missing lots of her important traits. Here are why she is worse:

• Low Burst Gen: XMaiden's burst gen is comparable to Clip SGs, whereas VDrake wields a Non-Clip SG.

• Feeds: VDrake shoots a lot, so she can die to Scarlet if unprotected and increases Jackal's burst gen. This can be a problem on Defense as Attackers can play around it—or in CA, where you don't know whom she's fighting against.

• Rosanna-able: VDrake's HP → ATK conversion can be dispelled by Rosanna, significantly lowering her damage.

• Weak Indomitability Target: VDrake reloads at the end of Blanc's Indomitability, so if she duels against another Blanc-Indomed target, her chance to win is close to 0 as the enemy outspeeds her in firing the killing shot.

• Wind: Wind units are severely disadvantaged in PvP, especially on Defense, as TVesti, who has strong early pressure, elementally counters them. Sakura can also completely block her damage.

That being said, she is better than her in two aspects:

• Burst Wipe: While her AoE is not the strongest, an AoE is better than no AoE. It's also quite big even though it can't one-shot Moran—76% of Lib's discounting external buffs.

• Extreme Early Pressure: Shotguns inherently have strong basic attacks right off the bat. VDrake having instant buffs takes this further; she bears the strength of 2.5 SG. You can use VDrake to punish unprotected units, especially if they are Iron. She can be a temporary carry for beginners too since they likely don't have access to all meta defensive units.

Investments

Gear Investments

VDrake already has tons of ATK. Thus, ELE is much more important than anything else. Then, get Crit or Charge Damage if possible or ATK if it comes first, but the gain from any is low enough (unless you're up for crit fishing, in which case Crit is valuable) that you shouldn't bother unless they spawn in Line 3. When leveling, focus on HP-related gear first.

• Primary Goal: 4× ELE

• Secondary Goal: Crit Rate, Crit Damage, Charge Damage > ATK

Skill Investments

S1 and S2 are indispensable. Burst Skill can be left at Lv. 7 or lower if she is off-burst. If she Bursts with Trina, the impact of Burst Skill level increases.

• S1: 10

  • Higher-than-standard scaling of Charged Shot multiplier. Defines most of her damage. Max immediately.

  • In PvP, if her goal is only to wipe with Burst Skill, leveling this is pointless. Nonetheless, it is important for follow-up especially against Biscuit comps.

• S2: 10

  • Buffs herself and the team. Determines her and her team's stats.

• Burst Skill: 7~10

  • In PvE, if she Bursts, Lv. 7 is fine if you want to save resources, but Lv. 10 is still the endgoal. If she Bursts with Trina, consider this even more.

  • In PvP, if she Bursts, consider Lv. 10 to ensure she hits hard enough to one-shot.

Cube Investments

• In PvE, Vigor to buff her Max HP is the generic choice. If its level is too low, Resilience to shorten reload time is the next best. If the boss sports durable parts and VDrake can hit them, she can use Destruction.

• In PvP, Vigor is the best as it simultaneously improves DPS and survivability. Tempering, Quantum, and Resilience can be used situationally or as a replacement.

Doll Investments

• PvE: While Shotgun Doll's Weapon Skill doesn't amplify her Charged Shots, she has high reliance on her stat + she buffs teammates based on it. SR 15 is recommended.

• PvP: Not someone you would normally use but scales hard on Doll. Doll's Weapon Skill affects early pressure. Damage Reduction is handy, and Burst needs to reliably wipe if used. SR 5 minimum; SR 15 if highly competitive.