Marciana: Marine StudyInformation and Guide

Can you give a brief summary about this unit?

Summer Marciana, SMarci, SMarciana, whatever you call her.

A niche DPS for Iron-weak SR with no extension to other game modes nor elements and with an extremely high bar for cost-effective use. We can say she is mid for the majority but a divine blessing for competitive Iron-weak SR players. Essential for top ranks, SMarciana delivers huge single-target damage that scales best off MirandaTr's guaranteed crit. She doesn't scale well with common support combos (e.g. Anis: Star + Crown) and specifically require MirandaTr, making her picky (bad for everything outside SR) but also consistent (not contesting SS-SSS tier supports in SR, resulting in stable damage across all Iron-weak SRs).

Compared to Snow White: Performance wise, they are similar. SW has a lower damage floor (enemy has no core, 0 part) but a higher peak (enemy has core, 2+ parts). Against enemies with core but 0 part, SW and SMarci deal similar damage. Thankfully, in SR, this comparison doesn't matter because both have their own teams. SW wants ZweiTr (and Mint), whereas SMarci wants MirandaTr. However, SW's having a higher peak allows her to be more relevant for UR and other game modes. This makes building SW a better goalpost than building SMarci.

Should I pull or mileage this unit?

She is a seasonal limited and looks (aesthetically) good. If bouncing boobas are enough reason for you, then yes, otherwise read for a more objective recommendation:

• If you are a new player, you likely don't have access to MirandaTr, her mandatory support. That means SMarci is useless to you aside from being a nothing-special Iron-weak bosser that can be replaced by any decent Iron DPS such as BMilk.

• If you are a mid-game player who is looking to invest in Iron-weak, ask yourself: do you have MirandaTr, ZweiTr, and SW? We believe building SW and MirandaTr should be prioritized first due to their versatility. Only after that should you build ZweiTr (so that SW doesn't lose her buffer) and SMarci.

• If you are a late-game competitive Iron-weak SR player, SMarci is a must get. Thanks to her consistent damage without contesting SS-SSS tier supports, she should stay relevant for a long time.

While she is a seasonal limited, due to her low versatility, support pickiness, and 2% pull rate, we are against mileaging her.

Should I get dupes?

This section is not for beginners. You should save!

SMarci has a high amount of ATK▲, and she's paired with MirandaTr, who gives ATK▲ that scales off the receiver's base ATK. This makes her one of the best candidates for dupes. However, due to her being restricted to Iron-weak SR only, dupes are only recommended for competitive Iron-weak SR players, and even then, it is low priority. It is more cost-effective to invest in dupes of units more universal.

Kit Analysis

Whistle Collector

SMarci operates on a stackable buff called Whistle, which gives 32.73% ATK▲/stack and stacks up to 5 times.

• At the start of battle, 5 Whistle stacks are obtained automatically.

• If Whistle stacks are reduced by any means, they are recovered automatically every 5s as long as there are 3 or fewer Raptures on the field.

• Whistles can only be lost from 2 causes: one stack is lost every second with 6 or more Raptures on the field, or Rosanna in PvP dispels all of them.

  • This will therefore never happen in Bossing unless the boss spawns a horde of mobs, such as Mother Whale or Harvester.

Panic Button - Blow the Whistle!

When there are 6 or more Raptures on the field, SMarci spends 1 Whistle stack to deliver a mini screen-wipe that deals 214.36% additional damage. This happens every second as long as 1 or more Whistle stacks remain and there are 6 or more Raptures.

• The damage decreases with each nuke performed, due to fewer ATK▲ buffs.

• For example, at 5 stacks, the first nuke enjoys 163.65% ATK▲, but the second only 130.92%▲ with 4 stacks. Therefore, the average ATK buff for 5 Whistle wipes performed consecutively is 32.73%▲ * 3 stacks = 98.19%▲.

• Spending 5 Whistle stacks nets 1071.8% in total damage, which combined with the ATK▲ above, puts her around Scarlet level. However, hers still receives extra buffs from S2 & Burst Skill, as well as external multipliers with good timing.

Capture the Flag!

Entering Full Burst after using Burst Skill inflicts a forceful burst of damage on the enemy with the highest Max HP and, only if it survives, applies a decorative debuff—Flagged Target.

• Flagged Target is not applied if the target dies instantly from the nuke.

• Flagged Target reduces the enemy's ATK, but this is imperceptible.

• When an entity with Flagged Target dies, Flagged Target is relayed to another target randomly (not highest final Max HP this time), accompanied by the same forceful burst of damage.

• Because it triggers upon entering Full Burst, it benefits from all Full Burst skills and multipliers.

Due to this nuke being SMarci’s primary source of damage, SMarci's main duo is MirandaTr. In fact, she is so dependent on her that her damage plunges without her. Anis: Star + Crown can't even save her.

• When pairing with MirandaTr, you do not need to stop shooting. Her S1 will always get the crit.

• Due to SMarci’s high innate ATK▲, you don’t have to worry about her not getting the crit.

High-Risk Target

Upon using Burst Skill, SMarci also applies a catalytic debuff on every Electric enemy—High-Risk Target.

• This reduces the DEF of the enemy, which translates into teamwide ATK▲.

• Allows SMarci to deal more damage against them through Basic Attacks.

This damage is minor if you pair SMarci with MirandaTr but substantial without her.

Tier List & Usage Analysis

Campaign: B

As ShiftUp says, SMarci is terrible for Campaign. This is because she is designed to waste her Whistle stacks, which are vital to her ATK▲ buff, as soon as there are 6 or more Raptures on the field. Her mini-wipes from wasting these Whistle stacks are incredibly weak, and they are more likely to happen outside Full Burst when there are no buffs (e.g. at the start of the battle). Then, after the Whistles stacks are gone, SMarci will start dealing 1 damage (at higher deficits) because she doesn’t have enough ATK.

She can regain Whistle stacks by stalling waves (leaving 1-3 mobs alive so that Whistles regenerate every 5s), but this is not feasible all the time and difficult to do if you’re casual. If she is able to stall and regenerate this way, and you can pre-fill the Burst Gauge, she can start the boss wave with 1 buffed nuke and 5 buffed mini-wipes. This nuke is very likely to hit the stage target due to its having the highest final Max HP. Whether that’s impactful is dependent on deficit. It will likely not be, though.

Note that, if her S1 insta-kills a Rapture, Flagged Target will not occur, thus no domino effect. Even then, Flagged Target nuke chain is useless if SMarci doesn’t have ATK▲,

In summary, she is very, very problematic. For most people, she is useless because her output will be nothing. Unlike Scarlet, she also has no synergy with Anis: Sparkling Summer or Trina. We want to discourage people from investing in her for Mobbing, hence her rating B.

Bossing: A

SMarci’s Bossing rating is carried by her impressive Iron-weak SR performance, especially against coreless and partless bosses. She is able to pair with MirandaTr, not contesting SS-SSS tier supports like most Iron DPS, which results in consistent damage across seasons. This makes her one of the most valuable units to optimally build (just like how you would with Snow White), as long as you already have the pre-requisites fulfilled (build MirandaTr first).

However, SMarci’s performance doesn’t extend to Neutral, which reduces the ROI in building her, making her only worthwhile for competitive Iron-weak SR players who chase top ranks. Semi-competitive and casual players who only care about Top 3%, as well as beginners (who obviously don’t have access to MirandaTr and shouldn’t aim for her at the start of their journey), can safely skip her.

Moreover, despite her same tier with Snow White, SMarciana has less use outside SR. This is because her consistent damage is not only a strength but also a drawback. Unlike Snow White who can outperform RRH against enemies with core and many clustered parts, SMarci can’t scale as much. This makes Snow White a better unit to build first alongside MirandaTr (due to MirandaTr’s being more versatile than ZweiTr). Then, after that, you build ZweiTr for SW so that you can save MirandaTr for SMarci.

PvP: B

SMarci’s kit has misled many people into thinking she’s powerful for PvP. She’s not. Here’s why:

• Susceptible to Rosanna’s Dispel: Having 163.65% ATK▲ almost guarantees her to be Dispelled by Rosanna, who targets 2 units with the highest ATK. Without Whistle stacks, SMarci is very weak. This makes her abysmal for Defense.

• No Domino Effect: The main issue of SMarci’s nuke is it doesn’t domino if the initial target is insta-killed. To nuke everyone, the nuked target must not die from the initial damage. When this matters, it is just impossible to do because of how strong SMarci’s nuke is. In most cases, she’s no more than a single-target nuker.

• Foiled Domino Effect: Even if you pass the initial damage check, the nuke could get stuck.

  • It targets the highest final Max HP, which is often Defenders such as MoranTr or Noah. They are more likely to be protected by Immunity from their own kits or Biscuit.

  • Nuke is also inherently useless against teams that rely on Blanc Indomitability for survival since the user will live through anyway. Not only that, the Indom-ed unit cannot be killed throughout most of Flagged Target duration.

  • The domino direction is also random. Even if the initial target dies and relays the Flagged Target, it might get stuck in another unit.

However, against bad team compositions, SMarci can be used in the following ways:

• Successful Domino Effect: If SMarci’s S1 kills someone not instantly, she can nuke the entire enemy team as long as it doesn’t get stuck on an Immune or Indomitable unit.

• Instant Nuke: SMarci’s S1 can insta-kill most units, especially Electric units such as MoranTr (who conveniently also taunts). Great for shutting down threats, but there will not be domino.

• Elemental Advantage Against Electric: SMarci being Iron allows her to pressure Electric tanks such as Noise and MoranTr as long as they are unprotected. These tanks also taunt, which ensures SMarci’s S1 always hits them.

Overall, we think she’s a bad unit if you have anything better, but if you’re new and your rivals don’t have the meta tanks (Noah, Biscuit, Blanc, etc), you can exploit SMarci’s strengths.

Investments

Gear Investments

Due to SMarci's high ATK▲ and pairing with MirandaTr, who buffs ATK, she scales less on ATK OL than most DPS. This, combined with her being relevant only for Iron-weak SR, makes ELE the undisputable #1 choice. Only if you have spare rocks should you get ATK and Crit Damage (not Rate, because MirandaTr guarantees crit).

• End Goal: 4× ELE, 4× ATK, 4× Crit DMG

Skill Investments

All fo SMarci’s skills are important, but S1 & S2 have more impact.

• Skill 1: 10

  • Increases nuke’s skill ratio. Very important.

  • If left at Lv. 7, expect ~9% damage loss.

• Skill 2: 10

  • Increases ATK▲ per Whistle stack, Elemental Damage, and mini-wipes’ skill ratio.

  • If left at Lv. 7, expect ~7.5% damage loss.

• Burst Skill: 7~10

  • Increases Elemental Damage and ATK DMG, which she (and MirandaTr) lack.

  • If left at Lv. 7, expect ~2.8% damage loss.

Cube Investments

SMarci doesn't particularly scale on any cube's skill effect. However, Resilience/Bastion increases her Basic Attack uptime a bit. That said, use your highest-leveled cube for its ATK & ELE stats.

In PvP, extra survivability from Tempering or Vigor is always welcome, or use highest-leveled cube.

Doll Investments

Lots of ATK▲, but she has no presence outside Iron-weak SR. Does not scale with weapon-specific Core Damage▲ skill. SR 5 recommended; SR 15 for competitive Iron-weak SR players who already have everyone SR 15-ed.