Soline: Frost TicketInformation and Guide

Can you give a summary of this unit?

Soline: Frost Ticket is a CDR and healer who can increase the team's Maximum HP▲ continuously. She looks good... until you realize she offers nothing outside that Maximum HP▲. No offense buffs (unless paired with Cindy or 2B, but even then it’s low) and restricted by a non-Re-Enter 40s CD Burst Skill. This makes running her solo impossible and as an occasional burst discouraged (unlike with Bunny Alice, who is a Re-Enter B1 and does not cost your B1 Burst's effect). Does that mean all hope is shattered? Not yet.

Soline can be used as a FLEX unit in any team that requires CDR and healing. For example, you can use her in MirandaTr's comp, but the problem is she is not better than DWife/Rouge thanks to their ATK DMG buffs…. Or is she? Soline’s CDR is 0.48s higher compared to DWife and Rouge, which is more than enough compensation over 3 minutes to be ‘stronger’ than DWife and Rouge. Plus, her non-conditional CDR can make special/blackout QTEs less annoying. The differences between them stem from their specialized buffs, where DWife will be better in Pierce teams, Rouge will be better in HP-scaling teams, and Soline will be better in Shotgun teams (and other teams, assuming you can benefit from higher CDR). You can still mix and match. For example, you can use Soline with Cindy, but she’s not going to be as effective as Rouge, and you will have to sacrifice either Anis or Maiden for another B1.

Regardless, you must know that Bursting with her instead of your primary B1 is almost always a damage loss. You should also know that Soline's healing is locked behind Burst, and the only healing she has without Burst is petty (but if you are a competitive Solo Raid player, you know that 13% heal can be just enough).

Soline's main redeeming characteristic is that she is a Shotgun, which is why she can be paired with Tove for some personal damage, especially against Water-weak, where she most definitely replaces other commonly used CDR units like Volume for the shotgun team (who has practically zero offensive buffs as an off-burst for SG teams). For instance, ToveTr B2 (e.g. Grave) Doropity DrakeTr Soline will be the best Water Shotgun team, at least until someone in this team is replaced. She even beats DWife and Rouge in Neutral.

Soline may also have some uses in PvP thanks to her First Train Discount shtick, but we don't see how she is going to shake the meta rather than complement it. Soline might also be meta in Water Sim Room when it comes (next season, if we follow the pattern of elements).

Should I pull this unit?

It's a 50-50. We recommend and discommend pulling her at the same time. This is because she has a place in the meta as an optimizer, but the extent of that impact may not be attractive to you. We mentioned several use cases in the previous paragraph. Without Soline, you are pretty much locked to Rouge Blanc, Rouge/Volume Grave, or solo Rouge/DWife variants. While you can live with these alternatives, they are not always the best nor the easiest to pull off.

If you are a complete beginner without the current list of meta CDR, you might be able to use Soline as an alternative. However, we think her limiting your comp to 2-1-2 instead of the usual 1-1-2-FLEX is an important stipulation. If the CDR unit needs to Burst as well, then most other CDR would be better than her unless you need that 7.48s instant CDR that some older units don't give. If strictly used as an off-burst, Soline is actually better than off-burst Liter (if cover is not needed), Volume, and even DKW/Rouge due to her higher 7.48s CDR (the two have 7s) despite their offensive buffs. You still need unit variance to allow for more flexible team building as there can be multiple correct answers to one question, but one thing is for certain—Soline is one of the best off-burst CDR, but she can’t be Bursting.

If you are a beginner without CDR, you might see use in Campaign too. For example, you can run Crown B1 B3 B3 Soline, which is similar to its DKW counterpart (no ATK DMG buff but higher CDR). However, she is not worth your hard-earned gems, and investments are not recommended for a beginner, so you shouldn't really pull Soline. Just get Liter from Bonus Recruit, use RH B1 for "instant CDR", or wait till you get your hands on one of the generic meta CDR.

All in all, we only recommend pulling Soline to competitive Solo Raid players (Top 200+) with focus on Water-weak (and Fire/Wind and other elements where off-burst CDR is applicable). If you are not in this group, do not pull Soline unless you like her.

Should I get dupes or mileage her?

No. Especially not before the back-to-back Double Limited Units in Christmas and 1% in New Year (probably Anis Overspec).

Kit Analysis

[Ammo Capacity: 9; Reload Time: 1.50s; Affects target(s).

Deals 201.5% of ATK as damage.

Deals 200% damage when attacking core.]

Soline is a non-Clip SG user. In PvP, this makes her burst gen not that great but not that bad either. The problem is that all SGs feed into Jackal & Scarlet if there is a bad matchup. In PvE, her burst gen will be low but better than most ARs/MGs.

Skill 1

[Activates at the start of battle or when using Burst Skill. Affects all allies.

Issues 1 ticket, up to a maximum of 2. Continuous.

Ticket effect: Max HP▲ number of tickets 10% of the caster's Max HP without restoring HP.]

One Ticket is given immediately at the start of battle and can only be regained via Burst.

• You cannot use stack refreshers to increase Ticket count.

• They can be dispelled by Rosanna.

• They persist even after Soline dies.

The Max HP▲ is most of the time useless, but it can help in 3 scenarios:

• For buffing Max HP-dependent units like Cindy & 2B, but we don't see any real use cases of Soline with them.

• For increasing the amount of healing in PvP since most heals are based on final Max HP.

• For increasing the heals you get when consuming a Ticket. This is probably its most important purpose as it is basically a direct multiplier despite its low value.

[Activates when entering Full Burst. Affects all allies.

Cooldown of Burst Skill▼ 7.48 sec.]

The CDR is nice. It is 7.48s, is instant, and has no trigger requirements. This no trigger requirement goes a long way in Campaign and Raid (if you are competitive, you know how annoying that blackout/special QTE is). This makes it better than a lot of other CDRs, but the problem is Soline's 40s Burst CD makes her unable to go solo. You will have to play her in a 2-1-2 formation, which restricts team building. Not only that, Soline's kit doesn't have any offense buffs except for the Max HP▲ (and that is only for some units). This is fine, though, because she makes up for the lack of offensive buffs by having a slightly higher CDR than Rouge/DWife. She is also not as bad as off-burst Volume or Liter (minus cover repair) because her CDR is instant. And DKW doesn't provide healing. If you don't have Rouge, Siren, or DKW and need an off-burst CDR, Soline might as well be your best unit. You can use her as an alternative off-burst CDR in Campaign (e.g. Crown - B1 - B3 - B3 - Soline) or in Solo Raid (e.g. MirandaTr - B2 - B3 - B3 - Soline, or ToveTr - Grave - Doropity - DrakeTr - Soline).

[Activates when entering Full Burst. Affects all allies.

Removes First Train Discount.]

Prematurely deactivates the First Train Discount effect from S2, which allows Nikkes at critical HP to keep triggering Ticket heal without consuming it. Unimportant for PvE but important for PvP.

[Activates when the HP of anyone in the squad is lower than 15%.

Affects the target if the target has any tickets.

Recovers 12.27% of caster's final max HP as HP.

Ticket count▼ 1.]

The Tickets from Skill 1 not only provide Max HP▲ but also act as "emergency heals" that get consumed at low HP.

• The 15% is based on the target’s HP. Higher final Max HP means higher 15% threshold. Vigor and unused Tickets on them may influence this.

• Heal is based on Soline’s final Max HP. Vigor Cube and unused Tickets on herself can influence this.

• Soline must be alive.

• Main source of Soline's healing.

• You can only heal once if you don't use Burst, which is ridiculous, but this can be just enough in Solo Raid.

• If you use Burst, you are wasting team's damage because it doesn't give any offense buffs and prevents you from using your other B1's Burst Skill.

• If the target has First Train Discount, Tickets are not consumed when emergency heals are triggered.

• In PvP, First Train Discount allows a unit to keep healing and be immortal if they don't get one-shot from >15% to 0%.

Skill 2

[Activates at the start of the battle. Affects all allies.

First Train Discount for 6 sec.]

Units don't consume Tickets if their HP drops below 15% for the first 6s of the battle. Good for PvP for tanking single Shotguns or strong hitters in the first few seconds. Useless in PvE (even in Campaign because most of the mobs one-shot at High Deficits). The problem is the units don't get to heal if they get one-shot from above 15%, so it doesn't work for everything. In PvP, this effect can be dispelled by Rosanna.

Note that the 6s duration doesn’t matter much because usually you don’t need this kind of pseudo-Indomitable after Full Burst unless you need to tank against Alice, RH, or the such (for that purpose, Makima is better than Soline).

Burst Skill

[(40.0s CD)

Affects all allies.

Recovers 32.26% of caster's final max HP as HP.]

For a 40s Burst Skill, its effect is weak compared to others’ (e.g. Noise). Not only does it not offer any offensive buffs, which means using it will almost always result in damage loss, but the heal value isn’t high either. You can use it in emergency situations, sure, but it’s better to avoid that situation altogether. In PvP, the heal can be a lifesaver, but there are better B1 that you can use if you only need the heal. Her use is only warranted if the pseudo-Indomitability for P1/P5 is desired.

The Burst Skill being 40s also means you need to pair her with another B1, so you can’t use Soline as a solo B1.

Tier List & Usage Analysis

Surface: Rating Currently Not Applicable

Soline is from the Strike Squad (non-Combat, against Radial Raptures) and possesses the skill “Recover 10.5% of damage dealt upon kill”. This makes her weaker than Rapunzel (14.7%), Sakura (12.6%), and Moran (12.6%), and equal to Mari. Nevertheless, she is the first Water unit to have this skill, which might be important to have post-Beta. For now, she is not necessary.

Campaign (Low Deficit): S | Campaign (High Deficit): S

Soline is not your first choice when it comes to Campaign units, but CDR will never not be useful. If you have better units like DWife, Rouge, or Siren, obviously Soline is not going to be useful for you (unless that 0.48s extra CDR is the game changer), but if you have none of them, what choice do you have? With Soline, though, you have to be wary of her “useless” Burst Skill and requirement of another B1. As long as you use her as an off-burst, you’re in good hands. In fact, her non-conditional CDR may be better than DWife’s or Rouge’s because sometimes you need to cover with them, but theirs can trigger multiple times within one rotation (handy for stalling).

If you are wondering: No, she’s not going to save you from those Bullwhips that issue preemptive attacks as the stage begins. Those often one-shot you directly. If you get to heal over and over & survive (thanks to First Train Discount), your Deficit is likely too low.

We are placing her in S in High Deficit because, as far as our tests go, she has proven to be better than all the casts in A tier, including Volume, Sakura, and a bunch others, and even Liter (because stacking-type CDR is unideal for High-Deficit Mobbing)! As an off-burst CDR, she actually performs at the same level as DWife or Rouge, but the reason for the reduced rank is because of her inflexibility. While DWife and Rouge can be used as a solo B1 (and thus you can use FLEX B1, B2, or B3), using Soline will force you into a 2-1-2 formation (because Soline herself is the FLEX), and that means no off-burst Crown, MastM, HelmTr, Nayuta, or the likes. The only way you can benefit from a 2-1-2 formation is if the other B1 is strong enough to carry. They can either have CDR or not. For example, RH B1 is an optimal choice. You can also use MirandaTr or Liter. In conclusion, Soline isn’t bad. In fact, CDR outclasses big buffs in overly slow rotations. If you don’t have Siren, DWife, or Rouge, Soline is actually a decent pick.

• Simulation Room: Soline might be the best-in-slot unit for Water-weak Sim OC, which will be the next season, if ShiftUp decides to make constraints that hamstring other CDR options (Dorothy & MilkTr).

• Elysion Tower: Replacement for DWife but not as a solo B1 (goes alongside MirandaTr/EmmaTU).

Bossing: S

While Soline doesn’t have concrete offensive buffs (except for Max HP▲) and wastes one offensive buffer slot, but that doesn’t mean she is not meta. She can be used as an alternative and may potentially be Best-in-Slot for some teams.

• Idea 1: Soline is used as a replacement for DWife or other off-burst CDR.

  • Off-burst is the emphasis here because Soline requires another B1. Ideally, you shouldn’t use her Burst at all either.

  • In this role, she is exclusively used as a CDR reducer, similar to an off-burst Sakura, Volume, or Liter. These three don’t give much if their Burst is unused. On the other hand, DWife, Rouge, and Siren still give offensive buffs even as off-burst, and that’s why they are ‘better’, but note DWife’s and Rouge’s lower 7s reduction (Soline gives 7.48s). This higher CDR has been tested to make up for the lack of offensive buffs → resulting in higher team damage compared to with DWife and Rouge (if their specialty is not utilized)!

  • To be specific, if there are Pierce Sniper DPS, DWife will be the best pick due to her extra buffs. If there are DPS that scale on Max HP ▲, Rouge becomes the best pick. Otherwise, Soline is more likely to take the cake at maximum S1 investment.

  • In fact, Soline also has one more hidden advantage: her CDR is non-conditional! This means blackout/special QTEs wouldn’t be as annoying with her as with DWife or Rouge.

  • Off-burst CDR like DWife (and now Soline) are usually used when your primary B1 has intense skills but not CDR (like MirandaTr, Tove & EmmaTU). This makes CDR like this, who would have otherwise been a slot pressure, warranted.

  • Soline’s one-time minor heals might actually be what’s enough to last you a run.

  • Because she is Water, she can be used as a Water QTE breaker in teams that don’t have Water units.

  • Example teams:

    • MirandaTr BunnyAde SW AdaWong Soline

    • EmmaTU EunhwaTU VestiTU B3 Soline

• Idea 2: Soline is used as a personal DPS and CDR in Shotgun Team.

  • Soline wields a Shotgun, which means she synergizes with Tove.

  • Tove makes any Shotgun, regardless of their class, a sub-DPS, even more so if the enemy is elementally countered.

  • Against Water-weak bosses, Soline with ToveTr (with Grave or Leona, who is also Water) can support Water SG Teams in Solo Raid. Doropity also scales well with CDR, making Soline one of her best partners in this situation.

  • While DWife, Rouge, and Siren can be used in place of Soline and provide offensive buffs, they have less personal damage. Soline trades team buffs for personal damage and also has that small heal on top that might be enough to last you a run.

  • Soline will be relevant in Water and may be in Fire/Wind (if we get a good Wind unit). She will not be relevant in Electric (if you use Arcana-Isabel because they require another B2) and may be not in Iron (because BSoda extends Full Burst and is a main DPS for that element).

  • Soline has been tested to outperform DWife and Rouge against Neutral in SG teams unless your B2 is not an ATK DMG-buffer like Leona (except on Water-weak). Note that CDR is better than BSoda for SG teams against non-Iron-weak.

  • Her main competition here is Rouge Blanc > DWife/Volume Grave.

  • Example team:

    • ToveTr Grave Doropity DrakeTr Soline

Overall, for Raid enthusiasts, Soline seems to improve team damage and may be considered as a must pull for players aiming to min-max their overall DPS, especially in Water and elements where MirandaTr is relevant. We are placing her in S because her use case is similar to DWife in late-game Solo Raid, and she performs better than her in most realistic cases → this compensates for her inability to go solo B1, but that doesn’t mean she is bad because she herself is the FLEX. You can now use non-CDR B1 with ease.

PvP: B

We think she has too many constraints to be effective in PvP. Let’s detail why:

• While she is good for making ANY units, including herself, become pseudo-Indomitable prior to Full Burst, she requires one slot, which comes at the cost of burst gen or other buffs. This is especially true if your goal is to make OTHER units (not herself) pseudo-Indomitable. If you use her as the tank herself, she is similar to Makima (in the first few seconds).

• Unlike Makima, she cannot tank powerful shots, and her pseudo-Indomitability immediately ends upon entering Full Burst. That means no cheese MiharaBC’s debuff strat. She is also a Supporter, so no Biscuit synergy and no blocking Distributed Damage.

• Additionally, if she or the units she’s protecting aren’t invested, that 15% is a pretty low threshold that can get her insta-killed, especially against strong singles like LaplaceTr’s basic attack.

• She is Water, and Electric is the most popular element in PvP. If she or any unit she’s protecting is elementally countered, they might get insta-downed from above 15%.

• Her Tickets and First Train Discount can be dispelled by Rosanna. If you desire your high ATK units in P1/P5 to be pseudo-Indomitable, be careful of this possibility.

• She might accelerate Scarlet & Jackal’s comps as a Shotgun user (and die to them).

• She is not Clip SG, which means lower burst generation.

That being said, she has some good stuff too:

• She is still non-Clip SG, which means her burst gen is still slightly higher than Nayuta or Makima despite feeding tendencies.

• She has CDR, so in stall teams, perhaps a faster second rotation can help? Not ideal for Defense, as the enemy can match Scarlet against you.

• Since she can make ANY unit pseudo-Indomitable, you can place some units in P1/P5 now. This might be critical for countering Rosanna teams (which rely on deaths).

• She also makes EVERYONE (not only one unit) pseudo-Indomitable, so she covers front and back. Good against unpredictable SGs.

• She can make Nero gain a lot of Cat's Repayment’s stacks if she gets hit super hard in the first few seconds and survive against strong early pressure (mainly used in stall teams).

• While she feeds into Scarlet & Jackal, she may have a chance of surviving against them in the first 6s if their counterattacks don’t one-shot.

• All SG/SMG/MG allies also demonstrate this unless dispelled. This can make for some interesting anti-Scarlet comps (for Attack).

We don’t see Soline as a mainstay but rather a niche/situational unit or for those who dare test out new teams (especially stall teams). An Attacking or CA (Champion Arena) unit. While she has plenty of advantages over Makima, she cannot brute-force tank single-target DPS and single-target nukes (esp. in Full Burst). She also cannot synergize with Biscuit nor taunt to protect the team for Distributed Damage. There is also a risk of her insta-dying from above 15% to 0%. For that reason, we are placing her in B.

Investments

Gear Investments

If used strictly as an off-burst support (outside SG team), Soline doesn't even need OL. T9M will suffice, unless you need the extra HP for surviving/stronger heals in PvE or PvP. If used as a sub-DPS (in SG teams), she ideally needs OL, prioritizing ELE lines, but you can get away without one (less damage from her, though). Regardless, we don't recommend OL-ing for most players; save instead for Winter/New Year.

• Ideal: 4× ELE, 4× ATK, 1-2× Max Ammo

• Filler: 4× Critical DMG, 4× Critical Rate, 1-2× Max Ammo

• Priority: 7

• Notes: Prioritize ELE because her use is mainly in SG teams in Water-weak SR. ATK gives a nice boost and works in Neutral but less enhancing, and 1× Max Ammo maintains healthy uptime. Everything else is just a bonus.

Skill Investments

• Skill 1: 8~10

  • In PvE, Soline wants investments in Skill 1 because it affects her CDR amount. High priority. In PvP, CDR is often not needed, but sometimes it helps attain the second rotation faster. It needs at least Lv. 8 to match D:Wife’s CDR at Lv. 10. That is the bare minimum, though, because Soline’s main advantage over DWife and Rouge is her 0.48s faster CDR. Lv. 8 is theoretically not enough; you need Lv. 10.

• Skill 2: 4 (4~10 for PvP)

  • If a higher healing amount is needed for PvE & PvP, consider upgrading Skill 2. We don't recommend higher than Lv. 4 unless you specifically have no other ways of boosting sustainability (or you know for certain that upgrading it brings a smoother run). That being said, in PvP, you will almost always need higher heals, so if that's the case, upgrading is encouraged.

• Bust Skill: 1 (1~10 for PvP)

  • Burst shouldn't be used outside PvP because it gives no offensive buffs, but if emergency heals are needed, keep it to Lv. 3/4. You also don't need to upgrade it for PvP unless you plan to use her Burst.

Cube Investments

Soline is not picky in terms of the cube if used strictly as an off-burst CDR. If her personal damage matters, opt for one that boosts uptime like regular SGs (Bastion, Resilience) or other offensive cubes (Destruction if parts exist).

In PvP (and in PvE), where more healing is urgently needed by anyone else but oneself, use Vigor as it strengthens her heal. Use Tempering if personal survivability is more important or Vigor to raise the 15% bar.

Doll Investments

Soline has no supportive offensive skill that scales off base stat, but if her personal damage matters, SG Doll increases Normal Attack Damage Multiplier, making Dolling her quite profitable.

That being said, Doll increases survivability through Damage Reduction▼ and increased HP, which allows for tanking in PvP, raising the 15% bar for self, and stronger heals. It is pretty lucrative for PvP and may be needed in Solo Raid.