Should You Pull Cornerstone?

Should You Pull? (TLDR):

3.8

Cornerstone is a 6* Mineral DPS unit. She is a Riposte unit that specializes in absorbing incoming damage, using it to empower allied Riposte attacks, and then firing it back onto the opposition at the end of the round.

Consider pulling if:

• You’re looking for a competitive Mineral carry for your account;

• You have access to Extra Action or Ritual supports like Flutterpage, Melania, or Moldir;

• You enjoy the Riposte team’s gameplay and don’t mind its downsides;

• MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR: You like her.

Consider skipping if:

• You already have a powerful Mineral carry for your account (e.g., The Twins, Recoleta, Ms. Stranger);

• You don’t have the core units that will bring about her best performance, like Flutterpage and J;

• You dislike playing a unit that’s reliant on getting hit by enemies to perform well;

• MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR: You don’t like her.

Gameplay & Mechanics

Long story short, Cornerstone is an Extra Action unit cosplaying as a Riposte unit. Her kit kind of “solves” the issue of Riposte in that she is not reliant on enemies hitting her to trigger her attack. Rather, she relies on the team getting hit and then uses the received damage to empower her personal damage and the team’s Riposte damage.

The cornerstone (heh) of Cornerstone’s gameplay is her [Delivery Feedback] attack, which is a Riposte attack tied to her Ultimate. Her kit is all about facilitating both the max damage she can deal with the attack and the frequency at which she can unleash said attack, so let’s break it down: 

First, her Precognition allows her to mitigate (and sometimes even negate) incoming damage, and this mitigated damage is stored via her [Trial and Error] up to a cap. This status does two things:

• Whenever an ally performs a Riposte, she adds an additional on-hit damage rider equivalent to the current [Trial and Error] value. This counts as an extra instance of damage attributed to Cornerstone.

• Whenever she performs her Riposte attacks, she clears all [Trial and Error] values to increase her damage. This means that she’ll need to re-gather [Trial and Error] once more the following round.

Second, she needs to gather [Progressive Iteration] stacks and [Design Revision] stacks. The former gives her Incantation Might and Riposte Damage bonus, while the latter increases the multipliers, PEN, and Ultimate Might of [Delivery Feedback].

She gains [Design Revision] for every 10 [Progressive Iteration] stacks gathered or when she performs her own Counter or Ultimate, and she gains a stack of [Progressive Iteration] every time the team performs an extra action, doubled if the action is a Riposte. In short, you want the team to be performing as many extra actions as possible, preferably Ripostes.

Both of her cards help with this stacking: her Skill 1, [Concrete Functionality] is a run of the mill attack that counts as a Riposte meaning it grants her 2 stacks of [Progressive Iteration], while her Skill 2, [Figure-Ground Relationship], grants her [Progressive Iteration] stacks while allowing her to perform a weaker Riposte attack at the end of the round for another 2 stacks.

Finally, her Precognition and Insight passives facilitate her Moxie gain: she only has 4 Moxie and only requires 4 to cast her Ult, she gains 2 Moxie at the start of the battle, and Ultimate does not take spelldock space, and she has a personal Moxie Storage system. This means you should be casting Cornerstone’s ultimate every round through a combination of tuning, card merging, and storing excess Moxie.

Her kit might seem complicated but the gameplay loop is relatively simple:

• Maintain Cornerstone’s Counter status at all times and gather her Moxie as fast as possible;

• Upon casting her ult, merge her cards at least once, then cast one of her cards. Combined with her own Counter and Ultimate attack giving her Moxie, you are refunding 4 Moxie post Ultimate, letting you cast her Ultimate every round.

• Unfinished Tune helps massively in this regard as it lets you force Cornerstone’s cards.

Portraits

• As with most 6* units in Reverse: 1999, Cornerstone is already complete at P0. That said, there are a few portrait breakpoints that you can aim for if you do decide to go for them:

• Portrait 1 doubles the damage of both [Delivery Feedback] and [Inspection Feedback] whilst increasing the efficiency of gathering and consuming [Design Revision]. Portrait 2 is another further damage personal damage increase and scaling increase, and is the most efficient stopping point.

Synergies

Because of the nature of her kit, Cornerstone’s teambuilding is rather flexible when it comes to teammates. However, there are a few standout units that work exceptionally well with her:

• One of her best partners is J with his Euphoria 1. He and Cornerstone work perfectly together as he can perform multiple Ripostes per turn to provide Cornerstone her needed stacks while also applying her damage riders, he provides a ton of offensive buffs, all the while acting as the team’s sustain and sub-DPS.

• Rhiannon provides hefty offensive utility that anyone can benefit from. Additionally, Rhiannon being completely AP-free helps with facilitating Cornerstone’s rotation. It’s important to note that Rhiannon’s [Sensory Bond] has a bit of anti-synergy with Cornerstone since it prevents enemies from attacking, but it’s a small price to pay in exchange for her powerful offensive utility.

• Since Cornerstone is an extra action unit, Flutterpage is a no-brainer. She massively buffs all of Cornerstone’s damage (including even her Skill 1 due to it counting as a Riposte), provides +1AP, and ensures that all of Cornerstone’s attacks will always be critical hits.

• There’s a unique synergy between Cornerstone and Anjo Nala . When bound to Anjo, Cornerstone easily stacks Anjo’s [Legato Harmony] due to her Skill 1 counting as a Riposte.

• The Ritual wheelchair of Moldir with her Euphoria 1 and Narcissus proves to be a good team for Cornerstone due to their hefty Ultimate related buffs and frequent extra actions. Moldir in particular can perform Ripostes, which is a huge bonus for Cornerstone.

Psychubes

Where Light and Shadow Rest - Cornerstone’s signature chube and is also her best in slot. It gives her all the stats she needs, specially Crit related stats and a unique Riposte damage stat. The only caveat here is she needs to be ran with an ally that can consistently perform multiple Ripostes.	The Final Roll - Recoleta’s signature chube. This is a very good option that gives identical stats as her signature chube, except it gives Ultimate Might rather than Riposte Damage bonus. The upside of running this chube is that you’re not reliant on Ripostes to fully stack the Critical Damage buff.	On the Hand of Time - Flutterpage’s signature chube. A good generic option for any Extra Action DPS. It gives Cornerstone a decent amount of Critical Damage, especially if you use her Skill 1 during the round.	Outside the City - Jiu Niangzi’s signature chube. This has the potential to give tons of Crit-related stats and is powerful when paired with Flutterpage. However, it takes a long time to stack and requires Cornerstone spamming her Skill 1 (as it’s the only that can activate the chube conditions), and thus should only be considered in long fights.

Resonances

• Crit Focused Resonance, best used when ran with Flutterpage.

• Attack Focused Resonance, higher damage mitigation threshold, good general choice if not ran with Flutterpage.

Teams

PRAISED TO BE THE CORNERSTONE RIPOSTE

A bare bones Riposte team. Cornerstone and J work together to fulfill the DPS duties of the team while the remaining slots are delegated to buffers to maximize both of their damage.

RITUAL OR EXTRA ACTION? WHY NOT BOTH?

A team that focuses on hyperbuffing Cornerstone’s [Delivery Feedback] as much as possible. Bonus points since Flutterpage also provides buffing for Moldir’s own Ultimate Ripostes.

MY CONTRACT MARRIAGE WITH THE ARCHITECT OF THE NORTH

A triple DPS set-up with Anjo Nala bound to Cornerstone, allowing the team to perform multiple Extra Actions per turn.