Difference between revisions of "Bael/Strategy"

Acting as a disruptive support with {{Weapon|Magic}} range, {{Transient icon|Bael}} is a great source of damage mitigation for a team. For starters, he specializes against enemies that have buffs, being able to punish them with either {{Status|en name=Buff Reversal}} or through his increased damage for each buff the enemy has. Secondly, his ability to apply {{Status|en name=DEF Up}} to allies and {{Status|en name=Protection}} to the team on phase start adds another layer of defense. Furthermore, his LB3 makes him shine as a disruptive support akin to {{Transient icon|Shiro}}, being able to yet again reduce damage with {{Status|en name=Curse}} and perform crowd control with {{Status|en name=Oppression}}. Finally, when Bael activates his CS, he gives {{Status|en name=Evasion}} to the team and {{Status|en name=Dazzle}} to enemies, providing yet another avenue for Bael to act as a defensive support.

On the flip side, Bael is also able to act as an offensive support. By applying {{Status|en name=Weakness}} to enemies and {{Status|en name=ATK Up}} to allies, he is able to easily bolster the team's damage output, especially if he is in the leader slot. {{Status|en name=Buff Reversal}} also acts like an additional Weakness if the enemy has a buff, further boosting Bael's ability as an offensive support.

 

In summary, Bael is an easy unit to use, providing multiple sources of damage reduction from enemies and damage amplification for allies. Buff Reversal further exacerbates this advantage, punishing enemies with buffs. Since the main way for a unit to deal a high amount of damage is through buffs,  this makes Bael an ideal candidate for improving a team's survivability.  

'''Class:''' Disruptive Support

'''Gameplay Role:''' Debuffer, Mixed Buffer, Damage Dealer

+ Multiple sources of damage mitigation through {{Status|en name=Curse}}, {{Status|en name=DEF Up}}, {{Status|en name=Protection}}

+ {{Status|en name=Buff Reversal}} and his extra damage to enemies with buffs severely punishes enemies with buffs

+ CS effectively grants a free turn by giving {{Status|en name=Evasion}} to the team

+ Acts as offensive support by applying {{Status|en name=Weakness}} to enemies and {{Status|en name=ATK Up}} to allies 

+ {{Status|en name=Oppression}} allows him to perform crowd control on top of damage reduction

- Susceptible to damage due to {{Attribute|Infernal}} typing, especially if enemies outside of his weapon range attack him

- Moving him reduces allies' HP by 1000, leading to potential issues about survivability without appropriate healing in the long run or if the rest of the team is unable to move

- Since his kit partially relies on enemies having buffs, teammates who can remove buffs from enemies can somewhat hinder him

- Needs to move for {{Status|en name=ATK Up}} and {{Status|en name=DEF Up}} to allies

- Multiple sub-100% procs encourage skill seeding for consistency, especially since he is debuff-oriented

To give an idea of how {{Transient icon|Bael|rarity=5}} acts a support unit, let's first consider the numerical multipliers of {{Status|en name=Buff Reversal}} and then see how he compares to other defensive units. As described in its page, Buff Reversal applies a 2.5x defensive drop and a 0.25x offensive drop onto enemies if the enemy carries a buff. However, since the effect necessitates a buff in the first place, the real value of Buff Reversal is less clear. At skill level 100, a typical defensive buff has a multiplier of 0.45x, meaning that Buff Reversal would effectively nullify that buff. On the other hand, a typical offensive buff like {{Status|en name=Vigor}} has a multiplier of 2.4x, meaning that Buff Reversal still reduces damage on top of that. To break even, one would need a buff like {{Status|en name=Crit}} or an additional offensive buff to deal at least the same amount of damage without buffs. Furthermore, enemies are at most level 80 so far, so the real multipliers are more in favor of Bael. In short, an enemy would need roughly two offensive buffs and one defensive buff to break past the penalties of Buff Reversal.

This is extremely useful in terms of advantage. As shown above, Buff Reversal can act partially as a Crit-nullifier, so mobs such as {{Transient icon|Ruby Scaled Wyvern}} and {{Transient icon|Water Merman}} are no longer as much of a threat. The status has a relatively long duration of three turns, making it similar to having both {{Status|en name=Dazzle}} and {{Status|en name=Stigma}}. On the other hand, there is an issue of status uptime, especially since the enemy needs a buff for the status to take effect. So unlike Stigma, teammates will likely not be able to exploit the defensive drop of Buff Reversal in the first turn of each phase unless addressed appropriately.

However, Buff Reversal is only one part of Bael's damage mitigation. Earlier, the word advantage was used, and this refers here to the net accumulation of offensive/defensive advantage over the enemy. While crude, it provides a rough idea of how effective of a support Bael is. Like the one found in the strategy page for Shennong, the following table presents the multipliers associated with certain defensive support units:

| {{Status|en name=ATK Up}}, {{Status|en name=DEF Up}}, {{Status|en name=Curse}}, {{Status|en name=Weakness}},{{Status|en name=Buff Reversal}}

| Not phase start, enemy has buff with no stat modifier

| {{Status|en name=Ardor}}, {{Status|en name=Unction}}, {{Status|en name=Freeze}}

| Doesn't need to move

| 2.4x

As shown in ATK multipliers and DEF multipliers in the table above, Bael pushes the envelope regarding offensive/defensive advantage. Unlike some of the other units in the table, he only needs to move occasionally compared to all the time like a traditional support like {{Transient icon|Aizen|rarity=5}}. Furthermore, he is able to create such an advantage even without Buff Reversal, and he does the job consistently compared to some of the other units here which are generously given some of their less likelier procs.

On the other hand, the table is clearly flawed for a number of reasons. It does not document healing and CP generation, which are factors to team sustainability. Bael, of course, performs worse here, sapping ally health and not providing any CP. Furthermore, there is a tacit assumption that this advantage is being directed only to enemies that are struck by Bael, which is not always the case and is limited to Bael's {{Weapon|Magic}} range, as respectable as it is. Lastly, it does not document which effects apply to the support unit themselves, which is not always in the case of Bael. Despite this however, the table still gives a rough idea of Bael's effectiveness as a support unit.  

On one final note, Bael is able to apply {{Status|en name=Oppression}} to enemies, which gives some form of crowd control. It's worth noting however that this forces enemies outside Bael's weapon range to attack the team, something which is potentially most dangerous for Bael and should be dealt with appropriately.  

{{Transient stat table|Bael|rarity=5|atk buff = 2.5, 2, 1.5|note=Enemy has one non-defensive buff, {{Status|en name=Buff Reversal}} }}

{{Transient stat table|Bael|rarity=5|atk buff = 2.5, 2, 1.5, 2.06|note=Enemy has one non-defensive buff, {{Status|en name=Buff Reversal}}, Bael has {{Status|en name=Combo}} and applies {{Status|en name=Weakness}} }}

{{Transient stat table|Jinn|rarity=5|atk buff = 2.2, 2.4|note=With {{Status|en name=ATK Up}}, {{Status|en name=Ardor}} }}

As shown in the stat table above, Bael's damage dramatically increases when enemies have a buff, owing to the fact that Bael has no innate buffs of his own. For reference, Jinn and Andvari here are used as representatives of offensive mages. From here, it is clear how Bael's damage scales as the enemy gains more buffs, and when it will overtake the other units listed for comparison. Note that Bael's extra damage skill to buffs roughly nullifies a defensive buff's effect, so only non-defensive buffs should be considered. Bael also has the advantage of not relying on buffs here, so an offensive support can boost his damage with buffs that are redundant for the other two.  

Since Bael has quite a number of sub-100% procs which are also activated for every enemy hit, skill seeds are highly recommended for consistency purposes. From there, it's up to personal decision between prioritizing offense or defense.

Since {{Transient icon|Bael}} counters enemies with buffs, units who can force buffs onto enemies are natural candidates for having good synergy with Bael. Transients such as {{Transient icon|Licho|rarity=4}} and {{Transient icon|Sitri|variant=Christmas}} are prime examples, being able to give {{Status|武器種変更：打撃}} and {{Status|en name=Blessing}} to enemies respectively. In particular, this allows the team to take advantage of {{Status|en name=Buff Reversal}} on phase start, in which the enemies have not had their turn yet to activate their own buffs.

'''Healers'''

Since Bael provides no method of healing and he chips at allies' HP whenever he moves, a healer is recommended, especially for longer battles. Examples include {{Transient icon|Chernobog|variant=Beachside}}, {{Transient icon|Choji}}, and {{Transient icon|Tangaroa|variant=Canaan}}.

 

 

Since Bael only gives {{Status|en name=ATK Up}} and {{Status|en name=DEF Up}} to himself, allies who can spread these buffs back to him are great allies. Moreover, since the majority of Bael's kit does not grants buffs to himself, this is a neat way for Bael to get some buffs himself. Along wih the aforementioned Christmas Sitri and Canaan Tangaroa, {{Transient icon|Sanat Kumara|rarity=5}} applies here.

ARs which prevent debuffs such as {{AR Equipment|en name=Coming from the Sea Abyss}} and {{AR Equipment|en name=Watching the Same Moon}} are recommended since this is one of the main ways to counter Bael. For a lower rarity option, {{AR Equipment|en name=Which of Us is Your Real Friend?!}} is ideal since it gives him extra CS damage and boosts CP on phase start to get there more easily.