Preface!

I’m going to start taking this blog for real now with weekly updates and all. Therefore, I need to develop a structure but since this will be my first real article, I’m going to be working out the formatting. If you don’t like it in any way please make suggestions, I’m receptive! And with that out of the way, let’s get into it.

Analysis, Teambuilding and FAQ

Reincarnated Kushinada-hime

Introducing the girl that single-handedly decided whether or not I’ll get D.Athena! I am not getting D.Athena (on NA) after debating it for months – since her release in JP actually. Kushinadahime has everything I was looking for in D.Athena because my other team is Ra=Dragon. Please, get D.Athena if you feel you need her but Kushinadahime just fixes all problems from my Ra=Dragon team, including the ability to clear floors without stalling for orbs.

Now, I’m only going to go over the key pro and con of Kushinada. For a great guide to use alongside my “analysis”, please check out Setsu’s blog here: (SetsuPAD Kushinada Article)

Nez’s guide is absolutely wonderful so there’s no point in me going over the same material. Anyway, on with the guide.

Pro:

Her most defining feature setting her apart from Ra=Dragon and Dark Athena is complete damage control. While it takes some time to master, learning how to manipulate damage is the biggest reason to play Kushinadahime over Ra=Dragon.

Con:

There are many small negatives to Kushinadahime and no real glaring weakness. No RCV multiplier is covered by the team comprised entirely of healers and the RCV+35% badge. Her restrictive sub-pool is not that hard to build around with Inheritance being a thing. If I had to name one specific thing then I believe Kushinadahime’s biggest flaw is her lack of damage. Yes, Haku is amazing and has plenty of damage. Without her though, unless you are capable of averaging 8-9 combo, it will be a bit difficult to one-shot everything. Haku specifically is very strong and not particularly reflective of the strengths of the team. After all, Kushinadahime is a very strong leader even without owning a single Haku but I digress, let’s get into the rest of the analysis.

Valkyries/ Guard Break: Is it worth it?

I’ve seen some posts on reddit questioning the idea of using 3x Haku and 1x Valkyrie Reine to activate Guard Break on Reine. This is my two cents.

Short Answer: Yes.

Long Answer: If you can build your team around Guard Break without not butchering your composition then it is absolutely worth it. Understand that Kushinadahime has unreliable damage without using an active. It will be fairly rare that you don’t have to use a skill just to kill Predra and Tans in Arena 2 or 3 and saving that one active is incredibly valuable in a long dungeon like Arena 2 or 3. In other words, losing 170~ weighted stats for Guard Break is “worth it”. I put this in quotes because I assume for argument’s sake it’s a debate between Reine or Haku#4.

People do love to point out the inconsistency of having all five colours on-board but that is irrelevant because I’m saying the “possible” upside of Guard Break vastly outweighs the loss of 130~ Weighted stats. After all, you do not need a 4th Haku anyways for the damage. You do more than enough with 2.

Personally, I use Valkyrie Claire because I don’t have a full team of Haku anyways. (Though I do have 4 Haku on NA). I use Yuna to cover LIGHT because I do not have enough time extends on the rest of the team to average 8-combo otherwise.

And those 4 Hakus on NA? I’ll be only use 2.

Do I have to build the team DARK? (a.k.a. Haku, Haku, Haku.)

To answer this question, you first have to fully understand the hype surrounding Haku and then look at the rest of your box.

Haku is really strong and focusing your damage in dark is not going to be a bad idea if you’ve got a few. If you do not own Haku, you can still build your team dark. Likewise if you own Haku, you don’t have to build the team dark. Honestly, it is entirely dependent on your box, as with all leads.

Haku absolutely makes our girl amazing. Between those weighted stats, double TPA and 7-C, Haku is undoubtedly a top contender for best sub in the game right now but this article isn’t about Haku; and Haku is not the end-all-be-all of Kushinadahime’s team. If you have one, put it on the team. If you have four, sure put them all of them team if you’d like because she’s just that strong. However, there are other subs to go over and I will be making mention of in my opinion, the best ones.

Why:

If you don’t have DARK healers, don’t force DARK. Healers in DARK are rare. Farmable subs aren’t all too impressive outside of Aamir who you’re not in need of because your leads are unbindable anyways and carry Recover Bind awakening. Haku’s active is good in FIRE/WATER based teams too . Particularly WATER because Kushi herself will be dealing some form of damage. Haku fits easily into all teams . Haku covers two colours that Kushi herself doesn’t have, easily satisfying anyone’s Guard Break, be it Valkyries or Princess Allura. Once again, I will remind people that Guard Break isn’t necessary. It’s just a nice tool to have when it’s not too hard to include into your team. Furthermore, 9-turn cooldown is not the worst to inherit over.

Teambuilding: Pick a Colour, Any Colour

FIRE ATTRIBUTE:

At first I figured FIRE would not have a very good team. FIRE and WOOD are not really friends with each other, their synergy is weak outside of Leilan who is not a healer for Kushinadahime. Well, as it turns out, there’s a particular FIRE healer that a large part of the NA community has bought and has lying around. Hello Xiang Mei. With the eventual release of Awoken Uriel, and Valkyrie Femme already providing access to 7C awakening (icon), the team seems pretty solid. Things to note:

Playing FIRE necessitates access to Fujin (you or friend’s) because Vishnu and Parvati will be a nightmare in Ultimate Arena. This is particularly the case if you have Xiang Mei’s Attacker-Killer awakening activated.

HP is on the lower side because Uriel and Xiang Mei lacks HP. By “on the lower side” I’m talking about 50~60k HP so it’s not actually that low. Just low by Kushinadahime’s standards.

Xiang Mei’s insane RCV stat comes into incredible use.

I do not suggest buying Xiang Mei to play Kushinada but if you have her already, it seems very good on paper.

Subs to note:

10 –

9 –

8 –

7 –

6 –

Inherits of note:

WATER ATTRIBUTE:

WATER’s greatest weakness: lack of access to 7C awakening with Valkyrie Reine being the only healer with it. That being said, there are enough strong TPA and healer subs to not completely disregard a WATER Kushinadahime team. I have seen it over 3-player Co-op and it does not seem terrible. My only regret is that Gabriel’s Awoken form is not a healer. In my opinion, the WATER Kushinadahime team rides on the back on Reincarnated Sun Quan. Things to note:

Double Sarasvati (even though they are Row subs) can create a steady stream of WATER orbs.

Apex Blue Flower Dragon, Starling provides a strong farmable TPA healer sub that creates both WOOD and WATER orbs.

Unfortunately, many healers in WATER are naturally Row-based subs

A mix of Orb Enhance and TPA awakenings may provide the best results for damage.

Subs to note:

10 –

9 –

8 –

7 –

6 –

Inherits of note:

WOOD ATTRIBUTE:

I think the strongest feature in WOOD is the power of the subs possible in a fully unbindable team. That being said, these “strongest” subs are incredibly rare and highly sought after. I’m looking at G.Kali, Valkyrie Elize and School Girl Athena.

Without these, the team is still strong but you have less breathing room to make an “OP” team. WOOD has access to some decent farmable options like Ras and Kaguyahime but not using them would be preferable. My main problem with playing WOOD is similar to WATER’s problem in that many subs are tuned to be Row subs (read: Astaroth’s friends).

Astaroth and Michael are both good but they’re Row subs. I’ll cross my fingers that Michael remains a healer with his Awoken form but following the pattern of Gabriel, he will likely be an attacker.

A Dupe Kushinada is pretty good actually. You can keep her in Awoken if you need the LIGHT sub-attribute for Valkyrie Elize or Reincarnate her for 40 more weighted stats and 1 more Time Extend.

WOOD also lacks access to 7C unfortunately. Personally I run a half-WOOD, half-DARK team with my 1 Haku.

Subs to note:

10 –

9 – *

8 – **

7 –

6 –

*- Mito is only a great option if you’re ready to deal with damage absorb

**- Oichi is only a healer in her pre-volution

Inherits of note:

LIGHT ATTRIBUTE:

Something good came out of our dear NA-exclusive collaboration, Voltron. Princess Allura gives LIGHT access to an incredibly strong 7C sub with Guard Break akin to the coloured Valkyries. In that sense, you could call her the real L.Valk. Beside her is the 6-star only Diao Chan who also has 7C and covers DARK easily for the Guard Break awakening.

Healers are LIGHT’s territory so there is an abundance of good subs, especially in the Reincarnated category.

Without Allura, the other Guard Break option is Chibi valkyrie rose and she’s not bad because LIGHT teams probably will be playing TPA.

Valkyrie Ana, Elia and Sandalphon make for some strong farmable options

LIGHT and WOOD are strong allies, with many board changers covering both their colours.

Guard Break easily achievable with 2 subs or by putting Haku on the team to cover DARK/FIRE.

Subs to note:

10 –

9 –

8 –

7 –

Inherits to note:

Excellent subs in Haku’s shadow – DARK ATTRIBUTE

Alright, so we all know Haku is the star of the show here but what about her friends? Well if you do a quick search, you’ll quickly realize that there is a very limited sub-pool for DARK healers but they’re mostly good so I will go over them anyway.

Beside Haku, there are 2 rarer but very viable (and arguably better in some contexts) 7C healers in Valkyrie Claire and Asmodeus Another

You will be looking for inherits in different colours (because Mitsunari Ishida is a much easier to obtain Armoured Batman). Not a big deal, just something to point out.

Subs to note:

10 –

9 –

8 –

7 –

6 –



5-

Inherits of note:

Sample Teams

Some people prefer to learn by example so here are some example teams I have considered.

FIRE – Colosseum:

Main team –

Inherits –

Explanation: You’ll need the gravity in Colosseum and helps in an assortment of ways including the Time Extend to make some perfect boards. The burst from Arcline is much more necessary in Colosseum and A3 than A1/2 so you can put another Orb/Board changer on Xiang Mei on that case. Also, playing a DARK sub (yes, like Haku) gives access to Guard Break. Maybe replacing Coloring Book, Sakuya so that inheriting Reincarnated Hades gives Haku a much appreciated stats buff.

WATER – Arena 3:

Main team –

Inherits –

Explanation: Not much to say except that it’s a WATER-based TPA team as I had implied would be good in the WATER-Attribute section.

WOOD/DARK Hybrid – Arena 3 (my team):

My team –

Inherits –



I have 9 Time Extends to make Sheen’s damage worthwhile, though it could easily be Arcline too. The matchup against Hephaestus Dragon is fairly unfavourable but the other 4 dragons are pretty straightforward with some good comboing. Fujin is only necessary for HeraDra since there is little problem with Sopdet and Parvati (5 combo). Vishnu might be a little tough with bad boards so you might have to Fujin there. Michael’s active is used to heal quite often despite taking away DARK orbs.

Individual Card Discussion:

I suppose yes, they are fine subs. My first instinct was “they don’t provide very much!” but maybe that’s a bit harsh. I mean, some others on here are far more questionable. So are they good? Yes, they provide a quick board change with shorter CD than Haku quick is even better if you’re inheriting over it. I didn’t think very highly of the ability to create boards that let you activate Guard Break. I still believe that Famiel, Lumiel and Yang GuFei actives are far better but as bases these are fine. Not my cup of tea but if you’re building LIGHT or WATER Kushinada teams, go ahead!

May 10/17 Edit : Added LKali, BKali and Uruka due to popular demand. Added Discussion Section. Also hyperlinked all the icons!