Contents
- 1 SO YOU WANT TO PLAY W.A.T.E.R?(How to Water-meme 101)
- 2 Intro and Disclaimer
- 3 About the author
- 4 Pros and Cons of playing W.A.T.E.R
- 5 Water weapon grids
- 6 Water Characters
- 7 Ending Words
SO YOU WANT TO PLAY W.A.T.E.R?
(How to Water-meme 101)
Intro and Disclaimer
This guide/document was designed for new and entry-level players who want to start playing W.A.T.E.R in Granblue Fantasy. It is not designed to be an all-in one overview/compendium to overwhelm players with information and everything to know about W.A.T.E.R. Henceforth, you may treat this as an “in-depth general reference” to help both new and maybe even experienced players(I seriously hope this guide at least helps you to SOME extent).
Should you be reading this guide in the future, things may or may not be outdated due to the game being constantly updated.by Cygames and me being either lazy or busy(presumably the former).
This guide is not responsible for uncontrollable laughter, loss of brain cells similar to those lost from “Table For Six” or “L.E.T.S H.A.N.G”, the sudden urge to take a swim, the sudden growth of testosterone and facial hair, the sudden desire to act like Seto Kaiba and have a thing for dragons, unexplainable levels of thirst or any unknown side effects from reading this.
As always, if you are reading this on a PC, consider turning off Print Layout for the best reading experience. You can do this via the top menu bar > View > Print Layout
Special thanks to Reddit Discord and /gbfg/ for data I’ve gained via mostly lurking, the “few mentally stable” people of GBF International(emphasis on “few”), Reddit itself, TLMoonBear(thank you for your blessing), orijinal(thank you for your approval), Diamonit(thank you for your advice) and AZ peeps.
“Water, Earth, Fire, Air…uhhh Light and Darkness. Long ago the 6 elements lived in harmony. Then, everything changed when Summer Zooey attacked.”
Dragonair500(“大D” or “D” for short) was once a newbie skyfarer who started playing Granblue with 10-20 or so friends that also started around that time which turned into a guild. Over time, people in the guild started to choose elements as their main and he was initially a fire-main…until he drew Sophia(she’s SPLASHable) and then Lancelot. Becoming the guild’s only “Waterlord”, he slowly added Altair and Yoda along with Shibuya Rin to his ranks.
After the “Great Fimbul Nerf of 2016” and the release of Shiva, most people wouldn’t dare touch Water. Yet D stuck to his faith. He would be rewarded when the beast known as Xeno Ifrit was released and would be a proud owner of a True Infernal Flamescythe. Salty people in return said, “Just wait till it’s Xeno Vohu and Cocytus and we’ll see who has the last laugh.” Taking his newfound true flamescythe and a spare flamescythe that dropped, he beat the crap out of Tiamat and made a wind grid that earned him a True Judgement Lyre. When it came to Round 2 with Xeno Ifrit, he happily made a second axe with his “9 dagger grid”(which soon became 10) along with Quatre/Feower and Yngwie to join the fun.
At the time of writing this(30/8/2017), he is farming poker for bricks and stones, waiting for it to be 4AM so he can get his last 5 Zodiac Arcs for his last Xeno Saggi spear and feeling salty having spent 40 rolls out of his spark-fund just to get Summer Izmir when he wanted Summer Diantha. All of this while hoping Xeno Cocytus’ weapon is a dagger, going around GBF Reddit’s Discord as a wrestler you can’t see and wondering if anyone would read this page of flavor text.
Without further ado, let’s get started, shall we?
Pros and Cons of playing W.A.T.E.R
You may be asking yourself questions such as “Why should I play Water?”, “Isn’t Water currently the worst element in the game?” and “What does ‘W.A.T.E.R’ even mean”? All of these questions can be answered in the list below.
| Pros | Cons |
| You’re playing W.A.T.E.R(Water Always Triumphs Every Raid). It is also the W.O.R.S.T(We Obliterate Raids Strike Time) element. Basically, it’s very ougi-centric. You get to make your enemies W.E.T(Whimper Extremely Terrified) from playing with W.A.T.E.R. You get two free water SR characters(Katalina and Io) in the story. And If you started early enough, you get FOUR(yes FOUR) FREE SR characters from the Idolm@ster event. That with Katalina is already a FULL team. It is actually the easiest and safest element to play, perfect for soloing. It is quite literally, the “Jack of All Trades” among the elements. How does access to a bunch of Mist-like debuffs along with every other debuff in the game sound? It is the MANLIEST element, with 10 SSRs who are men(2nd place goes to Earth with 7). It is also the “Idol” element, which you can make a team of Anya, Nitta, Mizuki, Rin and It has arguably the best of the three “140 summons” released so far. (Revive 2 people once for free). Water has currently the strongest F2P Primal Grid which becomes even stupider if you can afford to whale… “What’s Bruce Lee’s favourite drink?” | That doesn’t mean you’ll get first place in MVP racing. W.O.R.S.T also stands for “Water Overcomes Really Specific Things”, those things being Xeno Ifrit and Fire Guild War. At the time of writing this, it’s probably(we’re looking at you, Light) the worst among the 6 elements right now due to various factors… …one of those factors being that apart from the MC, their only multi-attack buffers is either SR, 2 limited SSRs(one relying on RNG too) or a 5* GW character. “Ha, you play Water in GBF. Pathetic.”~People who are afraid to get W.E.T. It is also known as the fuccboi element… …and the fujoshi element. Jack of All Trades, master of none. …it does however have one of the weaker Magna Grids. “WAAAA-TAAAAAA.” |
Water weapon grids
Before we get further, if you don’t know how weapon skills work, please read the wiki page on Weapon Skills. These are what make your grid well, your grid via its stats and element-specific weapon skill attached to said weapon. A general consensus is that if it has the word “Might” and at least SR, chances are it’s probably useful and can be slotted in your grid if you’re very, very new.
Also, you should probably know what the damage formula is, not the math behind it, just the idea in general. If you know absolutely NOTHING about it, here’s the wiki page on Damage Formula. To try and sum it up briefly, it’s: “Normal x Magna x Unknown x Elemental”. Your grid is built up around those modifiers and which you choose to focus primarily on.
As always, if you’re in doubt or you intend to go “full tryhard E-Sports mode”, I recommend you to use a calculator like GBF.xzz or Motocal. The former uses a graphical interface and is much easier to use yet is only in Japanese while the latter is bilingual, more advanced and can run simulations though is a tad more complicated. This section will cover your basic and typical Magna, Primal and Elemental grids.
Water Magna Grid
The Basic Grid
This is your basic water grid. As you can see it’s filled with mostly one thing: daggers. Water and daggers are like butter and toast. They’re practically a match made in heaven and 9/10 of this grid are daggers. Throw in a cosmo weapon like I did and you have yourself the “10 Dagger Grid”… which is very aesthetically pleasing to look at.
However, due to the other 3 base elements getting Xeno weapons with Water not getting theirs yet(bar Light and Dark), Water is sadly last place among the other elements in terms of Magna. It doesn’t mean it’s bad though, you’re basically like an Ice Barrier player in Yugioh, an Aatrox player in League of Legends or even a Quest Warlock in Hearthstone, in capable hands you wreck your enemies.
You now have a basic idea of your Magna grid and maybe a few questions that we’ll get to in a bit. For now, see those 6 identical daggers over there? That’s the most important and fundamental part of your grid. How do you acquire those? Let me introduce to you to who’s going to be your best friends for a very long time.
Starting up
This is Leviathan.
Whoops, wrong Leviathan. AHEM
This is Leviathan, or as sometimes I like to call him: “Levi-tan”. Isn’t he adorable? He’s the guy who’ll be dropping those daggers and some placeholder weaponry which you can quickly use as fodder later on.
| When you’re a new player and you do your Levi-tan normal or hard raids, chances are that these may drop. They all have a Water ATK skill and act as placeholders while you farm your daggers. Eventually, these SR placeholders become fodder for your other weapons. |
SSR Magna Weapons
| Water only has one SSR weapon which matters that drops from Leviathan Magna raids and it’s this dagger: Leviathan Gaze Omega. It sadly has the second worst ATK among all the SSR Omega weapons with an ATK skill/”Big Might”(we’re looking at you Drumsticks). Water Omega grids also have a very weird predicament. Most Magna grids would run 6+ of their element’s weapon. Fire only runs 5+(actually most people prefer to stick with 5, some even 4) because of how weak canes are. Water is under the same boat, as with as it is under boats themselves. However due to the lack of water UK weapons(not counting Rose Crystal Sword, Wicked Sick Blaster and the saviour of water, Pinya Dagger), the last time Water had an Unknown was the Street Fighter collaboration which was all the way back of April 2016. Edit: Yes I am perfectly aware that the Tsurumaru Kuninaga just got released in September 2017 however the point is that there was a gap of OVER A YEAR between Unknown weapons. Thus, water players can play with either 5 or 6 of these daggers in their grid…until Xeno Cocytus comes around that is to shake things up. |
Why don’t I just fight Macula and Grani instead?
First off, Levi-tan’s disappointed in you.
Okay sure, you see all those SSR weapons in addition to Levi’s loot drops and you don’t have to deal with Perilous Tidefall killing two of your party each round. However let me be the bearer of bad news.
First, while most of these have an ATK up skill attached to them, they fall into the Normal modifier. What you want are things with the MAGNA modifier. Specifically, things with “Ezili” in their name. The only other weapon that is actually useful to you would be Ancient Auberon(we’ll get to that).
Second, you need quartz to uncap your knives. Unless you’re whaling, the only way to get them is from Levi selfies which come from Levi himself. That, and Grani is just plain cancerous(at least it isn’t Lich).
Normal Weapons
With 5 or 6(for convenience sake, let’s say 6) weapons in your grid being Magna type, the other remaining spots are reserved for weapons with Normal and Unknown weapon skills. The general formula would be “6-2-2” however due to the lack of Unknown weapons, most of the time you’re playing with “6-3-1”.
Bahamut Weapons
| When it comes to Bahamut weapons, all 6 elements have a lot of humans. However, they all have a race which they are sometimes known for. Fire: Erunes and sometimes, Draphs(Cows)Wind: Erune(ha)…well mostly HumansWater: Harvins(Potatoes)Earth: Everyone, blame TezcatLight: GorillasDark: Primal/None/Draphs/Humans Generally, when you start out, you want to get a Bahamut Dagger which immediately provides a boost to humans(which presumably most of your water characters should be). Once you give it its HL Coda upgrade, it boosts Erunes as well. Same applies to Harvins as well. If you start with a lot of Potatoes, get a Bahamut Gun. It starts out by boosting them and when it reaches its full upgrade, it boosts humans. If for some reason you draw both of the only Cows in water, depending if your other races are Human or Potatoes, you might want a Bahamut Sword or a Bahamut Axe instead. The first gives a reduced boost to both Humans and Cows until it reaches its full upgrade. The second starts boosting Cows and helps Potatoes upon reaching Coda. On a side note, Water has two SSR characters that fall into the “None” race category, which means they work with any Bahamut weapon. |
Celestial Weapons
These weapons come from Rise of the Beasts. The event happens approximately every 2 months and provide a lot of SSR weapons for new players which are very good additions to your grid. They are also quite easy to obtain.
| The Xuanwu Mace is a very good free SSR weapon. Plus, it comes with a Normal 2 ATK skill which can be raised to SL15. It also isn’t restricted by race compared to Bahamut weapons. Furthermore, those also have a cap, preventing you from stacking them. Thus, this axe is a great way to add a Normal modifier to your grid. Plus, they(you can get two of these) can even be upgraded. Regus(the white one) gives you Small Double Attack. Multiattack buffs are always welcome in water(they always seem to be stuck at DOUBLE though). Pontus(the black one) makes it if you wield it as your main weapon, it gives you defense and makes enemies more likely to hit you. When you get hit, you gain ATK. This makes the weapon the best main weapons for Berserker and Asparas. Malus(the pimp cane) gives you a damage cap increase that stacks with other sources of damage cap increase. Unfortunately, unless you’re fighting a fire-type boss with very specific conditions and have the stars align, you probably aren’t going to cap(and even if you are, it’s still insanely hard to do). | |
| The Xuanwu Shellfists are a convenient and easy to acquire weapon for classes that use fists and sometimes, can be placed in your grid. It also gives Echo to the 4th member of your party and the MC on ougi. When it comes to Magna grids, the only time you’d ever use a spot which isn’t your main-hand is for some reason, your team focuses around Izmir. Even then, the axe is most likely way better. |
Seraphic Weapons
Granblue Fantasy’s third anniversary update gave us new unique weapons designed for on-element fights. Water was given Wand of Gabriel(aka Gabu Staff). It is a staff, proof that KMR really hates water.
These weapons are core when you fight on-element because of their unique Blessing skill which increases your damage and your cap against on-element enemies. They also come with a Normal Majesty skill.
| Take out the axe(or a dagger depending on your grid).Put this inside your grid.Give your best firefighter impression and watch fire enemies get rekt.Profit. | |
| The SR version is an “okay” placeholder. It still does have its Blessing skill except it’s much lower. Plus, it doesn’t have Majesty either. You might not even want this in your grid. It really needs its SSR version to shine. At least you don’t have to farm Raw Gemstones or worse, Bastion Blocks. |
Unknown Weapons
“URUR TALAGA ULUL. WALANG FOREVER MASTER RACE.”~Words from my countrymen
The other weapon modifier you want in your grid is Unknown type weapons.
Water and UK Weapons are like well…you and that ex-girlfriend that could have been so much more yet remain very good friends. She appears this one time in your life and both of you do wonderful yet lewd things such as: consensual hand holding. However, she has to leave and go somewhere else for a very long time which is why she can’t stay with you. Sure, other women/weapons come and go however you will always think of her as “The One”. And when she comes back to visit for a week or two and both of you are single and both of you get drunk enough, magic happens…
…that is until she leaves again with you in tears. Then you meet this girl of your dreams in the future who truly loves you and you love her back. Her first name is “Xeno Cocytus” and her last name is “Dagger”. You two get married, have a kid, become a family. As they say in “3 Idiots”: all is well.
TL;DR version: Water UK(Unknown) weapons are basically your “Mr/Miss Right Now”, not “Mr/Miss Right”. At this point in time, he/she just isn’t the one for you yet, bro/sis/Apache military attack helicopter.
| The Pina Colata Cleaver(Pinya Dagger) is known as the saviour of water grids. At the time of writing this, It is currently the strongest Water Unknown Weapon in the game, being able to FLB and hit SL15.Beautiful. If you don’t know how significant this knife is to Water grids, I highly suggest you watch SLACKer_Mage’s video which sums it up here. Regardless, you can only get this knife from iDOLM@STER collaboration events. If you have this knife, great. If you don’t, fear not, there are alternatives. | |
| If you don’t have the dagger, you get to choose between the Rose Crystal Sword and the Rose Crystal Harp which are literally your only alternative outside of event weaponry. Both also aren’t FLB-able. They also require you to be HL to get them, so good luck from level 1-100. While the sword gives Big ATK, the Harp gives BOTH Medium ATK and HP. And that’s where their selling points come in. The sword reduces fire damage you take while the harp reduces earth damage you take. Generally, most people would take the sword because you may be asking yourself: “Who uses water against earth anyways?” The only two instances people would take the Harp would be if you’re stacking HP for some reason or you’re fighting 6 Man Ultimate Bahamut(and if you are, you shouldn’t even be reading this guide). | |
| The Street Weapon, Blast Sword and Wicked Sick Blaster are Water’s only event UK weapons so far at the time of writing this(2/9/2017). Here were their release dates(or the last time they showed up): Blast Sword: January 2016Street Weapon: April 2016Pinya Dagger: June 2017W.S.B: July 2017It took MORE THAN A YEAR for a water UK weapon to return. Now do you understand my analogy earlier? Anyways, if you’re new and some sort of Water UK weapon comes out, go for it. Otherwise, stick to the Rose Crystal Sword or Pinya Dagger. | |
| “Great, I have to already edit this thing?”~Me, 16/9/17 September 2017 gave us Tsurumaru Kuninaga, Water’s 2nd SL15 Unknown weapon. Just like the Pinya Dagger, it hits level 15 and has marginally better ATK(250ish) than it. What makes it unique though is that it boosts the DEF of Katana wielders…which water only has one SSR of, yep. What else can I say? It’s a great weapon. However I’d rather hold a dagger instead of the shaft of some dude…who’s also a sword. |
The 10 Dagger Cosmic Dagger Grid
I’ll be brief here. Compared to other elements, you get the full mileage out of your Cosmic Weapon because the other 9 weapons in your grid are most likely well, daggers. Plus, the grid is very A E S T H E T I C to look at. However, most people tend to have a Cosmic Gun or Sword instead due to them covering two elements. Regardless, whether you have a Cosmic Dagger or not in your grid, both are okay.
If you do have a Cosmic Dagger BAL(which is the best variant among all 5 for Cosmic Weapons), not only do all your daggers get an ATK and HP boost, all Balance-type characters you have get a DA and DEF boost which is great. Cheers to hoping Xeno Cocytus’ weapon is a dagger or at least a gun. Give the staff to the darklords.
Atma and Ultima Weapons
| In August 2017, Cygames introduced to us a new series of weapons to farm for and those are the Atma and Ultima Weapons. These weapons require you to beat the crap out of Ultimate Bahamut to get meteorites and their fragments to make the Atma weapon and a Gauph Key, which gives it a bonus skill. And if you want to turn your Atma Weapon into an Ultima Weapon, good luck. You have to go against Level 200 Ultimate Bahamut, which is currently the hardest raid in the game reserved for end-game players…or for those crazy enough. |
So how do these weapons work? You know how Bahamut weapons are literally racist? Well these weapons are well, “weaponist”. They boost characters that are proficient in the same type of Atma/Ultima weapon that you are using by up to 20% ATK and 10% HP. Furthermore, prior to becoming an Ultima weapon, you are able to give your Atma weapon an Gauph Skill Key which modifies its skill.
I won’t go into too much detail into these weapons because at the time of writing this, not only are they new, on paper they’re just as simple as Bahamut weapons except you have to pay attention to different factors.
If you do wish to learn more about Atma and Ultima weapons, I highly suggest you visit a guide on them here on GBF-Gaijin. If you do want some quick pieces of advice, know that a majority of characters in the game use swords…and you probably either want a Trium or a Stamina Gauph Skill Key.
As for where they go into for your grid, you may want to replace a Leviathan Dagger or the Xuanwu Mace for Magna depending on your modifiers. For Primal grids, the sweet Trium you get can warrant it a spot in your grid…you just have to do the math and calculate first though.
Mainhand Weapons
Once you’re done with your grid, you still need something to hold and to beat enemies to death with. Here is a list of commonly used mainhand weapons.
| Primary mainhand weapons | ||
| WarlockHawkeyeBandit TycoonDark Fencer | The element changed Guild War Dagger is basically the best dagger for all classes that use Daggers regardless of the element you play. It is your friend. Did I mention it’s a dagger? | |
| SuperstarElysianDrum Master | The element changed Guild War Harp is the best harp for water players. If you aren’t using a class with a dagger, you’re probably playing Elysian for sweet multi-attack buffs. And the heal.Rose Crystal Harp can suffice as a substitute of course. | |
| BER-ZER-KARAss-pasta | Remember all those things I said about the Xuanwu Mace? Wield this. | |
| BishopSage | Unless you’re making a Guild War Spear, Wand of Gabriel is the only thing that provides any form of ATK bonus(and HP too). | |
| Holy SaberSPARTAAA | Rose Crystal Sword also applies here as well. Not only does it boost your ATK via the UK modifier, it reduces fire damage you take(and you’re a HS/Spartan so it’s your job). It also reduces enemies’ water resistance. |
| Situational mainhand weapons | ||
| Sage | Before you even consider making a Nirvana, ask yourself these questions:Am I tired of dying in raids?Do I want to cheese Proto-Bahamut HL’s Hyper Dimension and other things that can kill my MC?Do I main Soraka in League of Legends?If you said “Yes” to all 3, make this and live your dreams and be a healer. | |
| AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA | The Xuanwu Shellfists is a mainhand of choice when it comes to a Fist weapon for water. While it does make you think of your team composition, its main draw comes in the form of giving Echo.You seldomly play Wrestler/Luchador in water however if you do and run…let’s say…Uno and Diantha together with Tag-Team shenanigans, you’re using a team dirtier than the Bullet Club.Auberon and Ancient Auberon are perfectly acceptable too. On Ougi, they give Mirror Image which help you protect your MC’s Hype stacks. | |
| HawkeyeBandit Tycoon | Oliver is a Class Champion Weapon that is designed for all your……needs. If you only want to wanpan things, leave it at Wind. If you want to use it with your Water team, you have to element change it. | |
| Holy SaberSpartan | The element charged Guild War Spear is the best weapon for these two classes. Of course, like all Guild War weapons, they require a good amount of materials(stupid merits) to make.Starting out, Vergilius is okay as a spear placeholder. It is from the Cocytus Showdown. However, its ATK skill requires you to reach HL. |
Elemental weapon grid
| “I JUST DREW EUROPA. TIME TO DO EUROPA X EUROPA AND DO MINIMAL AMOUNTS OF FARMING!”Sorry to burst your bubble(ha). However, even if water finally got its 120% summon, duo elemental grids in water just can’t work out at this moment in time. First, these grids can get very messy since you aren’t specializing in a particular modifier. Next, because you aren’t specializing in any modifier, you have to spread your modifiers evenly. Finally, if it isn’t obvious by now, Water lacks UK Weapons. Maybe when Xeno Cocytus arrives, this may all change. For now, stick to either Magna grids or Primal grids(or Cocytus X Cocytus if you’re THAT new). If you want to break boundaries and go ahead with it anyways, make sure to use a calculator and do the math. Be my guest. |
Primal weapon grid
Okay before we continue here, where we’re about to go to is one of the most complex grids of the game itself. That’s because there are many ways to play Primal Water, whether it’s “With Fimbuls”, “Without Fimbuls”, “Duo Varunas”, “Axe Water”, “Crit Water”…the list goes on. Thus, I present to you all two guides which can help.
It’s 2017 – Time to build your first Varuna grid: This page probably will tell you more in-depth about Varuna grids than I will. However do note that some data is a bit outdated.
Theorycrafting Fimbul and F2P Varuna Builds: For when you want to get “Mathier”.
As always, when in doubt or you wish to go “FULL E-SPORTS MODE”, you should probably use a calculator and take in all the other factors such as EMP skills, passives, etc. The advice I’m going to give you is on your basic, “cookie-cutter”, primal water build.
The Basic Grid
I present to you, the amalgamation, the Frankenstein’s Monster, the enigma known as the Primal Water F2P Grid.
Are those the “Fimbuls” in which you speak of?
Yes.
Why aren’t you using the ALMIGHTY PINYA DAGGER you consider as the GBF equivalent of sliced bread and are using the Rose Crystal Sword?
This grid was designed to be anti-Fire. The sword helps you go all the way and protects your HP for Fimbuls. However most of the time, you’d use a SL15 UK weapon instead.
So what does go into this grid?
Let’s get down to business…to defeat the Huns.
| The Wand of Gabriel has a Normal Majesty skill attached to it. It gives you HP and Attack. It is your friend. It goes into your grid. It loves you. | |
| Meet the Fimbul. You know how you see water teams on youtube with ridiculous amounts of HP such as 30,000 all the way to even 50,000? This is the reason for all those HP. It comes with 2 skills. The first skill is Big Stamina. Stamina is basically “Reverse Enmity”, the more you are closer to full HP, the more damage you do. The second skill is Small HP which is always when you want more HP. During the glory days of the Fimbul, water users would farm Fenrir Showdown and get around four of these or even more, they were even used in Magna grid because THEY WERE THAT GOOD. However, due to KMR nerfing the Stamina modifier, lowering the initial damage(because “it isn’t risky” compared to Enmity) and changing the curve so that you get even lower damage the lower your HP goes, Varuna grids tend to run at least 1 and never more than 3. | |
| The Rose Crystal Sword helps protect that sweet HP of yours. However, if you feel ballsy, feel free to use a SL15 Unknown weapon instead for more damage. The spot is versatile. | |
| This is Gleipnir. It provides Big DA(augmented by Varuna) and Small ATK(also augmented by Varuna). This thing doesn’t give TA nor has Trium!Sadly, that is true. Why should I use it?The goal of the grid is to hit 50% DA without going over the cap. Chances are with outside buffs, you’re probably having consistent DAs. Besides, your main source of damage comes from Fimbuls. Anyways, it boosts your DA allowing you to hit enemies more and gain Ougi meter more too. Multi-attack(even though it’s only DA) is always welcome in Primal grids and Water as a whole. | |
| Auberon is a weird looking weapon. It is sometimes known as “Ecke Sachs’ cousin” as both have two pointy ends split apart and something you could use for a barbecue with. Except Ecke Sachs looks like a twig, this looks like a Halo Energy Sword. This fist has 2 weapon skills, in fact you can say 3(or 4). First, it has Majesty like your friend the Wand of Gabriel. Next, it has Medium Crit. And then, it has Medium DA to boot. How does Crit work you ask? At SL10 you have a 5% chance for 50% more damage. With 1 Varuna, that’s 11% and with two? 17%. Here’s the catch, it only works against Fire(hence as mentioned in the first guide: “F2P builds prioritize DA over Crit), | |
| You still need a Magna modifier. Say hello to your buddy Leviathan Gaze Omega. | |
| The Xuanwu Mace with all its Big Normal 2 ATK glory is a solid choice for Varuna grids. When in doubt and you don’t know what to put inside the grid, this is a safe choice. |
Where are the Bahamut Weapons?
One does not simply use Bahamut Weapons in a Primal grid.
Bahamut weapons use NORMAL modifiers. What is your grid filled with? That’s right, NORMAL modifiers. Furthermore, they don’t get boosted by Varuna and other Primal Summons. This is why these weapons are normally used in Magna grids to get a Normal modifier. If you need other modifiers for your grid, slot in Magna or Unknown weapons.
Improving the grid
If there’s one thing Primal grids are known for, it’s the ability to mix and match weapons to fit in your grid to suit your playstyle. After all, a majority of the weapons in the game utilize Normal modifiers. And what does Varuna boost? In theory, as long as it has “Water”, “Tsunami”, “Hoarfrost” or “Bluestar” in the skill’s name, you can PROBABLY(don’t just go and slot in all the water weapons from your gacha and call it a day) put it in your grid. Let’s take a look at ways to improve your grid.
| The almighty Murgleis. SSR Katalina’s weapon. If you have it, good for you, I don’t. This weapon, if you intend to be a hardcore whale, would be your number one choice when it comes to upgrading your arsenal. This weapon is why Varunalord Whales are some of the most feared Whales in the game and why Water is one of the premier elements for whaling. Seriously, where else can you find whales? In the air? On land? Seriously, don’t kill whales guys, they’re mostly adorable creatures. Anyways, if you are blessed to have such a weapon, what you have if you FLB it is the first ever Normal 3 ATK weapon in the game, providing not just “Big” but “MASSIVE” ATK. You know what else gives MASSIVE ATK? Xeno Weapons. And that’s not all, it comes with the almighty Small TRIUM, boosting your DATA rate. Oh, and did I mention it has 3340 ATK? That’s the third highest ATK on a weapon so far at the time of writing this. | |
| This is Durandal. You know how Fire as Crimson Fingers and Dark has Gisla? Well this is one of the two standard issue Water whale weapons that you can ticket. It comes with a Big Normal 2 ATK skill however instead of Medium Enmity, it comes with Medium Crit. With such of a beast of a weapon, you can go and get rid of your Leviathan Dagger, then the Xuanwu Mace and if you go further, an Auberon. At approximately 3-4 Durandals, you can consider doing Varuna x Varuna. You will have more than 50% to crit bolstered by the sheer stats of this sword compared to Auberon which means not only will you crit, you will crit HARD. However, Crit is still Crit. It can make Fire enemies wetter than them after hearing someone whisper into their ears: “Omelette du fromage”. If used off-element, it’s more like you’re whispering in their ears: “Show bob and vagene”. You still do considerable damage though. That’s where the other weapon comes in. | |
| This is Slarnd, the other weapon in a whaler’s arsenal. It also has the deepest weapon descriptions in the game, deeper than the blue sea, deeper than Cthulu and so deep that Adele’s practically rolling in it. We all keep beasts locked up within our heart. In the heat of battle, those beasts are released, and that is what we become. Beautiful. Just like Durandal, you are getting the Big Normal 2 ATK skill except you swap that Crit for DA. Ideally, if you find yourself as a “true-blue W.A.T.E.R main” and would like to use your Varuna grid off-element, this can be a worthwhile investment(it’s practically a “Discount Murgleis”). However, most of the time, players would(and IMO, should) invest in Durandal instead. | |
| If you feel like you need even MORE DA in your grid, you could use a Xuanwu Mace Regus. Careful with stacking too much. You don’t want to go past the 50% cap so as always, use a calculator. | |
| If you want to say, “SCREW STACKING HP” or “I HAVE TOO MUCH HP”(you really don’t) and you feel like you want more damage and crit, you can use a Wilhelm. This fist is acceptable as a F2P Varuna placeholder. However, if you have better weapons, you’d rather not use this. | |
| “I can totally kill that thing in 3 turns.” For all those 1 turn Colossus Omega Granblue Fantasy bucket list achievements, the Bow of Sigurd might help you out. Not only does it come with Medium Normal ATK, it gives an ATK boost for the first three turns of a battle. Seriously though this bow is just for pure memes or at most, a weapon skin. Don’t slot it in your grid. | |
| Xuanwu Shellfists are a weird case. On the one hand, if you’re a F2P player, they’re generally great if you put them in your Primal grid. Both skills get augmented by your summons and the possibility of 12% bonus damage for 1 of your members that gets further boosted depending on how many Varunas you are using. On the other hand, that person gets 30% reduced Ougi meter. It’s up to you whether you’d like to use this weapon and it all boils down to your team composition and well, math. | |
| The Keeper of Hallowed Ground is a welcome F2P option for Primal grids. It provides a Big Normal 2 ATK and the unique skill of boosting your chain burst and chain burst cap. |
The End-game Grids(Primal and F2P)
If you’re already in HL and have been constantly tweaking your grid to utterly destroy fire enemies, chances are that your grid probably looks like this(assuming you’re F2P):
THREE FIMBULS!?
Yes.
How am I supposed to farm these?
This is end-game we are talking about. You just kill Fenrir repeatedly over and over again whenever she comes by to visit.
So, anything noteworthy about this grid?
Well for starters, this grid assumes you’re running Varuna x Varuna and you’re fighting on-element. Why you’re running double Varuna is mostly for 2 reasons. First, you have enough Normal skills which are augmented by the two summons. Second, you have three Fimbuls. Yes, Fimbuls are THAT important.
What if I don’t have the patience to farm 3 Fimbuls and want my grid to fight off-element?
Then you probably should be fighting on-element if you’re at this point in the game. We are currently in the “on-element era”, where the game now punishes us if we aren’t fighting on-element.
I still would like a reference if I ever have no Varuna friends online as a Varuna owner myself and Water is currently my strongest element in terms of time, resources and characters. That, or I own Europa but not Varuna.
Well if you say so, I got you covered fam.
A small section on the “on-element era” and you in 2017
As mentioned before, we are currently at a time where it is highly encouraged to make grids for each of the elements due to some fights now(namely Guild War, Xeno Clashes and T1/T3 HL Raids). Even Seraphic Weapons are a clear indicator that if you’re fighting something, being on-element helps immensely. If you’re this late in the game, you would know for certain double Varuna triumphs Varuna and Europa on-element. Those differences become more highlighted and prevalent if you throw whale weapons into your grid. Nonetheless, both of these grids are perfectly acceptable. It all boils down to your current circumstance.
The End-game Grids(Magna)
So if those were 2 of various ways to make a Primal Grid, what about the end-game Magna grid?
There’s not much to say about it really, but here it is.
That’s…basically the same as your basic Magna grid.
What, were you expecting something that looked like THIS?
Y-y-yeah.
Sit down. I hate to burst your bubble(teehee) if you thought Ancient Auberons were like Ancient Ecke Sachs. However, they aren’t. Let me explain why daggers beat Halo Energy Swords most of the time.
Ancient Auberons and you
| First, we have to talk about Ancient Auberons themselves. Like their normal counterparts, they give Small HP, Small ATK, Medium DA and Medium Crit, a “quad-skill” weapon. They have the same skills and stats… |
…except that Normal and Magna Crit skills work differently.
| Crit skill | Stacking type | Effect of multiple weapons |
| Normal | Multiplicatively | Each weapon has a separate chance to proc and apply bonus damage.e.g. 3 Auberons gives you three separate instances of crit. The game will calculate for crit rolls three times at a base 5% (boosted by Varuna Summon). For each successful instance of crit, your damage is increased. |
| Magna | Additively | All weapons combine to calculate the chance to proc a crit skill and applies a single instance of crit.e.g. 3 Ancient Auberons gives you 3 x 5% = 15% chance to crit. This can be boosted by Leviathan Summons. |
Slamming 7 Ancient Auberons in a dual Leviathan pool with each of them giving 15% Crit, every attack you make is guaranteed to be a critical hit. Now you’re probably thinking, “If that’s the case then why don’t I use that grid instead?”
That’s because it all boils down to cold, hard MATH. First, let’s compare Ancient Auberon to its fire element, “used for barbecue” cousin, Ancient Ecke Sachs.
- Ancient Auberon: Small ATK, Small HP, Medium DA, Medium Crit and pretty decent stats for a level 100 SSR weapon.
- Ancient Ecke Sachs: Medium ATK, Small Enmity, Medium Crit and the worst SSR weapon in the game in terms of ATK barring gold and silver weapon relics.
You may think that these weapons have fair tradeoffs however that’s not the case. As a matter of fact, Ancient Ecke Sachs win by 2 reasons: being a weight-class above in term of ATK skill(and how much actual ATK you get) and Small Enmity being better than Medium DA.
In terms of how much ATK you gain, think of it like this. If you run 7 of these weapons in duo Magna with 100% Crit, which crits harder? A grid of Small ATK weapons or a grid of Medium ATK weapons which are further augmented by Small Memenmity? Sure at full HP, nothing happens but at low HP…you can actually in some circumstances cap.
That leaves us with Small Enmity versus Medium DA. To deal with this, you need to do some math. There’s no actual limit on Enmity except how low your HP is. However, with 7 Ancient Auberons in your grid, you go over the DA cap in your grid of 50% by over 20% with dual Leviathans. The calculation goes like this:
- SL 10 is 3.4% DA
- 7 * 3.4 = 23.8
- Double Leviathan = 200% Boost
- 23.8 * (1 + 2) = 71.4%
- Max DA boost is 50% so you’re 21.4% over the cap
Ultimately, if you were given the hypothetical situation that you had a bunch of characters with no innate DATA or DATA buffs, you would be only slightly, marginally and a teeny bit better. However, once you throw in any form of outside DATA buff like a GW Dagger, 5* Quatre or what you’re probably doing 80% of the time as a water player and that’s playing Elysian, Ancient Auberons fall off heavily. Plus, the DA doesn’t boost your ougi, skill or nuke damage which is where a good portion of where water characters get their damage from.
Whether you run it through a calculator like motocal or have 7 Ancient Auberons and try it for yourself, due to Cygames’ release of Europa making Leviathan X Europa a thing, Leviathan Daggers outperform Ancient Auberons. The only redeeming thing about those is that they provide HP that allow you to yolo through triggers(or actually survive them, case and point where a grid with some Ancient Auberons is “essential”: Level 200 Ultimate Bahamut)
Oh and if you haven’t noticed why all the “End-game grid” examples all used a Harp it’s because Elysian solves the majority of multi-attack in Water. It’s also a pretty OP class. (✿◠‿◠)
“Obligatory” Korwa Section
What are you doing here? Don’t you have a “Happy End” already? You know, you and that draph billionaire. I heard he was a pig of a husband though.
Go back to your wind and dark grids. BEGONE TH~…
WELL. UHHH. Okay, just, go get changed. I’ll talk about you in a bit.
So Korwa is your waifu and you gotta stick her in every team? Maybe you don’t have any good SSR units yet apart from her? Well not only using Korwa gives you a 145% NORMAL ATK boost, she boosts your debuff success rate(Water loves its debuffs) AND DATA. However, there are downsides. Not only are you sacrificing one of your spots for damage and an actual Water character, there’s ramp time involved. Then, there’s the biggest problem: Korwa is Wind.
Sure, off-element, you can get away with it easily. However, if you’re playing water, there’s a 99% chance you’re fighting Fire. And Korwa hates Fire(it burns her dress, table and quill). So how do we remedy this situation?
Enter Quatre. This fella here extends all your buffs by one round. And if you get a skill reset from his passive? Even more. Basically, he extends Korwa’s buffs to the point they last indefinitely. Plus, he gives her enough breathing room to use her 3rd skill in her rotation on herself, effectively making Fire hits on her as if she weren’t a Wind unit herself. And Quatre himself get’s a buff to his debuff success rate. It’s a win-win.
The End-game Grids(Whale)
I just won the lottery.
Okay, what do you need me for?
I wanna whale and be a true blue W.A.T.E.R-main, one with the ocean. I want to make my enemies W.E.T and am currently a marine biologist.
I admire your spirit and desire to go all the way. If this is the path you wish to choose in life, so be it.
CHOTTO WAIT KUDASTOP. THREE MURGLEIS…ES?
This is end-game we’re talking about here. Some super-endgame grids use FIVE. However, the fact you can afford such weaponry means you probably solve your problems in life by throwing money at them or getting your butler to do it for you. That…and you should probably be my friend.
Nani the fuck. Okay, so how do I improve the grid?
Throw in another Murgleis for your main-hand weapon. Problem solved.
Water Characters
Thanks to the introduction of EMP, the large rebalance patch and the arrival of Elysian and Europa, characters you didn’t bother using in the past are suddenly now pretty awesome. And with new characters and classes coming every now and then, this just provides more tools to experiment with and to use in a Water player’s bag of tricks.
Back in the day, we had what was called either the “Fuccboi Squad” or “Lilele’s Reverse Harem”, which consisted of Lancelot, Altair, and Quatre(with sometimes Lilele thrown into the mix if you have her). However, as new characters started to join the fray such as Romeo and Izmir and even Drang, the buff to existing Water characters(there are now more than 600 proud owners of an Uno) plus the arrival of 5* GW characters, nothing is set in stone. Like actual water, we are fluid and we are constantly changing.
If there’s one thing I will gladly say is that the true strength in Water characters lies in their versatility. Sure, we have some whom are better than others depending on the situation. However, compared to other elements who may say that they triumph us in damage, we make up for it in spades by having a character for almost everything.
And as TLMoonBear said: “Experiment with whom you have, watch videos of characters you don’t have to get a feel for them, and work from there. This will serve you better than just being told cookie-cutter teams and not understanding why they work or what their limitations are. Also, playing with your favourite waifu/husbando is really the whole point of Grindblue Fantasy.”
Oh and Diantha best girl.
Character Notes
Over here is just some general notes about Water SSR characters and a few Water SR characters. Whether you’re a new player trying to get a feel on what your characters do or if you’re an experienced player wondering who you might enjoy playing with and probably suptix for your Water team, this section’s purpose is to help you.
I won’t be recommending EMP points here. This isn’t supposed to be in-depth and there are numerous ways to spend your points and stars.
If you need a comprehensive explanation or unbiased evaluation of them, you might be better off reading Gamewith/Reddit/Discord. You can even approach a pro GBF player to ask their insight as well.
And at the end of the day, while tier-lists are a thing, you should understand what makes a character good or bad and understand why and how to use them. All characters in GBF are usable, yes, including Dark Sarunan.
| 5* SSR Characters | ||
| Note: 5* characters require a TON of grinding to get them to max lvl. Going from lvl 80 to 100 is like grinding out lvl 1 to 80 more than twelve times all over again. But the bonuses are totally worth it. They also get shiny new Ougi animations too! | ||
| Mr Consistent | Voiced by Yuki Ono(Taiga from Kuroko No Basket)(Also this guy) | Lancelot is Water’s most consistent attacker. His first skill is a hard hitting nuke that goes off twice after he ougis. His second skill applies an ATK and DEF debuff to the enemy. His third skill gives him guaranteed double attacks and a 30% for triple attacks. Oh and he passively gives everyone 5% DA.Some say that he suffers from a dated kit. However if you need a guy for both on and off element plus someone who’s well-rounded in general, Lancelot is your man.Oh, his VA is best buddies with Vane’s VA, just like how Lancelot and Vane are in the game |
| Altair | Voiced by Daisuke Ono(Fujiwara from Netsuzou TRap)(Gee, they kinda look alike, don’tcha think?) | Hailed as the 2nd best buffer in the game to the point he was considered as splashable(ha) like Korwa, Altair is often regarded as THE core Water character. And then his L100 uncap came to him, turning him to an absolute BEAST. If you want to start on your Water team and ask who you should ticket, chances are, people will highly recommend him to you. He’s also very easy to use.“The Dual-sided King” focuses on buffs and debuffs that are “dual-sided”, which means they get to stack with “single-sided” things like Rage and Arrow Rain.His first skill gives a ATK, DEF and Water ATK buff. His second skill is the opposite for the enemies. His third skill is literally 30% free meter to everyone(for himself, 33%). No fuss, just free meter.His ougi at 5* gives everyone crit chance for anyone who’s Water to crit for an extra 20% which is UNIQUE. To top it all off, he improves everyone’s chance to land debuffs. With all the utility he provides and more importantly, the buffs, it’s no secret why people slam him and Quatre together almost all the time. |
| 360 No-Scope | “If only Sorn was voiced by Sailor Venus.”Do you like 1 turn, 3 million or higher damage Ougis? Do you like yuri with consensual hand holding? If so, SIlva is just for you. She’s the queen of NTR-ing MVP in Fire raids.Her first skill gives her C.A DMG, increases its damage cap and Chain Burst DMG. Second skill is crit. If the enemy isn’t dead from a shot to the head, her third skill fills her Ougi gauge to the maximum and extra 20% damage.Her 5* upgrade gives her a 4th skill at 100. She swaps out and tags in an ally. For 3 turns, she shoots the enemy for 5 times the ATK of the guy you tag in. As always, extra attacks from things such as Luchador allow more shots and this buff can get extended by Quatre. | |
| Charlotta | Voiced by Kaori Nazuka(Tooru Hagakure from Boku No Hero Academia) | Charlotta was a great well-rounded character. 50% damage cut, a DEF down and an Overdrive Assassin nuke. Then came the buffs making her a very scary potato.Now, for every turn she doesn’t take damage, she gets a buff to ATK and DATA, turning her into one of Water’s scariest yet cutest attackers.At level 100, her ODA nuke turns into an anytime nuke and gives her 1 hit immunity. And if you put this potato in the back row, she gives 5% meter to everyone. Water characters REALLY love their meter and this allows you for first turn chain-burst ougi scenarios. |
| Regular SSR Characters | ||
| Romeo…Where art thou? | Voiced by Yuichi Nakamura(Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail)(Trivia: Yuichi is a hardcore whaler in all the games he plays.) | Romeo is a stand user. He also uses a “Spirit” mechanism. Starting at 5 stacks, his autos, skills and ougi all eat 1 Spirit. While he has Spirit, he has better stats. Without spirit, he hits 50% weaker.His third skill puts amplifies his skills and make them eat extra Spirit. It also resets his other skills’ cooldowns. Now his first skill nukes twice and his second skill’s 80% reduction to fire damage affects everyone. When you activate the third skill again to deactivate it next turn, you get 5 Spirit stacks back.While the managing of his stacks seems complicated, the newest member of the Water Fuccboi Squad truly shines in on-element fights, such as being one of the 2 MVPs of Xeno Ifrit.“In real life, Romeo and Juliet are 16 and 13.” |
| Rirururururu | Voiced by Sumire Morohoshi(Misaki Ayuzawa from Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama!) | Lielele on paper is a great support character. ATK and DEF buff, 20% charge bar and charge speed as well as a 3000 HP heal and a 1500 damage shield. There’s just one catch.Those high numbers only apply to men.For starters, anything that doesn’t have a pair of testicles between their legs(we tried with uncle Cagliostro) gets reduced numbers(however still good) on her buffs. Second, this forces you to play Gran(sorry Djeeta). She does have Charm on Ougi and this can be clutch though. |
| Yodarha | Voiced by Shigeru Chiba(Buggy the Clown from One Piece) | “The King of Early Game”, Yoda is loved by newbies and pros alike for his ability to deal ONE MILLION(well, 999,999) WHITE damage instantly. White damage is basically damage with no element. You know how Yoda was a badass in Star Wars? He’s practically the same thing.Yoda starts the fight with 3 “Shrouds”. If he has a Shroud, attacks, skills and his ougi eats them. His attacks become TAs, his first skill hits twice and his second skill from a dodge becomes a taunt and a dodge. His third skill gives him 3 Shrouds for free.His Ougi eats all his Shrouds. For each Shroud, he deals 333,333 bonus WHITE damage.Careful if he doesn’t have Shrouds though, he gets his 3 Shrouds back every 4 turns however while he doesn’t have them, he’s extremely fragile.A true quality of life character for every player, regardless of element. If you don’t know who to ticket and you don’t have this guy, it’s probably a VERY good idea to get this guy. |
| Daddy | Voiced by Takuya Eguchi(8-man from Oregairu) | Oh god Vane, you let everyone down. At least you got that SSR you rightfully deserved. Let’s just hope your 5* fixes your problems.Vane provides a nuke that makes the enemy hit weaker, and gives himself a ridonkulous ATK buff and Hostility Up…at the cost of 70% DEF. Don’t worry, this plays to his signature third skill.His main gimmick is that when he’s at red health, you press his third skill, giving him a full heal and BEASTMODE ACTIVATED for 5 turns. During this time, he gets things such as a unique 200% ATK up, 50% DMG Cap up, 600K autos, 4 million Ougis and a lot more. He basically turns into Water’s strongest character, if not the strongest character in the game.All in all, this allows him to ram his spear(yes, that’s a spear) through things such as fire enemies, Colossus Magna and |
| Societte | Voiced by Ryoko Shiraishi(Asuka from Tekken Series) | “Water Yuel, when?”Socie was once a joke among players who said that using her meant that you were tired of playing DF. Then the July 2017 buffs came.Her 2nd and 3rd skill is literally Miserable Mist and Delay with higher cooldowns. However her first skill is what makes her interesting.What once was a mere heal now gives Revitalize and 10% Echo to one person. And if you use it after she Ougis, this applies to everyone. Throw Quatre into the mix, and you got 4900 HP over 3 turns. |
| ALL CUMMINGS | Voiced by Kazuhiro Yamaji(Cid Highwind from FF7:Advent Children) | Yngwie(or as Water players like to call him, Blastoise) is a complicated character that requires meter management yet very good character to use.His first skill drains everyone else’s meter and gives it to himself. His second skill is a free normal attack that can DA or TA. His third skill gives him Crit and Echo.So why does he need all that meter? If he Ougis, he dons a suit of armor Ironman-style and becomes Mega Blastoise. He also gets back 50% meter.While he’s in this form, he loses meter every turn but becomes Water’s ultimate tank, taking heavily reduced damage, increased Hostility and punching really hard. His Ougi also does a ton of damage(though you probably aren’t going to use it). However, it turns him back to regular Blastoise.Oh and the nickname “All Cummings” cums from a mistranslation on one of his skills. It’s legit. |
| Où est ma coccinelle? | Voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka…and if it’s a male protagonist, it’s probably this guy. | And the title of worst Water SSR character so far goes to…Chat Noir.He comes with a Delay and 20% Charge to everyone if the Delay hits and white damage that deals 1-5% of the enemy’s HP and dispels.When he Ougis, depending on which of his unique buffs he has on him, his Ougi can either deal extra damage or charm, super-blind or paralyze the enemy……except they don’t happen immediately. The extra damage happens after 4-8 turns and the debuffs after 1-3.Relying on RNG and having low numbers, the July buffs couldn’t save him. At the very least, he works as a stepping stone for newer players before they use more complicated characters. And hey, you get Kirito in your team, I guess. |
| Izmir | Voiced by Aya Endo(Miyuki Takara from Lucky Star) | Izmir is weird. For starters, she’s a Draph and she’s one of the only 2 Draphs in Water, the other being limited Summer Naru. Second, unlike other people who want to ougi as fast as possible, she wants to delay herself.Her first skill boosts her ATK and gives her a stack of Icy Blade. This stacks up to 5 times and are all consumed on Ougi which gives it HUGE damage. Her second skill gives her Crit and lowers her already low DEF however her third skill lowers hostility and speeds up her charge bar.Whether you’re Team Silva or Team Izmir for Ougi nukers, these two white haired beauties do spectacular in what they specialize in and that is making Fire enemies wet. |
| RINGRINGRINGLILYDESU | Voiced by Yuka Iguchi(Tsukihi Araragi from ~gatari series) | Nicknamed the “Queen of Anti-Fire” and one of the 2 MVPs of Xeno Ifrit, Lily has a simple and easy kit.She has a smol nuke, a 1500 heal and a cleanse…and a 2 turn 70% Fire damage cut. You know how Phalanx is basically “Fuck you” to boss triggers? Well, now it lasts twice as longer against Fire enemies. Not only that, it stacks with Phalanx and Carbuncles.She does have low damage though however the support she provides does make up for it. However keep in mind though, she highly specializes in dealing with FIRE enemies. Against other elements, she’s well, just a healer. |
| Weaponized | Voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro(Mordred from Fate Apocrypha)Also voiced by Asami Imai(Kurisu Makise from Steins Gate) | Lady Katapillar and Vira(let’s call her “Katapillar” for convenience sake) is the example of a joke character who isn’t actually a joke.Katapillar is all about NUKES. Her first skill is 16(yes, sixteen) nukes, her third skill is a nuke-lear LAZOR that lowers enemies Fire damage and Water resistance. What about her second skill? Heals 30% HP and resets her other cooldowns. However, all these nukes share the same drawback: their animations are very slow.Her ougi is a nuke that fists the enemy, reducing their DA and gives herself Uplift. However what makes her special is depending on where you put her in the party, she’s either a tank or a nuker(it’s probably a nuker). She either gets a boost to DEF, Hostility and Charm immunity or a boost to ATK, penalty to DEF and Blind Immunity.Oh and the game registers her as “Vira”, so now that blonde yandere waifu of yours can have the power of missiles.“I am mad scientist, it’s so cool, sunuvabitch.” |
| Is that a(nother) Jojo reference? | Voiced by Yoko Hikasa(Rias Gremory from Highschool DxD)(JEEZUS HER TOO!?) | If there were two things that the release of Anne taught us, it’s that Water really loves stand-users and Water really loves “resource systems” on their characters.Like Yoda and Romeo, she has better stats when she has “Spirit” stacks with her and holds 3. Her Ougi gives her back 2.First skill doubles everyone’s defense and with Spirit, a 70% chance to eat only 70% damage. Second is counter, hostility boost and with Spirit, a stacking defense buff. Third skill is a heal that gets doubled and clears all debuffs on her with you guessed it, Spirit.Coupled with an innate hostility boost as her passive plus all those defense related skills, Anne is a very good tank…who seems to be joked as a watered down version of other tanky stand users in other elements. |
| Limited SSR Characters | ||
| Note: Can only be obtained during certain Legfest gacha periods | ||
| Katalina(Grand) | Voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro(Kirari Momobami from Gambling Lesbians: The Anime) | You know how great the “MVP of Story Mode” is? Yeah, that’s right, the girl who’s always been faithful to you and babysitting Danchou-chan’s ass since day 1? Give her steroids, the SSR treatment and the probably the strongest gacha weapon in the game and this is the result.All forms of Katalina are known for 3 things: a damage cut, dealing with debuffs and a heal. The fact you’re reading this means you already have her and know what she does, so let me tell you what’s changed.SSR Katalina’s first skill is a nuke that makes her TA. Her second skill is both a jacked-up Heal and a Veil(it rhymes). Her last skill is a cut which instead of 40%, only does 25%. However, it’s at a speedy 3 turn cooldown versus the normal 5. And her Ougi gives 25% Water ATK up.Yeah, definitely a solid upgrade. |
| Drang | Voiced by Tomokazu Sugita(Gintoki Sakata from Gintama) | “TFW you don’t have Anne, Drang nor Mina to make the Water Banana Family Squad.”Much like his |
| Arulumaya(Christmas) | Voiced by Maaya Sakamoto(Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler) | Remember early on I said how one of Water’s DATA buffers relied on RNG? Christmas Arulumaya is the character I was referring to. Actually, she’s a buffer fuelled by RNG.She comes with a nuke that has Water DEF down and a “Heal n’ Veil”(well, Revitalize). Her third skill is what makes her special. Each turn, you’re randomly given either Water ATK up, DATA, a shield or EVERYTHING, depending on what coloured sparkle her ball is. If you like it, you use the skill again to keep the buff for 3 turns and send the skill into cooldown. Her Ougi refreshes its cooldown and also gives you a sparkle. |
| Narmaya(Summer) | Voiced by Mao Ichimichi(Sayaka Miyata from Keijo!!!!!!!!) | Summer Naru is easier to use than her original, Dark element, self. This proves swimsuits make anything better. She’s still a little bit tricky. All her skills have ranks and require some ramp-up, increasing in strength each time you use them.Her first skill can give up to(after 5 times of usage) 70% on-element echo at the cost of up to 35% DEF. This means, if she were fighting a Wind boss, she gets bonus FIRE damage. Second skill gives her DATA, at the cost of 15% HP. Third skill is Crit, ATK and Break Assassin. Ougi reduces a random skill’s CD by 2, helping you speed things along with ramping.She also comes with the usual 10% ATK boost to cows(Draphs), Primals and Helicopters(None). |
| CENSORED | Voiced by Aya Endo(Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier) | The flag of the censor-ship, Summer Izmir was Cygames’ answer to how to buff Izmir and why Albert shouldn’t be a swimsuit designer.Her first skill gives her Icy Blade again. This time, it only stacks to 2 and each gives 10% ATK. Her third skill is a nuke that uses one stack to nuke twice. However, it’s her second skill that makes her so sought out. She deploys a field effect called Blizzard. This turns her into a reverse Flaretato(Blizzardcow…Dairyqueen?) as it makes everyone in the raid, boss included, hit harder. However, unlike Flare, it peaks early and falls off later on the timer(whereas Flare reaches its peak towards the end). It also gives your team 15% ATK up. Her ougi as usual eats her Icy Blade stacks for more damage.Aside from Blizzard(which is totally a small, indie, game dev company), she provides the entire team a 15% Stamina modifier, allowing her team to hit very hard. However, it’s based on HER HP. What’s more, she has an innate 15% Max HP cut and 20% DEF penalty. Among the many Water team compositions that exist, one is actually nicknamed “Protect the Cow”. And Summer Izmir is the most rewarding cow to protect of them all.“And she has one of the saddest Fate Episodes.” |
| The Saviour of Magna Water | Voiced by Inori Minase(I don’t recall this particular character from Re:Zero. Who’s Rem?) | “I love Emillia” memes” aside, to explain why Summer Diantha is so great of a character, I have to list her pros and cons.ProsShe’s an idol.She boosts C.A DMG.She provides HYPE(and can dodge stuff while under it).She provides one turn of guaranteed triple attacks.And if you throw in Luchador, your entire squad is hitting the enemy 24 times.Her Ougi which is a unique buff which can give up to 60% ATK and 50% DA.You get “Never Ending Fantasy” BGM when she Ougis.Seriously, DAT OUGI THO.She’s voiced by the second best girl in Re:Zero(first place goes to Felix).ConsShe has 10% DMG penalty.Her Ougi does no damage.She requires ramp time for her buffs.She’s summer limited.“I don’t have her.”“Fuck you Kim Jong Un.”~TrumpTo sum it up, she’s practically core in Magna Water teams and very good in Varuna teams. |
| Guild War Characters | ||
| Note: Getting a GW characters requires a lengthy process to upgrade a Revenant Weapon. The wiki page about them contains the steps needed to get one. | ||
| Uno… | Voiced by Ryusei Nakao(Frieza from Dragon Ball Series) | Uno is one of the Eternals. Each of the Eternals is named after a number and is based on a class line. Uno is named after the number 1, and is the Eternal of Holy Sabers/Spartans.In the past, Uno was considered as a meme because making him meant that you were one of the only 600-700 players who chose to make him. And then he got buffed…then got a 5* upgrade after.You get an anti-Overdrive nuke which is one of the strongest nukes in the game, a taunt and a 3 hit counter and what he’s primarily known for: a 100% damage cut. |
| …Dos, Tres, Cuatro, Cinqo, Cinqo, Seis | (You know how powerful Frieza gets in this new form? Same logic applies to Uno) | Let’s talk about his 5* Upgrade.He’s basically Water Summer Zooey.His first skill gets more MOAR DAKKA(more damage).His second skill now gives him an ANYTIME ASSASSIN buff. You know how normal assassin buffs last for one skill or attack? His lasts the ENTIRE ROUND. Combine that with Diantha, Luchador or even the new EX class Dancer, the enemy is probably dead. Oh, and his first skill and counters gets buffed by it too.He now gets a 4th “ultimate” skill that can only be used after 10 turns like all Eternals do at 5*. His provides a DEF buff to all elements(not a cut) for 3 rounds. It also gives the team Damage Absorption. Basically, at the end of the turn, you heal for all the damage you take, effectively meaning you take zero damage as long as you don’t die.Oh and his Ougi gives the team a 20% Stamina buff and a 2000 damage shield. Because Water likes to stay at full HP…unlike other elements. |
| Quatre | Voiced by Jun Fukuyama(Lelouch Lamperouge from Code:Geass) | The more commonly made Eternal of Water, Quatre. Long considered as a core to Water teams, he got buffed and a 5* upgrade. Quatre is the 4th Eternal as well as the Eternal of Dark Fencers/Chaos Lewders so you know he’s gonna be great.His first skill is a nuke that can apply a random debuff to the enemy. They include: DATA down, ATK down, DEF down, Delay, Blind, Poison and Paralyze. The Paralyze is a “Purple” Paralyze, meaning it won’t stack and build resistance with normal, “Yellow” Paralyze.His second skill is an AOE random hitting nuke that gives Gravity to everything and hits 4 times.His third skill is his signature skill. He basically extends the duration of any buff which doesn’t last for one round by one round. Altair, Diantha, Korwa and even Uno, you name it, he extends it.Above all else, his passive and EMP passive gives him the chance to reset the CD on his skills meaning some buffs can last almost permanently if you’re lucky enough. |
| Jhin, the Virtuoso | (5* Quatre’s strength is parallel to his edginess.) | “Welcome to the League of Legends Champion Spotlight featuring Quatre, the Edgelord.”Quatre’s first skill is “Gammadion Cross”. It now deals 2 debuffs. It also has 2 new possible additions: Forfeit(which is an ATK and DEF down that goes beyond the 50% cap) and Corrosion(which replaces Poison because it’s Poison with Debuff resistance down).Quatre’s second skill, “Carnage”, is now a 6 hit AOE nuke and also Dispels.His third skill, “Avirati”, remains unchanged.Quatre’s ultimate skill which he learns at level 100 is “Four-Sky’s Sorrow”. You have to wait for 10 turns before you can use it. Upon its use, it will reset the CD of Quatre’s first 2 skills and allow you to use them in any combination successively with no CD until you cast 4 skills.Now, let’s talk about his new Ougi. Not only does it provide Delay, it gives the team 35% DATA, making him the best multi-attack buffer in Water. It sadly does not stack with the GW Dagger(which actually makes sense because Quatre practically becomes the GW Dagger).Did I mention you also get delicious Erune bareback as a reward for uncapping him? |
| Notable SR and R Characters | ||
| Lowain(Event) | Voiced by Minoru Shiraishi(Coincidentally, another dude named “Minoru” from Hajimete no Gal) | Lowain is the ultimate bro character.He requires you to have a team full of women(Djeeta included) which affects his ATK up. For one turn, he also becomes a tank that taunts for Katalina(and specifically, Katalina). And then there’s his third skill which buffs him with almost everything at the cost of practically making him a pincushion for one turn after.And if you use him from 11pm to 8am JST time if he’s 5*, he gets stats comparable to SSR units (which is good if you’re a gaijin who isn’t in Asia). |
| Shibuya Rin | Voiced by Ayaka Fukuhara(Shibuya Rin from The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls)(Well, what were you expecting?) | “Baby’s first Idolmaster waifu”, Shibuya Rin is a solid beginner character that you can get for free that you can also 5*She comes with a Blind, a Rage 2.5 and an AOE random hitting nuke. Like all Idolmaster characters, each time she uses a skill, she gets 10% meter.Rin is a very good placeholder until you get SSR characters. And she’s part of the Water idol squad too! |
| Katalina | Voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro(Matrix Boobs and Best Girl from Highschool of the Dead) | The MVP of Story Mode herself.Katalina comes with a heal, a veil and a 40% damage cut.Do you REALLY need tips for her? She’s the first character you get in the game. And she’s so useful, people actually drag her out just to deal with Xeno Ifrit if they have no one else that can deal with his triggers.Like I said, she’s got your back since day one of GBF. She truly cares about you and everything about her as a character and a person is lovely.“Except her cooking. You can probably kill Ultimate Bahamut Level 200 with it.” |
| Katalina(Summer) | (Saeko Busujima from Highschool of the Dead OVA which is a beach episode) | Same character as above except with higher numbers and a little more on her heal.And a swimsuit. Let’s not forget about the important things here.“And holy crap, it has recently come to me that people have actually killed Ultimate Bahamut HL with SR Katalina. Must’ve been her cooking.” |
| Pengy | Voiced by Reina Ueda(Mira Yurizaki from Dimension W) | For when your xXxnaruto720noscopeMLG420sephiroth1337edgelordxXx pendant leeching MVP sniping team just doesn’t feel RNG enough. |
| David Bowie | Voiced by Wataru Hatano(Hitoshi Shinsou from Boku No Hero Academia)(Well fuck, now I want him.) | “This post alone actually made me choke on my drink . And fuck, now I actually want Owen even more.”“Whoever this guy is should work as a car salesman but seriously, Owen is actually Water’s second SSR who’s a SR in disguise.” |
| The Walking Sex | Voiced by Aya Suzaki(Minami Nitta from The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls) | Whether you call her “The Walking Sex”, “Altair with tiddies” or “Best Girl”, lemme tell you why Minami Nitta is Water’s first SSR who’s a SR in disguise.She has Water ATK Up, Water DEF down and Charm. What’s more, she provides sweet, sweet, DATA to the team. To this day, she is the only multi-attack buffer who isn’t stuck in limited gacha or involves selling your soul to this game(which approximately costs 3 gold bricks). Her Ougi gives CRIT to the team. And the best part? Her Ougi’s Crit buff stacks with Altair’s.She’s almost perfect. If only she just didn’t have those SR stats and numbers. ;w; |
| CYKA BLYAT RUSH B | Voiced by Sumire Uesaka(Anastasia from The Idolmaster: Cinderella GIrls) | Anastasia for starters is one of the few Water characters with Echo. Apart from her self DA up, her main selling point is her DEF down and a unique debuff to the enemy’s multi-attack. And her Ougi does bonus damage to enemies with Charm. You know who charms enemies?Minami Nitta. Because Love Laika character synergy. That’s why. |
Ending Words
Well you made it to the end of this guide. There isn’t much to say except:
“GET OUT THERE AND MAKE YOUR ENEMIES W.E.T WITH THE POWER OF W.A.T.E.R!”
Oh and what makes the sky blue? The tears of sky-farers from their 10 rolls which just happen to consist of 50% salt and 50% water.
“7/10 too much water.” ~IGN
P.S and Edit(26/9/17): If you thought I didn’t meme hard enough, just wait till Xeno Cocytus comes out.
