Grave – PvP Focus Review – Analysis, Guide and Best Teams

Welcome to our second ever PvP Focus review! Here, we hope to deliver PvP focused content and news for any new Nikkes released that may have proper PvP use. Keep in mind that a lot of common PvP terms/slang will be used in this guide, which can be clarified in this guide:

Arena (PvP) Mechanics

Let’s dive straight right into Grave’s abilities, then. 

TLDR

In PvP, Grave is a B2 support. She can act as a buffer to B3 nukers. While her Pierce Damage buff will probably not come into play in this game mode, her Attack Damage buff on burst will definitely help, the value of which is greater than Mari’s or Blanc’s buffs. Grave also has decent burst generation, equal to Scarlet’s base Burst Gen. 

She herself has the ability to deal decent single target DPS as well, and hence can perform at an okay level in PvP as a support. However, some serious cons do make her less usable in the overall meta. Grave is purely a damage buffer B2. With no offensive AoE and no sustain, she is a very tough unit to use in the actual PvP meta of the game, where B2s are expected to carry out multiple tasks, and not just buffing. Compared to Meta B2s such as Blanc (who heals, buffs damage dealt, and provides an insane indomitability buff), Bay (who can block AoEs and directs all the incoming damage to herself), or xAnne (who can heal, revive and buff Attacker units), Grave feels lacklustre. She is better compared to units like Mari, Crown or S.Rosanna, who fill similar simple buffer roles.

Step-by-step Analysis

Burst generation

Grave’s burst gen is actually relevant, unlike that of similar B2 buffers such as Blanc, S.Rosanna, Crown or even Mari. While it isn’t super high, her burst gen is equal to Scarlet’s, except for the fact that Scarlet can increase her burst gen due to her S2’s reflect damage. Regardless, she has higher burst gen than normal SGs (like S.Anis or Guilty), and sits right below RL units (like Noise). This allows her to activate more teams, and can reduce pressure of using 2 Clip RLs in teams down to 1 Clip RL + 1 Clip SG to reach 3RL speeds, which is the minimum speed you want for a nuke team. This can also allow for simpler 2RL teams, if you plan to use Grave as a buffer for 2RL comps.

Source: Kosmiu’s Burst Generation Calculator –
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11KWYeyvef91A-vfFuqglJJ8-OhR90TcKFVpJ6Ny_5h4/edit?gid=1990278246#gid=1990278246 

Supporting Output and Comparisons

We’ll keep this short due to how simple Grave’s use is. All of Grave’s supporting capability comes from her Burst Skill, which is the only skill you need to invest in for PvP. At lvl10, she provides a 48.2% attack damage buff, which is higher than Blanc’s Damage Taken buff (39.26%), S.Rosanna’s Damage Taken debuff (32.23%), as well as Mari’s Attack Damage buff (40.99%). Hence, as a supporting unit for nukes, Grave will do a better job than almost all A tier units, while providing higher Burst Generation as well.

Her single target DPS can help against fire-weak tankers such as Noah, who is often used to guard against nukes. Other fire nikkes such as Blanc and S.Sakura are also seen on the P1 spot often, and a fast 2RL team can be used to pierce them down so that they do not get to burst. Overall, her personal damage will have a much more niche use, and will be hard to make use out of. Her main gig will remain as a buffer, or as a filler for burst generation if units like Crown are too slow for the team.

Synergies and Weaknesses

As we have stated a couple times before, Grave’s main synergy will be in Nuke teams, where she will simply be used to buff the B3 nuker’s damage. All relevant nukers are buffed well with this Attack Damage buff. Her basic team composition is:
B3 – Grave – Flex – Burst Gen – Burst Gen

In this, you will need to try and ensure that the team has enough survivability and speed to pull off its nuke. Ideal speed for nukes is 3RL or faster. Team examples can be found below.

Her weaknesses are majorly Scarlet and Jackal, whom she can feed into and provide the opponent team Burst Generation. Grave buffs nukers, so her main B2 enemies are possibly Noah, Bay, Blanc and Noise. Since Grave is a fire unit, she should also be afraid of one of the recent PvP meta units released: Emilia. Emilia’s normal attacks can seriously hurt her. In the overall meta, she also lacks sustain capabilities for her team, which make her a worse unit to others. This isn’t particularly her weakness, but it is something she lacks to make her good and super relevant in PvP.

Impact on current meta

Tier List Rating: A

Grave provides no major improvement in the current meta. She is simply another option in the already stacked B2 buffer choices that Shift Up keeps trying to power-creep with every new B2 buffer that they release. She is more of a PvE focused unit than PvP.

Team Examples

All teams can be used for attack, and if the player has enough resources for other teams, also for defence. Positioning is very important, try to copy the positions as is.

2RL Fast Nuke – The major threat

Scarlet,Grave,Centi,Rumani,Jackal Vigor Cube,Quantum Cube,Quantum Cube,Quantum Cube,Quantum Cube

Variations

Scarlet replacements

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Rumani, Centi and Jackal replacements

Anis,Emilia

Note: Removing Jackal weakens team survivability.

3RL Nuke – The minor threat

Scarlet,Grave,Red Hood,Centi,Jackal Vigor Cube,Quantum Cube,Vigor Cube,Quantum Cube,Quantum Cube

Again a simple nuke team comp. Scarlet may be replaced by any of the B3 nukers listed above. Centi or Jackal may be changed to Emilia, Anis or Rumani. Ideally, do not remove Jackal.

Budget Meta Team Compositions

Grave,Scarlet,Rapunzel,Centi,Noir

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Privaty: Unkind Maid,Grave,Soda: Twinkling Bunny,Noir,Pepper

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Privaty: Unkind Maid,Soda: Twinkling Bunny,Rosanna,Grave,Noir

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Noise,Pepper,Scarlet,Grave,Anis

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2B,Noir,Grave,Biscuit,Noise

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Scarlet: Black Shadow,Soda: Twinkling Bunny,Drake,Grave,Noise

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Privaty,Grave,Rapunzel,Soda: Twinkling Bunny,Noir

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Moran,Grave,Biscuit,Anis: Sparkling Summer,Emilia

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Moran,Grave,Red Hood,Biscuit,Emilia

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Moran,Grave,Alice,Biscuit,Rumani

Note: In all of these team compositions, Scarlet may be changed to the units listed in the Variations section of 2RL Scarlet Nuke.