Modernia (Pilgrim) – Should You Pull?

The analysis below is based on information from both the official release announcement and test server testing results. Please note that there were last minute changes made between the test server and announced version. Please wait for live release testing results for a more accurate analysis.

Modernia‘s banner is expected to release on January 1, and last until January 19. As she is a Pilgrim unit, her rate up will only be a 1% rate up (as opposed to the usual 2%). She will still be purchasable with 200 gold mileage. The rates of SSR and pilgrim units overall will be the same as other banners.

Modernia is a Burst 3 Pilgrim Machinegun DPS and Offensive Support.

First Impressions

Boss Fight Capability

This is the most devastating detail on Modernia’s kit. Despite her strong AoE Burst, it CANNOT be used to hit multiple Boss Parts. As her burst is NOT additional damage, her DPS is actually lowered during burst against a single target. The fact that she also cannot hit interruption circles during burst makes her very weak in boss battles.

Wave Clear Capability

This may be Modernia’s greatest strength. Currently, AoE bursts (Scarlet, Harran, Epinel, etc) are highly valued for their wave clear capability in campaign and other similar modes. However, these abilities are normally only able to clear a single wave. There are ways to stall and stack more than one wave to clear them with one AoE burst, but this can be difficult as you may take too much damage while stalling.

Modernia’s burst allows for staggered wave clearing, which can potentially allow for multiple waves to be cleared with one burst rotation. The full burst time extension is also handy for this situation. During the 15 second window, it may be possible to clear 2 or 3 quick consecutive waves. This would be very valuable in certain stages.

An advantage instant AoE bursts still have over Modernia is that they can easily deal with enemies behind shielders, and at times an instant screen wipe may still be preferred. Another thing to note is that Modernia’s burst multiplier is only a base 0.76~2.24% (depending on level), which is quite low. She may not be able to clear enemies quickly enough to clear multiple waves.

Sub (Hit Rate Buff + DPS)

There is the option of bringing Modernia as a sub, to avoid the problems her burst has against bosses and fewer enemies. This means she must bring enough value with her hit rate buff and personal DPS to be worth considering over other sub buffer DPS options such as Privaty, Drake, Helm, etc. Hit rate in general is not as valuable as attack buffs, so Modernia’s personal DPS must be high enough to cover the buff value loss from not bringing Privaty, Drake, Helm, etc instead.

The hit rate mechanic is currently being researched; a better analysis will be published at a future date.

Full Burst Time Extension

This is the opposite ability of Isabel, Vesti, and Mihara, who lower full burst duration for faster rotations. None of the lower duration units have made a great impact on the meta so far; Isabel is only notable thanks to her being a shotgun, and she is still arguably not BiS for even Gravedigger.

It is difficult to judge how strong this ability is as a DPS increase for the team. Currently, Liter is BiS for almost every team thanks to her powerful 5s attack buff on burst and her CDR. While extending the full burst mode duration is nice, it means delaying Liter’s next burst and slowing consecutive burst rotations, which reduces the value of Liter’s CDR. This means that if you are running Liter and other powerful bursts, extending full burst time could result in a DPS loss.

There is also the option of building a “Modernia solo” team with Modernia as the only B3. With Liter/Volume + Dolla (or possibly Liter + Volume + Dolla), Modernia’s burst CD can be reduced down to 25.17 seconds. Combined with her natural 5 second full burst time extension, there is 9.83 seconds of down time between rotations. When considering the 2~5 seconds it takes to fill the burst gauge bar (with an energy support), this is more realistically about 5~8 seconds of downtime. Adding the third CDR unit smooths out this awkward rotation, but may be sub-optimal due to the wasted buff slot. It also must be questioned if Modernia’s burst is even powerful enough to be worth running as a solo burst 3. Since it takes a couple rotations for the CDR buffs to stack up, the CDR build is best in longer fights. But most longer fights are boss battles, where Modernia’s burst is quite weak. This build may not have any worthwhile applications.

Rate Up Pilgrim

Since Modernia is a Pilgrim, there is argument to be made that she is worth puling just because she is a rate up Pilgrim. Pilgrims are normally very rare and Modernia will also have low rates when she is added to the regular pool after her rate up banner ends.

If you do not have any Pilgrims (particularly Scarlet, Harran, Snow White, or Isabel) then she may be worth pulling to be able to play the Pilgrim Tower in the Tribe Tower mode. The Manufacturer Towers grant gems, ranking profile borders, and other rewards. Whales may also be interested in the manufacturer point rankings. Pulling multiple copies of Modernia is a rare chance to gain many Pilgrim manufacturer points.

Should You Pull?

As there were last minute changes made for the announced release version, the test server testing results are now outdated. Please wait until after live release for accurate testing results and a better informed analysis.

• She may be a good DPS for wave clearing in Campaign and other modes.
• She is unlikely to be good in boss battles due to her limited capabilities in ST scenarios.
• She will be very difficult to obtain after her rate up banner ends, as she is a Pilgrim.
• You may want to save for future characters (Viper, Jackal, Cocoa).