STAR's new SPEQs
As part of a sustained conspiracy to invalidate my previous works, ST AR-15 and M4 SOPMOD II received a few buffs to their SPEQs on foreign servers (released to EN on June 21, "after DR").
| Doll | Equipment | Was | Is |
|---|---|---|---|
| ST AR-15 | .300BLK High-Velocity Ammo (3-4N) | FP +25, ACC -1 | FP +35, ROF -10 |
| ST AR-15 | Lightweight Rail Kit (mod3) | ACC +10, Crit damage +20% | FP +15, ACC +10, Crit damage +30% |
| M4 SOPMOD II | Dinergate RO (mod3) | FP +12, ACC +14, ROF -2 | FP +35, ACC +14, ROF -2 |
For ST AR-15, that's a total change of +25 FP, 10% crit damage, +1 ACC, and -10 ROF.
Or maybe they just want to keep the main characters viable after the #2 Processor chip shook things up. Allegations of conspiracy aside, let's run some numbers and see how good these are.
ST AR-15#
Not very often you see a SPEQ buff that adds a downside. Even something like 416's mod3 SPEQ kept the trivial +10% crit damage when adding its fat FP buff.
Case 1: STAR is in an echelon with M4A1. If M4 is available, this is rather obviously a good pair. The crit rate tiles are already enough to prefer her pre-buff mod SPEQ over an RMR, but as differences were only marginal before her post-buff SPEQ will now be much better.
- This is the same G41 reference as used over here, which may be a useful reference to compare STAR with a few more ARs
- Adding fairy crit damage gives STAR/RFB a very marginal relative boost (due to their extra crit rate/damage). Nothing significant.
- STAR's overall performance is vastly improved by these changes.
- Her 3-4N ammo went from being a substantial (~5%) upgrade to being only barely better than HV ammo.
Case 2: STAR is on her own. Most relevant for farming setups.
- Adding fairy crit damage is a nice boost for VFL/RMR, but nothing that changes the relative ordering.
- The new SPEQs are still good for STAR, but she doesn't do that much better compared to G41.
Case 3: STAR is in an echelon with both M4A1 and RO635.
- I think this is the main motivation for STAR's ammo change. By reducing STAR's ROF while keeping overall DPS similar, STAR can better scale with ROF tiles. Previously, ROF tiles would be big DPS buffs for other ARs like G41/RFB while STAR would see almost no benefit.
- No substantial changes when adding fairy crit damage.
At night, not much changes. Her ammo makes her slightly better against light armor, but that still won't be a strength of hers. Crit damage is not great if you only crit 20% of the time, so PEQ+VFL is still standard. Just having her ammo update doesn't change her overall DPS much so STAR's performance will continue to be unimpressive here compared to chip-based buffers and night specialists. You can see some night damage-over-time charts on my TKB analysis. With the rework applied,
Bonus chart with RO's ROF buffs. If you have no crit rate tiles and no crit aura, her SPEQ may still be slightly better due to its FP buff. But that's not a very likely echelon type to be using STAR in at night.
Note that, in a vacuum, STAR's new ammo is marginally worse than its old configuration. Four things to consider:
- It's on the order of a <3% difference.
- Her new SPEQ goes back to having a clear advantage with ROF tiles. RO635 is a pretty good tank.
- It's better against (light) armor.
- It's better than HV ammo either way, and her old SPEQ is not an option.
This isn't something to worry about.
On ROF tiles: STAR has 78 base ROF and a 50% skill multiplier. Previously that'd be 117 ROF in-skill, just barely above the cap of 116 (12 frames). Adding ROF tiles would not improve her performance. Now, with her modified ammo, STAR would have (78-10)*1.5=102 ROF, or 14 frames. A 14% or higher tile would put her back to the cap in-skill. Stacking multiple ROF tiles or any skills would still be wasteful, but a 10-20% ROF tile can now be put to full use on her.
Overall, while the ROF penalty may seem scary, ST AR-15 sees a big boost in strength from these SPEQs and can fit better in echelons with some amount of ROF tiles. She can reclaim her position as one of the top daytime DPS ARs.
M4 Sopmod II#
I've previously been of the opinion that a VFL & Sopmod's mod3 SPEQ pre-buff is best - the accuracy of an RMR is unlikely to be a good trade over a VFL on ARs due to their decent base accuracy, and her mod SPEQ already had a very nice FP buff to enhance her grenades. As this is a straight upgrade, there's not much to add - I recommend using a VFL and this SPEQ for Sopmod. Leveling her to mod3 becomes a bit more useful, but still runs into the original problem of her grenade being two whole seconds slower than 416's.
For direct-fire DPS, here's a chart comparing Sopmod & 416.
It is a substantial buff, and Sopmod gets a nice DPS edge over 416 out of this. Determining exactly how much this matters in the end would take further testing.
The FP buff is so strong, in fact, that it's better than a VFL at night even before accounting for its impact on her grenade damage:
(Extra: with RO635's ROF tile. No major change.)
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416 scope comparison
Passive analysis