Table of Contents
Overview
Narmaya is a powerful and mobile blademaster who has the ability to switch between two stances at will; those being the Dawnfly stance and Freeflutter stance. Dawnfly involves slower attacks able to deal a wide sweeping AOE charged attack, while the Freeflutter stance takes a much quicker, but shorter reaching approach.
Gameplay
In order to master Narmaya's gameplay loop, it will take a bit of practice, but once you get it down, it will come to you like second nature. Essentially, you want to maximize the number of butterflies you can get in the shortest amount of time, and to do this, you want to open up in Dawnfly stance, and either use an skill, or attack three times in order to quickly charge the Dawnfly Zone Attack into Stance Shift Combo with perfect timing, then complete the Freeflutter combo into Stance Shift with perfect timing, which causes your Dawnfly zone attack to charge much quicker, and then, perfect switching back to Freeflutter thus giving you maximum butterflies to then either keep to power up your stats, or spend them to powerup your skills. I've made a demonstration on this below:
Once you get her gameplay loop down, she is a ton of fun to play! Similar to Zeta and Siegfried, characters with timing have a high skill ceiling, but that also means high potential.
Skills
Kyokasuigetsu
- A fast lunging slash attack. Deals more hits based on butterfly count.
- Not only is this a fantastic gap closer, but it is also her best opening attack, which, as shown in the gameplay demonstration, allows her to quickly charge the zone attack to start her combo chain.
Setsuna
- A chargeable frontal slash. Charges faster based on butterfly count
- I consider this an expert level skill and Narmaya's hardest one to pull off consistently due to the charge time and animation locking, but after some practice, and you manage to use it in situations such as during link time or when a boss is broken, prepare to deal an insane amount of damage, especially if you have supplementary damage active.
Crescent Moon
- Unleashes a long-range slash while jumping back. Skill strength is based on butterfly count
- While this is a great skill to play keep-away with your foe, if you are good at blocking, dodging, or countering, this skill would not be needed, as there are others that would increase your DPS much more.
- Use this if you're a beginner who is struggling to avoid attacks.
Transient
- A multi-hit assault that differs based on stance. Deals more hits based on butterfly count
- This is a very hard hitting skill if you're maxed out on butterflies. While in Dawnfly stance, the skill is quicker, allowing you to play safer.
- The skill does take a while to play out, leaving you slightly vulnerable, therefore not ideal in some situations. However, if you want a beginner friendly skill and you are not the best at countering, I would take this skill over Apex of Nothingness.
Utter Devotion
- Grants Hostility⬆️ to Narmaya, and inflicts DEF⬇️(25%) on nearby foes. She also gains 3 butterflies
- The defense down, while not the best if you've reached damage cap, goes well with supplemental damage, as it allows Narmaya to go even further beyond the damage cap.
- While this gives you a quick 3 butterflies to buff your stats or abilities, it grants hostility, which is not the best unless you build Narmaya as a support tank and are good at dodging / countering.
- This is a very risky skill, and only recommended for advanced Narmaya players. However, it goes incredibly well with Dance of Blue Petals, granting her 6 butterflies immediately.
Dance of Blue Petals
- Grants DEF⬆️(40%) and restored HP to Narmaya. She also gains 3 butterflies.
- In my opinion, if you are going to use Utter Devotion, this is a must, as the attracted hostility will likely have you taking more hits, thus this defense buff and healing will help her survivability.
- To add, this gives 3 butterflies, so combined with Utter Devotion, Narmaya maxes out at 6 butterflies to use at her own disposal.
Apex of Nothingness
- Narmaya readies to parry and counter. She inflicts Slow and removes 1 buff from a foe on hit. Effect duration and damage is based on butterfly count.
- This is one of her best skills, as not only does it debuff the boss by applying slow and stripping a buff which is very important for end-game, but it is also a get out of jail free card if you're about to get hit by a boss.
- It deals great damage if you have butterflies stacked.
Dance of Pink Petals
- Grants ATK⬆️(30%), Stout Heart, and Supplementary DMG to Narmaya. She also gains 3 butterflies.
- Arguably Narmaya's best skills, as not only does it give her a big attack buff and stout heart for super armor, but it gives her the important Supplementary DMG buff, which allows her to damage beyond the damage cap.
- To add, it also gives 3 butterflies, further buffing Narmaya's stats and skills. This is a must have skill.
Skill Recommendations
If you want to maximize your damage output as Narmaya, I would go with the first option here. This ignores most of her team support utility such as attracting hostility and debuffing the enemies in favor of more damage capability. This is also a safer playstyle.
If you want to provide maximum team utility with Narmaya, this second build is for you. This build attracts hostility while lowering the enemies defense, but with Dance of Blue Petals, you get a defense buff and self heal to help you survive. Since you're attracting hostility, make use of Apex of Nothingness for the counter attack!
Best Weapon(s)
Outside of her Ascension and Terminus weapon, which will obviously be best in slot once fully upgraded, you want a weapon that will boost Narmaya's critical hit chance, which in that case, the forgeable weapon Fluorithium Blade is your next best option. This has a crit rate trait, and at max level, you get a total passive bonus of 50% crit damage.
Best Sigils
For Narmaya, you want Butterfly's Grace, Butterfly's Valor, Critical Hit V(+), Critical Damage V(+), Combo Booster V(+), Cascade V, Damage Cap V(+), Tyranny, and for mitigation, Potion Hoarder, Improved Dodge, Aegis, or Improved Guard, whatever you find yourself lacking in. The bolded are the must haves. Combo booster is important as Narmaya relies on attacking a lot and quickly in order to build her butterflies. Lastly, if you can afford any more slots, some Supplementary Damage would assist Narmaya in dealing damage beyond the damage cap.
Cascade V
- Shortens skill cooldowns whenever you hit a foe. Effect strength changes based on the attack type.
- Max Sigil Effect: T.Lvl 15, Skill cooldown -1.5%
Combo Booster V
- Gradually boosts damage of each successive hit. Effect resets if the next hit isn't made in time.
- Max Sigil Effect: T.Lvl 15, Boosts DMG dealt by a max of +70%.
Critical Damage V
- Boosts damage dealt by critical hits.
- Max Sigil Effect: T.Lvl 15, DMG dealt +35%
Critical Hit Rate V
- Boosts critical hit rate.
- Max Sigil Effect: T.Lvl 15, Critical hit rate +19%
Damage Cap V
- Raises the damage limit of attacks.
- Max Sigil Effect: T.Lvl 15, ▢/△ attack DMG cap +45%
- Skill DMG cap +45%
- SBA DMG cap +45%
Conclusion
Narmaya is a high skill ceiling, difficult character to master, but if you do, you will be able to deal out a monstrous amount of damage, as well as attract away enemy attention if you decide to go that route. Once you get her gameplay rotation down however, she is one of the most fun characters to master, and even useful to the team as a buff dispeller and slow bot if you manage to land her counter. She is also one of the best cleave units with her zone attack, making her useful for farming trash mobs.