Pamina

Hey guys! Here’s my Pamina guide, the newest entry in the Old Scrolls of Garbelius. She’s a very strong AoE DPS, and a greatly anticipated character. I’ll personally be throwing a few pulls her way and seeing what happens. I hope you find this guide to be helpful, and if you have any questions or comments, please let me know!

Overview

Pamina is a Breaker who can clear swathes of enemies from around her with relative ease. Both during her turn and during the enemy’s turn, she is capable of outputting respectable quantities of damage, as well as force the enemies around her to target her with their attacks, which in turn procs her counterattacks. If you need a Breaker who can cause AoE destruction, Pamina’s your lady.

Trait

Pamina’s trait, [Unyielding Heroine], does a few things. First of all, it boosts her P.DEF by 10-30%, and adds 20-30% of her P.DEF to her P.ATK, depending on star level. She also is given a unique buff, called [Unyielding Heroine] upon entering battle. This buff causes her to counterattack any attacks launched on her within 2 tiles with an AoE that hits a 2-tile area around her, which also generates [Life Steal] for her. This counterattack can be activated 1-4 times per turn, depending on star level. Her DEF also increases by 15% per enemy within 2 tiles of her, up to 30%. Lastly, at 5-Star, when her [Unyielding Heroine] counterattack is activated, she dispels 1 debuff and regains 1 NRG.

Basic Attack

As a DPS, Pamina’s main goal should be outputting as much damage as possible, which means that [Powerful Attack] is her best option for a basic attack. [Surefire Attack] isn’t bad, but for a character with access to AoEs, [Dodge] really shouldn’t be too much of an issue, anyway, and then she’s just sacrificing damage.

Reaction Skill

For a reaction skill, [Upright Spirit] is Pamina’s best option, as it increases her [Healing Received] by 15% and removes 3 debuffs at the start of the turn and, if she doesn’t have any debuffs, she heals herself for 20% of her HP (actually 23% because of the first part of this skill). This is a great skill for keeping her healthy and cleansed of debuffs, and is just generally more usable than [Front Defense].

Skill 1

For her first skill slot, I suggest Pamina’s ultimate, [Onslaught - No Foe Can Stand]. This attack does a few things that are integral to Pamina’s function as a character. First of all, she jumps anywhere from 2-4 tiles away (which is a handy teleport effect), and does an AoE attack to all enemies within 2 tiles, and inflicts those enemies with [Taunted] and [Vulnerable II] for 1 turn. [Taunted] causes the afflicted enemies to move faster (+100 SPD) and only use basic attacks, and only against the caster (in this case, Pamina). Additionally, Pamina gains [Onslaught], which reduces DMG and Piercing DMG received by 30% and gives her one instance of [Resolve], which helps prepare her for the attacks she will be receiving imminently due to the AoE [Taunted] effect. If an enemy is immune to [Taunted], they will instead be inflicted with [Pamina’s Challenge] for 2 turns, which makes that enemy take 30% more DMG from Pamina’s attacks, which means this can actually even be useful against boss enemies, etc. The NRG cost for this skill (3 NRG) isn’t too prohibitive, but the 4-turn CD can be a bit brutal, so if you can equip her with her signature weapon, that will definitely help a lot (more on this in the Equipment section below).

Skill 2

For her next skill slot, I suggest [Breakthrough Spear], as it provides two handy skills in one skill slot. The first skill is [Break - Endless Force], which unleashes 3 consecutive AoE attacks on the enemy on the tile in front of Pamina and the adjacent tiles to that enemy. This has the potential to do quite a bit of damage, and it also provides her with [Shield Break IV] before attacking, meaning her ATK increases drastically against shielded enemies and, if the target(s) is/are [Dying] when she attacks, she ignores 80% of their DEF and inflicts [⦸ Resolve] when she attacks, making it an excellent finisher attack. The second skill included is [Break - Invincible], which unleashes a strong AoE in a 1x5 column in front of her, and knocks the first enemy back by 2 tiles, meaning she also has some decent knockback potential. Both skills cost 2 NRG and have no CD requirement, making them very cost-effective attack skills (especially [Break - Endless Force]).

Skill 3

For her final skill slot, I suggest [Indomitable Stance]. This passive gives Pamina an extra 15% DMG reduction, as well as adds 15% of her P.DEF and M.DEF to her P.ATK when using AoE attacks (which basically all of her attacks are, meaning this will almost always be coming into play). Basically, she takes less DMG and inflicts more, for zero cost.

Equipment

For a weapon, I strongly suggest using the Army-Breaking Spear (her signature weapon), as its special effect is tailored around allowing her to reuse her ultimate skill two turns in a row (by rebating the NRG used and reducing the skill’s CD to 0), as long as she moves a certain distance over the course of her action (including the distance of her teleport, which means this is usually easy to activate). This effect cannot be spammed turn after turn, but her ultimate is sufficiently useful and strong that it’s worth having this weapon on her just for repeated uses. If you’re not pulling for her weapon, then the Double-Sided Halberd will work wonderfully on her. For a trinket, I recommend the Shield of Justice, as it will both protect her (since she is literally asking to be attacked) and increase her ATK and DEF, both of which she scales off of. If you don’t have a Shield of Justice, then a Spring Pill is a good choice, since it can help to keep her [Healthy] before she attacks, ensuring that she does as much damage as possible during her turn, since she’s liable to take damage that her reaction skill might not be able to completely heal. For a tarot, Magician is a wonderful choice on her for her AoE attacks, though Devil can also be great. At higher stars levels, Tower can also be serviceable, since she gets to counterattack with her trait more frequently. For engravings, Sword + Wand will give her the most benefit, both on and off of her own turn. When rolling stats, aim for P.ATK, though you can also accept P.DEF rolls alongside a good P.ATK roll.

Additional Notes

It’s worth mentioning [Who Dares to Contend] as an option for a skill slot, especially for content with fewer enemies, as it inflicts [Taunted] on a single enemy and gives Pamina [Parry] and [DMG Reduction II] for 2 turns, plus an AoE DEF buff for her allies. As was the case with [Onslaught - No Foe Can Stand], if the enemy is immune to [Taunted], they simply get inflicted with [Pamina’s Challenge], instead. While this skill is not quite as useful as the above skill, it costs no NRG, and only has a CD of 3 turns, meaning it can be used more easily alongside her other skills.