Heishou Pack - Mao Branch Adept

At a Glance

A Rupture attacker whose core loop is equipping a defense skill every turn to trigger Assist Defense, transforming the assist-only skill into enhanced S3 Ascendant Heishou - Mao Technique: Cloudsplitting Manifestation, and repeatedly using it.

Core Mechanics

• Cloudsplitting Manifestation: S3 Traceless to Sight and Sound Alike. and the Assist Defense-only skill Swiftfeet Protection turn into it if she has at least 10 Tianjiu Star's Blade before use. It spends 10 Tianjiu Star's Blade after the attack. On hit, Coin Ⅰ inflicts Deathrite【Haste】 and Deathrite 【Fissure】, and at 10 or more Speed, Coin Ⅲ's reuse inflicts them once more on hit.
• Tianjiu Star's Blade economy: Maximum 20. Through the combat passive Heishou Mutation [Mao] / Mao Branch Adept (5 Gluttony Owned; unlocked at Uptie Ⅱ), she gains 1 each time an ally triggers Deathrite, +1 if she triggered it herself, up to 5 times per turn, for at most 10. The 5-trigger limit appears to be shared with allies' Deathrite triggers, so the amount she recovers may drop if other Identities trigger Deathrite first. She also gains 5 when Assist Defense triggers. At 10 or more Speed, firing it with 10 lets the Deathrite triggers during the attack bring her back up to 20, leaving 10 even after spending 10. This economy is the foundation of the Technique Loop. Both triggering Deathrite【Haste】 and Coin Ⅲ's reuse require at least 10 Speed, so below 10 Speed she cannot recover enough and the loop breaks.
• Assist Defense: Gained at Combat Start from S3 and the Defense skill It Shall Be Done., once per turn each. When an ally without a Defense skill equipped is attacked one-sidedly, she redirects the attack to herself and receives it with Swiftfeet Protection. It does not trigger for attacks on Faust herself or attacks marked [Cannot be redirected].
• Speed: S3, her Defense skill, and Cloudsplitting Manifestation grant Strider【Mao】, raising her Speed next turn. At 10 or more Speed, triggering Deathrite【Haste】 and Coin reuse become active. With at least 10 Tianjiu Star's Blade, she also gains 1 Haste for the next turn at Turn End.

How to Use

Early on, gather Gluttony with the Defense skill It Shall Be Done. to activate the passive, and bring Tianjiu Star's Blade to 10 through Assist Defense triggers (+5) and Deathrite triggers. From then on, equip the Defense skill every turn and fire Cloudsplitting Manifestation from Assist Defense to restore Tianjiu Star's Blade to 10. As long as there are one-sided attacks that trigger Assist Defense, the loop is worth continuing even if it means turning S1 and S2 into Defense skills. If you fire an S3 in hand as Cloudsplitting Manifestation in the same turn, the Deathrite recovery runs into the 5-per-turn limit, Tianjiu Star's Blade drops below 10, and the loop breaks. During the loop, save S3 for moments such as when the enemy is staggered. Before entering the loop, S3 can be used early. At 10 or more Speed, hitting an enemy with Rupture triggers Deathrite【Haste】 three times — Coins Ⅱ and Ⅲ plus the reuse — for up to 6 Tianjiu Star's Blade. Adding Assist Defense's +5 pushes her past 10 and speeds up the start. She is not good at regular battles where Assist Defense goes unused, and Tianjiu Star's Blade takes time to accumulate, so she shines in reasonably long Focused Encounters.

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  Heishou Pack - Mao Branch (Ryōshū): An Identity that uses Deathrite. Helps Heishou Mutation [Mao] / Mao Branch Adept, which gains Tianjiu Star's Blade whenever an ally triggers Deathrite, get started before the loop. During the loop, they may compete for the 5-per-turn limit.
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  Heishou Pack - Mao Branch (Outis): Another Identity that uses Deathrite. Useful for recovering Tianjiu Star's Blade during the start-up.

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  Lasso: Has a Gluttony S3 and skills that inflict Rupture, and gains Haste, making the Speed condition easy to meet.
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  Command : Meltdown: Sloth S1, Gluttony S3, and Pride S2 supply all three required affinities, and she also inflicts Rupture.