How to Build Units

How to build units: Two different ways

There is an Easy way (Copy E7 builds) and a Hard way (Make your own build).

The easy way is good enough for newbies. The hard way is recommended for intermediate players and beyond.

Understanding what your own unit does is the best possible way of getting the most value out of them.

Easy Mode: How To Steal builds from Epic Seven players

Remember that Recode is a copy of E7. 90% of units are the exact same across both games, and can be built the same way.

This is the Recode and E7 icons for gear sets.

Protection, Torrent, Riposte, Reversal sets are missing in Recode.
Protection set gives shields to an ally.

Torrent set reduces max HP but increases the damage of the equipped unit. 

Hard Mode: How To understand and make your own build [WIP]

Every unit needs a Personalized Solution

1. The role or purpose of the unit in the team

2. Skill Upgrades and Discipline

3. Gear sets

4. Right Side Main Stats

5. Substats

6. Stat Breakpoints

7. Bond

8. Speed Tuning

Unit Roles and Archetypes

Every unit can very roughly be broken down into 10 archetypes.

1. Nuker

Nukers are high speed, high damage, one-shot killers. They are best used with an aggressive high-tempo team that lets the nuker wipe the field in one turn. This can be an AOE or a single target attack. They invest all stats into offense and speed, neglecting defense and bulk. When things go wrong, nukers can die very easily.

A typical nuker usually has a few of these traits (they don't have to have all of these):

• Excellent damage output (high skill damage multipliers)

• Penetrate defense by a certain percentage

• Effects that trigger when an enemy is killed

• Follow-up attacks, Extra turns, or very large Action Gauge boosts

• Self-push (Action gauge increase self) under certain trigger conditions

• Buffs self or the team with ATK Up or any other helpful buffs

• "Damage dealt increases in proportion to self SPD" (Speed Scaling)

2. Brawler

Brawlers are balanced damage dealers who are able to withstand some amount of incoming damage. They stay on the fight and persistently attack the enemy. Their damage output may be lower than nukers, but they are stronger when the battle goes on for a long period of time.

A typical brawler usually has a few of these traits:

• Good damage output

• High-value S1 (Basic skill is strong or has interesting effects)

• "Damage dealt increases in proportion to self Max HP" (HP Scaling)

• Counterattack or follow-up attacks (Can attack outside of turn)

• Buffs self or team

• Debuffs enemy

• Able to mitigate damage and survive (Stealth, Shield, Damage Reduction, Lifesteal, etc)

• Self-cleanses debuffs

3. DEF Scaling Brawler

DEF Scaling Brawlers are a special subclass of brawlers who specifically have skills that say "Damage dealt increases in proportion to self DEF." They are one of the very few rare units who build for high DEF instead of ATK or HP.

4. Healer

Healers are fairly straightforward: They heal and protect the team. However, subtle differences usually divide them into "offensive" and "defensive" healers. Offensive healers usually assist in attacking the enemy, while defensive healers have superior protection abilities.

A typical healer usually has a few of these traits:

• Healing

• Cleanse Debuffs

• Increase Action gauge of the team (Team push)

• Buffs team

• Revives dead teammates

5. Tank / Knight

Tanks are able to protect the team by reducing or mitigating damage, debuff and crowd control the enemy, and withstand heavy fire with superior durability. They are commonly used in low- to mid-tempo teams. Different tanks focus on different aspects: Some are more focused on debuffs, while others are focused on team protection. Recognizing which is which is crucial in building them correctly.

A typical tank usually has a few of these traits:

• Good base HP

• Damage reduction for the entire team

• Buffs team with defensive buffs, such as DEF Up, Shield, Skill Nullifier, or Immunity

• Crowd control debuffs (Taunt, T.Taunt, Silence, Stun, Sleep, Reduce action gauge, etc)

• "Damage dealt increases in proportion to self Max HP" (HP Scaling)

• Increase Action gauge of the team (Team push)

6. DEF Scaling Tank

DEF Scaling Tanks are a special subclass of tanks who specifically have skills that say "Damage dealt / Effect amount increases in proportion to self DEF." They are one of the very few rare units who build for high DEF instead of HP.

7. Opener

Openers are a special class of debuffers whose job is to go first in a PvP match. They build for extremely high speeds (220 or higher, as high as 270) so that they can always be the first one to act at the start of battle. Then, they disrupt the enemy or assist their allies to enable a high-tempo, all-out offense. Openers are very often paired with an AOE damage nuker and supporting units with the goal of killing the enemy team before they can properly act; this strategy is called "Cleaving." 

A typical opener usually has a few of these traits:

• Good base speed (113 or higher after full discipline)

• Attacks or skill effects are AOE

• Removes enemy buffs, or reduces buff duration

• Crowd control debuffs (Taunt, T.Taunt, Silence, Stun, Sleep, Reduce action gauge, etc)

• DEF Down, Unhealable, Unbuffable

• Increase Action gauge of the team (Team push)

• Buffs team

• Increase Skill Cooldown (CD Push) of the enemy

• Ignore Effect RES (commonly as a soulburn)

• "Damage dealt increases in proportion to self SPD" (Speed Scaling)

8. Counteropener

Counteropeners are a specialized class of units who are specifically used to disrupt an enemy's opener. They almost always have some effect that allows them to "Cut" the enemy's turn when a certain trigger condition is met. They are employed as a counter-pick against very specific targets and are usually not general-purpose units. However, when used correctly, their abilities can easily score you a guaranteed win.

A typical counteropener usually has a few of these traits:

• Excellent base speed (120 or higher after full discipline)

• Increase Action gauge of self (Self push) when a certain enemy action is performed or a condition is met

• Increase Action gauge of team (Team push) or one ally

• Cleases debuffs from the team

• Buffs team

• Removes enemy buffs, or reduces buff duration

• Crowd control debuffs (Taunt, T.Taunt, Silence, Stun, Sleep, Reduce action gauge, etc)

9. Tanky Debuffer

Tanky Debuffers are one of two main types of debuffers. They are focused on team utility and crowd control, and are usually geared towards longer fights.

A typical tanky debuffer usually has a few of these traits:

• Good base speed (113 or higher after full discipline)

• Attacks or skill effects are AOE

• Removes enemy buffs, or reduces buff duration

• Crowd control debuffs (Taunt, T.Taunt, Silence, Stun, Sleep, Reduce action gauge, etc)

• Special utility such as cooldown reset, force flanking, passives, etc

10. Offensive Debuffer

Offensive Debuffers are the other type of debuffers. They are more focused on helping your team deal damage in any shape or form; for this reason, Offensive Debuffers can also be built as Openers, and are commonly employed in a Cleave team. 

A typical offensive debuffer usually has a few of these traits:

• Good base speed (113 or higher after full discipline)

• Attacks or skill effects are AOE

• Removes enemy buffs, or reduces buff duration

• DEF Down, Unhealable, Unbuffable

• Increase Action gauge of the team (Team push)

• Decrease enemy Action gauge

• Buffs team, usually with ATK Up

• Ignore Effect RES (commonly as a soulburn)

11. Wildcard

Some units are so unique and special in their ability that they defy common categories. They tend to be very specific in their role and require dedicated team compositions to enable them. There's no general advice for wildcard units other than "Ask other players if you're unsure."

Comparison between brawler types

Brawlers can be split into 3 different types based on where their damage comes from.

"ATK Scaling" means the unit doesn't have any special scaling.

"HP Scaling" =  "Damage dealt increases in proportion to self Max HP"

"DEF Scaling" =  "Damage dealt increases in proportion to self DEF"

ATK Scaling brawlers

• Usually does the most damage

• Not as tanky (12~15k) since stats must be split between ATK and HP

HP Scaling brawlers

• Building HP (more bulk) increases damage at the same time, can be very tanky

• Doesn't benefit very much from ATK Up

• Vulnerable against lifesteal brawlers who deal a lot of damage and heal in proportion to that

• Max HP reduction from Injury also permanently reduces damage output

DEF Scaling brawlers

• Building DEF (more damage reduction) increases damage at the same time, can be very tanky

• Doesn't benefit at all from ATK Up

• Strong against lifesteal brawlers, as they can't deal much damage and can't heal

• DEF Up increases defense and offense at the same time, DEF Down is extremely debilitating

• Usually has less raw HP (12k~), vulnerable to DEF Penetrating attacks and fixed damage attacks

Skill Upgrades and Discipline

SKill mods and catalysts are valuable resources. A lot of units have useless or unnecessary upgrades that don't improve their build. If you know which ones you can skip, you can save on skillmods and catalysts. 

Skill Upgrades do one of these things:

• Increase damage (most common upgrade effect)

• Decrease cooldown by 1 turn

• Increase trigger rate of an effect

• Increase amount of an effect (healing, action gauge push, etc)

• Increase Souls (Astrogen) gained from using the skill by 2

Which of these are the most important?

1. Decrease Cooldown is almost always useful and usually can be taken (this level and all previous levels).

2. Increase Trigger Rate is almost always MANDATORY for the unit for the intended unit design and balance.
   However, trigger rate for a debuff for a unit who doesn't care about that debuff (for example, ATK Down rate for Joyce) can be skipped.

3. Increase Effect amount is usually very important, and is upgraded fully, except for Healing amount.
   The last level or two of healing amount can be skipped to conserve resources, or taken for maximum healing potential.

4. Increase Astrogen by 2 is a useless "filler upgrade" that is always placed before "Decrease Cooldown" upgrades. Since cooldown reductions have to be taken, this upgrade has to be taken as well. 

5. Increase Damage is only taken for damage dealers (Nukers, Brawlers, Offensive Debuffers, certain Openers and Counteropeners, and very rarely, some Tanks).
   For Nukers whose most of the value is in S2 and S3, their S1 (basic attack) can usually be skipped since they don't use it very often.
   Brawlers who use S1 often usually have to upgrade all skills fully.
   Basically, upgrade the damage for any skill that is important for dealing damage. If the skill is not used often, its purpose is not to deal damage, or if the unit isn't meant to be a damage dealer, you don't have to take damage upgrades.

When sharing skill upgrade schemes, the numeric upgrade amount is used.
For example, +0 +3 +5 or 0 3 5 means no upgrades on S1, 3 stages of upgrades on S2, and 5 stages of upgrades on S3.

Disciplining a unit does a few things:

• All stages increase HP and ATK by a small amount

• Stage 3 changes one of the unit's skills

• Stage 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 provide a certain amount of stats based on the class and horoscope of the unit

• Stages 1~4 require discipline points (elements)

• Stage 5 requires elements and Rare catalysts

• Stage 6 requires elements and Legendary catalysts

• Stage 6 unlocks the unit's ultimate skill animation as the lobby background.

ALL units you intend on using regularly should be upgraded to Stage 3. Before that stage, the unit's skills are "Incomplete." Some important aspect of a skill is usually withheld from the unit until they are upgraded to Stage 3.

Stage 4 is very cheap (only needs elements) and is usually taken for all units that are used often.

Stage 5 should be taken if the unit is used for PvP, or if the Stage 5 bonus stat is an important one.

Stage 6 should only be taken if the bonus stat is an important one.

ALWAYS Take Speed, Crit Rate, Crit Damage, EHR, and RES disciplines. Take ATK% or HP% depending on the unit and situation.

If you want the skill animation lobby background, then feel free to take Stage 6.

Choosing Gear Sets

Since you can have 6 pieces of gear on a unit, you can either have one 4-piece set with one 2-piece set, or three 2-piece sets.

(There are cases when you give up set bonuses, but those are rare.)

WIP

Right Side Mainstats

Substats

Stat Breakpoints

Bond

Speed Tuning