The second limited-time recruitment for the collaboration between Goddess of Victory: NIKKE and the Persona Series has arrived, featuring Yukiko Amagi (hereafter 'Yukiko'). Commanders have been keen to see how Yukiko pairs with the previously released Queen (Makoto) (hereafter 'Makoto'), given their built-in synergy. After taking Yukiko for a spin, it is clear that while pairing Yukiko with Makoto is the obvious choice, the individual performance is nothing to sneeze at either. Gukmin Tree has put together a swift breakdown of Yukiko's capabilities.

Q. What kind of character is Yukiko?
A. Yukiko is a unit that boosts Code superiority damage and features skills designed to synergize with Makoto.

When Yukiko hits the field alongside Makoto, the pair exchange buffs. The 'Chase' buff mentioned in Makoto's Skill 1, 'Persona: Johanna', is triggered by Yukiko's Skill 2, 'Crimson Flower'. Furthermore, both units' Skill 2s provide an attack power increase based on the caster's stats to all allies in the 'Persona' state. Much like Makoto, Yukiko benefits from increased Code superiority damage, bolstering the overall combat efficacy.

Thanks to the healing capabilities inherent in Yukiko's Persona, Konohana Sakuya, Yukiko provides continuous healing to the entire squad. This makes Yukiko an excellent partner for Crown, who grants powerful buffs upon receiving heals, especially when building a Burning Code team. Expect Yukiko to be a vital asset for survivability during Solo Raids against high-damage bosses.

Yukiko also boasts reduced damage taken from Water Code enemies, the natural weakness. However, in the current meta of Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, there is rarely a compelling reason to specifically counter-pick units based on elements alone. Whether this niche will truly shine remains to be seen.

Q. How does Yukiko perform?
A. While perfect for a Makoto duo, Yukiko boasts high enough performance to be a strong standalone pick.

We put Yukiko to the test at the Union Shooting Range in a 'Wind Code - 3-minute boss - Fixed Specs' environment. We evaluated three compositions: 'Little Mermaid or Anis: Sparkling - Mast: Romantic Maid (hereafter 'Mast-Maid') - Anchor: Innocent Maid (hereafter 'Ma-Ang')', 'Little Mermaid or Anis: Sparkling - Crown - Treasured Item Privaty', and 'Little Mermaid or Anis: Sparkling - Crown - Mast-Maid'. Skill rotations for the Crown/Mast-Maid setup were 'Crown-Mast-Crown' and 'Crown-Crown-Mast'.

The results showed a clear hierarchy in damage output: 'Crown-Mast-Maid > Crown-Privaty > Ma-Ang'. While there was synergy with the distributed damage buffer Ma-Ang, the significant reload speed reduction and high base buff stats provided by the Crown-Privaty combo pulled them ahead. Still, in a Solo Raid environment requiring five distinct decks, Yukiko is expected to find a home as a Burning Code distributed damage dealer alongside Ma-Ang.

Makoto's damage output certainly increased, but it fell short of figures seen in shotgun-specialized squads. Without internal accuracy buffs or hit correction, the natural pellet spread of the shotgun seems to have hampered the DPS. This begs the question: can Yukiko act as a standalone like Makoto? We ran a comparison against 'Rapi: Red Hood', 'Mihara: Bonding Chain', and 'Diesel: Winter Sweets' using the Crown-Privaty baseline.

The experiment revealed that Yukiko fell just short of Rapi: Red Hood and Mihara: Bonding Chain, but managed to outperform Diesel: Winter Sweets. The deficit for the former was roughly 70 to 130 million; considering Rapi: Red Hood had the full benefit of Anis: Sparkling's buffs, the fact that the gap wasn't wider is a testament to Yukiko's impressive base stats.

This implies that one could feasibly slot Makoto into a shotgun team while deploying Yukiko elsewhere. We shall see how the top-tier players optimise these squads once the Solo Raid Challenge difficulty opens on August 22.

Q. Should I pull for Yukiko?
A. If you are aiming for the top of the leaderboards in Burning Code weak-point Solo Raids, Yukiko is a must-have.

As a limited collaboration character, missing out on Yukiko now means the opportunity may never return. Granted, Yukiko is not a 'Tier 0' unit that dominates every single piece of content; the full utility of the skills is locked behind the Wind Code requirement. However, for Solo Raids where the boss is weak to Burning Code, Yukiko is essential. If you are chasing a high score in the Solo Raid that began on August 20, Yukiko is a mandatory acquisition.

If forced to choose between Yukiko and Makoto, prioritize Yukiko. While Makoto is by no means a weak character, Yukiko offers higher versatility than Makoto, who is largely restricted to specific team compositions. Furthermore, Yukiko uses a machine gun—widely considered one of the best weapon types in Goddess of Victory: NIKKE—which ensures a solid performance floor.

Commanders who skipped Makoto should secure one copy of Yukiko first, then consider a copy of Makoto. While the skill scaling based on the caster's attack power makes upgrading (LB) worthwhile, I recommend settling for a single copy unless you are swimming in resources. With the 4th anniversary just two months away, it is impossible to predict what power creep may arrive in the interim. If you are a new Commander, be especially cautious with your resource management.