The second pickup for the 3rd anniversary of Goddess of Victory: NIKKE has arrived: Liberelio. Having charmed the community in the main story a week prior, anticipation was high. Players wasted no time stress-testing her on day one, and the consensus is in: she is the new partner for the God tier game character Scarlet: Black Shadow (hereinafter 'BS'). However, her skill set is a bit of a maze, requiring some serious number-crunching to master. KookminTree has put Liberelio's performance to the test.

Q. What is Liberelio's core mechanic?
A. Her self-buffs shift based on the target, and she provides specialized buffs to specific allies.

Liberelio is a Wind Code, Burst 3, Sniper Rifle, Attacker type Nikke. Her effects vary based on the target and trigger upon entering Full Burst or landing full-charge shots.

Skill 1, 'Calm Depth,' has two effects triggered by full-charge shots and two by entering Full Burst. The former grants a 60-second attack damage buff to herself on a 'Core' hit, or bonus damage on a regular hit. The latter gives her a massive 3-second attack power buff and increases the charge speed of the Burst 3 ally with the lowest final attack power. The attack buff is a staggering 160% at level 10, clearly designed so that she doesn't receive the charge speed buff herself—which is crucial, as she shouldn't be buffed in that department. The charge speed increase is 12.74% at level 10. Why she shouldn't receive this buff becomes clear in Skill 2.

Skill 2, 'Strange Currents,' changes based on whether the target is a boss or a regular Rapture. Hitting a boss grants an attack damage buff, while hitting a regular Rapture locks her charge time to 1 second. She also gains immunity to charge speed buffs/debuffs at the start of battle. This immunity is why she must avoid the Skill 1 charge speed buff. This isn't affected by equipment modification, Simulation Room buffs, or Harmony Cube skills. Her Burst, 'Submerged World,' is a straightforward screen-clearer that also grants her a 47.73% attack damage buff for 10 seconds.

The condition for the Skill 1 charge speed buff—targeting the 'Burst 3 ally with the lowest final attack power'—is surprisingly tricky. If your primary Burst 3 units are well-invested, Liberelio often ends up having the lowest attack power herself. If you're running two Burst 3 units and the buff isn't triggering, it means the other unit's attack power is higher. In Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, 'final' attack power factors in base stats, equipment, modification effects, and combat buffs. She needs to have a lower total than the other unit, even after factoring in her own self-buffs.

Even if she doesn't receive the buff, you might run into issues where it lands on the wrong unit. Many players plan to use her with BS and Helm (Treasures), but reports suggest the buff sometimes drifts to Helm instead. I highly recommend running a few tests in the Shooting Range to ensure your setup works as intended.

Q. What is the recommended team composition for Liberelio?
A. We recommend pairing her with BS.

Liberelio's charge speed boost makes her a perfect match for BS. We compared this to the traditional Alice pairing. Liberelio was at 1-star, skills 10/8/9, SR Collection level 15, and Relic Bear Cube level 15. BS was at 2-core, skills 10/7/10, SR Collection level 15, and Relic Bear Cube level 15. Buffs included Maid Mast, Anchor, and Little Mermaid. The test was conducted on a 3-minute Wind-weakness Union Shooting Range boss.

The results? The BS + Liberelio combo out-damaged the Alice combo by 240,138,080. Despite the charge speed benefit being only 1.07% points higher than Alice’s 11.67%, the actual output gap was massive. If you're a new player joining for the 3rd anniversary, you no longer need to tether Alice to BS. Expect even higher ceilings in Wind-weakness environments.

We continued testing in the Kraken Interception. The team was 'Nayuta - BS - Little Mermaid - Liberelio - Crown.' Crown's buffs were timed strictly to the full-burst window. Replacing Mana with Liberelio, we cleared Stage 9 with ease. BS recorded 1,786,825,035 damage, while Liberelio hit 1,528,244,204. The ~260 million difference was mostly due to gear variance. I'm very much looking forward to seeing her in next week's Solo Raid.

Q. How much should I invest in Liberelio?
A. Secure Nayuta first, then aim for at least one copy of Liberelio.

With two Pilgrim recruitments running, the priority dilemma is real. If you want both, grab Nayuta first. It’s not about who is 'better,' but the schedule. Nayuta's pickup ends a week earlier, and she is a high-performance unit you shouldn't skip. Use your gems and Advanced Recruit Vouchers for Nayuta, then pour the remainder into Liberelio.

The Solo Raid starts on November 13th, and with a Wind-weak boss, not having Liberelio will make hitting high scores quite a struggle. This is especially true for new players who missed the second Evangelion collaboration unit, Asuka Shikinami. Whether you're a new, returning, or veteran player, don't miss out on adding Liberelio to your roster.