'Goddess of Victory: NIKKE's 2026 New Year NIKKE is 'Snow White: Innocent Days'. Players have affectionately dubbed her 'Awakened Snow', or 'Gak-Seol' for short. Following the devastating events of the 3rd anniversary, this is a reborn Snow White equipped with cutting-edge gear from Eden. She boasts an arsenal that rivals the volume of her original form. With performance to match, she is poised to dominate the upcoming Champion Arena and the 'Only One' Solo Raid. KookminTree has put this jewel-hungry powerhouse through its paces to see if she lives up to the hype.

Q. What kind of NIKKE is Gak-Seol?
A. She is a potent piercing damage dealer capable of raining down sequential attacks on both single targets and crowds.

Gak-Seol is a Burst III, Attacker, Water Code, Sniper Rifle (SR) type. She is the first sniper to feature a gimmick that hits multiple targets simultaneously. As proof of her complexity, her skill text is dense and pedantic—a perfect fit for the 'boring and pedantic' meme.

Her Skill 1, 'Seventh Dwarf V+VI', triggers three effects every 0.2 seconds while charging, plus additional effects upon a Full Charge attack. First, she 'locks on' to up to 5 targets near her reticle every 0.2 seconds. Simultaneously, she gains a defense buff and loads 5 'Auto Fire' rounds. As a bonus, she applies a debuff that increases the damage enemies take for 4 seconds.

Once you unleash a Full Charge attack, the Auto Fire sequence begins. She deals damage proportional to her final attack power to all enemies, with additional sequential attacks hitting the 'lock-on' targets. The number of attacks depends on the Auto Fire rounds loaded. When combined with her Burst effect, you are looking at a barrage of anywhere from 5 to 15 sequential hits.

Skill 2, 'Another White', locks her charge time at 1.2 seconds at the start of battle. Crucially, this means she cannot benefit from 'Charge Speed Increase' options on Overload gear. In exchange, she grants herself 'Piercing Specialization' and 'Attack/Part Damage Increase' buffs for 5 seconds upon a Full Charge. Entering Burst III mode further boosts her attack for 10 seconds. When using a Burst skill, her Full Charge attacks apply a 'Charge Damage and Sequential Attack Damage' bonus to the very first strike.

Finally, her Burst, 'Seventh Dwarf Full Active', grants a 10-second buff to attack damage. While it locks her charge time to 3.2 seconds, it expands her lock-on limit and maximum Auto Fire capacity to 10 each. This buff dissipates after two Full Charge attacks. As a side effect, she deals final attack-proportional damage to all destructible projectiles.

In short, Gak-Seol is a NIKKE that demands Full Charge attacks to maximize her potent buffs. Because her sequential attacks concentrate on a single target if only one is present, she suffers zero damage loss in boss encounters. However, because all her effects rely on Full Charge and her charge time is fixed, the traditional sniper 'tap-firing' technique will actually tank your DPS.

Her indiscriminate firepower makes her a must-have for new and returning players starting at the 3rd anniversary, serving as a core carry for stage progression. The 5-target lock-on makes her an absolute menace in 5v5 Arena matches, where she can tag the entire enemy team with just basic attacks. She also generates Burst gauge rapidly, ensuring you reach Full Burst status in no time.

Q. Where and how should I use her?
A. She shines in campaign stages, Water Code-weakness Solo Raids, and the Harvester Interception.

We conducted performance tests comparing Gak-Seol against water-code powerhouses 'Dorothy: Serendipity' (Summer Rosanna) and 'Ludmilla: Winter Owner'. Gak-Seol was tested at base copy with a Tier 5 SR Collectible, Summer Rosanna at 1-star with Tier 10 SR, and Ludmilla at 3-star with Tier 15 SR. Check the image for specific Overload gear details.

In the Union Shooting Range against a Fire Code boss, despite a 30% gap in elemental damage options, the gap between Gak-Seol and Summer Rosanna was only about 12-14%. When accounting for gear and limit breaks, Gak-Seol's potential is clearly immense.

Next, we tested her in a pure Water Code composition without Summer Rosanna, as most players need to split their rosters for Solo Raids. Gak-Seol outperformed the Summer Rosanna team. While our 3-star Ludmilla hit 4.6 billion, Gak-Seol clocked in at 6.2 billion, overcoming the deficit in investment and elemental gear stats.

Finally, we took her to the Interception Harvester. With a team of 'Crown - Gak-Seol - Little Mermaid - Helm (Treasured) - Mast: Romantic Maid', we cleared the fight with 17 seconds to spare. She has definitively proven herself as a 0-tier unit.

Q. Is she a must-pull?
A. Do not hesitate; we highly recommend recruiting her.

Our tests confirm Gak-Seol is a top-tier unit that everyone should aim for. With the January Solo Raid featuring a Water weakness, her debut stage is perfectly set. However, new and returning players might be torn between her and the simultaneously featured 'Red Hood: Rapi'.

Red Hood: Rapi is an incredibly versatile all-rounder. If you don't have Red Hood, prioritize her. If you already own her, dumping your resources into Gak-Seol is the efficient play. Use the special recruitment tickets provided in early January and save your 6,600 jewels for the 'Step-Up' recruitment. It’s wise to burn your tickets over the weekend before making a final decision on your jewels.