The second limited-time character from the 'Goddess of Victory: NIKKE' and 'Lycoris Recoil' collaboration, Takina Inoue (hereinafter 'Takina'), has officially entered the limited recruitment pool. As a Burst 2 supporter, many Commanders have been itching to know if she actually pulls her weight on the battlefield. Fresh off the Lunar New Year break, KookminTree has put her through the wringer.

Q. What kind of character is Takina?
A. She is a damage-focused supporter who provides a buff that ignores enemy defense to all allies every 15 seconds.

Takina is a Burst 2, Iron-code, Supporter sniper. Keep in mind that as a Burst 2 support, comparing her directly to Burst 3 DPS units isn't exactly apples-to-apples. Her kit features 'Combat Calibration' as a passive Skill 1, and 'Battlefield Control' as a 15-second cooldown active Skill 2. She is the first collab character since 'Mari' to use an active skill type for SSRs.

The 'Combat Calibration' skill grants her an attack buff for 5 seconds at the start of battle and when Full Burst ends, while applying a defense-ignoring damage buff for 15 seconds upon entering Full Burst. At skill level 10, her ATK increases by 80.04%, and defense-ignoring damage climbs by 35.05%.

The active 'Battlefield Control' stuns all enemies for 2 seconds and increases damage taken for 5 seconds. It also dishes out a defense-ignoring damage buff to all allies for 10 seconds. It triggers automatically 15 seconds into the fight, and every 15 seconds thereafter. While the 140.49% boost at level 10 is impressive, the 15-second cooldown against a 10-second duration means you can't maintain it permanently.

Her Burst skill, 'Suppression Start,' switches Takina’s weapon type and converts her normal attacks into defense-ignoring damage for 10 seconds. On top of that, it inflicts a debuff increasing damage taken by the target for 5 seconds. Essentially, her Skill 1 was designed to synergize perfectly with her Burst output.

Q. How does Takina actually perform?
A. Sadly, she falls short when it comes to replacing existing NIKKEs or meta staples.

When her kit was first revealed, most Commanders assumed Takina would be the perfect partner for 'Chisato Nishikigi' (hereinafter 'Chisato'). We put this to the test in the Union Shooting Range and the Solo Raid Museum 'Ultra'. For the Shooting Range, we locked specs to keep things fair, with Takina’s skills at 7/7/7.

In the Union Shooting Range, we compared her against combos using defense-ignoring buffers like 'Silver: Tactical Up' and 'Emma: Tactical Up'. The core team remained Crown, Chisato, and Aida. The results? The 'Little Mermaid + Takina' combo was outperformed by the Tactical Up setup. The former hit 925.7 million, while the latter reached 959.24 million—a difference of roughly 24 million. Even though Takina’s Skill 2 has a high multiplier, the 5-second downtime is a massive hurdle. Aida clocked in at 493.19 million in the first setup and 512.88 million in the second.

Next up: Solo Raid Museum Ultra. We compared 'Chisato - Takina - Little Mermaid - Red Hood - Treasure Helm' against 'Chisato - Ade: Agent Bunny (hereinafter 'Bunny Ade') - Little Mermaid - Red Hood - Treasure Helm'. The Bunny Ade used was 3-star with a level 1 R-grade collectible and skills at 7/7/7.

Even with Bunny Ade falling mid-battle, the second team still put up higher total damage. Chisato hit 797.4 million in the first setup versus 822.48 million in the second. Red Hood managed 1.28 billion in the first and 1.53 billion in the second. Since Red Hood’s attacks don't ignore defense, she didn't benefit from Takina’s buffs, but even Takina herself dealt less damage than expected. Takina’s 121.33% defense-ignoring buff and damage-taken debuff simply couldn't outpace the raw efficiency of Bunny Ade’s ATK and damage buffs. It’s a disappointing result given the hype.

Q. Should you pull for Takina?
A. While picking up at least one copy of a limited character is usually standard practice, you might want to think twice here.

Collab characters in 'Goddess of Victory: NIKKE' are notoriously hard to predict regarding reruns. Unless there's a second event, they are essentially gone forever. That said, given how the game constantly introduces new units, there’s always a chance for a future re-evaluation. The Solo Raid 'Altruia,' which started on February 19th at 12:00 PM, features an Iron-weak boss with massive defense. While Takina is theoretically suited for this, the test results suggest she won't be a game-changer.

If you're still determined to use or collect her, I suggest waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday next week to see how the Solo Raid meta settles. The top-tier Commanders might just find a niche high-score strategy for her. If you haven't grabbed Chisato yet, prioritize her first, then weigh your remaining Jewels carefully before investing in Takina. Best of luck!