There was an idol Nikke group that heated up the 3.5th anniversary of 'Goddess of Victory: NIKKE'. The group was T.T.STAR, a trio consisting of Anis, Mint, and Fricka. Following their popularity, Fricka has now been released as a playable character, following Mint, even after the 3.5th anniversary. Mint and Fricka are a set Nikke that must be used together. KookminTree investigated how effective the final member of T.T.STAR, Fricka, truly is.

Q. What kind of Nikke is Fricka?
A. She is a Support Nikke that must be deployed with Mint.

To understand Fricka, you must first know about Mint, who was released earlier. Mint provides a 'Sing-along' buff with her Burst, activating 'Stage Part: Dance' and 'Stage Part: Vocal' buffs accordingly. In the past, with only Mint available, only one of the Dance or Vocal buffs could be maintained. This was because Mint's skill 'It was a great stage!' forced the deletion of one of the Dance or Vocal states.

However, Fricka's skills make it possible to maintain both Dance and Vocal buffs simultaneously. This is thanks to Fricka's skill 'One More Song!'. When Fricka is in the 'Performance' state and receives the Sing-along buff, 'Encore' grants Mint an undispellable 'Stage Part: Vocal'. As a result, both of Mint's buffs can be maintained concurrently.

Performance is obtained through Fricka's Burst 'I'll show you the best stage!'. It lasts for 25 seconds, continuously heals all allies, and increases charge damage. However, Fricka's Burst cooldown is 40 seconds, and Performance lasts only 25 seconds, creating a gap. This gap is resolved by 'One More Song!' increasing the Performance duration. It increases the Performance duration by 21 seconds, ensuring Mint's skill maintenance is uninterrupted as long as Fricka isn't defeated.

To summarise, Fricka is a Nikke who only shows her true potential when used with Mint. When forming a squad, Fricka must always be placed ahead of Mint. Goddess of Victory: NIKKE's auto-skill activation mechanism uses the order '1-2-3-4-5' from the left. Let's ensure Fricka uses her Burst first to trigger Mint's skills. After Fricka's Burst, her skill effects prevent her cooldown from resetting. Therefore, she naturally uses her skills without cooldown, and Mint follows up. If you are a manual player, remember the 'Fricka - Mint' order.

Q. How effective is Fricka in actual combat?
A. She's got decent performance, but she has her pros and cons compared to existing set Nikkes.

Now, let's check Fricka's performance. Since the buff targets of Fricka and Mint are 'Piercing' and 'Projectile', we used 'Scarlet: Black Shadow (hereafter Scarlet) - Maxwell: Innocent Maid' for the experiment. The test location was a Union Raid boss battle with an air pressure weakness for 3 minutes. The comparison buffers were 'Mast: Romantic Maid - Anchor: Innocent Maid'. Since the specs of Fricka and Mint were too low compared to the 'Maxwell-Anchor' combination, we utilised the stat-fixing function.

The experimental results showed that the damage output of the 'Fricka-Mint' combination was lower compared to the Maxwell-Anchor combination. There was a difference of approximately 270 million in damage for Scarlet. Maxwell's damage output showed minimal change, suggesting that the Maxwell-Anchor combination remains superior for Scarlet. Notably, the area where Mint and Fricka fall short compared to Maxwell-Anchor is the absence of 'Reload Speed Increase'.

Maxwell-Anchor's reload speed increase buff is a staggering 85.16%. Commanders often refer to this as 'infinite ammo'. The Fricka-Mint combination lacks this buff, leading to a damage loss attributed to reloads. Furthermore, since there are no Nikkes who simultaneously possess 'Piercing - Projectile Explosion', Fricka-Mint's full potential cannot be unleashed. If a dealer with all related abilities is released later, the value of Fricka-Mint will increase significantly compared to now.

Q. Should I pull for Fricka?
A. New commanders who joined during the 3.5th anniversary should pass; existing commanders need to consider it carefully.

As mentioned repeatedly, Mint and Fricka are a set Nikke that must be used together. Mint, released earlier, was being researched with her favoured equipment 'Zwei', but with Fricka's arrival, their deployment will likely be mandatory. Therefore, commanders who only possess one of them must acquire both to utilise them properly. If you haven't obtained Mint, decide after assessing your Jewel and Gold Mileage count.

While they are undoubtedly good Nikkes, the timing isn't ideal. A new Nikke was previewed for the June 3rd anniversary event, and the summer season is fast approaching. The possibility of reruns for 'Dorothy: Serendipity' and 'Ileg: Boom and Shock' is high, so 3.5th-anniversary newcomers should save their Jewels and Tickets as much as possible. If you have over 400 Gold Mileage and ample Jewels and Tickets, aim for just the base copy of Mint and Fricka and wait for their inclusion in the general recruitment pool later.