The third hero from the Pentagon, Aris, has officially arrived in 'Seven Knights Re:BIRTH' (hereinafter SKRB). Having already made an appearance in the recent scenario event, the community had high hopes that this would be the next playable hero. True to the speculation, Aris has debuted as a versatile hero tailor-made for defensive team compositions. Aside from the passive, Aris is a primary damage dealer whose skills are entirely focused on offense, and in a twist, the Awakening skill itself acts as a passive. KookminTree has dived deep into the mechanics of this new frontline powerhouse.

Q. What kind of hero is Aris?
A. Aris is a damage dealer who fights from the front line of the party while stacking 'Wrath of the Earth Dragon'.

Aris shares a certain DNA with the offensive hero 'Dellons'. The first skill, 'I'll Crush You!', deals 5-hit piercing damage to a single enemy. Upon reaching Transcendence 2, if the target is defeated, the skill triggers again with 100% power, once per turn. Unlike Dellons, the piercing mechanic allows Aris to bypass damage immunity. The second skill, 'Shall We Finish This?', is a standard AOE attack that hits twice and has a 45% chance to stun for 2 turns. Note that unlike the first skill, it lacks piercing, leaving Aris vulnerable against heroes with damage immunity.

The passive, 'Energy of the Earth', is designed to support both Aris and the team. First, it grants a self-revive upon death. Each time Aris is hit by an enemy, it stacks the 'Wrath of the Earth Dragon' buff, up to 30 times. This exclusive buff increases damage dealt and physical attack power per stack. Simultaneously, it generates 3 points of Awakening gauge, meaning the more Aris gets hit, the faster the Awakening skill activates. Passive bonuses also include increased block chance for all allies and a shield proportional to physical attack power for 2 turns whenever a skill is used.

The Awakening skill, 'Precarious Coexistence', is a passive type. This seems to be a nod to the original Aris, whose Awakening skill was also a passive. Upon its first activation, it heals all allies and cleanses two debuffs. Its persistent effects are quite formidable: whenever Aris successfully blocks, the skill triggers. A successful block deals damage proportional to the target's defense and reduces the target's turn-based buffs by 2 turns. The passive debuff also lowers the healing received and block chance for all enemies. Furthermore, it adds a 40% defense-piercing ability to all of Aris's skills to bolster the damage output.

Q. What are Aris's core buffs and debuffs?
A. Debuff cleansing, Wrath of the Earth Dragon, reduced healing received, and reduced block chance.

The core buff for Aris is Wrath of the Earth Dragon. By reaching Transcendence 6, the buff per stack jumps from 2% to 6%—a threefold increase—granting a maximum of 180% damage and physical attack power. However, be aware that this buff resets upon death; once revived, Aris must start stacking it all over again. If Aris can survive while keeping the stacks up, the destructive power of the first and second skills becomes immense.

The debuffs in the Awakening passive reduce the opponent's healing received and block chance by up to 52% and 23%, respectively. This serves as a hard counter to offensive, magical, and defensive teams that rely on self-healing, while the block reduction is a game-changer in defensive mirror matches. Additionally, the basic attack and the second skill 'Shall We Finish This?' have a 40% and 45% stun chance, respectively. Since the basic attack stuns for 1 turn and the second skill for 2 turns, a bit of luck can disrupt the opponent's skill rotation or stop them in their tracks.

Q. How should I set up Aris's equipment?
A. Use the 'Guardian' set as the core and aim for '100% Block'.

For Aris, a 100% block rate is non-negotiable to fully utilize the Awakening passive. The 'Guardian' set is the best choice to bolster this, and if you can secure enough block chance from sub-options, other sets can work too. Since the Transcendence 4 effect only reduces incoming damage by 10%, you must rely on gear and options for block rate. The Guardian 4-set bonus provides 30%, so you need to find the remaining 70% through stats. Main armor options can provide up to 48%, leaving 22% to be secured through sub-options. While it might be tempting to chase 'Critical Rate' or 'Weak Point Attack' since Aris is a damage dealer, remember that the Awakening passive relies on blocks, making survival-oriented setups much more critical.