So I was privy to this clan discussion about crescendo and while I and Lucrayzor see eye-to-eye about Excaliburdragon’s design I think some thoughts are taken a step too far. I own all three crescendo legendaries and have used them extensively. I’ve tried to learn about Excalibur as much as possible from owners of it.
Shivadragon and Polaboss are perfect
Shivadragon = still arguably the best PvE monster in the game. He has the highest attack for building up crescendo and excellent low TU support moves. The rise in piercing moves has now balanced him better from being totally OP. He’s all about PvE and not PvP.
Polaboss = the PvP variant of Shivadragon which the very useful stun pulse and a more aggressive moveset. Detox strike both counters poison a little and opens him up to combos for massive damage without the need for ~400s+. He’s not common in PvP but I’ve used him lots and trust me he’s underrated.
Leogeist needs a little love
This monster has fallen from its glory days. It doesn’t deserve to be turned into S+ material but things are faster these days and it being unable to do much other than sit on the field with stun counter is a shame. I currently use it in second form where I feel it’s quite OP as an 8-cost stun counter that still tanks the same and doesn’t do much less damage.
The changes I think it needs:
- Change stun counter -> stun converter on the second form.
- Change lifeflip -> Crescendo Charge (70TU) [adds 4 crescendo charges to this monster and heals it for a small amount]
Excaliburdragon is the one I totally agree with Lucrayzor on
The focus on spamming Crescendo Dance with give turns is now basically the strongest thing it can do. Before this update you’d want to use that to rapidly charge crescendo then switch to slashing but now you’re encouraged to keep spamming the massive hit all move.
The monster is better with this update, but it’s now gone down a route which other monsters do better (as Lucrayzor talked about). I think it needs to find its niche.
I’m not sure whether Excaliburdragon is meant to be for PvE or PvP. The addition of stun pulse makes me think PvP but I’ll suggest changes for both anyway.
Suggestions for PvE version: (more focused on survival and support/control)
- Aegis Ritual pulls back a teammate (rather than kills) and boosts the defence of Excaliburdragon by +50% permanently.
- Stun Pulse -> Crescendo Stun (70TU) [stuns by 15s, increasing by +3 per crescendo up to a cap of 45s]. Stun pulse in 2nd form.
- SOLO Healing Light TU decreased from 100 to 80. The higher TU in 2nd form.
Suggestions for PvP version: (more focused on damage, faster impact and less reliance on GT)
- Aegis Ritual TU decreased from 100 to 60 and boosts the attack of Excaliburdragon by +50% permanently.
- Crescendo Dance TU decreased from 160 to 100. Use limit of 3 (again).
General notes about crescendo
I’d love to have the current charge on crescendo displayed somewhere. It would help when trying to anticipate how much damage it will deal.
What crescendo monsters need to be viable for PvP is:
- something that creates a bit of breathing room for them to start charging (e.g. like OoO or a Daunt which hits allies too and is low TU - a SS?)
- something powerful to use after a short time, but before crescendo has really got going (e.g. instant crescendo blast or a move that adds +8, or so, charges which is usable after 150/200s)
- a viable support move that is reusable and adds to crescendo (e.g. crescendo sleep/stun - increases chance to sleep / stun amount with a cap)
- a way to rapidly charge at low TU to make it a threat quicker but doing nothing much in the process (e.g. Crescendo Charge as shown above on Leogeist)