Operator overview: Cement

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The diminutive Rim Billitoner Zalak Shana Moleman was raised in a family of miners but turned to construction works after the mining crew she was part of disbanded following an accident at work stemming from a structural failure. Shana then established a construction firm, "Shana's Construction Crew," with around fifty employees that quickly made a name for itself in the country thanks to their safety-first approach and unorthodox-yet-effective techniques, resulting in literally zero accidents-at-work and on-time project completions, exceeding established standards. Consequently, they cemented themselves as one of R.B.'s top construction firms, even being entrusted by the R.B. PLC to handle some of their big projects.

As her Construction Crew considered expanding into other fields, Shana contacted Rhodes Island's Engineering Department while overseeing the renovation of a nomadic platform. She then offered her expertise as R.I.'s non-resident engineering consultant and a combatant under the callsign "Cement," using her protective equipment and drilling tools to hold the line.

Introduction

Cement is a 5★ Duelist Defender who specializes in Defense. As a Duelist Defender, Cement can only block a single enemy but have very high ATK to offset this and a range of the tile in front of her as with most melee Operators. However, Cement's DP cost is staggeringly high (32 at Elite 2) and she can only recover/restore SP while blocking enemies, making Cement's skills charge up at an achingly slow rate outside of combat.

Talent

Blueprint Corrections reduces the Physical damage Cement takes with the effect being doubled once she is deployed for 35 seconds.

Skills

  1. Stratum Groundbreaker immediately deals Physical damage equal to a greater portion of Cement's ATK to enemies within her range when activated and can store two charges from Level 7.
    • Stratum Groundbreaker is obviously best used for the player who wants to use Cement offensively. Thanks to her already very high ATK and a great ATK scaling from the skill, she is able to deal heavy sustained punishment to her opponents, even to those with very high DEF; as long as she is in a mano-a-mano situation.
    • To make the most out of Stratum Groundbreaker, one can place a melee friendly unit behind Cement, preferably those with at least 2-block count, to prevent leaks and allow Shana to inflict heavy damage to as many enemies as possible.
  2. Structural Support gives Cement several instances of DEF buffs stacked additively on top of each other for a good 60 seconds with one instance being consumed when Cement takes damage (regardless of the type) and can be manually deactivated at the player's discretion.
    • At Specialization Level 3, Structural Support gives her a whopping 420% DEF buff at maximum stacks!
    • When combined with Blueprint Corrections, Structural Support is best used to stall enemies with strong Physical attacks but with long attack interval, buying other friendlies time and thus allowing them to finish those off.
    • However, Structural Support is much less effective against enemies with short attack interval as they can easily negate all the stacks, not to mention it is also useless against Arts and True damage.

Operator Module

The HES-X Module, Engineering Recorder, allows Cement to recover SP at 20% of the normal rate while not blocking enemies in addition to increasing her ATK and DEF. Once upgraded, Blueprint Corrections' Physical damage reduction is increased.

Base skills

Cement's base skills improve Factory efficiency while she is assigned to one.

  1. Standardization α increases productivity by 15%.
  2. Tunnel Work increases capacity by 10 and reduces Cement morale drain rate by 0.25 per hour.

Summary

Cement is a rock-solid Duelist Defender who can handle both offensive and defensive roles effectively so long as she is properly supported. Shana shines in situations where hefty physical-damage enemies appear one at a time and she can dish out (and withstand) some serious punishment. That's concrete for you, Doctor!