This is way overdue. Anyway, due to the positive response from my review on water delayers, I have decided to make reviews for the delayers of other elements. As usual, note that these reviews are influenced by my opinions, and may not apply for you specifically. There's also a lot more competition for the slot of fire delayer versus the situation for water, so I may have glossed over some bits here and there. That being said, here we go!
What's a delayer?[]
From the water delayer review:
As you likely know, enemies take a certain number of turns bto attack you. Delayers are spirits that can stop the enemy from attacking for an additional amount of turns, usually 3. Why are they useful? Say, for example, that an enemy deals so much damage, you can't completely heal it off in time before the next attack. If you can't kill the enemy quickly enough, your team will get wiped out. This is where delayers come in - by buying more time for you, they give you the opportunity to do things like heal off damage, get rid of difficult tricolor questions, and charge special skills. In other words, they are all but essential to beating difficult quests. The effects of delay do not stack, so you can only delay an enemy again once it's attacked you. Therefore, if you bring 2 delayers and use one of their delays, you must wait to be attacked before you can use the second one. Even so, simple math shows that 2 delayers are still better than one, effectively serving as a single delayer that charges in half the time.
Greed[]
Greed is a former permanent crystal invoke, so he's one of the more accessible options. He might be old, but don't discredit him just for that. He was considered overpowered upon his introduction, and remains a very viable option. Greed's delay is a full 3 turns, the standard among delayers. His stats are quite good, and his answer skill boosts his attack by 2.3x (+130%) after 5 consecutive correct answers, continuing to do so until you mess up. At that point, you'll have to restart the combo. This gives him a very consistent amount of damage output as long as you keep getting answers correct, and it means that of all offensive fire delayers with high availability, he's the best all-rounder. Unfortunately, 2.3x for 5 combo is outdated; there are 3 combo spirits that can do the same. 5 combo, while pretty manageable, is also not an especially easy combo to restart, which can be frustrating at times. Lastly, Greed's hidden powers are pretty bad. Despite his shortcomings, he's a very capable option with the ability to handle high-level quests.
Pros[]
- Consistent damage output.
- Good stats.
- Easy to evolve, since he ends at S rank.
- Good stats, especially for an older S rank spirit.
- A former permanent crystal invoke; he's been pretty easy to get.
Cons[]
- His hidden powers are pretty bad... they don't benefit his team at all.
- Not currently available in the pool.
- 5-combo 2.3x is outdated, and 5 combo itself can be annoying.
Verdict[]
While showing signs of age and having a few flaws, Greed has weathered the power creep better than most. He's quite a solid option and is well worth keeping around.
Riverta[]
Like Greed, Riverta is a permanent invoke, so the two are often compared to each other. Riverta has better stats than Greed, but the most notable difference is her answer skill. She's a slayer, meaning that she only gains bonus damage against one group of spirits - in this case, thunder elementals. Her multiplier is 2.75x, which is on par with that of most other slayers. Notably, it's a lot higher than Greed's 2.3x and has no combo requirement. Combined with her superior base ATK, she will handily outdamage him. However, it only works against those thunder elementals, so her damage will be negligible against other foes. This inconsistent output can be undesirable for some players, and it makes Riverta a bit inflexible, but it's a respectable amount of firepower. If you're faced with a quest in which the most dangerous enemies are all or mostly thunder, and killing them quickly is important, then Riverta is in fact your best option; however, quests in which this happens aren't terribly common, so she's not a good all-rounder. Unfortunately, her hidden powers are every bit as useless as Greed's. Regardless of her flaws, she's a very strong option.
Pros[]
- Easy to get since she's a permanent crystal invoke.
- Good firepower on par with that of other slayers; no combo requirement.
- Solid stats; high enough for hard quests.
Cons[]
- Inconsistent damage output; only effective against thunder.
- Bad hidden powers; no team boosts.
Verdict[]
Riverta is neither the best nor the most versatile fire delayer, but remains a strong option, serviceable even late game. Overall, she's a good alternative to Greed.
Summer!Riverta[]
Take everything good about Greed, turn it up a notch, add a couple of useful hidden powers, and you have Summer!Riverta. A 3-combo 2.3x hitter with similar base stats to normal!Riverta, she is a very versatile option. While her damage isn't as high as that of normal!Riverta, it's more reliable since it works against all enemies. It's also notably higher than Greed's damage output thanks to her better stats, and is much more manageable thanks to her shorter 3-combo. If you go at quests where killing enemies quickly is of utmost importance, or just prefer to kill things faster anyway, she's pretty easily your best general-purpose option. Overall, Summer!Riverta is a competent delayer with a lot to offer, and is highly worth keeping around. Unfortunately, she's a limited invoke and may never return to the game.
Pros[]
- 3-combo 2.3x makes her damage output both consistent and versatile.
- Good firepower.
- Strong stats.
- Easy combo requirement.
- Starts at SS; no evolution requirements.
- With hidden powers, she boosts the ATK of her fire allies by 100 and increases the rate of fire panels appearing.
Cons[]
- Losing combo means losing firepower.
- Hidden powers are a little outdated.
- Very rare; may never appear again.
Verdict[]
The best all-around offensive delayer for fire. A very strong, well-rounded option that can be expected to serve your teams for a long time to come.
Xmas!Yukka[]
She's basically Summer!Riverta, but with less firepower, lower stats, and currently unknown hidden powers. Everything else said about Summer!Riverta applies here.
Pros[]
- 3-combo 2.0x is both consistent and versatile.
- Decent firepower.
- Good stats; viable for high-level questing.
- Easy combo requirement.
- Starts at S; no evolution requirements.
Cons[]
- Losing combo means losing firepower.
- Hidden powers not known.
- Damage output is outdated by current standards.
- Very rare.
Verdict[]
Definitely showing signs of age, but still a good option, if you have the fortune to have her.
Jennifer[]
I have no idea what Jennifer's multiplier is. My best guess is that it's between 1.7 and 2.0x. This is actually pretty decent, especially for an unconditional hitter, but at the same time, it gets beaten by the 20% boosters (which achieve effective multipliers of around 2.0x). Jennifer is in a class of spirits known as divided trimagicians, meaning that after their multipliers are applied, the damage is split between all currently-standing enemies. This is neither versatile nor especially desirable, but it's workable and does well in a cleanup role, sitting in the back of the deck to finish off remaining scraps of enemy. In quests where enemies have counter standby, it's actually really bad, as it will get reflected right back at you. Fortunately, counter standby is uncommon. This isn't the most interesting property of Jennifer, though. Her biggest selling point is the fact that her delay, while only 2 turns in duration, charges in 8 turns versus the standard 10. This is remarkably fast; in hard quests where timing can be critically important, those extra two turns can mean the difference between winning and losing. This helps compensate for her not-so-good trimagic by bringing something new and useful to the table. Overall Jennifer is a strong delayer option that's worth keeping, even if her answer skill is mediocre.
Pros[]
- Unconditional, consistent damage output.
- Good stats.
- Fast 8 TTC delay; useful for timing-critical quests.
- Good hidden powers; increases the rate of fire panels increasing by a lot and buffs fire ally HP by 100.
Cons[]
- Delay lasts 2 turns versus the standard 3.
- Divided trimagic is not versatile at all and faces potential obsolescence.
- Enemies with counter standby will end her pretty quickly.
- Unimpressive damage.
- Really rare.
Verdict[]
It's not clear what place the divided trimagicians will have moving forward, and that makes Jennifer's future somewhat hazy. Don't discredit her just for that, though - she's still a competent option and that 8 TTC delay is nothing to scoff at.
Luka[]
Previously, I reviewed Irena under the water delayers with rather good impressions. Well, here's a fire Irena! With an 11% heal and fast 9 TTC delay, Luka is handily one of the best fire delayers - possibly even the best. Everything good about Irena applies here - Luka's heal/delay is both rare and potent, and her stats are more than high enough to survive harder quests. While 9 TTC might not seem like a big improvement over 10 TTC, every turn counts in difficult quests, where timing can be of utmost importance. Unfortunately, the bad bits about Irena also apply, as Luka is incredibly rare with only mediocre hidden powers. The good news is that if you have Luka, the hidden powers are quite excusable for her overall worth, and she can be expected to remain serviceable for a very long time.
Pros[]
- 11% heal was top tier upon introduction, and is still considered very strong.
- Good HP stat; quite tanky.
- Heal/delay is rare and opens up slots for dedicated hard hitters.
- With hidden powers, she boosts the HP of fire allies by 100.
- 9 turns to charge is above average for a 3-turn delay.
Cons[]
- So rare, she might as well be nonexistent. Don't expect to see her ever again.
- Hidden powers are rather weak.
Verdict[]
Luka is still one of the best fire delayers, even with those awful hidden powers. If you have her, absolutely keep her by all means.
Anima[]
Take Luka, hit her over the head with a nerf hammer, and you have Anima. Her 2-turn delay, 9% heal, and stats are all usable, and heal/delay is great as already noted. While her DC is rather high at 44 (42 with hidden powers) and her hidden powers aren't great, it's not immediately obvious what the downside is. As it turns out, Anima's downside is a pretty uncommon one - the expenditure in fully evolving her is very high. Anima requires the full evolution of all other free spirits from her event, including the 5* one, and is only viable once fully evolved. Some debate has emerged over whether the expenditure is justifiable, considering that there are permanent invokes of comparable or superior grade to Anima. Ultimately, farming is a matter of personal preference, which means that opting for Anima is also partly personal preference. If the heal/delay is important enough that it justifies the farming, by all means go for Anima, once her event reruns. However, keep in mind that there may be better options for you.
Pros[]
- 9% heal is still workable.
- Usable HP stat.
- Heal/delay is rare and opens slots for dedicated hard hitters.
- Decent hidden powers.
- Hidden powers increase the rate of fire panels and buff fire ally ATK and HP by 100 each.
- Free spirit from an event that will likely be rerun.
Cons[]
- Expense of evolution is very high and involves beating a 5* quest multiple times.
- 2-turn delay is sub-par.
- DC is too high for what she's worth.
Verdict[]
Anima is a mixed bag in many respects, but there's definitely a niche for her, and if you don't mind all the farming, she's pretty good to have.
Prospere[]
Prospere is similar to Anima, with some odd properties. Instead of Anima's 9% heal, he heals 15% after 3 consecutive correct answers, along with every correct answer after that. This is a notably large amount of healing, but it comes at a cost - if you mess up, you will have to restart the combo, which means you'll be deprived of healing for at least a couple of turns. Whether this is okay or not hinges heavily on your playstyle; elucidators such as Coco are good teammates for maintaining combo in a pinch. After accounting for that and his sub-par 2-turn delay, Prospere has yet another downside that's hard to ignore - his HP is rather bad at only 1754, thus excluding him from hard questing unless you invest in his hidden powers (which are also overall bad, even the 30% survive rate). Fortunately, he's a former permanent invoke, which means his availability is relatively high. If you don't mind plugging the hidden powers in, he's quite serviceable for the right kind of playstyle.
Pros[]
- 15% heal is top-tier by all means.
- Easy combo requirement.
- Heal/delay is both rare and potent, opening up space for dedicated hitters.
- Former permanent invoke; widely available.
- Workable HP stat with hidden powers.
- Ends at S, so easy to evolve.
Cons[]
- Losing combo means losing heal for a bit.
- Not currently available in the pool.
- Without any boosts, his HP is rather bad; absolutely needs hidden powers and/or team support.
- For that matter, his hidden powers are overall on the weak side with no team buffs.
- 2-turn delay is sub-par.
Verdict[]
Another mixed bag that won't appeal to everyone, but he has some perks that allow him to remain a relevant option. For players who don't mind the hidden power expenditure and combo requirements, he's quite good, and his availability is high.
Nina[]
Take Jennifer, turn her up a notch, and you get Nina. Or alternatively, take Summer!Riverta, turn her down a notch, add better defensive hidden powers, and you get Nina. Both of them work. Precedent from other spirits suggests that her multiplier is 1.8x, though I'm admittedly not sure. Nina has a split attack, which means that after her multiplier is in effect, her attack is divided into multiple smaller hits - in this case, 4 of them. This is similar to Jennifer's divided trimagic and is used mainly for the same purpose of cleanup, but is more efficient since it balances cleanly against targets with varying HP levels. Also unlike Jennifer, Nina has a combo requirement of 3. As you probably know by now, this means losing damage if you mess up. Thankfully, Nina's easy combo requirement makes the process rather painless. Other bits of bad news are her extreme rarity and the fact that 1.8x is nothing to write home about for a hitter. Split attackers also run a slightly elevated risk of hitting targets with counter standby (which will probably kill Nina), but that's generally going to be a non-issue. Hearing all this might sound pretty bad, but regardless of her flaws, Nina is both serviceable and consistent, so don't just write her off.
Pros[]
- Consistent and very efficient hitter.
- Easy combo requirement.
- With hidden powers, she boosts the HP of fire allies by 200 and increases the rate of fire panels appearing.
- Good stats; durable enough for hard quests.
Cons[]
- Awfully rare.
- Damage output efficient, but still unimpressive.
- Losing combo means losing firepower for a bit.
- Slight risk of an attack "spilling over" onto a target with counter standby, thus killing Nina.
Verdict[]
There are some noted flaws for Nina, but she's overall a fine option and her hidden powers are nice.
Petra[]
A fire Muse! I reviewed Muse previously, and much that can be said about her applies to Petra as well. Petra boosts the ATK of fire allies by 20% each, which is honestly not that impressive. With allies of similar attack, her effective self-boost is around +100%, or 2.0x (20% for each of the 5 team members, counting herself). This means that her damage output is below that of Greed, and notably below that of Riverta. Notably, Petra will outdamage both of them if you opt to run undivided trimagicians such as Coffy, although running those may not be your cup of tea and can be hard to get right. Petra is also a much more consistent hitter than both Greed and Riverta, since that boost is unconditional. Unfortunately, she's incredibly rare and may never come back again.
Pros[]
- Consistent and versatile damage output.
- Good stats; plenty for hard quests.
- Overall good hidden powers.
- With hidden powers, she boosts the ATK and HP of fire allies by 100 each and increases the rate of fire panels appearing.
Cons[]
- Super rare. Might come back if her event reruns, but don't count on it.
- Damage output won't wow you unless your deck is very aggressive.
Verdict[]
The damage output is a little disappointing, but as a team booster, Petra fits nicely into a lot of different decks, so she's quite worth keeping.
X!Rulbell[]
Xmas!Rulbell is another of the game's top-tier fire delayers. Similar to Luka, she loses the fast-charging delay in favor of more heal. She sports a 13% heal when not leader and an incredible 15% heal when leader, which is top-tier and puts her on par with Prospere's heal. Unlike Prospere, x!Rulbell has no combo requirement and her delay is a full 3 turns, which makes her objectively better. Her HP is also tanky at 2652, and it only goes higher with her excellent hidden powers. Apart from the extreme rarity of x!Rulbell - to the point that she'll probably never return to the game - there isn't anything wrong here, unless you really hate answer skill healing for some reason. Players who prefer a defensive playstyle will find a lot to like here, and even if that's not your cup of tea, she's pretty much a must-keep if you have her.
Pros[]
- 13/15% heal is top-tier.
- Great stats with high survivability.
- Heal/delay is very rare and powerful.
- No evolution requirements.
- Great hidden powers.
- With hidden powers, she boosts the ATK and HP of fire allies by 100 and 300 respectively, and increases the rate of fire panels appearing.
Cons[]
- Super rare with unlikely future availability.
Verdict[]
Awesome except for the extreme rarity. What else can I say here?