DFFOO [JP[ C90 Aphmau + Papalymo with Sherlotta BT/FR (Kain fd)
26Aphmau got C90 and it is pretty great. Someone requested both Apmau and Papalymo, so although my original intent was to use her with Y'shtola and Ramza friend to boost Sherlotta's FR dmg, ultimately I decided to have a bit of fun with Papalymo and have a bit of an unconventional play around Sherlotta's BT/LD interaction.
For reference, Aphmau here is only normal HA, 0 FL, UW+2.
Just a note in case you are wondering, the Ashe CA is required for stopping the boss from preventing breaks due to the FT in order for Cecil's RF sphere to work.
So why Aphmau + Papalymo for Sherlotta BT/LD:
In a comp that only has Sherlotta BT/C88 as the source of BRV battery income for her piggy bank LD overhead, it takes quite a bit of skill spamming to acquire the requisite BRV before using her LD. It has its benefits, mostly for charging the FG in the process, but so does BTing early and have others charging her LD instead using her BT buff in the background.
Remember other than the Cait Sith LD effect, Sherlotta BT also possess the Steiner LD/Krile EX effect that provide BRV to the entire party every field turn. So combining this with the consecutive turn character that is Papalymo and turn manipulator that is Aphmau, Sherlotta's piggy bank would just charge itself while Papalymo throwing out dmg with her BT buff in the meantime.
Regarding Aphmau:
Just a quick reminder that Aphmau is not just a turn manipulator after her LD release. She also provide a big EX recharge buff and dmg reduction, while still retaining the ability to put on buffs to avoid ailments from the bosses. It is for that reason I chose Krile IW as the stage.
Aphmau's EX recharge buff is a bigger one than Selphie's, though it is ST only. You can still make some good use for this purpose even though it only lasts for 4 turns on consecutive turn characters such as Sherlotta and Papalymo. Sherlotta can readily charge her EX with S2/LD after using her EX while Papalymo would need a friendly gap turn in between most of the time with Tactics Switch on.
Aphmau + Papalymo + 1 is a pretty good combo, as regardless of whom you put Tactic Switch on, more turns means more Polyglot for Master Louisoix's finest pupil. Putting it on Papalymo means even more EX, turns and longevity. In turn, this builds up even more BRV for Sherlotta's LD.
Aphmau's skills have been greatly upgraded. Both of her BRV/HP+ now have 2 dumps and a lot more on her base skills. She starts with a longer duration of her buffs and since you can extend the buffs from S1/S2 with her C88, you can keep looping between the BRV/HP/EX/LD in shorter fights without ever touching her base skills. Though they still have 3-4 dumps and don't feel bad to use.
Her Ex hits the hardest, followed by her LD. She no longer hits for 1s nor does she have abysmal BRV refund now with her BRV hits thanks to her EX extension II. There is no new party utility, though she does have a personal buff update with increased BRV/HP dmg.
Overall, she gets more convenient to use with extended buff duration on QS and it does not feel bad to see her dmg. There are just many more interesting combo characters out there now you can pair her with, instead of just the infamous CidMau all the time. So just get creative with her.
More on Sherlotta FR:
Quick reminder on Sherlotta's cap:
I have mentioned around the official 6 warrior quest release that Sherlotta's cap remains unchanged. This is still true that her base HP dmg cap for the first hit of throw staff, is in fact, still 999,999 before the FR HP bonus multiplier. So if you are seeing the first few digits of the first big number to be quite similar to the bonus% (e.g. 451xxx for 451%), it means you have hit the base cap and your excess HP dmg up is just helping with second hit.
Sherlotta is both a non-attack skill spammer and someone who can fulfil both conditions of her FR at once with her throw staff. So it means you can opt for a Braska-esque playstyle - spam S1 to boost HP bonus forgoing any active dmg. You should be able to get around 75% from this (20% from condition 2 and 50% from FR enhancement 5 and 25).
Another way is to use her HP+ with a Cecil sphere, so it batteries the others and fulfil the 2nd condition as well. This should net you around 65% if you have fully invested in her.
In general, given how big the dmg throw staff provides, I would opt for throw staff + LD inside her BT. From my experience, very often than not her FR does not actually hit for full dmg. Throwing staffs seem to net you more dmg and % increase.