[DFFOO JP][Kain Lufenia+]EX recast Up char 2: Aphmau speeding up Cid EX spam under Noel BT
3One thing I tried with Noel is since he has recast up by 50% on his BT, I put Selphie and Aphmau alongside him to see if he can achieve 100% EX spam after using a EX. Unfortunately he cannot, so here is Aphmau with Cid with Noel aura instead.
According to Dissidia Compendium, Aphmau's recast buff on her LD goes up by 100% (compared to Selphie's 20%). While I don't know what the exact numbers of the speeds and how much the gauge needs, I know she makes Cid goes from 2 skills into EX to 1 skill into EX, effectively within 4 turns of Aphmau buff, Cid can spam 2 EXs with an additional 20% HP damage up while the Tactic switch buff is active, thus making it hitting harder. To take advantage of this, Cid's LD is used earlier than you normally would use it to simply refresh the buffs, so its follow-up can enjoy the boost as well.
While Noel's BT is active, combined with Cid's own C88 he gets a lot more BRV dmg cap, making his EX hit much harder than before.
Since this boss calls for range attacks to uptick the orb and Cid is the only ranged character here, using Aphmau's tactic switch also ensure the orb is fulfilled with more frequent Cid turns, and what follows is even more LD follow-up triggers.
Difficulties:
This set up is not without sacrifice however, since Cid's LD is heavily influenced by BRV gain reduction, his LD damage and battery will take a toll due to Aphmau's lack of BRV gain support. Aphmau's damage is not good, and even more so when the stage resist magic.
Tactic switch may work better with some characters like Noel, who has longer C88 duration than Tactic switch itself. Using C88 while the buff is on wastes its effectiveness, while choosing not to use it on Cid means his BRV cap is not at his max, so it is not 100% uptime for letting all the LDs and EXs enjoy the HP damage up.
Alternatives:
Onion Knight actually works well with Aphmau and Cid as well. While Cid does not exactly benefit from OK's ice enchant, he gets more C88 uses out of OK's LD free skill effect. OK's LD also manipulate turn order, so you can turn to Cid first, use C88 while Tactic switch is not on, then Aphmau puts on tactic switch to increase efficiency. Aphmau oddly enough can hit full BRV cap with OK enchant and his BT effect, it is surprising how much more damage she does once the magic resist is overridden.
Overall, Unlike Ashe, Aphmau's EX recast support is limited to one person but she can lock quite a large number of turns for said character to take advantage of the most potent buffs and BT effects before they are gone. It is not without some chores including buff management, C88 uses and proactive turn manipulation. Though not instant recharge, she still significantly cuts down the time for you to ready your target character's EX.
Hopefully there will be some upcoming potent EX rework characters who can abuse this effect to the fullest.