Buddy Rush: Nagne's Skill Guide (1.8.0)

Nagne is a character with great offense and very bad defense. All his Active Skills deal damage and his passive skills support them. His skills are interrelated and as such, some thought should be given before investing skill points.

Leaf Slash

With 'Leaf Slash', Nagne leaps up and attacks in a wide area around him. Damage and Range increases with skill level. This skill is good for attacking a large group of Oblins.

The skill takes some time to execute. Considering Nagne's weak defense, one should reconsider rushing into the middle of a group of Oblins to use 'Leaf Slash'.

'Leaf Slash' interrupts, sending Oblins attempting a skill or an attack straight back to the start of the animation. Some opponents are immune to interrupt, though.

QuickStep Slash

With 'QuickStep Slash', Nagne rushes forward to attack opponent after opponent. The damage is considerable. However, Nagne will not attack the same opponent twice with one use of this skill.

The number of targets Nagne attacks is 4 at skill levels 5 and 6. It is possible that he will attack 5 times at skill level 7 (unconfirmed).

'QuickStep Slash' can also be used defensively to avoid projectile attacks. In addition, Nagne gains a temporary buff that grants him +50% Evade.

Beware that the use of this skill potentially sends Nagne away from his buddies and into the company of the opposition.

Kiss of Death

With 'Kiss of Death', Nagne will rush forward to deliver a high-damage attack. If the target is dispatched, Nagne will deliver a one-liner, if he is not saying anything else like, say, the name of the skill he is using. If the target survives, it will be Stunned instead, provided it is not immune to Stun.

In order to have Nagne deliver his one-liner, use 'Kiss of Death' immediately after using another Active Skill. While Nagne is saying the name of the first skill, he will not call out 'Kiss of Death'. Then when (and if) Kiss of Death KOes the target, Nagne will say his one-liner and look cool.

Death No.5

With 'Death No.5', Nagne summons shadows of himself, who will then attack an opponent each. Each shadow will attack with a 'Kiss of Death', minus the one-liner.

'Death No.5' is quite flexible, able to distribute damage to a number of targets or concentrated on one tough opponent. In addition, the targets are also Stunned (if they are not immune).

The number of shadows summoned is based on the skill level. 3 shadows are summoned at skill level 2; 4 at skill level 5; 5 at skill level 7.

Sword Mastery

'Sword Mastery' increases Nagne's Hit Speed. This is useful to increase the opportunities to inflict Stun and also to activate the other Passive Skills below.

Pray for the enemy

'Pray for the enemy' allows Nagne to recover some HP and MP whenever he dispatches an opponent. This skill is not very effective at low level where the chance for it to activate and its effect are low.

I have not observed 'Pray for the enemy' activating with kills made with 'Death No.5'.

Striking a vital spot

'Striking a vital spot' increases the chance for Nagne to inflict Stun with 'Leaf Slash' and 'QuickStep Slash'. Note that 'Kiss of Death' and 'Death No.5' already guarantee Stuns.

Forgetful Nagne

Whenever Nagne scores a critical, there is a chance for 'Forgetful Nagne' to activate, refreshing all his Active Skills and his Ultimate Skill. This is one of The Almighty Skills since it allows Nagne to spam skills.

Obviously, 'Forgetful Nagne' is not very useful if Nagne does not have high Critical and Jacky is not in the team.

I have not seen 'Forgetful Nagne' refresh any skills with 'Death No. 5'.

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How Nagne's skills relate.

Nagne's skills all relate to each other. Increasing his Active Skills, Ultimate Skill and Sword Mastery will increase his damage-dealing potential. This makes it easier for him to defeat opponents, allowing 'Pray for the enemy' to activate, which supplies MP for his skills and HP to keep him alive.

Increasing the skill level of 'Sword Mastry' allows more chances for Nagne to perform a Critical and activate 'Forgetful Nagne'. Increasing the skill levels for 'Leaf Slash' and 'QuickStep Slash' allows Nagne to hit more targets, giving him more chances to strike a Critical.

'Striking a vital spot' increases the possibility to inflict Stun to 'Leaf Slash' and 'QuickStep Slash'.

With all these skills relating to each other, one possible method to distribute skill points would be to pick a favorite skill and invest in other skills based on that choice.

The other method is to invest in all skills at skill level 5, then put the remaining skill points in favorite skills.

Nagne is fun to use in SD-91's Raid. During the major wave of extras, Nagne's 'Leaf Slash' can hit many targets and Stun them (look for him in action in February's Screenies). Since he is hitting many targets, there is a good chance for 'Forgetful Nagne' to activate, allowing him to use 'Leaf Slash' again and again. And when he KOes the extras, 'Pray for the enemy' may activate to rejuvenate him.

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