Hello everyone and welcome to my 279th analysis, this time featuring Santerion.
Overview: So, the lovely, lovely people over at SocialPoint thought, "Well, we have this trend of continuously raising the average power level of the metagame. We introduced Mega Taunt, Dodge Area and Pierce, all status effects that changed the very core of this game. It's time that we introduced some new overpowered thing to raise the stakes. What do we do this time?" and then this happened.
"Mega Taunt."
"Uh-huh"
"As a Trait."
"mmhm"
"Together with Artifact..."
"I'm listening"
"...on a Forsaken monster."
(SP headquarters blows up)
Builds:
Monsters that have access to Group 4 skills will have a slightly different build path. I will list the most viable builds for each Rank since some moves in Group 4 are pivotal to some sets' success. The monster's role will likely remain the same, however, so this won't be exhaustingly long as I won't repeat the same things.
Rank 0
Moves:
-Neural Network Carols
-Markov's Countdown Chain
-Elf Unit Logistics/Sweater's Pattern Recognition
-Toy Boltzmann Machine
Runes: 3 Life
Mutant Rune options: Life&Speed, Life&Stamina
Relics: Banners and Armors
Build Explanation:
Neural Network Carols is a useful move to clean enemy buffs while reducing damage output through Daze, which helps a Mega Taunter like Santerion greatly. Markov's Workshop Chain is good in situations where you want to remove just one monster's buffs or remove a Dodge Area monster's buffs - either way, the target gets one random debuff and one random Torture effect applied to it, which is good for annoying them. The third slot goes to an AOE Torture move: Elf Unit Logistics is an AOE Nanovirus, which is reliable and blocks enemy buffs. Sweater Pattern Recognition offers a 35% heal to your team, but the Tortures it applies is random. Lastly, Toy Boltzmann Machine rids Santerion of all of his debuffs without losing momentum, a perfect skill for a Mega Taunter.
3 Life is a standard on tanks. The Mutations can be Speed to prevent enemies from running laps around you, or Stamina to increase the time it takes for Santerion to recharge.
Rank 1: Santerion learns "Behavior Christmas Tree" at this level, a move that rids his team from debuffs while giving them Life and Stamina Regeneration. His Trait also evolves to turn the SC: Mega Taunt into a Mega Taunt Trait.
Moves:
-Neural Network Carols
-Markov's Countdown Chain/Behavior Christmas Tree
-Jingle Bell Curves/Behavior Christmas Tree
-Toy Boltzmann Machine
Runes and Mutant Runes are the same as given above.
Build Explanation:
Behavior Christmas Tree gives Santerion another way to remove debuffs from himself, which becomes very valuable past this point. Choose between the three of Markov's Countdown Chain, Behavior Christmas Tree and Jingle Bell Curves for the second and third slots: Markov's Countdown Chain is as useful as ever, but its biggest use comes from being able to remove the buffs of Dodge Area monsters, which may be armed with Pierce or Taunt Hater to jeopardize Santerion's plan. Jingle Bell Curves is a massive heal on Santerion to make him stay alive.
The Trait Evolution makes Santerion the first ever monster with Mega Taunt as a Trait, and honestly, I cannot possibly imagine what SP was thinking when they said "This is okay". Anyhow, this completely and utterly counters any strategy that doesn't involve Trait Disable or Pierce, or some way to conveniently kill Santerion through damage alone. Since he can technically take all attacks indefinitely, Santerion's moveset changes to a purely survival-oriented build that focuses solely on keeping his Trait intact, foiling the plans of those who can get past his Trait Mega Taunt and staying alive.
Rank 2: Santerion learns "Ho-Ho-Ho.exe" at this level, an unresisted Base 45 AOE that heals all allies for 50%.
Moves:
-Neural Network Carols
-Markov's Countdown Chain/Behavior Christmas Tree
-Jingle Bell Curves/Ho-Ho-Ho.exe/Behavior Christmas Tree
-Toy Boltzmann Machine
Runes and Mutant Runes are the same as given above.
Build Explanation:
Ho-Ho-Ho.exe can replace Jingle Bell Curves if you're willing to sacrifice some healing and an AOE random debuff for direct AOE damage and a heal for the team. It can work in case your enemy has Pierce to patch up your ally that got hit.
Rank 3: Santerion learns "Gifting Algorithm" at this level, a move that gives all enemies a random debuff and all allies a random buff, in addition to giving Santerion an extra turn. His Trait also evolves to replace Hardened with Artifact.
This move is useless since totally random buffs and debuffs tend to be bad.
Artifact makes Santerion immune to Tortures, allowing him to live much longer. However, be warned as buffs, including from Behavior Christmas Tree after you get Trait Disabled (the buff removal occurs before anything else), will fail to land on him past this point.
**Rank 4: Santerion learns "Bernoulli Coal Distribution" at this level, a Base 70 move that applies 2 Torture effects to all enemies. His Trait also evolves to include a SC: Damage Reduction. **
Moves:
-Neural Network Carols
-Markov's Countdown Chain/Bernoulli Coal Distribution/Behavior Christmas Tree
-Jingle Bell Curves/Ho-Ho-Ho.exe/Behavior Christmas Tree
-Toy Boltzmann Machine
Runes and Mutant Runes are the same as given above.
Build Explanation:
Bernoulli Coal Distribution offers a lot of offensive pressure, and you can run it over Markov's Countdown Chain if you are willing to sacrifice your single target buff removal for said offensive pressure. It's also Santerion's only move that's capable of defeating a Dodge Area monster one on one (Markov's Countdown Chain can technically do it, but you'd rely on the random negative effect being a Torture for quite a few uses, so it's nearly impossible).
This is a useful SC since without Trait Disable, direct damage is the only way to bring down Santerion, and this can slow that down, especially when combined with the Daze from Neural Network Carols.
Teammate Options: Santerion functions like a regular tank at Rank 0, but past that, you can create a team that focuses on keeping Santerion and his Trait alive to do whatever you want while Santerion keeps taking attacks - such a team would have healing effects and especially status control to beat Pierce and Trait Disable. Past Rank 3, normal SCs can't aid him, so you can pair him up with allies that give their team Traits. Thundeer and Warmaster Zahra are prime candidates because they give all allies, including Santerion, a 50% Life increase, and Zahra can remove debuffs whereas Thundeer is a denier with great utility that can help Santerion, with tools like buff removal and Trait Disable. For more Teammate options, check out this article.
Countering Santerion: Look to Pierce or Trait Disable for this end. Pierce can simply ignore Santerion's Mega Taunt whereas Trait Disable gets rid of Mega Taunt , allowing your team an opening to strike vulnerable targets. Any turn transferring Anticipation monster, like Warmasters Necromancer and Ragnarok, can prevent Santerion from cleaning Trait Disable with Toy Boltzmann Machine, since they can pass the turn to an ally who has Trait Disable or Pierce to foil Santerion again. Draghar and Crabbydroid can remove Mega Taunt and deny Santerion at the same, forcing an ally to clean the debuff in his stead. Ugluk can use Your Last Taunt or Ancestors Bite to massively damage and even finish Santerion off.For more Counter options, check out this article.
