If you have been following our weekly articles this should come as no surprise that my final Awakening guide will be on Support type heroes. If not, I recommend reading on the awakening system here (Exos Heroes: Create powerful heroes and unique team compositions with Hero Awakening system). That said, this guide will focus on the top support types that should be prioritized for awakening.

As most of you have likely awakened your defense/attack/chaos types already, getting started on your support types sooner should be a priority. Support types, although frontline units like Defense types, typically have higher base HP and provide solid healing or utility to your team that is extremely important in all content. These range from units who have Burst healing to provide massive heals based on mana, to units that can revive or provide status debuffs that hinder an enemy team.

There are a few items to consider before making the jump to awakening due to the high level resources required. Given the increasing popularity of Signature Force and Core Memory sharing, picking units with fatecores and a team that revolves around a nation is typically a safe option and will give you a specific direction to take when awakening. Additional tips that players should take into account prior to awakening your attack units:

1. Complete Chapter 11 to unlock the final stages in the Solar and Lunar Sanctums to farm materials to craft Ranked gear.
   
   
2. A full 6 flame guard stone set is highly recommended for awakening due to the HP bonus and damage reduction. A 2 machine set/4 flame guard stone set is viable for final hit types to bypass provoke tanks, but not necessary with Signature Force level 1 upgrade.  
   
   
3. If you do not own enough fated level ranked armor to equip 2 or pieces on a single unit, do not awaken more than 1 unit at a time. Having a single guardstone on a unit makes it too vulnerable to breaks which will render your damage dealer useless in PVP and PVE content.
   
   
4. Prioritizing heroes with fatecores as the stat and skill enhancements from fatecores added to the awakening bonus can make a rare hero as good or better than a fated hero. 
   
   
5. Prioritize Generals (Bathory/Rachel/Jinai/Shufraken/Garff/Dorka) if you have them, and build a nation team around the General’s nation.

Considering the notes above, here are 5 support type heroes I recommend awakening, in no particular order as no two accounts are the same:

1. Iris

• Attribute — Light
• Guard Stone Set Recommendation — 6 Flame
• Nation — North von Frosty 
• Fatecore — Gold, Summer Festa Theme

Iris is a top choice for Awakening as she is a main story character so she is available to all players. In addition, she currently has one of the strongest fatecores available in the game which is also available for recruitment via the String of Creation banners. Her fatecore passive being the only hard counter to the First Guardian fatecores, Iris is definitely a meta-defining unit that all players should build early to help their account progression. In her standard form, Iris is a rare grade hero with the Cleanse passive.

As a rare grade, you can Unleash Potential to upgrade her skills and increase her combat power and base states ascending her to the level of a legendary/fated hero. While not having the ability to heal, her strength is in her utility as a cleanser that can also generate mana to her allies while also having the ability to be a single target nuker. Like Zeon, she is a strong hero that has no equal in her utility in both PVE and PVP content. If you only have the resources to Awaken a single support type, I recommend Iris and focus your extra Xes in recruiting her fatecore through the String of Creation.    

2. Kaya

• Attribute — Nature
• Guard Stone Set Recommendation — 6 Flame
• Nation — Estoris Republic
• Fatecore — None

Kaya is another rare grade hero that all players can obtain through the Door of Creation or any other recruitment process the game has to offer. She is Support type healer with the First Aid passive. Similar to Iris, she can be enhanced further with Unleash Potential which will significantly improve her abilities and strength as a frontline healer.

Kaya is unique as she is the only healer type with no damage abilities as both active skills provide only healing and cleansing. While this may seem like a detriment, she is a very good option to utilize against First Guardian fatecores due to the fact that she will not attack allowing you to skip a turn and lower the timer on their Dragon Scale shield.

In addition, she will not trigger counters and can constantly heal your team which is needed in most PVE content. Although she does not yet have a fatecore, given her popularity among the community since the games release, she will likely have one eventually. That said, awakening Kaya is future proof for all players and will not disappoint.  

3. Lepin

• Attribute — Frost
• Guard Stone Set Recommendation — 6 Flame
• Nation — North von Frosty
• Fatecore — Black, Awakening Theme

The legendary grade hero Lepin has made this list given her strength as a healer. Lepin is one of the best support types in the game as she has an active skill that deals single target damage, heals over time, and cleanses. She also has an active skill that heals all allies and revives any dead allies. In addition, she cleanses debuffs with both skills making her a strong primary healer for anyone to build. While her normal form is strong, Lepin also has a recently revamped black fatecore that is currently one of the best support fatecores in the game.

The Fairy Queen of Protection fatecore is available via the String of Creation so she is available to all players. Lepin’s fatecore retains her strength as a healer/reviver, but improves upon her skills by also resetting an allies’ turn and also providing damage immunity for a turn upon reviving dead allies. This makes her incredibly strong in the PVP setting especially with the current meta being massive AOE damage to wipe enemy teams. Lepin is one hero that should not be ignored if you were lucky enough to recruit her and her fatecore.  

4. Anastasia

• Attribute — Frost
• Guard Stone Set Recommendation — 6 Flame
• Nation — North von Frosty
• Fatecore — Black, First Guardian Theme

One of the antagonists of the story, Anastasia is a fated level hero with a skill set similar to Iris and a strong First Guardian fatecore. Since the game’s release, Anastasia was praised as one of the fated hero’s all players should recruit given her healing ability and strong damage dealing capability.

As a first aid Support type, her active skill 1 is a Burst type AOE healing skill which allows her to provide massive healing as her mana increases, and her active skill 2 ability is a strong single target nuke with a very high 525% multiplier. While these skills alone make her a very strong pick on the frontline for any team composition, she can become an even greater threat if you equip her First Guardian fatecore.

As most already know, the First Guardian passive provides great sustainment to allies in the same line while also having the ability to whittle down enemies with the wrath counters. That said, if you were able to recruit her early in your account, do not hesitate in awakening her while also making an attempt for her fatecore via the String of Creation when you have the spare Xes.    

5. Ramge

• Attribute — Dark
• Guard Stone Set Recommendation — 6 Flame
• Nation — North von Frosty
• Fatecore — Black, First Guardian Theme and Black, Awakening Theme

Last on this list is the mid-tier fated hero Ramge. As a damage Support type, Ramge has the unique ability to apply heal block to enemies which cannot be cleansed or removed. He is also one of the few heroes in the game with two fatecores. In addition to his abilities, his synergy with Shufraken and a North von Frosty Signature Force team makes him a strong option to prioritize for awakening if you recruited him early in your progression.

While his damage multipliers may seem low, Ramge can deal some very good damage with Signature Force elemental damage unlocked; add his additional self harm damage when hitting targets afflicted with Fear of the Abyss, Ramge can essentially take a spot as one of your main damage dealers. He has the second highest base HP in the game giving him some sustainability in the frontline. This is only further enhanced if you equip his Awakening or First Guardian fatecores.

Although he really only shines when using a North von Frosty national team paired with Shufraken, if he is one of your only fated level heroes, I highly recommend building a North von Frosty team around him and focus on recruiting Shufraken to have a strong team for all content in game.