Gold fatecore Shell: Artist of Death Shell review

*Shell is a Machine/Support/Magic Damage Type Hero. This is her first gold level Fatecore release.*

“Shell in the parallel world of a new timeline. She created art on the battlefield of evil rather than justice, resentment rather than goals. As a result, she grew up eating away countless emotions, establishing herself as a renowned artist with fame actress the whole continent.”

The latest gold fatecore release has finally arrived and given to the fated hero Shell. Like all previous gold fatecores, the expectation is there for Shell to now have an impact on the meta. So there is no question as to if you should pull for her; the answer is you should always make an attempt for a gold fatecore if you have the resources available.

That said, as a second-tier fated hero, Shell has always been underwhelming as a frontline support unit. Due to her lack of fatecore and skill dependence on Jinai, Shell has been collecting dust in storage given the strong presence of other frontline supports such as FC Iris, FC Lepin, or FC Anastasia. Now with her new shiny fatecore, Shell has become a very strong contender as a top tier support unit given the upgrades to her skill set. Let's take a look at what makes her so strong.

Fatecore enhancement: Maximum base stat bonus

As you can see above, the overall stat bonus she receives from her fatecore enhancements is significant. Although it is a very expensive and resource-hungry task to fatecore enhance to level 30, the added bonus to her HP is very large which supports her sustainability which is greatly needed given her slow base speed. In addition, due to the recent update to Unleash Potential, her stats and skills can be enhanced further with the proper investment of Ultimate Orbs. In addition, you can recruit copies of her via String of Creation or Scout Recruitment to transcend her to a max level of 100.

New passive skill and upgraded active skills from Gold Fatecore

Let’s review “Artist of Death” Shell’s unique skill set provided by her new gold fatecore:

*Fatecore Shell is a strong support type with the ability to counter First Guardian fatecores if paired with Jinai*

Passive — Cleanse 3

Cleanses damage over time and debuff effects from allies and Gain Mana (1 mana).
Gain Mana (1 mana) additionally if Health of target is at 20% or less when triggered.
Gain Mana (1 mana) if Health of target is at 70% or more when triggered.

Dimension Leap

[Mark] Increases Dodge for self by 40 and Attack by 1000 when attacked. All Dimension Leap mark on self are removed after a successful Dodge (stacks up to 4 times).

Night Carnival

[Over Time Effect] Increases Critical Hit of all allies by 100%.

Puppet Show

[Mark] Afflicts a Charmed enemy with the Puppet Show mark.
[Debuff] If an enemy marked with Puppet Show dies, reduces Block of all enemies by 25% (stacks up to 4 times).

Shell’s strength now comes from her new passive skills and the upgrades to her active skills. The new fatecore theme introduced with Shell is known as Blooming Someday. As with every fatecore theme, there is a unique skill passive that is exclusive to the theme; for Blooming Someday it’s the skill Dimension Leap. As noted above, this skill increases Dodge by 40 and Attack by 1000 when the hero is attacked, stackable up to 4 times. Although the mark is removed when the hero eventually dodges, this is a significant bonus to Shell as her base speed is on the lower end and she needs to survive the initial round of damage from opposing teams.

In addition, she receives the Night Carnival and Puppet Show passive skills. Night Carnival is fairly straightforward as it provides all allies with a 100% increase in critical hit, which is great for the current Signature Force burst damage meta. Puppet Show requires the Charm mark to activate requiring a team with Jinai as she is the only one that can apply the Charm mark. Although it is nice to decrease the block of all enemies, it’s not a game changing passive skill as Signature Force damage is meta and that cannot be blocked.

Active 1 — Last Chapter (2 Mana)

All] Deals 127% damage to all enemies.
[Debuff] Decreases Attack of all enemies afflicted with Charm by 50% when the attack hits.
[Special] If any of the targets are already Charmed, removes barrier from all Charmed targets and afflicts Nullify Barrier for 10 turns.
[Hallucinate] Reduces Hit by 30 for 4 turn(s) by afflicting the target with Hallucinate mark if the target is Charmed.

Similar to Puppet Show, her active skill 1 also require Charm applied on the target to activate. However, this skill is game changing when it activates as it removes barriers and prevents an enemy from forming barriers for 10 turns. This is identical to FC Iris’ Wet Fog skill which is a direct counter to the First Guardian passive skill, allowing her to potentially replace FC Iris as a frontline support. It does require Jinai to activate, which forces a specific team composition to fully utilize Jinai as well.

Active 2 — Curtain Call (2 Mana)

[Single] Increases Attack of 1 ally except the caster by 25% of own Attack for 7 turn(s).
[Remove] Removes all status effects from the target.
[Gain Mana) Target Gains Mana (3 mana).
[Special] Grants Status Effect Immunity (1 time) to the target and resets the target’s turn (resets once per round).

This skill is another huge boost to FC Shell’s position as a top tier support. As she will typically be the last to move on your team due to her low base speed, you can potentially use this skill in the first round on burst units like Rera, Adams, Bathory, etc. to reset their turn and set them up for a potential cleave at the end of the first round. This is a great skill with a low mana requirement that compliments Signature Force damage; this can be a great skill to use with an Estoris Republic team with FC Jinai and FC Deva in the backline.

Synergy with Jinai

*Fatecore Shell can only reach her full potential as a top tier support unit when paired with Jinai to synergize with her Charm mark.*

As seen in her original skillset, the dependence on Charm is still present with FC Shell. This means she will be a much stronger frontline option if she is in a team with Jinai. Shell is part of the Estoris Republic nation, which means she can be enhanced further if you upgrade the Signature Force level of that nation. As she is one of the 3 main heroes (Jinai/Jinn/Shell) of that nation, she does receive a huge state increase if you choose to focus on leveling the Estoris Republic Signature Force. Although not ideal for some players, this does force a team composition of heroes from the Estoris Republic. However, given the strength of the heroes from that nation and the ability to increase Signature Force to tier 2, you could potentially destroy any meta teams if fully upgraded.

The verdict

Due to the update to her passive, Shell has now moved from storage guardian to top tier support! Although she still requires Jinai for her true potential, she is still a viable option as a stand alone support hero due to the Night Carnival passive skill and her active 2 skill which both provides the best setup for a potential burst damage cleave. As they did extend her current banner, if you have a FC Jinai and FC Deva, you may want to try to pull her if you have the Xes available. If not, she is a gold fatecore, so she is definitely worth the investment once she becomes available in the String of Creation.