Licht/Strategy
(This page is for Licht strategy guide. For the standard Licht page, click here.)
Overview
Licht is a unit that does not stand out on his own, but truly shines as a support for units with strong charge skill (CS). Every single one of his base skills is related to CP boosting; however, his own CS has the underwhelming effect of reducing the enemy CP (30CP for SALV 1), so his self-boosting Artist serves his kit the least. In fact, it is preferable that Licht minimizes his own CP level since his main CP-boosting skills only activate when he attacks normally, and not when attacking with his CS. Besides this, he reliably bestows Vigor to buff ally damage. One nice part of incorporating Licht in your team is that he necessitates the careful consideration of which teammates would synergize best with him, making teambuilding more challenging but also more fun (and potentially more rewarding).
CP Battery
To understand Licht's utility, quantifying his CP boosts and comparing this to the boosts from other buffs is necessary. Rev boosts CP by at least 8-16 per turn, with a total of at least 24-42 over 3 turns; Encouragement boosts CP by at least 10-20 at the end of the turn; Ardor boosts CP by at least 5-10 per turn, with a total of at least 10-20 over 2 turns; and Envy boosts CP by at least 5-10 per turn, with a total of at least 15-30 over 3 turns. In comparison, Licht has several opportunities to boost ally CP in a single turn, as his skills activate once per enemy hit.
| Name of skill | Applicable rarity/variant (☆) | Activation chance (% at SLV1, 100) | Effect (SLV100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artist | 3, 5 | 50, 100 | 16-19CP (mode = 18CP) to self |
| Ruler | 3, 5 | 45, 90 | 12-14CP (mode = 13CP) to allies within two horizontal and/or vertical total squares away |
| Agitator | 3, 4 (Valentine), 5 | 25, 50 | 14-16CP (mode = 15CP) to ally 1 square ahead |
| Frenzy Conductor | 5 | 35, 70 | 16-19CP (mode = 17CP) and Vigor to self and allies within two squares ahead |
| Spreader of Lunacy | 3, 4 (Valentine) | 20, 40 | 14-?CP (mode = ?) and Vigor to self and adjacent allies |
| (Attack CP bonus) | 5 | 100, 100 | 5-7 (mode = 5) to self |
Three relevant team formations can be used to quantify the gain in CP, listed below (assumes each skill succeeds in activating). These team formations assume the use of 5☆ Licht, but the positioning and scaling CP gains should roughly apply to other variants as well
| Ally CP boost and attack formation |
|---|
| Enemy |
| Enemy |
| Ally |
| Licht
|
Ally CP boost range: [14*2 + 16*2, 16*2 + 19*2] = [60, 70]
Expected ally CP boost: 15*2 + 17*2 = 64
Licht CP boost range: [16*2 + 5*2, 19*2 + 7*2] = [42, 52]
Expected Licht CP boost: 17*2 + 5*2 = 44
| Licht CP boost formation
|
|---|
| Enemy |
| Enemy |
| Enemy |
| Licht
|
Licht CP boost range: [16*3 + 5*3, 19*3 + 7*3] = [63, 78]
Expected Licht CP boost: 17*3 + 5*3 = 66
| Nuke formation |
|---|
| Enemy |
| Ally |
| Ally |
| Licht
|
Proximal ally boost range: [14 + 16, 16 + 19] = [30, 35]
Expected proximal ally CP boost: 15 + 17 = 32
Distal ally boost range: [16, 19]
Expected distal ally CP boost: 17
Licht CP boost range: [16 + 5, 19 + 7] = [21, 26]
Expected Licht CP boost: 17 + 5 = 22
In theory, his CP boosting potential can be bolstered even further with a Barrage buff bestowed by 
Mobster's 連携する者 skill or 
Volos's Sprouter skill, and enable consecutive CS activations from the same boosted ally. In practise, this may not be very rewarding because of (1) movement constraints, where coordinating 3 units in a column dynamically forces the Move action on the center unit; and (2) it necessitates Licht's team order number is larger to attack after the charge-attacking ally (Licht cannot pre-emptively CP boost a fully charged ally, and can only charge after they use their CS), where Licht cannot buff the charge-attacking unit with Vigor in the same turn before they attack; and (3) Licht may not be able to activate his skills if the enemies are KOd before he strikes them (they only activate on hitting enemies with non-zero HP), and so KOing opponents with the first hit of a Barrage-boosted attack would prevent the second round of CP boosting.
Damage buffer
Besides Licht's CP boosting potential, the one buff Vigor he bestows is one of the best in the game for its longevity (3 turns). This, along with the fact that it activates when attacking rather than when moving, makes stacking buffs much easier (more on this later). Its activation chance isn't too amazing in his 3☆ version (Spreader of Lunacy 40% at SLV100), but is better in his 5☆ version (Frenzy Conductor 70% at SLV100).
Highlights
Role: CP Battery
Pros
+ Extremely good CP generation for both self and allies
+ Reliable damage due decent base damage, skills that self-bestow Vigor, and only having reduced damage output to 
VALIANT
+ Reliable damage buffer due to skills with potentially multiple activation chances that bestow Vigor to allies
+ Does not rely on moves that activate on move to boost ally CP
+ Reliable activation chance of Frenzy Conductor in 5☆ Licht
Cons
- Underwhelming CS debuff effect
- Lack of defense buffing and debuffing skills
- Unreliable activation chance in Agitator and Spreader of Lunacy in 3☆ Licht
- Highly positionally reliant
Team Synergy
Characters with good self-CP increase: Characters who can boost their own CP quickly can make up for the difference that Licht's CP boost misses to fill the charge gauge quickly.
Characters with attack buffs: Vigor's main strength is its longevity, which allows for other attacks to be stacked with it. Ardor is a perfect match because of its ability to increase both damage output and CP over two turns. Damage buffs that are bestowed at the start of phases are especially quite synergistic because of Licht's Ruler skill (boosts ally CP at the beginning of phase), which can ensure that the first move of the boosted unit would be a boosted charge strike.
Characters with excellent CS effects: When Licht is used properly, the effects associated with CAs become as important if not more important to micromanage as base skills, so picking a unit with good effects can lead to the guaranteed activation of those skills several times in a match.
Characters with infinite CS range: Being able to affect all enemies with a constant stream of CS debuffs regardless of positioning can enable other certain strategies reliant on stalling (e.g. healing and CP building).
All of the above: There is a particular strategy that can work only if the above situations are met that (with some luck) breaks the game. This is elaborated in the Teambuilding Options section.
Star Level Differences
All of Licht's variants have both the necessary skills required for both CP building and damage buffing: Agitator, Spreader of Lunacy, and Frenzy Conductor. The 3 and 5☆ versions essentially only have these strategies, though, where the former is less positionally reliant but the latter is more reliable in skill activation.
Seed Usage
Because of Licht's respectable damage output, investing ATK seeds in him is a good choice, although Licht reliably KOing enemies makes repeated attack-dependent skill activations harder (it's probably better to KO enemies as soon as possible before they can counter, though). Investing HP seeds is an okay decision, as Licht's demise often means the demise of the team that was carefully built around Licht. Increasing the reliability of Licht's skill activation for CP boosting is essential, so he would best benefit from Skill seeds. LV seeds are a good investment for the same reason as HP and ATK seeds are.
Checks and Counters
Evasion and other defense buff bestowers
Evasion (and to a lesser extent other defense buffs) invalidates a successful board-wide nuke (see Teambuilding Options: Nuclear Clock), and leads to wasting the next nuke in the same board. Additionally, Licht works best when boosting allies and simultaneously KOing all enemies in range (perhaps with the final blow from nearby positioned allies), so as to prevent a counterattack from enemies with 
AETHER, some other damage boost, or otherwise some skill-sealing skill. Defense buffs prevent a decisive KO and let such situations arise.
CP reducers and CS blockers
Enemy skills that reduce the CP of allies by even a bit prevent the CP meter from ever completely filling, thus preventing CAs from ever happening. Licht's utility almost exclusively depends on CP boosting and CS activation, so even minor CP debuffs severely guts him. Skill sealers are often not a threat to Licht due to his ability to stay out of range, but he is similarly rendered near-useless if debuffed by either Bind or Skill seal.
VALIANT-type enemies
For the above two counters, 
NETHER-resistant VALIANT enemies are especially problematic for Licht. The three available VALIANT units at the time of writing (
Seth, 
Hogen, and 
Horkeu Kamui) also have a mixture of defense buffs and skill sealing debuffs.
Formation disruptors
After moving for your turn, Licht should ideally always be directly behind an ally, and should have an enemy in range to attack. Skills that prevent movement limits being able to dynamically adjust formation on the fly, and thus obstructs Licht from being in his ideal position. Skills that push him away or sideways may leave him out of range, possibly forcing suboptimal movements to reposition. Skills that pull him forward generally don't affect him, since he should be behind someone in most cases anyway (and thus stay neatly out of range for a followup from blow- and slash-type enemies).
Teambuilding Options
This section consists of user-submitted builds that may not necessarily be viable for high level quests.
Nuclear Clock
| Team Details (at least 48 cost) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anyone | Anyone (or no one) | Anyone (or no one) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following assumes Licht, 
Gyumao, and 
Typhon are all LV70, SLV100, SALV1, and unseeded.
The ordering of the units is critical, as it is important to have Gyumao next to Licht turn 1 in order to optimize the next move for CP boosting. Licht would ideally go first, as explained in the end of section Overview: CP Battery describing Licht's interaction with Barrage. Licht can somewhat reliably boost ≥30CP each turn for one unit in a particular position (Licht in range to attack one enemy, with CP-boosted ally directly on square up), and can even potentially boost ≥60CP for one unit in the Ally CP boost and attack formation (see Overview).
This team specializes in clearing the board completely for every turn (hence the name Nuclear Clock), beginning with phase 2. The board clearers are 2 Gyumao (or 1 Gyumao and 1 Typhon), which will alternate in turns when using their infinite-range charge specials. Gyumao works best in boards 5 squares in length, in order to maximize the potential amount of units he can hit with his wide slash range and maximize his CP gain (he gains ~9CP for every OHP enemy hit, ~4CP for >0HP enemy hit). Gyumao also gains ≥20CP for every time he moves because of Hot-Blooded Mystical Demon. This coupled with ≥12CP Licht's Ruler makes it possible for you to time Gyumao's final CP boost that would fill his meter to 100, so that it coincides with the beginning of the next phase. Additionally, Typhon's Beach Hunter skill self-bestows ≥20CP, and combined with Licht's Ruler ability (and ignoring Ardor or other CP boosting buffs on Typhon), Typhon will have his CS ready for the next phase if he has at least 70CP. SLV100 Ardor provides an additional ≥10CP every turn for two turns.
As infinite range has a severe damage multiplier penalty, the key to restoring its lethality is stacking multiple buffs. Gyumao deals 1617 base damage per square with his CS, accounting for both CS multiplier bonus (4×) and all range multiplier penalty (0.1×). Similarly, Typhon's base CS damage per square is 2180. While Gyumao can self-bestow Ardor during his CA, the buff would likely be only SLV1 (dependent on SALV); thus, it is ideal to bestow a SLV100 Ardor with your other Support Gyumao by Hot-Blooded Mystical Demon, or bestow SLV100 Concentration with your Support Typhon by Band Bander. Typhon only has one CP self-boosting skill (on phase start), but his magic range would enable him to gain more CP bonus from attacking further-to-reach enemies. Typhon's CS should be boosted with SLV100 Ardor through Gyumao. Coupled with SLV100 Vigor from Licht, Gyumao would have three buffs total at the beginning of the next phase (SLV100 Vigor, Ardor/Concentration, and Critical+ from Potter's Wheel Turner, for 1617×2.4×(2.4 or 2.2)×5 = 46567 or 42689 damage), and Typhon would have two buffs (Vigor and Ardor on self for 2180×2.4×2.4 = 12557 damage). In either case, both should supply enough damage for a board clear for enemies at least up to level 50 (e.g. Elite dailies). Gyumao can continue gaining CP quickly because his CS effects include self-applying Rev. Board wipes should be possible to keep up for at least three consecutive phases, before Licht gains enough CP for his own charge strike (and thus is unable to attack regularly to boost ally CP again).
In the case that a board-wipe fails, stalling strategies becomes an immediate option (if another board-wiping CS is not readied), as Gyumao's CS effects include applying Fear and blow back one square, and Typhon applies Paralysis and blow back one square. This extra stalling period can be used to position yourself up for a final blow that would CP-boost enough for the next board-wiping CA. It might be a good period of time too to willingly exhaust Licht's CA, to enable him to boost CP again.
While this team trivializes dailies and some challenge quests, keep in mind that it is still heavily dependent on the chance of skill activation.