ENGAGE TRAIN NEVER STOPS - 2024 Spring Banner Review

I thought it's already over, but no! We got 3 Engage banners in a row, and for a pure Engage collector like myself, my orb wallet has been shattered like a fallen star. Given that an Emblem unit is expected to come out at the end of this month, I'm getting overwhelmed. 

Anyway, it's time to dive into this year's Spring banner and see what we get.

Spring Framme

One of the Divine Dragon's stewards hops into the fray, with "Hippity-Hop Axe" as her preferred weapon. It has Slaying, and it grants her allies Omni +4 and a HP-based damage reduction. If the unit has full HP at the start of combat, the percentage is equal to that value, otherwise, it will be half the number of HP (up to 60%). And after the DR effect has triggered, unit deals 1 damage after combat. It seems confusing at first, because it doesn't explicitly explain whose HP is it, but I guess it could be Framme herself, and/or her allies who are granted that effect.

Also, she can restore 7 HP to her allies within 2 spaces at the start of turn like Reyson does.

If Framme is within 3 spaces of her ally, she grants herself +14 at max to all stats, and it basically works like a Finish effect. She has built-in Tempo as well. For maths shenanigans, this is the first time we've seen a Z variable in a weapon. Great! What's next then? Powers, roots etc. This is also stackable damage reduction, which also depends on Framme's HP, but on first & brave hits.

She comes with another type of Boost skill in the form of "Firestorm Boost". With so much DR-piercing & pre-combat damage going on, I don't think she can do well as a support & frontliner, even on release.

Spring Sylvain

Yes, another Three Houses unit on a spring banner robbing other characters' spot. Sylvain comes with Slaying and grants himself an extra action when using Rally, making him a decent candidate for Ruse 4. Additionally, he can boost Specials to himself for 1 turn, and he can also make a guaranteed follow-up attack, grant 40% brave DR, anti guard and unconditional brave hits.

His weapon kit looks solid for a melee nuke, but it makes him vulnerable to Null-Follow Up which is very common in the meta. However, his support capabilities are great, especially for being a cav as he can initiate his assist, and attack at the same time within a larger range. He also comes with a Tier 4 version of Near Trace which is nice.

Spring Mirabilis

First of all, I think Mirabilis has been on a rough spot when it comes to alts. She's not an awakened unit like the rest of the fairies in the previous Tempest Trials. But now she's donned a spring outfit, fans are very excited and for them, she's steals the show.

Sadly, she's a demote, but she has another preferred refresh skill that grants Atk +6 and Bonus Doubler to her target, and that she inflicts penalties on Atk and Panic to her foes. Her weapon 'Daydream Egg" grants Res +3, and she inflicts penalties on Atk, Des and Res as well as Guard on her foes. 

For the rest, it's nothing special, really. But I feel very happy for the fans for getting what they deserve, and it should be easier for merges. 

P.S. Her art is cute and it really stands out for me.

Spring Chloe + Cordelia

Two of my favorite Pegasus knights from different games have soared in as one Harmonic unit. Her weapon "Sky-Hopper Egg" grants Canto (1) to herself, and I just realised that her support capabilities are a side-upgrade to Legendary Hinoka. She can now grant Charge to any of her allies within 2 spaces, regardless of their movement type, and those allies will have bonuses to Atk/Spd and 40% damage-reduction when they initiate combat. This is very strong, because anyone in her team can have the Charge effect, and it's not just fliers.

What's more, if her HP is more than 25%, she grants bonuses to all stats for herself and additional bonuses to her Atk/Spd based on the number of allies who have the Charge effect, other than herself. She even deals true damage based on 20% of her Spd and pierces through DR-skills by 50%.

Her Harmonic skill boosts her allies' Specials by 2 which is really insane too, not to forget Resonance: Blades and Incite. She offers a new type of Rein skill in the form of Spd/Res Crux. What it simply does is that any foe inflicted by that status would mean that any of her allies can do guarantee follow-up attacks during combat. Again, Null-Follow Up has already devalued the skill.

Overall, Chloe turns out to be a very powerful nuke and support like Legendary Hinoka does. Imagine if she offers DR-piercing instead of DR to her allies, that would be unbalanced for sure. As one of my favorite waifus from Engage, I simply can't resist even at the worst odds.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to competition, the banner doesn't really offer much value to all players, but Chloe is worth the mention for her nuking & support capabilities, as she's in the same level as Hinoka. For an Engage collector however, I feel devastated as if IS couldn't give me a break at all from so much orb spending.

For now, I will be saving 155 orbs and use them on full circles, aiming for a copy of Chloe before Spark as well as Framme. Mirabilis is so cute in her outfit and I won't bother getting more merges on her.

Thank you so much for reading my opinions on the Spring banner. Let me know if you're excited for any of these heroes. And as always, hop into great summons 🐰🐰