Character Guide - Jovial Deception: Shadowdimmer

Everything you need to know about Songque's newest battlesuit, a Stardust type Physical Trick Staff user.

Jul 25, 2024

[Jovial Deception: Shadowdimmer] (JDS) Songque is the new battlesuit debuting in Version 7.6. She is an S-Rank Stardust Type Physical DPS, and uses the new Trick Staff weapon type. In this guide, I will be going through her kit, suitable team compositions, rotations, equipment, and more.

Character Mechanics

Shadow Frames

In JDS’s Spiritual Verdure form, attacks generate Shadow Frames. There are 3 different types of Shadow Frames:

Sparrow Playing With Pearl: Generated on Basic SEQ 1 or Ultimate Evasion. Fires 3 bullets dealing Physical DMG.
Family Fun: Generated on Basic SEQ 2 or Plunging ATK. Creates a black hole drawing in nearby enemies and dealing Physical DMG.
Standing Ovation: Generated on Basic SEQ 3 or QTE. Causes an explosion at the enemy’s location, dealing Physical DMG.

These Shadow Frames are visible onfield, and also have an indicator above JDS’s HP bar.

Weapon Active

When there are 3 Shadow Frames on the field, casting Weapon Active recalls 3 Shadow Frames, and immediately triggers all other teammates’ QTEs with a cooldown of 8s. If JDS has her signature weapon equipped, she can recall 6 Shadow Frames at once.

Stardust Flash

As a Stardust type Valkyrie, JDS can perform Stardust Flash, which is activated by her Weapon Active and gathers all Stardust Fragments.

Combo KE

When JDS recalls Shadow Frames, she gains 10 Combo KE for each one recalled. Reaching 60 Combo KE allows her to cast her Combo ATK, dealing Physical DMG.

Stardust Detonation

Landing Combo ATKs on Stardust type enemies detonates their threshold on hit, forcing them into Consolidated state. This applies once to each enemy, and once more when the enemy’s HP reaches 0.

Ultimate

On using her Ultimate, JDS enters Time-Frozen Domain and deals 66%*6 + 166% ATK of Physical DMG. Unlike conventional Ultimates, JDS does not need a specific amount of SP to cast hers. Instead, she consumes all available SP, and her Ultimate gains a multiplier of 8.5% ATK for every 1 SP consumed, capping at 1166%. This means her Ultimate needs 138 SP to maximise its damage.

Astral Ring: Wheel of Destiny

JDS is protected by the Astral Ring Specialization: Wheel of Destiny. When activating Astral Ring Specialization: Wheel of Destiny, she changes forms from Spiritual Verdure to Divine Gold, granting her a different Basic ATK Sequence, Combo ATK, and Weapon Active. She also enjoys various DMG buffs.

Divine Gold Transformation

In her Divine Gold form, Songque’s Basic ATKs are replaced with a 3 move sequence, Divine: Banishing Ten Miseries. Each time it hits, JDS generates Odd Thoughts.

Tapping Weapon Active consumes Odd Thoughts to perform the 3 move sequence Divine: Dispelling Misfortunes. Breaking the combo does not reset its sequence.

If JDS is using her signature weapon, casting Shadow Star Attack allows her to consume 6 Odd Thoughts at once to perform an enhanced Weapon Active.

Like in Spiritual Verdure form, recalling Odd Thoughts restores Combo KE. At 60 Combo KE, JDS can unleash her Combo ATK, Divine: Spectacle of Light.

Using her Ultimate in Divine Gold form prematurely ends Stellar Outburst and restores 25% of Astral Ring Intensity based on the remaining duration.

Phantoms

In Stellar Outburst and when JDS is on the field, standby characters cannot be switched in and are replaced with Phantoms to aid in battle. Using a Phantom via Shadow Star Attack deals Physical DMG and restores all Odd Thoughts, and after the attack, grants JDS Rondo in the Shadows, allowing her Basic ATKs and Weapon Active to generate Phantoms to deal additional Physical DMG.

Crit Rate Conversion

Similar to Herrscher of Rebirth, Songque has the ability to convert excess Crit Rate to Crit DMG at a 1:2 ratio, capping at 60% Crit DMG.

Astral Ring: ???

Similar to Deepspace Anchor: First Light (Senadina) in v7.3 before the introduction of Astral Ring: Wheel of Destiny, Songque has a locked skill meant for an Astral Ring Specialization that will be introduced in the future.

Similar to how Senadina is an important support in Wheel of Destiny teams, JDS is expected to be a crucial support for teams using this unknown Astral Ring Specialization. There is currently no information on when this new Astral Ring Specialization will be released, so please be patient, Captains!

Equipment

Weapon

This is the signature PRI-ARM of JDS, Purge of Ten Faces: Axial Shift. It has strong buffs to herself, as well as some support capability with small teamwide buffs. This weapon provides JDS with a lot more utility while using her Shadow Frame and Odd Thought abilities. As the first Trick Staff user, JDS’s alternative weapon options are extremely limited, and the next best option is significantly worse. As such, it is strongly recommended to pull for her weapon. In summary, her weapon has:

An upgraded cap of 6 Shadow Frames or Odd Thoughts
Enhanced Odd Thought generation during Rondo in the Shadows
Additional DMG dealt upon recalling 6 Shadow Frames at once
An enhanced Weapon Active on using Shadow Star Attack that consumes 6 Odd Thoughts at once
43% Physical DMG Bonus, with an additional 10% for Combo ATKs
15% Total DMG Bonus
15% Crit DMG for Weapon Active and Combo ATKs
25% teamwide Elemental DMG Bonus
20% teamwide Physical DMG Bonus
6% teamwide Total DMG Bonus, with an additional 12% during Stellar Outburst
12% teamwide Total DMG Bonus for QTE

The weapon also has a Synergy skill, which will be covered below.

Weapon and Synergy Level Comparison

Shown above are results derived from a single rotation with the loadout shown in the graphic. First, I will go through the Synergy skills of both weapons shown in the test results.

Purge of Ten Faces: Axial Shift - Enemies suffer a Total DMG Taken debuff from the wielder that is also an independent multiplier. As an independent multiplier, it boosts damage considerably more than a regular multiplier. Moreover, when there is only one enemy on the field, the wielder gains another independent Physical DMG Bonus multiplier, making JDS even more powerful against bosses where there are no other enemies present.

Fair Judgement - Wielder gains a Total DMG Bonus, and their Ultimate gains another Total DMG Bonus on top of that. Not nearly as powerful due to both being normal multipliers, and one being locked to only the Ultimate.

As you can see in the graphic above, the gap between Fair Judgement and Purge of Ten Faces is incredibly huge. Not only that, but this damage comparison was made based on the overall damage output of the entire rotation. Since the rotation using Fair Judgement took noticeably longer, the DPS gap between the two weapons would actually be even bigger.

Why is the difference between Purge of Ten Faces and Fair Judgement so huge? One of the biggest reasons is the weapon’s ability to increase the maximum cap of Shadow Frames and Odd Thoughts to 6. This allows JDS to perform her Combo ATKs much faster in Spiritual Verdure form, only needing to cast Weapon Active once to recall 6 Shadow Frames and instantly make her Combo ATK available. Moreover, the weapon allows JDS to perform an enhanced Weapon Active that consumes 6 Odd Thoughts at once in Divine Gold form. This allows her to land attacks much faster and get in a 3rd Combo ATK, when she would only be able to cast 2 without her signature weapon. Add Purge of Ten Faces’ multitude of buffs, and it’s clear why there’s such a big difference.

Is it worth pulling for Synergy Level 3? Not really. Synergy Level 1 will be able to take you all the way to Nirvana, and it may even be possible to achieve Myriad with it. The only thing upgrading the Synergy Level will do is increase your damage; there’s no increased utility like bonus initial SP or SP reduction on it. It’s much more worthwhile to save your crystals for future releases. However, I still strongly recommend pulling for Synergy 1.

Stigmata

Signature Set - Leaf’s Visions

This is the signature stigmata set of JDS. It is far and away her best option, and with it being craftable, there is no reason for you not to get it. Unfortunately, unlike past Part 2 Valkyries I have discussed before, there isn’t really any alternative option to use while acquiring materials to craft this stigmata set. As a Physical DMG Valkyrie, JDS relies heavily on the Impair the 3pc effect her set provides, not to mention the Another Possibility effect is also locked behind the 3pc effect.

Required Materials for Crafting

These are the materials needed to craft the full Leaf’s Visions stigmata set. Note that there is an extremely low chance you will ever need to craft all 3 stigs, since pulling for the weapon will likely get you one or more.

Recommended Teams

The team I would recommend most for JDS is to pair her with Lantern and Thelema. However, unlike the other Part 2 Valkyries I’ve covered so far, this team does not have as big a margin in performance as the other two teams, which I will be discussing below.

The reason why JDS + Lantern & Thelema isn’t always used in every scenario should the player have access to them is because of Senadina. Senadina’s buffs are very powerful, and are comparable to Thelema’s and Lantern’s. Moreover, she can activate her Stardust Flash effect a lot faster than JDS can. This makes her a very powerful support against Stardust type bosses.

Another thing to consider when choosing a team for JDS is the amount of Crit Rate the team can provide her.

Crit Rate Breakdown

To start off, let’s examine JDS’s existing Crit Rate without any buffs from teammates.

JDS has a CRT stat of 140, giving her a base Crit Rate of 29.5%.
Her signature stigmata set gives her another 23% Crit Rate.
Her Combo ATKs and ULT gain an additional 20% Crit Rate.
For each Shadow Frame or Odd Thought consumed, she gains 5.5% Crit Rate.

Thus, without any outside buffs, JDS has:

72.5% Crit Rate for Combo ATKs and ULT
58-85.5% Crit Rate for Weapon Active depending on the number of Shadow Frames/Odd Thoughts consumed
52.5% Crit Rate for all other attacks

Now for outside buffs.

While JDS has a buff providing Elemental Breach, if her Crit Rate is not at 100% or more, she gains 22% Crit Rate. This Elemental Breach buff is sourced from Senadina, as JDS does not have Breach herself.
Lantern’s stigmata set provides 30% Crit Rate to the whole team.

As such, the Crit Rate for the aforementioned teams will be:

82.5% base Crit Rate for JDS + Thelema & Lantern
104.5% base Crit Rate for JDS + Senadina & Lantern
74.5% base Crit Rate for JDS + Senadina & Thelema

Rotations

Thelema Lantern Rotations

Astral Ring Rotation

JDS is relatively straightforward, revolving mostly around her Weapon Actives, Combo ATKs, and Ultimate. Since she mostly uses her Basic ATK string to acquire Shadow Frames or Odd Thoughts, she doesn’t have a lot of versatility in terms of combos. You don’t need to use the Phantoms in any order; it won’t affect the rotation at all.

Below is a video example of the rotation.

Non-Astral Ring Rotation

This isn’t really a rotation, strictly speaking. It’s just having JDS deal damage until Astral Ring Intensity is full and you can Stellar Outburst again. The number of sequences depends on your AstralOp. For example, having Serapeum significantly boosts your Intensity regeneration, allowing you to use Stellar Outburst much faster. Without her, you’ll be doing this sequence for longer. Please note that since you gain one Shadow Frame on QTE, for the first JDS sequence, you only need to attack 5 times.