Talk:Interlude Campaign 9/@comment-36470477-20190605225101

Well, when I saw Osakabe had gotten a skill upgrade interlude, I made a point of going in blind on it; I wanted the pleasant surprise of seeing the upgrade for myself firsthand rather than off a website.

Her NP upgrade was kind of disappointing, as it felt like more of a sidegrade than an upgrade, and only made her get closer to a Mashu-type of support, (compare 30% Quick/Buster buff to 30% Attack buff) rather than branch out a little to establish her own niche; Buster attackers had better support options either way. (I did appreciate the max HP buff getting straight doubled, though. Unlike Tama's, the gains for NP levels are also doubled, so I was really glad I put in the resources to get a second copy of Osakabe during Valentine's. Huge help against the Reines Case Files story boss.)

I was thinking, "Please DW, don't go and make Shapeshift into some party buff for the team, that just would make her even closer to Mashu again." And when the upgrade screen came up, and I saw Shapeshift was the skill getting upgraded, I went, "Damn it." And then my eyes went down the screen, and to the text.

...When I said party buff, I naturally assumed it would be the 3 turns 30% Def buff for the rest of the party. This was a rather pleasant surprise, especially after the lukewarm upgrade Kiyo's Shapeshift got. Of course, her kit doesn't quite have the internal synergy of Hans or Merlin in having both crit buff and star regen, but, nevertheless, it's still quite a powerful buff for Osakabe, and I'm fortunate enough to have Fragments to pick up some star slack.

To end on a light note, I was using my own grailed Kiyohime in the last interlude fight since it felt appropriate. I find it kind of funny that the Burn and Buster chains she created took down Osakabe so quickly, to the point that I hadn't even really noticed that the damage reduction buff Osakabe had was that significant.