The recent Anime Defenders Update 9 has brought a slew of exciting new content, from fresh units and skins to new maps and gameplay changes. Among the most exciting additions are the Draconic Champion and the Evolved Soul Demon, both of which have sparked plenty of discussions within the community. In this guide, we’ll explore how these new units stack up, their potential impact on the game, and how you can make the most of them.
1. Draconic Champion: A Fierce New Fighter
The Draconic Champion is a highly anticipated addition to the Anime Defenders roster, and it lives up to the hype. Initially introduced as the Draconic Warrior, this unit evolves into the Draconic Champion, boasting incredible power and a visually stunning model. This unit is part of the Christmas-themed Battle Pass, and while the Battle Pass is necessary to obtain the shiny version, the standard Draconic Warrior can be acquired early on.
Once you evolve the Draconic Warrior into the Draconic Champion, the stats are nothing short of impressive. With a damage output of 23,522, a 5 SPA (attacks per second), and a 39.5 range, it becomes a formidable presence in battle. The addition of a burn effect, which inflicts 10% of the unit’s damage over 5 seconds, paired with a curse that increases enemy damage by 15%, makes the Draconic Champion an excellent support unit for dealing sustained damage.
The unit also offers a hybrid placement feature, allowing players to strategically place it in various combat scenarios. This makes the Draconic Champion not only a damage dealer but also a versatile support unit, offering both offensive power and utility. Its 4-placement restriction ensures it doesn’t dominate the battlefield too much, but still provides excellent value for both solo players and team setups.
2. Evolved Soul Demon: The Ice Queen with Frenzied Power
Another highly anticipated unit in this update is the Evolved Soul Demon, an upgrade from the Snow Spirit Demon. The Evolved Soul Demon’s primary advantage lies in its ability to heal, combined with some intriguing new abilities. As a hybrid unit that can be placed for low costs, it’s particularly appealing to players who want to use a cost-effective unit in combination with other high-damage units.
The Evolved Soul Demon’s passive is what truly sets it apart. Every 20 seconds, the unit enters a 10-second frenzy mode, where its SPA decreases by 20% and its range increases by 10%. Additionally, it inflicts a slow effect on enemies, reducing their movement speed by 40% for 4 seconds. This makes it a formidable support unit, especially in challenging stages where slowing down enemy units can significantly impact the tide of battle.
What makes the Evolved Soul Demon particularly valuable is its full AoE (Area of Effect) attack. As the battle progresses, it evolves into a much stronger unit, capable of dealing significant damage while simultaneously supporting your team with its healing and slowing abilities. This makes it a perfect choice for leaderboard runs or high-difficulty stages, where controlling the enemy’s movement is key to victory.
Despite its high placement potential (up to four units on the battlefield), the Soul Demon’s main advantage comes from its ability to provide utility while also dealing considerable damage. With its full AoE, slow debuff, and healing power, it is bound to become a staple in high-level strategies.
3. Grand Exorcist: Bleed-Inflicting Hybrid Unit
Grand Exorcist evolves from the Exorcist unit and can be obtained through the Christmas Banner, with a pity at 10,000. Here’s what makes this unit stand out:
- Cost and Stats: It costs only 750 yen to place and deals 24,000 damage at base level, scaling up to 193,000 damage, 55.7 range, and a 3.8 SPA at max level. This makes Grand Exorcist ideal for dealing heavy, consistent damage.
- Passive Ability: It inflicts a bleed effect, dealing 10% of its damage over 7 seconds. This makes it particularly effective against regeneration enemies.
- Soul Sacrifice: Its unique ability refunds 95% of its value when sacrificed, though its practical use in gameplay is debatable.
- Role: With high DPS (approximately 50,878) and hybrid placement, this unit is a great pick for both ground and air waves. However, its lack of a face (cosmetic issue) and a relatively weaker ability might disappoint some players.
4. Blade Master: Critical-Hitting Beginner-Friendly Unit
Evolving from Blade Expert, Blade Master is obtained via the Frozen Peaks story mode, with only a 1% drop rate. Here’s why it’s a solid unit:
- Cost and Stats: Like Grand Exorcist, Blade Master costs 750 yen to place. It has impressive damage scaling and gains the Enchanted Armament ability, making it a line AOE unit with 30% critical hit chance and 50% increased critical damage.
- Placement and Usage: With four placements allowed, it is versatile and beginner-friendly. Apex is considered the best trait for this unit.
- Cosmetic and Critique: While the unit lacks its own cosmetic unless it’s shiny, its high crit chance makes it effective for sustained damage output.
Blade Master stands out for its accessibility and utility, making it ideal for new players who want a reliable DPS option.
5. Crazed Berserker: Meta-Changing Ancient Unit
Crazed Berserker evolves from Crazed Brawler and can be found in the Christmas Banner as an ancient unit. It has the potential to be game-changing due to its stats and unique ability.
- Cost and Stats: At max level, it delivers 123,124 damage, a 5 SPA, and 37.3 range. With the Almighty trait, its stats improve significantly, reaching 468,631 damage, a 3.1 SPA, and 35 range.
- Ability: Its Restorative Slam converts 100% of its damage into additional base HP for 15 seconds, scaling with enemy HP. At higher levels, it can restore millions of base HP, making it invaluable in tough battles.
- Meta Potential: Crazed Berserker is fully AOE and regenerates base health, making it ideal for infinite mode and prolonged battles. Its DPS of approximately 11,578 is impressive, especially considering its ability to heal your base while dealing damage.
The only downside to Crazed Berserker is its underwhelming cosmetic, which feels similar to existing units.
Overall, the Draconic Champion and the Evolved Soul Demon are two exciting units that bring both power and utility to Anime Defenders. Whether you’re looking to bolster your offensive strategies with the Draconic Champion or enhance your support and control abilities with the Evolved Soul Demon, both units offer significant advantages. However, players will need to adapt to new systems like the Emerald trade currency and the untradeable status of many items, which may take some time to fully adjust to.
The update has introduced some welcomed additions, but there are still areas where the community feels improvements could be made, especially regarding quality-of-life features. As more content is rolled out in future updates, players can expect even more exciting units and changes that will shape the meta in new ways.