Kuro

Kuro – 黑童子

Stat Rating

Max Stat

Soul

Position 2/4/6: SPD or ATK %/ATK% or Effect RES/Crit DMG or Crit %

Discussion:

Seductress is probably the go-to soul for that most players would have a set available.  Kuro can slash up to 4 times, which is the same number of attacks as Ootengu.  This means there are multiple chances for Extra Slice to proc. Seductress’ damage also neglects the damage reduction on consecutive attacks.

Tomb Guard is also a popular choice.  This soul complements Kuro very well.  As Kuro’s attack output increases as he loses HP and, at the same time, Tomb Guard also enhances damage.  The downside with this Soul is that acquisition is not easy so it may take quite some time before you get a usable set.

Other Soul choices are also possible.  Boroboroton is another one the many players ignore.  However, this soul would slow down HP decrease allowing Kuro to maintain low HP while ensuring survivability.  Soultaker would increase chances to act but the team setup needs to provide enough orbs.  Soul Edge can be used in a certain team builds for a faster and gradual reduction of HP.  However, these types of souls do not increase Crit % at 2-piece set so soul quality is quite demanding.

As a DPS, Kuro should no doubt aim for Crit DMG for maximum damage.  At higher level Duel, using Crit % at position 6 is just not enough.

Crit % is still important.  Though in this regard, Kuro does not have high requirement due to his skills.  Of course, straight damage output would be higher with 100% Crit (be mindful of triggering Jizo).  Even at slightly lower Crit, Kuro should be good enough as he can attack again when an enemy is killed.  I would say he should be good to use at 80% Crit, allowing more opportunity for a Crit DMG build.

Rating

Kuro Blast

Soul Rage

Extra Slice

Sample Team

Similar to many other control team builds, the accelerator needs to be as fast as possible.  Losing the first chance to act is very dangerous for this setup.  Chocho is very valuable to keep Samurai X alive otherwise he would need to be in high grade and has good souls to survive.  In this case, Kuro can use Soul Edge to share damage with Samurai X and to reduce HP for the ultimate attack.

Maestro, Shouzu, Momo, Zashiki, Kuro, with Kagura

With Maestro and Kagura, Kuro should have plenty of chance to act, either to attack or shake of status effects.  The trick is to stay alive until Kuro is able to deal meaningful damage.  Shouzu and Momo should effectively keep Kuro alive for him to deal damage.

Koroka, Shouzu, Momo, Hitotsume, Kuro, with Kagura

This is another variation of control team with Koroka to be the control unit and orb provider.  Koroka is not the only choice here but since both he and Kuro released in Global at the same time, I thought it would be fun to put them together.  Without Zashiki, this team would need to rely on Fortune Cat to supply Orb.  Again, the team is built around ensuring Kuro to survive.

PVP

Kuro is made for PVP.  He is not without counters but the thrill his creepy laugh is well worth the price.  The key is to ensure he gets his chance to attack.  Team set up should be based on keeping alive while letting HP drop to the critical level.

Soul Dungeon

Kuro is very capable of delivering high damage output if the team can ensure his survival.  However, since we are focusing on speed run Soul 10, he’s not the best choice here.

PVE

With a bit of warming up, he can deal a lot of damage to Bosses with Seductress.  Again the key is to keep him alive.

Shikigami Comparison

Vampira – Kuro and Vampira have one biggest similarity: both deal more damage as their HP drops.  Vampira is single target and relies on her normal attack to deal damage.  Kuro’s signature move is AOE.  Vampira does not rely on orbs while Kuro could consume quite a bit of orb depending on set up.  Kuro has a counter passive which is similar to Scarlet so he usually brings other Souls.  Plus, Scarlet doesn’t really fit Kuro’s skill set anyways.  For Vampira, Scarlet is pretty much her default choice.  Overall, team composition plays an important role in determining who is better.  Personally, I like Vampira more she’s really beginner friendly and has won a lot of battles for me lol.

Acquisition

Wanted Quest

Verdict

He’s not the typical DPS to use for fast teams since he needs time to warm up.  Once he’s warmed up, there really isn’t too many DPS in Onmyoji that can match his damage output.

One thing to note is that Kuro works very well with Kagura’s Afterlife.  Under the Afterlife state, Kuro can act for two turns with 0 HP, meaning he can attack the maximum of 4 times.  Though Afterlife is not exactly invincible, there are conditions where Afterlife Kuro can be controlled or killed (e.g. reflection damage due to target’s teammate’s Hitotsume).  Speed is also important here since you would want to ensure Kuro gets to attack before the enemy kills off the rest of the team.

Some game mechanics also cause Kuro to be a bit buggy.  For example, when against Shouzu, sometimes Kuro does not attack again even if one enemy unit dies.  This is because that enemy died due to the damage of Shouzu’s Water Circuit, not from the direct damage from Kuro.

Farming (1.5/5.0)

While Kuro has a strong AOE attack, he is not an effective farmer for the fact that he needs to warm up.

Duel/Raid (4.0/5.0)

With the correct setup, Kuro is a good contender in the top PVP teams.  There is no doubt that he’s a top DPS.  Whether to use him or not is more of a personal choice.  Though, he is not an easy unit to use due to the fact that he needs to be on the verge of death constantly.

Boss Battle (3.0/5.0)

With Seductress, Kuro can deal a lot of damage with his 4-hit special attack.  Keeping him alive should be easier in Boss fights since many Bosses don’t usually hit that hard.  For more difficult Bosses, Kuro is quite risky.

Soul (1.0/5.0)

Not my selection for Soul 10 since he needs to lower HP, which would take time and risky.

To me, Kuro is fun but risky.  He’s probably not someone that low/mid level players can handle.  He’s a beast in the hands of more experienced players.  Patience is the key to use Kuro.