Yamakaze

Yamakaze – 山风

Stat Rating

Max Stat

Soul

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

Discussion:

As the shikigami with the highest ATK, we all know Yamakaze is should follow the DPS build.  However, there are other options besides the usual offensive souls

As always, Shadow is a very reliable choice for DPSs.  With Yamakaze’s high ATK, he’ll be a very big threat to the less tanky units like DPSs and controls.  The only drawback is the second hits from Yamakaze may not benefit from Shadow if enemy HP is under the threshold, though Yamakaze’s passive would kick in.  Claw has a similar purpose but works better in a longer fight but requires high Crit %.

Fortune Cat is an odd choice here but makes sense considering Yamakaze will act very often facing control teams in Duel so this Soul will have plenty of chance to generate Orbs.  In addition, Fortune Cat can supply orbs for Yamakaze’s demand for his Slash.

Mirror Lady is to slightly increase Yamakaze’s survivability but the ultimate goal is to deter the enemy’s focus on this fragile attacker.  Along the same logic, Nightwing can ensure Yamakaze survives if he accidentally attacks enemies with Mirror Lady.

Soultaker is also a good choice for this SSR.  Not only does this soul increases ATK, but it also lets Yamakaze move as often as it could.  Coupling with the attacker’s passive, this combo ensures pressure on the enemy team with endless attacks.

Yamakaze, without a doubt, enjoys high ATK so maximizing ATK is his first goal.  As for position 2, it could be SPD or ATK depending on Soul choice and team.  Though, I would say SPD works well in more situations.  Position 4 would be ATK.  Effect RES may be enough as secondary attribute since he gets a speed boost when the status effect is dispelled or lifted.  Having the right team members and Samisen may sometimes enough though.  Though control Higabana, or other effective control units, would be problematic.  The reality is if he is going up against control teams, he’ll need some Effect RES.  Position 6 is a bit tricky.  Yamakaze is built with the idea that Crit % is not necessary since his Slash guarantees critical hit, hence his laughable 1% Crit % as a DPS.  Naturally, Crit Dmg is favored.  However, this means we are relying on his Slash for damage and ignoring his 2-hit normal attack.  His indirect damage is not so easy to trigger at this point since guarantee critical hit relies on the enemy having 0 DEF, which is not easily achievable in Duel.  There is a bit of discrepancy between his skill in Global and CN so we’ll see if there is an update in the future.  Not that it would make too much of a difference though.
In real practice, I may try something like SPD/HP/ATK for PvP to give him some survivability with sub-stat Effect RES to ensure he’s able to move.

Rating

Wind

Violent

Slash

Sample Team

Kamaitachi, Ame Onna, Hououga, Hana, Yamakaze, with Seimei

Kamaitachi, Yamazake, Juzu, Hana, Kaguya, with Seimei

Shouzu, Juzu, Yamakaze, Kaguya, Miketsu, with Seimei

Yamakaze is positioned as a strong counter for control teams.  With this in mind, we’ll build a team that can dispel status effects.  Ame Onna, Juzu, Hana, etc. are common partners for Yamakaze.  Shouzu would be a good idea for him too if you are using Scarlet Yamazake but this means you are doing a Critical % build.  The good thing about Yamazake is his pace is fast while the downside is that he needs protection since he’s fragile.

PvP

Yamazake can be seen as a counter for some control teams and healer teams.  The key strategic features are his ability to speed up after status effect and the ability to block heals completely.  In that case, he partners up with Samisen well while not necessarily having to equip the Soul himself.

Soul

He can actually be placed as a finisher with his two-hit normal attack.  He’ll need good enough souls as well as a good Tamamo no Mae as a partner.  The good thing is his normal attack is strong enough without using Orbs.

PVE

Yamazake does not make too much of an appearance in many PvE situations.  I can imagine him partnering up with Shouzu and other healers to act as DPS in Secret stages.

Shikigami Comparison

Itsumade – We haven’t talked about Itsumade a lot since her release as she is not exactly widely used.  One thing this girl has in common with Yamakaze is the ability to do multi-hit normal attacks.  This earned her the title Shuten Junior.  The second similarity is the ability to inflict Heal Down.  While Istumade attacks more times, her Heal Down is less efficient.  Of course, there are fewer perks since Yamakaze is SSR.  If we are comparing normal attacks, Itsumade has a slight advantage for attacking more even though Yamakaze has higher damage.  However, considering other perks, Yamazake wins for his speed and overall damage.

Acquisition

Wanted Quest

Verdict

Another purpose for him is to withstand status effects and being able to counter once status effect is lifted.  This is to deter enemies from controlling him.  However, right now the consequence of controlling Yamakaze is minimal.  With a strong control team, Yamakaze probably couldn’t even survive to see his status effect get lifted, unless he stacks some HP.  The question remains if he would still be able to do enough damage at that point.

To use him against tanky teams with healers is not as ideal as it seems.  For one, Yamakaze’s Laceration can be dispelled.  For another, tanky teams usually have high enough DEF so that Yamakaze’s indirect damage can never land critical hits.

Yamakaze is designed to take an alternative build for DPS but lands in a tough spot where he is not the best in any things that he does.  One good thing about him is that he can be set up quite a few different ways so it would be a bit confusing for the enemy to guess.

Farming (2.0/5.0)

At most, he takes out two targets in round one.  This is simply not at par with Ibaraki Doji and Tamamo no Mae

Duel/Raid (3.5/5.0)

PvP is where he meant to be.  Though, he’s not as adept as other DPSs.

Boss Battles (4.0/5.0)

Probably not as efficient as Ibaraki Doji but not far off, Yamakaze’s Slash has an outrageous amount of damage.  The only downside is the second attack is random.  He’ll work better with Boss’s that has no minions.

Soul (4.0/5.0)

One of his odd uses is to stack full Crit % and use him as a finisher for S10.  He’ll only need to perform normal attack so no orbs needed.  The caveat is that Tamamo no Mae needs to be strong enough to finish the first two waves in one hit.

Yamakaze is a tricky shikigami to use.  He’ll need skill ups to be effective and therefore quite an investment giving many other more efficient DPS around.  I would probably use SPD/ATK/HP Fortune Cat to be on the safe side.  Orb supply would be a problem since he’ll move often, hopefully, and his normal attack may be pointless depending on set up.  To use Yamakaze, his teammates need to ensure he’s able to survive status effects.  Overall, I would say he is more of a bench Shikigami that is waiting to be called upon against the right enemies.  If your main team is still being built, I would say not to invest in him just yet.