User:Kataikou/Buff Exvius - Buffer Guide by Kataikou/Qin

Qin
Qin is a very strong, yet very controversial, buffer introduced during the Chinese New Year event.

Qin's numbers are very high. His buffs have a ramp-up/ramp-down mechanic, peaking out at an astounding 200% buff, and then settling down at 140%. As of Mar 26 2019, Qin is the ONLY buffer who can almost sustain a 140% or higher buff with a standard ability (I say almost because it starts at 120% on the first turn). For a weaker 130% buff, Qin can also sustain a 45% break (which peaks at 60%). While the break is not good enough to be your primary source of break, it's certain good enough to help you recover should your primary breaker goes down or can't break that turn.

Maximizing Strengths
While he plays like a standard bard unit (skipping turns while singing), he has a few unique mechanics that sets him apart.

First, Qin's (and only Qin's) ATK/DEF/MAG/SPR buffs cannot be dispelled. This is amazing against bosses that dispel regularly (Alexander, Gilgamesh, etc), giving your party a better chance of surviving the attacks that usually come after (particularly since taunts and covers no longer work). This also lets you use dispels (Dispelga, Bushido - Freedom, Nullifying Chant against your own team safely, removing any breaks, imperils, or elemental imbues from your party without sacrificing your buffs. A good handful of units can remove breaks without affecting normal buffs, but only a couple can remove imperils, and nobody can remove undesirable element imbues.

Second, buffs are reapplied at the beginning of every turn so long as Qin is alive. This removes one of the biggest drawbacks of using a singing-based buffer, which is the inability to rebuffed units who have died and have been revived by Reraise. This even persists if Qin stops singing for any reason. Even if Qin dies while singing, so long as he's alive at the beginning of the turn, Qin's buff will last the full 6 turn duration.

This weird quirk in Qin's mechanics let's him exploit raise/reraise as a means to interrupt singing. He can cast his SPR/DEF buff on turn 1, get killed+reraised, and ready to cast his ATK/MAG buff on turn 2. You then have 3 or 4 turns of free actions.

Covering Weaknesses
Qin's primary weakness is his low turn economy and strict turn rotation. The primary complaint about Qin's kit is how long it takes for him to get his buffs out. He can only provide a DEF/SPR buff for the first three turns. On turn 4, he can start up his ATK/MAG buff. On turn 7, he can repeat the sequence, or cast Moonlight Sonata or his Limit Burst for a few free actions (Granted, these free actions means you'll eventually lose the ATK/MAG buff in favor of SPR/DEF buffs). On top of that, he does nothing else with this turn rotation. No healing. No MP Refresh. Nothing else in his rather extensive kit really fits into the rotation.

There are two workarounds to these problems.

First, you can bring damage units with their own ATK/MAG buffs. Units such as Trance Terra, Hyoh, and Kurasame have their own ATK/MAG buffs that match or exceed the values any buffer can give them. On top of that, they can also unlock multi-casting for these units. If your damage can provide their own offensive buffs, Qin gets a bunch of turns back to let him use his other skills. He can sustain his SPR/DEF buff as well as his element resist buffs, for instance. His healing/mp refresh/barrier ability is also accessible. Strategic use of Moonlight Sonata and his Limit Burst will also free up extra turns.

Otherwise, you can completely him around his Limit Burst. Start with his DEF/SPR buff, casting his LB on turn 4, and recast every 3 turns after that. Save Moonlight Sonata in case Qin can't quite get enough LB crystals. Qin lacks any LB generation, so it may be difficult to invest enough equipment into this strategy.