M1895

Overview

Babushka came back, and this time better than ever, to kick M9’s ass. Packing likely the best HG tile buffs in the game, as well as a 0 seconds ICD makes Nagant Mod a strong contender for best HG for early Damage buffing. The uniqueness of her Skill 2 also lets her compete in a niche previously reigned by Python, albeit not as effectively, or act as a good team member, triggering Python’s Skill even more often. That means she’s especially good when paired with M500 Mod, AS Val Mod, or any other doll with a passive that is triggered by Damage buffing. Meanwhile, her Skill 1 carves herself a niche in helping SGs tank enemies whose Damage stats surpases their Armor that, while not often seen, has its uses nonetheless. Her Mod III offers a Suppressor superior to the standard 5* one and a great improvement to her original art. However, Suppressors are only marginally beneficial to HGs, and her idol skin is superior to her Mod III art, so unless she’s a very precious granny or mentor, Commanders can stop at Mod II. 

Strengths

Cheap mod

Nagant Mod has a lot of qualities a Mod doll can wish: cheap to raise (as she has viability pre-mod), cheap to mod (as she is a 2 to 4 star mod), tiles and Skills that make her worth using, and, lastly, her peak performance arrives at only Mod II.

0 ICD Skill

While it is not explicitly said, her Skill 2 actually activates with her opening shot. That means she provides a 10% Damage buff at the start of the battle. While the buff is not big, it nonetheless means a buff in early damage only a selected few HGs can provide.

Very very stronk vodka-err, tiles

Nagant Mod’s tiles pack 35% Damage and 20% Crit Rate, and likely are the best tiles a HG can offer. 

Python’s rival friend

Nagant Mod, due to her Skill 2, can act either as a partner or as a replacement of sorts for Python. As Python is mostly used for her ability to trigger her passive Skill multiple times, Nagant Mod can either help trigger it more often, or act as a budget replacement until Commanders can farm Python in Continuum Turbulence Campaign.

Shotguns’ drinking buddy at night, good buddy at day

Nagant Mod has another niche for herself: extending a Shotgun’s survivability. Her Skill 1 can be used in two ways:

• By reducing incoming damage, it can allow shielded Shotguns, or even shielded HGs, to tank AoE damage that would otherwise hit all links;
• By reducing incoming damage, Nagant Mod can help SGs tank, for a short duration, enemies whose Damage stats far higher than their Armor stats;

While she is best used in night battles, as she was extensively, along with TEC-9 (who has the same Skill 1 as her), in Isomer and Shattered Connexion, she can perform adequately in daytime (though not as well as VP70, for example) when paired with Armor self-buffing Shotguns, such as KSG and LTLX, as her Skill 1 only lasts 5 seconds during daytime, instead of 8 seconds during nighttime.

There are two particular examples worth highlighting of when she was used in the RFHG-SG niche:

• Nagant was an option to be paired (other option was TEC-9) with HS2000, during Isomer ranking to extend the team’s survivability against Gundams compositions, where Gundams had shields strong enough that couldn’t be taken down fast enough by AGS, and would end up using their tile-wide AoE. Nagant’s Skill 1, paired with HS2000’s team-wide shield, reduced the AoE damage so that the team could survive it unscathed;
• Nagant was also an option to be paired with SAT8 to help RFHGs deal with Gladiator + Gunner compositions in Shattered Connexion ranking. Her Skill 1 let a Shotgun, usually S.A.T.8 due to her Shield Skill, tank Gunners, who are notoriously hard to tank due to their Evasion debuff and moderate Damage, as it helped reduce their damage to 1 while the RFs finished them off, aided by her very strong tiles, and her Skill 2 to a lesser extent.

Very cute Mod skin

Her Mod III’s skin is a major upgrade to her original art, and makes her as cute as she is old. Take care of granny.

Weaknesses

Heavily contested Position 4

She’s still a Position 4 buffer at heart, which means she faces competition from 5-7, SAA Mod, Stechkin Mod, among us other HGs. Newer HGs, like HS2000, Deagle, C93, HP-35, also favour unconventional formations, with an RF on Position 4. That makes traditional Position 4 HGs less favourable in place of dolls that can buff both RFs.

Still a nighttime debuffer HG

She still has a nighttime Skill 1 that applies debuffs on enemies. While there are certain scenarios that can warrant it, it’s still subpar on most battles. If she’s heavily needed for that, there are better options.

Team Options

M500

AS Val

Python

KSVK

WA2000

Nagant Mod can fit a variety of team comps, typically at Position 4. She can be used as a budget replacement for Python on Val Mod and M500 Mod teams, used as a partner to Python, for big Python buff memes, as a typical Position 4 HG that buffs teammates and debuffs enemies, or, more specifically, due to her Skill 1 and good tiles, she can be often paired with KSVK Mod, to trigger her passive. She’s best paired with RoF RFs, since her Skill 2 is a Damage buff, and her tiles are Damage and Crit Rate. 

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