3 Kazuki Aoyama

Overview

Kazuki is our second limited character and our first limited breaker to release. With absurdly fast breaking speed,
simple gameplay, low stamina costs, and potentially good DPS, he is easily the best breaker in the game.
His two-part Secondary Attack can deal a whopping 1000 break value when fully connected (and it generally does).
His Strategy Skill drops a pillar that grants a shield to all allies and automatically attacks any enemy that damages
a shielded ally. However, you should never manually activate it—it triggers automatically after his chain attack,
thanks to his break speed.

Note that using either his secondary attack or strategy skill consumes a unique resource called Memory.
Kazuki starts with 15 stacks, losing 1 or 4 stacks when using his secondary or strategy skill respectively.
His Ultimate Skill restores 8 Memory stacks but costs 2 tension bars that could otherwise contribute to DPS.
Despite this drawback, Kazuki remains the top breaker for speedruns and bossing; in particularly long battles,
you may need to pace his usage or use his ultimate to avoid petering out.

Primary Attack

A 4-stage melee combo—fairly quick but mostly unremarkable. You’ll rarely use this unless you’ve pulled for his T3
or if the enemy is already broken.

Secondary Attack

Costs 1 Memory. A 2-stage attack where the first use expends 1 Memory to perform 5 rapid slashes at high speed,
and the second use executes a slower, localized attack without additional Memory cost. This is his most important attack,
so spam it unless the boss is in break recovery. It also offers a generous window for dodging and counterattacks.

Counterattack

A deflect counterattack (ineffective against projectiles or other ranged attacks) that leaves Kazuki in place.

Strategy Skill

Costs 4 Memory. Kazuki drops a pillar (a “Strategy Server”) on the target, dealing damage and granting a shield
to the entire team. If a shielded ally takes damage, the pillar will attack the enemy if they are in range.
It’s primarily used to trigger his signature tension card, so manual activation is unnecessary.

Ultimate Skill

Costs 2 Tension Bars. After a cinematic pose, Kazuki delivers a rapid series of slashes before a screen explosion.
While its damage is modest for its cost, the ultimate is mainly used to restock his Memory and, if it pushes him above
his 15-stack maximum, potentially trigger the Overclock buff (which converts 10% of his max HP into attack).

Chain Skill

Kazuki drops a Deflect Server on a broken enemy—essentially a free use of his Strategy Skill.

Combos (If Operating)

Spam the Secondary Attack. Be sure to counterattack whenever possible.

Tips

• After breaking an enemy, they temporarily do not take break damage. Don’t waste your Memory on an enemy that cannot
  currently take break damage!

Potential

Kazuki’s passive skills are terrible, so the choice here entirely depends on if you want more damage or more stamina.
Fighting Instinct provides a decent amount of additional damage by boosting his secondary attack and ult multipliers,
while Survival Instincts gives additional stamina and max HP for an easier time spamming his secondaries and counterattacks for break value.

Dupes

Kazuki’s dupes offer little value, and his potential gems are underwhelming. His 3rd dupe, which provides extra Memory,
is the most notable; otherwise, you’d be better off securing his tension card.

Operating Character

While Kazuki is a decent AI teammate, keep enemies near his Deflect Server to avoid repositioning—which costs too much Memory.
Manually piloting him is always more effective for breaking bosses quickly.

Conclusion

Kazuki is the best breaker by far, provided the fight isn’t excessively long. With careful Memory management, you can keep
bosses locked down and maintain high tension. Despite his minor downsides, he is a worthwhile addition to your roster.