PVE Farming B+ GB10 B+ DB10 A+ NB10 B+ TOAH B Raids B Rifts A- Labyrinth Unrated PVP Arena Offense A Arena Defense A Real-Time Arena A+ Guild Wars Offense A+ Guild Wars Defense A Siege Offense A+ Siege Defense A Ratings are provided for convenience only. See for in-depth explanation on our rating system. Please note that information on this page is of a subjective nature, and therefore may not reflect your own experiences or opinions. Analysis Elsharion's release took years in the making, but years after his existence was first made known by Com2uS, he has finally landed in the hands of summoners. Though it's still early, he has the potential to have a significant impact on the current metagame. Stats wise, he is more or less in the same boat as his cousin , possessing just a tad less attack and HP, and making up for it with a little more defense. Generally speaking, he is very well balanced overall. He possess the same first two skills as Theomars, with a speed scaling, hard hitting first skill and a triple hitting second with a , allowing him to set both himself and his teammates up for attacks, a valuable and uncommon trait for a DPS. Unique to him is a universal attack , which plays well for both himself and fellow DPS teammates. Additionally, his light element also means having no elemental disadvantage, leaving him with no truly bad matchups. Overall, he is a very solid general DPS monster in the same vain as Theomars. What sets him apart from Theomars however is his passive, which allows him to not only steal a buff from a target, but to apply that buff on not only himself but the entire team as well. This has practical applications not only in general PvE play, but in PvP where he has the potential to shake up the metagame in a major way, especially considering the wide prevalence of and Immunity buffers that dominate the metagame. His accuracy awakening bonus definitely lends itself well in that regard. It is worth considering that powerful strippers are already commonly found in high level PvP play, so Elsharion isn't necessarily bringing anything new in that regard, especially since he can only strip one buff at a time on a single target compared to monsters like , , and , who are all capable of stripping an entire team. However, his ability to steal essential buffs like Immunity, Shields, and even Theo's endure buff can easily turn what would normally be an advantage into a disadvantage, forcing opponents to account for him in team planning. Only time will tell what exactly Elsharion's place in the meta will be, but his status as a free monster obtainable through event completion means virtually every active player will have him in their monster box just waiting to be used. PvE Farming Elsharion can make an adequate farmer due to his lack of elemental disadvantage and defense break debuff, as well as a strong speed scaling first skill. However, his neutral element typing means he won't have elemental protection in any particular area, making him quite vulnerable without runes to offset damage. And since all his attacks are single target, he will lack the efficiency of an AOE based farmer. Dungeons Elsharion can make a good DPS monster in dungeons due to his good overall DPS capabilities and lack of elemental disadvantage. His ability to steal buffs makes him good in GB10, where his passive can allow him to steal the Giant's attack buff, giving him a role as a secondary buffer while also protecting the team from OHKO. He can also set for bonus damage against the Giant, further adding to his usefulness in this area. His buff stealing is also especially useful in DB10 where he can strip the Dragon's immunity buff, making him vulnerable to debuffs and setup while also shielding allied monsters from the harmful effects of DOTs, which do give the Dragon a boost to damage. Elsharion will most likely be featured in early-game to mid-game teams, although players can built speed teams around Elsharion, especially if ATB reducing skills are brought. Unfortunately, Elsharion's passive is largely useless in NB10, as the the Lich's Shield cannot be stripped or stolen. That means Elsharion will need to rely on his teammates to break down the Shield before he can do any real damage. Trial of Ascension Hard The harsh unforgiving nature of Trial of Ascension can often put DPS monsters out of favor, especially in later stages of Hard mode due to the insane stat scaling placed on monster waves. However, Elsharion can play a niche role in dealing with certain troublesome monster waves, especially monsters with passives that self buff them with Shields like Rina or Halphas. For general play however, Elsharion's passive is largely irrelevant since most monster waves don't bring any buffers of note. And since he lacks the same OHKO protection as Theo, he will be even more vulnerable to getting revenge killed. Rift of Worlds Elsharion can function as a good overall DPS monster here, especially since he can apply a defense break to help with damage setup. He can especially be good in Rift Dungeons where his neutral elemental typing allows him to be used against all five elemental Rift Beasts. Unfortunately, his passive has no effect here since none of the Beasts possess and buffs to steal. Elsharion's passive serves even less of a purpose in Raids, since Oblivion will neutralize his passive, although the Raid Boss possesses no buffs so there isn't anything to steal to begin with. Theomars will often be a better choice for players looking for general attackers. Unfortunately, Elsharion is unlikely to act as a primary buff stripper since he can only steal a single buff at a time, and on only a single target at that. However, being able to set the opponent's own key buffs on ally monsters can potentially even the odds very quickly. For Arena play, Elsharion's status as a single target monster works against him. This is largely because of the presence of bruisers and strong buffers, which leaves open the possibility of being revenge killed. The metagame on offense is largely dominated by AOE monsters for this reason, due to their efficiency in dealing with large groups. His lack of innate protection means doesn't neccesarily help either, meaning that he'll often compete with many other pure nukers for a spot in the lineup, especially if they are able to deal more burst damage or bring an AOE skill of some sort. Players who can afford to chip away in a battle of attrition will still get much use out of Elsharion, especially since he brings a universal attack leader skill. He will likely play equally well on both offense and defense teams, although he may find more usage in the latter for players looking to punish cleave teams, with speedy Elsharions being a potential strategy. Elsharion's bread and butter will likely be in , where pure nukers and many AOE monsters often fall out of favor due to the presence of strong buffers and bruisers, as well as other support monsters, and the fact that all monsters are human controlled so no taking advantage of AI targeting tendencies. Monsters like , , and are all powerful buffers that heavily feature in top RTA play, and who Elsharion will have the most use against. It bears repeating that Elsharion can only steal one buff at a time, and being single target only doesn't help, so in that way Elsharion won't ever be a hard counter against immunity buffers even with assistance from Violent runes. However, smart target prioritization can allow Elsharion to strip and setup on problematic targets to eliminate them early, and his ability to give enemy buffs his entire party will often turn the tides if you should find yourself reeling. At the least, his presence will force opponents to account for him in matchups, as well as making opponents think twice before using strong buffs in key situations, so in that way Elsharion can function well as an equalizer in battle. And should his passive become unneeded, Elsharion will always function well as a strong general DPS monster. Though Elsharion lacks the innate survivability that Theomars has, he makes up for it in his ability to steal opposing buffs for his own teammates to use. Once again, Elsharion can only really be treated as a soft counter to buffers since he can only steal one at a time, so players should treat him more as a general DPS monster with secondary buff support. That said, having only three targets means players can use smart target prioritization to focus in one key monsters and take them out early, while also turning the tide when things go south with key buffs at the right time. And being a neutral element means players can bring in strong support tanks to draw fire away from Elsharion. This is especially helpful since Elsharion is vulnerable to being revenge killed by strong bruisers like most attack based DPS monsters. Elsharion's overall skillset will likely lend himself well to both offense and defense. Speedy Elsharion's can punish opposing players who try cleave combos, although cleave teams aren't featured heavily in the Guild Wars metagame. His most common role may be as a check against Theomars, who often features heavily in the metagame here, since he can steal Theo's Endure buff while guarding teammates against untimely Violent procs.
