Weekly Unit Spotlight: Kimmel

I am  officially a college student! Yayyyy! School! ...Wait a second... more school? Oof.
I figured since I had time to write today, I ought to do a Weekly Unit Spotlight, something I have not had the chance to do in quite a while. Today’s unit spotlight focuses on Kimmel, the dark mage with a heart of gold! His description:

A learner of the dark arts and Hernanda’s close friend’s only son, he is very optimistic, but knows that he doesn’t quite fit in with other mages of his brand. He has an inferiority complex, hammered into him by his strict and controlling uncle, but he also knows that to give up is a sin. He tends to push himself far too hard.

Kimmel is the second dark mage you recruit, following Simon. While he has some big shoes to fill if Simon has not leveled to your liking, do keep in mind that Kimmel is very different growth-wise and may not be a solid substitute for Simon. This does not mean that Kimmel is not a capable unit in his own right, merely that he will not be used the same way as Simon due to their stat polarity. So, Kimmel’s strengths:

• Can take physical punishment: The greatest difference between Kimmel and Simon is that Kimmel has the ability to survive melee damage. With a 55% HP growth and a 65% defense growth, he can be used to safely bait physical weapon users and punish on counterattack.
• Light in the Dark: Kimmel’s personal skill, Light in the Dark, assures that when Kimmel goes into combat against magical opponents, he will not be negatively affected by the magic weapon triangle. Combating light magic is just as easy for him as combating dark magic.
• Passable strength growth: Another difference in comparison to Simon is that Kimmel can easily shift into a hybrid class and use both physical and magical weapons with ease. A 40% strength growth means promoting him into Dark Knight
• Higher weapon rank from recruitment: Kimmel starts at a B rank with dark magic, allowing him to use advanced tomes from a very early point.

Kimmel’s weaknesses:

• Very low resistance: Kimmel shouldn’t be engaging in magic combat very often, even with his personal skill preventing him from being hindered by the weapon triangle. While his base resistance of 6 may be passable for a very short period, it certainly isn’t going very far. A 25% resistance growth won’t make him a safe bet in the future for magical combat on player or enemy phase.
• Low hit rates: 35% skill and 35% luck is not reliable, and with dark magic being the least accurate of the three magic types, Kimmel will definitely struggle to hit his targets, though his durability does allow him to make such mistakes and continue to fight.
• Personal skill does not synergize with stats: Kimmel’s personal skill is semi-situational, as it will only be active when he is in battle with a magic foe, which, as previously stated, is not a good idea. While it will keep him from further struggling to hit his magic-using target, and it will also give him a bit of hope for not being hit by said target, it simply doesn’t work within his wheelhouse.
• Simply doesn’t stand out: Kimmel’s stats outside of defense and HP are, truthfully, not that good. His defense sits at 65%, his magic and HP are tied at 55%, but then everything else sits at 40% or below. The only thing that really saves him from mediocrity is his bulk and the fact that he uses magic, which typically is more effective than melee weapons.

Kimmel’s bulk and ability to ignore the negative effects of the weapon triangle give him an interesting niche, and if Simon has not grown well, Kimmel is a smart replacement. However, Kimmel will not be a full-on substitute for the bitter bookworm, as he has accuracy issues and cannot take a magic hit nearly as well. Despite this, Kimmel is no slouch, and he will pull his own weight if you choose to invest.