A2 (5★ Thief)

Table of Contents

octopath traveler champions of the continent a2 nier automata collab guide

In my last Thief review, I shared some reasons as to why the Thief class is arguably the most overpowered class in Octopath Traveler: COTC.

  • Fastest units with guaranteed multi-hit shield breaking skills
  • The best single target debuffers (Viola/Falco)
  • The best universal backpack (Wingate)
  • Falco’s 15% Dagger DMG to Front Row
  • and of course Therion Traveler: Therion of the Continent™
And now A2 further expands the Thief’s dominance by bringing ridiculous Dagger, Sword, and Axe damage to the table.
 
A2 is a limited time unit from the Nier Automata crossover, blessing Octopath Traveler: COTC with her presence.
 
The very definition of a glass cannon. 
 
She hits like a truck nuclear bomb while dancing around death every turn.
 

Tier List Overview of A2 #

In my tier list of all units by roles, A2 scores S+ in the PDPS category.

She deals record breaking damage in Dagger, Sword, and Axe.

To think of her as a physical DPS Cyrus is to put it lightly — she can do way more damage when just comparing raw numbers and in shorter fights.

She is the first unit without a single source of elemental damage. This isn’t a bad thing, as her skills cover 3 damage types.

She scores S in the Breaker category. Here’s why:

  • 6-hit Dagger/Axe/ or Sword during Berserk mode without requiring max boost
  • 4-hit AOE guaranteed shield break during berserk mode without requiring max boost
  • Caveat is she needs to waste 1 turn activating Berserk mode, and then it only lasts 5 to 8 turns based on Boost
She becomes the biggest glass cannon in the game during Berserk mode. The only reason her Tankiness is not any lower is due to her sturdy passive.
 

Stats

Currently, A2 has the highest PATK amongst all units and the highest HP amongst thieves.
 
With Origin IV weapon equipped, she drops to having the 14th highest PATK stat in the game.
 
This high base PATK stat is one of the reasons she wreaks havoc in the firepower rankings.
 
Her max speed of 435 is a cause for concern, because that’s the same speed as Viola.
 
Like Therion, you’ll want to purposely NOT unlock any of her SPD nodes (unless they’re blocking other nodes) so that she acts slower than Viola and even Falco (410 SPD). You can always revisit her SPD nodes at a later time.
 
If you’ve made a mistake – not too big of an issue. King Chomper Vest (+38 speed) exists, as well as other accessories that can boost SPD.
 

Unit Kit #

Passives

  1. If A2 takes fatal damage from an enemy: Survive with 1 HP. Works once per battle.
    • Easy to use passive that boosts her survivability by a little bit.
    • If she’s already at 1HP, then she cannot die from Berserk’s HP loss passive.
    • If she reaches 1HP as a result of Berserk, this passive does not get proc’d. Meaning if she has 1HP and gets hit the next turn, she’ll still have 1HP.
  2. While in Berserk Mode: Damaging abilities are used a second time for free.
    • This is the single biggest reason why A2 is BrOkEn. Think Therion’s passive, except her skill doesn’t need to be used at max Boost.
    • Berserk mode does not apply to her ultimate skill nor basic attacks.

Best Skills… too many

  • 3* skill: Enter Berserk mode and grant self 15% Phys. Atk, Crit, Speed, and 15% DMG buff for 6 to 9 turns based on Boost Lv. Lose 40% of total HP at the end of each turn. If HP is less than 40%, HP becomes 1.
    • A2’s bread and butter skill; every damaging skill will be repeated without cost
    • Skills that inflict debuffs will double in duration but not potency (e.g PDEF debuff -> 4 turns)
    • Berserk basically only lasts 5 real turns at 0 boost, and 8 turns when used at max boost
    • Berserk’s 40% self damage procs after Regen, so she’ll never be at full HP for as long as Berserk mode is active
    • 15% SPD buff will almost certainly make A2 the fastest unit on the team
    • Berserk mode duration can be increased by 1 turn with backpack unit or accessory that extends augmenting effects
  • 2* skill: 2-hit dagger to all enemies, guaranteed to remove shield points.
    • This turns into a 4-hit AOE guaranteed shield removal during Berserk mode
  • 4* skill: 1-hit Axe to single enemy.
    • Her strongest nuke and strongest attack in the game; likely to reach the damage cap 99,999 x2 during Berserk
  • 5* skill: 1-hit Dagger to single enemy, inflict 20% PDEF Down for 2 turns.
    • Strongest dagger nuke; likely to reach damage cap x2; 20% PDEF debuff is huge
  • 5* skill: 1-hit Sword to single enemy, inflict 20% Spd Down for 2 turns.
    • Strongest sword nuke; likely to reach damage cap x2
  • 5* skill: 1-hit Sword to single enemy, inflict 20% Spd Down for 2 turns.
  • Various 3-hit Dagger/Sword/Axe for shield breaking.
    • In the future with enough buffs and debuff stacking, it may be possible to do 6 x 99,999 in one turn

She has way too many skills, but most people can only bring 3 to battle. 

Generally you’ll want to pick:

  1. Berserk mode
  2. 1-hit nuke based on enemy weakness
  3. 3-hit nuke based on enemy weakness
  4. 2-hit AOE shield break

Ultimate Skill

  • 1-hit single target dagger nuke and inflict 15% PDEF down for 2 turns.
    • This is the second strongest PDEF ultimate debuff in the game (Billy), and stronger than Lars’ 10%
    • A2 can easily act first because of her high base SPD and Berserk’s 15% spd buff
    • Her other skills during Berserk deal way more damage than her ultimate, so you won’t really use her ult that much
    • Prioritize Awakening 1, 2, 3, 4 over Lv 10
Awakening 4 Accessory
  • 70 PATK, 700 HP
  • Raise damage dealt by 10% when exploiting enemy weakness
  • Extend duration of enfeebling effects (debuffs, excluding status ailments) inflicted by 1 turn (Does not stack)

This is an S rank accessory that provides a huge amount of HP for survivability, and the ultra rare debuff extension passive. This will not stack with Viola’s debuff duration passive. 

Exclusive Accessory from Exchange
  • 20 PATK, 20 SP
  • Grant self HP Regen (amount: 300) per turn
This is an okay accessory, providing her with the most important stat for her survival: Regen. I wish it was 500/turn, though.
 

Best Accessories #

  • Kota’s Glove for 30% PATK passive buff is the best universal damage accessory for her
  • Any 15% Dagger/Axe/Sword, depending on the enemy weakness
  • Accessories that boost PATK, especially Alfyn’s A4 that boost PATK when HP is 75% or lower
  • Accessories that provide HP regen; F2P can use Adventurer’s Emblem for 200HP and 200HP regen per turn

Skill Damage Rankings #

I assume all units at A4, Lv 100, with Origin IV weapons.

Unit passives are generally active unless otherwise specified.

Important to note that unless you got the luck of gods or are a mega whale, you won’t be getting A2 to Awaken 4. She is a limited time collab unit that’ll disappear once collab ends. In JP, they did have one Nier rerun.

If Berserk mode is specified, then A2’s damage in the rows below include a 15% PATK buff.

Click here to view the full skill firepower table and an explanation of how it’s made.

Top 25 damaging skills


Needless to say, A2’s damage is at the top of the chart, breaking all damage records for Axe, Dagger and Sword.

Against enemies with higher DEF, she’ll do an even better job than other units given that her base PATK is the highest.

The caveat is that she needs 1 turn to activate Berserk mode. 

Without berserk mode, her damage firepower is more than halved. 

Top 20 Dagger skills
Again, A2 needs to be in Berserk mode to do her god tier damage. Without it, she does average Dagger damage.
 
Top 20 Axe skills
It certainly feels good to see Alfyn dethroned from the top. 
 
Top 20 Sword skills
To think A2 can even dethrone our top tier Sword DPS units Olberic/Lars/Fiore is pretty insane.
 

Team Comps #

  • Falco for Dagger damage up, Sigrid for Sword damage res debuff
  • Wingate as backpack for 20% break damage up
  • TherionGOD will always work well with A2, check the “Should you pull” section for a comment by a Therion main
  • Lynette/Primrose/Glossom multiple other units that buff PATK 
  • Viola/Falco/Glossom for PDEF debuff
  • Absolutely needs regen or she’s effin dead: Alfyn, Theo, Molrusso, Ophilia, Soleil… Olberic maybe
  • Alfyn with Pomegranate Panacea is a DPS’ BFF 
  • Find other companions via the Buff/Debuff finder tool
  • Another useful resource is the recruitable allies table for multi-hit shield shaving and attack buffs
Let’s talk a bit about future team comps with A2.
 

End Game Content Usage #

  • Glossom Cup (Axe and Sword weakness)
  • Varkyn Cup (Varkyn and one add weak to Sword)
  • Gertrude Cup (Dagger)
  • Yunnie Cup (Sword and Axe)
  • Yan Long Cup (Sword)
  • Lv 100 NPC: Muttering Codger (Dagger), Taciturn Housewife (Sword), Once-famous Actress (Axe), Adventurer (Sword/Dagger)
  • The cup after Yan Long (spoiler)
  • The two adds in the 2nd cup after Yan Long (spoiler)
  • Thief Job Tower (spoiler)

Should You Pull? #

Yes but really only if you can reach pity. The rates are so going to be so brutal, with A2 in the same featured banner as 9S and 2B.

Should you pull even if you have TherionGOD? 

Well the two don’t replace each other. Therion works better in longer battles while A2 works well in shorter fights.

Having both is going to take your account to the next level.

Below is a comment from the Head Priest of the Therion Church and discord user PrimROse is my EX:

Therion can use restrain to inflict 15% Patk Down, 15% Pdef Down (turns: 2-5 based on Boost Lv.) while A2 uses her dagger nuke for a combined 15% active Patk down, 30% Pdef down for several turns. 
 
Falco can also use 1x Dagger single-target, Self 20% Patk Up + inflict 20% Patk Down for 2 turns to cap his own attack while capping the enemy’s patk down. 
 
With these 3 characters, Viola can be completely displaced in dagger comps.
 
Cool thing is you cap enemy 30% PATK and 30% PDEF down in 3 actions total on a single turn, while doing nice damage and getting 2 breaks in the process. 
 
TherionGod can also extend the two debuffs whenever he wants by recasting Restrain, or using max boost to cap it at 9Turns.😉
 
Alfyn with Pomegranate Panacea allows A2 to use max boost Berserk (8 turns instead of 5 turns), followed by a max boost DPS nuke.
 
Wombo combo features using Falco ult, A2 ult, Sonia ult, Bargello active full frontrow megabuff skill plus Rinyuu’s war prayer channeling in addition to Lynette/Primrose EX frontrow buff + ult buff and maybe even Billy ult for capping def down… 
 
Along w/ a combination of Sonia, Bargello, Sarisa, and Auguste active dagger res downs…
 
Passive res downs from (Canary a4, Sonia a4, and possibly Ri’tu excl. item 2 tho you prbly wouldn’t wanna run it) wombo combo setups is how we can get Therion and A2 to eventually shit out 720k, 900k, or even possibly 1.2 mil damage at some point in the future in JP (whale strats) even non-whales can benefit just by applying as much of the aforementioned wombo combo as possible they’ll still be able to achieve monstrous damage.

Assuming we get JP’s rate of A2 (0.26% for 4-star) (0.40% for 5-star)… then in 200 pulls we have a 73.4% chance of pulling at least one copy of A2.

You’ll probably need at least 5700 gems to reach pity.

If you pull her once, you can spend $$$ to buy her awakening pack for a stone.