This post is up to date with Version 2.2.
Huma is the Simulacrum tied to the Molten Shield V2, a SSR Flame Defense Weapon. She is one of Tower of Fantasy‘s standard SSR “characters”. Primarily, her weapon serves as a tank.
Base Kit
The Molten Shield V2 has both its Shatter and Charge set to 10.00. This makes the weapon an all-rounded option for breaking enemy shields and charging your arsenal to perform Discharges. As a standard SSR weapon from launch, the Molten Shield V2 does not provide Flame Resonance. For the effect, you’ll need to look towards other sources such as Cobalt-B/Blazing Revolver and Ruby/Sparky. This can create a slight redundancy as the weapons that currently provide Flame Resonance also happen to have solid Shatter and Charge stats as well.
Despite its name, the Molten Shield V2 actually has two forms. By default, it assumes its titular Shield Form but by casting its Skill, Fission, the weapon switches into Axe Form. The Molten Shield reverts back to Shield Form when you switch weapons or when you press the Skill button again. Each form has its own combo list and animations. Generally speaking, Axe Form has slightly better reach and higher damage multipliers than Shield Form. Two attacks in particular are quite drastic between the two forms. The first is Anticipation, “Huma’s” charged attack. Axe Form performs a ground slam. Shield Form renders you immobile but gives you the benefit of taking 50% less damage. Releasing your normal attack button after taking damage or after you hold it for 3 seconds, allows you to unleash a fire crash and deal damage back to your target. The second attack is Erupt, Huma’s dodge attack. Axe Form is a simple spin attack while Shield Form has you firing out an explosion that stuns targets in addition to damaging them.
Given its higher multipliers, you ideally want the Molten Shield in Axe Form if you want better DPS. As mentioned earlier however, you automatically revert to Shield Form when you switch to a different weapon in your loadout. You could just stay in Axe Form but that then creates the issue of holding off on your Discharges which you often don’t want to do, especially if your survival depends on it. Most troublesome is the fact that Fission has a lengthy cooldown of 25 seconds. This begins ticking down once Fission is casted but if you prematurely revert back to Shield Form, it can be a while before you can reuse Axe Form. All these factors combined, it can be difficult sustaining Axe Form during combat.
For its Discharge, Seething Rage, the Molten Shield removes all debuffs on your Wanderer, unleashes a Flame-based shockwave, taunt enemies for 5 seconds, and reduce incoming damage by 15% for the same amount of time. Additionally, shield-shaped icons will be dropped onto the ground, one for each enemy taunted. These last for 20 seconds and each one you pick up will reduce incoming damage by 5% and for 10 seconds as well as restore your dodge by 1. This ability is what mainly makes the Molten Shield a tank. Combined with healing, the innate damage reduction allows you to act as a sturdy wall in combat. It also synergizes well with the Shield Form of Anticipation. The aggro is rendered moot in solo combat but it is a useful form of crowd control when you’re fighting with other players. The only issue with the Discharge is the shield icon as picking them up in the heat of combat can be easier said than done.
Advancements
- A1 – Grants you a stack of Strong Shield, upon casting the Molten Shield’s Discharge. Using Shield Form’s charged attack, dodge attack, and plunge attack grants you another stack. Up to three Strong Shields can be obtained and each one reduces incoming damage by 10% and for 15 seconds. If you switch to Axe Form, Strong Shield stacks become Sharp Axe stacks. Each stack of this buff increases your damage by 15% for 15 seconds. This is a very solid Advancement, contributing to both your DPS and tanking. It is also a less clunkier buff compared to the shield icons that you innately generate with the Molten Shield’s Discharge. The only issue is that either buff vanishes once you switch to a different weapon.
- A2 – Increases the Molten Shield V2’s base HP growth by 16%.
- A3 – Increases the damage of Shield Form’s charged attack, dodge attack, and plunge attack by 4% of your Wanderer’s current HP. This pairs nicely with “Huma’s” A1 and it’s a nice compensation for Shield Form’s lower DPS.
- A4 – Increases the Molten Shield V2’s base ATK growth by 32%.
- A5 – Grants a 30% damage reduction buff upon switching to Axe Form; this buff diminishes by 10% every 3 seconds until it reaches down to 10%. Like with A1, this buff is canceled out when you switch weapons. This buff allows Axe Form to be a more competitive tank compared to Shield Form. It is on a 30 second cooldown but given the Skill cooldown of 25 seconds, the downtime isn’t necessarily that bad.
- A6 – Enhances the Molten Shield’s Skill in a couple ways. Switching to Shield Form now deals 60% more damage and the AoE of the transformation is increased by 30%. Upon switching to Axe Form, all incoming damage is converted into healing for the next 5 seconds. Healing obtained this way caps at 15% of your Wanderer’s Max HP. The latter effect is the more valuable of the two. It doesn’t necessarily allow you to forgo a healer in your loadout but it does make Axe Form even better at tanking.
As a standard SSR, Huma’s Advancements can be obtained by chance and via the Commissary. With enough patience, you can get her weapon to A6 for free and any money you are willing to burn for Tower of Fantasy can be used for something else. Besides A0 and A6, I recommend having Huma’s weapon at A1.
Awakening
Huma’s Simulacrum Trait allows you to gain a Fortitude mark when you take damage. If you take Flame damage, you can receive an additional stack. Up to 12 stacks can be obtained. When you use a weapon Skill, all the Fortitude marks in your possession will be used up and grant you a shield for 12 seconds. The shield’s damage absorption varies, depending on the number of stacks and having all 12 stacks gives the shield a better modifier. This trait can be useful for survivability and it synergizes well with the Molten Shield’s own kit though due to the stacking mechanic, its mileage will vary. Frankly, there are better shields available in the game.
Matrices
- Huma (4) – Huma’s 2-Piece bonus gives dodge attacks the ability to inflict Bleed, dealing damage equal to a certain percentage of your Wanderer’s ATK every second and for 5 seconds. This synergizes the most when the Molten Shield V2 reaches A1 and A3, where you want to periodically use Shield Form’s dodge attacks. Huma’s 4-Piece bonus reduces the ATK of all targets you’re attacking within 8 meters. It does squat for your DPS but it can come handy for tanking and survivability. Huma’s Matrices can be obtained via Mirroria’s gachapon machines so you can eventually get the full set with enough grinding and patience.
- Huma (2)/Samir (2) – The most F2P-friendly 2-Piece combination for DPS, due to both sets being obtainable via Mirroria’s gachapon machines. Samir (2) increases damage for 1.5 seconds and by 1% and up to a certain number of times for every hit you land. The Molten Shield isn’t necessarily the fastest at building stacks but any amount will be useful for it.
- Crow (2)/Samir (2) – A go-to 2-Piece combination for DPS. Crow (2) increases CRIT Damage to targets with less than 60% HP. It’s very good for DPS and it pairs nicely with Samir (2).
- Crow (2)/Shiro (2) – A middle ground between DPS and shield breaking. Shiro (2) gives increased damage and Shatter to targets with more than 50% HP so it’s very useful if you’re using the Molten Shield to break shields.
- Robarg (3) – Poisons your target for 10 seconds after their shield is shattered; a decent SR set to use for your shield breaker.
- Sobek (3) – Increases your own damage for every enemy nearby, up to 3 times. This is a go-to SR set for DPS, especially for group encounters.
Closing Words
Huma’s weapon is one of the more flawed “characters” in Tower of Fantasy. Its effectiveness as a tank is fine. If you play the cards right, it’ll do a good job at playing defense. What baffles me is its dual forms. It is cool that the Molten Shield has an avenue for DPS buts its practicality is questionable. I think it would’ve been better if the mechanic was removed entirely, in favor of something that would contribute more to the weapon’s ability to tank hits.
Xenodude's Scribbles 