A 
Ether
Support
Ether
Support
Nicole
Boss of the Cunning Hares
TierS
RolesSupport
Release1.0
Nicole is an A-Rank Ether Support you get for free. Her Energy Fields and enhanced bullets apply a massive 40% DEF Shred, pull enemies together and, at M6, give the squad CRIT Rate. Ether teams also get +25% Ether DMG. Almost every non-Rupture team benefits from her, which makes her one of the best budget Supports in the game.
DEF Shred Support
W-Engines
The Vault BiS
A · Energy Regen
Best in slot: fits her normal rotation perfectly, adds a 15% DMG taken debuff and lots of Energy. A-Rank and easy to find.
Ether DMG from EX Specials, Chain Attacks or Ultimates makes the target take 15% more DMG from all units and boosts the wielder's Energy Regen.
Weeping Cradle
S · PEN Ratio
Rina's signature: a strong team-wide damage amp with off-field Energy Regen. Its PEN Ratio main stat does little for her, though.
Off-field Energy Regen +0.6/s; the wielder's hits make the target take 10% to 20.2% more DMG from all units for 3s.
Kaboom the Cannon
A · Energy Regen
Best generic Support W-Engine after Weeping Cradle: Energy Regen main stat and an ATK buff that's always up.
Each squad member landing a hit grants the whole squad ATK +2.5% for 8s, up to 4 stacks.
Slice of Time
A · PEN Ratio
Free generic option that feeds Decibels and Energy. Replace it once you have something better.
Squad Dodge Counters, EX Specials, Assist Attacks and Chain Attacks generate bonus Decibels and Energy for the wielder.
[Reverb] Mark II
· Energy Regen
B-Rank stopgap with an Energy Regen main stat.
EX Specials or Chain Attacks give the squad +10 Anomaly Mastery and Anomaly Proficiency for 10s (20s cooldown).
Unfettered Game Ball
A · Energy Regen
Team CRIT Rate after Attribute Counters. Game8 ranks it second, but Prydwen puts it last: it comes from the City Fund and is weaker than the options above.
Attribute Counter effects raise all units' CRIT Rate against the target by 12% for 12s.
Drive Discs
Moonlight Lullaby
×4
Phaethon's Melody
×2
Best set for Support Agents: a big squad DMG buff that lasts 25s and triggers from an EX Special or Ultimate.
Set effects
2pEnergy Regen +20%
4pWhen the equipper is a Support character and uses an EX Special Attack or Ultimate, the DMG dealt by all squad members increases by 18% for 25s. Repeated triggers reset the duration. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.
2pAnomaly Mastery +8%.
Astral Voice
×4
Phaethon's Melody
×2
Strongest buff when fully stacked through Quick Assists, but harder to keep up.
Set effects
2pATK +10%
4pWhenever any squad member enters the field using a Quick Assist, all squad members gain 1 stack of Astral, up to a maximum of 3 stacks, and lasting 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration. Each stack of Astral increases the DMG dealt by the character entering the field using a Quick Assist by 8%. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.
2pAnomaly Mastery +8%.
Swing Jazz
×4
Chaotic Metal
×2
Game8's pick, and the in-game recommendation: +15% squad DMG for 12s after a Chain Attack or Ultimate. An easy early option.
Set effects
2pEnergy Regen +20%
4pLaunching a Chain Attack or Ultimate increases all squad members' DMG by 15% for 12s. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.
2pEther DMG +10%
Main stats
Disc 4
ATK%
/ Anomaly Proficiency
Disc 5
Ether DMG Bonus
/ ATK%
Disc 6
Energy Regen
/ ATK%
Substat priority
1Anomaly Proficiency
2ATK%
3ATK
Stat targets
- Enough Energy Regen to open every Stun with an EX Special (The Vault helps a lot)
- ATK 2,000–2,400+ and Anomaly Proficiency 200–320+ are optional extras for her own damage and Anomaly Buildup
- HP 10,000+, DEF 800+ for comfort
Talent priority
Core Skill
Chain Attack
Special Attack
Basic Attack
Assist
Dodge
Her value comes from the debuff, not her stats. Level her Core Skill first: it strengthens the DEF reduction.
Teams
Recommended teams
Free Ether core: Pyrois & Astra Yao
Nicole's most used team in the current Shiyu Defense. Pyrois is free from the main story and shares her Ether attribute, so her Additional Ability adds +25% Ether DMG.
Classic Ether: Zhu Yuan & Qingyi
Nicole and Zhu Yuan activate each other's Additional Abilities, giving Zhu Yuan more CRIT Rate and the squad more Ether DMG. Nicole also fills Zhu Yuan's downtime nicely.
Guide
How to play
Her debuff
- Hitting an enemy with her Energy Field (EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, Ultimate) or with her enhanced bullets reduces its DEF by 40% for 3.5s. Every hit refreshes the timer, so it can effectively last up to about 7s.
- She reloads her enhanced bullets after hitting with a Special, EX Special, Chain Attack or Ultimate. Her standard Dash also reloads after a short while.
In practice
- Stun burst: open with her EX Special, then weave her Chain Attack, Ultimate or a second EX mid-Stun so the debuff (and Moonlight Lullaby or Astral Voice) stays up. The Vault's Energy Regen often allows two EXs per Stun.
- Out of Stun: swap to her while your DPS is locked in a long animation (a level-3 Shimotsuki from Miyabi, Zhu Yuan's finisher…) and refresh the debuff with a directional Dash Attack or an EX.
- Her neutral Dash Attack (no direction input) is one of the fastest Heavy Attacks in the game, handy for triggering Chain Attacks.
- Her Chain Attack and Ultimate are very fast: they're almost always worth using in combos.
Don't aim for 100% uptime: it costs too much field time. Focus on covering your DPS's big hits.
Strengths
- Huge 40% DEF Shred that boosts almost any damage dealer.
- Free, and M6 is easy to reach. She's also a rate-up A-Rank on both Phase I banners until September 30.
- Very low field time, with fast Chain Attacks, Ultimates and Quick Assists.
- Gathers enemies with her Energy Fields, which is great in Shiyu Defense.
Weaknesses
- The debuff only lasts 3.5s, so keeping it up takes constant attention.
- Useless with Rupture Agents, whose Sheer DMG already ignores DEF.
- DEF Shred makes PEN Ratio less valuable: avoid pairing her with Rina or stacking PEN Ratio.
Notable dupes · Mindscape Cinema
M1
Solid upgrade
EX Special DMG and Anomaly Buildup +16%, and charging it makes the Energy Field last longer.
M4
Optional
Bigger Energy Fields for easier enemy grouping.
M6
Big upgrade
Energy Fields give the squad up to +15% CRIT Rate against the target. Prydwen's T0.5 rating assumes M6.
Community
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Updated September 24, 2026 · Version 3.2