The Evealia Guide Through Babel (event) - Part I
Wow, who would've ever thought that I have more enthusiasm to talk about the Babel event and that, which has to do with the Sarkaz race, than I do with literally anything else.
I have 0 excuses. So I shall provide none.
This is the personalized (read: for me) guide through the Babel event in Arknights, with a provided story explanation/synopsis and a run-down on the event characters/media.
Gorgeous medals by the way, there's something within me that screams and years for them. Maybe it's because I've been playing this game for two, running towards three years and I'm attached to the Sarkaz. I'm attached to Theresa and Babel and can't wait to see how this event could possibly change my opinion of Theresis and Manfred.
(Warning: The following post will contain spoilers for the event, as well as commentary on my experience. Thank you for reading.)
With all that said, I think I'm going to go through the characters first. We're happy to welcome four new Operators who would happily join Rhodes Island: Lutonada, Odda, Aroma and Ascalon.
Only one of them we already know about from the Main Theme Chapter 13; Only two of them will be relevant to the story.
So let's start with the one we won't be mentioning ever again - Lutonada.
A new 4-star juggernaut defender from Bolivar. You can see her unique in that she is the first 4-star character of this class. Alongside her are Mudrock, Penance and Vulcan. To be fair, it's a spicy- I meant, it's a pricy class, with most of the characters costing over 30DP to deploy; making it tricky to use early if you don't have at least two flag Vanguards and difficult to leave alone if they're not Mudrock.
Juggernauts are special also with their inability to be healed, making it detrimental for them to have their own type of healing in their kit. Lutonada heals when an enemy she is blocking dies. That makes her S2 the most important skill, because according to the numbers - it charges pretty fast and its mechanic is basically: >Pull enemy towards self via magnets >Block >???? >Heal Pretty easy to use and I, as a fan of Empowered Attacks, love her S1 because those sweet, sweet 230% damage on an attack for every 3 seconds on her M3 sound very nice.
Should you build her? Personally, the downside to her is that as a 4-star she has significantly less HP than Penance and Mudrock, but you can practically ignore the 200HP difference between her and Vulcan. The same can be said about their attack and defence (ALL of this at E2).
Dr. Eve will always support your simple, carnal desires above all else. You want her? Did you pull her? Then build her. To bypass the Juggernaut's inability to be healed, you can always snatch either a Perfumer, Angelina (E2 perk), Suzuran (S3), or Blemishine (S2) who all have passive healing on all allies under some conditions, or you can use a Bard supporter like Heidi, Skalter and Sora.
Her Module is kind of... Eh? For all the cost you throw, she recovers 20% HP when an enemy blocked by her dies. It does sound like a lot, but I'm not sure if it means exactly what I think it does. I wanted her but didn't get her. Hope the little ratscal joins my ship eventually.
NB: Forgot to mention - her push force is 0 for her S2 and so far it doesn't seem to change with Masteries. Keep that in mind.
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Next up we have Aroma, this is our new 5-star Blast Caster - on the same road as Corroserum and Ifrit.
The difference between her utility and Corroserum's (I won't talk about Ifrit, because she is practically the best, most aggressive Blast Caster you can find) is within the effects of their abilities. Numbers aren't really that important here, because they're both 5-stars.
What is important to note is that while Corroserum's S1 is practically unwanted because of his 10s stun duration, his S2 is helpful because it silences the enemies for 5 seconds max at M3.
Meanwhile, Aroma deals extra ARTS damage on her S1 + she deals additional damage to AERIAL targets. It's pretty helpful but practically feels useless, because rare are the times we have aerial targets line up perfectly and for long enough to fit inside her range. Unless she is used to taking down aerial targets when they float.
Her S2 just does additional damage to enemies who have been Levitated - props to her talent. The other people who levitate so far are Chongyue, Irene, Ho'olheyak, Quanipalaat and Odda.
I... am... Not sure if her Module expands her range like the other Blast Casters'? But it sounds like it should, it would be unfair otherwise. I'm leaving it for you to decide if you want this, but it's surprisingly easy to build material-wise.
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Which brings us to our second before last Operator, the free character in the Event whom you can get with just 40% of all the currency you'll be getting. It's a long story.
First in many things, Odda is an unseen before Earthshaker Guard. That role is kind of like Dreadnought guards, but they can block two enemies from the get-go and they do an AOE attack each basic attack.
Him, I actually got all the tickets to and dropped Ash to build. He has an empowered attack for his S1 which ends up at a chargetime of whooping 2 seconds!!! It extends the splash area as well with .5 tiles, so... He does damage of 1.5 tiles additionally.
Unlike Lutonada, Odda's S2 has Levitate with a weight of 3 or less for 0.5 seconds on each splash attack.
He doesn't have any Modules so far, but I personally have gotten attached to him through the story. I want to mention that unlike what I've noticed, his story says he is a Messenger from Kazdel. I thought it was interesting this bean with a gargantuan hammer is intended to... run around as fast as he can.
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And finally, I almost forgot, we have Ascalon - our very dedicated Ambusher Specialist. At least that's what is said about her, but I heard that practically even Ethan is better in certain aspects.
I didn't like Ascalon when we first met her, even though her design was amazing.
Passively, her talent slows the Movement Speed of enemies and they take Ascalon's ATK as ARTS damage per second for 18/25 seconds (E1/E2). In her E2 she gets more ASPD and gains even more (wow, 8+6) if there is high ground in the 4 adjacent tiles.
Looks like this is the patch for enhanced attacks because Ascalon does 210% additional damage to an enemy, attacking twice and stores up to 3 charges in her M3 for S1.
Her S2 gives her +130% ATK, slows enemies by 60% if they are on the ground and in attack range and inflicts her T1 (the poison-esque damage) on nearby enemies when defeated. The radius of this 'nearby' means 1.3 tiles away. And it's specified that the MS reduction works on Aerial targets too, but the Talent effect is applied only to ground units.
Finally, to top it off, her range expands and she attacks faster and reduces the Physical and Arts hit rate of ground enemy units by 50%. She's more likely to be targeted by enemies, but recovers 8% MAX HP when she manages to dodge.
Her S1 gets increased, that's all.
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Right. Everybody should be on the list. Now, to my favourite part of events - watching the YT videos that are meant to introduce the event for us.
First came the Official Babel Trailer.
Here is a script I very painstakingly made of everything written on the screen, because I'm unfortunately not that fast of a reader. During my scripting, I also noticed that the last line... is almost impossible to notice because the screen cracks and glitches when it shows up. I didn't notice it the first two times I watched it for my own pleasure.
[Theresa, you've forged an irreversible "fate".] [Swords and spears sharpen in fear of your bloodkin.] [You believe our differences will eventually be put aside,] [That the tribes will ultimately unite.] [Theresa, I've seen it... your wish.] [A sea of stars shining at the end of savagery,] [A new path emerging from the storm.] [But every path has an end, Theresa.] [When you surpass the limits of civilization,] [No one will be able to comprehend your love...] [They will loathe you...] [They will fear you...] [Until hate transforms the land into ruin.] [Until blood washes the memories away.] [But we do not struggle on our own, do we?] [Words of hope are engraved on wreckage.] [...You have brought us ample delights.] [So, don't let go of my hands.] [Let's see for ourselves, together.] [Watch life awaken from despair...] [I want you to believe,] [We can still stand together,] [in the sea of flowers, listening...] [To the voices of the universe...]
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As a side note, Twitter provides another just slightly edited video of the new characters which I like to include for the fullness of the list. You can watch it Here, since I can't find it on YT.
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Finally, here is the Arknights Animation PV for Babel.
Dying. And crying. Screaming. You can see baby Amiya. You see baby Ascalon, Manfred, Theresa... Little Logos, ilovehim. His terrible haircut, his pointy ears, the cutiest that has ever patootied, I was screeching worse than any Banshee you could ever hear when I saw him.
The speaker I'm pretty sure is Kal'tsit and the important information is provided in the video description itself:
[To advance from present to future, You first settle the past.] [Arknights: Babel] [Your Highness... I swear to you]
I remember when I saw it my first thought was: Oh my god are we seeing somebody having a father??? But then I think I got swept away seeing Manfred being tied to a pole with Theresis and Theresa being the best adoptive parents that could exist.
Also, Savage jumpscare.
Also also,
Genuinely me.
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Last on the list for today is the furniture set: 'Scar Market Memories' A room modeled after the Scar Market based on the Sarkaz mercenaries' descriptions. The market was known for its disorder and disarray. Its visual appearance was established by a Cyclops who had been in charge for several decades.
I really like this one, it fits so well with Hoederer's furniture pack because they're both very... Sarkaz. By Sarkaz, I mean that they look like a hole you could've dug up to live in. Kind of cosy, kind of sad. Like anything Sarkaz we're about to learn.
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This is what it looks like on the ship without the Minecraft shaders. Now let's just go through some of them and see the more interesting tidbits of information we have about the Sarkaz lifestyle.
Surely, a piece of furniture can't have any sort of angst about it. I mean, come on, it's just a room.
Downward Facing Branches
A withered thick tree branch, severed to a third of its original length. "We hang a dead tree branch above our heads to remind every Sarkaz: Death is gazing upon you."
...
...
...
What the absolute hell.
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Long Twig
It's.... It's just a long twig.
Please.
A withered, thick tree branch, severed to a third of its original length. It is a symbol that stands in for the dead. The corpse of the tree is twisted and haggard, just like our fallen comrades in their final moments.
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Witchcraft Workbench
A metal table full of scratches and marks, with a basket holding strange tools hanging underneath. All astute mercenaries know that they should never ask about the tools' real purpose.
God damn it.
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Oddities Showcase
Oh, yeah, I love oddities showcases, I've seen people make miniature showcases of like... things they... like...
A collection of cheap objects brought back from all across Terra is put on display here. The "oddities" in the name refers not to the trinkets, but to the mercenaries who managed to bring them here without dying.
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"Work and Life"
A storage rack with some daily necessities, a few wanted posters, and quite a few ID tags. Note: The ID tags are just decorations. No Sarkaz mercenaries were harmed in the making of this collection.
You're funny, you're so very funny I am clapping my thighs with amusement you freak--- *Gets dragged away by Hoederer for a 10-minute break*
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Hoederer: "Doctor..." Me: "I don't want to read anymore..." Hoederer: "Doctor, please, you've been stalling for so long. You have to at least finish this part." Me: "Can we just please do anything else, I am going to die if I have to read another furniture set that talks about how each and every Sarkaz dies like a mayfly unnoticed and illiterate until somebody who probably minutely knew about them notices they've been gone four months past when they were meant to return-" Hoederer: "They do." Me: "... I'm sorry. I'm going back to work."
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Steel Rail Lights
Hanging from the dark ceiling light are a cloth, a teapot, and some wine glasses; also some books. "I just put whatever on top since it's convenient. Just like how I put my life on the line for coin. Because money is convenient."
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Messy Wine Cabinet
A messy storage shelf with wineglasses and a bottle of wine of unknown origin. Strong liquor distilled from grains is the mercs' favorite. It's cheap, strong, and "kills instantly."
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Charcoal Oven
The charcoal fire burns slowly and projects a dark red color on the oven. To prevent indoor carbon monoxide poisoning, the "fire" here is actually a number of lights with different colors.
Are you saying.... Are you saying that they...
Okay, I think we're done here, nothing more interesting to see from the furniture set. Everything is terrible and all died, some mercenaries have artistic vision while others sleep on metal mats and other trash they put together.
I can't believe I called any of this cosy before reading their descriptions.
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I also want to give props to all of you, each comment is such a banger I've been laughing at them separately and together for ten minutes now.