Table of Contents
- E-Z Freebies
- Super Important Disclaimer (Read First)
- SSR Selectors
- The Perms
- Acacia - Kaguya/Pine Aurora
- Chenxing - Ethereal Cloud/Anti-Evil Ward
- Haru - Absconditus/16-Psyche
- Mauxir - Shadow Ka/Alloy Truth
- Tess - The Magician/Eccentric Joker
- Katya - Blue Bolt/Neptune Nova
- Eatchel - The Cub/Blitzing Fangs
- Cherno - Enigma/Uninvited Adieu
- Enya - Exuvia/Abyssal Light
- Siris - Ksana/Crowned Flail
- Lyfe - Infinite Sight/Nightborne Crown
- Fenny - Starshine/Heart Hunter
- Vidya - Agave/Snapshot Ace
- Katya - Dawnwing/Aurora Sands
- Marian - Riptide/Abyssal Nymph
- Gacha Banners
- Vic's Picks
A reminder that Seasun does not respect their content creators.
It's that time of the year, again. Snowbreak's second anniversary! Just like last year, it's full of exclusive freebies to take advantage of, as well as an expanded lineup of rerun banners to put your pulls towards. Navigating through everything on offer can be a daunting task, but that's where I come in. Let's get into it.
E-Z Freebies
Let's get the simple stuff out of the way first. Just show up and collect these door prizes, no further thinking required.
Special Invitation: Tess - Phantasia
Log in at any time between July 24 and August 21 (UTC+8) to receive Tess - Phantasia for free. Tess will most likely be a support, and Seasun's track record with freebie supports has been pretty good, so it's a good thing you can pick her up for free. You'll also get a set of the Arcane Squad logistics set designed for her, with substats fixed to decent rolls of usable stats. You won't get her gacha weapon, but you'll be able to farm out a 4★ weapon for her in the event shop which will get you most of the way.
Tickets and Fritia Outfit
Log in between July 10 to August 21 (UTC+8) to receive ten limited operative banner tickets and Fritia - Little Sunshine's Fiery Burst outfit.
As well, log in between June 24 to August 21 (UTC+8) to receive ten limited weapon banner tickets. Don't miss out on these free pulls, as you'll almost definitely need them.
Mail Supply
Log in on each day between July 10 - June 16 (UTC+8) and July 24 - June 30 (UTC+8) to receive Memory Chip x 4 and Medium Stamina refill (60AP) x 3. For newer players, the stamina refills can provide the extra stamina you need to blitz through the main story for extra Digicash to sink into the banner, while experience players can use it to farm more event currency or other resources they might need. The Memory Chips will let you farm the Personal Files of four SSR operatives each day when combined with the normal daily allotment, allowing you to fast-track the development of the multiple operatives you might be picking up this anniversary. And if you don't... well, I'm sure you've got a couple of existing operatives you'd want to work on?
Make sure you log in every day for these, as if you miss a day then you lose that day's rewards.
Super Important Disclaimer (Read First)
This guide's recommendations are made from a gameplay perspective. That is to say, what I think is the best value in terms of what an operative or weapon can provide in game modes like Neural Simulation and Supreme Battleground. If you just want an operative because they are your waifu or you find them to be super hot, that's perfectly fine; the vast majority of the gameplay content in this game is extremely easy and can be cleared by basically anyone. But that is also a decision that I trust you can make for yourself.
As well, many operatives and weapons available in the selector or rerun banners are relatively old, and as such have not held up well in terms of gameplay strength. I can only nicely say that an operative is hopelessly powercrept in so many ways, so please excuse any bluntness.
Lastly, don't rush to use your selectors. They don't expire, so you can take your time to really think about what you want.
SSR Selectors
Log in between July 20 to August 21 (UTC+8) to receive a selector for both a limited SSR operative and limited SSR weapon. Pick between any SSR operative or weapon released between the game's release up to Azure Paradise. There's a lot to choose from, so let's go over the options.
The Perms
These are the standard banner operatives and their weapons:
| Operative | Weapon |
|---|---|
| Lyfe - Wild Hunt | Stardust Memory |
| Fenny - Coronet | Sunny Payback |
| Yao - Winter Solstice | Space Cowboy |
| Fritia - Hush | Lava Bones |
| Marian - Swift | Horn of the Orca |
| 100 Battle Veteran | |
| Olympus | |
| Tiny Grains | |
| Star Ocean | |
| Trial's Eve |
Basically all of these operatives are powercrept to varying degrees, so it's not recommended to grab any of them for actual gameplay purposes. However, veteran players may find a different use for them. If you have any of these operatives maxed out at Manifestation 5, you can use the selector to grab another dupe copy and convert the Manifestation fragments into currency that can be traded for fragments for any other operative you want to invest in. Of course, you should make sure that there's absolutely nobody else you want before doing this, or that the operative you want isn't already on the selector itself, as directly acquiring the dupe will naturally grant more Manifestation fragments.
As for the weapons, the ones that serve as signature weapons for a standard SSR operative are realistically only as good as the operative they're for, which makes none of them a particularly valuable pickup. Of the remaining weapons, 100 Battle Veteran and Tiny Grains can be used as upgrades to Cherno - Enigma and Enya - Tempest's shop weapons respectively, though they will of course not perform as well as their gacha signature weapons. It's a bit of a dubious value as it would require you to like an operative enough to want to upgrade from their freebie gun, but not enough that you'd be willing to grab their signature the next time it's on rerun, a very specific wavelength of desire, so-to-speak. But hey, I'm sure there's someone out there considering it.
Acacia - Kaguya/Pine Aurora
General Support
So if you've been keeping up with Snowbreak lately, you'll know that Acacia has had her universal resist shredder crown taken from her by the newly released Vidya - Celestial Swan. That does kind of suck for her, but she's still great for two reasons:
- A non-insignificant chunk of content in Snowbreak requires two teams (Neural Simulation, Jotun Tunnel, Supreme Battleground), which means that being the #2 universal support still makes you pretty useful.
- You might not even have Vidya! I feel like this is point is pretty self-explanatory.
She remains a highly valuable pickup for players who don't have her already.
Her weapon Pine Aurora, on the other hand, is not nearly as good. It doesn't even reliably beat out the 4★ weapon Prismatic Igniter at T1, and T2 is a big investment in what is an objectively underwhelming weapon compared to other signature weapons. See this section of Vidya - Celestial Swan's review to see how it fails to stack up to modern signature weapon expectations.
Verdict: Not the best anymore, but the GOAT's still got it.
Chenxing - Ethereal Cloud/Anti-Evil Ward
Hybrid DPS
Chenxing has been effectively completely powercrept and only really exists to murder Hela and her Ragethorn cousin. Considering the last time that either of the Hela twins showed up in Sim was six months ago, it's fair to say that she isn't the most high-value acquisition.
Anti-Evil Ward is only used with Chenxing, and has limited if any use otherwise.
Verdict: A once-great DPS reduced to a one-trick-pony.
Haru - Absconditus/16-Psyche
Skill DPS
Haru's entire kit is the bare minimum of functionality expected from DPS operatives these days, which bodes about as well for her gameplay value as you might think.
16-Psyche is only used with Haru, and has limited if any use otherwise. Also, Star Ocean is arguably better.
Verdict: Still a trophy waifu.
Mauxir - Shadow Ka/Alloy Truth
General Support
Mauxir and the target dummy she spawns still provides truly irreplacable utility, but modern DPS operatives have been relying on it less and less. All three DPS operatives released this year don't really get too much value out of what she brings to the table, which leaves a few question marks around her future importance.
Her weapon Alloy Truth also has gone down in value as alongside Mauxir's own decline, the greater number of supports in the game has cut into the usage of niche supports that typically made use of it. Advanced players can still find very occasional use out of it with these tech options, but it's not nearly as much of a Neural Sim staple as it once was.
Verdict: Pretty usable, but not as much of a priority as she once was.
Tess - The Magician/Eccentric Joker
General Support
A consequence of DPS operatives generally shifting towards Ultimate abilities with lower or negligible U-Energy costs is that Tess' core U-Energy battery utility isn't as important as it has been in the past. However, her damage buffing abilities are still as useful as ever, ironically especially because of how easily other operatives can access their ults without needing Tess' assistance. And of course, just because most operatives have become less U-Energy hunger doesn't mean that all recent releases have been like that (hi Enya - Tempest and Yao - Nightglow). She still has the big asterisk over her head that she's mostly only used in Neural Sim, but if that's a game mode you care about, Tess is worth considering.
Eccentric Joker is only used with Tess and has limited if any use otherwise, but her continued value as an operative makes it a strong upgrade option.
Verdict: Neural Sim tech that still holds up.
Katya - Blue Bolt/Neptune Nova
Ballistic DPS
Powercrept through and through, Blue Bolt's damage numbers just don't hold up anymore. As the only crossbow operative in the game, this means her signature weapon Neptune Nova has no other use cases and is not worth your time.
Verdict: Not even the best Katya on the selector.
Eatchel - The Cub/Blitzing Fangs
General Support
As tempting as it is to get Eatchel as a comfy AFK healer, this is not something that I recommend new players do. To make a long story short, you don't really need the constant healing she provides in most content, and you'll get free alternatives long before you reach the content where you might. See her assessment from the half-anniversary selector guide for the full rundown.
For more veteran players, you can still get good use out of her as an attack buffer, in which case her signature weapon Blitzing Fangs will be a vital part of her loadout.
Verdict: Still kind of a noob trap, still useful for veterans.
Cherno - Enigma/Uninvited Adieu
Skill DPS
The unrelenting passage of time is not kind to anyone, but Cherno especially suffers as it means an expanded list of operatives on the selector that she'll have to compete against. This includes much stronger picks like Lyfe - Infinite Sight and now Katya - Dawnwing, and her heavy dependence on having T2 of her signature weapon certainly doesn't help.
If you do want to commit to Cherno though, Uninvited Adieu is all but mandatory, as it's a massive boost to her DPS. But given her struggles keeping up in the meta, I can't recommend it as an investment path.
Verdict: Unfortunately not it anymore.
Enya - Exuvia/Abyssal Light
Skill Support
Enya is in a bit of a weird spot. On paper, she's still the best-in-slot generalist Skill damage buffer, but recent shifts in Skill DPS kit design have produced operatives that don't shoot as much if at all. This means that Enya can't charge up her support pod unless she has relatively high Manifest investment. Without that active, she loses a lot of her buffing potential and with it, a lot of her value. Of course, it just takes a swing back in the other direction to bring her back to the forefront, and if you already have Skill DPS operatives with strong synergy like Cherno - Enigma and Katya - Dawnwing, then she'll slot in nicely. But nobody knows what Seasun has cooking up in the future, so I'd treat her as an upgrade for what you already have that will also be at least somewhat useful to future Skill DPS operatives.
Abyssal Light is too element-locked to be useful with anyone except Enya, but it is a very meaningful upgrade if you do get use out of her.
Verdict: Good if your roster can use her, but not as universal as she once was.
Siris - Ksana/Crowned Flail
Skill DPS
Powercrept through and through, Ksana's damage output is too little, too late. The only thing she really has going for her anymore is the funny bulldozer standard skill, and I'll leave it up to you as to whether that gimmick is worth blowing an entire SSR selector on.
Her weapon Crowned Flail is pretty weak as far as signature weapons go, and no, it isn't worth using with Nita - Pulse.
Verdict: Why?
Lyfe - Infinite Sight/Nightborne Crown
Hybrid DPS
While not the apex predator she once was, Lyfe holds up decently well as a DPS. Her only real competition among the options on the selector is Katya - Dawnwing, who has a much higher investment requirement before her damage output starts taking off. This makes Lyfe probably the best choice if you want to pick up a DPS with your selector.
Nightborne Crown cannot be used with anyone but Lyfe, but it is a respectably strong signature weapon compared to the free alternative.
Verdict: The best DPS available, two selectors in a row.
Fenny - Starshine/Heart Hunter
Ballistic Support
Still a great support for the vast majority of Ballistic DPS operatives. Unlike Enya - Exuvia's struggles with changing Skill DPS design, it's probably a safe bet that Ballistic DPS operatives will want to be shooting for the foreseeable future. And if the DPS is shooting, they'll need ammo, and if they need ammo, then Fenny can be of use.
Heart Hunter is not as big of a boost as a comparable DPS operative signature, but this is a pretty common theme among support weapons in general, and Fenny's team flexibility keeps it as a weapon you'll probably get a lot of use out of if you run Ballistic DPS teams.
Verdict: Still holds up, no notes.
Vidya - Agave/Snapshot Ace
Skill DPS
Somehow, Vidya's assessment managed to get even worse since the last time we looked at her at the game's 1.5th anniversary. She's still more or less just premium AFK waveclear, but players who were around to pick up Enya - Tempest will find that she manages to outperform Vidya in even that regard. Outside of her designated pandering boss and the one other boss where her parts-breaking niche is actually useful, Vidya serves no meaningful purpose that another operative can't do better.
Don't bother with her signature weapon. It's not bad or anything, but it's only worth using on Vidya, and well, I assume you read the above paragraph.
Verdict: Another member of the trophy waifu club.
Katya - Dawnwing/Aurora Sands
Skill DPS
Katya in her Dawnwing form is the one other DPS operative strong enough to consider using your selector on. This might not be the best option for a new player though, as she does want a couple of Manifestation levels under her belt before her damage starts taking off. However, if you're a veteran player who picked her up in the past at some point but never got around to farming out those Manifests, using your selector on that isn't actually the worst idea. But before you do, keep in mind that Katya is getting yet another DPS alt with the release of Concord Ode, and if the boss preview is anything to go off of, her new Rhapsody exosuit will be Frost again. If you plan on pulling for that, using your selector on another DPS operative of the same element might not be the best idea.
If you do decide to commit to Dawnwing, you will want her signature weapon Aurora Sands, as it is a very large boost to her DPS performance.
Verdict: Still strong, but maybe a bit too pricey for newbies.
Marian - Riptide/Abyssal Nymph
Skill Support
Skill Sub-DPS
I can't believe I'm saying this, but... Riptide isn't entirely a terrible pickup anymore*.
*Provided you already have operatives that can take proper advantage of what she can offer. She's still good enough to not be an active detriment in most Skill DPS teams, but the addition of Nerida - Styx Envoy has given Marian a distinct niche that finally makes her sub-DPS utility meaningful. I think Enya - Exuvia still has an edge as far as Skill support versatility goes, but the extra niche value Riptide has gotten makes her an actually compelling alternative now.
As for her signature weapon Abyssal Nymph, it depends. If you're using her with Nerida, then the extra damage it provides will be meaningful, but it's otherwise a very expensive way to get an extra passive Skill damage buff and maybe not the best bang for your buck.
Verdict: If you can use her well, surprisingly good now.
Gacha Banners
New Faces
If you've ever played a gacha game, then you probably know that units that release during anniversary patches tend to be pretty strong. So with that in mind, your top pulling priority will probably be the new Katya - Rhapsody. There is the off chance that Seasun fumbles the execution and she ends up being underwhelming, but that... probably won't happen. I think.
Veteran players with fleshed-out operative rosters will have the option of doubling down on the expected strength of this anniversary duo by grabbing their signature weapons, but let's also take a look at what the rerun options are.
Reruns
Enya - Tempest
Having stolen the AFK content-clearing crown from Vidya - Agave, Enya is available on a standalone rerun banner and can be also be a strong Neural Sim pick. Theoretically, she's actually the strongest operative available on a selector or rerun banner. However, that endgame performance is very dependant on an M3+ Tess - The Magician shoveling U-Energy for her ult to consume, making it not recommended for new players. But if you just want to press E once every eight seconds to wipe out waves of trash mobs, there's nobody better suited for the task.
Fantasies of Yore/Durin's Masterwork
Here, you pick two of the four options on each banner to pull for, at which point the other two become unavailable. You can freely switch between the two you do pick.
Two operatives here should be familiar if you've read the SSR selector overview. Katya - Dawnwing and Marian - Riptide, as mentioned prior, are still decently strong operatives that work well together. Considering that you can also pick both, it'll let you quickly build up 2/3 of a team with the last slot being filled by any generic support option. I know I mentioned that Dawnwing is pretty investment-hungry in her assessment earlier, but if you're pulling for her here you could use your selectors to bag a Dawnwing dupe and her signature weapon to fast-track her development to big damage numbers. You do miss out on the opportunity to get an entirely new operative, but it's not an entirely terrible idea for veteran players if you want to use her sooner or you don't need anything else from the selector.
Fritia - Turbo is still underwhelming and has all of the issues and shortcomings from back when she originally released. Don't bother.
This leaves Bubu - The Geomancer as our last prospect. She's about on par with Katya - Dawnwing and Lyfe - Infinite Sight in terms of strength, which means that she's definitely worth consideration. If you enjoy her playstyle, I don't see why you shouldn't go for her. However, depending on your priorities, you might not want to pick her here, because she's also available in the other rerun selector.
"Ballistic Bonus" Rerun Selector
This works like the rerun banners above, but this time you only get to pick one. Saving me a lot of effort, I've already talked about all three operatives here. All three are strong, solid picks for players that like to actually shoot in their third-person shooter game. Only being able to pick one from each banner here does limit your options a bit though, as it means you can't use it to piece together a team like with the other rerun selector.
Vic's Picks
But viiiiiiic, deciding is still so hard. Can't you just tell me what to get?
Fine. I guess this is what I (don't) get paid the big bucks for.
As stated before, the newly releasing Katya - Rhapsody is expected to be a very strong operative, and with all of the anniversary goodies you'll be getting, you should be able to easily pick her up. Stick around during the event and get Tess - Rhapsody for free as well, and you can then grab Acacia - Kaguya from the SSR operative selector to have one full team to steamroll through the game. Hang onto the weapon selector though, as using it on Kaguya's signature weapon is kind of a waste. There's no real rush to use it, as it doesn't expire, so you can just hold onto it until you figure out what you want to use it on.
If you're still up to do some gacha pulling, you have three suggested options depending on your gambling tolerance:
- Get Lyfe - Infinite Sight off of the "Ballistic Bonus" rerun banner and use the weapon selector to grab her signature weapon Nightborne Crown. This is the cheapest option, but it does mean you can't use the same rerun banner to get her best-in-slot support Fenny - Starshine unless you decide to commit your operative selector to her instead. It doesn't make Lyfe unplayable, but you'll have to use alternative supports like Fritia - Little Sunshine and Acacia - Redacted to build out your second team. If you really want to go all-in on the new Katya and Tess alts, you could even forgo Kaguya and use your operative selector to get Lyfe instead of rolling for her.
- Roll for Bubu - The Geomancer on the "Fantasies of Yore" rerun banner (I would pick Katya - Dawnwing or Marian - Riptide for the other slot since you do have to pick two), and then pull for Fenny - Starshine on the "Ballistic Bonus" rerun banner. You can then use your weapon selector to get her signature weapon Heart Hunter. This obviously costs more, but only leaves you with one slot that you'll have to fill, which can be done with any generic support.
- On the "Fantasies of Yore" rerun banner, get both Katya - Dawnwing and Marian - Riptide. You can then use the weapon selector to get Katya - Dawnwing's signature weapon, Aurora Sands. Like the second option, this is also a bit pricier, but it this leaves only one empty slot in your second team which can be filled with a support like Chenxing - The Observer. This option is not as recommended compared to the other two because Katya - Dawnwing's damage output requires an above-average amount of Manifestation levels to become competitive (M3+ is recommended), but if you enjoy her playstyle and aren't interested in immediately challenging content like Neural Simulation, then that shouldn't be an issue.
If you're reading this before the Fragments of Truth event has ended, you'll still have the option of rolling for Chenxing - Jade Arc, Yao - Nightglow, and Vidya - Celestial Swan. All three are very strong operative pickups, and I would be perfectly happy skipping all the rerun banners in the anniversary patch to get these three. At the very least, I would get Vidya, as she's the best universal support in the game, period, and will work well with any operative you get now and in the future.
Fritia - Turbo and Siris - Ksana are also still on rerun alongside those three, but well, I assume you've read their assessments above. I really would not.
One final thing to keep in mind: even if you don't pick up an operative's signature weapon, you can still get a 4★ weapon for them via the permanent event weapon farming operations. See here for more info on that.
