Overview
Jericho is a situational handgun excellent for long engagements and supporting MGSG teams. She can give a well needed boost to MGs and SGs by increasing Echelon Accuracy and Damage. Some of Jericho’s drawbacks are her inability to support other weapon classes with her passive and rather weak active Damage buff. Jericho is also required to be in tile range from her current position for her skills to work on allies.
For quick encounters that last one volley, Jericho can compete with other Damage buffers like Mk23, Grizzly, and SAA. In fights that last two volleys, Jericho’s supportive buffs fall below other HGs due to Crimson Eclipse’s relatively weak 15% active Skill multiplier. As the echelon starts with one stack of Jericho’s passive buff, maximum stacks will be reached after two rounds of reloading.
Jericho is useful against enemies with Evasion as she helps her Echelon land more hits with her potent Accuracy buff. Her first story appearance is in chapter 7-1N where a Commander may learn more about her as the former leader of Team Negev. She has excellent synergy with her subordinate Negev in longer fights, stacking an extra 5% on her already incredible 50% Damage buff per reload. After maximum stacks are reached, Negev can deal almost 3.4x base damage from just her own buff, with Jericho’s passive bumping it up to over a 3.9x multiplier.
Pros
Strong Extended Battle DPS (MG,SG)
Jericho’s passive Skill will allow reloading MGs and SGs to dish out 5% extra damage per reload with a stacking effect for up to 3 times. Once maximum stacks are reached, the buffs from her passive are constant and its refresh time is long enough to keep the stacks up comfortably.
Strong Tile Buff
Jericho offers a decent 24% Damage/50% Accuracy boost on her tiles, which is on par with that of SAA. Furthermore, as Jericho’s MG/SG allies start the battle with one stack of her 5% Damage/Accuracy passive buff, her tiles effectively offer a 30% DMG/60% ACC boost.
Cons
Limited Flexibility
Jericho’s Skill set limits her movement, as both active and passive skills require T-dolls to be positioned on her tiles (from her current position) to benefit from her buffs.
Passive Only Affects MGs and SGs
Due to her passive Skill only affecting T-Dolls that reload, the passive Skill will have no effect on any other weapon besides MGs and SGs. T-Dolls of other classes that reload, such as Falcon, do not receive Jericho’s Skill effects.
Full analysis
Jericho can bring out incredible amounts of DPS for MGs and SGs by providing a passive that works similarly to Negev’s Skill, albeit with a much lower multiplier. The most unique part of her passive buff is the stacking effect it gives with a 15 second duration, which will max out on the third volley with a continuous effect that would not run out before the next reload. The 15% Accuracy and Damage buff will remain on that T-doll as long as they reload on Jericho’s tiles.
Although Jericho’s Tile Buffs support all weapon classes, non-reloading T-Dolls will not be able to benefit from Jericho’s passive. Jericho’s awkward tile layout also makes it challenging for her to buff allies due to her Skill only affecting T-Dolls on her tiles, which is much more restrictive compared to other HG T-dolls that can activate in any position like Mk23, Grizzly, and SAA. Even K5, another T-Doll with the same tile limitation on her active Skill, has a much easier time buffing her teammates due to her much larger and more flexible tile coverage.
To effectively make use of her tiles, Jericho is to be best placed in positions 5 or 2 for full echelon coverage in a MGSG echelon, with both MGs packed vertically next to each other. Commanders will need to keep in mind that this will also leave an open row for forward focus enemies to move down. Using 2 HGs can fix this open space for any enemies that make it past the front row by moving them in the position to block incoming enemies. Echelon compositions can be made up of 2MG/2SG/1HG or 2MG/1SG/2HG, though they each have their pros and cons. 2SG team comps will provide a better defense and survivability especially against enemies such as Judge who can attack 2 T-Dolls simultaneously, whereas an extra HG can provide a substantial Damage boost from tiles and offer either more Damage with her Skill, or a debuff that enhances Echelon survivability.
Most battles will not be long enough for Jericho’s passive skill to reach its maximum of 3 stacks. As MGSG teams tend to end fights within the first volley, the T-Dolls do not reload and Jericho’s passive will not stack. In certain prolonged battles such as the Judge encounter in Chapters 9 and 10 where Negev would be used, Jericho’s passive is able to stack fully and allow her to perform slightly better than the alternatives. At the end of the day, Jericho is a solid HG buffer that can be used in any MGSG Echelon that works with her strange tile buff layout, though she is bested in flexibility by the more conventional HG picks for MGSG echelons who have more amicable tile coverage.