Full analysis
Px4 Storm is the first HG T-Doll to be released on EN with tile buffs that can cover the entire backline from position 8, a welcome change of pace from the typical conundrum where a position 8 HG will only buff the DPS at position 7 while leaving the position 1 T-Doll unaffected by their tile buff. With a high Evasion of 93, Px4 Storm can still survive somewhat decently in the front column despite her below-average health of 68 per dummy link.
Of course, tile buffs doth not a T-Doll make. It is thus important to look at Px4 Storm’s most defining trait: her Hunter’s Bargain skill. Unlike most recent T-Dolls released in CN whose complex skill descriptions belie a fairly straightforward mechanic, Px4 Storm’s skill is the opposite: a simple effect that requires a deceptively detailed understanding of the game’s damage calculation formulae to really take advantage of.
Fortunately, the hard math has already been done. Here’s a quick summary chart of how much Hunter’s Bargain improves DPS, assuming an unarmored enemy and no other sources of Crit Damage *:
Note: Enemy Armor and additional sources of Crit Damage, such as from Fairy auras, do not significantly change the % increase. However, against enemies with substantial armor that isn’t penetrated, direct Damage buffs often increase the damage output by a significantly higher % than Crit Damage buffs with similar percentage, and are preferred over Px4 Storm’s skill. (For example, a 30% increase to 100 Damage against an 80 armor enemy would increase damage dealt from 20 to 50, effectively acting as a 150% DPS boost even though the Damage stat only increased by 30%.)
The above chart demonstrates that Hunter’s Bargain provides a very substantial increase to echelon DPS, even with no sources of Crit Rate other than an equipped
VFL 6-24x56. External factors that enhance Crit Rate such as tile buffs and skill buffs, however, can potentially double the potency of Px4 Storm’s skill and allow Hunter’s Bargain to approach the theoretical maximum of 50% increase to echelon DPS.
Given her skill’s substantially improved efficacy in teams that have additional sources of Crit Rate to offset its penalty, commanders are highly encouraged to use Px4 Storm in such teams to bring out her full potential. Nevertheless, when considering that most other HG buffs top out at increasing DPS by 25% (except for outliers like Mk23 at night or Contender), it is evident that Px4 Storm will deliver above average performance even in a typical team unaided by other sources of Crit Rate. Any commanders looking to boost their Echelon's DPS to the next level will certainly not be disappointed by Px4 Storm and the incredible increase in damage she offers.
Px4 Storm is one of the very few 5* units available from the minimum-cost T-Doll production recipe of 30-30-30-30 manpower, ammunition, ration, and parts.