Overview
Spitfire fills the tile 4 support role in 2MG/2HG/1SG Echelons. She provides the best mix of buffs for MGs and currently has the best ratio of buff values at 30% Damage and 40% Accuracy. Her counterpart SAA trades 6% Damage for 10% extra Accuracy in her tiles and is therefore outperformed by Spitfire during the first MG volley – and since most MG battles will not go into the second volley, both SAA and Spitfire’s Skills are generally a non-factor, rendering Spitfire the better of the two. Overall, Spitfire is one of the if not the best tile 4 HG for 2MG/2HG/1SG Echelons and should be leveled up for MGSG Echelon as soon as possible.
Pros
Strong Tile Buffs
Spitfire provides tile buffs that give a mix of 30% Damage and 40% Accuracy boosts, making them perfect for MG Echelons.
Decent Tile Coverage
Spitfire’s tile coverage is a bit unorthodox, but still allows her to buff both MGs when placed on tile 4 in a 2MG Echelon.
Decent Skill
Spitfire’s -28% enemy RoF debuff can come in handy in battles that go into the second volley to minimize damage taken by SGs.
Full analysis
As a tile 4 support in MGSG Echelons, Spitfire ranks higher than pretty much any other HG at the moment. Her mix of 30% Damage and 40% Accuracy is among the best tile buffs HGs have to offer, and while her counterpart SAA has a team-wide Damage buff, HG Skills in MG Echelons are usually of little importance given how they won’t activate in most battles which finish within the span of one MG volley. If a battle does go into the second volley, though, assuming that SAA’s Skill is micromanaged so she doesn’t activate it while MGs are reloading, she will grossly outperform Spitfire. This means that in future boss battles like Judge (Chapter 9 and 10) and EX Garm (Deep Dive event ranking map) SAA is more valuable despite her need for micromanagement – but Spitfire is still a perfectly effective alternative.
Spitfire’s tile coverage might seem optimal for a 2MG/2SG/1HG team, but that composition is for the most part not optimal unless a mechanic requires it, such as Judge being able to attack two targets simultaneously. This means that Spitfire is best used in 2MG/2HG/1SG Echelons and her two frontline buffs can be safely ignored as SGs aren’t intended to do damage. Spitfire’s enemy RoF debuff Skill, though, can help SGs take less damage if MGs failed to end the battle within the first volley, and therefore it comes into play faster than SAA’s Skill and is independent of MG reloads.
Overall, Spitfire is a prime choice for 2MG Echelons and should be leveled up alongside your MG team if available. While SAA can outperform her in certain circumstances, Spitfire is more effective in many scenarios and will be top of her class for quite some time.