True Core Mask: Who to Get?

What is a True Core Mask?

A True Core Mask is an item available in limited events (majorly in Major Story Events such as Isomer, Shattered Connexion, among others, and Anniversary Event).

It's an item that allows Commanders to trade it for any 5☆ T-Dolls available in the Production pool. That means that, no, you can't use it to acquire a Kord, but you can use it to acquire a Carcano M91/38 "Grape".

Once Commanders acquire this item, they can trade it for one 5☆ T-Doll in the Event Shop.

Anniversary Login Event. On the 7th Login, Commanders are awarded a TCM.

Event Shop UI in 2.08, where Commanders can select any of the 5 star T-Dolls available in the Production Pool.

This wonderful item allows for the selection of a single production 5☆ T-Doll to add to your armory, including Heavy Production-exclusive SGs. This is exactly as amazing as it sounds, as it allows any commander who simply clears the current Major Event or logs in during Anniversary to bypass all the production RNG and get the T-Doll they want guaranteed, which is something that you’d have to pay money for in many other gacha games.

With well over two dozen 5☆ Dolls currently in the pool, the question of what to spend this amazing item on remains ever-shifting. This guide is intended to help make that choice easier for players.

What is a Transfer Letter?

Transfer letters are essentially just TCMs available in the Shop either for real money or gems. The big difference is that these also let you choose from Limited Dolls, such as TPS. As these allow you to choose almost any Doll in the game, there are some additional options available.

1) TPS (Transfer Letter Only)

An incredibly powerful SG that does more than several past Dolls combined. As long as she remains on the field, she grants additional effects based on her Popularity count, including flat damage reduction for everyone in her column at 50 and a 40% Damage debuff to all enemies at 100.

TL;DR

Ceia's comment on TCM, while old, is a short, accurate take on how to handle using a TCM (the SG was redacted to avoid confusion, as she is no longer top of her class).

Anniversary TCM and General Rate-Up

In short: don’t use your True Core Mask before Anniversary’s General Rate-Up is over

In more detail: it's not rare that Commanders TCM the T-Doll they want/need, only to acquire her on the Rate Up a few days later, thus wasting a precious opportunity that is TCMing a T-Doll to bypass the mockery of RNGesus. Because of that, only when Normal T-Doll Production, and Heavy T-Doll Production rate ups are over that Commanders should spend their TCM.

TCM Icon

In short: frankly, nobody cares about your "flex" icon.

In more detail: the icon's only purpose is that, "flexing". It's also available in the Friend Shop when the next Anniversary rolls around, or technically it should be, as that's the case in foreign servers but for some reason it's not in EN. Maybe Mica's EN staff really cares about the TCM Icon flex status.

With so many T-Dolls, and their skins, available as icons, there are a thousand better ways to "flex" over other Commanders (like L2Ds or Commander costumes) than an icon that's barely indistinguishable between its variants (Story Events and past Anniversaries).

Moreover, who knows, there might be a day where Mica finally releases those in the Friend's shop, just like it was supposed to happen. Would you use a rare consumable in such a gamble?

Also, you can acquire another LTLX dupe, because there are never enough LTLX dupes.

Duping

In short: only use a True Core Mask to dupe a T-Doll if:a) you already have all other relevant 5☆ T-Dollsb) you only care about Meta and don't have enough dupes

Who to Acquire?

First and foremost, let's break down which classes are worth looking at:

SGs: The real creme de la creme for TCM, this is usually the best class to use the TCM on, due to the heavy resource consumption of crafting them. Also has several Meta units in it.
RFs: There are a few RFs here, most notably Grape (Carcano M91/38) and SCAR-H. Grape is amazing for earlier content before Mica started giving every enemy an Elite tag, and SCAR-H combined with her sister SCAR-L make for an incredibly powerful combo.
MGs: Not quite as expensive as SGs, but still an expensive class due to its high Parts consumption so it's also an option for TCMs. There are however almost no meta options here, with MG4 being farmable in 13-4e this is not recommended.
ARs: There are a few strong AR mods out there, but the main star here would be SCAR-L, though you do need both of them so a TCM will only get you the missing one.
SMGs: There aren't many options for strong SMGs, but Suomi is highly recommended if you do not have her already. Her Mod is a powerhouse.

The attentive ones will have noticed that one class wasn't mentioned above. Why were HGs not mentioned? Do we hate them?"

HGs are the cheapest class to produce per resource consumption, so even if some HGs evade you like the plague, you'll still acquire all of them one day, and without sacrificing your resources like you would with especially SGs and to a lesser degree RFs/ARs/SMGs/MGs.

For the completionists, it makes even less sense using the TCM there, as SGs are notoriously hard to acquire. Anchored Production has helped in this aspect, but we still have yet to see the day Mica will fix the SG production and make producing them a guaranteed thing like with Fairies (so MP5 dupe #33776 doesn't have to be scrapped).

Below we'll have a look into each class, as well as the top recommendations in it.

Waifu!

Yes, we know, a fair majority play this came casually, and so their units are also casually picked.

For True Core Mask, there's no big issue in using it to TCM your one true waifu, as long as you're aware of the consequences of picking her over a more optimal T-Doll. As Soul said:

"Don't repeat the tragedy of players who crafted for IWS2000 or Negev for months to no avail."

You will be judged for your sins. Embrace the meta!

Recommendations

As the meta is ever-changing and there are rarely too many dolls of each type recommended here, we'll instead list the most recommended options here and then add a list of class-specific options further below.

1) LTLX7000

The SG that dethroned all other SGs when she was released, LTLX is epitome of all SGs. Sporting very high base armor, a 5s ICD Skill with guaranteed knockback, and buff removal, including shields, on top of a passive damage reduction buff, makes her the top pick for any Commander even remotely interested in Meta, or in having an easier time dealing with almost any enemy that can be armor tanked or just need to cleanse enemies.

2) Carcano M91/38 (Grape)

Carcano M91/38 nicknamed "Grape" has become the pinnacle of bamboo RFs ever since she was released and she still remains the primary solution to almost all problems while clearing story chapters 11-13 and clearing Campaigns.

"But she is an RF! She is relatively cheap to produce, so why should I spend a TCM on her?"

The answer is surprisingly simple: she is just that overpowered and convenient to use.

With enemy HP continuously ballooning since Singularity, there are many non-Elite enemies that are annoying to eliminate with standard RFHGs but Grape makes short work of: Gladiators, Doppelsoldners, Minotaurs, and so on. Her nuke comes in clutch in many difficult fights, rendering them mere walks in the park, and can be immensely useful even for casual Commanders who just want to reach the end of the event. Just make note that she does not work against Elites.

3) Suomi

Suomi Mod (and take note that only Mod is considered here) is absolutely amazing, combining massive HP shields with evasion on top of continuously cleansing debuffs during her uptime. Any enemies that do not explicitly require Armor tanking or flat out cannot be tanked (like Hydras) will be easily tanked by Suomod.

4) SCAR-L or SCAR-H

The SCAR twins are some of the strongest Damage Dealers available in GFL when paired together, with SCAR-L functioning as the main Damage Dealer and SCAR-H primarily functioning as an enabler.

Take note that you need BOTH OF THEM for this to work its magic. As such this recommendation is for getting whichever one of them you are missing.

5) FO-12

The "SG Grape", FO-12 is an SG that functions quite similarly to the beloved RF thanks to her one-shot nuke. With more recent enemy formations commonly featuring dangerous enemies with high Damage stats like Quills of Patmos, FO-12 can be a very powerful option to delete the target before they can become a threat.

An often overlooked part of FO-12’s kit in favor of her execution, her increased knockback chance when used with another SG is also very helpful. FO-12’s KB spam is remarkably consistent, and combined with birdshot she can prevent large groups of enemies from getting attacks in when combined with other CC methods.An example by BLT shilling FO-12 knockback RNG.

6) Stevens M620

Places down bunkers that both improve SG survivability and mobility, and massively buffs MGs on said bunkers during her Skill. Just all around a very good SG.

7) DP-12

DP-12 comes with built-in HP shields and is overall a pretty safe SG to use if you need a SG. She also has a Mod that pushes her to being one of the best SGs in the game.

8) SPAS-15

SPAS-15 can provide different buffs to her MGSG team depending on the exact dolls in the echelon. On top of the unique Cooldown Reduction tiles, her skill's massive Ammo or Armor and HP shield buffs are extremely powerful for certain niche situations. However, outside of these scenarios, SPAS-15 can easily be replaced with other more universal options like LTLX. Also note that MGSG echelons are still not recommended for general content unless you really need Armor tanking.

SGs

LTLX7000

FO-12

DP-12

DP-12 comes with built-in HP shields and is overall a pretty safe SG to use if you need a SG. She also has a Mod that pushes her to being one of the best SGs in the game.

SPAS-15

RFs

Carcano M91/38 (Grape)

Carcano M91/38, nicknamed "Grape", has become the pinnacle of bamboo RFs ever since she was released and she still remains the primary solution to almost all problems while clearing story chapters 11-13 and clearing Campaigns.

"But she is an RF! She is relatively cheap to produce, so why should I spend a TCM on her?"

The answer is surprisingly simple:

She is just that powerful and convenient to use.

SCAR-H

The SCAR twins are some of the strongest Damage Dealers available in GFL when paired together, with SCAR-L functioning as the main Damage Dealer and SCAR-H primarily functioning as an enabler.

Take note that you need BOTH OF THEM for this to work its magic. As such this recommendation is for getting whichever one of them you are missing.

Kar98k

Kar has a rather amazing Mod, filling the gap where key Elite targets cannot be swiftly eliminated by Grape. She does require a lot more setup than Grape to do her job well against high-HP enemies however, such as a 5☆ Fairy and Mod III.

MGs

The MG class is an odd one, in that they're fit and not fit for TCMs at the same time.

Basically all of the stronger MGs are not available in the TCM leaving this section rather bare. Armor stacking can occasionally be needed, but there’s so many mediocre or passable MGs that can do this that unless you actually need a good MG (which aren’t available in TCM anyway), you can just pick something that gives you the Armor tiles needed.

MG4 is excluded because she can easily be farmed in 13-4e.

ARs/SMGs/HGs

RF/SMG/AR crafting all have roughly equal resource investment. If you have made it to this point without finding a Doll you need or want, what to pick depends on what holes you have in your armory, so you can patch up your Roster.

SMGs

SMGs in general are not used too often with only a few very specific options remaining relevant.

Suomi

Gr G36c

If you have all the SGs you want and all the other recommendations above, don't care to dupe something there and still don't have G36c and you want to Mod her, then she is a decent option.

ARs

ARs are fairly cheap to craft, and while the crafting pool is getting more and more diluted every time they add more ARs, there are very few options to consider here.

SCAR-L

The SCAR twins are some of the strongest Damage Dealers available in GFL when paired together, with SCAR-L functioning as the main Damage Dealer and SCAR-H primarily functioning as an enabler.

Take note that you need BOTH OF THEM for this to work its magic. As such this recommendation is for getting whichever one of them you are missing.

AK-15

AK-15 Mod revolves around that new Skill 2. Basically, whenever she uses her Skill 1 vs. 6+ enemies or whenever she loses a dummy link, AK-15 Mod deletes the enemy with the highest Damage stat. On top of having a decent (albeit RNG) generalist DPS skill, she now is also a priority target assassin. “AR Grape” is one nickname she gets for this.

HGs

HGs are not worth wasting your TCM on. They are incredibly cheap to craft, and even if something eludes you for quite a while, you will still have been better off using your TCM on something else.