Zitat:Flame Ray
Attacks the enemy target to inflict Continuous Damage for 1 turn with a 50% chance.
Flame Ray - Flood
Attacks the enemy target to inflict Continuous Damage for 1 turn with a 50% chance. The damage increases according to the Attack Speed.
Flame Ray - Chain
Attacks the enemy target 4 times to inflict Continuous Damage for 1 turn with a 50% chance each.
Flaming Magic Bullet
Attacks the enemy target to weaken the target's Defense for 2 turns. (Reusable in 4 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +5%
   Lv.3 Damage +5%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Damage +10%
   Lv.6 Cooltime Turn -1

Igniting Magic Bullet
Attacks the enemy target to decrease the Attack Speed for 2 turns. (Reusable in 4 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +5%
   Lv.3 Damage +5%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Damage +10%
   Lv.6 Cooltime Turn -1

Flaming Magic Bullet - Flood
Attacks the enemy target to weaken the Defense for 2 turns. The damage increases according to the Attack Speed (Reusable in 4 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +10%
   Lv.3 Damage +10%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Cooltime Turn -1
   Lv.6 Cooltime Turn -1

Flaming Magic Bullet - Accelerate
Attacks the enemy target to weaken the Defense for 2 turns and increases your Attack Bar by 50%.(Reusable in 4 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +10%
   Lv.3 Damage +10%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Cooltime Turn -1
   Lv.6 Cooltime Turn -1

Igniting Magic Bullet - Brand
Attacks the enemy target to decrease the Attack Speed and leave a Branding Effect for 2 turns.(Reusable in 4 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +10%
   Lv.3 Damage +10%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Cooltime Turn -1
   Lv.6 Cooltime Turn -1

Igniting Magic Bullet - Chain
Attacks the enemy target 3 times to decrease the Attack Speed for 2 turns. (Reusable in 4 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +10%
   Lv.3 Damage +10%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Cooltime Turn -1
   Lv.6 Cooltime Turn -1

Burn Soul
Attacks the enemy target to inflict damage. The damage increases according to the Attack Speed of both you and the target. (Reusable in 5 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +10%
   Lv.3 Damage +10%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Cooltime Turn -1

Flaming Thunder
Attacks all enemies to inflict damage. The damage increases according to the Attack Speed. (Reusable in 5 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +10%
   Lv.3 Damage +10%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Cooltime Turn -1

Eruption
Attacks the enemy target to inflict damage. The damage increases by 30% for each harmful effect on the enemy.(Reusable in 5 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +10%
   Lv.3 Damage +10%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Cooltime Turn -1

Flame Explosion
Attacks the enemy target 4 times to inflict Continuous Damage for 1 turn.(Reusable in 5 turns)

   Lv.2 Damage +10%
   Lv.3 Damage +10%
   Lv.4 Damage +10%
   Lv.5 Cooltime Turn -1

Passive
Revives with 50% HP when you're inflicted with fatal damage and falls under the Magic Power Explosion state for 2 turns. The Magic Power Explosion state will increase the damage inflicted to the enemies by 30%, but you'll be uncontrollable and die when the effect ends. [Automatic Effect]

Zitat:The basic idea for the Homonculus is that you will pick from one of three elements, and then "design" it using 4 upgrade choices the adapt it's abilities. Each element has a basic attack with minor added effect, which then gets one of 2 upgrades. Which upgrade you take doesn't impact your future choices at all. The 2nd upgrade you make is a major choice though, because you will only have access to 2 of the 4 final skills based on your 2nd upgrade skill choice.

Skill 1
There are a total of 6 skills (after variations) available for the first skill slot. What you pick makes a huge difference for where you'll want to use the Homonculus, because this is the default (no cooldown) skill. All first skills gain +30% damage via skillups. Some also gain effect increases. All have 5 levels (4 devilmon required).

   Flame Ray - Flood: Damage increases according to your attack speed, 50% (65%) inflicts continuous damage for 1 turn.
   Flame Ray - Chain: 4 strikes, each with a 50% chance to inflict continuous damage for 1 turn.
   Frost Ray - Purify: Remove a beneficial effect, and freeze 15% (50%) for 1 turn.
   Frost Ray - Fluctuate: Strike all enemies with a 15% (25%) chance to freeze for 1 turn.
   Shock Ray - Chain: 3 strikes, each with a 50% chance to block heals for 2 turns.
   Shock Ray - Destroy: 50% (65%) chance to block healing for 2 turns, and destroys max hp by 10% of damage dealt.

Honestly to me, Fire and Water look the best here. Buff-strip on skill 1 is rare - the only monsters with a 100% chance on their first skill are nat 5s, so Frost Ray - Purify is a great way for a player to gain access to that if they didn't get an Archangel. Meanwhile, Frost Ray - Fluctuate is an aoe 25% freeze on the first skill. Paired with Despair, dear god. Flame Ray - Flood turns him into another Ifrit, so it doesn't impress me that much compared to landing 2 (up to 4) dots. More reliable bursty damage, I suppose.

Skill 2
For the 2nd Homonculus skill, you've got 12 final options to pick from, and each pair of them are paired with 2 options for your final skill. Like skill 1, all skills gain 30% damage from skillups, but some gain effect as well. All gain some cooldown reduction (same for each option for a given element).

   Flaming Magic Bullet - Flood: Decreases the target's defense, and damage increases based on your speed. Cooldown 4 (2)
   Flaming Magic Bullet - Accelerate: Decreases the target's defense, and increases your attack bar by 50%. Cooldown 4 (2)
   Igniting Magic Bullet - Brand: Decreases the target's speed, and applies Brand. Cooldown 4 (2)
   Igniting Magic Bullet - Chain: Attacks 3 times, decreasing the target's speed. Cooldown 4 (2)
   --
   Pulveriziing Magic Bullet - Fluctuate: Attacks all enemies and decreases their defense. Cooldown 4 (3)
   Pulverizing Magic Bullet - Amplify: Inflicts damage propotional to target's max hp, and decreases defense. Cooldown 4 (3)
   Icy Magic Bullet - Absorb: Attacks all enemies, and 50% (65%) chance to absorb 30% of their attack bar. Cooldown 4 (3)
   Icy Magic Bullet - Chain: Attacks all enemies 3 times, each with a 50% (65%) to decrease their attack bar by 30%. Cooldown 4 (3)
   --
   Air Magic Bullet - Brand: Decreases attack speed for 2 turns and applies Brand. Cooldown 4 (2)
   Air Magic Bullet - Chain: Attacks 3 times, and decreases attack speed for 2 turns. Cooldown 4 (2)
   Lightning Magic Bullet - Destroy: 50% chance to stun, and destroys max hp by 30% of damage dealt. Cooldown 4 (2)
   Lightning Magic Bullet - Suppress: 100% chance to stun. Cooldown 4 (3)

All three elements get some cool options here, but it's important to remember that whichever you choose impacts the choice for your final skill. As such, here are the third skills.


Skill 3
   Flaming Magic Bullet (fire)

   Burn Soul: Damage increases according to your speed and the target's speed. Cooldown 5 (4)
   Flaming Thunder: Damages all enemies, with damage increasing based on your speed. Cooldown 5 (4)

   Igniting Magic Bullet (fire)

   Eruption: Damage increases by 30% per harmful effect on the target. Cooldown 5 (4)
   Flame Explosion: Attacks 4 times, inflicting continuous damage for 1 turn each hit. Cooldown 5 (4)

   Pulverizing Magic Bullet (water)

   Ice Explosion: Damages all enemies. Cooldown is reduced by 1 for each enemy killed. Cooldown 5 (4)
   Freeze Mind: Inflicts damage proportionate to the target's max hp, and reduces their attack bar to 0. Cooldown 5 (4)

   Icy Magic Bullet (water)

   Frost Wind: Damages and freezes all enemies. Cooldown 5 (4)
   Ice Mist: Damages all enemies and inflicts 2 continuous damage effects for 2 turns, with an extra one added with a 50% chance for every debuff on the target.

   Air Magic Bullet (wind)

   Whirling Wind: Attacks 3 times, with each hit decreasing the defense and applying a brand. The third hit hits hardest. Cooldown 5 (4)
   Magic Bullet Madness: Randomly attacks 5 times, with damage increasing on repeated hits to the same monster. Cooldown 5 (4)

   Lightning Magic Bullet (wind)

   Sharp Wind: Attacks one enemy and destroys their max hp by 50% of inflicted damage. Cooldown 5 (4)
   Soul Shot: Attacks one enemy and prevents them from being revived if they die to this skill. Cooldown 5 (4)

Okay, so between Skill 2 and Skill 3, there are a total of 24 options, and all 3 elements look pretty damn good (IMHO, wind needs a bit of love on skill 1 though).



Fire
Fire Homonculus skill 3 is a nuker, through and through. Of interest is that with only one AoE 3rd skill, you are limited to using the Flaming Magic Bullet 2nd skill if you want to use him for aoe nuking. However, you can build him with speed scaling on all 3 of his skills, giving him some great synergy with any speed buffing monster. With this build, you can choose between a single target and aoe 3rd skill.

Going down the Igniting Magic Bullet path opens up his access to either Brandia's_-_Brandia) 3rd skill, or Orochi's (well, not quite, only 4 hits). Pairing the skill 2 brand + slow with a copy of Brandia's debuff-scaling nuke looks particularly potent, especially for raid usage.



Water
Water Homonculus can an absolute CC king, right up alongside Verad and Tyron. With access options for destroying attack bar and/or freezing targets, he can be a great pvp or toa monster.

Path 1 is taking Pulverizing Bullet (either aoe defense break, or single target enemy HP scaling and defense break). From there you can pair it with and aoe nuke, or a single target atb reducing nuke that scales off enemy hp. Pairing the two HP nukes gives you insanely strong damage vs hp monsters and bosses, as well as atb reduction and defense break (pair with the 50% freeze + buff strip first skill for most control). But by mixing the skill 2 and 3 you can have a strong single ability and strong aoe, or double down on either.

Path 2 is Icy Magic Bullet, giving you an aoe 2nd skill that impacts attack bar for sure (either strong decrease, or absorb). Either way, it then pairs up with an aoe 3rd skill, making path 2 an excellent aoe nuker (with cc). One option enjoys the target having debuffs. However, I'm not a huge fan, because of the debuff limit. You're using 2 (of 10) slots automatically by using the skill. Then you (on average) get one more continuous damage per 2 debuffs. At 2 existing debuffs, its an okay skill (landing three 2-turns on everything is about on par with Baretta landing two 3-turn ones). At 4 existing, its definitely strong. But getting to 6 just makes it more likely you get your 4 added, because you're likely trying to use occupied slots. Would be fun for ToA though!



Wind
Wind Homonculus gets to come in and show everyone else how to stop annoying heal or revive comps. With his Lightning Magic Bullet path completely focused on screwing those comps up, there's not many monsters that can compare. I can definitely see this guy getting some Guardian+ love. Sadly, he's wind, so he misses out a bit versus the ever-annoying Perna.

Path 1 has a skill 2 and skill 3 brand option (take either or both), which could give him some use as a raid monster (though I think Fire path 2 is superior for that). Similarly, 5 random hits would be nice on raid (still not as good as fire can get though). However, both have some potential fun in Guild Wars to co-enable himself and any other nuker. Of particular note is that his skill 2 at max rank is a 2 turn brand on a 2 turn cooldown.

Path 2 has a lot more pvp use I think, with Lightning Magic Bullet having a 50% or 100% chance to stun (and hp destruction on the lower), and both 3rd skills having some juicy bonuses. 50% destroyed HP will completely shut down any heal, and I think pairs great with the 100% stun option (and the 10% destroy on skill 1). Having the 30% destroy is a bit of overkill - if you can't nuke through something with 50% max hp, you have other issues. Meanwhile, the anti-revive (soul shot) is a rare ability to have at all. Again though, I think the 100% stun is just superior utility, as having a (near) guaranteed stun on a 3 turn cooldown is incredibly powerful.



Final Thoughts
48 possible builds out there, but here are what I think the most useful 6 will be (2 per element):

   Fire: Flood/Flood/Flaming Thunder

Full-on speed scaling skills, this build is all about nuking fast and hard. Swap out the 2nd flood for Accelerate and you can turn cycle more - which may be the better option depending how fast speed scales the damage up.

   Fire: Flood/Brand/Eruption

Raid-focused build, able to do decent damage on skill 1, apply slow + brand on 2, and nuke hella hard on 3.

   Water: Purify/Amplify/Freeze Mind

Single target cc champion, should be able to keep one unit entirely out of the fight (unless it is on violent). Strips buffs and does %hp damage, along with applying defense break. Might be best 1v1 unit in the game at that point.

   Water: Fluctuate/Absorb/Frost Wind

Team-wide CC for a despair rune build. With every attack an aoe, this guy would be a pain on arena defense if it was allowed (no way to stop him from including your nuker in his attacks). As much fun as I think Ice Mist could be in ToA, 100% freeze just makes me happier.

   Wind: Destroy/Chain/Whirling Wind

A generic nuke build, with brand effect and defense break adding to the power of 2nd and 3rd hits. Meanwhile, AMB-Chain lets you apply some useful slows as well, and gradual HP destruction guarantees that you can make progress versus a stall/heal defense.

   Wind: Destroy/Suppress/Soul Shot

Here's the buildable anti-revive. Able to nuke a target into another dimension as well as provide gradual destroy damage and single target lockdown, this build would be great for guild war revive comps (other than Perna).

Worst skills

Shock Ray - Chain: 3x 50% heal block just doesn't impress me. It's useful in raid, but you can use a Death Knight for skill 1 heal block that is more reliable. Plus a Fire Homonculus dishes out much better raid damage due to Eruption. Gaining a 10% (of inflicted damage) hp destruction just has more utility anywhere not named Necropolis.

Ice Mist: Layers on the continuous damage effects like crazy. Sadly, though, the limit of 10 debuffs pretty much stops this from ever doing more than 4, and even that requires a lot of setup. I can see this used for a ToA team with Baretta and Thrain, but that's about it. And if you have that combo, you should be doing just fine in ToAh anyways. Especially when the other option is a 100% chance to attempt freeze...

TL;DR

Nope.