A New Attack Deck Damage Dealer? A Look at Seonran

Seonran has been added to Seven Knights Re:BIRTH. As a Attack-type hero, she is a physical damage dealer who utilizes ‘Ghost Mask’ stacks and the ‘Superiority’ effect. She features backline-priority attacks, high innate firepower, and even buff removal.

The core of her kit is the passive ‘Ghost Mask Warrior.’ At the start of battle, Seonran grants herself ‘Superiority.’ When Seonran is attacked, if her Attack is higher than the attacker’s, this effect forces the attack to miss and reduces incoming damage. Furthermore, it applies Defense reduction and increased miss chance to the attacker. Her kit is structured so that higher Attack simultaneously boosts both her survivability and pressure.

Ghost Mask’ is another crucial effect. Seonran gains stacks of Ghost Mask every time she is hit by an enemy, which increases her Physical damage and critical hit damage. Upon reaching 6 stacks, she triggers her second skill, ‘Shadowless Flying Sword,’ which includes a buff removal effect, once per battle. Note that Ghost Mask requires at least three Attack-type heroes in the party to function, making Seonran most effective in a attack deck.

Another point of interest is her Transcendence effect. At 6-star Transcendence, she starts the battle with 3 stacks of Ghost Mask and gains 100% Weak Point Attack chance. Given the value of both the Ghost Mask stacks and the Weak Point Attack chance, investing in high Transcendence is a serious consideration. Awakening is not optional but essential; it strengthens her basic skills and grants an Awakening skill that features penetration and high firepower, so be sure to prioritize it.

Seonran’s main stage is PVP. She is performing exceptionally well in content where attack decks are used, such as the Arena, Advanced Arena, and Total War. While her performance varies slightly depending on team composition and investment, she can output damage on par with a main damage dealer.

On her own, Seonran can deliver solid results against any deck. When facing defensive decks that rely on high HP and sustain, the HP-proportional damage in her ‘Shadowless Flying Sword’ and ‘Heavenly Sword’ skills is highly effective. Additionally, she can mitigate incoming damage and lower enemy Defense through the Superiority effect.

In attack deck mirror matches, her performance is more nuanced due to the Superiority passive. Since she needs higher Attack than her opponent to perform at her peak, the outcome depends on the growth and equipment investment of the opposing Seonran or damage dealer. If your Seonran is less invested than the opponent’s, her efficiency drops. However, she is less pressured against Magic decks, which often invest heavily in Speed, as she is more likely to maintain the Superiority advantage. Magic decks have also been struggling in the current meta.

She is also excellent in Guild Wars, which are not 5-man content. Since her release, players have been experimenting with Seonran in both defensive and offensive Guild War setups. In particular, defensive decks combining Seonran with two other heroes are reportedly quite difficult to clear. She is often paired with Dellons, Lu Bu, Landgrid, or Orca, but she also has great synergy with Clemiss, who is not a Attack-type hero. Clemiss has a passive that supports ally roles, allowing the team to receive the 3-hero bonus even with only two Attack-type heroes, while also providing a critical hit damage buff.

She is also viable in PvE. In fact, the reason Seonran gained the most attention after her release might be PvE Raids. Although the requirements for 6-star Transcendence and specific accessory/equipment sets are demanding, it was discovered that a single Seonran could be used as a ‘knight’ to carry low-level units through stage 14 or 15 raids, sparking a raid craze. However, since there is little time left to farm EXP in raids, there is no need to force this setup. She also shows potential as a physical damage dealer in Siege War, where she can quickly stack Ghost Mask to reach maximum firepower.

Seonran fits naturally into existing attack decks. You should continue to use Dellons, Karl Heron, and Orca alongside her. Karl Heron remains solid with his ‘Thunder Mark’ and Totem, and Orca continues to provide debuffs and firepower through ‘Unfair Contract,’ while Awakened Dellons remains a top-tier main damage dealer.

When adding Seonran, you must remove either Lu Bu or Landgrid from the existing attack deck. Logically, removing Lu Bu makes sense, as Seonran’s Physical damage increase passive overlaps with Lu Bu’s ‘Dragon’s Recklessness.’ However, in practice, many players seem to prefer keeping Lu Bu and removing Landgrid.

Landgrid makes it easier to secure Speed when setting up equipment and provides constant Defense reduction and Block chance, which can be advantageous against defensive decks. However, in attack deck mirror matches, her performance can be inconsistent depending on whether her 1st or 2nd skill triggers. Lu Bu, on the other hand, provides reliable, high-level firepower without such variables.

In fact, looking at the attack deck compositions of top-tier PVP players, preferences vary. Some players use Landgrid in score ranges with many defensive decks and switch to Lu Bu otherwise. Of course, since you cannot choose your opponents, this still requires some luck. In Total War, where you are less likely to encounter defensive decks than in the Arena, Lu Bu is generally preferred.

The most important stat for Seonran’s equipment is Attack, as the Superiority effect triggers only when her Attack is higher than the attacker’s. Because higher Attack boosts both damage and survivability, it is the top priority for sub-stats and is also used as a main stat.

The Vanguard set is most commonly chosen, as it is advantageous for securing Attack. A standard build involves getting All Attack% and Crit chance on Vanguard weapons, setting armor options to All Attack%, and maximizing All Attack% and Crit chance in sub-stats. Naturally, higher critical hit damage is also beneficial. Therefore, the preferred options for all equipment slots are All Attack%, Crit chance, and critical hit damage, with the final slot usually being either All Attack or Speed.

Of course, she is not an easy hero to gear. While 6-star Transcendence provides Weak Point Attack chance, you still need high All Attack and Crit chance to maintain the Superiority advantage. Since you need to get Crit chance close to 100% while also stacking All Attack and critical hit damage, you must use high-quality gear without waste. Utilizing Rare crafting is the most realistic approach.

If a Vanguard set is too difficult to obtain, the Assassin set is a viable alternative. It is easier to secure Crit chance and includes Defense ignore, which helps against defensive decks. However, this lowers her physical damage, increasing the risk of losing the Superiority advantage in mirror matches. For exclusive equipment tuning, All Attack and Shred are the primary candidates.

In summary, Seonran is a hero with excellent stats and performance, serving as a mainstay for attack decks upon release. She provides both high firepower and the ability to suppress opponents through her passive. Once you face a well-invested Seonran, you can truly feel how powerful she is. Beyond raids, she has also shown potential in PvE content like Siege War.

However, to properly utilize Seonran, the value of 6-star Transcendence is immense. At 6-star, she starts the battle with 3 stacks of Ghost Mask and gains 100% Weak Point Attack chance. This helps boost her firepower from the very first skill use, and the 100% Weak Point Attack chance provides a significant advantage in equipment optimization, allowing you to focus entirely on Attack and critical hit-related stats.

If you are a dedicated attack deck player, 6-star Transcendence for Seonran is essentially mandatory. Personally, I always aim for 6-star Transcendence on heroes that gain 100% Crit chance or 100% Weak Point Attack chance, as these effects are much more impactful than others. If you are short on resources and cannot focus on your attack deck immediately, you can stop at 2-star Transcendence and slowly work toward 6-star using Seven Knights Chess combinations. Since Seonran is difficult to use effectively before 6-star Transcendence, I recommend participating in her pickup only when you are certain you can reach that milestone.