GBO2 RX-78MS00Z Engage Zero Booster Type (Post-Buff): The fastest 500 cost raid!
This video contains two matches I had with the recently buffed Engage Zero Booster Type on Gundam Battle Operation 2. It is a 500 cost raid with a long range dual saber downswing, a fast single saber downswing, very high melee damage potential, situational access to 235 boosting speed and the situational ability to fire the beam rifle while boosting. It suffers from having very awkward melee animations, non-existent mid-range DPS and mediocre stagger accumulation potential. This suit was recently buffed with extra custom part slots, a 30% damage reduction buffer for the back booster, 2 seconds cooldown time, 0.5 seconds swap time and faster recovery for the dual beam sabers alongside extra stagger accumulation protection while Aux Thruster Control System is activated. This suit has been pretty mediocre since release so it is nice to see some buffs. It is pretty awkward to use at times as you might be able to see from the video, I missed quite a few melee swings because I am not used to how narrow the downswing hitboxes are for its two melee weapons, but the damage potential is very high if you can connect. For clarifications purposes, I was borrowing somebody elses account to record this footage since I do not have the suit on my own account. I hope that you enjoy watching!
Its primary weapon is a beam rifle with 1900 power, 4 seconds cooldown, 80% heat, 13 seconds overheat, 0.77 seconds swap time, 350m range and 20% stagger value. This is a pretty decent beam rifle but nothing special. It can be fired while boosting if the Aux Thruster Control System skill is activated.
Its primary melee weapon is a beam saber with 2100 power, 2.5 seconds cooldown, 0.5 seconds swap time, 70%/49% combo modifier and 95%x2 downswing modifier. This has a powerful downswing and fast swap time, but the downswing is too slow for it to be used as both a combo starter and ender. Its first hit is faster than most downswings, but it has somewhat short range and the second hit needs precise aim.
Its first sub weapon is a head vulcan with 90 power, 40 ammo, 450 RPM, 8 seconds reload, 0.5 seconds swap time, 175m range, 675 DPS and 5% stagger value. This has okay DPS and can stagger in about 2.6 seconds, making it useful to keep up stun output when the beam rifle is overheating.
Its second sub weapon is a pair of beam sabers with 2400 power, 2 seconds cooldown, 0.5 seconds swap time, 2 seconds focus time, 130%x3 heavy attack modifier and 90%x2 downswing modifier. This has similar issues as the single beam saber in regards to an awkward downswing, but it offers a long range stabbing downswing motion with incredible damage. If you start and end combos with this downswing, you can one combo all but the bulkiest of supports. The heavy attack is pretty good but not really worth spamming I think.
The Engage Zero BST has 17500 HP, 12 ballistic resist, 20 beam resist and 22 melee resist. This is decent durability for a raid but nothing too amazing, it has a weakness to ballistics which can be a problem in the current 500 cost meta. It has LV2 Maneuver Armor and LV1 Emergency Evasion as is standard for 500 cost raids, alongside a 30% damage reduction buffer for the back booster.
In terms of mobility it has 130 walking speed, 220 boosting speed, 75 thrust and 69 turning speed. It has pretty good but seemingly normal mobility at first with good stats alongside LV2 Forced Injector and Flight Control, but LV2 Aux Thruster Control System situationally gives it amazing boost speed. Aux Thruster Control increases HSM by 15 and adds LV1 Flap Booster, it also enables use of the beam rifle while boosting, but you need to be boosting for at least one second to begin using it and this timer begins again if you use Forced Injector. It also reduces accumulation received while the skill is active by a currently unknown amount, pre-buff it was 15% less but proper testing has not been done to determine the current value.
Overall I feel like the Engage Zero BST will be a legitimate threat at 500 cost now. The melee damage is high enough to the point where even generals could lose big chunks of HP, and it can be hard to deal with if it gets time to boost at you at a good angle thanks to its situational 235 HSM and boost fire abilities. The two major concerns for me is that it has no shooting potential and that it lacks fast stagger accumulation. I could see it being easily walled out on long range maps if the enemy team decides to play defence, where other raids like Nightseeker Space Type or R-Jarja could still do something. The lack of accumulation also means that it has no good way to stop a transformed Loto, or even a crouching Loto in MS mode. So ultimately I guess I could call it a flawed raid that has high damage potential and excellent mobility offset by having matchups where it might not be able to do anything. Thanks for watching!
Music used:
Super Robot Wars, Fairy Dang-Sing
Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2, The End of a Journey