Destiny Child | In-depth Review
Disclaimer: I’ve been playing Destiny Child for nearly a year (mostly as a casual) f2p player. This is my unbiased review of the game.
Overview
Type: Gacha, Mobile Game
Features: 2D-Live Motion, f2p friendly, auto combat, pity system, events.
Story
"Gather human souls, and create the strongest army ever known." - Destiny Child
The Master (Player) is a young, broke and lazy demon that has escaped to the surface to avoid Hell and anything Hell-related (especially women from Hell as he deems them terrifying). Master is tricked into registering for the Archfiend Contest, a vicious battle waged between demons to determine the next Lucifaro of Hell. Inexpert and doomed for failure/death, he is guided by Mona, a snarky yet flirtatious Aide (Succubus) that shows him the ropes of the contest (and teaches the player the mechanics/ins and outs of the game). The Archfiend contestants make use of Childs to fight against one another. A Child is the result of a pact between a demon and a human in exchange for granting their superficial desires. They are known as a Demon's familiar. Their forms differ but are often characterized by magical attributes.
Combat System
Combat features a Tap, Slide and Drive (skills) system but there’s a handy auto combat feature. The speed ranges from x1(Slowest)-x3(fastest). In World Boss, to maximize your damage, it’s recommended you play on x1 speed.
Childs
Childs are categorized by element and type. Element ranges from Dark, Light, Wood, Fire and Water. Type includes Supporter, Healer, Defender, Attacker and Debuffer.
Typically you will use a party of five Childs (PVE, Ragna Break, PvP, Narrative) with the exception of World Boss which requires 20 units.
Some Childs might be mediocre at one type of content but irreplaceable for another. For example: Zooming Mars. Zooming Mars doesn’t excel outside of World Boss as Dana is superior in defense but in World Boss, Zooming Mars is the only Child capable of shielding all allies at once.
Ragna Break is also another specialized form of content, often requiring teams based on a certain element. Mixed element teams will often underperform in Ragna Break.
PVE, PVP and Narrative are not element specific.
Progression
There are several ways to maximize a Child’s potential.
A Child needs to be lv.50 before it can be Awakened to E, D, C, B, A and S class respectively. Once Awakened, two additional slots unlock: armor and Soul Carta (part of a Child’s gear) as well as their awakened outfit and story. This is the best time to max their skills (Tap, Slide and Drive)
Some events (Narrative, World Boss) might make a featured Child a bonus (granting higher rewards, currency, onyx, etc.) and a lv.50 Awakened/Skilled-up Child might be all that’s needed. Their kit might also rely entirely on Tap or Slide, in which case Onyx can be saved.
For the Childs you intend to keep long-term, Evolution will promote a 5* to a 6*. The level resets to 1 (not to be confused with starting from scratch as the Child keeps its experience) and the max level can be raised to lv.60, increasing stats and overall attack power.
Uncaps can be collected passively or via HoR (House of Reincarnation). Each uncap will improve stats and break the limit for skills. The maximum uncaps is 6 copies of the Child.
Finally, Ignition. Ignition is end-game as it requires high investment (5* Childs of the same element, ignition cores and Onyx). You’ll want to ignite your attackers first.
There’s also a Spa mode which can increase a Child’s stats even further. I find spa tedious and often forget about it. Midnight Parade is a mode I also avoid as it’s a stamina drain and there are other ways of getting a spa skin(premium pickup Child missions, events, selective boxes, etc.) Generally, avoid unless there’s a worthwhile mission or a requirement for Lisa’s Lessons.
Gacha System
Currency
Crystals are your summoning currency. Maintenance and Story completion are not accounted for as that is a one-time thing. Keep in mind: Story is still strongly going.
Dailies give out 950 Crystals a day. Auto each one and forget about it.
Exploration. This is a form of farming. When you max a Child’s level, you get crystals. 2*=20 Crystals :*=30 Crystals 4*= 40 Crystals, etc. 2* are the easiest as they take 12hrs, 6hrs, 1hr to farm. Exploration has 5 stages (5 slots each). Farming all 5 stages (25 [2*] Childs) will net you 500 Crystals passively. It is recommended that you farm only 2* Childs. Once they are maxed, extract for Onyx.
PVP gives out crystals a week (depending on your rank but you can easily start out with 450). Tiers are: Rookie, Ruby, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum). I generally get 3000 Crystals in Silver which I find a good medium for auto combat. I have gotten to Gold before but competition/manual combat is too much hassle for a casual player.)
Child Training Missions: Once you can farm higher stages (at the time of writing, 4-1 IV which gives you 1,120 Exp during Hot Time), you can easily complete Child Training Missions. Reaching Lv.50 will net you 1500 Crystals. With a fully ignited Attacker and healer, you can easily farm 3 Childs at the same time (which I find more than enough). Rewards include 2-3* Childs that you can put in Exploration.
Hecate’s Missions (available during Ragna Break) cost little Gold and give out Crystals. Never skip them.
Login Bonus: You get Crystals on Day 1, 7, 13, 19 and 25 but there’s a Login Streak Bonus which gives you 100 Crystals every 3 days.
Devil Pass: Tier 10 and 20 give out Crystals. Devil Pass tasks tie in tightly close with dailies so both can be completed at the same time.
Guaranteed Childs
All your Crystals should be saved for Guaranteed Childs only. Avoid bait banners unless you are end-game or are prepared to pull many times.
Guaranteed Child Banner: You can pity a Featured Child at the 15th pull but I often get the Featured Child within 1-2 pulls. If my luck is bad 4-5 pulls and once in a blue moon, full pity. Each pull costs 2700 Crystals.
Note: 5* Summon Tickets: All tickets are updated to include all Childs (old and new).
Mileage: There’s a mileage every time you summon and once it’s full (and only then) claim it for a 5* Child ticket.
Devil Pass: Devil Pass tier 30 reward is a 5* Child Ticket.
Login Bonus: The last reward in Login Bonus is a 5* Child ticket.
World Boss/Ragna Break: 5* Child tickets are available during this event.
In my opinion, as a f2p player, avoid bait banners. There are better ways of increasing your rooster of Childs. On that note, I do occasionally pull from the 6% rate-up banner (available daily) and have gotten a bunch of 5* Childs from there.
Recommended Childs
As an extra, I’ve added a guideline/list of Childs to keep/work on.
There are tons of superior lists out there but these are the Childs I find myself using constantly (at the time of writing). I won't go into PVP [Player Vs Player] as that is heavily dependent on setup, your preference, player level, etc.
PVE [Player Vs Events]
Neptune (Support/Great for all content), Dana (Defender), Newbie Mona (Support/Puller. Offers a more extensive kit than Chang’e), Pomona (Healer/Cleanses DOT/Debuffs), Chang’e (Support/Puller. Lowest cooldown.), Aimless Pantheon (Support/Raises critical damage.)
Maid Sytry (Wood Supporter used in Ragna Break/World Boss/PVE) Speeds up a mono wood team considerably if paired with Newbie Mona.
Moonlight Artemis (Dark Attacker/ Great for Ragna Break at no uncaps)
Dark Semele (Dark support/ Great for Ragna Break)
Lady Tiwaz (Dark support. Staple for Ragna Break/World Boss. Requires little investment. Low-med ignition but can work without it.)
Lupin (Dark support/Great at all content. Dethrones a +6 Aimless Pantheon at no uncaps.)
Lady Bathory (Wood Debuffer/DOT) Her leader is great for PVP but she’s great in all content.)
I won’t go into attackers as the list is extensive but I use Serket for PVE/PVP/World Boss.
Serket (Water Attacker) I have her fully ignited. She was a Child available during Ragna Break. Great for all content. A team of a fully ignited Serket/Attacker + Pomona is able to farm the highest normal stages during Hot Time. Farming is a breeze.
Ophois (Dark Attacker/Great for PVP/Excellent for Light Ragna Break/World Boss/PVE. To maximize her potential, full ignition is recommended.)
World Boss
These are some of the Childs I often use for utility but not a complete list by any means.
Lost Maat (Light Healer/Regen to all allies. I used Pomona for the longest time when I didn’t have Lost Maat.) /Keep in the back for survivability
Zooming Mars (Shields all allies) /Keep in the back for survivability unless you have enough uncaps.
Composed Midas (Wood Debuffer) Staple for World Boss with the exception of Fire as Mercury is superior. Dethroned by Mercury for all elements (no uncaps needed) if her ignition is 8/12.
Navi (Wood Debuffer) Great in all World Bosses
Final Thoughts
The Artwork and Story (now updated after every Ragna Break) along with the auto-combat system and guaranteed Child banners make it a great side game you can easily keep up with. The key is patience and optimizing your resources.
I don’t always do dailies. I typically stop after hoarding 60K crystals to avoid burn-out.