"POLTERGUST" - Speculation and Discussion

[Gamma Ray]

If an enemy buff is removed via Drag N Bite, does it trigger Poltergust's SA? In other words, does buff removal count as buff expiration?

No, if you cancel out buffs or they tag out the SA doesn't apply, but if you steal the buffs via Silver Chord, you get the SA.

 

[giuliopy]

Wich caracteres you think sinergise well with this variant, ValentineSG, LH?
And what wuld be the trifecta for poltergust?

 

[Gamma Ray]

Wich caracteres you think sinergise well with this variant, ValentineSG, LH?
And what wuld be the trifecta for poltergust?

SG and LH both do, but SG is better because of the multiple procs and having two buffs timing out at the same time.

Final Stand also works well with this combo too.

She also works well with characters that do not possess meaningful wither and/or curse since her evil dead passive becomes very strong the closer you get to 15 seconds.

Bleed characters work nicely with her as well since she doesn't have good individual answers to Brain Freeze or High Defense in general.

Harlequin also works well because of how her SA provides additional cd and dmg to Silver Chord and Drag N'Bite.

If you're looking for a trifecta, Surgeon General, Harlequin, Poltergust OR Surgeon General, Parasite Weave (or any meaningful bleed characters), Poltergust.

 

[Irghen]

So, which stats should I prioritize for my Poltergust?

 

[cappatacus]

So, which stats should I prioritize for my Poltergust?

Probably just the standard Atk/Def/Hp%. If you don't plan on using her solely when facing buff heavy characters like Resonant Evil or Armed Forces, then you might want some meter gain, but would I make that a priority? Nah.

Also, for as many hits as Squigly can get in a combo, some crit rate will benefit her.

 

[infine]

So, which stats should I prioritize for my Poltergust?

Probably depends on what moves you run.

I have ATK/HP/DEF/Crit on mine with zero meter gain. Extended ground combo (L5->Drag'n'Bite/Silver Chord->L5) is enough to fully charge SBO and Daisy Pusher with zero meter gain, so if you don't run Inferno and Drag'n'Drop, meter gain is pretty much useless. OTOH if you can get enough meter gain to consistently do something like L5->D'n'B(s)->L3(5)->D'n'D->Inferno->SBO(->Silver Chord->L5->Launcher->Juggle) and are fine with going BB3less, you can try running D'n'D, Inferno, SBO, Silver Chord, D'n'B with sufficient meter gain (not sure how much meter gain you need)

 

[cappatacus]

Probably depends on what moves you run.

I have ATK/HP/DEF/Crit on mine with zero meter gain. Extended ground combo (L5->Drag'n'Bite/Silver Chord->L5) is enough to fully charge SBO and Daisy Pusher with zero meter gain, so if you don't run Inferno and Drag'n'Drop, meter gain is pretty much useless. OTOH if you can get enough meter gain to consistently do something like L5->D'n'B(s)->L3(5)->D'n'D->Inferno->SBO(->Silver Chord->L5->Launcher->Juggle) and are fine with going BB3less, you can try running D'n'D, Inferno, SBO, Silver Chord, D'n'B with sufficient meter gain (not sure how much meter gain you need)

You certainly could use Silver Chord to extend a ground combo, but you're better off using it after SBO to easily chain into another blockbuster. Maybe not for all Squigly variants, but with Poltergust's SA blockbusters are especially important. A build like that would be better suited for a Bio Exorcist.

I think I've seen somewhere that you can dash into SBO to extend a combo with a BB like DnD, but I've personally never gotten this to work.

So, it's best to have some meter gain. I wouldn't make it a focus, but you're probably going to have some moves with meter gain and atk% or smth, and those are worth investing in.

 

[infine]

You can extend ground combo with D'n'B and leave Silver chord to grab out of SBO. Using Silver Chord as a ground combo extender is just for emergencies when the enemy falls out of ground combo due to bad range and you have to either drag them back with Silver Chord or stop the combo.

Or you could run 2 silver chords, but D'n'B is a removal and also has extended raw duration which helps specials to recharge during the combo.

PS: Also due to Poltergust SA shenanigans you'd better move SBO into the later part of the combo. Well, both SBO and Inferno work against the SA, Daisy Pusher is not really comboable from, so you are naturally left with DnD->Inferno->SBO progression for better efficiency (bonus points to DnD for Armor Break)

 

[cappatacus]

You can extend ground combo with D'n'B and leave Silver chord to grab out of SBO. Using Silver Chord as a ground combo extender is just for emergencies when the enemy falls out of ground combo due to bad range and you have to either drag them back with Silver Chord or stop the combo.

Or you could run 2 silver chords, but D'n'B is a removal and also has extended raw duration which helps specials to recharge during the combo.

PS: Also due to Poltergust SA shenanigans you'd better move SBO into the later part of the combo. Well, both SBO and Inferno work against the SA, Daisy Pusher is not really comboable from, so you are naturally left with DnD->Inferno->SBO progression for better efficiency (bonus points to DnD for Armor Break)

That's what I was getting at lol

Using silver chord just to load SBO isn't generally worth it

 

[educavalcantee]

Well, the super gentle buddy @fanghoul was giving me some tips on how he plays her PG. i found interesting to post the conversation here, for public utility.



As he pointed in the conversation about the armor node, she could be useful against the Armor Rating catalyst as well.

 

[fanghoul]

I decided to turn my bit explaining how to use Poltergust into text again, in case people find them hard to read

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PG is a little funny, because she's powerful, but that only really shines if a) you team her up with Surgeon General or b) you throw her against someone that has a lot of buffs that expire. Case b) makes her really strong against the armor node in Rift Battles, and a number of the more annoying defense characters

I personally have her loaded out with her outtake move, Daisy Pusher, Drag 'N Drop, Inferno of Leviathan and Rage of the Dragon.

Inferno is sort of an odd choice, because it applies wither, and your want to keep enemies blockbusters full to get that bonus damage, but I like using it after Drag 'N Drop, because it's good at finishing off enemies.

The occasional wither is at least useful to keep their BB3 from filling up. You could also replace it with Battle Opera, for similar effects.

The other three blockbusters all have their own nitch. Rage is good for it's curse and damage, Drag 'N Drop is especially good for damage, but harder to get in sometimes. Daisy Pusher is great for finishing people, and generally being unblockable.

I guess I'd say my playstyle with her is mostly just doing basic combos with her till her blockbusters fill up, and then using them. The only real difficulty comes with getting all your blockbusters used before they fill up again, and trying to prioritize which ones to use before the refill happens.

If both you and the enemy has a Surgeon General, you'll often have +100% to all your blockbuster's meter every 30 seconds, and that's not even the fastest PG can refill blockbusters, so you need to plan ahead a bit when to use them so you don't miss the chance to use Rage of the Dragon twice in a row or something.

The most important strategy with her often happens outside of battle though. You have to pick when to use her, because her real power comes from expiring buffs constantly refilling her meter more than the bonus blockbuster damage. I have totally gotten creamed using her when I forget this.