Nar vs Grandice

I guess it's common in most games that if it's hard to get, then it must be good, whether they be characters or equipment or other special trinkets. This ideology somehow runs the same way in sGE. Constellation Weapons, Garim / Magic belts, Argus earrings, Crafted Necklaces - they're all hard to get and sure are powerful. Reckless Emilia, Catherine Torsche and Grandice also fall within this category.

But there are also times when stock, free or easy to get characters are just as strong. Wizards, Scouts, Elementalists are common in the PVP metagame, Fighters and Coimbra Troopers cant be replaced in their roles in IWT and musketeers still rule ranged raids.

This brings me to compare Nar vs Grandice. If it weren't for several events, a lot less players will have Grandice due to the difficulty of acquiring her. Getting Nar on the other hand, is much easier. Despite this difference, the two are actually on par in PVP.

Grandice is wearing a +2STR Stance Ring and +1HP necklace

Nar is wearing a +1STR Stance Ring and a +1STR necklace

Wearing the same armors and roughly same stat weapons and under the same buffs, Grandice has a slightly higher base ATK than Nar, even with Nar's level 12 militant buff. Accoring to the wordwood, Grandice HG has +70% base attack whilst Nar Semilunar only has +50% base attack. Grandice also has 10 more AGI than Nar.

Their skills are similar to each other but from my experience, Nar's skill set is better and here's why

• Harsh Kick vs Impulse - same cool down and cast time, Harsh Kick is stronger by 28% at level 10 but Impulse ignores block and some def and hits 3 targets. Winner : Impulse
• Volition vs Merciless - Volition has a shorter cool down but it has a minimum distance (Grandice will actually step back) while Merciless has a higher multiplier (198% more at lvl 10) and has 10% more chance to stun. Winner : Merciless
• Ruthless vs Gruesome - same range and cast time, Gruesome has quicker cool down by 2 seconds and can attack 3 targets at once. Gruesome also has a much higher multiplier than Ruthless. Attacking 3 enemies at once is a big advantage to clear out an entire enemy family in 1 skill. Winner : Gruesome
• Slaughter vs Militant - albeit they are different in purpose, I decided to pair these two skills. Slaughter gives access to another potential killer skill (its damage is between Volition and Ruthless) whereas a level 12 Militant will greatly increase survivability and damage output of Nar. For raids when I need to spam skills, I would choose Slaughter but for PVP, 3 killer skills is more than enough. Winner : Militant for PVP.
• Carnage vs Occult Science - both low multipliers but cause "unexplainable" damage. It is believed that Carnage and Occult Science deal -holy- damage, ignoring all defense. Carnage is a bit hard to combine with Volition (knockdown, get close, cast at the right time) than Merciless + Occult Science (same ideology). Occult Science however can hit air units, can inflict status (IF they survive) and has a larger AOE (and is so much cooooler - Hi Avey, i like your rainbows). Winner : Occult Science

I also took stance bonuses into consideration when I chose between Hanging Guard and Semilunar. HG has 10% defense against ranged attacks, but is 20% more susceptible to magic and 10% more prone to debuffs. Semilunar has 10% defense against ranged attacks, but has 20% defense against magic and debuffs. The current metagame features a lot of magic attacks and debuffs, so Semilunar was a clear choice for higher chances of survival.

I must say in my recent PVP experiences Nar has proven to be better than Grandice. Merciless + Occult Science pretty much clears almost everyone. Occult Science is nice when Nar has just dodged several Reckless Emilia and/or Elementalists charging up for Abyss Flare. In the midst of chaos, hit the Occult Science button and watch (most of) the enemies die.