Neverness to Everness · A-Rank · Lakshana · Gas
Skia Guide
ETD-4's Lieutenant: a fully F2P-reachable Lakshana Main DPS who hunts with Fang Thrust marks and an undetected Shadow Hound state — and, on a Lakshana team, a built-in Remora applier. A niche budget 4★ the community rates B in Version 1.0: low damage ceiling, kept relevant only by the applier role.
Overview
Quick Stats
| Rarity | A-Rank (4★) |
| Element | Lakshana |
| Arc Type | Gas |
| Role | Main DPS / Remora applier |
| Playstyle | Stack Fang Thrust → The Pack → hunt in Gnaw |
| Rec. Arc | Watch Your Heads! (game-recommended) |
| Rec. Set | Street Boxer 4-piece |
Ratings
Contextual: a low damage ceiling across the board — his one real pull is the Remora applier slot on a Lakshana team, plus cheap F2P access. Not a damage carry.
Community read — ZeroLuck tier-vote, Patch 1.0 (live, n=15 votes across roles): DPS B 1.50/5 (10 votes) · Hybrid B 2.33/5 (3) · Support C 0.50/5 (2). He is rated B as DPS by the community — a budget / niche pick, not meta. The Hybrid B sample (n=3) hints at his real value as a Remora applier alongside a stronger Lakshana carry, not as a solo damage seat.
Trend: recently shifted C → B as DPS in the rolling tier movement, so the community is warming to him slightly — likely on the back of his F2P accessibility and Hybrid value — but he is still well below S-tier. Watch the live tier list for the current standing.
Strengths
- Best-in-class F2P value — recommended arc is a farmable 4★
- High sustained single-target DPS via Fang Thrust + Gnaw contact
- Built-in Remora applier on a Lakshana team (shared world system)
- Shadow Hound stealth = survival + the ETD-4 Baicang swap trigger
- Scales hard on cheap awakenings (A1 +60%, A4 +40% ramp)
Weaknesses
- Setup-paced — must stack Fang Thrust before The Pack pays off
- Damage falls off hard if you don't play Shadow Hound Gnaw
- 4★ base stats — a built 5★ Lakshana carry out-ceilings him
- Enabler value needs a Lakshana / Remora payoff on the team
Gameplay — Fang Thrust & the Hunt
Skia plays a mark-and-hunt loop. His attacks split Fang Thrusts onto enemies (up to 3 locked each), Shadow Hound Chase enters Tailed so the marks stop expiring, and The Pack amplifies every Fang Thrust hit — so the loop is always mark → lock → amplify → graze in Gnaw.
Why he is also a Remora applier
- Suppression — a Fang Thrust on a Remora-state target adds a second Remora, feeding the shared Remora world reaction
- Employee of the Month (A8) — −2% Lakshana RES per Fang Thrust on the locked target, a team-wide Lakshana amp
- Shadow Hound — his stealth state is also the ETD-4 trigger for Baicang's coordinate attack
That is the key decision with Skia: solo carry or Remora support. Alone, the Fang Thrust + Gnaw loop is his damage. Slotted next to a Lakshana payoff like Hathor, his Remora application and A8 RES shred are worth as much as his own numbers — meet that condition and he punches well above a 4★; ignore it and he is still a strong budget carry.
Skills
Upgrade priority
- Shadow Hound Chase
- The Pack
- Arresting Art
- Arrest Warrant
Skill
Shadow Hound Chase
Leaps into his own shadow for 6 instances of Lakshana DMG, splits 3 Fang Thrusts onto every target hit, then enters Tailed + Shadow Hound Gnaw. Tailed stops Fang Thrusts from expiring after they hit, so the marks stay stacked; Gnaw lets him move along ground/walls undetected, immune to certain attacks, and re-trigger Fang Thrust hits every time he brushes a marked enemy. This is the engine — it loads the marks and the mobile damage state in one button.
Ultimate
The Pack
Throws a spinning lighter; his shadow floods the ground for 1 instance, then converges like a trained pack for 3 more instances of Lakshana DMG. After the cast, Fang Thrust damage (including Shadow Hound Gnaw collision damage) is increased and every Fang Thrust hit applies a control effect. This is the damage multiplier window — open it once the marks are stacked, not before.
Normal Attack
Arresting Art
Up to a 5-hit Lakshana combo; each hit splits 1 Fang Thrust from his shadow that tracks the target, up to 3 Fang Thrusts locked per enemy. The aerial Territory Control plunge scales with fall height up to +100%, and Pen to Paper triggers a Break-reducing ink counter after a Critical Dodge. This is your primary Fang Thrust generator outside the Skill.
Chain Skill
Arrest Warrant
A swap-in strike that commands the shadow to bite for 1 instance of AoE Lakshana DMG. Cheap, and a clean way to keep Skia's damage ticking when rotating him in. Lowest upgrade priority.
Passive
Suppression
Remora Enhancement: when a Fang Thrust locks onto a target already in the Remora state, it inflicts an additional Remora. Remora is one of NTE's shared world reactions — the same system Lakshana DPS like Hathor are built around — so this is the line that makes Skia a Remora applier for the whole team, not just a solo carry.
Passive
Apprehension
Increases Fang Thrust damage by 10% for 15s after casting The Pack, including the Shadow Hound Gnaw collision damage. A flat, reliable damage layer that lines up exactly with the Ultimate window — one more reason the rotation is built around The Pack.
Passive
Shadow Hound
Hold Movement + Dodge to enter Shadow Hound — lurk inside his shadow, move on ground and walls, undetected, immune to certain attacks. Cancels if hit by ground damage or by attacking / swapping. This is his survival and repositioning tool, and it is also how he qualifies as the ETD-4 stealth member that triggers Baicang's coordinate attack.
Skill scaling — Lv 1 → Lv 11
Real damage ratios (% of ATK) from the in-game codex. Shadow Hound Chase and The Pack are the biggest jumps per book invested — Arresting Art is a distant third even though Fang Thrust contact damage relies on it.
| Source | Lv 1 | Lv 11 |
|---|---|---|
| Skill — Shadow Hound Chase (Quad Strike) | 30% ×4 | 64.8% ×4 |
| Skill — Fang Thrust Extra DMG (Gnaw contact) | 55% | 118.7% |
| Ultimate — The Pack (Spread) | 290.2% | 626.5% |
| Ultimate — The Pack (Converge) | 69.9% ×3 | 150.9% ×3 |
| Normal Attack — Plunge DMG Ratio | 100% | 215.9% |
The Fang Thrust contact line (Gnaw) is the bulk of his sustained damage — it more than doubles from lv 1 to lv 11, which is why Shadow Hound Chase sits at priority 1 even above the Ultimate.
Awakenings
Priority: A1 → A4 → A6 → A3 → A2 → A8, then A5 / A7. He is fully functional at A0 — awakenings raise the ceiling, they do not gate him. A1 is the biggest jump because Fang Thrust is most of his damage; A4 then keeps marks alive longer and adds the +40% ramp on top.
A1
Process of Elimination
+60% auto-attack DMG Ratio for Fang Thrust. Fang Thrust is the bulk of his damage, so this is by far the biggest single jump on his chart — treat it as the first real power node.
A4
Resolution
Extends Tailed to 12s and adds +2% Attachment DMG per second a target stays attached, up to +40%. A longer Tailed window keeps marks alive while the +40% ramp builds — it directly scales his sustained DPS ceiling.
A6
Unbothered Appearance
+20% Extra DMG Ratio for Fang Thrust while in Shadow Hound Gnaw mode when touching a Fang-Thrust-locked enemy. It rewards the exact thing you do during the rotation — staying in Gnaw, grazing marked targets.
A3
Solution
+4% damage to Fang-Thrust-locked targets, +4% more if only one target is locked. A clean single-target boost that compounds with everything else in a boss fight.
A2
Law and Order
+10% Crit Chance and +50% Resistance to Interruptions for 15s after Shadow Hound Chase. Useful crit help and a nice anti-stagger buffer, but it solves consistency rather than raising the ceiling.
A8
Employee of the Month
−2% Lakshana RES per Fang Thrust on the locked target, up to −6%. A small team-wide Lakshana amp on top of his own damage — solid once the S/A tier is in.
A5
Social Contract
+50 mass and −20% Movement Speed per Fang Thrust on the target. Pure control / utility — handy for kiting and crowd pinning, not a damage node.
A7
Cubical Survival Manual
+1 skill level to Arresting Art, Shadow Hound Chase and The Pack. A flat stat-stick — unlock last.
Best Arc
These picks are grounded in his in-game cultivation data and arc-type compatibility (Skia equips Gas arcs) — not invented tier claims.
Cassette Set & Stats
- 2-piece: Lakshana DMG +10%
- 4-piece: +14% Crit Chance; refreshed for 20s whenever the team triggers Remora or Stain
Tailor-made for him: the 2-piece amplifies his element, and the 4-piece Crit Chance refreshes off the exact Remora reaction his Suppression passive keeps feeding — carry and applier alike.
- 2-piece: ATK +10%
- 4-piece: +25% ATK for 20s after casting a Skill
Generic offensive fallback. Skia casts Shadow Hound Chase on cooldown, so the 4-piece uptime is reliable — a safe set while farming Street Boxer.
Stat Priority
Best Team
Lakshana · Gas. Stacks Fang Thrust marks, opens The Pack for the damage window, and applies extra Remora to anything already in the Remora state — solo carry or the team's Remora applier.
5★ Lakshana Burst DPS. Her Delay Warning passive (Remora Enhancement) extends Remora to 12s and grants the whole team +10% Crit Rate on Remora-affected targets — Skia keeps Remora applied so that buff stays up. On the other side, Skia's A8 −2% Lakshana RES per Fang Thrust stack (up to −6%) shreds defenses for her Cyclone Strike burst.
Captain of ETD-4. His Moderate Working passive grants +20% ATK and lets him launch coordinate attacks with ETD-4 allies — specifically, switching to Baicang while Skia is in Shadow Hound stealth fires an instant coordinate attack + Power Word Silence (30s CD). The trigger is literally Skia's survival tool, so this synergy has zero opportunity cost.
Generalist Buff support. Her A8 The Ultimate Treasure of Clear Understanding grants all team members +20% ATK while she is alive on the team, and her A5 All-Seeing adds +15% team DMG against a single-enemy target — both stack directly on Skia's Fang Thrust contact damage, the bulk of his output. Universal multiplier when no second Lakshana payoff is available.
Running him as an ETD-4 member next to the Captain? The Shadow Hound swap timing is covered in the Baicang Guide → Or build and share your own: Team Builder →
Optimal Rotation
Open with Arresting Art
Lead with the 5-hit Arresting Art combo to start splitting Fang Thrusts. Each hit adds a Fang Thrust, up to 3 locked per target — build toward a full lock before spending anything.
Shadow Hound Chase — load marks + Gnaw
Cast Shadow Hound Chase. It deals 6 instances, slaps 3 Fang Thrusts on every target, and puts you into Tailed (marks no longer expire) + Shadow Hound Gnaw (mobile, undetected, re-triggers Fang Thrust hits on contact).
The Pack
Open The Pack once the marks are stacked. It hits for 1 + 3 instances, then permanently (for the window) raises Fang Thrust damage and adds a control effect to every Fang Thrust hit — and triggers the +10% Apprehension buff for 15s.
Graze marked targets in Gnaw
Stay in Shadow Hound Gnaw and keep brushing Fang-Thrust-locked enemies — every contact fires extra Fang Thrust hits, now amplified by The Pack and (with A6) +20% on top. This is the bulk of the damage.
Refresh or hand off
Re-apply Fang Thrusts with Arresting Art / Shadow Hound Chase as Tailed runs down (12s with A4). Solo, repeat the loop; in an ETD-4 line, drop into Shadow Hound stealth so a swap to Baicang fires his coordinate attack.
Golden rule: never open The Pack before Fang Thrust is fully stacked.
Pre-Farm Materials
Stockpile these before pulling so he is combat-ready on day one. Plan your ascension →
| Material | Source |
|---|---|
| Suspended Delusions | Common enemy · Ascension phases 1–2 |
| Yearning Delusions | Common enemy · Ascension phases 3–4 |
| Transcendent Delusions | Common enemy · Ascension phases 5–6 |
| Confessional Flower Seed | Field gather · Ascension phases 2+ |
Highest priority: Delusions ascension line · skill books · then arc / cassette farming
Should You Pull?
Pull if…
- You want a fully farmable 4★ Main DPS — his game-recommended arc is a 4★, no banner pull needed
- You like an aggressive, mobile, mark-and-hunt playstyle (Fang Thrust + Shadow Hound Gnaw)
- You run or plan a Lakshana / Remora team (Hathor especially) — Skia is the Remora applier
- You have ETD-4 members (Baicang) — his stealth feeds Baicang's coordinate attack
- You want a budget carry that still scales hard with cheap awakenings (A1 / A4)
Skip if…
- You only want a one-button burst carry — his damage is paced around stacking marks first
- You will not use Shadow Hound Gnaw — sitting still throws away most of his Fang Thrust output
- You already have a stronger 5★ Lakshana carry and no Remora-applier slot to fill
- You dislike mark management — Fang Thrust upkeep before The Pack is mandatory
New / casual players: Skia is cheap and his A0 kit will get you through story and mid difficulty, but he is a weak carry — the community rates him DPS B and his damage falls off fast. Treat him as a stopgap, not a long-term carry.
F2P / low-spend: his only honest case. Watch Your Heads! (4★ Gas, CRIT DMG) is farmable, A1 (+60% Fang Thrust) and A4 (12s Tailed + 40% ramp) are reachable, and Street Boxer feeds his Remora loop — but even fully built he stays a B-tier damage unit. Pull him for the cheap Remora applier slot, not for the numbers.
Invested / endgame: the ceiling stays low even fully built. With A1 + A4, Watch Your Heads! / Contemplative Cat and Street Boxer his own damage is still B-tier; what keeps him on a roster is the Remora application and A8 RES shred when slotted into a Lakshana / Remora line next to Hathor. Any built 5★ Lakshana DPS — or most A-tier 4★ — out-damages him cleanly. His only job is the applier slot, never the damage seat.
Bottom line: a weak pick the community rates DPS B — do not expect carry damage from him. His one honest case is the cheap Remora applier slot on a Lakshana / Remora team for players who lack a better option; everyone else should pass.
FAQ
Is Skia good as a 4-star?
Yes — he is one of the strongest 4★ Main DPS picks because his game-recommended arc (Watch Your Heads!) is itself a 4★, so a free-to-play account reaches his intended build with no banner pull. His damage comes from Fang Thrust mark stacking and the Shadow Hound Gnaw window, both of which work fully at A0.
How does Skia's damage actually work?
He splits Fang Thrusts onto enemies (up to 3 locked each), enters Tailed via Shadow Hound Chase so the marks stop expiring, then opens The Pack to amplify Fang Thrust damage. While in Shadow Hound Gnaw he re-triggers Fang Thrust hits every time he brushes a marked target — that contact damage is the bulk of his output.
What is Remora and is Skia a support?
Remora is one of NTE's shared world reactions, not a Skia-only mechanic. His Suppression passive (Remora Enhancement) adds an extra Remora when Fang Thrust locks a target already in the Remora state — so on a Lakshana / Remora team he doubles as the Remora applier. He is primarily a Main DPS that can also enable, similar in spirit to how Hathor uses the same system.
What is the best Arc for Skia?
Watch Your Heads! — and that is the game's own recommendation in his cultivation data, a 4★ Gas arc with a CRIT DMG sub-stat. Contemplative Cat (5★ Gas, same CRIT DMG sub-stat) is a pure stat upgrade if owned; Cosmos Daze, Wild Reverie (4★ Gas, ATK%) is the listed alternate while you farm.
What is the best Cassette Set?
Street Boxer 4-piece. The 2-piece is Lakshana DMG +10% (his element); the 4-piece grants +14% Crit Chance and refreshes that bonus for 20s whenever the team triggers Remora or Stain — it lines up exactly with his Remora kit. Shadow Creed (ATK +10% / +25% ATK after Skill) is a solid generic alternative.
What stats should I prioritise?
Straight from his in-game recommended attributes: Lakshana DMG > CRIT Rate > CRIT DMG > Universal DMG Bonus > ATK% > ATK. He is crit-hungry, so a CRIT DMG sub-stat arc (Watch Your Heads! / Contemplative Cat) plus CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG sub-stats is the target.
Which Awakening matters most?
A1 (Process of Elimination, +60% Fang Thrust auto DMG) is the single biggest jump. A4 (Resolution — 12s Tailed + up to +40% Attachment DMG) is the next real power node. Priority: A1 → A4 → A6 → A3 → A2 → A8, with A5 / A7 last. He is fully functional at A0.
Is he worth it for casual / story play?
Very much. As a farmable 4★ with a 4★ recommended arc, Skia is an unusually cheap carry that clears story and mid difficulty on his base kit. The Remora / ETD-4 synergies only matter when you push the hardest endgame content — for casual play he just works.