Part 44: Character Write-Up - Spider

Now that he's officially on the squad, let's talk about our new stylish pal.

Spider

The first actual additional party member, even if you had to knock him around in a not actually a boss fight first. He's certainly got a few tricks up his sleeve to make sure he's pulling his weight in a fight.

Weapon Type: Cards (Shot Damage)
Starting WE: 40%
WE Gain per turn: 25%
Action Trigger: Fortune Card - Play quick hand of poker for various effects. More WE = Better starting 'luck', meaning you're more likely to get rarer poker hands that are naturally 'better' than just getting a Pair.
Elemental Resistances: None, technically. In the 'Boss fight' X has with him in Chapter 1, he takes 150% damage from Fire and 75% damage from Thunder.
Force Metal Slots: 4
Starting Immunity: 10
Hyper Mode: Trickstar
Hyper Mode Benefits: +100% Power, -25% Speed, Cannot take damage from basically anything in the game, cannot benefit from healing or buffing effects. Allegedly he also has increased Critical hit rate while in this mode as well.
Hyper Mode Turns: 2

Spider's kind of an odd duck, though sure serves me right for commenting about X having the most Force Metal slots by exclusively relying off my memory and not fact checking first. That aside, his unique Bluff Force Metal is pretty handy, since it gives him some extra staying power in the free evade for no erosion cost. His Action Trigger meanwhile, kinda leaves a lot to be desired... especially when you take into account his weapon's WE-based secondary effects. The better 'luck' on the starting hand is nice, but it's rare to see anything better than a Pair. Handing Spider a Clubs-suit Card and letting him just go to town with two hits every turn will probably work better in the long run. Spades are handy for random fights given Spider's high speed, but it's equally likely you'll blast through the battle before his second turn. Hearts and Diamonds are okay, but you'll have to be intentionally grinding for money or exp in random fights to get the bonus otherwise it'll just be something you forget about. In boss fights however, Spider's definite ace in the hole is Trickstar - Sure it makes him slower, but the DOUBLING of his attack power, especially with a Club equipped, lets him really pump out the damage while being untouchable. The sheer power and defensive benefits it gives easily justify the short duration of 2 turns it has.

While he'll sadly never be using Counter Card for the player, Spider still has enough other cards in his hand to make him a worthwhile party member. Trickstar's attack power is absurd, to say nothing of its whole 'yeah I just don't get hit' aspect. He doesn't quite have X's versatility in attack options, since handing him a Clubs card and just never using his action trigger can't really steer you wrong. The heavily unreliable nature of said Action Trigger also hurts him quite a bit, even if the effects on some of them are pretty absurdly good, a Straight and its 5 hits being a pretty obvious stand out, but there's just no way to really set that up unless RNG is on your side. At least he's kind enough to come with the Item Capture sub-weapon when you recruit him so you can rob enemies for free stuff.