Posted on January 13, 2012 7:51 PM
HOW TO MASTER SHISHI NORI
By Lucas
By Lucas
Introduction
Due to the many times I've seen Nori being unsuccessfully used in teams, I decided to make a guide on how to master her like a baws. This guide will help you understand Nori's design better, as well as greatly improving your chances of making successful teams with and against her.
Understanding Nori's design
As you may see immediately, Nori is a collaboration character. Why is this? Well, this is due to the fact that she increases enemy cooldowns, and because of that slows the team down, making it easier for you to survive. Furthermore, she can attack multiple enemies, making killing those characters an easier task.
However, I consider Nori to be classified incorrectly. To me, she is a disruption character. This is for the reasons I've stated above. She doesn't really aid her team as a collaboration character ought to, but she disrupts the enemy team instead.
Nori's design is based on summoning Ookami, wolf and protector, and then stacking "Flash Fang" charges 'til you consider necesary, ready to deal a very powerful attack that can result, in time, into a double kill for only 1 agility and 1 random energies.
Shishi Nori: Useful Items
In order to make Nori an extremely efficient character, we must understand that her item possibilities are very limited. She does not need damaging items. She does not need healing items. She needs Items and go with her design: Summon Ookami fast, making it last, give her defense to last longer and not be interrupted.
Here's a list of items that go well with Nori:
Smoke BombSmoke Bomb is, in my opinion, one of the best items in the game, and really works well with Nori. However, you must never equip this item on Nori. Just on her team mates.
Battle ArmorMany will argue Battle Armor is possibly one of the best items to equip Nori with, as it increases her survivality. However, because of the latest protector rework system, Ookami is targeted first, so Battle Armor will only be a defense if Ookami is destroyed, which is not the idea.
PainkillersPossibly one of the most OP items in the game, Painkillers is a very useful item to equip on Nori, but it is a situational item. Equip Nori with painkillers only if your enemy has a full affliction team.
Pipe of Wisdom A.K.A. PoWPipe of Wisdom reduces the cost of Ookami to none, that's true, but Nori has many better item possibilities, so don't use it. Nori has low hp and 5 hp lost for a pipe could make you lose a game. Furthermore, Ookami can be destroyed that turn, so it's a very weak item.
Warbanner of Defense A.K.A. WoDPlain and simple, limit damage and reduce it at the same time, making Ookami unable to be broken that turn (unless the enemy has piercers).
Warbanner of Resistance A.K.A. WoRWoR is the second best item to equip Nori with. This is because stuns are oftenly Nori's main worry. If you're facing someone like Yume or Sainan, who can stun your tactics, then Nori is useless. However, WoR is there to prevent all kind of stuns. The reason this items works so well with her is that 3 of her 4 skills (including generic invul. move) are tactic, and so Nori is basically un-stunnable as long as you have this item on your team.
Tip: It is advisable to equip one of Nori's team mates with WoR instead of her, as she can use other items (especially the one below this one!)
Sacred Flute of the Shishi A.K.A. Shishi VIThis is, by far, the best item Nori can be equiped with. This is because Nori is useless when Ookami is not active (she can only go invulnerable). Ookami is Nori's main skill in her design, because it's a prep and it's the one skill you should always have active on her. However, Ookami has a cooldown of 3, and because of that Nori is weak if it's destroyed on the first turn it's activated.
However! Nori counts with her VI (Village Item), which reduces its cooldown to one, making it easier for her to summon Ookami again. This item suits perfectly her design because it's passive (so you don't waste turns) and improves her main skill.
Equiping Nori with VI can make you win a lot of fights you wouldn't have won with other items.
Nori's most powerful enemies
Nori is a character whose design is based on her 45 hit points protector, which many skills can break in 1 hit. Furthermore, characters that deal piercing damage can be extremely efficient against Nori, as her design consists of protecting Ookami with 15 DR -piercing damage ignores this.
Let's see Nori's worst enemies:
Piercing damagers: Jun, Sasori and Aoiro characters equiped with VI.
These characters are extremely lethal against Nori, because they can break her protector with ease. Furthermore, Sasori has a poison affliction that can damage Nori even if her protector is on. Additionally, if Sasori has "Dawn Breaker" on , Nori's attack will activate "Dawn Breaker" and will weaken Ookami, reducing its hit points by 20. And what is more, Jun can reduce melee damage dealt to him.
How to counter: Stunners are usually a great choice, considering spikers usually use 1 class of damage. Niwa is perfect against characters such as Jun and Sasori because she stuns melee skills. However, Sasori can stun Niwa's stun, so yeah... matter of luck here.
Protectors and counters: Nozuchi, Takeko, Yuudai, Kame, Hai, Amaya, Kao, Yukigaaru and Daiki
Let's see 1 by 1 in deeper detail.
Nozuchi: The only reason he can be a good Nori counter is because of his counter, as Nori's targets are not always certain. The best way to counter him is with WoR. Nori will charge enough as to kill him in 1 hit. Attack when the counter has been wasted or he has his Pr. on (as he can't counter in that mode). Don't be afraid of Devour, you have WoR so you can't be stunned; you can therefore go invulnerable; and because it has a high cooldown (which is even increased by Ookami!) you will always have the change of going invulnerable against it. Note that Nozuchi can't possibly destroy Ookami because his only damage can be reduced by "Elusive Hunter".
Takeko: Plain and simple, this girl grants a lot of defense to her team. The most effective way to counter it is by having someone who deals affliction on your team OORRR, if that's not possible, stacking. Nori will eventually be powerful enough as to break Ootake and kill Takeko.
Yuudai: The only reason he's "good" against Nori is his Demon Vision, but it has a high cooldown and can be easily predicted, so no problem here (if you get countered, remember Nori is cheap, so you will most probably be able to attack the following turn).
Hai: This guy is good against Nori because of his limiter move, making Flash Fang deal its original damage on an enemy. Hai's weakness is that he can only target one enemy with his limit, and lasts one turn. My advice is to use a team mate to attack Hai. Nori can't do much about him unless you have her equiped with WoD.
Amaya and Kao: Their counters are extremely efficient when countering Nori, and they deal affliction damage as well. My suggestion: Fall for the counters and then attack again the following turn to kill them. Nori is cheap so she will ignore their cost increasers with "Elusive Hunter" -they can't break Ookami. Basically, they have low hp, so they are weak against a 1 hit K.O.
Yukigaaru: He reduces damage, counters, and stuns. However, he deals little to no damage to Nori, and his cooldowns are increased. Just be patient and attack when the time comes. If you must fall for the counter to win, then do so -unless Ookami could be broken that turn.
Daiki: He is the best Nori counter atm (high hp, counters melee skills infinitely, and protects team mates). Unless you have a Senboku in your team, there are little to no chances of you defeating him. Sorry.
Dangerous Affliction/Stunners: Akira, Kurai, Shoji, Tori, Hikaru, Yugana, Eien, Ryu
Akira and Kurai: They are dangerous for their perma stuns. However, they are weak against WoR. Furthermore, they can't break Ookami (unless Akira has VI, which is a problem) and their cooldowns are increased, so they only are a real threat if you don't have WoR to avoid being stunned. Kurai kills himself, so...
Shoji: Smokebomb may do the trick. Try to spike Shoji fast, he can kill Nori is 5 turns (counting prep turn) if you give him the chance!
Tori and Hikaru: The only problem with these characters is that they deal burning affliction. This doesn't sound so bad unless they have FotF (Feather of the Firehawk), which is indeed a problem. Nori's low hp is bad against strong afflictions. What's more, Tori heals and Hikaru stuns, so be careful! The best way to counter them is by either having someone equiped with Cleanising Water or Painkillers.
Yugana and Eien: Yugana herself isn't a major threat. The problem is her prep, which deals 5 affliction damage each time you use a skill, and Nori certainly uses a skill each turn. However, with her cooldowns increased and Nori not needing much energy, Yugana is weak with her other 2 skills. Eien is indeed one big threat. He has an attack that deals the exact ammount of damage necesary to kill Nori if she uses a skill each turn (which she will most probably do). Additionally, Eien can stack his FoE Pr, making you have to use more stacks to kill him -Vision of Death will benefit from this. And that's not all! He can even counter you if you felt like you may have a shot against him. My advice is to either equip Nori with Painkillers or stop and use a skill every other turn. That will slow Eien.
Ryu: Ryu can deal 40 affliction damage from a start (half of Nori's hp) with no cooldown, and can even make that skill deal more damage while you stack flash fang charges. My advice: Painkillers, chargechargecharge, invul, painkillers, chargechargecharge, invul, and repeat.
Screw Protectors: Isshou, Kamiko and Yuzuki.
These 3 guys can really stop Nori from being useful. They all have a way to bypass Nori's protectors. Isshou destroys protectors, Kamiko does as well, and Yuzuki simply ignores Prs and DRs.
Isshou: Destroy his passive protector as soon as possible (Jun may be the solution here), while having WoR on Nori. That way he will only deal low damage and won't even be able to stun you.
Kamiko: Niwa/sleeping powder all the way. Stun her mental skills for as long as you can, while stacking "Flash Fang" charges. Once you have 2 charges or more, she is not a threat any more (you destroy her Pr with one hit).
Yuzuki: One beast Nori counter, the best way to stop her usefulness against Nori is by killing her fast and praying to the WoN gods she uses a different formation to give you time. There's nothing to it.
MAJOR THREATS: Sainan and Jikkousu
Sainan: She steals WoR, can almost-permanently stun her tactis and reduces damage dealt to her. She isn't a great damage dealer, which can help you out, but she surely can kill Nori's usefulness. She needs 4 turns to destroy Ookami, which is another advantage (Hallucinogens, Dash, wait, Dash).
Jikkousu: She is, in my opinion, the best way to counter Nori. Nori is a character that requires some turns to deal good damage, and is best against characters who have attacking skills that deal non-piercing damage and can be easily stopped by cooldown. Jikkousu is nothing of those, and she's esentially a god-like Nori counter. She can even heal herself to make sure you die! D:
Kill her fast, and if you're sure she'll kill your Nori, don't stack -many- charges.
Good Nori team mates
Seeing how many enemies Nori has, it's important to give her good teammates. Here's a list of the best ones:
Omoi YukigaaruYuki is epic. Counter, stun and reduces damage dealt to Nori. What else can you ask for? Good with a damaging item.
Niiro JunJun is amazing, and works perfectly in any team. Basically Nori deals a lot of damage, which he does, so it works nice.
Kage ShojiRemember when I told you it was a good idea to equip one of Nori's team mates with WoR? Well, here is Shoji, one of the best carriers of that item, and works wonders with Nori. Basically, the enemy will have to choose a target, so if they go for Shoji first, Nori can later attack them with her stacks, and if they go for Nori first Shoji can affliction them while they're at it.
Hebi JataiBasically MORE COOLDOWN INCREASE! :D
Shishi TakekoThis girl defends Nori even more and adds extra damage to her attack. However, be sure the enemy will either use Kamiko or Isshou if they see both Shishi girls together.
Kusa NiwaNiwa is one of the best stallers in the game, and one hell of a stunner too. She can slow the enemy team so much Nori will charge a lot of Flash Fang charges, and so you'll most surely win. What's more, Niwa is a perfect defender against some of Nori's biggest threats (Kamiko, Jikkousu, Isshou, Ryu, Jun, Sasori, Akira, Kurai, etc).
Seishin KameBasically he stuns, reduces melee damage and grants Nori another protector (with limiter) to drastically help her survive. Equip him with WoR and Nori with Painkillers/VI for great results.
Seishin RyuNori uses little to no energy -he gives you more energy.
Nori increases cooldowns -the less often the enemy team attacks him, the better.
Nori has a devastating spike -he does as well.
He stuns under certain circumstances.
Ryu is one good Nori partner. Equip him with his VI and, if you're lucky, you may grant Nori more protectors.
Kozan JikkousuNori's biggest threat is also one of her best team members. Why? It's a bait. You either kill Jikk. first and get spiked by Nori or you kill Nori first and suffer, in the process, the death of some character(s).
Senboku EienWith his most recent boost, I've discovered Eien is one of the best Nori team mates. He deals affliction damage without clashing with Nori, counters melee skills (which are oftenly the ones that break Ookami more easily), and his FoE is plain awesome. You can use it after Summon: Ookami to make Ookami last a lil' bit longer, or you can use it before Summon: Ookami to make sure Nori bypasses counters and invulnerability (this is crucial against certain characters like Daiki, Amaya and Kao).
Note: Of course there are many other good character combinations, but these are the best. ^_^
Other Tips
As you can see, Nori is a very versatile character, and once you master her you can get extremely worthy results. Some other tips to have in mind for Nori:
~ If possible, make Nori your swap character. To avoid Kamiko, Isshou or Yuzuki from being swapped in by your enemy, try to hide Nori until the time comes.
~ Nori's default item should be her VI. That's at least what I recommend.
~ If you sense the enemy team has way too many Nori counters (let's say Jun, Daiki, Jikk), don't swap her in. This is mostly important when streaking with her.
~ Don't make the swap obvious! Sometimes the enemy can predict Nori swap-in's. Have a very decent team prepared, and then astonish the enemy by swapping Nori in and mess with their already planned strategies against it.
Some situations in which Nori can be useful
~ Against stunners (make sure you have WoR): Nori increases the cooldowns of stunners, making it more difficult for them to stun so oftenly.
~ Against drainers (Painkillers is almost always the best choice): Nori increases the cooldowns of their energy-removal skills; uses little to no energy; deals a lot of damage to eliminate annoying characters fast; they can't break her protector.
Conclusion
Well, that's all. Hope you found this useful.
Now go play with her and own the ladders! ;D
