Meursault is a unique case, he suffers from having very few viable IDs while simultaneously having some of the best support through EGO. I would argue that Rhino Meursault is his only viable ID, but it definitely is a great one, especially for bleed and charge teams.
He’s a pillar of bleed teams through the sheer amount of bleed count he can apply once set up, and his charge mechanics are relatively self-sufficient and easy to maintain.
Skill 1 – Weighty Bash (Envy)
11 Power. 1 Coin.
A perfectly average skill 1 with decent charge gain and surprisingly high damage once set up. The final power is boosted to 12 once Meursault hits 10 charge and the damage is boosted by 25% if he’s at 7+ speed, which is relatively easy to achieve after a few turns thanks to his passive.
Skill 2 – Demolish (Gloom)
14 Power. 3 Coins.
While the below average clashing power may be a turn-off, this skill is a pillar in Rhino Meursault’s kit. 8 charge guarentees to push his speed threshold from 3-5 to 3-7, allowing him to fully realise the full potential of his skills. At 7+ speed, Demolish adds an additional bleed count application on this skill, boosting it from 2 count to 3.
Bleed suffers mainly from losing out on high potency through low count, this skill allows for multiple clashes while remaining bleed neutral.
Skill 3 – Rhino Ram (Lust)
15 Power. 3 Coins.
Without setup, Rhino Ram is underwhelming in all regards, low clashing power and only 2 bleed count application. However, with setup (at least 10 charge), skill 3 moves to 21 clashing power with 6 bleed count. Meursault is naturally tanky enough to absorb a few hits while setting up, but for drawn-out encounters where he can build charge and subsequently speed, he acts as the primary count support for most bleed teams.
Potency usually isn’t an issue, with picks like Kurokumo Ryoshu adding enough stacks each turn to keep the damage ramping up to 99.
Passive & Defense Skill – rrR – #4 Suit & Bioelectricity Induction
Passive Req. 5 Envy Owned
Rhino Meursault gains +2 max speed per 5 charge count up to a cap of +6. Also, with at least 5 charge count, Meusault gains 3 Aggro to his rightmost slot – cementing his position as a tank. It’s a great passive that keeps Meursault unique as a fast tank, ready to take clashes with both his skills and his EGO.
Defense Skill – Bioelectricity Induction. 20 Power. 1 Coin.
An envy affinity guard skill that rolls for 20, if Meursault is attacked while still shielded, he gains +2 charge count. It’s a very solid guard skill that keeps his charge gain growing, not much else to say.
EGO Choices – Rhino Meursault
Meursault has plenty of good EGO to choose from, Chains of Others being his best. It meshes very well with his tank capabilities but adds some great support for the rest of the team. I don’t think that threadspinning it to 4 is mandatory, but it’s a nice reduction of his self-applied debuffs. Inflicting 5 bind and 4 attack power down next turn to his target, he can almost singlehandedly neutralise unclashable damage or set his team up to better deal with strong moves.
Meursault takes 3 bind, 2 protection and 3 attack power down himself, the former of which being neutralised by Rhino’s passive. The EGO’s passive grants him 3 protection if he’s being targeted by 3 or more skills, which works with his tank IDs.
Capote sees use in burn teams with it’s insane potency and count application, but for every other archetype Pursuance is the way to go. An very nice clashing power of 34, along with an attack weight of 3 makes it a decent option for some bonus damage. But the main draw comes from the 30% max HP heal on the 2 allies with the lowest health, along with 20% damage resist next turn. Pursuance’s passive also works well with the concept of Rhino Meursault, granting 1 attack or defense power up to a random ally when he wins a clash.
For Teth EGO, either is fine. I personally can’t stand Screwloose Wallop and Surgery as a whole, but if you can make it work – it’s a nice boost to his tanking abilities. Regret doesn’t do too much without adequate Tremor support, leaving his Teth class EGOs lacking.
