Izumo-no-Okuni

“Even when evil spirits cry I will still cut them down … No, even if they don't cry I would still cut them down!”

Izumo no Okuni is a woman of many talents, of which demonslaying and kabuki dancing happen to be on top of her list. She is also uniquely the first ever Quick-centric Caster in the game, specializing in Single Target damage with an anti-demonic Noble Phantasm. 

Okuni’s first skill, Combat Dance B, is both an offensive and defensive skill that increases her Buster and Quick Card performance and a two-time Evade that lasts for 3 turns. Puppet Kagura A provides a powerful Critical Damage and Critical Star Absorption buff for one turn, alongside an unique effect that lets Okuni inflict a 10% stackable Defense Debuff when she does a Critical Hit that lasts for 1 turn. Her last skill, Sealing Shrine Maiden B+ is a standard 50% Charger and Critical Star Bomb for herself, and an exceptionally rare targetable Cooldown Reduction skill. Her Noble Phantasm, The Okuni Special, Izumo Aragami Kabuki C is a powerful Single Target nuke that deals extra damage to any enemy with [Demonic] trait and also inflicts a strong 3-turn Quick Resist Reduction debuff before dealing damage. 

In terms of gameplay, Okuni has one job and she does it decently enough. Her bread and butter is delivering a powerful burst with her Noble Phantasm followed by Critical Hits to any unfortunate [Demonic] enemy that catches her attention. This is rather easy to set up, as her own kit is quite intuitive and supports this game plan very well, even before considering the monstrously powerful buffs from the premium Quick Support - Scathach-Skadi. 

However, Okuni’s usage is quite limited, due to several downsides. It is traditionally very hard to make an offensive Caster work, and Okuni is sadly not an exception. Just like her peers, Okuni suffers from the dreaded Caster modifier, even though her base Attack is above average. While her one turn burst with a Quick Brave Chain Noble Phantasm can be impressive with Skadi, it is not something she can do regularly due to both the high cooldown on her first and third skills, and also the low duration of buffs on her 2nd skill. Her refund as a single target unit is also nonexistent, which means it will take a long while for Okuni to set up her massive burst again without a lot of external support. Furthermore, Okuni has very little utility beyond her, albeit rare, Cooldown Reduction effect. While it is not a crippling flaw, it does make Okuni a lot less valuable when the competition for single target nukers for Challenge Quests or even farming irregular nodes is so stiff. 

All in all, Okuni is a unit that is quite decent in a vacuum, but in practical situations there usually are better alternatives, and her actual opportunities to be the absolute best at something are far and few between. 

Powerful Single Target Burst

Okuni’s all about heavy burst through her Noble Phantasm and/or her one-turn Critical Burst with her second skill. This burst is quite formidable and very accessible, and usually does not even need external help to deliver a satisfying result, as her kit alone provides most of the effects she needs for it. 

Anti-Demonic Niche

With a solid Anti-Demonic damage modifier in her Noble Phantasm, Okuni can easily dispatch any high HP enemy with this trait. Demonic is a fairly common trait in both farming and challenge quests, thus Okuni can get very good mileage out of this.

Noticeable Downtime In Between Burst

Okuni’s burst damage is mainly tied to two things: her Noble Phantasm and her second skill cooldown. Beyond the first burst, Okuni relies a lot on external supports to get to the second Noble Phantasm, while her second skill buffs only last for one turn. Realistically, it should come back on the 4th turn if her third skill Cooldown Reduction effect is used on herself, but her sustained damage in between is not great. 

Lack of Utility for Challenging Content

Okuni has very little utility for challenge quests. Most of the time she just brings pure damage. Meanwhile, several high profile Quick Damage Dealers like Taira-no-Kagekiyo, Meltryllis (buff dispel), Kama (Charm) or Jack the Ripper (buff dispel & heal) bring at least some form of utility to counteract enemies’ gimmicks. 

Too Many Competitors For The Same Role

Okuni does have an unique position of being the only Quick ST centric Caster, but she still falls within the bigger pool of ST Casters and Quick ST Damage Dealers. Both of these niches have some heavy hitters that provide a lot more than her, namely Sanzang or Illyasviel for ST Caster and Kama/ Taira-no-Kagekiyo / Mysterious Heroine X or Meltryllis for heavy ST Quick hitter. 

Okuni really appreciates high skill levels as all of their offensive / beneficial effects scale with level. Her third skill is the most valuable as it is her NP Battery which lets her access her main form of damage quicker and more frequently.  

• Combat Dance B  – This skill has a lot of value from skill level, as the Buster and Quick buffs scale with it, while reduced cooldown also improves her survivability from getting her Evade effect up quicker. 
• Puppet Kagura A – The Critical Damage scaling and reduced cooldown is why one would want to level this skill, but in general it should be prioritized less than her two other skills. Level 6 is a good compromise point unless resource is not a concern. 
• Sealing Shrine Maiden B+ – Easily her most valuable skill and generally should be the priority for skill leveling, as NP Battery effect scales with level. 

Unlike most pure Quick ST Servants, Okuni can also utilize Buster Card Effectiveness as she has a BBQQA deck. Beyond that, she mostly wants the generic buffs that improve her damage output and versatility, namely Starting NP Gauge, Attack Up, NP Damage, Critical Damage and Quick Card Effectiveness. In particular, as her kit has a lot of Quick Card Effectiveness buffs (from her skill and NP), Attack and NP Damage buffs will be more valuable, allowing her access to all of the different buff modifiers.

• Golden Sumo / Holy Night Supper / Welcoming a Journey / White Garden / Geisha Dancing with Flowers: These are all hybrid Craft Essences with Starting NP Gauge plus beneficial stats, and are obtainable from events. 
• Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel: In terms of giving the most amount of power boost, these Craft Essences are tough to beat.
• Imaginary Number Attribute / Vessel of Desire / Winter Crystal: 4-Star alternatives that can be used if MLB / lower cost for teambuilding.