[NA] Transcension Review: Pyroclaw Lin Zi and Underworld Mundus

NA is pumping out with 2 new Transcensions for this month! For players who want to know more about Transcensions in general, click here!

Also, since this is the first time for the Dark Dragon Gem, here is the dungeon guide: http://strikeshot.net/event/hunt-dragon-gems-dark

Lets get the analysis on the way with Pyroclaw Lin Zi and Underworld Mundus

Pyroclaw Lin Zi

Class: Paladin

Type: Power
Hit: Pierce
Ability: Etherean Slayer L
Gauge: Null Warp
Max HP: 20871
Max ATK: 32143 (38571 w/ Gauge)
Max SPD: 270.07

Strike Shot (13+8): Fires a number of homing shots.

Bump: Energy Circle M (6629)

Sub: Giga Blast (5249)

MS GamePress Page: http://strikeshot.net/monster/1827

The Improvements

The Transcension of Lin Zi is basically a combination of his Evolution and Ascension forms. He takes the Null Warp from the Evolution and the Etherean Slayer L from the Ascension. Along with the Giga Blast the previous forms have, he gets an Energy Circle M which is a good damage source.

The Pros

The main strength of Lin Zi is the Etherean Slayer L which deals x2.5 more damage. He melts any Etherean Boss monster with his normal attacks. Since it is on the base ability, his Energy Circle M gets the benefit as well. Even if there are no Etherean monsters, he still has a Giga Blast which can act as a support for your other monsters. Finally, his SS is relatively strong for the low cooldown. You can get to 1.5 million on Wood monsters  his first gear and can shoot over 2 million on his second gear.

The Cons

The cons of Lin Zi are very obvious. He is a Power-type which means he is very slow in general. It will be hard for him to hit multiple enemies to make use of his high ATK. Therefore he is often relegated to just hit allies for their bump combos.

Also he is only strong in dungeons with Etherean Bosses or minions. The only minions that are Etherean are the Obstructors. Along with only a handful of Etherean Bosses, he is a very niche monster. Therefore he doesn't get much use like other Transcended monsters.

Ableberries

As far as Ableberries go, you want to make use of his strengths instead of trying to cover up his weaknesses. Kinstregth type berries will make his normal attacks stronger as well as his Homing SS. 

Since he is a monster for Kushinada: Zero, you might want a Cutthroat to shave off Kushinada's high HP. He can be a off pick for normal Kushinada which also has a lot of HP. 

Dungeons

Lin Zi's main use will be for Kushinada: Zero. He can one-shot the Bounce Obstructors in the dungeon as well as the only monster in the game that can one-shot the high damaging Magatama. He basically makes the dungeon from Impossible to Extreme level.

There are a few Etherean Bosses in the game, mainly for Fenrir (and X), Visceron and Yeti. In terms of other Wood dungeons with lots of Warps, there are Yoshinobu, Fellmane and Diaochan in the future.

Finally, he is a off-pick for the 33F of the Tower.of Champions. He is really good because he can still one-shot Obstructors when in Chick form. However he is not a Null Damage Wall monster so you have to turn adjust every stage to make him more of a use than a hinder.

Summary

Lin Zi is a niche monster due to his Etherean Slayer L. Therefore he doesn't get a lot of use outside of the dungeons he is used for. However he makes an Impossible in Kushinada: Zero as easy as an Extreme dungeon. 

Underworld Mundus

Class: Deity

Type: Balanced
Hit: Pierce
Ability: Flight / Null Gravity Barrier

Max HP: 25816

Max ATK: 24150
SPD: 352.57
Strike Shot (26+4): Delays enemy attacks on contact for 3 turns.
Bump: Homing Destruction 8 (10981)
Sub: Homing Piercer 8 (2342)

MS GamePress Page: http://strikeshot.net/monster/1737

The Improvements

Mundus gets the buff treatment like Hunter King. He got stat buffs, better bump combos and a SS buff. Due to the buffs, he becomes more of a reliant mob clearer than the Ascended form. 

The Pros

The biggest pro of Mundus is his bump combos. Although his main bump combo in Homing Destruction 8 didn't get improved, his sub bump combo became Homing Piercer 8. Just by sheer damage, he becomes #5 out of all monsters with Homing bump combos (technically he is #6 but one monster above him is a Collaboration monster). This makes him a very good mob clearer for your team. Making a full of Mundus will melt enemies down quickly and effortlessly.

The other pro for Mundus is the strike shot. Although the delay didn't really got a buff, the cooldown did. Before it was 30 turns but now it is 26 turns (first gear) for the same 3 turn delay. The second gear gives Mundus a strength boost that is above the original 30 turn of the Ascended form.

The Cons

There are not much obvious flaws for Mundus. The main one is the unpopularity of the Delay SS. It just doesn't do any damage. Players might sub him out for a monster with a stronger SS like a Command, Meteor or even a short CD Bash SS.

Also there are some stages with a lot of Drones or Shields so his bump combos might not give you the necessary damage to take down enemies.

Ableberries

The best Ableberry for Mundus is Sidekick to improve his mob clearing capabilities.

In terms of the second slot, there are a lot of choices for him. You can give him more stats with the 3 Kin berries. Knockout works well with a Pierce monster. Strike Haste makes his 26 turn Delay go to a maximum of 21 turns. 

Dungeons

Being a Flight and Null Gravity Barrier, he can go to a lot of dungeons. His best Extreme dungeons is Slash, Deathscoil, Bastet and Takiyasha.

In terms of Impossibles and Colossals, he works well in Izanami Zero, Acala and Tsukuyomi. If you make a full Mundus team, he makes Daikoku a very easy task since his bump combos melts the Petras and the other mobs. Yamato Takeru Zero and Yomi are the future dungeons you can bring him to.

Mundus becomes the Pierce monster for Tower floors like 30F and 35F. His bump combos works well in dealing with the amount of mobs in 39F and Zombie Loop clearing in 40F

Summary

Mundus was a very versatile monster in his Ascended form. Now in his Transcended monster, he becomes a mob clearer for your team. Bring him to any dungeon that has a lots of mobs for your single-target damage monsters (like with Lock-ons, Rebound Lasers, etc.) to take down the Boss.