New Rangers Released + Castle in the Sky Thoughts

I woke up yesterday morning and it was all mayhem because all the obtainable rangers in boss stages were different. I woke up this morning and apparently the entire player community has gone amok because new and even more outrageously overpowered rangers have been released! And it's Bonus Ruby time and double chances on Premium Gacha time, and to top it all off it's Double Coin day. It's been a very unproductive day for me. Been playing Rangers all day.

My discussion of Castle in the Sky part one was very long in the making, but with the advent of the new rangers, the last half of the zone got obliterated in about an hour. I don't want to write up part 2 just yet, because writing how I beat it with the new rangers seems like a waste. This post will be just about the set of new rangers as well as some thoughts about how they are a good fit for tackling Castle in the Sky.

KSM is picked on by his wife, but he only takes his anger out on Alien Army members

First things first, Sorcerer Cony has been overthrown by this fine gentleman as the most overpowered ranger in the game to date. Mr. KSM, you are a very mysterious fellow. Why is his name KSM? What does it mean and what does it stand for? My theory is KSM are his initials. I wish we could see the breast pockets of his robe because I bet KSM is embroidered there. Why does KSM have so much rage? What does his wife do to him? We'll never know...

Level 1 KSM, Level 1 Dancer King Boss destroying the Fart King

Mr. KSM is a splash ranger and he will be undoubtedly the most sought after ranger by everyone. At level 1 he costs 540 mineral to deploy which may seem like an astronomical amount of resources for one unit, but at level 1, his attack DPS is already 10500. Honestly, if you get him from GACHA, go ahead and use him right away, even if you don't have anyone to synthesize him with to level up. At level 1, he's already as good as Opera James at level 40. At level 41 to 50, KSM costs 740 to deploy, which may seem like a lot, but as you head into Castle in the Sky, all the stages lend themselves to splash damage a lot. At Stage 104 and beyond, the pathways are very short so KSM's Very Slow speed is not much of a problem, while his damage will knock everything out in a few hits. I was skeptical, but he is well worth the money. In addition, his max range is the same as Opera James, so he can safely dole out the pain from behind the fray. He can't avoid the unicycle or the ice cream enemies' splash damage, but (1) KSM has a lot of health and (2) if you deploy in the right order, you'll have enough KSMs out to obliterate them in no time at all. His cooldown (time before you can deploy him again) is very long, even longer than other splash rangers by a little bit, but I've been finding it ok because it takes a while to even regenerate that kind of cash.

Dancer King Boss has the master moves and a keen sense of style

Dancer King Boss is really awesome and not just because he hurls disco balls across the room. Dancer King overthrows Sindy as the ranger with the longest range and outperforms Lia, Alice, Sindy and Legend Boss as the highest single target DPS. Look closely at the picture below for the left-most Dancer King Boss and the left-most Sindy. That's how much further back Dancer King Boss can stand. In stage 104, Dancer King pops and remains at the foot of the home tower while damaging enemies standing at the foot of the enemy tower. Talk about far! Needless to say, he also out-ranges the ice cream splash damage, which will make him ideal for most stages in Castle in the Sky. To give you an idea of  how powerful he is, maxed out at level 70, Dancer Boss King deals over 100,000 DPS. He is very bit as OP as I make him seem, trust me.

Honey roasted peanut Bernard is kind of a beach bum. But who surfs with socks on? That's just weird.

Bernard is like the new Thunder Brown. Really, really slow, doesn't do a lot of damage, but his potbelly gives him about one million HP when he's at level 50. One. Million. He costs 820 mineral to deploy, but that's not my only problem with him. Bernard does not really allow himself to be the only tank in your team because his cooldown (time before you can deploy him again) is *insanely long* for a health unit. His cooldown is the same as KSM's, something like 12 seconds. 12 seconds for a splash ranger is acceptable because you will most likely be sending out other rangers in between, but for a health ranger to have such a long cooldown and at such cost is almost detrimental. One million HP is actually nothing when you're up against 10 Tylers (paper airplane enemy). He's also Slow move speed.

I don't think I will be using him much, just like I didn't end up using Thunder Brown much. They have a ton of health but because of their cost and speed, I just don't believe they're very functional for holding the front line. Maybe for Stage 97 and 98, but beyond that, I think I'll just use this guy...

Brown gets cooler every time we see him. Lightning kicks and tattooed fist. Eat your heart out.

Hip Hop Brown is amazing. Unique to Brown as a speed ranger, he gains a lot of HP as you level him and he has a 3 second cooldown just like Honey. He walks really fast and the best part is he only costs 210 mineral which means you can spam him like crazy and he's just as good at holding the front line as any tank. He walks faster than Honey, which is pretty fast for a big meaty ranger.

On a related note, if you logged in recently, you would have gotten a bonus 3 star ranger, Red Brown. He's like Hip Hop Brown's little brother. 3 star, so less meaty, but still very good and very cheap to deploy. Great for lower stages and only 120 minerals to deploy. 

Poor Songster Cony. She's a hipster and she has a bit of potential, but lacks talent indeed.

Songster Cony is kind of like Sorcerer Cony's baby sister. She joins the ranks with other 4-star ranged splash units, and she performs about as well. Where Opera James and Clara fall short in both move and attack speed, she excels. Her attack power at level 40 isn't terrible, but it's not great, either. Especially with level 60 Clara being so available to the public these days, Songster Cony seems to fall short for me in desirability. If Clara is your only other ranged splash unit, though, Songster Cony will do nicely to join your team. She has quite long range as well, just short of Sindy's. 

Seems to me like KSM, Dancer King Boss are at the top of the wish list with Hip Hop Brown not far behind. The new rangers will surely make Castle in the Sky much easier for people. I'm still not sure why KSM wants to save Sally but we're lucky to have him on our side. If you have the cash to spare, now's the time to play the GACHA machine with double chances and bonus rubies. Good luck, everyone!