Editing Efficiency

'''Efficiency''' is a rating that determines the offensive power per hit of a [[psych]] or a partner attack. Each psych and partner attack has a unique efficiency rating. Efficiency ratings are not listed in the game.

In layman's terms, it determines how much final [[Attack|ATK]] (sum of equipped ATK and pin ATK) is converted into actual damage for each hit.

==Analysis: Neku (DS/Remix)==
Efficiency is a multiplier that affects the [[damage]] formula. An attack with 20% efficiency will deal half the damage versus an attack with 40% efficiency, provided that final ATK is equal and that the enemy has no additional defense.

'''''Efficiency is the most important factor when determining offensive potential.''''' Many players incorrectly assume that pins with higher pin ATK are always better. This only applies when comparing two pins of the same psych. For example, [[Angel Magnum]] appears to be a powerful pin due to its 102 pin ATK. However, its psych, [[Energy Rounds]], has an efficiency rating of 20%. [[Ice Blow]], with 27 pin ATK, will always deal more damage than Angel Magnum per hit because its psych, [[Piercing Pillar]] S, has an efficiency rating of 100%. For example, if Neku has 10 base ATK:

*(10 base ATK + 102 pin ATK) * 20% = 22 damage per Angel Magnum hit
*(10 base ATK + 27 pin ATK) * 100% = 37 damage per Ice Blow hit
However, Angel Magnum has multiple uses before reboot, while Ice Blow has only one use before reboot, thus causing each pin's respective psychs to have different roles. This is explained below in further detail.

High-efficiency psychs take better advantage of Neku's base ATK stat, since final ATK is the sum of base ATK and pin ATK. When using Ice Blow, each +1 ATK to Neku will result in +1 damage/hit because of its 100% efficiency rating. On the other hand, Neku will need +5 ATK to see +1 damage/hit for Angel Magnum.
===Low-efficiency psychs vs. High-efficiency psychs (DS)===

Many low-efficiency psychs are fast, have many uses, and can deal damage to multiple enemies. Some psychs are able to hit an enemy multiple times per use in order to offset their efficiency ratings, such as [[Vulcan Uppercut]]. Psychs at the top of the efficiency list deal excellent damage, but usually have a considerable charge time and only deliver one powerful hit.

In abstract, this would make low-effiency psychs similar or superior in total damage compared to high-efficiency psychs. However, the [[puck]] provides damage amplification of a single hit. A puck-amplified hit with a high-efficiency psych can deal more damage than a great number of low-efficiency psych hits:
*12 Angel Magnum hits @ 10 base ATK = 22 * 12 = 264 damage
*[[One Stone, Many Birds]] hit @ 10 base ATK and 3X puck = 75 * 1.5 * 3 = 337 damage!

Therefore, a recommended strategy is to reserve one or two pins with high efficiency for passing the puck while using faster pins with lower efficiency as filler damage. It is also possible to eschew low-efficiency psychs entirely if the player is using [[thread]] setups with ''Faster Puck'' and ''Puck Power''.

For example, [[Shockwave]] has 35% efficiency, while [[Vortex Saber]] has 100% efficiency. It may seem that Shockwave is weak, but a Shockwave pin with nine uses can expend all of them in a few seconds. If all of the shots connect, Shockwave is an acceptable psych. Vortex Saber is a much slower psych, so it's best used when Neku has the puck in order to benefit from the puck's damage multiplier.

[[Burst Rounds]] is considered to be the most versatile high-efficiency puck passing psych. [[Flame Blast]] combines high efficiency and a fast firing rate, and obsoletes almost every other psych with lower efficiency. The [[Dragon Couture]] "dream deck" features both of these psychs, which gives Dragon Couture the nod over [[Pegaso]] as the brand with the best possible maingame deck.

[[Entanglement]], despite being tied for the worst efficiency in the game, is an effective psych because its activation is almost instant and will not tie up Neku while it deals its damage. Conversely, [[Frostbite]] and [[Holy Light]] are considered to be the two worst offensive psychs in the game in regards to damage: not only are they tied for the lowest efficiency, but they have a significant charge time, and Neku is vulnerable during activation. The main redeeming value of the these psychs is there ability to inflict status effects, not damage (though they do deal a lot of hits once they get started).

=== Low-efficiency psychs vs. High-efficiency psychs (Remix) ===
Both Solo Remix and Final Remix don't use the DS puck system. Instead, the [[Cross Combo]] system increases damage with alternating hits from Neku and his partner, plus builds up [[sync]]. This means that pin strategy is completely different. By using fast, multi-hit psychs with low efficiency, sync builds up more quickly than using slower, high efficiency psychs. When combined with CC Faster Sync/Sync Charge threads, fusions accumulate at a much faster rate than in DS.

For example, while [[Piercing Pillar|Piercing Pillar S]] is great in DS, it's a poor psych for building sync in Remix because it has only 1 use before reboot. [[Force Rounds]], a mediocre psych in DS, is a great psych for building sync and increasing CC multipliers in Remix due to its fast firing rate and multiple uses. [[Burst Rounds]], the gold standard of efficiency, still fires fast enough to be a good psych in Remix, but will not build up sync as quickly as faster pins.

High efficiency psychs will still get the greatest damage boost per hit with Cross Combos, but unlike with the puck, a more effective strategy is to use fast hitting psychs to build up the multiplier quickly, then use a high efficiency psych to exploit the boosted multiplier. In this way, players can effectively design custom combos, in which low efficiency psychs steadily build towards a high efficiency "finisher".

==Analysis: Partners (DS)==
Partner panels and finishers typically have higher efficiency than most of Neku's psychs. This is to offset the partners' lack of any pin ATK. Each partner has various strengths and weaknesses:
*'''[[Shiki]]''' has moderate panel and finisher efficiency. Her ground finisher is unique in that it has invincibility frames during its execution. Her combos are also extremely fast and thus harder to interrupt and her finishers strike can strike multiple enemies provided they are in close proximity to the targeted enemy. Her air attacks and finishers can only target air units, with air finishers being twice as powerful.
*'''[[Joshua]]''' has the weakest panel efficiency, especially his ground panels which don't produce any damage at all, and his finishers take longer to execute. Moreover, most of his ground finishers strike each target individually, and sometimes deal two hits to each enemy instead of one, reducing light puck effectiveness. However, his ground finisher efficiency increases the more he locks onto a single enemy, and maximizes with five locks. His best ground finisher though requires that he locks on to a minimum of three targets at least twice each, which results in a powerful finisher that hits all targets with equal force. For air combos, if Joshua amounts enough panels in the air (specifically, enough so that a ''single ''enemy is hit at least six times), his attacks will attack enemies on both side and his finisher will become a more powerful beam. Should he fall short of this though he will still strike all enemies on the targeted side of the field, though for less damage. Notably, he is the only partner with finishers that can reach 700% and 500% efficiency for ground and air respectively. This is somewhat of a catch: if the player equips threads that force a longer [[Combo Map|combo map]] amount this much efficiency, it will take longer to obtain [[Fusion Stars|fusion stars]].
*'''[[Beat]]''' has the strongest panel efficiency and powerful finishers in exchange for a slow but rewarding fusion system. Despite what the game states, Beat should always use his air attacks over his ground attacks unless facing a quick-dodging opponent such as [[Uzuki]]. It's more practical for him to deal high panel and finisher damage than to obtain fusion stars. His biggest weakness is that both his attacks and finishers only strike one enemy at a time, limiting his effectiveness against groups. He will typically focus on one target at a time. Note that, when attacking an airborne target, Beat's ground combo will deal damage the same as his aerial combo while still allowing him to play 2 suit cards.

==Efficiency List==
Note that certain psychs have different efficiency ratings in the JP version (usually lower). These are listed separately.

===Very High===
:200% [[Massive Hit]] (full charge)
:200% [[Pressure Mine]] (explosion)
:150% [[Burst Rounds]]
:120% [[Summon Rhyme]]
:100% Massive Hit (medium charge)
:100% [[Nexus Ray]]
:100% [[Piercing Pillar]] S
:100% [[Vortex Saber]] C/M

===High===
:80% [[Apport]] C
:80% [[Grave Marker]]
:80% [[Lance Lunge]]
:74% [[Flame Blast]]
:65% [[Earthquake]]
:65% [[Splash Core]]
:65% [[Time Bomb]]
:55% [[Explosion]]
:55% [[Lightning Arrester]]
:50% [[Irregular Note]]
:50% [[Lightning Bolt]]
:50% [[Piercing Pillar]] R

===Medium===
:45% [[Fire Barrier]]
:45% [[Flame Core]]
:45% [[Spark Core]]
:45% [[Velocity Crash]]
:45% [[Vulcan Uppercut]]
:42% [[Thunderbolt]]
:42% [[Thundercloud]]
:42% [[Thunderstorm]]
:40% [[Discharge]] H
:40% Massive Hit (small charge)
:40% [[Force Rounds]] ([[Lolita Bat]]; ie. Slow, great knockback bullets)
:40% [[Energy Rounds]] ([[Sparkle Beam]]; ie. Slow, great knockback bullets)
:40% [[Spear Strike]]

===Low===
:38% [[Velocity Attack]]
:35% [[Dark Barrier]]
:35% [[Pyrokinesis]]
:35% [[Shockwave]]
:35% [[Twister]]
:30% Defense break bullets ([[Skull Rabbit]] and [[Lil' Terror Bazooka]])
:30% [[Ignition]]
:30% [[Street Jam]]
:30% [[Apport]] T
:30% [[Discharge]] R
:30% [[Patrol Rounds]] S/T
:30% [[Stellar Flurry]]

===Very Low===
:25% Force Rounds (all non-Lapin Angelique regular bullet and penetrating bullet pins)
:20% [[Energy Rounds]] (all pins that fire multiple bullets per use)
:20% [[Entanglement]]
:20% Force Rounds ([[Purity Launcher]] and [[Innocence Beam]])
:20% [[Frostbite]]
:20% [[Holy Light]]
:20% Apport C (flak)
:20% Burst Rounds (flak)
:20% Massive Hit (no charge)

===Variable===
:100-550% [[Pressure Mine]] (post-explosion collision)
:40-220% [[Psychokinesis]] T (used on an [[Obstacle]])
:20-110% [[Psychokinesis]] D/S (used on an Obstacle)
:4-60% Psychokinesis D/S (used on [[Noise]])
:8-120% Psychokinesis T (used on Noise)
:9-135% Velocity Crash (Secondary collisions of targeted Noise into other enemies; collisions can also be triggered by [[Sweeper]], but uses Velocity Crash attack and efficiency, defaulting to 0% efficiency if no Velocity Crash pins are equipped.)

===Japanese Only===
The only psych that is superior in the Japanese version is [[Time Bomb]]. All other listed psychs are worse than their EU/NA counterparts.

:150% Massive Hit (full charge)
:100% Time Bomb
:50% Burst Rounds
:50% Earthquake
:50% Summon Rhyme
:30% Discharge H
:30% Irregular Note
:20% Ignition
:17% Spear Strike
:15% Stellar Flurry
:15% Massive Hit (no charge)
:10% Frostbite
:10% Holy Light
:10% Burst Rounds (flak)

=== Planet set boost ===
When all six pins of the [[Darklit Planets |planet set]] are in the same deck, efficiency is tripled for all pins in the set. As a result, the planet pin with the highest efficiency ([[Black Uranus]] at 300%) is regarded as one of the most powerful pins in the game.
==Partners' Efficiency List (DS)==
===Partners: Panels===
:200% Beat's air panel
:150% Beat's ground panel
:100% Shiki's air/ground panel
:50% Joshua's air panel
:0% Joshua's ground panel

===Partners: Finishers===
:600% Joshua's ground finisher: minivan or pickup (activated by locking onto minimum three targets minimum twice each)
:500% Joshua's air finisher after accumulating enough panels
:500% Joshua's ground finisher: vending machine
:400% Beat's air finisher
:400% Shiki's air finisher
:400% Joshua's ground finisher: blue motorcycle
:300% Beat's ground finisher
:300% Joshua's ground finisher: WOW sign
:200% Joshua's air finisher
:200% Joshua's ground finisher: bicycle
:200% Shiki's ground finisher
:100% Joshua's ground finisher: traffic sign (Parking, wrong way, yellow barricade)
[[Category:Combat]]