Element

[Erinxh]

Which element seem to be the best so far in Samurai Warriors 5?
I am planning my weapon build with only 1 slot dedicated to an element.

In previous games whether that's a Dynasty, Samurai or Orochi game, I most often tend to go with ice as safe choice.
I don't think it ever was the best one nor the worst, but it always did the job for me.

But did anyone found a clear 'best' so far in SW5?
Or perhaps elements are underwhelming so far in this one and best to avoid, due they only proc with at least one full bar of musou?

The Earth element seems to intrigue me the most, but no idea if it's any good.

The in-game description of each element.

• Wind - Inflicts unblock-able damage.
  
• Lightning - Calls down lightning, inflicting damage on surrounding enemies within a wide range.
  
• Earth – Stuns the enemy and deals additional damage.
  
• Fire – Inflicts continuous damage on enemies enveloping them in flames.
  
• Frost – Freezes the enemy for a certain period of time, stopping all movement.

[bruticus0]

Death, always Shura. Shura every time.

[Erinxh]

Originally posted by bruticus0:

Death, always Shura. Shura every time.

Normally death is indeed the best one, but I don't think SW5 considers 'death' an (normal) element this time around. At least death doesn't seem to be in the same category as the ones I mentioned. Unless I am wrong.

Death has a yellow skill gem icon, the others are blue.

[bruticus0]

The colors are just arbitrary values that are given to labels. Once a set of colors saturates the C skill pool, the weapon becomes B skill pool. 1 red rank is worth 4 blue ranks or something (guess). The more powerful the label's effects, the further up the color scale they go.

Basically Death is more powerful than other "gems", therefore it gets the Yellow color. Musou gems are more powerful than other "gems", therefore it they get Red color. Colors aren't meant to group elements together. The colors are just strength measuring tools.

We get the idea of elements because of previous entries where Element was a different and separate entity from the "Effect" labels on a weapon. In SW5, I think all gems are seen as "Effects" with color being a measure of how powerful the Effect is.

I could be wrong about this too....it's just what it seems to be to me. I didn't notice your OP didn't include Death. This is all just wordplay really. So you can consider whatever you want to be an "element".

Of the others, I've had Frost be the most useful. It holds your targets in place instead of jetting them out of your range. And it's pretty effective on a bow to freeze bow type enemies to keep them from firing. I need to try the Earth one more, cause it does sound really interesting. I just dunno if it's noticeably effective or not.