Five Elements Alliance Immortal Fates guide by zwc

Five Elements Alliance Immortal Fates guide by zwc

2023-9-26 (final patch of Wind Rise season)

translated from https://www.taptap.cn/moment/455896514699463777 by Xom

Preface

Grandmaster 雪团 made the Cloud Spirit Sword Sect Immortal Fates guide, so naturally the other two sects, the Heptastar Pavilion and the Five Elements Alliance, should get their own guides, too.

[Each character in Yi Xian: The Cultivation Card Game is defined by one Initial Immortal Fate and four Optional Immortal Fates. The Initial Immortal Fate is in effect from the start of the match; each time you break through, you can choose one of either the character's Optional Immortal Fate for the new phase or three random Immortal Fates which will appear. This guide explains the effect and strength of each Immortal Fate of each of the five Five Elements Alliance characters.]

Before the evaluations, let's briefly analyze the differences between the sects. The difference between the Five Elements Alliance and the Heptastar Pavilion or Cloud Spirit Sword Sect is that it's basically a numbers-driven sect; lategame counterplay is constrained by the generating and activation mechanics, whereas the numbers are relatively awesome; also, most builds come together relatively sooner. Therefore, the evaluations are more oriented toward strength in the transitional period. (By comparison, most Heptastar builds are assembled in Incarnation, and they have access to general-purpose counterplay using double-blind mix-ups; Sword Sect builds distinctly come in two tiers: the lower tier are like Five Elements, big numbers and coming together early, and the upper tier like Heptastar, powerful mechanics, high potential, and with access to many countermeasures.)

[TL Note: There's been three patches to character-specific Immortal Fates, on 2023-10-12, 2024-1-22, and 2024-2-1. Since I don't have the exact previous text, I've used the post-patch text in the body of this translation. The 2023-10-12 changes were as follows:
Five Elements Infuse (Hua Qinrui, Initial Immortal Fate): It will not reduce your Destiny.
Five Element Explosion (Nangong Sheng, Virtuoso Phase): Now it will not reduce 2 more HP and Max HP when activate Fire Spirit.
The 2024-1-22 changes were as follows:
Five Elements Infuse (Hua Qinrui, Initial Immortal Fate): ... if you accumulate 20→15 or more Destiny by this way...
Five Elements Explosion (Nangong Sheng): Callback effect: ... reduce the opponent's HP and Max HP by 3 (2 more when you Activate Fire Spirit)
As of 2024-2-1, Secret Seal Affinity (Nangong Sheng, Initial Immortal Fate) no longer reduces your Max HP by 2.
As of 2024-2-29, Five Elements Explosion once again no longer reduces 2 more when you Activate Fire Spirit.]

Wu Xingzhi (吾行之)

Battle Experience

Initial Immortal Fate

"Add 2 Exchange Card Chance for each victory battle"

If everyone saves their exchanges during the transitional period and just plays whatever they naturally draw, then this Immortal Fate is not bad, you can exchange a bit in the first two rounds and win a bunch of exchanges back. But if everyone exchanges a lot early and you have trouble winning, it's weak. Average.

Mark Of Five Elements

Foundation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"At the beginning of the battle you will gain: When you play Five Elements next time, activate the Five Elements of the card first"

Very flexible activation, other than not directly being able to trigger Water Spirit - Billows, basically a better version of other activation-related Immortal Fates. This Immortal Fate lets Wu Xingzhi play pretty much any oft-seen Five Elements build. Strong.

Gourd Of Leisurely

Virtuoso Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Draw 1 Gourd Of Leisurely" (Qi+1; HP+3; If any Five Elements has been activated, Chase)

Qi+1 Chase is not bad, and... and that's pretty much it, it's just a playable card. Worth mentioning is that Fire Spirit - Blast just so requires 1 qi, so this card is notably better for mono-fire. Average.

Avatar Of Five Elements

Immortality Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"When the next Destiny is exhausted, keep 1 Destiny and not be eliminated, then lose 5 Cultivation and draw 5 different Five Elements cards (Above Virtuoso Phase)"

Five Elements is not a sect that expresses its power in the lategame; compared to the other two extra-life Immortal Fates, this one isn't usually able to upset the heavens and change fate; you'll still lose the battles you're supposed to lose. Normally, this is not as good as card-draw Immortal Fates. But it's still an extra life, pickable. Average.

Inheritance of Five Elements

Incarnation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Exchange Card Chance decrease 5, Draw 1 Inheritance of Five Elements" (Absorb: Draw 2 Five Elements cards (Above Virtuoso Phase and Priority is given to the first Five Elements card of the deck))

3 cultivation, 2 priority cards, basically no downside (Five Elements can use up all of its exchanges in Immortality phase to begin with). Practically a no-brainer. Strong.

[TL Note: "Above Virtuoso Phase" includes Virtuoso Phase.]

Du Lingyuan (杜伶鸳)

Innate Element

Initial Immortal Fate

"At the beginning of the game gain a random Innate Element from Five Elements, after each Phase break through you will draw 1 card related to that Element."

Four cards in a certain direction, gives this character cultivation and quality. Relatively strong in most circumstances. Metal, Fire, Wood: Strong. Water: Average. Earth: Weak.

Innate Mark

Foundation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"At the beginning of the battle Activate your Innate Element"

Mono-element builds other than mono-metal and Overcome-with-each-other builds with Innate Metal/Fire/Wood all pick this Immortal Fate. Mono-Metal and Overcome builds with Innate Water/Earth don't pick this. Same ratings as Innate Element above: Metal, Fire, Wood: Strong. Water: Average. Earth: Weak.

Innate Spirit Formation

Virtuoso Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Lose 1 Cultivation, draw a Level 2 Spirit Formation card of your Innate Element"

Mono-element builds can pick this. But the Spirit Formations themselves differ in strength and utility. Water Spirit Formation is strongest, single-handedly solving Water's qi problems, and combos with Water Spirit - Great Waves. For mono-Water, must-pick. Mono-Metal and mono-Fire aren't as strong as Overcome, Wood Spirit Formation itself is weak, and Earth... how about never mind. Water: Strong. Metal, Fire: Average. Wood, Earth: Weak.

Overcome with each other

Immortality Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Lose 1 Cultivation, draw 2 Overcome with each other" (Qi+1; DEF+3; If the card in the previous slot has Overcoming Interaction of Five Elements with the next slot, Activate the Five Elements of the next slot and Chase) (at lv.2, Qi+2 and DEF+5 instead)

[TL Note: Overcoming Interactions are two steps in the cycle; for example, Water overcomes Fire.]

Two cards in Immortality phase with Chase and element-skipping activation, extremely strong. Currently the main builds on ladder are the World Smash build and the Wood Spirit - Fragrant build. Other than the main builds, there's also the Fire-Metal-Water build, murderous midgame, very easy top-four, top-four rate should be at least 90%. Disadvantage is that it's a little bit weak later; relying on Five Elements Anima for strength results in lower cultivation. Strong.

Five Elements Anima

Incarnation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"When Activate each Five Elements for the first time, trigger additional effects:

• Wood Spirit: Gain 1 stack of Increase ATK
• Fire Spirit: Opponent loses 7 Max HP
• Earth Spirit: DEF+12
• Metal Spirit: Gain 4 stacks of Penetrate
• Water Spirit: Gain 2 stacks of Force of Water"

On average, two activations makes it equivalent to a no-cost Meteor Quench, numerically strong, can shore up Overcome builds' lategame strength. Ultimate World Formation also pretty much picks this. Playing multicolor, this can be picked in situations where cultivation is not absolutely critical. Strong.

Hua Qinrui (花沁蕊)

Five Elements Infuse

Initial Immortal Fate

"At the beginning of each round, add 1 Destiny for each different Five Elements in your deck. If you accumulate 15 or more Destiny by this way, change this Immortal Fate to 'Peach Branch Ruyi' (At the beginning of the battle, gain 1 stack of Guard Up)."

[TL Note: It used to be "20 or more Destiny", and I think Hua Qinrui used to start with 90 Destiny?]

10-15 Destiny, then you go second with 1 Guard Up. Like The Body of Fierce Tiger, for other sects would be weak, but for Five Elements... decent. Again, can help top-four. Average.

Peach Blossom Seal

Foundation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Draw 1 Wood Spirit - Peach Blossom Seal" (1 ATK × 2; Qi+2; Activate Wood Spirit)

The evaluation is, the character-specific card isn't as good as a lv.2 Meditation-phase card. Not as good as lv.2 Wood or Fire Spirit Seal... or even compared to lv.1 Wood Spirit Seal, other than being worth 1 cultivation, and aside from the lategame use, basically not one good point. Blossom Dance is powerful, but what does Peach Blossom Seal have to do with that? Weak.

Mark of Water Spirit

Virtuoso Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"At the beginning of the battle Activate Water Spirit and add 1 Qi"

Relatively standard framework, since you'll take Spring Rain, you'll normally take this, too. Average.

Spring Rain

Immortality Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Draw 1 Water Spirit - Spring Rain" (1-qi cost; HP and Max HP+6; Continuous: At the beginning of your turn, gain 1 stack of Force of Water)

Round 8 transformation. If you stall seven turns, it's 27 points [6 HP + 21 damage], eight turns is 35; combined with HP/DEF/Weak, simply overwhelming. The basis of Hua Qinrui's dominance in Immortality. When this thing first came out, it wiped out all stillness in the ladder. [TL: I don't know whether this is a reference to Stillness Citta-Dharma.] Only in endgame when there are fewer turns does it get a bit worse. Strong.

Blossom Dance

Incarnation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"When playing a card in the order of Five Elements Generating Interaction, add 1 Qi, 1 Max Hp and 1 HP; If the above effect is triggered when playing Wood Spirit - Peach Blossom Seal, Chase"

Gives a lot of qi, some HP, and Peach Blossom Seal Chase, other than lack of cards/cultivation, a perfect Immortal Fate. Strong.

Mu Hu (慕虎)

The Body of Fierce Tiger

Initial Immortal Fate

"Each time break through the Phase add 2/3/4/5 more Max HP"

14 HP, nothing else. For other sects, would be weak, but for Five Elements, can be considered passable, this HP is useful in the transitional period, can help top-four. Average.

Quench of Wood Spirit

Foundation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"When you Absorb a 'Wood Spirit' card, your Max HP increases by 2 (up to a maximum of 8)."

[TL Note: Before 2023-11-9, it was "increases by 1 (up to a maximum of 7)."]

Brother Tiger, you need to find cards in Foundation phase, don't you want your Spirit Formations? This Immortal Fate is bad for tempo; absorbing Wood Spirit cards likely leaves you lacking cards to exchange, and also the effect isn't big. Weak.

Kun Wu Metal Ring

Virtuoso Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Draw 1 Kun Wu Metal Ring" (Activate Earth Spirit; Activate Metal Spirit; Continuous: Whenever you gain DEF or Penetrate, gain 2 additional stacks)

Equivalent to coming with your own lv.2.5 Spirit Formation, works with most Metal and Earth cards, and even synergizes with some (for example, Metal Spirit - Charge, Earth Spirit - Mountains, Metal Spirit - Sharp). If not trolling, normally will be picked. Strong.

Vigorous

Immortality Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Draw 1 Metal Spirit - Vigorous" (6 ATK; Metal Spirit: For every stack of Penetrate this card add 1 ATK, but will not trigger the effect of Penetrate)

Decently strong. Too bad Metal was numerically nerfed, not as awesome as before. Average.

Landslide

Incarnation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Draw 1 Earth Spirit - Landslide" (8 ATK; Earth Spirit: DEF halved, for each reduced point add 3 more ATK)

With Earth Spirit - Combine World and Flying Brush, explosive, solving Earth's damage-output problems. Gives mono-Earth a way to hit back against decks that don't attack it head-on, but doesn't solve Earth's basic problem of needing enough quality to be unassailable head-on. It's true that in situations of insufficient Earth quality, head-on vs. many decks 刚 is inadequate [TL: I'm not sure whether 刚 here refers to DEF or to Metal Spirit - Vigorous]... Normally, playing Metal will take Vigorous, playing Earth will take Landslide, pick-1-of-2; in some years, someone may wait for both sets of cards and shortly be eliminated. Average.

Nangong Sheng (南宫生)

Secret Seal Affinity

Initial Immortal Fate

"Draw a random Five Elements 'Secret Seal' each time you breakthrough the Phase. When you breakthrough to the Incarnation Phase, the 'Secret Seal' drawn will match the Five Elements of the first card in your deck."

• Wood Spirit Secret Seal (Gain 2/3/4 stacks of Increase ATK; Activate Wood Spirit)
• Fire Spirit Secret Seal (Opponent loses 8/12/16 HP and Max HP; Activate Fire Spirit)
• Earth Spirit Secret Seal (DEF+6/9/12; Add 6/9/12 DEF in the next turn; Activate Earth Spirit)
• Metal Spirit Secret Seal (Penetrate+8/11/14; Activate Metal Spirit)
• Water Spirit Secret Seal (Gain 2/3/4 stacks of Force of Water; Activate Water Spirit)

[TL Note: Before 2024-2-1, when this guide was originally written, Secret Seal Affinity reduced Nangong Sheng's starting Max HP by 2.]

I'm sorry... for the sake of the Wood Spirit Secret Seal, I'll endure. Secret Seal strength: Wood > Metal > Water/Fire/Earth. Average.

Fire Spirit Generation

Foundation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Max HP reduced by 2. The Fire Spirit and other Five Element (Wood/Earth/Metal/Water) are considered to have a Five Element Generating Interaction mutually."

Helps lategame deck construction. Can Ultimate World Formation three turns five damage [cards?], can turn-three Combine World into turn-four damage, can Charge into Heart Fire, can also play World Smash builds. But -2 Max HP and no cultivation early, the cost is rather great. Average.

Five Elements Explosion

Virtuoso Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Max HP reduced by 2. When you Activate any Five Elements in battle, reduce the opponent's HP and Max HP by 3"

No cultivation, and decreased Max HP, but regardless whether transitional period or lategame, in one battle can reduce the opponent's HP by about 9-11, satisfactory after the numerical buff. Average.

Flame Soul Rebirth

Immortality Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Max HP reduced by 15. The first time your HP reaching or dropping below 0 in each battle, revive with 15 HP and Max HP."

Facing Spirit Sword or Sword Intent, that's pretty much it, if the opponent can even calculate, it won't slow their killing tempo. If you pick this + Swift Burning Seal at Incarnation, you'll only have 60 HP, so what if you revive. And the worst thing is if the opponent KOs you with a Chase card, after you stand back up you still have to reckon with their next card. Weak.

Swift Burning Seal

Incarnation Phase Optional Immortal Fate

"Max HP reduced by 20. The following effect can only be triggered once per battle. When you play a card with 'Seal' in its name, consume the card, and Chase."

20 HP for a Divine Walk Fulu, consider it an even trade. In the circumstance that you're reliably going first, it's relatively valuable. Picking this may make it possible to kill in three turns. And the 20 HP may not necessarily make the difference of a turn for the opponent. If you need cultivation, then this is not as good as drawing cards; falling behind on speed for the sake of Swift Burning Seal is too great a loss. Compared to drawing three, each has its merits. Average.