Inven Global

Through the Thursday, September 17 update, two new Nikkes will be released sequentially. Alongside them, six previously released winter limited Nikkes will return in a limited-time Select Recruit. The featured Nikkes are Rupee: Winter Shopper, Anne: Miracle Fairy, Ludmilla: Winter Owner, Mica: Snow Buddy, Maiden: Ice Rose, and Guillotine: Winter Slayer.

This recruitment lets players directly select one Nikke of their choice. The selected Nikke appears with a 2% drop rate, while unselected limited Nikkes will not appear in that recruit pool. Players can change their selected target at any time, allowing them to focus on targeting one desired Nikke at a time.

As limited Nikkes, they cannot be obtained from Ordinary Recruit, making this a valuable opportunity. However, with continuous updates leading to power creep in Nikke, some characters' standings have changed significantly from before, so players should pull carefully.

Ludmilla: Winter Owner (Christmas Ludmilla, X-Ludmilla) is a Water Code MG Attacker Nikke. She has drawn attention for her high sustained DPS since release, maximizing the MG's long firing uptime through ammo replenishment and fast reloads. On top of that, she features core attack-related effects, making her particularly powerful against bosses with exposed cores.

However, describing X-Ludmilla's current value simply as a "Water main DPS" falls short. As power creep has progressed in Nikke and several powerful Water attackers have been added, she no longer monopolizes the main DPS slot as she used to. Nevertheless, the reason she still receives high praise is that, in addition to her own damage output, she possesses a "damage taken increase" debuff.

Increasing damage taken is a powerful effect that boosts the firepower of the entire party, not just herself. Thanks to this, X-Ludmilla can be played as a primary DPS who uses her Burst Skill, or she can pass the Burst rotation to a stronger attacker and serve as a sub-DPS off-burst buffer. A major advantage is that her kit structure prevents her from immediately losing her spot whenever a new DPS is introduced.

This flexibility shines especially in Solo Raid, where players must field five separate squads. In Water elemental advantage Raids, she can act as the primary damage dealer, or pair with other high-performance Water attackers to raise the team's overall damage output. From Commanders with smaller Nikke rosters to those chasing top Solo Raid scores, she easily finds a place in team compositions.

Therefore, if picking a Nikke based on performance and versatility during this rerun, X-Ludmilla is the very first unit to consider securing. Rather than simply being a top DPS from the past, her hybrid main DPS/off-burst buffer design gives her long-term staying power.

Maiden: Ice Rose (Christmas Maiden, X-Maiden) is another Nikke recommended as a high priority in this rerun. X-Maiden is an off-burst buffer Burst 3 Nikke used in Electric teams, operating quite differently from standard Burst 3 units.

X-Maiden gains her unique resource, MP, every time Full Burst phase is entered. While accumulating MP, she provides powerful buffs to Electric Code allies, meaning in typical combat, keeping her off-burst while allowing another main DPS to use their Burst Skill is more efficient than cycling her Burst continuously.

The Nikke that synergizes best with this structure is Cinderella. X-Maiden provides elemental advantage damage and ATK buffs to Electric Code allies, significantly boosting the firepower of Cinderella-centric Electric teams. This is why she has been considered a core component that enabled Electric teams to remain highly competitive in Solo Raid for a long time.

That does not mean X-Maiden is a pure buffing totem. If she builds up enough MP over the course of the fight, she can cast her Burst near the end to consume all accumulated MP and inflict massive damage on a single enemy. In short, her kit buffs allies throughout the fight and caps it off with personal nuke damage at the end.

In particular, for players who have built Cinderella as a main unit or want to complete a top-tier Electric team for Solo Raid, X-Maiden is an extremely high priority. Under those conditions, her value rivals that of X-Ludmilla. Conversely, if you do not own Cinderella and do not actively field Electric teams, her immediate impact may feel lower than X-Ludmilla's. Nevertheless, given her status as a limited Nikke and the long shelf life of off-burst buffers, she is well worth picking up during this rerun.

#. Guillotine: Winter Slayer - Water Sub-DPS Support, Held Back by Long Ramp-Up

Guillotine: Winter Slayer fills both attacker and supporter roles in Water teams as a sub-DPS buffer. She gains EXP through normal attacks to raise her Adventure Level, boosting firepower for both herself and Water Code allies. While her personal damage is decent and she offers team buffs, her major drawback is the long ramp-up time required to reach peak performance. Being an AR unit requiring a high hit count to build stacks also holds her back. Compared to dedicated supporters, her utility falls short, and compared to top-tier attackers, her raw damage is lacking, making her a lower meta priority. She can be considered if you lack options for Water teams or need an extra Water sub-DPS buffer for Solo Raid.

#. Mica: Snow Buddy - A Wildcard Option when Cleanse is Required

Mica: Snow Buddy's biggest feature is her ability to cleanse harmful debuffs from allies. She also possesses various utility buffs such as ATK increase, damage taken reduction, and ammo capacity effects, but compared to modern dedicated supporters, her overall buff potency is somewhat lacking. However, thanks to the rare ability to remove debuffs, she was actually fielded in boss fights like Crystal Chamber where handling harmful effects was crucial. While she could become a wildcard pick again if similar boss mechanics appear in the future, she is not a unit used regularly, so there is no urgent need to prioritize her purely for meta performance.

#. Rupee: Winter Shopper - Unique Burst 1 Re-entry, But Tricky Team Building

Rupee: Winter Shopper possesses the unique ability to re-enter Burst 1 phase upon using her Burst Skill, along with support utilities like Taunt, DEF boost, and reload speed buffs. However, because of her Burst 1 re-entry mechanic, another Burst 1 Nikke must be fielded alongside her, and by current standards, her individual buff numbers are not particularly high. She has historically been evaluated as a character valued more for her unique mechanics than meta performance, so unless you want to experiment with niche compositions, there is little reason to prioritize her in this Select Recruit.

#. Anne: Miracle Fairy - Rare Revive, Hindered by a 60-Second Cooldown

Anne: Miracle Fairy features a rare revive mechanic in Nikke. She can resurrect fallen Attacker allies while providing healing and ATK buffs, making her skill kit look appealing on paper. The problem lies in her 60-second Burst Skill cooldown. This makes it difficult to fit her smoothly into standard Burst rotations, and revival itself has limited value in high-score endgame content where building compositions that avoid deaths entirely is key. While she was once popular in PvP content and still sees situational use in dedicated revival comps, she no longer holds the high priority she once did now that player options have expanded greatly.