Mist, currently available via pickup summon in Seven Knights Re:BIRTH, possesses an instant death effect. You could say this is the first new piece for instant death decks in a long time, following Aquila. Unlike previous heroes with instant death, Mist's greatest strength is the ability to inflict an unremovable version of the effect.

This unremovable instant death comes with a condition: it only applies if the target is in a 'Fear' state. Mist's second skill, 'Fog of Death,' inflicts Fear, and this can also be added to basic attacks through skill enhancement. Beyond this unique mechanism, Mist also provides utility, making a significant impact on the battlefield.

Let's take a closer look at the skill set. The passive increases the effect accuracy of all allies, and after Mist uses two skills, team members gain immunity to crowd control for 2 turns. Both are highly useful options. Mist gains up to 27% additional weak point attack probability based on attack power and has a resurrection effect upon death. The resurrection provides a baseline for survival, while the increased weak point attack probability helps counter misses. It is a passive configuration that supports the team while ensuring Mist remains effective.

Active skills are centered around instant death. The first skill, 'Awakened Beast,' deals damage twice and has a chance to inflict instant death. Skill enhancement increases damage and the instant death probability, which is standard. The 6-transcendence effect is the real game-changer: it expands the target count. While it normally hits three enemies, at 6-transcendence, it can strike the entire enemy team.

The second skill, 'Fog of Death,' targets four enemies. It deals damage twice, reduces the target's turn-based buffs by 2 turns, and has a 50% chance to inflict Fear. Fear not only prevents actions for its duration but also locks the target's effect resistance to 0%. This inherent ability of Fear is quite strong, and Mist's instant death becomes unremovable when triggered against enemies under the Fear effect.

Since Fear lowers effect resistance, the chance of landing instant death increases, and once it lands, it cannot be removed. Fear can be triggered via the second skill or through basic attack skill enhancements. Note that the 2-transcendence effect adds 2 turns of immunity to all damage to the second skill. However, the second skill's instant death has a penalty: it only triggers if the target's attack power is lower than Mist's.

Since release, Mist's primary stage has been PvP content. Based on Total War, where instant death decks were already used, Mist has been tested as a viable card in the Arena and can even be used in Guild Wars, as none of the skills have overly restrictive usage conditions.

As the skill set suggests, Mist is frequently used as a piece in instant death decks. It is a definitive choice for Total War, where you must build up to five teams. Interestingly, Chris and Knox—the two heroes typically associated with instant death—are rarely seen now. The current top-tier meta is built around Mist, Rosie, and the revamped Aquila, with Nia and Gelidus added for crowd control.

Some players still include Chris in their instant death decks, but in those cases, Gelidus is usually relegated to a general-purpose deck. Knox seems to have lost his place, likely because his passive overlaps with Aquila's, making him less attractive to top-tier players.

Interestingly, because Mist was released as a 'Universal' type, it isn't limited to just instant death decks. It can also be used in defensive decks that include Radgrid. Some players are consistently experimenting with putting Mist into defensive decks to utilize instant death, and this is actually seen in the upper ranks of the Arena and Advanced Arena. Some use it specifically in segments where they encounter many defensive decks to gain an advantage.

It can also be used in Guild Wars. Since neither the active nor passive skills require specific combinations, the team composition is quite flexible. Mist is sometimes paired with Gelidus and Trude, or used to counter sturdy defensive decks alongside heroes like Rosie and Aquila.

Of course, it can also be used in PvE; it just happens to shine more in PvP. While recent trends for clearing the new Nightmare Territory favor attack decks or magic decks over instant death, if your deck isn't fully built yet, instant death decks are perfectly capable of handling PvE content like Adventure or the Tower of Infinity. In the past, they were actually the core of clearing high-difficulty PvE content.

Mist's equipment settings are based on the Shaman set, a choice that enhances the utility of instant death and Fear. The choice of main options for weapons and armor varies depending on the player's inventory and preference. There is no 'definitive answer' because, in Total War, speed is considered crucial for most instant death decks, forcing players to make trade-offs when considering speed, main options, and sub-options.

Generally, players often prioritize attack power options for Mist. While some choose damage reduction when building a defensive deck with Radgrid, the attack power % option is highly important in instant death decks because the second skill's instant death only triggers if Mist's attack power is higher than the target's.

Therefore, a safe bet is to go with all attack power % options for both weapons and armor, while maximizing speed in the sub-options. While this might still fail to trigger the second skill's instant death against highly optimized attack decks, it can provide an edge against heroes like Wukong or Palanus placed in defensive decks.

Some also prioritize weak point attack probability. In this case, one of the weapon's main options is changed to weak point attack probability %. Since Mist can gain up to 27% weak point attack probability based on attack power through the passive, this setting maximizes that stat by combining it with weapon options. The intention is to improve skill utility by countering misses, even if it means sacrificing a bit of raw attack power.

Personally, if your equipment farming is still lacking, I think it's fine to use whichever has higher speed—either weak point attack probability or all attack power. This is because in instant death decks, especially those including Nia, maximizing speed to secure the first turn has a huge impact on win rates.

In summary, Mist is a hero who has breathed new life into the stagnant instant death meta. With the improved utility of both Mist and Aquila, the win rates of instant death decks in Total War have shifted, and Mist has become a card to consider in the Arena depending on the situation. However, I don't think you necessarily need to rush to 6-transcendence. Instant death decks have clear strengths and weaknesses and lack the versatility of top-tier heroes in attack or magic decks. Getting to 2 or 4-transcendence and then using Seven Knights Chess or other methods to reach 6-transcendence later is a perfectly fine approach.