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| ZGMF-X666S Legend. The authority on Stun. |
Another review that I can pretty much just throw out there because I know the unit so well. Well in excess of 500 PvP runs and probably the same or more in Missions'll do that to you. Remember what I said about me not liking PvP? I love PvP if I'm in my Legend, and it's easy to tell how experienced a pilot is at using a Legend by watching how they use it. If they frequently unload every single DRAGOON on the unit at their foes and then run away, they're a rookie. If they don't do it very often (if at all), or only choose to fire off one or two of them, look out. A Legend with most of its DRAGOONs on its back is a force to be reckoned with - with all of them unloaded, Legend is left trapped in ranged mode and loses access to some of its most powerful weapons until the pods reload.
Boy did this thing luck out with G-Gen. Before, it was just an occasional irritant that you'd run into every once in a while when someone would choose to use it for novelty's sake. Now, it's a fast way to get yourself kicked out of a room with little to no warning because of how incredibly cheap it is. I've always been obligated to use it in PvP because of my name, but even I've tried to avoid using it because it's just EVERYWHERE now. Like FAZZ. The S-rank FAZZ, I mean. Do not get me started on S-FAZZ. Hnnnnng.
Legend is definitely intended primarily for PvP. It always has been. Stun weapons don't do too terribly much for you in Missions, since almost all bosses (and in higher difficulties, even the minion units) pack V-Vaccine, which makes Stuns (sort of) pointless. It packs a lot of firepower and is great for cutting through lesser units even on high difficulties, but when it comes time to deal damage to a boss, Legend usually ends up outclassed by many other S-ranks. It also does run into some reload issues if you just sit there spamming ranged weapons constantly, which many Missions require, especially without a lot of team support or the wonderful buffs that come with some Scenarios.
That said, Legend is alright in a couple of Missions. I'm rather fond of using it in Battleships of Gunfire, despite the fact that, like, Providence before it, it's a bit on the squishy side. This is because it packs N-Jammer Canceler, like its predecessor, but has some pretty frightening firepower to back it up, and a lot of mid-range potential (despite being a Long-range unit). It probably won't help you in a lot of Expert-level missions, because it doesn't have much staying potential, especially now that we've lost the ability to stack HP and Defense for Missions. Then again, I wouldn't advise doing that anyway even if you could, since it's kind of like throwing good money after bad. Legend is not a bulky, heavyweight unit. It's meant to be fast and hit hard, then get the hell out of Dodge.
The one mission that Legend is completely invaluable in is The Shuddering Mountain, pt. 2. If Legend and a few Apsalus II's can survive until the final phase against Packard, the mission is incredibly easy, even on Expert difficulty. While Packard's Gouf is technically immune to Stun, hitting him with a Stun weapon will still stop him in his tracks for about a second, a second and a half, tops. I'll get into the intricacies of that mission at a later date, though. Just know that Legend is a total staple in that mission.
Legend is very much an annoying glass cannon, especially in its Melee mode. That second weapon hurts a lot, and G-Gen's changed how it reloads to be more like a machine gun than a beam rifle - it has a full three shots on it, and then it has to reload from empty. But they went and significantly increased the reload rate on it, so that isn't an issue in PvP. People have taken this to ridiculous extremes and maxed out its reload rate with high-end Shooter builds, which reduce the power of the shots to increase how often it can stun opponents. To me, it's not really fun to play a Legend built like that - if all you're doing is stunning down foes and letting your teammates do the rest, you're putting to waste what Legend already has going for it - its impressive firepower and speed. I've used both an Assault build and an offense-based Shooter build on my Legend quite effectively.
Don't get too comfortable with Legend's heyday, though. A patch that I read about on the SDGO Wiki has effectively nerfed just about every aspect of Legend's newfound power. When this patch goes through, Legend will probably go back to the way it was before - well-known but rarely seen. The patch reduces the amount of damage done by its lovely melee-mode second weapon, reduces its ammo, changes its reload type back to what it was pre-G-Gen and nerfs its reload rate, and then removes the Piercing property from ranged mode's 1st weapon (a one-shot mid-long-range Stun with a lot of damage potential and a pretty nice reload).
So the long and the short of it is this - if you enjoyed Legend pre-G-Gen, you're in for a treat - it'll be making a comeback, sort of. If you only started using it post-G-Gen, I'm sorry you spent your time/points/money on it, but you should enjoy it while it lasts. To quote the SDGO Wiki's Game News which announced the patch (back on June 19th) [link - Expand the 'Balance Changes' section and search for Legend]:
Legend Gundam: Close Combat Mode Weapon 2 cooldown increased, ammo decreased, reload rate decreased, reload type adjusted, firing type adjusted, damage decreased, beams no longer penetrate.
Ouch. Poor thing. There isn't a single good thing going on in that patch for Legend. I guess the developers picked up on just how broken they made it. I just hope they didn't overdo it.
As someone who has used and abused Legend since the day it came out, I get asked surprisingly often if it's comparable to Kshatriya, of all things. I guess it's just too obvious that it's comparable to Providence or something. Between the two of them, based on what I've seen (and what I know is coming down the tubes for poor Legend), I'd have to say that Kshatriya is definitely a more reliable unit, and you'll probably get more bang for your buck out of it in the long run. It has far more staying power, being pretty bulky and packing Fortress as a skill, and does a nice bit of damage. It can't stun spam quite as hard as Legend, but it's also not a glass cannon. It's just as fast as Legend, at least until Fortress kicks in, and we all know how that ends. It's also got an arguably nicer skill set than Legend, which I've always felt would benefit way more from Reload Up than Attack Up as its first skill.
Kshatriya and Legend fight very differently when their HP is low. When a Kshatriya's about to die, Fortress kicks in, which makes it slow and clunky, but also makes it stay on the field to deal damage for as long as possible. When a Legend's about to die, you get N-Jammer Canceler, which doesn't really help you tank any hits, but it can make you an absolute pest until the moment you die if used right, especially in conjunction with all of its Stun shots. So really, which one is better is dependent on your piloting style. As much as I'd like to say Legend is better, I honestly can't, especially given what future updates have in store for it.
TL;DR: Legend is a fantastic PvP unit once you realize that it isn't Providence. Enjoy it while it last, because I don't know for how long it'll be in the spotlight. I may redux this review later once the patch with Legend's nerf goes through to see how hard it got nailed. We'll see.
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