Nicola XXS (V)

Initial Rank: C

Quality: Armor
Level 100: ?

Special Power: Electromagnetic squall – Fires two one (as of update 1.7) strong bursts of energy around the ship, destroying everything in range, severely damaging larger enemies, and also blocking aces weapons for 2 seconds.
Level 100: ?

Rank A Ability: Activating overdrive restores 10 % of armor.

Rank S Ability: Increases ability recharge rate by 13 %.

Evaluation
Edit: As of 1.7 much less attractive choice, as Nicola only fires one, and not two bursts of energy. Still good, the burst deals a lot of damage, and the Rank A passive ability is still wonderful.
One of the top choices for brobot currently. This seems to be a general opinion – you see a lot of Nicolas out there at the moment.
The special power is very strong, and is a really good panic button when in a tough spot. Everything nearby will promptly be cleaned away, and also aces is severely damage, sometimes even killed at the spot. Only disadvantage is that is very short.
The A rank passive ability is wonderful – if you are willing to use plane overdrives. 10 % of armor will be restored when using the overdrive – this is a truly wonderful thing during long runs in Arcade or Assault, or against strong bosses.

With some care Nicolas can be made even more powerful:
There has been some debate whether Nicolas special power is proportional to distance from enemy, or if there is a threshold, i.e. – inside a certain distance Nic imposes damage, but outside no damage is inflicted on the enemy. We believe that the damage is proportional to distance, i.e. the closer you get, the more damage is dealt.
Whichever is true, it is rewarding to move Nicolas towards the enemy as you fire the special. Say, that you are cornered at bottom of the screen, with heavy fire from an ace, or a massive onslaught of bullet hell. Just firing Nicolas will clear away a lot for sure. But even better is to be on the move directly when firing. The first burst will clear anything and everything (except possibly an ace), up to at least midscreen. If you are on the move reaching midscreen when the second burst fires, you will be in a position to clear the entire screen. In the case of bullet raining boss, your second burst will be much closer, and thus dealing a lot more damage. Very useful!

You will certainly carry Nicolas because of the special, so bring a speedbot as second brobot. With e.g. a 100 Legatus, you will be able to fire Nic something like every 13 second.

In action:
Level 170 Unknown Ace
Heroic Solo
Gambit SS 140
Legatus S
Nicola XXS S

Level 170 Unknown Ace
Normal Solo
Gambit SS 140
Legatus S
Nicola XXS S