Team Compositions

Main

Global Teams

CN Teams

Notes

• Teams shown are meant for general use and may not be optimized for specific circumstances. Teams meant specifically for gamemodes like Phantom Pain Cage will not be covered, though notes will be given within Construct descriptions if placements can change for a team composition to function optimally.
• Team compositions are not fixed. If players are lacking certain Constructs needed to complete a team, other Constructs that fill the same role may be used to substitute, to varying levels of success.
  • This means optimal team placements may not be listed here, as there are too many possible combinations to account for. Players should use guidelines shown to aid them in experimenting with team compositions to find out what will work best for them when using team compositions not listed here.
  • Dark is currently an exception to this. Players are recommended to read through all notes listed for the Dark Team first to know how to properly set up their team.
• Investment recommendations will only be given for Main teams. All alternatives do not see enough use to warrant recommendations and should be considered only as examples of older Constructs that may still serve a use in players' teams.
• Unless for Competitive teams, investment recommendations should be taken only as recommendations, not requirements.
  • CUBs will not be listed in investment recommendations, as they are assumed to be outside of the majority of players' budgets. For spenders, it is assumed that they have already been obtained.
• Competitive denotes teams with investment recommendations out of reach for free-to-play and low spending players. Those players should refer to team compositions marked as Budget for guides and explanations.
• 1st Gen denotes teams that are built around Constructs who were released before Liv: Empyrea. 1st Gen does not mean Constructs shown are useless and is only indicative of release date. However, this does mean Constructs that appear in both Main and 1st Gen teams are likely set to be replaced in time.

The Basics of Team Building

PGR's team compositions revolve around two primary factors - Classes and Energy Types.

Classes

Classes dictate a Construct's role in their team - what they can provide for the team and what they will specialize in for the majority of content. PGR has five "main" classes - Attackers, Annihilators, Tanks, Supports, and Amplifiers.

• A sixth class exists in Vanguards, however, they are not relevant to this guide as only Uniframes utilize the Vanguard class. As Uniframes are not used in typical team compositions, Vanguards will not be covered here, and will have their own dedicated section below.

Attackers and Annihilators focus solely on damage output. These Constructs will typically boast the highest DPS in their teams, with abilities and Passives dedicated to improving their potential damage output. Annihilators possess the additional ability to allow Resistance Reduction and Damage Buffs to apply universally. (e.g. Fire Resistance Reduction will benefit damage of any type, instead of solely benefiting Constructs who can deal Fire damage.)

Tanks are Constructs with greater than average defenses who work to break down the defense of enemies through higher damage to shields and debuffs.

Supports and Amplifiers are similar classes that cover the same general purpose, healing the team while providing buffs to increase the damage output of all members.

• Supports focus more on healing the team while applying buffs passively - the majority of Support Constructs will not see use as on-field Constructs.
• Amplifiers focus on improving the team actively through encouraging and rewarding swapping through the on-field Construct. These Constructs provide stronger buffs while also dealing respectable amounts of damage while they are on field, at the cost of their main source of buffs, the Amplifier Class Passive, being tied to a timer. This buff lasts ten seconds and will disappear once time is up, only refreshing when the on-field Construct has been swapped.

Energy Types

Energy Types refer to the six primary damage types in PGR - Physical, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Dark, and Void.

Energy types are a vital part of how teams are formed, as certain buffs and debuffs will only affect the Energy Type they are tied to. For example, Fire Resistance reduction will only benefit Constructs who can deal Fire damage, Lightning Damage bonuses will only benefit Constructs who can deal Lightning damage, etc. This is an important consideration to make when forming teams as Constructs with supportive effects will have ways to further improve their respective Energy Type. For example, Ice Tanks are able to apply Ice Resistance reduction debuffs along with their innate Damage Reduction debuff, Dark Amplifiers can apply Dark Damage bonuses along with their innate ATK buffs, etc.

The Annihilator class is an exception to this rule. An Annihilator Construct's Class Passive will convert Elemental DMG increase and Elemental Resistance reduction effects into Omni-elemental effects, allowing for more flexibility when considering team-building options. Annihilators will only convert buffs/debuffs. Damage types remain the same. Units with Energy Types that do not match the War Zone Stage/PPC Affix will still be severely disadvantaged.

Despite being grouped together, Physical damage functions differently than the other five types. A comprehensive breakdown of how these damage types work can be found in Damage Details. Necessary info will be summarized below.

• Physical damage can CRIT, is affected by "Damage Float" (Physical damage dealt will fluctuate between 95% to 105% of the final value before Damage Float), and is lowered by Physical Resistance, Defense, and Armor (the yellow bar beneath enemy HP bars).
• Elemental (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Dark, Void) damage can not CRIT, is fixed (unaffected by Damage Float), and will only be lowered by Resistance of the respective element. Defense and Armor do not affect Elemental damage output.

Uniframes/Vanguards

Uniframes/Vanguard class Constructs are unconventional Constructs who do not follow the "rules" of teambuilding the same way in which Omniframes do.

Uniframes are inherently discouraged from having proper teams. These Constructs do not have the typical buffs that Omniframes can apply, nor do they possess the capability to apply debuffs to the same degree that Omniframes can. As such, Uniframes are quickly surpassed in strength as Omniframes have many options to increase their strength and weaken their enemies. Uniframes will also suffer a heavy decrease in ATK per Omniframe in the team, 30% per, up to a maximum of 60% for a team of two Omniframes and one Uniframe.

These shortcomings can be mitigated through:

• High investment on Uniframes to mitigate their ATK reductions through brute force (Usually SSS-Rank and their Signature Weapon, though some Uniframes may require more.)
• Use of 4 set Da Vinci on a Tank. The Tank will typically be reserved for QTE use only and will see minimal field time.
• Hanying: Zitherwoe's SSS-Rank Passive. This method only applies to Kowloong-affiliated Constructs, those being Qu: Pavo and Pulao: Dragontoll.

Despite having options to mitigate their weaknesses, Uniframes should still avoid being set in conventional team compositions as they do not synergize well with normal setups, and are typically heavily outclassed by Omniframes in gamemodes that would require players to set specific team compositions. Ideally, Uniframes should be paired with other Uniframes or Constructs that synergize with them to allow Uniframes to excel in the gamemodes made specifically for them.

Optimization

Once necessary Constructs are obtained and teams are formed, they can be optimized in a variety of ways to increase the team's overall effectiveness. Optimization becomes much more important as players begin facing more difficult content, whether in the form of higher rankings in competitive content, or through gamemodes such as Norman Revival Plan. The basic level of team optimization comes in the form of Leaders, Starters, Construct Placements, and Rotations.

Leaders, Starters, and Construct Placements

When considering how to optimize teams, three factors must be considered first. The team's Leader, Starter, and Construct Placements.

Leaders are chosen based on the Leader Passive tied to each Construct. Typically, Leaders are chosen based on what will benefit the highest source of DPS the most. For example, in a composition of Lucia: Crimson Weave, Vera: Garnet, and Liv: Lux, Crimson Weave will be selected as Leader to maximize her DPS while still providing a considerable boost to the entire team. This rule can generally be followed for every team.

Starters are chosen based on what will benefit the team the most within the first few moments of combat. Chosen Constructs may be selected to close the gap between the player and enemies, apply debuffs to benefit the next Construct to switch in, allow switching-in Constructs to fulfill certain conditions, or simply deal more damage by performing their switch-in skill. It is advised to read through a Starter's description to learn what benefits they bring to the team, as these can vary.

Construct Placements refer to the color that each Construct is set in. Each team has a Red, Blue, and Yellow slot. Construct Placements can be vital in allowing for smooth, uninterrupted rotations while optimizing the potential damage of the on-field Construct and the supportive capabilities of off-field Constructs. Placements are decided by a variety of factors, including but not limited to:

• Rotation order
• How much a specific color of orb is used
• Optimizing QTE usage
• Da Vinci's 4 set effects

As placements can vary greatly depending on the Constructs used, players are recommended to experiment to see what works best for them if their specific team composition is not shown in this guide.

Rotations

Rotations can refer to two things in the context of PGR, those being Team Rotations and Construct Rotations.

Team Rotations refer to the order in which the on-field Construct is switched. Teams rotate to allow each Construct to maximize their usefulness to the team for both offensive and supportive reasons. Rotations allow Constructs to cover for the other members of their team during downtime and allow each Construct to perform optimally during their time on-field.

Team Rotations generally follow a relatively direct order at the basic level, shown below.

The following guideline is not set. Higher levels of play will often deviate heavily from this order as Rotation order can be greatly optimized beyond this. The following will only give a general guideline on where players can begin experimenting with Rotations and will not cover more advanced techniques.

• Start on the weakest member of the team and close the gap to allow the next switching-in Construct to use their switch-in skill
• Immediately switch to the Main DPS of the team (The Construct with the highest potential DPS)
• Once the Main DPS has completed their Rotation, switch to the Sub-DPS (Construct with the second highest potential DPS)
• Swap to the final member of the team (The Starter) and perform their Rotation until completion or until the Main DPS' switch cooldown has ended
• Rinse and repeat

Notes:

• This guideline is a general purpose Rotation, and may not be optimal for every situation.
• If two Constructs are significantly stronger than the final member of the team, it may be optimal to avoid switching to that member entirely in favor of giving more field time to the stronger Constructs.
  • If only one Construct is significantly stronger than their teammates, optimal strategy may vary greatly depending on the Construct. This Construct may have to act as the sole on-field member despite suffering massive downtime.
• The Starter of the team does not necessarily have to be the weakest member of the team, though they often will be. Certain Constructs may bring more value to the team as the Starter despite not being the weakest member. Refer to the explanation box of the respective Construct for info.

Construct Rotations are the actions a Construct performs during their time on-field in order to maximize their damage output and supportive capabilities if they have any. As each Construct performs vastly differently from each other, a general guideline can not be given. A Construct may have multiple optimal rotations depending on the situation and their team.

Construct Rotations can significantly affect the overall Team Rotation and will lead to large losses of DPS if not performed properly. As such, both Team and Construct rotations should be learned to maximize the potential of each team.