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 unit descriptions if placements can change for a team composition to function optimally.
• Team compositions are not fixed. If players are lacking certain units needed to complete a team, other units 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.
  • Global's Competitive Dark Team 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 Competitive teams. All alternatives should be considered obsolete, and should be considered only as examples of older units that may still serve a use in players' teams.
• Unless for High Investment teams, investment recommendations should be taken only as recommendations, not requirements. Recommendations are made to show only where players should begin higher investments.
  • As CUBs are luxury investments for the majority of players, they will not be included unless they fulfill a specific condition that gives them greater importance.
• High Investment 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 units who were released before Liv: Empyrea. 1st Gen does not mean units shown are useless and is only indicative of release date. However, this does mean units that appear in both Competitive 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 unit'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 four "main" classes - Attackers, Tanks, Supports, and Amplifiers.

• A fifth 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 focus solely on damage output. These units will typically boast the highest DPS in their teams, with abilities and passives dedicated to improving their potential damage output.

Tanks are units 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 units will not see use as on-field units.
• Amplifiers focus on improving the team actively through encouraging and rewarding swapping through the on-field unit. These units 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 unit has been swapped.

Energy Types

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

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 units who can deal Fire damage, Lightning Damage bonuses will only benefit units who can deal Lightning damage, etc. This is an important consideration to make when forming teams as units 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.

Despite being grouped together, Physical damage functions differently than the other four 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) 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 units are unconventional units who do not follow the "rules" of teambuilding the same way in which Omniframes do.

Uniframes are inherently discouraged from having proper teams. These units 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 stronger units at the base level, but will quickly be 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 units, 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 likely outclassed by Omniframes in gamemodes that would require players to set specific team compositions. Ideally, Uniframes should be paired with other Uniframes or units that synergize with them to allow Uniframes to excel in the gamemodes made specifically for them.

Optimization

Once necessary units 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, Unit Placements, and Rotations.

Leaders, Starters, and Unit Placements

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

Leaders are chosen based on the Leader passive tied to each unit. Typically, Leaders are chosen based on what will benefit the highest source of DPS the most. For example, in a composition of Bianca: Veritas, Vera: Garnet, and Liv: Lux, Garnet 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 units may be selected to close the gap between the player and enemies, apply debuffs to benefit the next unit to switch in, allow switching-in units 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.

Unit Placements refer to the color that each unit is set in. Each team has a Red, Blue, and Yellow slot. Unit Placements can be vital in allowing for smooth, uninterrupted rotations while optimizing the potential damage of the on-field unit and the supportive capabilities of off-field units. 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 units 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 Unit Rotations.

Team Rotations refer to the order in which the on-field unit is switched. Teams rotate to allow each unit to maximize their usefulness to the team for both offensive and supportive reasons. Rotations allow units to cover for the other members of their team during downtime, allowing each unit 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 in stone. 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 unit to use their switch-in skill
• Immediately switch to the Main DPS of the team (The unit with the highest potential DPS)
• Once the Main DPS has completed their Rotation, switch to the Sub-DPS (Unit 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 units 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 units.
  • If only one unit is significantly stronger than their teammates, optimal strategy may vary greatly depending on the unit. Certain units may be able to avoid switching entirely, while others may require frequent switching in order to cover downtime despite the lower DPS of their teammates. Players should test strategies for themselves to see what may be optimal if using teams not covered on this page.
• The Starter of the team does not necessarily have to be the weakest member of the team, though they often will be. Certain units may bring more value to the team as the Starter despite not being the weakest member. Refer to the explanation box of the respective unit for an explanation on why they act as the Starter and what benefits they bring.

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

Unit 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 Unit rotations should be learned to maximize the potential of each team.