Salem (HvV)

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Villains, Leader, Support, Grimm
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Salem is an ancient figure who appears as a Leader in RWBY: Heroes vs. Villains. As such, she leads a group of her own which consists of Cinder Fall, Tyrian Callows, Arthur Watts, Hazel Rainart as well as Cinder's own subordinates Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black.
She can only be unlocked from The Witch's Demise Mythic Event, which requires Team RWBY and Beacon Academy Characters of at least up to rarity to complete. Once completing all Tiers of her Mythic Event, she is unlocked at rarity and synergies extremely well with Grimm.
== Abilities ==
Salem has one Basic, two Specials and a Partner Ability, which can all be leveled up to Ability Rank 8.
=== Raging Fire (Basic) ===
Salem emits a wave of fire from her palms, dealing Special damage to all enemies and inflicts Burning for 2 turns.
Burning: Damaged over time and decreased Evade chance.
List of added bonuses each Rank:
*Ability Rank 2: +5% damage
*Ability Rank 3: +10% damage
*Ability Rank 4: +15% damage (requires Character Level 30)
*Ability Rank 5: Burning duration increased by 1 turn (requires Character Level 45)
*Ability Rank 6: +10% damage (requires Character Level 60)
*Ability Rank 7: +15% damage (requires Character Level 70)
*Ability Rank 8: 2 Critical Hits inflict Isolate (requires Character Level 78)
Isolate: Can’t attack, gain buffs, or gain other positive effects during another Character's turn. Allies can’t attack or gain buffs during this Character's turn.
— Raging Fire Ability Rank 8 —
Salem emits a wave of fire from her palms, dealing Special damage to all enemies and inflicts Burning for 3 turns. Scoring two Critical Hits also inflicts Isolate which can't be Dispelled.
=== Shatter Strike (Special) ===
Salem summons down a hail of shattered glass and deals Special damage to all enemies. This ability's cooldown is reduced by 1 for every Critical Hit scored.
List of added bonuses each Rank:
*Ability Rank 2: +10% damage
*Ability Rank 3: +15% damage
*Ability Rank 4: +20% damage (requires Character Level 26)
*Ability Rank 5: +40% Defense Penetration (requires Character Level 40)
*Ability Rank 6: Ability cooldown is reduced by 1 (requires Character Level 54)
*Ability Rank 7: +20% damage (requires Character Level 71)
*Ability Rank 8: Inflict Buff Immunity for 2 turns (requires Character Level 82)
Buff Immunity: Cannot gain or be granted buffs from self or allies.
— Shatter Strike Ability Rank 8 —
Salem summons down a hail of shattered glass, dealing Special damage to all enemies and inflicts Buff Immunity for 2 turns. This ability has +40% defense penetration and its cooldown is reduced by 1 for every Critical Hit scored.
=== Grim Magick (Special) ===
Salem summons dark magick from her palms and emits a wave to all enemies, dealing Special damage and inflicts Plague for 2 turns. This attack ignores Aura and Protection.
Plague: Unit loses 5% Health when inflicted and at the start of their turn, is immune to allied Dispels, and loses all stacks of Plague when healed to full Health.
List of added bonuses each Rank:
*Ability Rank 2: +5% damage
*Ability Rank 3: +10% damage
*Ability Rank 4: +15% damage (requires Character Level 24)
*Ability Rank 5: +5% damage (requires Character Level 36)
*Ability Rank 6: +10% damage (requires Character Level 58)
*Ability Rank 7: +15% damage (requires Character Level 68)
*Ability Rank 8: +30% damage & cooldown - 1 (requires Character Level 82)
=== Annihilation (Special) ===
Instantly defeat target enemy. Salem gains Max Health equal to 40% of the target's Max Health. This ability can't be Evaded and starts on cooldown (8 turns).
List of added bonuses each Rank:
*Ability Rank 2: +10% Health
*Ability Rank 3: +10% Health
*Ability Rank 4: +10% Health (requires Character Level 28)
*Ability Rank 5: +10% Health (requires Character Level 38)
*Ability Rank 6: +10% Health (requires Character Level 54)
*Ability Rank 7: +10% Health (requires Character Level 64)
*Ability Rank 8: The defeated target cannot be Revived (requires Character Level 80)
— Annihilation Ability Rank 8 —
Instantly defeat target enemy. Salem gains Max Health equal to the target's Max Health. The defeated target cannot be Revived. This ability can't be Evaded and starts on cooldown (8 turns).
=== B@#$%es & Witches (Partner) ===
Salem summons Vol. 4-5 Cinder Fall to Assist, inflicting Burning to her target enemy, then Salem assists. She deals 10% more damage for each stack of Burning on the target enemy.
Burning: Damaged over time and decreased Evade chance.
*Ability Rank 2: +10% damage for Cinder
*Ability Rank 3: +15% damage for Salem
*Ability Rank 4: Cinder inflicts +1 stack of Burning (requires Character Level 28)
*Ability Rank 5: +15% damage increase for stacks of Burning (requires Character Level 38)
*Ability Rank 6: Cooldowns for Salem reset if defeating target enemy (requires Character Level 48)
*Ability Rank 7: +15% damage for Cinder (requires Character Level 58)
*Ability Rank 8: +20% damage for Salem (requires Character Level 70)
— B@#$%es & Witches Ability Rank 8 —
Salem summons Vol. 4-5 Cinder Fall to Assist, inflicting 2 stacks of Burning to her target enemy, then Salem assists. Salem deals 25% more damage for every stack of Burning on target enemy and her Ability cooldowns are reset if defeating the target.
== Traits ==
=== Queen of the Grimm (Leader) ===
Grimm allies have +20% Potency and 20% Max Health. Huntsmen enemies have -20% Potency and -20% Evasion. When a Grimm ally inflicts a Debuff during their turn, they gain 10% Turn Meter and recover 10% Health.
*Trait Rank 2: +15% Potency Reduction for Ozpin's Group & Huntsmen
*Trait Rank 3: +15% Evasion Reduction for Ozpin's Group & Huntsmen
*Trait Rank 4: +10% Health Recovery for Grimm (requires Character Level 22)
*Trait Rank 5: +15% Potency for Grimm (requires Character Level 32)
*Trait Rank 6: +15% Max Health for Grimm (requires Character Level 42)
*Trait Rank 7: +10% Turn Meter Gain for Grimm (requires Character Level 56)
*Trait Rank 8: Debuff expiration grants 5% Turn Meter to Grimm (requires Character Level 76)
— Queen of the Grimm Trait Rank 8 Text —
Grimm allies have +35% Potency and 35% Max Health. Huntsmen enemies have -35% Potency and -35% Evasion. When a Grimm ally inflicts a debuff during their turn, they gain 20% Turn Meter and 20% Health. When a debuff expires on an enemy, Grimm allies gain 5% Turn Meter.
=== Your Guardians Have Failed You (Special) ===
Salem has +25% Critical Avoidance and +25% Potency. When a Debuffed enemy takes damage, Salem recovers 10% Health.
*Trait Rank 2: +5% Critical Avoidance
*Trait Rank 3: +5% Potency
*Trait Rank 4: +5% Critical Avoidance (requires Character Level 30)
*Trait Rank 5: +5% Potency (requires Character Level 40)
*Trait Rank 6: +5% Critical Avoidance (requires Character Level 50)
*Trait Rank 7: +5% Potency (requires Character Level 60)
*Trait Rank 8: When an enemy uses an Ability outside their turn, they take damage equal to 35% of their Max Health. This damage cannot defeat enemies. When an enemy gains a buff outside their turn, they lose 50% Offense until end of their next turn (requires Character Level 80)
— Your Guardians Have Failed You Trait Rank 8 Text —
Salem has +40% Critical Avoidance and +40% Potency. When a debuffed enemy takes damage, Salem recovers 10% Health. When an enemy uses an Ability outside of their turn, they take damage equal to 35% of their Max Health. This damage cannot defeat enemies. When an enemy gains a buff outside of their turn, they lose 50% Offense until the end of their next turn.
== Strategy ==
Salem is pretty powerful Leader/Support Character with great synergy with both Cinder Falls and Grimm Characters. For the former, this is especially evident with her Partner Ability as well as the Burning debuff. For the latter, this is evident with her Leader Trait "Queen of the Grimm" as it increases their Potency and Max Health.
*Cinder Fall & Volume 4-5 Cinder Fall
Salem is able to inflict Burning which causes damage to units over time and decreases their chances to Evade attacks. In addition, both Cinder Fall Characters are able to inflict Burning on their target enemies. As such, both Characters synergize well with Salem; as the more stacks of Burning on an enemy, the more damage Salem will deal with her Partner Ability.
*Grimm
Salem is a very powerful and useful for squads consisting of Grimm Characters, as her Leader Trait grants Grimm more Potency and Max Health. Grimm are also able to gain bonus Turn Meter and recover 20% of their Health when inflicting a Debuff on enemies; this is also useful when utilizing the Queen's Will unique buff granted by the Alpha Beowolf, as all Grimm allies assist an attacking Grimm.
== Navigation ==
Category:Articles by Anakin Nakamura
Category:RWBY: Heroes vs. Villains