Sycophantom

## Overview

Sycophantom is typically used as a healer, capable of powerful single-target heals, buffs, debuffs, and debuff removal. It can charge up its allies and itself with load up, meditation, and charged celebration, and can use those charge stacks to boost its heals with charged healing. Furthermore, it uses restore as its healing skill of choice, giving it a precious tool in debuff removal.

Beyond this, the Sycophantom provides strong defensive buffs with multi-barrier and full defense, and augments those buffs with its ability to blind enemies via smokescreen. Overall, the Sycophantom's arsenal excels in bulking up its allies and helping them snowball into a threat the opponent is unable to handle.

That being said, the monster suffers from a lack of strong AOE healing skills. Its only option for healing multiple party members is its ultimate, Polar Winds. Unfortunately, this ultimate is not dedicated to healing— it is a hybrid damage and healing skill, and, as such, lacks the utility of its healing-centric counterparts. To make matters worse, Polar Winds faces staunch competition with another of Sycophantom's ultimates, full heal, which synergizes far better with Sycophantom's kit at the cost of being single target.

Sycophantom struggles in the early game; the monster thrives in later turns, where it has stacked all sorts of measures against its opponent's damage, but it provides little upfront value. If the team has yet to or is unable to build up barrier stacks and other defenses, it may be unable to sustain itself through Sycophantom's healing alone .

Another among Sycophantom's flaws is its offensive presence, or lack thereof. Though the monster can spread charge stacks among its allies, it does so sluggishly, and has no means to empower those charges. As such, it pairs poorly with monsters that demand offensive support to be effective. The Sycophantom's niche is survival and stall; fast and aggressive play is not its goal.

Perhaps the greatest of Sycophantom's faults is its inability to cleanse harmful stacks. As stated time and again, Sycophantom is a monster focused on stall and survival. So long as its opponent allows it, the monster can make a fortress out of its allies. But, no matter how bulky a team becomes, bleed can still overwhelm it, and blind can make its attacks worthless. Sycophantom's greatest strength becomes its greatest weakness if it faces foes capable of exploiting harmful stacks.

Nonetheless, Sycophantom allays its weaknesses with a nuanced mixture of charge, blind and buff application unique to it alone. Its tool set is so eccentric that no other monster can take its place, and that is what makes it great.

## Healer

#### Equipment

* Large Shield
* Charging Sphere
* Hide
* Crown

### Build Details

Sycophantom pairs meditate with buff celebration to fuel charged healing, which gives restore a sizable boost to its potency. As it heals, Sycophantom uses the trilogy of hexing support, smoke screen, and true darkness to afflict debuffs and blindness unto its foes.

Load up further bolsters the Sycophantom's ability to charge itself and its allies, though the way the monster activates this skill is convoluted and inefficient when compared to the skill's more popular users. It does so through a synergy of healing shield, trickster spirit, and buffing heal: buffing heal and trickster spirit grant healing alongside buffs and debuffs, which are spread often by Sycophantom's skills and passives. These heals then activate healing shield, which in turn activates load up. Alas, load up has only a twenty percent chance of activating from passive shields; in spite of the frequency Sycophantom is able to produce shields, the skill's effect remains mediocre.

Sycophantom's hibernate synchronizes well with monsters that feature wonder potion, but has little purpose otherwise. Psychokinesis can be a viable alternative to full defense for teams that favor the sorcery buff, and Polar Winds might edge out over Full Heal in fringe cases where an AOE heal could sway a matchup, though these scenarios are rare.

As with most healers, Sycophantom is flexible with its weapon choice. A hexing rod may be used to better the charge generation of load up, a restoring wand may help with debuff removal, a purifying mace may lessen the monster's fear of harmful stacks; the options are myriad, and none a clear winner over the other.

### Team Options

* Sycophantom pairs extremely well with both Targoat and Terradrile, as they provides essential charge support and they both have barrier synergies.
* Sycophantom pairs well with Dps Molebear, as Molebear's Wonder Potion turns Sycophantom's lacklustre healing into respectable heals which proc Hibernate, apply loads of buffs and cleanse debuffs. They also both have good barrier synergy with each other.
* Support Frosty pairs well with Sycophantom, as it applies barrier through a combination of Sycophantom's Trickster Spirit aura, copy shield and barricade, Tenacious Barrier also makes Sycophantom and it's teammates less susceptible to debuffs.
* Glowdra is a good pairing with Sycophantom, as True Darkness allows Glowdra to apply shock and other beneficial debuffs when it procs Blinding Sunlight and Exposed makes these blinded enemies take further damage. Sycophantom uses Psychokinesis when paired with Glowdra in order to proc Shared Sorcery. Charged Chant also has a chance to give Glowdra more sorcery when it gains a charge stack.
* Polterofen is a good damage dealer to pair with Sycophantom, as Trickster Spirit will allow Polterofen to get full shield easier. Charged Chant will help Polterofen max out it's barrier stacks faster because Polterofen has fast charge generation for itself. They also have barrier synergy with each other.
* Aazerach is the monster that facilitates dodge teams, and works very well with Sycophantom. Martial Prowess and Spirit World both synergise with Sycophantom. Sycophantom's Trickster Spirit and Multi-Barrier gives Aazerach more survival which is vital in dodge teams since it's the best blind applier in the game.

## Checks and Counters

Debuff Stall teams are very good against Sycophantom, as they ignore all of Sycophantom's defensive options such as Multi-Barrier and Smoke Screen. They also often apply wound which Sycophantom cannot purify.

Bleed teams excel against Sycophantom, especially passive teams that are tanky and utilise Rathop's Skirmish or Thornish's Fish Scales. Sycophantom cannot purify this bleed and cannot do much on it's own to lessen the output.

Tether teams take advantage of Sycophantom's passiveness in order to neutralise it's teammates and Sycophantom cannot purify their tether stacks.

AOE team wipers such as Darnation take advantage of Sycophantom's lack of AoE healing to the fullest.