Contributors: catbomb, peter

Recovery Skills Explained ​

See Skills Explained for other types of skills.

What makes a good Recovery Skill? ​

The first factor to consider is the potency of Recovery Skills. Regular White Skills will recover 1.5%, while Gold Skills recover for 5.5%. Several inherited Uniques, such as Pure Heart, recover 3.5%, making these skills a fantastic option when assessing Recovery Skills.

The second factor to consider is the Activation Conditions. We want Skills with consistent Activation Conditions. Skills that activate based on Track Conditions (i.e. Straights & Corners) are consistent, while Skills with Conditions such as “being surrounded mid-race” ( Calm in a Crowd) and “when the way ahead is jammed” ( Iron Will) are less so.

Another factor to consider is that we do not want Recovery Skills to activate too early or too late. A Recovery Skill can only heal up to our maximum HP; if we only lose 2% of our HP and trigger a Skill that heals for 5.5%, we have wasted 3.5% Recovery. On the other hand, Umas without sufficient HP at the start of the late-race will not run at their Top Speed. While late-race Recovery Skills will re-calculate the Top Speed, it is often too late to recover the Lengths lost.

In summary, a good Recovery skill:

  1. Will reliably trigger in most races
  2. Won't trigger too early (to make sure we get the full amount of healing from it)
  3. Won't trigger too late (after our Uma has already delayed her spurt)

For example, Swinging Maestro is a Gold Recovery skill that fulfils all three criteria. Every track has a corner so it will always trigger, and the first corner is mid race so it avoids being used too early or too late.

WARNING

The in-game description is inaccurate. Swinging Maestro activates at a random point on the race’s first corner.

Let's apply these rules in a practical setting.

For our Pace Chaser example, the available options are Gourmand, Race Planner, and Breath of Fresh Air* We’ll use our set of rules to determine which one to purchase.

Gourmand ​


Gourmand's conditions are:
running_style==2
phase_random==1

These conditions state that any Pace Chaser will be able to proc it at a random point in the mid-race. This skill will reliably trigger, since the only condition we have to satisfy is being a Pace Chaser. It can't trigger too early or late, as it can only proc in the mid-race.

Race Planner ​


Race Planner's conditions are:
running_style==2
&phase_random==1
&order_rate<=50
Race Planner is a very similar skill to Gourmand, with an additional Position requirement. This skill needs the Uma to be in the front half of the pack in order to activate, which translates to the top 5 in a 9-Uma lobby. While it is likely that a Pace Chaser is going to be one of the front 5 Umas in the mid-race, it can depend on the lobby composition. For example, in a lobby of 5 or more Front Runners, this skill would be difficult to activate. Therefore, while Race Planner is not a bad Recovery Skill, it can be inconsistent depending on the lobby.

Breath of Fresh Air ​


Breath of Fresh Air's only condition is:
straight_random==1

These conditions state that Breath of Fresh Air can activate at any random straight. This skill will consistently activate, since every Track has at least one Straight. However, because this Skill can activate on any Straight, it can often activate too late or too early. While this skill is usable, it should be relegated for other more consistent alternatives.

Conclusion ​

After evaluating the conditions, we can see that the most consistent option is Gourmand, followed by Race Planner. Understanding Activation Conditions is an important part of assessing Recovery Skills.