Mechatalk Final Gear: Arlene - Ode to Joy

 17th Final Gear Mechatalk is here! Final Gear might have its last update and it is just matter of time before the server close down but this Mechatalk series will keep going until the server officially closes down which could be around end of this month or maybe even early next year. This time the Final Gear Mechatalk features the SSR Sniper class Arlene which is surprisingly one of really good unit from one of the last banner before the maintenance mode and requires rather minimal investment to be one of the Top BP unit out there. At the same time this particular lady had one of the most polarizing design among Final Gear mechs.

 Hired as researcher by Agnes the mysterious wandering scientist who is also Final Gear's last UR Unit. Wandering around Hexel region, Arlene is tasked to observe and report things with no specific directives in particular which is a job done happily by her. Having a gentle and affectionate personality Arlene possess a mysterious power that attracts people toward her. Lastly Arlene has a personal hobby of raising Goldfish as her pet. But for some reason based on Arlene's dialogues, her Goldfish pets are constantly dying mysteriously.

 In Final Gear, Arlene served as SSR Sniper who served as support role with her Cleric skillsets befitting her personality but capable of hitting hard as well for her class when required. Her Unique Mecha called Ode to Joy however is a very strange choice for Arlene as it appears to be a Demonic creature manifestation that mutated out of once regular mech unit which is similar to some sort of 40k Daemon Engines which strikes down the enemies by summoning Skeleton creatures to do its bidding.

 Arlene's activated mech form design may appear to be a strange choice but it does make some sense when you realize Arlene's close association with Agnes who rides a giant black skull herself. Given Final Gear's premature halt, it is safe to assume that Arlene probably would have play some sort of villain role because she is a good fit to play the role of a Predator hiding in plain sight archetype who will strike her prey on unexpected moments. The only visible hints shown in the game is Arlene's comment on her constantly dying Goldfish pets. But it is safe to assume that Arlene's magical power of attracting people perhaps used for sinister purpose without Arlene realizing herself like an evil split personality for Instance who use such power to lure preys. Her illustration for possible UR upgrade kinda supported this theory due to the hellish theme her UR Skin invoked being a puppet doing someone's hellish bidding. If only Final Gear didn't suffer from its tragic fate, maybe we could have faced Arlene in one heck of boss fight considering she can summon her own minions too.

 Strange mecha design aside, Arlene is one of the solid SSR unit that offers complete package in her kit that can be adjusted whether you want her to provide DPS or semi Tank Support. While she can't heal as good as Iris, Arlene is able to provide some solid DPS which can reach up to 100 million damage if kitted for DPS. Arlene is also particularly nasty and formidable opponent in PVP because she can hit unexpectedly hard capable of spamming High Gears that can tear through any Glass Cannons if left unchecked while still healing her teammates at the same time.

 Overall Arlene is a solid SSR unit that can be easily raised if you seek to rise up to BP Leaderboard apart from Bulky Defender Units. At the same time Arlene is the prime example of the tragedy that befalls on Final Gear due to unresolved issues stemming from mismanagement as her character is pretty much missing its half. For the next 2 Final Gear Mechatalk articles, I will be covering some Crossover units material.