Nigel is an edgy but well-meaning character who helps you toward the end of the Albion campaign in Unicorn Overlord. This Dark Marquess is a bit different from the first one you get, and thus needs a slightly different build to compensate. Let’s turn Nigel into a force for good.
Best unit composition for Nigel in Unicorn Overlord
Nigel is a Dark Marquess in Unicorn Overlord, though he’s unique from your first Dark Marquess of Berengaria. Nigel is a tank, a defensive wall for your units, and a Burn-based damage dealer. As a result, he’s fantastic for aiding a squad of powerful but frail units and units that can make good use of Burn and other debuffs. Here are a few example units we like to pair with him.
- Featherstaff: No healer is as vulnerable or as effective as Father Santiano, the Featherstaff you get after completing The Holy Kingdom of Albion. His incredible healing and debuff removal ensures Nigel keeps his well-rounded statline throughout an entire engagement.
- Gryphon Knight: Gryphon Knights like Fran and Celeste serve a vital role by dealing tons of damage to cavalry. They also excel at clearing weakened foes. Give Fran enough items to make her explosive and let Nigel defend her.
- Doom Knight: Gloucester is the ultimate glass canon. Putting him on the frontlines with Nigel gives him a real chance of survival despite his self-damage while also applying stacking Burn. These two work quite well together.
- Warlock: Warlocks like Auchys can apply Burn with ease, letting Nigel get his stacking PP active almost immediately. The additional defense Nigel can offer Auchys is far from bad, letting your squishy Wizard avoid almost certain death.
- Dreadnaught: Amalia, the Coliseum champion, can serve alongside Nigel just fine. Her massive Physickal bulk and damage potential can help him punch through comps that cure his burn, and his protection can be useful if she has to endure a lot of magic attacks. They pair well with each other.
Best equipment for Nigel in Unicorn Overlord
Nigel is a Dark Marquess, but a unique one that uses Swords, Greatshields, and two Accessories. His best setup is a hardcore tank, focused more on passing AP and PP back and forth between his protection and attacking Burned targets. As a result, he needs AP and PP more than anything, but he also needs a bit of help with durability.
- Sword—Notos’s Sword or AP Sword: Everyone wants Notos’s Sword, but a Dark Marquess makes great use of the extra AP, extra initiative, and chance to dodge.
- Greatshield—Wingcrest Greatshield or PP Greatshield: Anything that gives Nigel PP works, though the Wingcrest Greatshield is our favorite. Nigel’s crit is nothing spectacular, so losing it for better blocking is great for him.
- Accessory One—Amethyst Pendant or AP option: Inching toward full AP and PP, the Amethyst Pendant gives you all the tools you need for Nigel to start working toward an infinite AP loop. If you don’t want to give this absurdly powerful item to Nigel, anything that gives full AP, like a Dream Crown, can function in this slot.
- Accessory Two—Defensive option or PP option: If you have maxxed out AP and PP, you’re set. We recommend a Sacral Broach for some in-combat healing, though another way to spend his PP—like Guardian Gloves—can be nice for specific fights. Otherwise, max out the other stat. Nigel’s resource loop is just that good.
Best conditions for Nigel in Unicorn Overlord
Nigel serves as a bruiser on the frontlines, so guaranteeing his success through careful skill parsing is key. Let’s touch on what he needs to do to be effective.
- Death Spin—Row with three-plus combatants: The only time we want to rock a Death Spin is if it’s going to grant us three stuns. Two stuns is reasonable, but that also turns off our resource loop.
- Inferno—Row with two-plus combatants, own AP is three or more: Inferno isn’t terrible, but it should only be used on a fuller row when we have a lot of AP. Otherwise, Burning Edge is significantly better.
- Burning Edge—Prioritize Debuffed: This is your bread and butter.
Make sure you choose to Prioritize Debuffed instead of Burning. Otherwise, with our conditions, you might end up wasting AP if there aren’t any Burning foes. This might get annoying if your enemies are getting debuffed in a different way, though. If that sounds annoying, you can instead set Burning Edge to Burning and make Death Spin your lowest priority attack with no condition, so it becomes a basic attack instead.
His conditions allow him to make an “infinite” supply of AP and PP, as long as he’s blocking. As a result, we recommend the following.
- Advance Cover—No condition: Even if it doesn’t grant him AP, this is a great reaction.
- Phantom Counter—Buffed: This is a strong counterattack, but doesn’t support our AP regeneration gameplan. If it purges buffs, though, it’s well worth it.
- Parting Death—Lowest percentage HP: If it’s the end of a fight, you might as well see if you can get an execute off.
