Dinah Animus Spotlight

Dual Thorn Dinah is a standout debuffer in Etheria: Restart who brings a rare combo of defense shredding and true damage scaling to the battlefield.

Her kit is all about setting up enemies for massive burst damage, not just for herself but for the entire team. Whether you’re tackling PvE waves or trying to squeeze every bit of damage from your DPS in boss fights, Dina’s unique debuff layering can be a game-changer.

In this Article, we are going to be breaking down the best ways to utilize Dinah, and how to gear her for the best possible results.

Blade Mastery (Skill 1)

Deals 240% damage to a single enemy and has a 40% chance to steal 25% strike prep. This gives her turn cycling power, making it easier to get back to her big setup abilities faster.

Blade Torrent (Skill 2)

Hits a single enemy twice, each hit dealing 140% damage and with an 80% chance to inflict two stacks of Erosion. If the target has no Erosion, it jumps to three stacks.

• Erosion triggers when the enemy takes a crit, dealing true damage equal to 40% of the attacker’s ATK and increasing their strike prep by 8%.
• This makes it crucial for Dina and your team to be critting consistently to get value.

Pristine Cleaver (Skill 3)

Hits all enemies four times for 70% each hit.

• Each hit has a 40% chance to apply a two-turn Defense Break.
• If the enemy already has Defense Break, it tries to apply Vulnerability (30% increased damage taken).
• If they already have Vulnerability, she can instead apply two stacks of Erosion.

This dynamic layering is Dina’s signature: she starts with defense break, ramps into vulnerability, and finishes with scaling true damage from erosion.

Skill 3 – Pristine Cleaver

• Level 1: Increases damage to 65%
• Level 2: Increases erosion chance to 35%
• Level 3: Damage to 70%
• Level 4: Cooldown reduced by 1
• This is the top priority. It’s her core AoE tool and the main source of her debuff layering.

Skill 2 – Blade Torrent

• Level 1: Damage to 130%
• Level 2: Erosion chance to 80%
• Level 3: Damage to 140%
• Level 4: Applies 3 erosion stacks if the target has none
• A strong single-target follow-up after Skill 3. Erosion stacking is vital for damage output.

Skill 1 – Blade Mastery

• Level 1: Damage to 220%
• Level 2: Action steal to 25%
• Level 3: Damage to 240%
• Level 4: Action steal to 40%
• This is the last to upgrade but adds turn cycling and decent single-target pressure.

Early Game:

• Onslaught Set (12-piece): +45% ATK
• Momentum Set (12-piece): +12% Crit Rate and bonus damage per debuff (up to 30%)

Mid-to-Late Game:

• Harvest Set: +10% ATK and ignores 30% DEF if enemy HP >50%
• Fury Edge: +12% Crit Rate, +20% Crit Damage
• Keen Eye: +18% Crit Damage and enhanced first three hits per turn

Your goal is to scale both crit damage and attack while maintaining enough effect accuracy to reliably apply debuffs.

Early Game:

• Main Stats: Crit Rate %, Crit Damage %, ATK %
• Sub Stats: Crit Rate, Crit Damage, ATK %, Effect Accuracy

Mid-to-Late Game:

• Shift to more Crit Damage on main stats once Crit Rate is covered (70%+)
• Effect Accuracy remains key to land defense break, vulnerability, and erosion
• Avoid HP/DEF unless you’re building her more tanky (see Pros and Cons)

Shells to consider:

• Agent Lizard
• Budo Panda
• Twilight Knight
• Crossroads
• White Fang
• Golden Lion
• Count

These options provide a mix of survivability, strike prep manipulation, or damage scaling. Golden Lion and Twilight Knight offer strong utility for aggressive playstyles, while Count and Crossroads support smoother rotations.

Pros:

• Debuff Layering: Defense break → Vulnerability → Erosion enables massive burst potential
• Teamwide Value: All of her debuffs help allies deal more damage, not just herself
• True Damage Scaling: Erosion deals %ATK-based true damage, which can’t be mitigated
• Strike Prep Gains: She fuels her own turns and helps the team cycle faster

Cons:

• Squishy: Without investment in survivability, she’s fragile—vulnerable to burst
• Gear Dependent: Needs ATK, Crit, and Effect Accuracy to shine
• Niche Scaling: Erosion only works when crits land, meaning crit rate is mandatory
• Limited Flexibility: While you can build her tanky for debuffs, you lose the erosion value