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Eri Kasamoto is one of your starting team members inMetal Slug Tactics, and chances are good that by the time you have more troops unlocked you’ll want to keep her around. Her explosive expertise and vertical mobility make her one of the game’s most versatile squad members, and an asset to any mission.
Bombs, by definition, can blow up in your face if you aren’t careful, so it might take a little trial and error to fine-tune your strategy without catching the rest of your squad in Eri’s fiery blasts. Once that’s done, though, you’ll be gleefully hurling grenades all over the battlefield.
No matter which loadout you bring into battle, Eri’s strategy centers around herMad BomberPassive. It allows her toget a Bonus Movewhenever she participates in an attack that results in at least one enemy being defeated. If she gets multiple kills across a turn thanks to Sync Attacks with her allies, she gets more moves!
If a single attack eliminates multiple enemies, Eri only gets one Bonus Move from it.
Not only does Eri get a Bonus Move for every kill, but she also gainsBounce, allowing her to move freely with no regard for elevation. This means she can quite literally leap tall buildings in a single bound, making her perfect fordropping grenades from aboveor rooting out enemies in hard-to-reach places.
If one of Eri’s allies can set up a Sync Attack with herbefore she takes her normal move for the turn, she can make use of Bounce during her opening sprint!
Eri’s Special Actions
Eri boasts an impressive array of attacks that let herhit multiple enemies at once, spreading out damage and setting up Sync Attacks easily.
3
1-2
5
4-6
Deals 4 damage to all units in an X shape.
If at least two targets die, Eri gets a Bonus Action.
6
1-4
Deals 3 damage each to a maximum of three different targets.
1-5
Places a Decoy on a tile within range.
When the Decoy is destroyed, everything adjacent to it takes 5 damage.
3-5
3-4
Deals 4 damage to everything in a cross shape.
Target another area measured from the center of the first blast; it takes an identical blast.
4
Eri charges a target within range and deals 5 damage to them, ignoring Cover.
Eri deploys a Trampoline to a space within range, destroying any existing Trampolines.
Trampolines can be used twice before breaking.
Eri gets a Bonus Action.
Upgrading Special Actions when Eri levels up will improve their base stats.
Eri Classic Loadout
Eri’s standard build usesGrenades and a Grenade Launcherto deal area damage, often triggering or joining Sync Attacks. By frequently using the Bonus Moves from Mad Bomber, you canadjust her positionto make sure she’s always able to add a few extra points of damage to her teammate’s shots. Alternately, you can use the extra movement toget to Coverat the end of a round.
The real standout of Eri Classic, though, is that itstarts with Grenade Juggler.Not only is this great for clearing out spread-out groups of enemy infantry, but it’sabsolutely stellar against bosses.Since they’re so big, most bosses can behit by both grenades from this attack, doubling the damage you deal!
Recommended Passives
Hurricane Loadout
Once you’ve defeated Morden at least once with Eri on your team, you’ll be able to use hermelee-focusedHurricane loadout. It fills a similar role to Trevor Classic, albeit with a lot more AoE damage and fewer targeted strikes.
Hurricane Eri trades in her Grenades for the Tatsumaki, a katana that lets herhit every target, friend or foe, that’s adjacent to her, including diagonally. Her secondary weapon, the Double-S, has azig-zagging blast patternthat takes some getting used to, but allows for unique tactical options.
If the S-shaped blast pattern isn’t working out for you, you can always look for a weapon mod that changes the AoE shape. They appear frequently after battles where crates are offered as rewards.
This version of Eri starts withExplosive Jump, giving her extra mobility beyond what Mad Bomber gives her. You’ll often find yourself having to choose between the Tatsumaki and Explosive Jump, so consider all your options when deciding how best to deploy Eri’s close-quarters fury.
Anticipationis practically a must-pick with Explosive Jump; it increases Eri’s weapon damage after being moved by a Special Action, setting her up for a devastating Sync Attack with the Tatsumaki.
Multi-Frag must be unlocked at the base for 24 Credits before it will appear on runs.
Close Quarters Loadout
Close Quarters trades in most of Eri’s area attacks forpure mobility and melee-range devastation. If you haven’t quite mastered getting the most out of Mad Bomber, a run or two with this loadout will get you up to speed in no time.
Both of Eri’s weapons in Close Quarters - arespectable four-damage Tonfaand theSpill Shotgun- have theDashkeyword, whichincreases the distance of Bonus Moves granted by them by three.This means that every time Eri triggers Mad Bomber with one of her weapons (but not her Special Actions), she’ll get three extra spaces to zip around the battlefield.
If that weren’t enough, Close Quarters Eri starts withSlicing Rush.A good strategy is to open each round bycharginginto a crowdwith Slicing Rush, dispatching one enemy, then having an ally trigger a Sync Attack with Eri’s Tonfa, which will let her either run out of danger or move into position for yet another Sync.
Fire Starter Loadout
Fire Starter is best thought of as avariation of Eri Classic, one which allows you to control the battlefield by setting it on fire rather than dealing damage directly. TheMolotov CocktailandInferno Flamethrowerdon’t have a high base damage, but used correctly they can make up for it on the back end by placing fire tiles andallowing Eri to use more Special Actions.
Pay special attention to the Inferno’s Max Sync ability. As long asboth of Eri’s alliesparticipate in a sync that she triggers with it, her next Special Action has its Adrenaline cost refunded!
Fire Starter Eri starts withClose-Range Blast, which is fine, but if you get the opportunity to live the dream withGrenade Juggler, go for it. This lets you combine the best of both Fire Starter and the Classic build, and do so even more efficiently with the Adrenaline refund from Max Sync.
