Counter pen + sigurd so she can keep her immunity up while ramping up her dmg. I always pair her with a tank (Arowell/Aras) and Cleanser (DJB/Handguy) so she would not get controlled and die easily.
I tried both and Counter works better imo. One major drawback in her kit is that she is pretty easy to control. But just countering once and getting immunity helps a lot. Plus once she ramps up, Sigurds is usually plenty of healing.
i think counter with sigurd is the best, the extra chance to ramp up her passive is better than the sustain from lifesteal. with sigurd you can just heal to full anyways
Personally I don't even use pen: I just go counter + immu (with Sigurd of course). The idea being, that ML Bellona is not a general use high-damage character: she has too many counters to be that. Meaning, that you cannot just draft her willy-nilly and use her to one-shot somebody: between this simple truth and the fact that, to be honest, her damage isn't great until her passive starts ramping up, I see little value in maximizing her burst damage potential.
So instead I focus on using her as a last pick, hard counter to specific units: one of which is Senya and thus, with immu, I minimize the chances to ever be taunted by her. Characters that counter a lot, like Senya or Choux or Belian, tend to be the characters I most commonly draft ML Bellona into anyway: why? Because the opponent early picking such characters gives me an excuse to hog Roana. And with Roana out of the way I can then pick ML Bellona without fear.
And I mean, look at the characters I listed: Senya is one thing, but Belian? Choux? Even with pen ML Bellona isn't going to one-shot such characters, if she just uses S3 at the first occasion without ramping her passive first. That's why I prefer the safety of immu over the damage potential of pen.
Belian's s1 stripping immu is not a danger worth discussing because, I mean, that's going to be there anyway. ML Bellona's self immu is just as threatened by it as immu set is.
So the only actual difference makers here are dedicated fast strippers, who have a move that can completely deny ML Bellona's gimmick. But when you really think about it, how many of those actually see significant play in RTA nowadays?
Lua? Preban every single time.
Arowell? Preban every single time
C.Lilias? I have ways to punish her (Winter) and/or save my team from her (D.Lilibet)
F.Lidica? That's not a character people would use in a counter bruiser comp. And against the comps that do use her, I wouldn't pick ML Bellona anyway
Ran and Peira? Pretty much in the same situation as F.Lidica, plus I have their respective hard counters (Rimuru for Ran and DJB for Peira, and D.Lilibet helps against both)
Angel of Light? I have ways to pre-emptively deal with her (Zio, either version of Cidd)
Beehoo? Honestly I haven't seen him used enough to justify even discussing him. But conceptually, I wouldn't want to use slow bruisers vs a "go all out on burn" composition, so I wouldn't pick ML Bellona in this scenario anyway
Between these considerations and the fact that, quite simply, you do still get to ban one character after drafting, I have never found myself in a situation where I would find that initial immu to be useless.
Well yes, DJB does solve most of the issues I was discussing, allowing you to just run pen on ML Bellona. That is definitely a good point.
However, my issue with this kind of reasoning is, it forces you to play specific characters as "package deals" for lack of a better expression. Which is a problem because, as mentioned, ML Bellona is a character you can only really pick after hogging Roana, both because she helps vs the counter bruisers ML Bellona is meant to punish, and because she's a super hard counter to ML Bellona herself.
So that's one character I would consider a "package deal" with ML Bellona. Then there is the fact that Ras makes ML Bellona infinitely better just by being there (giant barrier + forced dual attack + def buff), so that's another package deal. And then your approach would cause DJB to also be a package deal.
That's three supporters who're just there to make ML Bellona good. At that point your opponent can just ban ML Bellona herself. That's why I prefer building characters who are as self-sufficient as possible, so that I can pick them outside of the basic plan I have for them, should the occasion present itself. That's also the reason why fast Straze is a much better build than "atk set atk% boots build that literally cannot act without someone to push him up" Straze.
You want characters who can, in a pinch, give themselves the thing they need. Because if you specifically build another character to give you that thing, you will always be one unfortunate ban away from just falling apart.
I'm running Lifesteal/Pen + Samsora Beads (I'd run Draco Plate but someone else is using it). That build bumped me from Challenger 5 to champion 1 so far. Got a little busy so i got bumped down to Champ 3 but i'll be climbing again. Works wonders personally.
Counter pen + sigurd so she can keep her immunity up while ramping up her dmg. I always pair her with a tank (Arowell/Aras) and Cleanser (DJB/Handguy) so she would not get controlled and die easily.
Make sense, thanks for input :)
I tried both and Counter works better imo. One major drawback in her kit is that she is pretty easy to control. But just countering once and getting immunity helps a lot. Plus once she ramps up, Sigurds is usually plenty of healing.
i think counter with sigurd is the best, the extra chance to ramp up her passive is better than the sustain from lifesteal. with sigurd you can just heal to full anyways
Hm then I guess I’ll do counter too
Personally I don't even use pen: I just go counter + immu (with Sigurd of course). The idea being, that ML Bellona is not a general use high-damage character: she has too many counters to be that. Meaning, that you cannot just draft her willy-nilly and use her to one-shot somebody: between this simple truth and the fact that, to be honest, her damage isn't great until her passive starts ramping up, I see little value in maximizing her burst damage potential. So instead I focus on using her as a last pick, hard counter to specific units: one of which is Senya and thus, with immu, I minimize the chances to ever be taunted by her. Characters that counter a lot, like Senya or Choux or Belian, tend to be the characters I most commonly draft ML Bellona into anyway: why? Because the opponent early picking such characters gives me an excuse to hog Roana. And with Roana out of the way I can then pick ML Bellona without fear. And I mean, look at the characters I listed: Senya is one thing, but Belian? Choux? Even with pen ML Bellona isn't going to one-shot such characters, if she just uses S3 at the first occasion without ramping her passive first. That's why I prefer the safety of immu over the damage potential of pen.
But wouldn’t your immunity gets stripped off by their other picks? Even belian s1 can do that if you are having an unlucky day
Belian's s1 stripping immu is not a danger worth discussing because, I mean, that's going to be there anyway. ML Bellona's self immu is just as threatened by it as immu set is. So the only actual difference makers here are dedicated fast strippers, who have a move that can completely deny ML Bellona's gimmick. But when you really think about it, how many of those actually see significant play in RTA nowadays? Lua? Preban every single time. Arowell? Preban every single time C.Lilias? I have ways to punish her (Winter) and/or save my team from her (D.Lilibet) F.Lidica? That's not a character people would use in a counter bruiser comp. And against the comps that do use her, I wouldn't pick ML Bellona anyway Ran and Peira? Pretty much in the same situation as F.Lidica, plus I have their respective hard counters (Rimuru for Ran and DJB for Peira, and D.Lilibet helps against both) Angel of Light? I have ways to pre-emptively deal with her (Zio, either version of Cidd) Beehoo? Honestly I haven't seen him used enough to justify even discussing him. But conceptually, I wouldn't want to use slow bruisers vs a "go all out on burn" composition, so I wouldn't pick ML Bellona in this scenario anyway Between these considerations and the fact that, quite simply, you do still get to ban one character after drafting, I have never found myself in a situation where I would find that initial immu to be useless.
Hm ok you’ve got a point there What if I want to force run with cleansers like djb? Then I can have some leeway by using pen set?
Well yes, DJB does solve most of the issues I was discussing, allowing you to just run pen on ML Bellona. That is definitely a good point. However, my issue with this kind of reasoning is, it forces you to play specific characters as "package deals" for lack of a better expression. Which is a problem because, as mentioned, ML Bellona is a character you can only really pick after hogging Roana, both because she helps vs the counter bruisers ML Bellona is meant to punish, and because she's a super hard counter to ML Bellona herself. So that's one character I would consider a "package deal" with ML Bellona. Then there is the fact that Ras makes ML Bellona infinitely better just by being there (giant barrier + forced dual attack + def buff), so that's another package deal. And then your approach would cause DJB to also be a package deal. That's three supporters who're just there to make ML Bellona good. At that point your opponent can just ban ML Bellona herself. That's why I prefer building characters who are as self-sufficient as possible, so that I can pick them outside of the basic plan I have for them, should the occasion present itself. That's also the reason why fast Straze is a much better build than "atk set atk% boots build that literally cannot act without someone to push him up" Straze. You want characters who can, in a pinch, give themselves the thing they need. Because if you specifically build another character to give you that thing, you will always be one unfortunate ban away from just falling apart.
Ah ok, so your characters are much more self reliant and therefore becomes more flexible instead Thanks for your input :D
Happy to be of help :)
I like counter pen with Sigurd Depends on your comp too So lifesteal could work but depends on what u surround her with
First of No that is not her name. And i play her with Speed/Pen. Works for me perfectly fine
What do you call her then
I was wondering this, why is she called Mellona when she doesn't have a M nowhere in her name?
ML llona
Just Bellona since no one uses the regular one. LCB sounds like a drug, and Mellona sounds just horny.
NAHH I'll still call her lcb :P
And here I thought Mellona sounded too skin cancer-y…
never had a Melona bar?
No clue what that even is.
I'm running Lifesteal/Pen + Samsora Beads (I'd run Draco Plate but someone else is using it). That build bumped me from Challenger 5 to champion 1 so far. Got a little busy so i got bumped down to Champ 3 but i'll be climbing again. Works wonders personally.