Julie - The Forgotten Top Tier Lead

Introduction

While everybody (me included) swooned over Uruka, Ilmina, and Merionidalis during the previous iteration of the Heroine REM, one particular card was heavily ignored yet has the potential to be very powerful. Of course, I'm talking about Julie. The female technician of the mechdragon Balboa, Julie may not seem like much at first glance, but dig a little deeper and you'll find a top tier lead capable of clearing the game's hardest content.

Stat Shot

Radiant Mechdragon Technician, Julie
Dragon/Machine

Stats at Max Lv. (HP/ATK/RCV): 3812/1814/371

AS: Void enemies' defense for 1 turn; 50% shield for 1 turn (Max CD: 11)
LS: 1.5x HP and ATK for Water and Wood Att.; 5x ATK and 25% shield when Water and Wood attack at once
Awoken skills: SB, SBR, TE, TE, (SBR in JP only), Attacker Killer, Dragon Killer, God Killer
PADX Entry

Pros:

• Can utilize both Water and Wood subs
• Diverse subpool (sorry Barbara)
• Readily takes advantage of TPA subs
• Multiplier is high enough to sweep most sub-bosses, so not overly reliant on damage boosts such as the Gemstones
• Decent burst potential
• Time extends give you plenty of time to match orbs
• Double SBR covers 80% of team's requirement
• Can pair with a variety of leaders (Awoken Andromeda, Skuld, Balboa, etc.)

Cons:

• Killer awakenings pose damage control problems, especially in A3
• Needs both water and wood to deal any sort of damage
• Shield requires full activation, unlike heart cross and combo based shields
• Bindable - must have a bind clear on team
• Low value active skill, requires an inherit
• Little value as a sub

Subs

Julie has access to a wide variety of water and wood type subs. Basically, any water or wood monster that does not remove water/wood orbs can work on Julie. There are some notable subs, though. For simplicity, I will only list water type subs, but of course you can run a wood based team. In fact, there's a wood-focused team for Julie that can clear A3 with ease, which I'll discuss later in this post.

Full board changers

• Skuld: your best choice for a full board change. TPAs, OEs, and TEs: what's not to love about her? She's even getting a split UEvo in the future that gives her double 7 combo awakenings, making her even better on Julie's team.
• Awoken/Revo Karin: Also a good choice, though she doesn't have TPA, and she doesn't make heart orbs. 
• Famiel: Best used as an inherit onto Julie, but can be put as a sub if nothing else.
• Summer Gronia
• Summer Meimei

Orb changers

• UUEvo U&Y: The better form for U&Y based off the active and the awoken skills. They give Julie the wood and water orbs she needs to fully proc.
• Awoken U&Y: Not as synergetic as the UUEvo version, but is usable. Has a TE that the UUEvo doesn't, which may make the awoken evo more desirable in certain cases. Keep in mind that the only way you can generate wood orbs is if there's a hazard (poison/jammer).
• Awoken Andromeda: Much like AU&Y, except for the 7c awakening and heart orb generation
• Valkyrie Reine (BValk): Her guard break may not be necessary due to Julie's active skill, but 7c may be useful.
• Scheat: 5 TPAs!

Burst (damage enhance, orb enhance, etc.)
You most likely don't need a sub just for the burst, but in case you're lacking enough TPAs, or you're playing it safe, here are some options.

• Awoken I&I
• Revo Sun Quan: Performs a double duty as both damage enhance and delay.

Utility (bind clear, delay, etc.)

• Revo Orochi: packs a powerful punch with 4 TPAs, and has 2 TE to boot. Also, because of Julie's eventual SBR buff, you don't have to worry about Orochi having no SBR.
• Revo Sun Quan: another TPA powerhouse, but replaces the TE with a water OE.
• Awoken/Revo/PAD Academy Isis: All three options are suitable for bind clearing, although PAD Academy Isis might be more desirable due to her TPA awakening.

Inherits

• Revo Orochi, Exa-Hydra, Revo SQ, etc.: Delays are always a good idea to put on your leader, and Julie is no exception. Just be aware that since Julie is bindable, you might not be able to use the delay in a sticky situation.
• Facet, Sheen, Carat: If you're running a TPA heavy team, Facet is your best Gemstone inherit. Sheen is also good because of Julie's TE. Finally, Carat can be used as a last resort but is not recommended.
• Karin, Skuld, etc.: A full board change is decent as well. These should not be your main source of full board changers, however, due to Julie's long base CD (11 turns).
• Fujin: Obligatory.

Sample Teams

My current team
Julie (Sheen)/Revo Orochi/Awoken U&Y (UUEvo U&Y)/Skuld (Skuld)/Awoken Isis (Rinoa)/Julie

So far, I've beaten Machine Hera, A1, and a couple of Challenge Lv 10s with this team. A2 and above are risky due to the possibility of Vishnu appearing.

A3 Farming Team
Julie (Fujin)/Ragnarok Dragon (Green Guan Yu)/Ragnarok Dragon (Yang Guifei)/Ragnarok Dragon (Sheen)/Machine Athena (Revo Astaroth)/Julie (Revo Orochi)

This is definitely a whale team, unaccessible to the vast majority of players. If you do manage to get this team, there's strategies for defeating all of the troublesome spawns in A3 (Sopdet, Vishnu, Awoken Kagustuchi), as well as for killing all five Radar Dragons. Check this guide on AppMedia for more info (warning: Japanese website).

Theoretical Team
Julie/Awoken Andromeda/UUEvo U&Y/Mono color Skuld/Revo Isis/Julie

Inherits include a delay (Revo Orochi, Revo SQ), a Gemstone inherit (Facet, Sheen), and maybe some orb and board changers.

Commentary

Julie is an amazing lead because her leader skill is easy to activate, she has access to a wide range of subs, and the damage her teams can dish out are surprisingly high. A single TPA water and a wood match can deal about 1 million damage on one card with the right setup. That's just on one card.

The main concern that people have with Julie is her killer awakenings, especially her God Killer. This is because Ultimate Arena, where the vast majority of monsters are God type and there are a few nasty mechanics that Julie is unable to navigate around without some support (Sopdet, I'm looking at you).

While this may be true, in general, her killer awakenings don't obstruct her from clearing most content. In fact, the killer awakenings may actually be useful if your team does not have enough TPAs to deal massive damage or if you're up against a high HP foe. Remember that killer awakenings stack, so Julie would deal 3x damage against a God type enemy but 9x damage against a God/Dragon type. Thus, despite having no other offensive awakenings, Julie can easily clear many hard dungeons.

Conclusion

Julie is a forgotten top tier lead, and I encourage people that have her to try her out. She'll probably surprise you with how much damage she can output.

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Hey guys! This is my first guide on this blog, so there may be a few errors here and there. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments or on PADGuide. I'll also be updating the guide if I think of other things to say. Thanks!