Welcome to our guide on how to build your operatives in SNOWBREAK! While we acknowledge that this is a work in progress and our suggestions are not 100% factual, we hope to provide you with an easy way to optimize your gameplay. Keep in mind that these builds are only suggestions and feel free to make adjustments based on your own playstyle. Let’s dive in and see how to best utilize each character in SNOWBREAK.
Introduction
Hello readers, I made this guide as an easy way to check builds for most characters, keep in mind this guide mostly covers one build for each operative, if you want more alternatives i’ll think of adding more if there’s enough demand for them. Otherwise check other guides such as Flux Kairos’s[coda.io] (cool dude btw), which has way more info than mine such as team building and an operative tierlist so i recommend checking that one too!
Just as it says in the guide’s description, this isn’t meant to be used as a 100% fact guide, just as a suggestion for more easily check what builds are best for each operative. I may not know about a better build/logistics set for a specific operative, if you do, let me know and i’ll probably add it to the guide!
Do keep in mind that to unlock some of the stages/operations required you have to have completed most of the Main Story missions, so some of these builds may be a bit hard to get if you’re just starting out.
Before you start reading!
Neuronics: They’re passive buffs to your abilities, their leveling order depends on each operative, top ones buff their Standard skill, center ones their support skill, and bottom ones their ultimate skill. Everytime you unlock 2 neuronics their deiwos (basically passive ability) is upgraded. You can refer to the image to see the upgrade order that’ll be used in this guide
Manifestation: These are phases for each character which upgrade their abilities in some way, they’re upgraded using shards which can be obtained by getting copies of the operative, or farmed in “Personal File” operation. For 5* characters, you can only farm 2 shards per day for each operative. In the image you can see how long it would take to farm each Manifestation level.
Operations: For this guide, the 3 most important operations are Raining Fire, Mind Refinement, and Arms Hub. The first 2 is where you’ll farm logistics, and the 3rd one is for 4* event weapons that you can exchange in the shop. Always do these missions in the highest difficulty possible.
Daily Shop: It’s the shop where you can spend your silverbucks, it’s contents refresh daily so if you’re looking for a specific weapon don’t forget to check it. Do keep in mind 300000 is kinda expensive, so don’t buy them if you’re short on cash.
Event Shop: The shop from the event which is currently running, it has a limited tab for resources and an unlimited tab where you can get logistics/event weapons for the operatives that are in the limited gacha in the current update
IMPORTANT: If you’re going to farm a logistics set/event weapon for a 5* limited operative, check if they’re available on the event shop first, it’s more efficient to farm them from the event than from the operations tab.
Through this guide, you’ll see some terms like “Limited” and “Standard” gacha, these refer to the gacha system the game has, which you can access from the “Echo” tab in the home screen. There are 4 type of banners in this game:
- Special-Limited (100% guaranteed): Here you have to roll 100 times to guarantee an operative, and 80 times for a guaranteed weapon. There’s a 0.1% chance of getting a 5* roll
- Standard-Limited (50/50 system): Operatives need 80 rolls, and weapons 60 rolls. There’s a 0.6% chance of getting a 5* roll, and only a 50% chance of getting the one in the banner.
- Duty’s Command: Standard banner for operatives, has 50/50 system.
- Hearth of Midgard: Standard banner for weapons, has 50/50 system.
I recommend rolling in the Special-Limited (100%) banner for operatives, and in Standard-Limited (50/50) for weapons, as you can benefit from getting standard banner weapons, and most of the time their 4* weapon is enough for most players. Also do not spend digicash on the standard banners, you can get tickets to roll on those banners just by completing certain tasks and from events.
One important thing about logistics, all 3 have main stats that can be upgraded, each logistic agent brings a different 3rd stat, which will be Max HP Boost, ATK Boost and DEF Boost respectively, this stat gets maxed out at level 12, so I recommend upgrading your logistics to this LVL at most. Only reserve LVL 15 for your main dps operatives to help save your resources, or when you get a god-like roll (S ATK and S Alignment Index for example), see the 3rd substat as a luxury more than anything.
Now that you understand more of these terms, let’s start with the builds!
5* Characters
Acacia – Kaguya
- Neuronics priority: 4-3, 5-6 and 1-2 (if you want to use her as dps, go 1-2, 4-3, 5-6)
- Manifestation level: M2 (Low priority (Medium priority if you use Pine Aurora/Aye, Aye, Captain!))
From best to worst, your options are: T2 Pine Aurora > T5 Prismatic Igniter > T1 Pine Aurora* > T1 Prismatic Igniter > T5 Aye, Aye, Captain!** > Muddy Snow.
*Better than T5 Prismatic Igniter once Kaguya reaches M2
**Goes up a tier if your main dps is frost dmg.
- Amarna (Best if your main dps does ballistic dmg)
- Twilight (If your main dps does frost dmg (Lyfe – Wild Hunt | Katya – Blue Bolt))
- Thebes (If you want to focus on using her standard skill to do dmg)
For 1st and 2nd substats Skill Haste (19.3) is the priority, followed by S-Energy Recovery (14.1%) and Alignment Index (106) (AI is prefered if you want more shred).
3rd substat should be Frost DMG (8.5%).
Chenxing – Ethereal Cloud
- Neuronics priority: 1-2, 5-6 and 4-3
- Manifestation level: M3 (Low/mid priority) (from M1 to M3 are all good upgrades, but she’s ok without them).
Difference between T5 Wild Leer vs Anti-Evil Ward is about 20% more/less dmg. Also Wild Leer has a lower ammo capacity (25 vs 30 bullets)
- Amano-Iwato (Easy to keep the buff, but you need to ADS when shooting)
- Mingyi (If you don’t want to always ADS use this, is about 5% less dmg than Amano-Iwato overall)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK and CRIT DMG, these boost your damage the most.
3rd substat should be Electrical DMG.
Cherno – Enigma
Her kit is very simple, use her standard skill to spawn some balls that hurt enemies when they’re near them, shoot them to build enmity stacks then hold E to make them explode once you have full stacks, her support skill can help with slowing down enemies, and her ultimate inmediatly spawns 3 balls on top of the enemy you’re facing. Oh and also her balls have DoT, so yeah she’s pretty busted ngl.
- Neuronics priority: 1-2, 5-6 and 3-4
- Manifestation level: M2 (Mid priority).
Uninvited Adieu is about 30% better than T5 Halo of Hope, and 100 Battle Veteran is only slightly better than Halo of Hope (10-15% difference). It’s highly recommended to get her signature weapon.
- Dziadzy (Best logistic set, as it was made for her)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106), I recommend you get ATK as it boosts her dmg way more than AI.
3rd substat must be Chaos DMG (8.5%).
Eatchel – The Cub
For her usage, her buffing mechanic depends on her “claws” which are stacks that you get when healing your operatives, when using her Ultimate skill, you can get at most 5 fangs which decrease over time or when you take damage. She gives your on-field operative a healing circle which is always active and passively heals you. Using her support skill stuns enemies hit by it and heals you, and finally her standard skill just pulls enemies closer and gives Eatchel 2 charged shots that pierce enemies.
- Neuronics priority: 5-6, 4-3 and 1-2
- Manifestation level: M1 (High priority for her signature weapon) and M3 (Low priority).
When at M1, her signature weapon gives a 1080 ATK buff at max claws, and 1800 ATK when at T2. She can buff your operatives by just existing which is really cool!
If your Eatchel is not M1, use Lapis Lazuli instead of Rock Python.
- Lux (If you want to build her as a healer, best used with her sig weapon)
- Amarna (Gives your main dps a balistic dmg buff when using her standard skill)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106) or Skill Haste (19.3) if you want to use her on-field or with Amarna logis.
3rd substat should be Healing Bonus (10.6%).
The buff her fangs give depends on her ATK and Healing stats.
Enya – Exuvia
Her use is basically using her Support Skill and just stand on the area she creates and do dmg with your main dps. She also does decent dmg with her standard skill, and her ultimate protects you from all dmg and heals you a bit. So in an emergency you can use it.
- Neuronics priority: 3-4, 5-6 and 1-2
- Manifestation level: M2 (Low/mid priority), M3 is good too to boost her sig/event weapons.
Abyssal Light is only about 10% better than a T5 Tribute of Rose, so only go for it if you’re planning to get it at T2 in my opinion.
Also Tribute of Rose gets a boost when Exuvia reaches M3. Consider replacing Prismatic Igniter by then if you still have it on her.
- Areca (It’s her logistics set, of course it’s gonna be the best)
- Twilight (It’s an option if your dps is Electrical DMG (Ethereal Cloud or Agave))
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106)
3rd substat should be Electrical DMG (8.5%).
Fenny – Coronet
She’s a simple “shooting till it stops moving” kind of operative, use her Standard skill and go ham with the enemies, her ultimate skill allows you to stun nearby enemies, and her support skill boosts the rate of fire of your whole team, all around a really good operative you won’t regret upgrading.
- Neuronics priority: 1-5, 2-6 and 4-3
- Manifestation level: M1 (Mid priority), M3 Is good too but not necessary.
You can use Discordance until you eventually get spooked by Sunny Payback while rolling in the weapons banner 😛
- Amano-Iwato (As with most ballistic dmg operatives, Amano is king (or queen i guess))
- Mingyi (If you prefer to hipfire)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Crit DMG (10.6%)
3rd substat should be Electrical DMG (8.5%).
Fenny – Starshine
Her usage is simple, use her support skill when low on ammo, this will refill your ammo, and gives you buffs everyime you do it. You can use it as long as you have enough S-energy.
If you use her on-field her standard skill changes depending on where you’re moving. Using it while going sideways increases your dmg output, going forwards makes your bullets do AOE dmg, at the cost of lower rate of fire, and going backwards gives your bullets increased S-energy recovery. Her ultimate is ok but not the main point of her kit. Just a nice burst of dmg.
- Neuronics priority: 4-3, 6-5 and 2-1 (prefer 2-1 over 6-5 if you want to use her on-field).
- Manifestation level: M1 (High priority), she gets big buffs up until M5, but you can leave her at M2 if you want.
Heart Hunter is 25-30% better than T5 Pixel Era, it’s recommended to get her signature weapon. Either way her 4* weapon options do ok.
- Reverie (Gives a buff when using her support skill, unlike Amarna, only Starshine can use this set)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106)
3rd substat should be Kinetic DMG (8.5%).
Fritia – Hush
Her ultimate is her whole thing, so build U-Energy to use it and melt enemies, she does extra dmg to enemies that are burning so try using her standard skill before using her ult, it also stuns and brings enemies closer together. Finally her support skill gives you dmg reduction, don’t rely on it too much.
- Neuronics priority: 6-5, 2-1 and 3-4.
- Manifestation level: M3 (High priority), M4 is also good, but M3 is a good stopping point.
Hush is only good with her signature weapon, if you really want to use her, T2 Lava Bones is highly recommended.
- Thebes (Only use this set if you have Tess on your team, better than Fenya)
- Fenya (Gives your ultimate a boost for 10 seconds. Made for Hush)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106), U-Energy Recovery is decent, but it’s better to focus on the first 2.
3rd substat should be Thermal DMG (8.5%).
Haru – Absconditus
Her usage is just spamming her standard skill to kill mobs and shooting every once in a while to recover S-Energy, her ultimate does a big slash and gives you stacks that allows her to spam her skill even more, in this state, if the ability icon glows, you can use the ult to do a big slash in front of you, doing big dmg and recovering some ultimate stacks to keep spamming her skills. Her support skill is a mini slash that interrupts enemies. So her usage is just E + E + E + shoot and repeat till all enemies are defeated.
- Neuronics priority: 2-1, 6-5 and 4-3.
- Manifestation level: M2 (Mid priority) she’s ok without any manifestations though.
Star Ocean is a good option for Haru, the problem is the firerate makes it unreliable to generate enough S-Energy to spam her skill. Regardless it’s a good alternative.
You can use her just fine with T5 4* WIld Wasp Stinger.
From best to worst: Psyche 16 > Star Ocean > T5 Yojimbo > T5 Wild Wasp Stinger > T1 Yojimbo > T1 Wild Wasp Stinger.
- Thebes (Good for mobbing, better than Akitsu for bosses)
- Akitsu (It’s good for mobbing too, slightly worse than Thebes when fighting bosses)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Skill Haste (19.3). S-Energy Recovery is decent for 1 slot, but not priority.
3rd substat should be Kinetic DMG (8.5%).
Katya – Blue Bolt
She’s unique as being the only operative that uses crossbows, that have the advantage of never having to reload, making her a good dps option for most players, she’s not meta as she doesn’t compare to the likes of Enigma, Ksana or Infinite Sight, but even then she’s really good. Especially for Njall boss, where she still performs the best alongside Wild Hunt.
Her usage is shooting after using her standard skill, you’ll enter turret mode and shoot with an increased rate of fire, this mode lasts as long as you have S-Energy. You can reload your crossbow to change between normal arrows and explosive arrows, at the cost of rate of fire. Her ultimate skill does dmg in an area, and her support skill is a guaranteed freeze. If you dodge you gain an atk boost and your standard skill resets, so it’s ideal to reposition yourself.
- Neuronics priority: 1-2, 5-6 and 4-3
- Manifestation level: M1 (High priority), M2 and M3 are also nice to have.
Crossbows are kinda hard to come by, so 4* Alpine Gentian is you only option unless her banner comes around.
T1 5* Neptune Nova is better than T5 4* Alpine Gentian
- Eli (Blue Bolt’s logistics set, the buff can be easily mantained as long as you keep shooting)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106). Other options such as Crit DMG or Crit Rate aren’t recommended as they don’t boost her dmg too much.
3rd substat should be Frost DMG (8.5%).
Lyfe – Infinite Sight
Use her standard skill to mark enemies, when her eye thingy fills up, dodge and unleash a barrage of bullets on them, repeat this process till you see “mission complete” in your screen. Her support skill stuns enemies. And her ultimate is used primarily for mobbing, you get more dps using her dodge + standard skill combo against single opponents.
- Neuronics priority: 2-1, 6-5 and 4-3
- Manifestation level: M2 (High priority, huge boost to her dmg). Her manifestations are good up to M5, but are not necessary unless you want the absolute best
Just like crossbows, dual pistols are rare, 4* Revolving Glow is you only option until her banner comes around.
T1 5* Nightborne Crown is +30% better than T5 4* Revolving Glow, it’s highly recommended to get it if you can.
- Nova (Infinite Sight’s logistics set, so of course it’s gonna be the best)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106) or Skill Haste (19.3). AI is for more dmg per skill usage, while skill haste helps using your skill more often.
3rd substat should be Kinetic DMG (8.5%).
Lyfe – Wild Hunt
After you get her at M1, using her standard skill will use your Snow stacks, you can recharge them if you shoot the enemy, if you manage to hit all your shots on weak points, you can effectively use this skill forever. Her ultimate skill does a decent burst of dmg to enemies in front of you, and freezes them. Finally her supports skill quickly does dmg and freezes all enemies that are hit by it.
- Neuronics priority: 1-2, 5-6 and 3-4
- Manifestation level: M1 (High priority, makes skill last way longer if you hit your shots). The rest upgrade her skill dmg and duration so are optional.
There are no 4* options for Wild Hunt, I recommend against using her unless you get her at M1, preferably with Stardust Memory as 3* weapons are just bad even at T5.
- Thebes (As long as you keep your skill active, the logistics buff will basically last forever)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106) or Skill Haste (19.3). At +M3 skill haste no longer matters too much.
3rd substat should be Frost DMG (8.5%).
Marian – Swift
To use her you need to first hit an enemy while in ADS to mark them, then use the standard skill to hit the mark and leave them exposed, in this state if you hipfire, you’ll do extra dmg. At M1, this exposed effect lasts longer so you don’t need to ADS after hipfiring. Her support skill interrupts enemies, and her ultimate skill does damage in an area in front of her, and reduces the enemies DEF% stat.
At M0 her combo should be: “ADS -> Standard Skill -> Hipfire -> Repeat”
At M1 it changes to: “ADS -> Standard Skill -> Hipfire -> Standard Skill -> Hipfire -> Standard Skill -> Hipfire -> Repeat” or something similar
- Neuronics priority: 1-2, 5-6 and 3-4
- Manifestation level: M1 (Medium priority, makes her combo way more satisfying). If you like her you can get her to M3 as a good stopping point.
Wetland Park is your best 4* option, as other Sniper Rifles require ADS to use their buffs. Use it until you get her Horn of the Orca
- Dharma (Using her standard skill + hipfire combo this is the best set)
- Amano-Iwato (Play as a standard sniper character (only ADS shots), if you use this set, use other weapon like 4* Crystal Drill)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Skill Haste (19.3) or S-Energy Recovery (14.1%). Try getting at least 1 logis with S-Energy recovery to use her skill more often.
3rd substat should be Kinetic DMG (8.5%).
Mauxir – Shadow Ka
Her kit revolves around using her support skill to spawn a “Kebechet” (i’ll call it mummy), which you can shoot, and all the damage it receives will transfer back to the enemy it’s tethered to. All dmg dealt to it is also boosted. Her Ultimate skill slows down enemies, and her standard skill sends a mummy towards enemies, dealing dmg and knocking them up.
- Neuronics priority: 4-3, 5-6 and 1-2
- Manifestation level: M1 (High priority, boosts dmg dealt to the mummy). M3 is also recommended as it increases her support skill duration, and if you want the best Neural Sim times, go for M5.
Alloy Truth is the best support weapon in the game, I recommend getting it even if you don’t have Shadow Ka
Alloy Truth performs 100% better than T5 Wave (yes really)
Once Shadow Ka reaches M3, Wave surpasses Frigatebird
- Amarna (After using her skill, destroy the boss by shooting the mummy thingy)
- Twilight (Can work if your main dps uses Chaos dmg)
1st and 2nd substats should be Max HP (10%) and Skill Haste (19.3) or Alignment Index (106). If think you can defeat the boss fast enough, focus on AI instead of SH. I’d say getting 10% HP is way more important overall.
3rd substat should be Chaos DMG (8.5%).
Siris – Ksana
Use and charge her standard skill to build stacks, these stacks are then consumed when you use your ultimate ability, the more of these you have, the higher the final dmg will be. Doing any dmg will also reduce the cooldown of your ultimate so be sure to spam your abilities, her support skill knockbacks enemies and gives you and your allies a shield.
Another thing to keep in mind is when using your ultimate, make sure to look at your enemies when using it, otherwise you’ll miss your attack.
- Neuronics priority: 5-2, 6-1 and 3-4
- Manifestation level: M3 (Medium priority). Although she does ok without any manifestations.
T1 Crowned Flail is about 15-20% stronger than T5 Scarabaei.
- Scarab (Her tailor-made logistics set, nothing else comes close)
1st and 2nd substats should be Max HP (10%) and ATK (10%) or Skill Haste (19.3). Her dmg scales off Max HP so focus on that.
3rd substat should be Thermal DMG (8.5%).
Tess – The Magician
When using her, use her ultimate ability, which will give you some U-Energy for free, and give you more everytime you shoot a target and Tess hits them too, do keep in mind all U-Energy goes away after her ultimate duration ends. Her support skill can Paralyze, Slow, Stun, Freeze or Burn an enemy depending on your operatives dmg type. And her Standard skill allows Tess to throw cards that have different effects depending on the card.
- Neuronics priority: 6-5, 3-4 and 1-2
- Manifestation level: M1 (High priority for faster U-Energy recharge). M3 is also good, M5 might be a downgrade in some cases (eg. Can cause a burning target to prematurely stop burning, decreasing Hush’s dps).
It’s recommended to get Eccentric Joker, as it gives you 24 more U-Energy in total (40 at T2), and gives you a dmg boost using her ult.
For 4* weapons, for more U-energy use Wasp, for an ATK buff, use Deep Sea’s Call.
- Hjartagard (Tess’s event logistics set, gives you a good buff when using support skill)
1st and 2nd substats should be Alignment Index (106) and U-Energy Recovery (14.1%). AI is the most important, you can also use ATK and Skill Haste substats.
3rd substat should be Electrical DMG (8.5%).
Vidya – Agave
Her standard skill is her main source of damage, very similar to Absconditus, just hold your skill button and watch enemies get destroyed, the longer it’s held, the more dmg it’ll do till you reach the max, you can use as long as you have enough S-Energy. Her ult does a big burst damage to enemies in front of her. And her support skill knocks up enemies.
- Neuronics priority: 2-1, 6-5 and 3-4
- Manifestation level: M2 (Medium priority, boosts her skill dmg).
T1 Snapshot Ace is about 30% better than T5 4* Pure Verdure
If you want to use her only as a part breaker, Pure Verdure is enough
- Hjartagard (Tess’s event logistics set, gives you a good buff when using support skill)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Alignment Index (106). S-Energy recovery is NOT required, as she already gets lots of it when shooting.
3rd substat should be Electrical DMG (8.5%).
Yao – Winter Solstice
Her standard skill gives her a special bullet that deals extra dmg and burns enemies, her support skill knocks up enemies, and her Ultimate skill is where she shines, shots now need to charge before firing, dishing out tons of damage to the enemies you hit. If you get her M1, you can use her standard skill to get more bullets while using her ultimate.
- Neuronics priority: 1-2, 6-5 and 3-4
- Manifestation level: M1 (High priority, boosts ult dmg and duration) you can bring her to M2 if you want.
I’d recommend using her once you get Space Cowboy, other options just don’t compare.
- Amano-Iwato (Boost your ballistic dmg and do crazy numbers with your ult skill)
1st and 2nd substats should be ATK (10%) and Crit DMG (10.6%). .
3rd substat should be Thermal DMG (8.5%).
4* Characters
Acacia – [Redacted]
Chenxing – The Observer
Cherno – Those Two
Enya – Big Sis
Fenny – Lionheart
Fritia – Little Sunshine
Haru – The Ace
Lyfe – Wednesday
Marian – Queen of Pain
Mauxir – Meow
Nita – Hands
Siris – The Goldfish
Yao – Quiet Quitter
Ending and Special Thanks
Finally I wanna give my special thanks to the Snowbreak discord server members[discord.com], there’s where i got most of the info I recopilled in this guide, as well as the data to compare the performance of certain weapons and logistics sets. I’d join if you’re interested in asking any questions regarding Snowbreak, or if you just want to talk, they’re really chill people (although they are kinda crazy sometimes).
Thanks again to Flux Kairos for his amazing guide[coda.io], there you can find most of the info that’s in this guide, and more! So check it out if you want more info that you maybe didn’t find here.
I also wanna thank the people supporting the Snowbreak Wiki[snowbreak.fandom.com], they helped me a lot in checking out weapons and operatives passives/abilities.
Finally, wanna give some shotout to some snowbreak content creators that specialize in doing deep dives into specifics operatives, their research also helped me a lot!
Check out Yggdrasil Fire Safety Department to see how to properly build Fritia – Hush, as well as explanation on how dmg calculations works in game.
Also check out ArchiveRisen to check analysis videos on certain operatives and guides in the game.
And finally, thank you for reading all the way through, hope you found this helpful. And good luck on your logistics rolls, i know you’ll need them!
Changelog
And that wraps up our share on SNOWBREAK: Builds for each Snowbreak character (WIP). If you have any additional insights or tips to contribute, don’t hesitate to drop a comment below. For a more in-depth read, you can refer to the original article here by aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawunao, who deserves all the credit. Happy gaming!