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The ever-enthusiastic Fio Germi is part of the starting roster in Metal Slug Tactics, and you’ll quickly find that her support abilities and versatile loadouts make her one of the best teammates to bring along for any campaign. Whether she’s moving units around the field like her own personal chessboard or stacking buff after buff, Fio is a perfect pick for beginners and expert players alike.
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While Fio is perfectly capable of dealing plenty of damage on her own, she really excels when working together to perform Sync Attacks as often as possible.
Fio’s Core Ability – Enthusiasm
Fio’s gameplay is all about using her Special Actions to take control of the battlefield situation. To that end, all of her loadouts have access to her signature Passive, Enthusiasm.
Whenever Fio uses a Special Action, she gets a Bonus Move. Many of her Special Actions also grant Bonus Actions, so it’s possible to shuffle Fio’s position several times throughout her turn, activating abilities at each stop before finally taking a shot with her weapon.
Bonus Moves don’t stack, so if you use another Special Action before using one that you already gained from the previous Enthusiasm trigger, you’ll forfeit the previous bonus. In many cases, this won’t be a big deal, but it’s important for big complex turns that require a specific setup.
Fio’s Special Actions
Since Fio’s unique gadgets are so central to her combat style, you’ll want to know how they all work and which ones to prioritize for your build when they become available in the field.
|
Name |
Cost |
Range |
Effect(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Acupuncture Boost |
5 |
3 |
Grants target ally Protection, negating the next damage they would take. Fio gets a Bonus Action. |
|
Eagle |
6 |
1-5 |
Deals 5 damage to a single target within range. |
|
Expertise |
5 |
5 |
Grants an ally within range Expertise, causing them to use their Special Weapon on their next Sync Attack. Fio gets a Bonus Action. |
|
Flashback |
7 |
5 |
Grants an ally 2 Adrenaline and Flashback, which gives them a Bonus Action after their next action. |
|
Lock On |
4 |
1-5 |
Inflicts Fragile on an enemy within range, causing the next attack against them to deal 2 additional damage from all sources. |
|
Nudge |
3 |
5 |
Moves a unit within range (friend or foe) up to three spaces from their current position. The new position does not have to be within Nudge’s original range. |
|
Overheating |
5 |
1-5 |
Deals 4 damage to a single target within range. If the target dies from this attack or a resulting Sync, Fio gets a Bonus Action. |
|
Teleportation |
3 |
6 |
Choose two units (friend or foe), both within range, and swap their positions. |
The costs, ranges, and effects of Fio’s powers will improve as they level up.
Fio Classic Loadout
Fio’s standard kit includes a solid, no-nonsense Handgun and Machine Gun. It relies on using Nudge, its starting ability, in tandem with the Bonus Move granted from Enthusiasm to set up Sync Attacks and increase the damage that your entire team deals over the course of a turn. Equipping even a single Mod to either weapon can make Fio a force to be reckoned with in her own right, as well.
Nudge has a low Adrenaline cost, so it’s a good idea to unlock a new Special Action for Fio as soon as possible, ideally one like Adrenaline Boost or Overheating that grants her a Bonus Action. That way, she can make use of the extra Adrenaline that she builds up just by running around the map.
Recommended Passives
- Multitasking lets your first Nudge each turn grant a Bonus Action, so you don’t have to sacrifice an attack anymore.
- Field Dressing, Extra Motivation, and Helping Hand grant healing, Adrenaline, and a Bonus Move, respectively, when Fio targets an ally with Nudge.
- Haste Tag lets Fio mark enemies after Nudging them, so that the next ally that attacks that foe gets a Bonus Move.
Meticulous Loadout
Once you’ve completed a run with Fio, you’ll be able to access her excellent Meticulous loadout. It can be used both offensively and defensively, and is sure to be a staple in your lineup. This build’s custom handgun and machine gun – named Scrutiny and Precious – each get an extra shot if Fio has any status effect when she fires.
As it happens, Meticulous starts with Acupuncture Boost, which allows Fio to give herself the Protection status, then take a Bonus Action to fire her weapons with extra shots. How convenient!
Protection sticks around for an extra turn if it isn’t needed to block damage, so if Fio gets to keep it, you can give Protection to another squad member for extra damage mitigation. Alternately, if Fio has a lot of Adrenaline built up, you can keep chaining the Bonus Actions from Acupuncutre Boost to shield your entire team.
Recommended Passives
- Feedback provides allies with a damage boost when the Protection granted by Acupuncture Boost is removed.
- Field Dressing, Extra Motivation, and Helping Hand provide extra benefits when Fio applies Acupuncture boost to an ally.
- Regeneration lets Fio heal every time she uses a Special Action, making her very hard to kill in this loadout.
- Team Player and Killing Spree let Fio get extra Adrenaline and damage, respectively, for participating in Sync Attacks – many of which she’ll be initiating with her souped-up guns.
A damage mod goes a very long way on a Meticulous weapon, since its effect is multiplied thanks to the extra shots.
Double Hits Loadout
This loadout is a combination of the previous two. It trades in a machine gun for the Double-S grenade launcher, and its Automatic Handgun fires two shots for one damage each. Like Fio Classic, it relies on Nudge to get into position for Sync Attacks.
This loadout can struggle in the first few missions of a run. Prioritize missions that drop weapon upgrades and coins; once the Automatic Handgun is modded it’s a real monster, but until then the rest of the team will need to support Fio more than usual.
- Germi Style needs to be unlocked for 25 credits, but it really helps Double Hits keep pace with damage by triggering a Sync Attack after Fio drops an enemy off with Nudge.
- Feedback needs a Special Action that applies a status in order to work, but as long as you make sure to learn one of Fio’s many useful techniques (which you should do anyway), it will greatly increase the effectiveness of the Automatic Handgun.
- Killing Spree is essential for keeping Fio’s damage output high with this loadout.
- Multitasking lets Fio move a unit with Nudge, then fire as long as Nudge is her first Special Action for the turn.
Cover Buster Loadout
Fio isn’t usually a melee character, but this unorthodox build can be a lifesaver on higher difficulty settings thanks to its ability to negate the effects of enemy cover. She still has access to her usual toolbox, but if you’re used to fighting at range with Fio you’ll need to make some adjustments to really get the hang of Cover Buster.
Both of Fio’s weapons in this loadout – the heavy-duty Wrench and a wide-ranging Glitter Bomb – prevent any targets they hit from taking cover for a turn. High-HP foes who need to go down before they can deal too much damage should be priority targets when Fio takes on a sapper role like this.
Fio isn’t completely out of ranged options as a Cover Buster. She starts with Eagle, a no-nonsense Special Action that lets her ping a target from afar. It’s useful if you don’t need to apply Shred for a turn or put Fio on the front lines just yet.
Recommended Passives
- Feedback gives Fio a damage boost when a status she applied expires, and the Shred from her weapons is a status. Light up a bunch of foes with the Glitter Bomb, then wait for it to fall off.
- Acupuncture Boost helps keep Fio safe since she’ll be closer to the action than normal. It also combos well with Feedback.
- Regeneration is another defensive Passive that will help Fio keep her HP topped up. You’ll be impressed at how much of the fight she can spend at full HP with this ability. Consider giving one of her weapons the Precision Mod to benefit from that!
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