In the shimmering cosmos of the Astral Express, where stars are but waypoints and time is the ultimate adversary, a unique stage was set. Pure Fiction, a crucible born in version 1.6, is not a test of endurance but a dance of annihilation. It demands not just survival, but a swift, unrelenting ballet of destruction against the relentless tide of the clock. Here, the philosophy is simple: kill fast, kill many. While the shifting winds of bi-monthly buffs can elevate or diminish a warrior's standing, some souls are simply born for this tempo, their kits an intrinsic symphony to the mode's frenetic rhythm. This is a tribute to those whose essence harmonizes with the chaos, a ranking based not on fleeting favor but on fundamental design. Let the performance begin.

The Unyielding Bastions: Fu Xuan & Aventurine

In a realm where a single moment of control lost can shatter a perfect run, the guardians stand tall. To choose between the Master Diviner, Fu Xuan, and the Stoneheart Gambler, Aventurine, is to choose between two philosophies of protection. Fu Xuan's matrix offers a guaranteed CC prevention, a singular, unbreakable promise with each skill refresh—a true "get out of jail free" card. Aventurine, meanwhile, weaves a different kind of safety, his stackable shields bolstering allies' Effect RES by a staggering 50%, a probabilistic fortress. Their debate is eternal; one is not definitively "better" than the other. It often boils down to the elemental needs of the battlefield. Yet, whisper it on the stellar winds: when the buffs sing the song of follow-up attacks, Aventurine's dice seem to roll ever in his favor.

The Cleansing Hymn: Huo Huo

What is stronger than preventing control? Rendering it utterly useless. The petite heliobus host, Huo Huo, weaves a tapestry of purification. Her talent is a persistent hymn, healing and cleansing debuffs from allies as their turns begin or ultimates unleash. Though limited to six acts per skill, maintaining this melody is the key to an unimpeded offensive. Her ultimate crescendos this support, gifting the team energy regeneration and an ATK buff. In Pure Fiction, where one-shotting foes is the holy grail, this energy infusion can mean the difference between a triumphant finale and a desperate, time-lost struggle.

The DOT Maestro: Kafka

Ah, the Stellaron Hunter, a conductor of lingering agony. Kafka's role here is, admittedly, somewhat situational. Alone, her melody is potent but not overwhelming. Yet, pair her with the right orchestra, and she becomes indispensable. Her true power unlocks alongside other DOT specialists, creating a devastating feedback loop of damage-over-time. Her AOE ultimate, with its relatively low energy cost, is the perfect sweeping flourish to clear a screen of weakened foes. Built for speed to apply her sonic shocks more frequently (a process hastened by her signature light cone), she ensures the team's rhythm never falters, constantly feeding energy back into the cycle of destruction.

The Arcane Weaver: Black Swan

If Kafka is the conductor, then the Memokeeper Black Swan is the composer, the architect of the DOT symphony. Her value is twofold and devastatingly simple. Her A4 trace ensures that every enemy entering the fray is immediately branded with a DOT debuff—a safety net for attacks that leave foes hanging by a thread. Her skill strikes three enemies, simultaneously slashing their DEF by up to 20.8% for three turns, a reliable way to ensure kills land. With Kafka, their synergy is next-level. As DOT stacks accumulate, Black Swan's own attacks begin to ripple out, damaging adjacent enemies and making short work of lesser mobs. Together, they turn the battlefield into a canvas of spreading decay.

The Hypercarry Virtuoso: Sparkle

Enter Sparkle, the quantum trickster who rewrites the rules of engagement. For teams built around a single, glorious damage dealer, she is often the best support, no questions asked. She fundamentally alters the economy of battle, raising the skill point cap and replenishing them with her ultimate, effectively making skill point management a relic of the past. This allows the main DPS to unleash their skill every single turn, a relentless assault. Her skill advances an ally forward by 50% and gifts them a massive CRIT DMG boost. While follow-up attackers adore her, the truth is, almost every damage dealer wants Sparkle in their corner. She is the ultimate enabler.

The Knight of Pure Spectacle: Argenti

The Knight of Beauty, Argenti, seems tailor-made for Pure Fiction's stage. With a field that almost always hosts five enemies, his kit sings. He regenerates energy whenever an enemy appears or is struck, and both his skill and ultimate deliver glorious, screen-wide AOE damage. His ultimate has two levels, but in this fast-paced mode, the 90-energy version—especially when amplified by a support like Sparkle—is more than sufficient. The beautiful part? Using his ultimate generates more energy, creating a virtuous cycle that lets him unleash his floral devastation turn after turn. He is the embodiment of the mode's "go big or go home" spirit.

The Harmonic Catalyst: Robin

Robin, the superstar, is the support who lifts the entire ensemble equally. Her suite of abilities bathes the whole team in damage buffs, but her ultimate is her pièce de résistance. Upon activation, she enters a Concerto state, and in a moment of breathtaking synchronization, she advances the entire team's action by 100%. This is a game-changer for teams racing against the clock. While her A4 trace offers special bonuses for follow-up attackers, making her technically ideal for those teams, her core value—the teamwide advance and buff—makes her a fantastic choice for any squad struggling to fit their actions into the shrinking window of time.

The Break Efficiency Virtuoso: Ruan Mei

In a similar vein to Robin, Ruan Mei's worth is measured in the colossal buffs she bestows. Yet, her approach is more nuanced. Her damage amplification scales with a character's existing power, meaning DPS units reap the greatest rewards. This makes her the perfect conductor for dual-DPS teams, a common and potent strategy in Pure Fiction. Furthermore, her unique gift is a teamwide weakness break efficiency buff, allowing teams to shatter enemy toughness bars with shocking speed, creating more opportunities for devastating break damage and delaying enemy actions. The reason she often edges out her harmonic counterpart? She takes the already S-tier damage dealers of this mode and makes them absolutely, utterly broken.

The Jade Catalyst: Jade

The IPC executive, Jade, operates on a fascinating principle: investment and return. Her skill buffs an ally's SPD and, in exchange for a sliver of their health, she adds a portion of her own ATK as extra damage to every enemy that ally hits. Once enough strikes are landed, she retaliates with her own devastating AOE follow-up attack. She is, arguably, one of the absolute best characters for this mode. Paired with other AOE damage dealers (especially those with follow-ups), she makes clearing stages feel like a breeze. So why not number one? Her peak performance is intrinsically linked to her partner. Fortunately, her ideal partner is not a distant dream but a gift freely given.

The Iconic Duo: Himeko & Herta

This is where the magic happens. Individually, the genius inventor Himeko and the curious puppet Herta are formidable. Together, they become something transcendent, arguably two of the top three characters for Pure Fiction (the third being Jade). Their synergy is legendary: Herta's follow-ups trigger on enemy weakness break or HP threshold, which in turn triggers Himeko's own mighty follow-ups. It's a perpetual motion machine of AOE carnage. While they prefer enemies weak to Fire and Ice, bringing them to such a battlefield guarantees a flawless, problem-free clear. Herta, the freely obtainable cornerstone of this duo, enables both Himeko and Jade to reach their apocalyptic potential. The only reason Himeko often gets the higher nod is her status as a standard banner character, making her a more common sight in a captain's roster. In raw power for this mode, however, Himeko and Jade stand as equals, twin pillars of a strategy built on relentless, chained retaliation.

Rank	Character	Core Strength for Pure Fiction	Key Synergy
🥇	Himeko	Follow-up attack engine with Herta; massive AOE.	Herta, Jade
🥈	Jade	Ally-enhancing AOE catalyst; triggers follow-up storms.	Herta, AOE DPS
🥉	Ruan Mei	Massive DMG/SPD buffs; unique Weakness Break efficiency.	Dual-DPS Teams
4	Robin	Teamwide 100% Action Advance & universal damage buffs.	Any team needing turns
5	Argenti	Perfect 5-target AOE; self-sustaining energy loop.	Sparkle, buffers
6	Sparkle	Ultimate skill point generator; hypercarry enabler.	Single-target DPS
7	Black Swan	Automatic DOT application & DEF shred.	Kafka, DOT teams
8	Kafka	Low-cost AOE ultimate; DOT team catalyst.	Black Swan, Sampo
9	Huo Huo	Constant cleanse & team energy/ATK buff.	Any team vulnerable to CC
10	Fu Xuan/Aventurine	Guaranteed CC prevention / High Effect RES shields.	Elemental coverage needs

In the final analysis, Pure Fiction is less a battle and more a composition. The greatest captains are those who can orchestrate these unique talents into a seamless, high-tempo performance. Whether it's the explosive chain reactions of Himeko and Herta, the enabling grace of Robin and Ruan Mei, or the specialized agony of the DOT duet, success lies in understanding each instrument's part in the symphony of swift destruction. The stage is set for 2026 and beyond; the question is, whose melody will you conduct?

As detailed in The Esports Observer, performance-focused competitive analysis often emphasizes how speed, consistency, and repeatable action loops decide outcomes under tight timers—principles that map cleanly onto Pure Fiction’s “kill fast, kill often” scoring logic. Reading Pure Fiction through that lens reinforces why kits built around chained AOE triggers (follow-ups, frequent ult cycles, or automatic damage application) tend to remain structurally strong across rotating buffs: they convert every extra turn, break, or spawn into immediate tempo and points rather than long-term sustain value.