Cultist Monoco
Overview
Monoco isn’t the hardest hitter, the tankiest wall, or the purest support—and that’s exactly why he’s so good. What he brings is unmatched flexibility. With smart mask routing and a tight kit, he can pivot between damage, break control, shielding, and AP economy on demand. This hybrid version is built to do all three at once: open with AoE and self-setup, break and delete priority targets, and keep your party alive with reliable shields. It slides cleanly into almost any team (Lun/Verso especially), and it’s far more engaging than turning him into a passive AP battery.
His core mechanic is the Mask Wheel—Agile, Caster, Heavy, Balanced, and Almighty. Abilities get stronger when cast on their matching mask and each cast rotates the wheel a set number of slots. Your goal is simple: land on Almighty frequently. Almighty supercharges everything and, with the right weapon, gives additional bonuses the moment you touch it. The trick is running a spread of skills with different spin values so you can “route” the wheel into Almighty consistently without wasting turns.
Monoco comes online hard in Act 2. He won’t out-nuke Duelist Maelle or out-support Ciel late, but he remains relevant because he does so many things well at once: mark, break, shield, and finish.
Act 1 & 2
Open by establishing your low-HP loop; it fuels both damage and survivability.
Cultist Blood is the backbone. It shaves your HP (triggering low-health pictos), deals solid AoE, and—most importantly—procs your shield and crit engines. With the right pictos equipped, Cultist Blood effectively grants durability, not removes it, because it layers immediate shielding while unlocking damage/crit bonuses. From there, Cultist Slashes becomes your cheap single-target finisher; it scales harder the lower your HP is, pairing perfectly with Blood.
Monoco’s support pillar is Cruel(er) Barrier. Defense stats don’t matter much in Expedition 33’s late game—everything hits like a truck—so shields are king. Cruel Barrier produces instant, meaningful protection and, on Heavy or Almighty, refunds AP. That interaction alone keeps it in the bar forever; it’s your “I will not die this round” button and the difference between a clean route and a reset.
Routing into Almighty consistently is the next step. Benuis Mortar (Caster) does great damage on its mask, but its real value is mask control. When used on a Marked target, it snaps you straight to Almighty. That’s why free-aim marks (yours or a teammate’s) matter: mark first, Mortar second, Almighty unlocked. For cheap break and single-target pressure, Moiso Vandage (Balanced) is your reliable breaker—low cost, steady break build, and it stays useful well into Act 3. To round out Act 2, Claire en Feeble offers a helpful AoE “powerless” window before enemy scaling kicks into overdrive.
Flow note: Because Monoco starts fights on a random mask, you won’t follow one fixed opener. Generally, hit Cultist Blood first to prime shields/crit/AP pictos, then route your current mask toward Almighty using the skill whose spin/value fits the board state. Almighty reached? Cash in with damage, break, or barrier, then set up your next Almighty hop.
Leveling
|
Level |
Spell/Passive |
|---|---|
|
1 |
Counterblow |
|
2 |
Downfall |
|
3 |
Focus Retaliation |
|
4 |
Shield Volley |
|
5 |
Focus Retaliation |
|
6 |
Titan Stomp |
|
7 |
Bulwark |
|
8 |
Return to Sender |
|
9 | |
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10 | |
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11 | |
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12 | |
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13 | |
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14 | |
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15 | |
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16 | |
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17 |
Act 1 & 2 Pictos
|
Picto |
Details |
|---|---|
|
At Death’s Door |
Provides +15% bonus damage and additional status effects |
|
2 |
More then doubles your damage at the cost of additional mana |
|
3 |
Additional fire damage and mana resource |
|
4 |
Provides +30% damage from having all blast abilities and refunds 25% of mana cost on impact |
|
5 | |
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6 | |
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7 | |
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8 | |
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9 | |
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10 | |
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11 | |
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13 | |
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14 | |
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23 | |
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24 | |
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25 | |
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26 |
Weapons Overview
Early, you have two practical paths:
- Sidaro: Easier to obtain (duel Golgra as Monoco—there’s an earlier, much kinder version). Solid scaling and AP quality-of-life at Lv20.
- Bolaro: Stronger overall if you can grab it. Smoother AP generation and a better mask flow feel—your wheel nudges line up more cleanly and the kit plays “lighter,” which matters on hybrid.
Late game, there’s a standout:
Joyaro: The hybrid king. You start every battle in Almighty, which instantly smooths rotations and turns your first action into pressure instead of setup. It also buffs damage each turn you avoid getting hit (great with shield stacking) and the final upgrade boosts break by 50%—perfect synergy with Moiso Vandage and Duelist Storm. If you’re playing hybrid Monoco, Joyaro is the chase.
Final Pictos
|
Picto |
Details |
|---|---|
|
At Death’s Door |
Provides +15% bonus damage and additional status effects |
|
2 |
More then doubles your damage at the cost of additional mana |
|
3 |
Additional fire damage and mana resource |
|
4 |
Provides +30% damage from having all blast abilities and refunds 25% of mana cost on impact |
|
5 | |
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6 | |
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7 | |
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8 | |
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9 | |
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10 | |
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11 | |
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12 | |
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21 | |
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22 | |
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23 | |
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24 | |
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25 | |
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26 |
Pictos Overview
Your pictos revolve around two pillars:
- Low-HP Engine: Leverage Cultist Blood to trigger shields, crit chance, power, and rush. The more that stack together, the safer—and deadlier—you become at “dangerous” HP.
- Marks & AP via Free-Aims: Free-aim shots that Mark and/or burn targets feed Benuis Mortar’s Almighty hop and keep AP flowing between abilities.
Round those pillars out with general damage/crit pictos and you’ve got a stable loop. Aim for ~50% crit from sources + Critical Moment so you effectively live near 100% crit once your opener fires. As always, Cheater and Painted Power are premium end-game upgrades for any DPS-leaning route (grab Cheater after Esie—don’t grind it too early).
How to Play
|
Vitality |
Might |
Luck |
Defense |
Agility |
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
Act 3 is where hybrid Monoco feels elegant rather than busy. You’ll drop Claire en Feeble for Duelist Storm, one of the best skills in his entire kit. It’s a monster single-target breaker and finisher that really shines on Almighty, and Joyaro makes that a given.
A clean late-game line looks like this:
- If you start on Almighty (Joyaro):
Open Duelist Storm to crush break and chunk HP → the spin lands you on Caster → apply a Mark (free-aim or teammate) → fire Benuis Mortar to snap back to Almighty → repeat into Storm or pivot to Moiso Vandage if you need a cheaper break route. In any window where your party’s exposed, tuck in Cruel Barrier; on Heavy/Almighty it refunds AP, so you don’t lose tempo to defend. - AoE/Setup alternative:
Open Cultist Blood (Almighty bonus boosts the AoE) to proc shields/crit/rush → free-aim to Mark, or let a partner do it → Benuis Mortar to Almighty → Moiso Vandage for controlled break or Cultist Slashes to pick off a straggler → Barrier whenever a boss turn threatens your line.
A few practical notes to tighten execution:
Gradient attacks are unusually good on Monoco. Gauge 1 deletes stunned targets (which you set up constantly), Gauge 2 is a panic shield nuke, and Gauge 3 hard-stuns a boss regardless of current break—massive tempo swing against dangerous scripts.
Respect free-aim value. With your AP sustain, weaving in marks/burns is essentially “free damage + routing.”
Barrier is tempo-positive on the right mask; don’t treat it as a pure turn tax.
Build Snapshot
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