VS.
Edit: Note that this thread was made with the base game in mind. Statistics within the expansion are subject to change.
First off, thanks to the
Type Coverage Calculator that Greenmittenz developed (which I've been using extensively), I've been able to find out which of each Puppet's available move pool has the best Type coverage.
Anyways, I've been considering looking into getting Touhou Puppet Dance Performance myself, and I've thought about what kind of team I'd want to build, and the Puppets that I'd want to get, especially my starter. One of the Puppets that I've been strongly considering for my team is a speedy Puppet with widespread super-effective Type coverage and the Morale Booster ability, which would give me something that could potentially sweep through an opponent's team. Out of the 4 or so Puppets that I've been considering with the Morale Booster ability, only Power Ran and Speed Rin made the cut. Power Yumeko was cut because she was too slow for my needs, and lacked a diverse movepool with widespread Type coverage, while Speed Tojiko, despite her high base Focus Attack stat of 135 and high base speed stat of 130, was cut due to, again, a lack of a movepool with widespread Type coverage (though also because she can be captured pretty early in the game).
| Name: | | | Power Ran | | | Speed Rin |
| Type: | | | Fire/Illusion | | | Fire |
| Possible Abilities: | | | Morale Booster/Jamming | | | Morale Booster/Flexible |
| Cost: | | | 120 | | | 100 |
| Base Stat Total: | | | 560 | | | 510 |
| HP: | | | 75 | | | 70 |
| Focus Attack: | | | 125 | | | 105 |
| Focus Defense: | | | 80 | | | 70 |
| Spread Attack: | | | 95 | | | 65 |
| Spread Defense: | | | 70 | | | 70 |
| Speed: | | | 115 | | | 130 |
| Weaknesses: | | | Water, Earth, Illusion, and Sound | | | Water and Earth |
| Resistances: | | | Fire, Nature, Steel, Light, Dark, and Fighting | | | Fire, Nature, and Steel |
| Immunities: | | | Void | | | None |
From the looks of things, it seems as if Ran has an edge over Rin on all stats except for speed, and has more weaknesses, resistances, and immunities than Rin. However, Rin has a few additional advantages of her own:
Looking at Power Ran's moveset, we can see that she can learn Void, Fire, Nature, Earth, Wind, Dark, and Illusion Type focus skills. However, the only Wind Type focus skill that she can learn is Gensokyo Typhoon, which basically works like Sky Attack, the only Dark Type focus skill that she can learn is Changeling, which may not be as well-suited to a Moxie user, and the only Nature Type skill that she can learn is Tumble Plant, which has varying mileage depending on the opponent's cost. In addition, she can learn Confinement to Paralyze the opponent.
If Power Ran's moveset consisted of a Fire, Nature, Earth, and Illusion Type focus skill, then she could hit about 66% of all Puppets for super-effective damage, and the rest for normal damage. If we swapped out Nature for Dark, then she could hit 70% of all puppets for super-effective damage, and the rest for normal damage.
However, looking at Speed Rin's moveset, we can see that she can learn Void, Fire, Steel, Wind, Dark, Nether, and Illusion Type focus skills, with her only Dark Type move also being Changeling. (It should also be noted that her only Steel Type move happens to be Killing Bite, which despite its low power of 70, always crits.) In addition, she can also learn Shadow Power to boost her focus attack and focus defense by 1 stage each.
If Speed Rin's moveset consisted of a Fire, Steel, Wind, and Illusion Type focus skill, then she could hit about 77.3% of all Puppets for super-effective damage, and the rest for normal damage! If we swapped out Wind for Dark, then she could hit about 80.8% of all puppets for super-effective damage, and the rest for normal damage! If we swapped out Illusion for Dark instead, then she could hit about 81.6% of all puppets for super-effective damage, and the rest for normal damage!
Ultimately, when it comes down to whether I'd want to choose Ran or Rin as my starter, I've come to the conclusion that Rin may be the more attractive starter choice. While Power Ran has more firepower and is slightly bulkier, Speed Rin is faster and has better Type Coverage, which is especially helpful against bosses with high-leveled Puppets. In fact, if I was to pit Power Ran and Speed Rin against eachother, I believe that Rin would more likely come out on top due to her higher base speed, fairly high base Focus Attack, and ability to hit Ran with a super-effective Illusion Type attack (although Ran can also hit Rin with a super-effective Earth Type attack). Moreover, as a Cost 100 Puppet, Rin levels up faster than Ran, who is a Cost 120 Puppet. Besides, Rin cannot be captured until about halfway through the game, a little later than Ran.
