Understand A Secret Vow
Useful when…
- A Destruction damage dealer who benefits from a general damage bonus.
- A wearer who often attacks enemies at equal or higher HP percentages than their own.
What does it do?
At S1, it increases the wearer’s damage by 20%. It adds another 20% against an enemy when that enemy’s current HP percentage is equal to or higher than the wearer’s current HP percentage. The condition compares HP percentages, not raw HP amounts, and is checked against the enemy being hit. Both values increase with superimposition, reaching 40% each at S5.
When is the conditional bonus useful?
The first bonus is unconditional, so the Light Cone still contributes when the HP comparison fails. The extra bonus is more dependable when the wearer is relatively injured or the target is relatively healthy; it can switch off as either HP percentage changes. A Secret Vow is therefore less consistent against targets whose percentage HP is below the wearer’s.
How should it be improved?
Promotion raises the Light Cone’s level through stage 6. Superimposition raises both damage bonuses, but each step consumes one S1 sacrifice copy of A Secret Vow. Promote it when the wearer is a continuing investment; pursue higher superimposition when duplicate copies are available and you value the larger conditional and unconditional bonuses over keeping those copies separate.
How does it compare with other Destruction options?
A Trail of Bygone Blood instead provides CRIT Rate and boosts Skill and Ultimate damage, so its listed bonuses do not depend on the wearer’s HP relative to the target’s. Brighter Than the Sun grants CRIT Rate and builds ATK and Energy Regeneration Rate stacks through Basic Attacks. A Thankless Coronation emphasizes CRIT DMG and Ultimate-triggered effects, including an Energy condition. These are different effect packages; the comparison alone does not establish which is better for a particular wearer.
Limitations and tradeoffs
- The second damage bonus depends on current HP percentages and can change during combat.
- Superimposition consumes duplicate copies.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Treating the extra damage as unconditional.
- Comparing current HP amounts instead of current HP percentages.
- Assuming the conditional effect remains active throughout a fight.