Understand Ready Steel
Useful when…
- Give the squad a higher starting combo count for a mission where opening with combo is useful.
- Choose it over a different aura when initial melee combo matters more than that aura’s listed effect.
What does the aura provide?
Ready Steel grants the squad +4 Initial Combo at rank 0, +16 at rank 3, and +24 at rank 5. The effect applies at mission start. The description does not say it extends combo duration or changes how combo accumulates after the mission begins.
When is it useful?
Consider Ready Steel when beginning with melee combo is important to your loadout. Swift Momentum supports heavy attacks with increased wind-up speed and adds melee combo duration; Growing Power instead grants personal Ability Strength after a weapon status effect. These provide different effects and do not replace initial combo on the same terms.
Ranking and aura fit
Ranking raises the starting combo bonus to +24 at rank 5. The listed examples cost 20 Endo and 966 Credits from rank 0 to 1, then 320 Endo and 15,456 Credits from rank 4 to 5. Ready Steel has Vazarin polarity and base drain −2; as an aura, it is installed in an aura slot, where its polarity and rank affect capacity differently from a standard mod. Invest in higher ranks if the larger opening bonus is valuable to the squad.
What it does not do
Ready Steel is an opening bonus: the supported effect is initial combo at mission start. It is not described as a combo-duration aura or as a source of heavy attack speed. Aerodynamic is another Vazarin aura, but its listed benefits concern reduced damage while airborne and longer aim glide and wall latch, not melee combo.
Limitations and tradeoffs
- The bonus is specifically initial combo, so the aura’s listed benefit is concentrated at mission start.
- Choosing it uses the aura slot that could provide another squad effect.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Treating initial combo as ongoing combo-duration support.
- Confusing the aura’s squad effect with a personal bonus.
- Ignoring the aura slot and choosing it without valuing its mission-start benefit.