Operative Improvements

This page goes through the QoL weaknesses of every operative, and how I would improve them.
These improvements are designed to make the operative much easier and more fun to play, as well as potentially removing weaknesses that massively limit their damage.

Ideally all operatives would be fun, and all operatives would have their own niche in endgame content where they are viable, and thus every operative is useful for at least some endgame situation. This would mean that players could use every operative, and thus will want to invest in every operative, including via paid options like purchasable outfits.
This is much better than the situation we have no where many operatives simply do not work mechanically and do basically no dps, and hence there's no reason to ever use them, and thus no reason to ever spend money on them or their outfits.

Note that there are many ways of buffing the weaker operatives. These are just some ideas I had.
If your ideas differ that's fine.

The 4* operatives

The 4* operatives all fall into the general category of "only useful until you get a 5* operative".
There are some who stand out above the pack - with Chenxing, Fritia, and Marian being the best of the bunch due to their strengths as strong support operatives, but each of them are directly and massively outclassed by a 5* operative (Specifically Eatchel, Phantasia, and Celestial Swan, respectively).

Whilst 4*'s only being useful at the beginning of the game is fine, that they aren't useful for endgame does make it rather annoying that there are premium [paid] outfits available for them.
There's plenty of 4* premium options in the "Choice Products" store, but even beyond that I'd happily wager that the most purchased outfit was [and probably still is?] the Delusional Starlet outfit for Fenny - Lionheart. It's a great outfit, and Fenny is one of the best 4* dps operatives... but she's still only a 4*.

I've said before that I'd like to see an upgrade token for the 4* operatives that upgrades them into 5* operatives.
Aesthetically, a lot of the 4* operatives wear some kind of jacket or coat, and simply removing it would make them much more aesthetically pleasing.
In terms of gameplay, most of them are mostly fine, and basically just require some numbers being tweaked in order to make them decent as 5*'s, although obviously a proper upgrade would ideally require a rework to some extent.

Some basic ideas:

Acacia - [Redacted]
A shorter cooldown and lower cost for her dagger, and if there's no other valid target then allow it to circle around and hit the same target for better single-target damage.
Beyond that just higher numbers.
Chenxing - The Observer
Make her Thunder Soldiers invulnerable, or at least much more durable, and give them infinite duration and much higher range.
Giving them some bounce would allow them to take on groups quite well too.
Cherno - Those Two
Make her standard skill a toggle, and have it be permanent, but have the damage be increased with distance.
That would Cherno better the farther she stays to an enemy, which fits with its "defensive psyche" name and with Cherno themeatically.
Enya - Big Sis
Have her support skill just be a huge bomb - it'd be nice to have a viable support operative who uses their support skill to directly deal damage rather than buff/debuff/heal.
Add basic homing to her bombs, allowing her to use them at range, and have the damage be increased with each hit to the target, to allow her better single-target damage.
For her ult, just have it be a toggle - Enya uses U-Energy to fire a Snake Feather each time an operative shoots. That way she can work as a dps or a support.
Fenny - Lionheart
Massively reduce the cooldown on her standard skill to allow her much more consistent movement.
Instead of having her ult fire a special shot that deals 7 blasts, just have her ult upgrade her standard shots so they deal extra damage in the same way.
Perhaps with some kind of pierce - that way her regular shots will sort of work similarly to how her ult shot works now.
Fritia - Little Sunshine
Her support skill just needs a damage buff. That's all she needs to be a competent support. Give her Phantasia's numbers [and a lower cooldown] and she'd be great.
As a main dps, triple the area of her standard skill, reduce the cooldown to 10s, and give it a 10s burning along with it.
For her ult, just more damage and more duration.
Haru - The Ace
Allow her standard skill to be held so that Haru continually fires, at an increasing rate-of-fire, and allow it to also proc the damage from her ult.
This won't give her great dps, but you could give her good dps whilst allowing her to keep the extreme range she already has now.
Lyfe - Wednesday
Have her standard skill just be a toggle that summons/desummons/resummons all her drones.
That would make her very easy to play but similar to how she works now, except with 100% uptime should the drones not die (and an ok cooldown if they do).
Have her ult create a huge AoE, and her drones deal more damage whilst inside it, and their attacks chain to multiple enemies inside the AoE.
That'd give Lyfe some AoE, much like how her ult currently works, except it works via her drones, thus allowing Lyfe to actually fully invest into her drones.
(Because currently her drones absolutely suck.)
Marian - Queen of Pain
Have her support skills debuff work even if the target is shielded, and increase the strength of its chaos resistance debuff.
(You could make her debuff be universal, not just chaos, or a mix of both, so that she works as a universal support but ideally chaos, but that's not required.)
She ideally needs something else to make her work using over Celestial Swan, beyond just having a stronger resistance debuff.
I suggest that enemies affected by her support skill take regular damage from ballistic attacks, even if they're shielded. That would give her a really nice niche.
That way she'd be a universal debuffer like Vidya, weaker generally, but better for ballistic damage operatives against shields.
Have her standard skill just be a toggle - whilst active it increases her movement speed, stealth's Marian, and increases her damage.
It goes on cooldown when it dies or when Marian toggles it off, with a reduced cooldown if Marian toggles it off whilst it's still alive.
Mauxir - Meow
More damage with a longer duration and a shorter cooldown.
Have her support skill allow over 100% of the damage to be transferred, and can be hit by shots.
If you want to differentiate it from Shadow Ka's version, then you could have it drag out the Avatars for all enemies, and have each only be 100%.
That way Shadow Ka is better against single-targets, and Meow is better against groups.
Nita - Hands
Much shorter cooldown on her standard skill, allowing it to be spammable in the same way that Nita - Pulse's is, except with huge AoE and less single-target.
Her ult just needs more damage.
Siris - The Goldfish
Her standard skill should be a toggle, such that it just buffs her damage constantly, or at least an S-Energy drain and standard skill recharge system like what Bubu has.
Siris should only need to switch it off if it breaks and she needs to recharge it (i.e. go on cooldown).
The damage buff should apply to all her shots, not just after dodging. That makes her much more fun to play, and much stronger and more consistent.
Yao - Quiet Quitter
Make her drone attach to the player, so that it is a PBAoE around the player, not around the drone. That would make her much more usable with highly mobile operatives.
Beyond that, just higher numbers, but ideally some mechanic to make her unique to Eatchel (as AoE healing isn't really useful outside of Co-Op).
Having her drone also shoot enemies would work, as that would still encourage Yao to invest into Aux Unit buffs.
That way she'd do less healing than Eatchel, but would add more to your damage.

The 4* operatives

Many 5* operatives do enough dps, but just need some QoL tweaks, whereas some 5*'s work fine but need some dps buffs

Acacia - Kaguya
Kaguya is mostly fine, but it's her weapon that sucks.
As far as 5* weapons go Kaguya's is one of the weakest, and as one of the games only mostly-universal resistance debuffers that's bad.
Bubu - The Geomancer
Bubu is one of the few operatives where you have to manually aim every single shot, so giving her lock-on or homing projectiles would be a nice QoL change.
Also have Bubu's headlights grow dimmer as her S-Energy drains, rather than being a binary on/off, as that's not as useful as it could be.
Also Bubu seems to have a bug whereby holding down the trigger sometimes doesn't work and I have to manually unclick and click again to get her to actually fire.
Chenxing - Ethereal Cloud
Ethereal Cloud is mostly fine.
I'd like her standard skill to last a bit longer and affect more enemies so she's better against groups, as well as have a much faster lock-on.
Could do with slightly higher damage numbers too, but with faster lock-on and her standard skill lasting longer she may not need that much.
Chenxing - Jade Arc
Jade Arc doesn't need any buffs or QoL treatment.
She could do with being nerfed a little though...
Cherno - Enigma
Enigma could do with her dps numbers being a little higher, but beyond that her only flaw is that she's basically useless against mobile enemies.
Having her Voids slowly follow enemies would help her fix that flaw and be a huge QoL buff.
You could have her Voids move towards targets that have been inflicted with Enmity.
Since her shots inflict Enmity, this would allow you to just shoot an enemy to have her voids move towards them.
Clarina - Crimson Moon
I'd like Clarina to stay still if I use her standard skill/dodge and I'm not telling her to move.
I'd also like to be able to just hold down Clarina's standard skill to just keep moving and firing, without the requirement to stop and mash her standard skill to go again.
Alternatively have her standard skill be a toggle like Nerida.
Eatchel - The Cub
I dislike how her support skill becomes something you never want to cast once you get her 5*, but Eatchel's fine aside from that.
I'd like her support skill to not break her passive healing too
Having her support skill apply a buff/debuff instead of actively healing would be good, as her passive provides enough healing.
This would also help make her more competitive with the newer supports.
Enya - Exuvia
Exuvia's requirement to frequently deal both ballistic and skill damage means that even now she's still a niche pick, but accepting that caveat she is still fine.
Her ultimate is basically useless though, and I'd like to see it deal more damage, or let the operative shoot from within it.
Enya - Tempest
Tempest has the problem that she's useless against enemies not in melee range (i.e. Ymir), but that's not really fixable without massively altering how she works.
Her only other flaw is that Enya does lose clothing the higher her Wind Power, but due to her visual effects you never really see Enya.
Having a bubble of calm around Enya so we can actually see her would be nice - The Eye of the Storm doesn't usually have any clouds, after all.
Fenny - Coronet
30% RoF just isn't enough these days, but just having her have a higher number is fine.
Alternatively her her give another buff alongside her RoF buff - I'd like her to also give an Electrical aptitude as well.
Similarly, as a main dps she functions fine once you have her M1/M2 and can sustain her standard skill indefinitely.
Her ult just dealing some AoE damage does feel underwhelming. I'd like her ultimate to buff her shots instead - ideally with a strong Electrical Aptitude.
Fenny - Pureheart
Purehear'ts RMB attack doesn't generate any Passion Propulsion, which feels weird - her AoE attack doesn't charge her AoE ult, but her single-target attack does.
I'd like to see Pureheart's RMB attack generate some Passion Propulsion.
Perhaps her ult could require 30 Passion Propulsion instead of 3, with each Passion Sparkshot generating 10, and then each RMB generates say 2.
That way her RMB could charge her ult, which would make her feel more complete.
Also give Pureheart's Support Skill the option to crash and deal damage and then either swap out of stay in and enter Aerial Purity state.
As it stands her support skill is useless when not paired with a Sub-DPS, whereas if it didn't necessarily swap Pureheart in it would be more useful.
I'd also like a bit more range on Pureheart's standard skill - I tried using Pureheart against Ymir a while ago and it was awful as she just didn't have the range to attack.
Fenny - Starshine
Starshine is fine. Maybe a slightly stronger support buff would be useful, but mechanically she's ok.
Having to manually use her support skill is somewhat annoying for operatives with smaller magazines like Bubu though, so perhaps a toggle instead of clicking each mag?
If you toggle her support skill on, then if your operative doesn't have a special mag Fenny will automatically give them one.
This helps prevent wasted shots, makes her easier to use, and makes the main dps she's paired with more fun to play and more immersive.
Fritia - Hush
Hush spends 90% of her time in combat shooting stuff waiting for her ult to recharge, as her ult is where Hush's damage and fun lies.
As such, just have Hush gain +1 U-Energy per shot she lands, allowing her to cycle her ult much more often by just shooting enemies.
Cycling her ult more often would likely also make her dps fine as well, so that's probably the only change that needs to be made with her.
Fritia - Turbo
Turbo doesn't regain enough stamina to sustain her damage rotation unless she has her 5* weapon.
Ideally Turbo would gain enough stamina so that she works even without her 5* weapon.
Beyond that there's not really anything to suggest, as she works mechanically fine with her 5*.
I'd like to see her Supercharge allow her 4 Standard Skill shots instead of 3, as that would make her better at clearing groups.
Alternatively more damage on her ult so it's actually much better at clearing groups.
Also I'd like to see Fritia be able to just auto-fire her standard skill shots at the targeted enemy (perhaps by holding down her standard skill?).
That'd be a nice QoL feature., since against bosses manually click 3 times every time feels rather redundant.
Haru - Absconditus
Haru seriously lacks dps these days, and her melee-oriented nature makes her even weaker, but aside from higher damage numbers she's mechanically fine.
Haru - Raikou
Remove the "Thundercloud" mechanic entirely - instead increase the damage of her standard skill detonation.
With no active part of her standard skill, Haru could simply hold down her standard skill to keep moving (or have it be a toggle like Nerida).
Then the closed loops auto-detonate when created, much like they do now, but without so much button mashing.
This also means that Haru wouldn't have to stop moving to manually detonate her standard skill, which would buff her survivability.
Katya - Blue Bolt
Blue Bolt is fine. She lacks dps and mobility these days, but she's fine, and with a bit more dps she'd be fine.
Katya - Dawnwing
That Dawnwing using her Standard Skill doesn't always create Vanes absolutely sucks. It only affects me onvery rare occasions, but when it does it absolutely sucks.
Her Standard Skill should always create 1/3 vanes for the single/double dash, respectively, as it can make her unusably inconsistent otherwise.
Her outfits do also tend to cover her back with long hair or shawls far more than other operatives it seems, which sucks.
Dawnwing also has a really annoying bug whereby if you run, then use her standard skill, she won't continue to run - you have to release and then press run again.
Katya - Rhapsody
Rhapsody's Standard Skill feels pretty terrible to use - it doesn't actually increase her dps that much, but since it's what gives her extra ammo it feels necessary.
Necessary for her damage, but also extremely tedious to use due to its short duration.
I'd like Rhapsody to have gotten the Celestial Swan treatment, whereby her 5* weapon allows unlimited duration on her skill.
I like Rhapsody, but having to constantly spam her standard skill does take a lot of the fun out of her for more.
Lyfe - Infinite Sight
IS' ult is great against groups, but she is otherwise a single-target operative, meaning that against bosses you never use her ult.
I'd like her ult to be given something that makes me want to use it against single-targets, for example giving IS Kinetic Aptitude after it is used.
Alternatively give IS the Tempest treatment and have it deal more damage the fewer enemies there are.
Also I'd like IS to stay still if I dodge-shot with her and don't tell her to move, or at least not move as much as her regular dodge.
Lyfe - Wild Hunt
Wild Hunt is fine once she gets her M1.
I'd like her to be able to use her Standard Skill for a bit longer before running out of charge, as that makes her feel better against enemies with brief invuln phases.
Beyond that, just more damage is fine for her.
Marian - Riptide
Riptide is completely static when she enters.
Given how little time she spends on the field, I'd like to see her keep moving in the direction indicated when she enters, rather than remaining stationary.
Her ult is also extremely weak - more damage is required there.
Beyond that she's fine.
Marian - Swift
In Swift's Standard Skill description, remove "and clear the mark after hit" and replace it with "and refreshes the marks duration".
This completely fixes Swift - it allows her to mark an enemy weakspot and then just keep hipfiring at it indefinitely, which is intuitive and fun.
I personally consider Swift to be the least fun and least effective operative by a huge margin, but fixing her is extremely simple.
Not forcing her to spam her skill also means she can shoot more and invest into Crit Dmg Amplifier rather than Skill Haste, which will buff her damage.
Giving Swift an extra mechanic that gives her extra Crit Dmg Amplifier based on her S-Energy would likely be enough to make her a competent dps.
Mauxir - Shadow Ka
Make Shadow Ka's target be a weakspot.
Mia - Starchaser
Like Pureheart before her, Mia's Standard Skill not charging her ult feels weird, and I'd like her standard skill charge her ult a little.
Maybe have her standard skill add 1 charge to her ult, and an extra charge if her standard skill is fully charged.
Nerida - Styx Envoy
Nerida's problem is that she has extreme mobility, but using her ult+standard skill requires her to stand still for quite a while.
Allow Nerida to keep moving whilst using her ult and after holding her standard skill.
Beyond that Nerida's fine [provided you have Riptide].
Nita - Pulse
Pulse's problem is her absolute lack of mobility.
I'd like to see Nita be able to move whilst punching things - she can remain stationary for her Searing Smash, but for her first 5 punches moving would be nice.
Although given that she has to stay still for her ult, which she does a lot, moving during the Searing Smash would also be nice.
Siris - Freefin
Freefin's good, but her ult just swaps her, meaning that despite being best used as a support, her ult is basically dead weight. Stop designing operatives like that.
Beyond that, I'd like to see her Freetide decay at a slightly slower rate - 1s feels a bit harsh when using operatives like Pulse, whom Freefin is otherwise perfect for.
Siris - Ksana
Ksana is generally fine. Her dps could be a little higher these days, but she's generally fine.
Tess - Phantasia
I'd like Phantasia to get the Celestial Swan treatment, whereby her support skill lasts indefinitely if she has her 5* weapon.
I'd also like her Green and Red Apple buffs to just passively apply without me having to hold her standard skill, as that doesn't feel like it achieves anything.
Beyond that Phantasia is fine.
Tess - The Magician
Tess is great at what she does, it's just that a lot of the recent dps operatives have had ultimate's that are rather underwhelming and don't justify Tess.
(or just outright don't use U-Energy or scale off of it)
Vidya - Agave
Agave's standard skill feels great to use - the problem with Agave is that she can't sustain it indefinitely, and she has to shoot.
For general content this is usually not an issue, as Agave can clear a group without running out of S-Energy and then just regen to full between groups.
Shooting with Agave feels somewhat clunky though, as you have to use her standard skill again quickly so you can skip to Phase.4.
Simialrly, her skill having lock-on and homing and her gun not having it makes her gun feel worse.
I'd like to see Agave get the Celestial Swan treatment, whereby she can sustain her standard skill indefinitely if she has her 5* weapon.
Just have Agave's gun give her S-Energy when her skill hits an enemy, with more S-Energy recovered the higher the Phase.
Vidya - Celestial Swan
Celestial Swan is already so strong that she doesn't need buffing. If anything she needs a nerf to give the other girls a chance...
As such, I'll just use this space to request more extremely cultured outfits for Celestial Swan (and for Agave, and any other operative forms Vidya may get in the future).
Yao - Nightglow
I'd like Nightglow to not technically swap in when her ultimate is used, such that for example Turbo doesn't lose her Supercharge when Nightglow ults.
Beyond that Nightglow is fine. Would be nice to be able to see her in combat so I could justify her purchased outfits, but mechanically she's fine.
Yao - Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice just doesn't do enough damage for the amount of effort she requires these days.
Beyond just upping her damage numbers Winter Solstice is fine for what she is.