NIKKE Makoto Niijima Build Guide: Best Skills, Harmony Cubes & Teams

Queen, better known as Makoto Niijima, joins GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE as a limited SSR Burst III Attacker from the Persona collaboration. She uses the Iron Verdict Shotgun, belongs to the Fire Code, and focuses on Elemental Advantage damage, Distributed Damage, and the Persona mechanics 1 More, Follow Up, and Baton Pass. Her limited recruitment runs from August 13 until September 10, 2026, 04:59 UTC+9, after which she will not enter the normal recruitment pool.

Makoto is primarily a Fire boss DPS rather than a general Campaign carry. She becomes much stronger against Wind Code enemies and can either join a dedicated Fire Shotgun team or pair with Yukiko Amagi for a Persona-focused Raid composition.

Makoto Niijima Build Overview

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Makoto Skill 1 – Persona: Johanna

Skill 1 gives Makoto several permanent and recurring self-buffs. At Skill Level 10, Persona: Johanna grants 13.59% Elemental Advantage Attack Damage and 14.78% DEF continuously.

She also gains 50.28% ATK for 15 seconds at the start of battle and whenever Full Burst ends. With a normal cooldown-reduction setup, Full Burst rotations can happen frequently enough for this ATK buff to maintain very high uptime.

The more interesting part is tied to Persona mechanics. Whenever 1 More or Follow Up activates, Makoto deals 548.99% of final ATK as Distributed Damage to all enemies.

This makes S1 an important source of both self-scaling and additional boss damage, but it still ranks below Skill 2 in investment priority.

Recommended Level: 7–10

Makoto Skill 2 – Fist of Justice!

Skill 2 is Makoto's highest-priority skill and should be the first one taken to Level 10.

At maximum level, she receives 30% Attack Damage continuously. When Makoto uses her Burst, she gains an additional 25.56% Elemental Advantage Attack Damage and 17.95% DEF until Full Burst ends. Entering Burst Stage III also grants 90.01% Distributed Damage for 10 seconds.

The most important effect, however, is Baton Pass.

When 1 More activates, other standard Burst III allies who are in the Persona state receive an ATK increase equal to 35.2% of Makoto's ATK, and the effect can stack up to three times.

This is the main reason Makoto works so well with Yukiko Amagi. Yukiko can buff Makoto in return, creating a two-way ATK scaling loop during long Raid battles. Current testing shows that when Yukiko is present, Makoto's S2 becomes significantly more valuable than her other skills.

Recommended Level: 10

Burst Skill – Mafreidyne

Makoto's Burst has a 40-second cooldown and deals 1421.69% of final ATK as Distributed Damage to all enemies.

If a Wind Code enemy is present, it also activates 1 More, granting Makoto another 30.27% ATK for 10 seconds.

The important thing to understand is that Distributed Damage is not a conventional screen wipe. The total damage is divided among available targets, so Makoto performs much better against single bosses or small numbers of enemies than against large Campaign waves.

That is why Burst is valuable for bossing but remains her lowest skill-up priority.

Recommended Level: 7–10

Best Skill Priority

The most efficient PvE progression is:

4/7/4 → 7/10/7 → 10/10/7 → 10/10/10

For most players, 7/10/7 is the best value stopping point. Competitive Fire Solo Raid players can eventually push 10/10/10.

Best Harmony Cubes for Makoto

Makoto does not have one universal best Harmony Cube. Her ideal choice depends heavily on reload support and boss mechanics.

Resilience Cube

Resilience is a strong choice when Makoto is already receiving Reload Speed buffs. It reduces reload downtime and helps her maintain consistent Shotgun uptime.

Diffusion Cube

Diffusion becomes competitive when it is invested to a similar or higher level than Resilience, particularly inside high-Reload-Speed teams.

Bastion Cube

Bastion is the standard choice for a dedicated Shotgun team. Ammo restoration helps Makoto spend more time shooting and less time reloading, making it especially useful when she is functioning as a primary SG DPS.

Destruction Cube

Destruction is situationally excellent against bosses whose Parts remain available for long periods. If your Raid target allows consistent Part damage, it can outperform more general Cube choices.

Best Overload Gear Stats

Makoto already gives herself large amounts of ATK, so her Overload setup should not simply stack ATK on every slot.

Her strongest general priority is:

Elemental Damage > ATK / Crit Rate / Crit Damage > Max Ammo

The current endgame recommendation aims for 4× Elemental Damage, with ATK, Crit Rate, and Crit Damage filling the remaining useful rolls.

Max Ammo depends heavily on the team. In a dedicated SG setup, Makoto may need substantial Ammo investment to maximize shooting uptime. Outside that team, however, Max Ammo is generally less valuable than ATK or Crit stats.

Best Team 1 – Makoto + Yukiko Persona Team

For players who want to keep Makoto and Yukiko together, one of the strongest current Fire Raid setups is:

This composition fits the Persona pair extremely well. Makoto and Yukiko directly buff each other's ATK, while Yukiko acts as the primary carry and Makoto provides secondary damage plus Baton Pass support. Crown adds powerful teamwide buffs, and Yukiko's recurring healing can keep Crown's Skill 2 active consistently.

Mast: Romantic Maid is especially valuable because Yukiko is a Machine Gun user and benefits heavily from Reload Speed. Recent testing of Fire teams found the Crown + Mast setup stronger than Crown + Privaty and the Mast + Anchor alternative under comparable conditions.

This exact core is also supported by the August 2026 Luxurious Spider Solo Raid meta: Top 50 players frequently paired Makoto + Yukiko with Little Mermaid, Crown, and Mast: Romantic Maid.

For the Burst rotation, Makoto generally Bursts first in the Crown version so Yukiko can begin benefiting from Makoto's Baton Pass scaling. Exact Burst order can still change depending on investment and boss mechanics.

Alternative: If Little Mermaid is unavailable, Anis: Sparkling Summer can fill the Burst I/CDR position in this type of setup.

Alternative Persona Reload Team

Another confirmed option is:

Little Mermaid / Anis: Sparkling Summer + Mast: Romantic Maid + Anchor: Innocent Maid + Makoto + Yukiko

This version gives up Crown in exchange for the Mast + Anchor reload package. It is particularly comfortable for Yukiko and has also been used successfully in the current Solo Raid environment, although Crown + Mast generally offers the higher damage ceiling when Crown is available.

Best Team 2 – Fire Shotgun Team

Makoto does not have to stay with Yukiko. If you want to split the Persona characters across different Solo Raid teams, Makoto can become the main DPS of a dedicated Fire Shotgun composition:

This is the better direction when you want Makoto to operate independently of Yukiko. Makoto benefits significantly from a dedicated Shotgun framework, especially the buffs supplied by Tove and Drake (Treasure). Drake's Treasure specifically improves Shotgun allies with additional offensive and ammunition-related support, making her one of Makoto's most natural partners.

Current testing used the exact core of Tove + Arcana: Fortune Mate + Drake (Treasure) + Soline: Frost Ticket around Makoto. In the same test environment, Makoto performed noticeably better in the Shotgun setup than in a distributed-damage setup without Yukiko.

Prydwen likewise identifies solo Makoto as the new best-in-slot option for the Fire Shotgun team in Fire-weak Solo Raid, specifically pairing her with Drake (Treasure) rather than Yukiko.

This setup also solves an important Solo Raid roster problem: Makoto stays with the Shotgun team, while Yukiko can be moved into another Crown or Maid Reload team. Since Solo Raid requires multiple separate teams, splitting them can produce more total account damage than forcing the Persona pair together in every situation.

Is Makoto Good for Campaign?

Makoto is much less impressive in Campaign.

Shotguns naturally prefer closer targets, and her major AoE effect is Distributed Damage rather than a true screen-wide wipe. Against many enemies, the damage is divided, reducing the impact against mob-heavy stages. She also loses part of her advantage when enemies are not Wind Code.

That makes her best-content ranking roughly:

Bossing > PvP > Campaign

Final Verdict

Makoto Niijima is a specialized Fire Raid attacker built around Elemental Advantage, Distributed Damage, and Persona synergy.

Her most important investment is Skill 2 Level 10, followed by Skill 1 and Burst. For Harmony Cubes, use Bastion in Shotgun teams, Resilience or Diffusion in reload-heavy teams, and Destruction against Part-heavy bosses.

Her best partner is Yukiko Amagi, but serious Solo Raid players can also separate the pair and run Makoto inside a dedicated Fire Shotgun team.

If you mainly play Campaign, Makoto is not a must-build carry. If you care about Fire-weak Solo Raid, Union Raid, or Persona collaboration teams, however, she offers significantly more value—especially once S2, Elemental Damage OL lines, and the correct reload setup are in place.

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