okay so while i'm still in theorycraft mode, since I've gone over each skills and some teams, time to look more at individual monsters and how their teams are effected, and also whether or not it's worth it to spend fodder to awaken them.
Starter DragonsEvery single starter dragon gets the same awakened abilities: +100 HP, +50 ATK, and Skill boost. These guys are usually used in mono teams as a poor man's Norse god. Now however, they have an advantage over their Norse counterparts in Skill boost, which will allow them to pull off all their orb changing abilities off quicker. Also if you stack skill boosts you can even get turn 1 orb changing to ensure you have orbs to use from the start. Unfortunately they don't have +orb skills which would make then really really good as leaders but oh well can't win em all. Generally I'd say it's worth it to awaken them, however note that it's actually easier to awaken them BEFORE ult evolving them. If you have a fully evolved but non ult evo'ed starter, you can feed it another fully evolved but non ult evo'ed starter to awaken it and it keeps those levels even after ult evoing, BUT if it's ult evoed then you have to feed it more ult evoed guys and these guys take friggen 2 mystic masks to ult evo >_> Well at least it's still way better than skill ups.
Ripper DragonsEach ripper dragon gets two resist skills of their own type (useless) and a skill boost. Since they're usually used in stall teams, a single turn off the first active use isn't quite as useful, so I'd say save your awaken materials and only awaken them if you have spare ripper dragons. And even then take note that you have to bring them to awakening level 3 to get skill boost.
King BubblieFor some reason this guy gets the good deal with TWO skill boosts while the others just get stat boosts. Everyone else just gets some stats. With this guy and +Fire Orbs Goemon actually gets a buff (for once...) so it would be certainly worth it to awaken this guy for Goemon, especially since you no longer necessarily have to take up a spot for Horus (but you do lack a 100% chance of orb appearance with this guy)
CarbunclesALL CARBUNCLE TEAM
HEAL 3K EVERY TURN
PLUS HAVE 6 2K HEALS FROM TURN ONE
SOUNDS LEGIT
GoblinsPoor man's orb changers. Well at least they get +orbs so I guess Red Goblin can be a good Gigas sub for low levels. The other two no.
OgresOgres are interesting in that they also get TWO skill boosts. They actually weren't terrible before because they filled a niche in being able to cheese through the three conditional technical dungeons with their dual element and nuke abilities, and awakening them would make them even easier (although it's a bit unnecessary). They could also fill in some other kind of weird niche team that aims to nuke everything with skills right away but their stats still suck and they eat a mythlit to ult evolve :<
GolemsThese guys were already pretty good before. Well now they also have the two best awakening skills... and bind resist too! The three elemental golems are pretty easy to skill up with Keepers so with skill boost you get damage resist after just 14 turns. MOst importantly though, is the fact that they have +orbs skill, and as their first awakening skill too! If you're using them on a mono team then it's definitely worth it to give them at least one awakening level.
Healer girlsEach healer girl got a different set of awakening abilities to help balance them out (cause everyone knows Echidna and Siren are OP :V)
EchidnaWelp, she got the shortest end of the stick, but it's well deserved since she's already one of the best subs in the game and if she got auto heal then hoooly shit :V Awakening her isn't really worth it unless you're one of those stat optimizers who want +297 eggs on everyone on your team (she doesn't even get +HP though :/)
SirenAlso not as good of a deal, but at least she got auto heal, which is great and will help her do her regular job even better. It is her 3rd awakening skill however so FARM UP DEM SIRENS :V (and also dont forget you need to max evo her too)
Alarune and ArchangelSo here's where the fun starts. Both of these girls get TWO auto heals AND bind recovery. Unfortunately neither of them can create heart orbs so bind recovery isn't quite as good on them as it could be. Still they are the only monsters in the game with more than one auto heal. They work great with zombies or you can stack them with Odin, Ama for FREE 4.7K HEALS EVERY TURN (or possibly even more) which is enough to heal even 23500 every turn strikes with Odin
holy shitttt. Unfortunately Siren is still probably better in general since she's not made useless by x2 hp skills, but at least they can fit the OdinAma niche. Possibly...
LilithShe gets auto heal but her other skills suck. Luckily auto heal is her first skill and if you're using a team with lilith then it's probably a team that needs lots of healing too so if you have extra Liliths then go ahead.
Mystic Knights+Orbs. Nuff said.
HeartbreakersSame deal, +Orbs. Mono teams everywhere rejoice. For these guys it's probably a good idea to use awaken materials because dat 2 million evo cost... Both these guys and Mystics get +orbs at awakening level 2, although their 3rd level is more stats so why not.
Late bloomer dragonsstill suck. skill boost so instead of taking 30 turns it takes 29 to use their shitty skills hooray
Greco-Roman GodEach god in this case as the same skill for each of their ult evos but completely differ from each other.
MinervaGungho why do you hate her? Her base skill sucks and then you give her more shitty skills yeah nice balancing there. +Orbs yes so helpful for those few dungeons that I would ever use her in for her double resist oh wait resist teams don't need plus orbs
NeptuneAnd once again Neptune continues doing his job of filling a specific niche and making everyone wish he wasn't a REM monster. This time it's poison resist, making him truly the master of poisons. Never accept a drink from this guy. Also he gets +Water orbs so that's fun for Isis.
CeresStill basically a suped up Alarune. However with her double bind recovery, she can give a really nice fuck you to Zeus Dios. Auto heal is nice too as a staller (and it makes the others jealous. poor poor minerva).
VenusSkill boost. So you can
CHANGE THE WORLD in one turn less. Also two way attack hahahahaha. At least she gets auto heal.
Hades+Dark Orbs. For mono dark. Yep. That's pretty much it.
Japanese godsHino"Hey, know what this guy needs?
MORE FUCKING ATTACK"
Orochi+300 HP. BECAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT A PERSEVERANCE LEADER NEEDS. MORE HP. For real though this guy is already pretty OP and if he got skill boost then holy shit. As he is don't bother with awakening unless you just love maxing dem numbers.
SusanooFree stats \o/
AmaterasuOkay finally something more interesting. Her abilities basically say fuck binds which is great because being bound as an AmaOdin team is basically an instant game over. If bind resist is really 50% then Ama herself is 100% immune to binds and if you have one then definitely awaken her.
YomiI WANT TO CHANGEEEE THE WOOOORLLDDDDDDDD~Legendary/Sky/Mech/Ancient/Samurai/Mystic DragonsFinally the almighty Dragons get a good buff. Every single one of these guys get the two best skills; orb change and skill boost. They fit really well in mono teams and can even act as mono team leaders if you just want to pound shit to death all day every day. Unfortunately their boss Zaerog wasn't so lucky but oh well. ADK teams with all Green dragons get 100% green orbs and Orb change available from turn 2. Awesome.
DevilsThey get +orbs. But seriously dont.
Indian GodsShivaOh man skill boost hell yes. Everyone uses Shiva for his skill so getting a turn off it is awesomeee. His other awakening skills suck but whatever.
LakshimiPretty good skills, which kinda makes up for the fact that she sucks... but not really :V
ParvatiThe only standard mono leader that gets +orbs. Unfortunately you can't get x4 atk with her so it's kinda a waste. Meh
IndraUnlike his dragon brethren, no +orbs. But at least he gets skill boost and his skill is pretty good.
VirtraDitto Indra.
Toy DragonsAll of them get a bit of resist (useless) and bind resist oh boy! Unfortunately it's only one level of bind resist unlike AmaOdin so they aren't fully protected, but still with the existence of auto heal toy dragons are better off and having a bit of bind resist couldn't hurt especially during those annoying bosses.
ElementalsThese guys are pretty much only used for their nullification abilities in specific dungeons, so it's great that their first skill is Skill boost. If only they got +orbs too then that would be just gravy.
NorseSo Thor wanted to be special and has +ATK instead of +HP, but otherwise hes the same as the others. Which is to say not special at all. There is hope for them though if it turns out that damage enhance is better than I'm assuming right now.
Dino Ridersif you own one, cry
then look at their awakened skills and cry some more
Mythical BeastsKinda nerfed by the existence of +orb skill but not necessarily useless, especially if the 280% boost is exclusive to active skills. They get Skill boost which is great since they are used for their skills. Other skills are eh and Phoenix gets auto heal as a way to troll Goemon yayyyy
Sticker GirlsThey have a similar deal as Alarune and Archangel, but they exchange +500 regen for the fact that they can generate a TON of heart orbs for their anti bind skill. Great for anti binding, not so great past that I guess. If only their abilities had a lower cooldown.
Egyptian GodsHorusHe essentially got fucking nothing. Which is okay cause he's OP and needs no buffs. Just don't waste any awakening material on him
IsisBest waifu nuff said <3
BastetI...I don't know what they were going for. It's just a mishmash of the most random skills. Just... just look away and dont turn back...
RaSame deal as Horus
AnubisIt actually would have been really nice if he got 3 time extenders, cause then with dual Anubis you get an extra 3 second to make your move which is obviously super useful for this bastard. But he only get's one. Sad dog is still sad.
Sengoku BasaraOrb changers with Skill boost. Nice. But they have damage enhance instead of orb enhance. Not nice. I guess this can be considered a buff to mystic knights as well as they now have an edge over their stronger counterparts.
FUCKYOUGoemonRofl anti blind. You can't blind a thief cause a thief will rob you blind. Well at least he get's +fire orbs which is actually amazing for him. It means you can build a team that forgoes Phoenix/Horus/Hera-Ur and just have +orbs all the time meaning EVEN MORE DAMAGE. Of course it's his 3rd skill though so have fun with dem blind resists! If only he got Skill boosts (but that would be pretty op I guess :derp:)
Greco GodsNo +orbs noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Mono teams would have flourished in a new age of prosperity and power if only they got some +orbs. Well them and the starter/norses, cause then you get 2/4/2 teams with 100% +orbs oh man it could have been beautiful. Oh well. For some reason the elemental trio gets skill boost while the dark/light ones just get stats. So I guess relative to the other mono teams, mono dark got a nerf, which is okay I guess cause they were pretty much the strongest. Fucking Lucifer.
Mighty Gods+orbs for all! Well except for green, cause Zeus-Dios decided to take the other half of the Goemon deal and got Skill Boost instead of +green orbs. Imo +orbs would have been better so Goemon got the better end of that deal but oh well.
SatanNeed... more... POWERRRRRRRRRR. If you match two rows of 6 he gets like 60% attack boost, which amounts to...
666 BONUS DAMAGE HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT'S THE DEVIoh wait ._.
Athenawow two anti sunglasses
LOOKS LIKE SHE'S
TOO COOL
FOR... SKILLS
:comedycentral:
seriously though she was already kinda shafted enough by having 0 RCV, dont really see any use in getting her now that there are other leaders with great awakened skills and she just has the fucking worst ones...
at least it looks hilarious
ArchangelFucking. Swords. Everywhere. Once again the triumvirate gets skill boost while the light darks dont. Which is just as well, because fuck you Lucifer you really dont need any buffs.
ArchdemonsWhoa these guys get two skill boosts. Pretty nice deal especially for Astaroth who gets all of her gravity buddies up a bit quicker. Not really game changing but still nice.
Chinese GodsMan fucking +orbs everywhere I love it. Kirin kinda got shafted, but she was the strongest one anyways, and she STILL gets +light orbs, which she will see plenty of thanks to her Valk and Verche buddies. The other four are all having tons of fun at Isis' shiny orb party.
Special GodsThese fuckers get 5-6 skills because they're so "special"
OdinMerry Christmas. Happy Birthday. Enjoy your new restoration to power, because now Odin resists bind and can heal his mother fucking self. It's not by much, but your Odin, you don't take damage. You don't take shit from anybody, except multi-hitters. Those damn multi-hitters...
Blue Odin3 SKILL BOOSTS. That said the other three skills are damage enhance so eh. 6 BOdin teams might be the new meta in pure hilarity though. I know I'd love to try it.
MetatronEh, she technically get's nice skills but I don't know how useful they will really be to her. Obviously auto heal helps but the heal happens AFTER you attack so even if it heals you to full you don't get the attack boost that turn. Bind resist stuff is nice I guess but burst teams don't usually have to worry about binds as much. Skill boost is sure why not.
Dark MetatronGot a better deal than normal Metatron overall. On top of having more skills and and extra skill boost, damage enhance is actually GOOD in this case because she already has orb enhance as a skill! which has its cooldown reduced by skill boost! goddamn!
TenguLearning from BOdin's mistakes, Lord Tenma just took the necessary part of his skill and got 3 Skill Boosts and nothing else. Perfect for getting off his skill at the right time, although his stats still leave something to be desired..
Stone DragonsDOUBLE SKILL BOOSTS. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? It means that with enough skillups and other stone dragons, you can start with any leader you want, immediately switch to the necessary resist, and then switch back when needed after stalling for a few turns. Awesome, although I still cant beat their stupid dungeon :< Also their stats still suckkk
Formula DragonI dunno why he's all alone on this chart, but all he gets is stats. So meh
New Japanese GodsNew meta is coming. Also oh look they all get +orbs.
Ame-no-UzumeThe goddess who like to heal... and is a balanced type... +fire orbs means dual Ames is as strong as a Chinese girl team, and ALWAYS HAS ENHANCED FIRE ORBS. Downside is she has to be full HP but she has auto heal and laughs at Metatron's lack of +orbs
Umisachi & YamasachiThe shota Kirin bros are here to kick Kirin in the shins. Team them up with Hera-Ur, Light Neptune, Kamui, and Siegfried and you'll have an ALWAYS ENHANCED WATER ORB party that makes Kirin cry at Echidna for not being part Light with +light orbs.
KushinadaHer leader ability sucks (you need x20 combos to be as strong as Anubis rofl) but her ability + bind recovery might be useful? Maybe? No? Okay...
Ookuninushi+orbs, skill boost, AND another skill. Sounds great but his leader skill is only marginally better than Kushinada and his active skill also only lasts for one turn.
IzanagiAND FINALLY WE HAVE THIS ASSHOLE.
I AM THOU. THOU ART ME. Fucking Izanagi gonna come and show us how a real Persona fights with his
HAPPY FAMILY. ALWAYS ENCHANCED LIGHT ORBS, 3.5x damage, 1.5x bonus damage skill. Throw in some verche, zeus, and valk subs and everyone dies. the end. Okay he also needs to be full HP like Ame, but does Ame have access to as many gravities as she wants? I didn't think so.
Chaos Blizzard DragonWhy is this guy just a recolor of Chaos Devil Dragon? Why does he not have the same awoken abilities as the other dragons, even as the other recolor dragons? Why does this guy even exist? We just don't know
and finally last but not least, the big boss himself...
Dragon Lord ZaerogOH MAN ITS THE FINAL BOSS OF PUZZLES AND DRAGONS I WONDER WHAT KIND OF AWESOME AWAKENING ABILITIES HE GE-oh
just stats huh
okay then
wow i kinda lost focus near the end huh
although it kinda seems like gungho did too, with earlier monsters getting interesting changes like the weaker healer girls getting 1000 HP boosts and AmaOdin getting bind immunity but then later gods just either got +orbs or got jack shit wow
also new japanese gods will be good PREPARE TO SPEND STONES AGAIN AHAHAHAHA