The Twins landed in Reverse 1999 on July 23, 2026 as the headline unit of the Atomic Hearts collaboration, and they break the usual rules from the moment they hit the field. Treated as a single 6-star Arcanist, they carry two Afflatuses at once, Mineral and Star, and they can hold two Psychubes instead of one. Their whole job is to pour Reality damage into every enemy on screen using two separate skill kits that trade off depending on which Conduit is active.
Quick answer: Slot both signature Psychubes, The Art of Atoms and The Dance of Science, run a Resonance build stacked toward Critical stats and ATK, and push The Twins to Insight III so their Ultimate charges early. Pair them with Coppelia, Rhiannon, and Everecho for a stable damage core.
How the Conduit and dual-Afflatus system works
The Twins do not act like a normal Arcanist. Instead of drawing basic incantations and an Ultimate, they power a Conduit with Energy, and that Conduit fires their incantations at the end of the AP area. Their resource is Harmonization rather than Moxie, and their kit is split into a Left set and a Right set that they switch between during combat.
Because they hold two Afflatuses, each incantation counts as its own damage type. That matters on defense too. When an enemy attacks with a stronger Afflatus, that enemy’s stronger-Afflatus damage multiplier drops by 30%, so The Twins take reduced damage from whichever type would normally punish them. They also come with a permanent AP +1 and an Incantation Draw Limit +2, which is why they can cycle skills faster than most units.
The Twins skills and Ultimate breakdown
The first skill only works in the Mineral Conduit, and the second only works in the Star Conduit. Each has a setup option and a damage option, so you choose whether to build Energy or spend it. The Ultimate then dumps everything for a joint attack that scales with how much Energy you saved.
| Incantation | Conduit / type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Atomic Fusion | Mineral (setup) | Self buff. Gains Mineral Energy +4. |
| Extreme Overclocking | Mineral (setup) | Self buff. Critical Rate +20% and Critical DMG +40% for 1 round. |
| Polymeric Ray | Mineral (attack) | Mass attack, 540% Reality DMG, counts as Mineral. Adds 90% Reality DMG per Mineral Energy consumed by all allied Conduit that round; rises to 180% per Energy once at least 6 has been spent. |
| Balance Across the Stars | Star (attack) | Mass attack, 270% Reality DMG, counts as Star. Adds 45% Reality DMG for each time this Conduit has attacked that round; rises to 90% once it has attacked at least 4 times. |
| Technological Breakthrough (Ultimate) | Both (Harmonization -100) | Mass attack, 2600% Reality DMG, counts as both Mineral and Star. Consumes all Energy and adds 260% per Energy spent, with escalating bonuses (see below). |
The Ultimate is where the payoff lands. On top of the per-Energy scaling, it gains stacking bonuses depending on how much total Energy you feed it.
- At 6+ Energy: an extra 1300% Reality DMG and Critical Rate 100%.
- At 9+ Energy: another 1300% Reality DMG and Penetration Rate +70%.
- At 12+ Energy: a further 1300% Reality DMG and excess Critical Rate converted into Critical DMG at a 100% rate.
Note: A clean loop opens in the Mineral kit with Atomic Fusion and Extreme Overclocking to bank Energy and Critical stats, cycles Polymeric Ray and Balance Across the Stars to drop enemy Afflatus Guard, then cashes out the Ultimate once you can reach the 12-Energy threshold.
Best Psychubes for The Twins
Since The Twins equip two Psychubes, their two signatures are designed to be run together, and they buff each other. Use both slots for damage.
| Psychube | Effect |
|---|---|
| The Art of Atoms | When the carrier attacks while also equipped with The Dance of Science, Critical DMG +36%. If the carrier is a Star character, Conduit Might +16%. |
| The Dance of Science | When the carrier attacks while also equipped with The Art of Atoms, Critical Rate +24%. If the carrier is a Mineral character, Damage Dealt +24%. |
The pairing is what makes them strong. Because The Twins are both a Star and a Mineral unit, they trigger the conditional lines on both cards at the same time, picking up the Critical Rate, Critical DMG, Conduit Might, and Damage Dealt bonuses in one go.
Resonance build
The Twins want a Resonance layout that pushes Critical stats and ATK as high as possible, since almost all of their damage funnels into that huge Ultimate. Prioritize Elucidation nodes to lift ATK and Critical values.
If you want a ready-made layout to import, use this build code:
APQkOAUoRDxjOUItQCZQJQQ0IjQgKAEqAAInsight materials and Inheritance effects
The Inheritance ranks turn The Twins from a strong DPS into a self-sufficient one. Insight I sets up the entire dual-Afflatus and two-Psychube system, Insight II adds flat Critical Rate, and Insight III front-loads Harmonization so the Ultimate comes online far earlier. Reaching Insight III is the biggest quality-of-life jump for the build.
| Insight | Effect | Materials |
|---|---|---|
| I | Replaces basic incantations and Ultimate with Conduit casting, swaps Moxie for Harmonization, unlocks the two incantation sets, AP +1, Incantation Draw Limit +2, and two exclusive Psychube slots. Enemy stronger-Afflatus multiplier -30% when they attack. Full Harmonization makes a Precast duplicate (once per 2 rounds). Reducing an enemy’s Afflatus Guard to 0 grants Mineral Energy +1 (via Polymeric Ray) or Star Energy +1 (via Balance Across the Stars) next round. | Sharpodonty ×18,000, Page of Mineral Wealth ×3, Page of Starlit Ascent ×3, Silver Ore ×6, Spell of Fortune ×5 |
| II | Critical Rate +10% when entering battle. | Sharpodonty ×40,000, Scroll of Starlit Ascent ×5, Scroll of Mineral Wealth ×5, Liquefied Terror ×5, Golden Grass Incense ×5 |
| III | Harmonization +70 when entering battle, plus Harmonization +1 for each Energy consumed to activate the Conduit. | Sharpodonty ×200,000, Tome of Starlit Ascent ×8, Tome of Mineral Wealth ×8, Wyrmling Skeleton ×6, Golden Fleece ×3 |
Best teammates for The Twins
The Twins carry the damage themselves, so the supporting cast exists to keep their Energy flowing and their survivability intact. Two dedicated supports plus a sub-DPS covers that cleanly.
- Coppelia — Support
- Rhiannon — Support
- Everecho — Sub-DPS
Should you pull for The Twins and their Portraits
The Twins are a Limited collaboration Arcanist, which means they are not expected to rerun any time soon. That alone makes them worth pulling for collection, and their brand-new Conduit archetype gives them long-term value for future teams.
Extra copies are optional. Their damage is already high at P0 without further investment, so you can comfortably stop there. If you do decide to chase Portraits, P2 and P3 give the largest damage jumps and should be your targets.
Built out with both signature Psychubes, a Critical-focused Resonance page, and Insight III, The Twins turn every clear into a race to that 12-Energy Ultimate, and few units in the current roster hit as hard across a full enemy line.
