Favorite Team (Revamped)

[DragonTempestHappy]

I noticed that no one has replied to the other thread in a while and team selections seem vital to one's survival in this game. So, list whatever team you like to use and please explain. This makes it more educational for anybody who is not familiar with characters' potentials.

If you're curious, there are 35 possible combinations for teams when including Asch as a possible team member (the poll wouldn't let me include all of them sadly...)

*Edit (7/12/09): I've decided to make the poll so that Luke is interchangeable with Asch. This makes a reasonable number of poll choices so we can see how different teams rate. Not to worry if you use Luke and Asch together though, all possible variations of them are accounted for as well.

If you don't see your team right away, be sure to double check because the list itself is rather daunting. o.o If I missed your combination, please let me know (via PM). I want to include any and all possible teams.

[Ziggaway]

*EDIT: Moves and locations (we have most characters' moves in positions based on FoFs so that everyone can hit the same combination and get the same element for an FoF) are designed to allow different people to play different characters interchangeably. All moves follow the same positional pattern as Guy (buttons required to use).*
**2ndEDIT: So rewrote a lot of stuff, corrected grammar, added clarification, and researched numbers for accuracy. It is now longer, MWAHAHAHAHA!**
***3rdEDIT: (2ndEDIT COPYPASTA)***

Guy, Jade, Natalia, and Tear. (I'm assuming that each of them, or at least 3 of the 4, are human people playing with me: they die less, are much smarter, and combo. Jade is actually an excellent computer if you set his 4 elemental High spells [Absolute is a faster spell and holds the monsters in place, and Divine Saber is a terrible FoF] and Prism/Meteor, and his strategy as Artes only [he won't ever melee, and if no Strike Artes are on, he only ever moves when enemies attack him].)

Moves and locations (we have most characters' moves in positions based on FoFs so that everyone can hit the same combination and get the same element for an FoF) are designed to allow different people to play different characters interchangeably. All moves follow the same positional pattern as Guy (in other words, the buttons required to use are in the same positions as Guy’s for all other characters) EXCEPT Jade’s Spells. For example, Jade’s Sovereign Gale is Circle, Thunder Lance is Up+Circle, and so on, following the format with Guy. However, if every character wanted to use an Air Circle, they would merely have to hit Up-Stick or Up+Circle (in most cases), but Jade would hit Up-Stick to MAKE the Air FoF.

Guy:

Tempest (Circle)
Beast (Up+Circle)
Tiger Blade (Down+Circle)
Crescent Strike (Side+Circle)
Void Tempest (Up-Stick)
Sword Rain: Alpha (Down-Stick) (Center can be used instead for 1-on-1)
Severing Wind (Left-Stick)
Final Cross (Right-Stick).

Guy is a superior close-range fighter to Luke and Anise (since, out of all the casters, Anise is the only obvious possibility for a tank due to her overwhelming amount of Strike Artes compared to Fonic Artes). Luke's down attacks (down-X) are unique in that they hit twice every odd attack, but none of his other standard attacks are comparable to Guy's. The knockback from Anise's down attack is also nice, but her attacks all require longer to recover afterwards than the duration of the actual attack. Guy is faster and has a larger swinging arc, and he recovers faster after every attack than any other character (except Natalia, who is a obviously not comparable due to her long-range attacking style). Also, the Side standard attack (side-X) is the most beneficial attack in that, when used, it lifts the opponent off of the ground. Monsters and human enemies alike cannot cast when airborne and also cannot attack when airborne. However, Luke's Side standard attack is slower than Anise's standard attacks, even though she’s already the slowest character. But Guy's hits short monsters (like the stupid Heterodoxa in Mushroom Road), hits behind him, and goes just as quickly as all of his other attacks, while conveniently keeping the opponents airborne. Anise’s side attack is also decent in keeping enemies off of the ground, but it only hits in front of her and has a very short range (like all of her other standard attacks, thank you Tokunaga’s short arms).

Guy also has self-healing without the need of FSCs (although with two healers we have taken Center off). Luke CAN heal, but requires an FSC, and it is a small amount, at that. Luke does also heal other team members with Guardian Field, but the range is small, you can take damage while being healed, and unless Luke stops meleeing and allows the casters to get hit, other people would have to run forward to get the very small amount of healing (both of which make no sense because they would almost invariably result in casters taking more damage than they would get healed, making the healing moot). Anise has two self-healing moves: Lucky and Mighty Charge. However, these, along with Luke’s Steel, are only able to heal once it has a Grass FSC worked all the way to max (so, 100 times after equipping the FSC). Steel’s effect is paltry, especially since Guy already has an incredibly high Critical Hit ratio without a move like Steel (Agility increases speed as well as a chance for getting a Critical Hit). Lucky, and its FoF, both have interesting and useful effects, especially since Happy Light buffs surrounding allies, as well, and the random stat that is increased by said buff stays for the match. Mighty Charge is also useful, and Mighty Circuit will increase nearby party member’s abilities just like Happy Light. However, Center does not require anything to heal Guy, and the heal increases with a Carmine, which makes it the best out of all of them. Not to mention Focus, Center’s Ground FoF, increases Guy’s one stat that is lower than Anise and Luke: Defense. While it doesn’t heal, even with an FSC equipped (since no FoF is affected by FSCs), Happy Light, Mighty Circuit, and Coil also would not heal. Plus, if we look at weaknesses for each individual character, we see that Guy only doesn’t excel in F. Atk and P. Def (although his P. Def only goes up ½ a point less than Luke’s does every level). Luke is weak in Agility, F. Def, and slightly in P. Atk. Anise is weak in Agility and both defenses. Lucky raises Anise’s Luck, and Happy Light raises one stat for an entire match (a useful, but not accountable, effect), while Mighty Charge and Mighty Circuit increase the damage between attacks in a standard attack combo (since they normally deteriorate over time). Steel raises Luke’s Critical Hit ratio, to be on par with Guy’s, and Coil raises Luke’s P. Atk, which he slightly needed, but not as badly as other things. Guy, however, gains HP immediately from Center, and Focus raises his P. Def for an entire minute, and since that is his only slightly lacking stat, it handles his one true weakness. Neither of the other tanks can compare.

On the topic of FSCs, Guy's stealing move is easier to hit and has a much bigger range than Luke's (Final Cross vs. Swallow Fury, I’m not considering Void Tempest since the Sunlighted Dragon Tempest is an infinite combo, and I’m also not considering Raging Blast since the AoE is horrible and the knockdown grants temporary stun immunity to all enemies afterwards). Anise's (Surge Breaker) is a better half-circle user since she walks into the air that she makes and can then proceed to do Gungnir A Go Go (which is the longest-lasting and most dynamic FoF in the game that conveniently hits all the way across the field), and Eagle Dive is not even comparable, since it requires so much time to actually attack to be able to steal, not to mention the fact that Frigid Raptor (being as grotesquely comical as it is) automatically makes Eagle Dive a must not. Therefore, out of the three, Guy is also the best stealing tank. Consequently, when using half-circles for FoFs, Guy is also superior. Anise's Surge Breaker combo is spectacular, but it takes a while to set up and Surge Breaker's knockback can be detrimental to landing Gungnir A Go Go (not to mention the fact that Anise cannot move into the half-Air if the monster is directly in front of her). Lightning Punishment is an incredible FoF, being a Flare Tornado of electricity (and having bigger range and less start up time), but again, her Surge Breaker’s knockback makes Lightning Punishment’s fairly decent range seem paltry (and she wouldn’t move into it if the opponent were in directly in front of her). Luke makes many more half-circles than both Guy and Anise, yes, but the only circle that does not require moving forward to use is Devil's Inferno's Fire (half-Lights cannot be used, so Guardian Field's is negligible). Thus, Luke can only melee-combo into Shadow Fury, which is incredibly difficult to hit even for experienced players, and Burning Havoc, which is awesome, fast, and knocks them back. However, Devil's Inferno hits the opponents back almost too much for Burning Havoc to be useful, and the stagger-proof effect opponents have after being knocked down is another easy way (among the many) to get Luke killed. Guy, however, has Severing Wind. If equipped with Cobalt, it hits the opponents almost perfectly straight up into the air long enough for Guy to land and begin one of his two Sunlighted Air FoFs: Dragon Tempest and/or Thunder Beast. Dragon Tempest hits a ridiculous number of times in a fairly large radius (plus the swipe Guy does with his blade in the middle of the FoF hits all the way around him) and only costs 6 TP; Thunder Beast has the largest spanning attack area of any Strike FoF, not to mention the insane knockback it gives, in all directions (which consequently negates the knockdown immunity since they are so far away), AND the fact that Guy moves forward a large distance before hitting the last hit (which allows a foe even partway across the field to be damaged). Thus, Guy has twice the viable options than either Luke or Anise, and both of his FoFs are more effective in terms of usefulness/TP-cost. In fact, all of Guy's FoFs (minus Demon Fang's fire FoF, Infernal Torrent) have more range and span more area than Luke's and almost all of Anise's (Gungnir A Go Go, Lightning Punishment, and Cyclone Blaze are all fairly long reaching, but the former does not alone make Anise worth the time, the middle only reaches twice as far as Tokunaga hits, but in all directions, and the latter is hard to get and even harder to hit). That, coupled with the fact that Guy has two viable Strike Arte FoFs for every element except Fire (which Tempest easily replaces, explained below), and three for Earth, Guy easily outperforms both Luke and Anise in Strike Arte FoFs.

Not to mention the fact that Guy's learnable Arte, Tempest, is an incredibly inexpensive Arte that provides a quick and damaging escape route for the tank, of which Luke can only compare with Swallow Fury (and we know how well that usually works out…), and Anise can only compare with Cyclone Shot (which is much slower, clumsier, costs more, and requires longer to recover). Tempest is a quick and easy way for Guy to rack up damage and hits on large opponents, as well (such as robot bosses and the Behemoth). Soaring Light Spear (his other learnable move), while less expensive than Severing Wind, is not truly useful in any other light, because it is difficult to hit the opponent into the last attack, and without the last attack, the damage is in no way comparable, not to mention the fact that Severing Wind hits them up with a Cobalt, while Soaring Light Spear hits them very far away, and thus increases the difficulty of a full combo or quick follow up.

And then we have Guy's Mystic Arte: an excellent combination of Anise's and Luke's, and thus better. Final Fury hits an obscene number of times, yes, but we all know that sometimes Anise goes a little off the mark and ends up blowing past every monster, even her target, plus the hit radius is incredibly small (excluding the last blast). Radiant Howl is incredibly hard to hit because the radius is so small and most of Luke's decent Arcanes (and by decent, I mean that get FoFs) hit them just beyond the range of his Overlimit. Guy, however, combines the radius of Final Fury's last hit with the directional motion, albeit less so, of Final Fury, and still has the 360 degree coverage like Radiant Howl (if we don’t count Radiant Howl’s last few hits). Dying Moon is a viable extension, yes, but it costs and is somewhat hard to hit, although the radius is about as big as Guy's, if not a little shorter (but Anise doesn't move during it and has a hard time hitting behind). Ion is the second-best, but most inventive, extension, in that the radius is massive, the damage is insane, and the cost is 0. However, if Ion is not in the party, or you are after the specific point in the game that I will choose not to spoil, you can no longer use him, and thus, the extension, at all. But in terms of second Overlimits, Guy's is also the most logical: Luke's does an insane amount of damage, but the weapon takes so long to acquire (even longer than the Jewel of Gardios and ALMOST as long as Unicorn Horn), and the requirements are so steep, it seems pointless. The first 8 attacks are exactly like Radiant Howl, followed by another 8 attacks that are physical melee, like Final Fury, and then Luke fires a beam that reaches across the entire field for a total of around 30 hits. But with the requirement of less than 15% health, and having to awkwardly push X, Circle, and Square, even if you manage to get Lost Fon Drive off, you'll more than likely die immediately afterward, and since it requires hitting a bizarre three-button combination, and the likelihood of getting a healing spell off right at the beginning of the Overlimit is even less probable than with any of the other Overlimits for any character, Luke will end the Overlimit with same paltry amount of HP that he was required to have upon starting it (plus, since Revive resurrects the player with 30% of their health, even if you use a Revive, instead of dying, and don't need to be resurrected, you are still unable to use the Mystic Arte, and may very well lose it before you get the damage low enough again). Then, Anise's Overlimit, while being the most powerful Overlimit in terms of damage, is also very impractical. Fever Time only targets one monster (two, if they're basically on top of each other), and the 20,000 Gald price is hefty (over a long period of time, even if you have money). Plus, the probability of accurately guessing exactly when to have full HP (which is nearly impossible without Ant Lion Doll) AND kill the monster(s) successfully is so low, well, I'd rather attempt Lost Fon Drive... Guy, however, only needs less than half of his health to be gone, a reasonable amount, and yet enough to be significant. Brilliant Overlord's range goes from across the entire field (the energy waves) to the entire screen (the energy sphere), and goes instantly when using Final Cross. So you can hit monsters very far away or very close, that way, even if you are terribly far away from a monster and have to use the Mystic Arte at the last minute, you can. Granted, the finishing blow won’t hit, so the opponent will be at 1 HP if it would have died, but Demon Fang, Tempest, or an X attack easily finishes it.

The instantaneous Mystic Arte can also come in handy when attempting to time the Overlimit after a healer has cast a healing spell on Guy, but before the health has been recovered. This is useful because the requirement to do Brilliant Overlord is having half-health, but in a truly intense battle, being even at half health can kill a character. Therefore, whenever Guy is attempting to pull off a Brilliant Overlord, have Tear cast either Healing Circle or Revitalize (obviously moving the circle so that Guy is still in it after his backflip, and possibly even getting other characters into the heal), or have Natalia cast Heal or Cure (or, of course, any of those spells’ FoFs, if they are readily available). Then, have the caster hold their healing spell on Guy, or located wherever the circle is, and tell the person playing Guy to go (or merely wait until that person does actually go). As soon as Guy lights up to begin the Overlimit, the caster needs to release Circle, thereby releasing the healing spell, and while Guy does Brilliant Overlord (since when he started, he was at half health or less), he also gets healed. Plus, even if a healing spell isn't successfully preemptively cast on Guy, his agility enables him to avoid unnecessary hits, and with his nearly instant ability to enter a fairly long-lasting FoF, even if he needs to keep enemies away from casters, he can Severing Wind (which avoids being hit until just before standing up), and follow up with Dragon Tempest. That, or he can run into a different FoF circle and use it. And since characters cannot get below 1 HP while in an FoF, while Guy is doing either Dragon Tempest or Thunder Beast (or any other FoF), one of the two healers would theoretically be healing him. Plus, since any Overlimit negates all of the opponent's Strike Arte and Fonic Arte damage, AND Brilliant Overlord can be initiated immediately by using Final Cross, Guy is also much more likely to be able to save teammates from painful, and possibly fatal situations. Despite his “low defenses”, he is fast and capable of avoiding, or at least surviving, the opponent's onslaughts, and is usually overwhelming them with fast combos and long FoFs enough that they are unable to do any meaningful damage regardless.

(Just to point out, Asch is less realistic than Luke. Since his equipment cannot be changed, minus hacking, and he has terrible stats, he is already at a disadvantage, and while he has Spells, his unalterable Fonic Attack makes them basically useless. Rending Saber is also nice, but when coupled with a low and unchangeable Attack stat, well, you can imagine... Plus, no second Overlimit... This is why Asch is not used in descriptions of physical close-range attackers.)

With Guy's overwhelming speed, incredible combo ability, and large-spanning and copiously hitting FoFs, he can keep enemies busy and away from the casters while also surviving long enough to get healed (if and when necessary) and build up his Overlimit myriad times. And don't worry: even if the player using Guy has to run around constantly, Heal and/or Cure can't miss, and neither can Revive, which also gives him a free light (Searing Gale is an awesome Fire FoF).


Jade:

Sovereign Gale
Thunder Lance
Meteor Storm
Prism Sword
Thunder Blade
Ground Dasher
Infernal Prison
Absolute.
(Since Jade is the person making the FoFs for everyone else, it only makes sense that his spells are in the spots where everyone else’s FoFs would be.)


Jade is by far the most useful, and damaging, of all the casters, and since casters are usually more damaging, Jade is arguably the BEST damage dealer of all the characters. All of Jade’s low-level spells are better than Anise’s spells, minus Bloody Howling (which is consequently NOT low-level), but Anise acquires Bloody Howling at such a high level, at which point Jade has already learned most of his high spells, all of which are more damaging than Bloody Howling. Bloody Howling IS the only spell in the game that automatically makes its own FoF instantly (one cast makes a full Dark circle, and Maelstrom is Water), a feat that surely puts it at the top of the “Useful Spells” list. However, of Anise’s four spells, three make FoF circles, and two of them are unusable halves (Light and Dark). Limited does create its own FoF after two casts (a full Light for Spark Wave, which is Air), but it takes so long to cast and can easily be run out of since Limited only hits 3 times (and the resulting circle is sooo depressingly small); Anise is otherwise useless as a caster because her spells do less damage than any of Jade’s spells, as mentioned, or any of Tear’s high spells, and all but one do not make full circles. The full Dark is quite useful for other characters (Regenerate and Angel’s Breath, among others), but the character that benefits most from a full dark is Jade: Gravity Well, Raging Mist, and Frigid Coffin, his three decent high FoFs, are all made in Dark circles (Water and Ground). But subbing Jade in for Guy to benefit from Bloody Howling is more problematic than beneficial, since Guy is the distraction and is also a fairly good damage-dealer. But taking out either of the healers and leaving guy in leaves three non-healers to one healer. Especially in harder battles, one healer can barely keep up with the damage/deaths of characters, and definitely will not be doing anything EXCEPT healing, whereas two healers can each cover one non-healer and themselves, and therefore possibly have time to do other things (Revive or attacking for Natalia, and attack Spells and buffs for Tear). Therefore, Anise’s only true usefulness in providing full Darks is overshadowed by the loss of another much more useful character (either healer or the tank)… Jade, thusly, can make his own FoFs, and at the same time be less of a burden and do more damage than Anise.

Tear also has some decent offensive spells, however, Nightmare is not one of these… Éclair de Larmes is a quick and useful spell that provides its own Fire FoF (Flamme Rouge) after two casts (half Light each), and it is also a good follow-up to one of Tear’s two full Light FoF-creating spells that we use: Resurrection and Holy Lance. Holy Lance is a five-hitting high light spell that has a somewhat limited radius of attack (despite the intimidatingly massive glyph accompanying it), but it casts quickly and costs very little TP (34), making it an obvious choice over Grand Cross (hence why we don’t use it). Grand Cross costs 14 TP more each cast, is learned later, has no FoF (unlike Holy Lance’s Earth FoF, Cluster Raid), and knocks the opponents over and OUT of the resulting Light circle, and also making them invulnerable to stagger. This not only prevents the use of the Light by a caster unless the caster moves into the circle itself, it also allows the enemy to just walk out of the ensuing FoF (such as Flamme Rouge) because they will be stagger-proof. Since Holy Lance is cheaper, goes faster, ends with the same result, and has fewer drawbacks than Grand Cross (and has an FoF), equipping Grand Cross seems wasteful. Judgment is a useful substitute for Grand Cross, even though it cannot compare with Jade’s Meteor Storm. Meteors not only knock the opponent skyward (often multiple times), they also have a much larger hit radius, do loads more damage, and have much larger hit radii upon impact. Thus, Meteor Storm does more damage per hit, on average, and is also more likely to hit because it covers more of the battlefield. And while Tear does have some fairly powerful attack spells, the logical ones cannot compare to Jade’s equivalent spells (Prism Sword’s number of hits, circle size, and total damage dwarf Tear’s Light spells). This is not to discredit the unnaturally cheap Judgment, which is an excellent spell for Tear to use, but Jade will inevitably be a better caster in terms of damage and radius. Also, Tear is generally preoccupied Enhance Casting, Holy Songing, and/or healing, and cannot be relied upon as the sole caster. Jade’s FoFs are also more powerful than any other caster’s: while Tear’s FoFs do more damage than Anise’s (for example, Cluster Raid’s finishing blow, since Anise has no finishing blows besides Rock Mountain), any one of Jade’s high FoFs will outclass them. Gravity Well has the largest area of any Fonic Arte FoF in the game, and can inflict the Heavy status, which halves the opponent’s running speed for an extended period of time. Frigid Coffin has the shortest time span between casting and damaging of any spell in the entire game, and inflicts serious amounts of damage with a beautiful (and deadly) finishing blow. Frigid Coffin, Raging Mist, and the Strike Arte, Sovereign Gale’s FoF (Mighty Deluge) also all use a Water FoF, giving Jade the most options of any character’s viable FoFs from one element (other than Light and Dark).

Jade’s two remaining moveslots are easily filled by Thunder Lance and Sovereign Gale (already mentioned): they both make half air circles, but Sovereign Gale leaves one directly below where Jade stands, leading into a Sunlighted Lightning Tempest quite easily. This, coupled with Jade’s fairly high Attack stat and wide-ranged standard attack, makes Jade quite an intimidating Battle Mage (not to mention he has higher defenses than Anise, Luke, or Guy, when averaged). However, due to his lack of Agility, it is generally suggested that Jade remain firmly rooted where he starts off in battle, solely casting. When necessary, Jade can also keep monsters preoccupied, a feat easily accomplished by Mighty Deluge. For some reason, this particular Strike Arte’s FoF has an unnaturally large attack radius, lasts a shockingly long amount of time, and hits an incredible number of times. And it only costs 10 TP. The only drawback to this FoF is the fact that Absolute is more expensive than Blessed Drops (AND lacks an FoF), but this cannot be helped. Divine Saber is the worst FoF in the game: unless the target is standing directly in each of the 6-8 spots that the lightning bolts hit in, they are not damaged at all, and only the very last lightning bolt (or moreover, it’s last hit) causes any significant amount of damage for an FoF. This, coupled with the fact that Blessed Drops has the longest time span between being cast and doing damage of any spell in the game (yes, even Meteor Storm), it seems only reasonable to completely ditch it altogether. Why the creators would add a second High Water Spell to his moveset, I cannot fathom, unless it was to replace the obviously horrible Blessed Drops.

Jade’s Mystic Artes are by far the most dynamic and well-rounded of all of the characters. He is the only character to have a first Overlimit that cannot miss any opponent AND hit every opponent simultaneously. At this point in the game, it is the most powerful single hit, and seeing as it cannot miss, it comes in quite handy. That, coupled with the fact that Indignation is the single most damaging hit in the entire game (and is conveniently Jade’s second Mystic Arte), Jade’s Overlimits are understood to be both exhilarating and deadly. And while Indignation may not hit the entire field, the radius of the glyph alone is large enough to cover about 1/3 of the battlefield, and the lightning hits far beyond the borders of said glyph. The only comparison possible is that of Tear’s Fortune’s Arc, but since that is a healing Mystic Arte, can also never miss any monster on the field, AND the fact that Tear is not a character left out of our party, the point is moot.


Natalia:

Cure (Heal is faster, however, when not in boss fights, is less effective, plus Cure’s FoF is better)
Recover
Revive
Scare Shot
Astral Laser
Gallant Barrage
Storm Edge
Piercing Line.

Natalia is basically the first and most obvious character to have in the party. Why? Two reasons. The first is Angel’s Breath (the Ground FoF of Revive). Revive, when cast on a target, gives the person a status condition (a feather) that is used up when the character’s HP would normally reach 0 (or lower). When the status is used up, it brings the character back, instantaneously, with 30% HP, instead of them dying and needing to be Resurrected. They don’t actually die, in fact, so it saves any statuses that said character has. And since Revive is a spell, it can be cast as many times as necessary, and more than once on a person that has used their feather up, not to mention the fact that Revive is the only status to immediately last all the way through battle (or the first death) upon using a non-FoF. Angel’s Breath is even more ridiculous. It is an area effect with a circle about as large as Fairy Circle, but its effect is far better. Once it has been cast, anyone inside the circle is raised to full HP automatically, even if they are dead and require Resurrection. It also grants anyone and everyone inside the spell a Revive status, preventing them from the next death, despite the fact that they are now at full health. Oh, and if someone were not dead, but had one of those pesky status conditions, well, it is now gone, and since all of these effects occur at the exact same instant, there is no way to get one of the benefits and not all of them (unlike Fairy Circle, which is still awesome). Thus, in terms of effects, it outclasses even Fortune’s Arc, because it fully heals, even from death, and grants immunity to death in the future. Fortune’s Arc may not miss, but it dreams of being as useful as two free lives.

While Revive is Natalia’s most expensive Spell (a whopping 64 TP, compared to Revitalize and Meteor Storm at 80… not to mention 100 for certain second Overlimits…), she is also the best character at getting TP back, and fast! How? Natalia attacks faster than any other character (yes, even Guy!), and despite the fact that her arrows only hit one opponent before disappearing (excluding Piercing Line), she recovers so quickly after each of her individual attacks, and has such little recovery time between combos, she can hit the opponents more times than any other character in the same time period. She can also hit them from afar, which means unlike anyone else in the game, except maybe an exceptional Tear player, Natalia does not have to fret about taking any damage, or dying, while harvesting TP.

Natalia’s Strike Artes are also incredibly inexpensive. Her most expensive Strike Arte is Gallant Barrage, at 20 TP, but since Gallant Barrage is a combination of a fanned wave of arrows and a cluster of arrows, it deals serious damage over a large radius, and therefore is entirely worth the hefty cost. Most of her other skills are just as evenly priced, and none of them are as expensive. Piercing Line, her first skill, costs a mere 5 TP, and has the ability to pass through all opponents (unlike her standard arrows). Piercing Line is also convenient because it solves a major problem Natalia users sometimes face: Natalia is a long distance character, but sometimes it is possible to be too far away from the opponent (since her arrows slowly fall to the ground, as they should, due to gravity). Birds and bats are also a problem, since they fly just high enough to avoid her down standard Attack, and, if she is too far away, her normal standard attack. And since birds and bats are both so small, Natalia’s side and up standard attacks go over the top of their bodies, thus also missing. Piercing Line, however, is unaffected by gravity (somehow, we don't entirely understand), and thus does not fall towards the ground, ever. It also happens to be at the same level as the birds and bats, so it hits them down into the range of Natalia’s standard and down standard attacks. Not to mention Voltaic Line is incredibly useful close range (the electric sphere that charges up actually hits, continuously, anyone nearby) and far away (the resulting shock wave that is launched travels across the entire field, in a straight line, and hits around 3 times upon passing through an opponent). Her other skills are all just as useful, merely in different ways: for example, if two monsters are standing in almost exactly the same spot, Storm Edge is an effective way to hit both of them multiple times with only one flick of the bowstring (and Blast Edge is a large-area-covering Fire FoF), not to mention Storm Edge is good for hitting a monster a lot of times with one knock of her arrows in order to stagger it quickly, even if it is just a single monster. Aerial Laser is a useful up-close melee skill that Natalia can utilize to knock away straggling monsters that are bothering the other casters, and when equipped with a Grass Chamber, it is a quick and useful stealing move (since the spiral energy waves hit in all directions, and thus can steal no matter where Natalia is facing). Astral Laser is also an incredibly powerful up close FoF, and has incredible knockback capabilities (that is, after the opponents are knocked high in the air, they are then blasted horizontally across the field by an arrow explosion in mid-air). Star Stroke and Star Embrace are both good Artes, but they are somewhat less useful. Star Stroke has limited range and a very long stagger period afterward, not to mention Quake Stroke is very hard to successfully hit and has the longest stagger after attacking of any FoF in the game. Star Embrace also has limited use, as the range must be learned and cannot be changed. It does, however, have almost no stagger time after firing the arrows. Blue Embrace, however, is an incredibly challenging FoF to correctly aim, and even when aimed perfectly, it only actually does a significant amount of damage if there are a large amount of opponents clustered close together, directly underneath the FoFs point of attack (and how often do opponents magically cluster and wait for an attack to hit them?).

Now, amongst her other skills, Heal, Cure, and Recover are useful heals (always equip Recover with Grass, the 8% HP recovery is very useful). The only status Recover cannot cure (besides Sealed Artes, which is incurable by an Arte) is Heavy, but even Purify cannot remove it, because it is a physical status (much like buffs, and those also cannot be removed without an item). Otherwise, Purify is an awesome area effect that also heals statuses besides Sealed Artes and Heavy, but for multiple characters. Heal is a useful, cheap, and quick spell that guarantees, no FoF required, to heal one character for half of their health, and even more if equipped with a Carmine. And though Healing Wind is worse, since it heals the same amount, but in burst, which can be walked out of, Heal is still viable, and very usable. Not to mention Restore, another awesome Ground FoF Natalia possesses, is the only healing spell FoF that fully heals (unless the target is dead) AND cures all status conditions (again, except Sealed Artes and Heavy). By the way, Angel’s Breath does not count here because Revive is not a healing spell initially. In other words, Restore is the most incredible healing FoF in the game.

So, with four Strike Artes, and Heal/Cure, Revive, and Recover, that leaves one open space available, and since no Water FoF is viable for Natalia thus far, and Scare Shot is a very quick and helpful spell for tanks (since it lowers the opponent’s defense), AND the elongated interval from a Cobalt boost allows Natalia to accomplish other tasks than just Scare Shotting, it seems the logical choice. And since Calamitous Bane (a Water FoF) is an area effect, it can conveniently lower the defense of all of the monsters surrounding the tank. However, Calamitous Bane also has the added effect of lowering the opponent’s Attack by the same proportion as it lowers their Defense (it is an FoF, after all). So while the tank does more damage, they also take less!

The second reason Natalia is necessary in the party is the fact that she is a capable solo battler, AND she can be halfway across the field while attacking. This is quite useful, since she takes no damage while doing a large amount of it to opponents. However, if she does have to be close to the opponent, she will more than likely take less damage than most of the other characters, regardless, because her defenses are incredibly high (averaged together, she has the game’s highest defenses). It is, in fact, higher than both of the tanks and Anise. Therefore, even if she does get close enough to take damage, it will generally not damage her enough to be consequential, and even if she does take enough damage to possibly kill her, she will have theoretically Revived herself beforehand. So, once she gets low enough on HP to use Heal/Cure, or once she uses her Revive up, she can easily heal herself, or re-Revive, if necessary.

Consequently, a major complaint about Natalia is that she does not make her own FoFs. However, if only 4 Strike Artes are equipped (the other 4 moves are healing/lowering defense), and one of them is a learned move (Gallant Barrage), then her three other Strike Artes (usually the most useful ones, Piercing Line, Aerial Laser, and Storm Edge) can be used in a Light. And conveniently enough, the seldom used and always useful Revive conveniently gives the targeted character a full Light circle (along with the free immunity to death one time). So Natalia can actually give herself a second lifeline and also combo the resulting circle, and its resulting FoF, into a long-distance barrage of attacks that deals damage and doesn't allow her to take damage (since the enemy is so far away) during the entire combo. In fact, she can single-handedly take down any challenging boss by herself. If they solely melee her, she can run to the opposing side of the screen and proceed to arrow them until they draw near (Side-X/Up-X shoot an arrow that arcs across the entire field), then just repeat. In fact, a glitch in Recover’s programming allows it to be cast on dead team members, and if it is Grassed, it will recover 8% of the dead targets HP without resurrecting them. How is this useful? Well, if the opponent is a caster, Natalia can avoid spells until a Dark or Ground is formed to Angel’s Breath fallen allies. If the opponent does not cast (or doesn’t make Dark or Ground circles), Natalia can instead Recover all of her fallen comrades above 0 HP, at least, and once the battle ends, they are all magically alive again, without the use of any actual resurrecting spell. Therefore, despite the situation, even in impossible odds, Natalia is the only character than can guarantee a victory and also bring back dead teammates (since Recover casts so fast and costs so little), despite the situation.

Then, we have Natalia’s Mystic Artes. For other tanks, position and direction are crucial, and add stress when setting up a decent and damaging Overlimit. Then, the pesky requirement of holding X while doing an Arcane Arte (which also must hit on the last damaging attack)… Natalia is immune to all of these troubles. Her Mystic Arte does require an Arcane Arte to be done while holding X, but the Arte is not required to hit (and in the case of Star Embrace, the attack has not even done any damage once Natalia begins her Mystic Arte). Not only that, her Mystic Arte is also quite useful because of its size and accuracy: the glyph has about the same radius as Guy’s Razing Phoenix glyph; the only difference is that Natalia’s cannot miss and instantly targets whatever monster Natalia is targeting, plus surrounding enemies, without her ever having to move. And what about those really annoying times when a Mystic Arte has just started and the attack targets an enemy that has just been knocked a little out of the way by a teammate, or a spell that was cast right as the Overlimit started finishes an enemy off in the middle of the Overlimit? Well, since Natalia slightly hits her target at the very beginning of Astral Rain, they remain where they are, paralyzed, and even if a spell will kill them (or a particularly lengthy Strike Arte still hits them out), the amount of time between her initial attack and the actual damaging is so vast that the spell will likely kill the target before the Arte hits them. Now, this would normally be bad, except for the fact that Natalia’s Overlimit literally CANNOT miss: the game was not coded for that possibility. Even if the glyph has already appeared, and the target moves, the actual attacks and their range will move with the target. For example, if a monster is a little too far away from surrounding monsters to allow Astral Rain to hit all of them, if Anise (or Guy) does a Beast right as Natalia starts, the glyph appears where the monster is as the monster is promptly blasted backwards by Beast. Since the glyph already appeared, it will remain in its location, but the center of the radius of Astral Rain will remain on top of the monster. In other words, the monster will now be closer to the other monsters, and since Astral Rain will move with it, they will all be hit!

In terms of second Overlimits, Natalia’s is also superior. The first barrage of stars in Noble Roar hits across the field in an infinitely straight line from slightly behind Natalia. Then, the stars surrounding the opponent proceed to slash through anyone within about a 5-foot radius on all sides and at all levels (and this set of stars cannot miss). Then, Natalia fires the penultimate shot, which packs a huge punch and also travels in a straight line from where she fires it. Finally, the finishing blow (which can also never miss) explodes the opponent (and anyone close enough to be hit by the second round of stars that surrounded the enemy). This Overlimit can miss, at least the parts of it that are shot in a straight line, but as stated, those parts do continue in a straight path, hitting anyone in the way, and the other sections of Noble Roar can never miss. All the while, this Mystic Arte is begun much like Guy’s, in which it instantaneously goes as soon as the player initiates Piercing Line (which is the first, and thus easiest and cheapest, of Natalia’s Strike Artes, while also being one of the most useful). Plus, since the item can be made at Din’s shop, and since Natalia’s Titles are what allow the gathering of the required rare items, the Elven Bow can be gotten as early on in the game as being able to fly in the Albiore (or even earlier with patience and the map glitch). This makes it the most easily accessible of all of the second Overlimits, and without having any ridiculous cost (such as 15% HP and/or 20,000 Gald…), not to mention the fact that Natalia legitimately earns the items to make said item herself, through her titles.


Tear:

Judgment
Healing Circle
Holy Song
Revitalize (switched with Resurrection when necessary)
Enhance Cast
Holy Lance
Éclair de Larmes
First Aid.

After the first playthrough, assuming you have enough Grade and use it for Overlimits, Tear is the best healer in the game: Fortune’s Arc’s Extension. (Although, assuming you actually used her as a healer on your team beforehand, she is basically the best healer in the game the first playthrough, as well, if you discredit Natalia’s Angel’s Breath, which you actually don’t get until much later). Not only does Fortune’s Arc never miss, it deals massive amounts of damage AND can be initiated instantaneously by using Judgment (which, as with the case of Guy’s and Natalia’s second Overlimits, can make the difference between allies receiving damage or not, which makes Tear all that better at healing, or in this case, preventing, damage). This, added to the fact that the extension, which amazingly costs 0 TP, hits the entire field as well as heals up to about 50% of every character’s max health, resurrects any fallen character (obviously with about 50% of their HP), and gives Fonic Defense, Physical Defense, and Physical Attack stat boosts that last the entire match (unless that person dies, which is hard to do when you have Natalia Reviving everyone) on every character, makes it quite a necessity, especially in harder difficulties and battles. Thus, despite the lack of completely healing the target, since the Extension cannot miss any ally, it is better in area, not effect, than Angel’s Breath (which is the best healing effect in the game). They both have strengths and weaknesses, but Fortune’s Arc is better in that it cannot miss. However, Fortune’s Arc can only be used once, which automatically makes it less accessible than Angel’s Breath. Basically, in order to always have the best possible heal, Tear and Natalia need to be TOGETHER, instead of one of them single-handedly attempting to outclass the other in terms of healing.

As a Battle Mage, Tear has pros and cons. Generally, Tear should NOT be used as a physical attacker: she has an abysmally low Physical Attack, and despite her fast running speed and high Agility, she also attacks very slowly. However, if necessary, Tear can be a semi-decent attacker. She has a slightly elongated range, and if done properly, she will not take damage from the monster she is focusing on, because even though her attack speed may be slow, the range does not allow the monster to attain a damaging proximity to Tear. Her Strike Artes are not worth mentioning, unless you combo Pow Hammer, Nocturnal Light, and then Fatal Circle (because Banishing Sorrow is so slow and terrible and costs too much TP), but that would mean Tear would be out 3 crucial spells. (Searing Sorrow is one of the best Strike Artes in the game, and adds to Legretta’s notorious difficulty, but Banishing Sorrow not only takes up a spot uselessly, its uselessness vacuum would probably arbitrarily delete all of Tear’s sticked moves, like the game randomly does to Luke’s moves on the Right Stick). The other drawback to Tear’s melee is her awkward manner of standard attacks. She is unable to hit any flying foes or incredibly short foes, unless the player jumps and has perfect 45-degree aim, or stands directly on top of the monster itself, respectively. Otherwise, unless another character (namely, Guy) holds the monster suspended in midair with their side standard attack, Tear will inevitably miss every other attack on the opponent, since she cannot hit lower than her waist, and the flying monsters fall to the ground when hit (and thus, below her waist).

However, as mentioned with Jade, Tear has a relatively good arsenal of usable offensive Fonic Artes, some of which combo into FoFs quite easily. (Judgment has amazing range and does great damage, and only costs 32 TP, which makes it a must-have despite its ability to combo.) Plus, even Tear’s healing spells can be comboed into attacking. Just like Tear’s second Mystic Arte, Healing Circle can be used as a healing and offensive Fonic Arte: Fairy Circle is an air FoF that heals the party for around the same amount as Revitalize, but for 48 less TP. Granted, it does cover a much smaller area than Revitalize, but it also cures status conditions (minus Heavy) at the end of the healing, and also attacks any enemies inside the area at the end of the spell. And since the circle grows bigger over time, the likelihood that most of the people on the field will be affected is very high. As mentioned before, using Tear’s Holy Lance to lead into an automatic Flamme Rouge is also quite enjoyable, and does a surprisingly large amount of damage for a healer. And although Flamme Rouge’s AoE circle seems small while casting the spell, the glyph that appears is actually quite large, and the entirety of said glyph deals three very powerful hits before the center column of fire appears. The center column does have a much more limited range, but it is still a good FoF, and can be fun if used properly.

Tear is also useful for her other, supportive Fonic Artes, and when used alongside Natalia, adds crucial support that Natalia could not emulate. Natalia is known for her boosting Artes (Barrier, Resist, and Sharpness), but taking up spots in her 8 moveslots for 3 moves that temporarily increase one character’s stat 10% seems like a terrible waste. Even the FoFs of each of Natalia’s boosting Artes still only target one person, and can still be eradicated by that person dying (since they last forever otherwise), especially since Natalia will probably be too busy casting the buff FoFs to Revive. An easy solution to this is Tear’s Holy Song: it gives every character Physical Attack and Physical Defense, and if equipped with a Cobalt, it lasts much longer than Natalia’s individual spells. Plus, Holy Song also heals every teammates’ HP 8%! Granted, the FoFs of Natalia’s buffs increase the selected stat 25%, the largest in the game, but they take too long to only hit one person. Since Holy Song is unavoidable, except by a fallen character (obviously), every character benefits from just one Holy Song, instead of only one character benefitting. While it does take longer to cast 1 Holy Song than any one of Natalia’s boosting Artes, since it boosts 8 individual stats, it is obviously more logical. And when combined with Tear’s Enhance Cast, a skill that no one else possesses, Holy Song’s cast time is drastically cut. Now, since no one else can cut casting time for anyone (which every caster desperately appreciates), Enhance Cast is an obvious choice, preferably equipped with a Cobalt to increase the duration of the enhancement. Witchcraft, the air FoF of Enhance Cast, is even more useful than Enhance Cast, despite the fact that FSCs do not affect FoFs. Witchcraft is an area effect that has about the same radius as Fairy Circle, and thus can easily give all of the casters on a team the enhancement with one spell. What is even more beneficial, however, is the effect on opponents also inside the boundaries of Witchcraft: their spell casting time is increased by the same proportion that an ally’s casting time is decreased. In other words, Witchcraft speeds up allies and slows opponents simultaneously! This can come in extremely handy when fighting opponents that have basically no wait time to cast spells (Sync and Repair Fonbot on Unknown, Nebilim at any time). And then we have Resurrection. If a Ground circle is not easily accessible for Natalia, Tear is the only non-monetary (item-use) way of bringing a teammate back from death (aside from sleeping outside of battle, and Anise’s Time Traveling Hero, which would be a hassle to have equipped only for the Resurrecting purpose, plus the fact that Anise does not fit in this team). Resurrection brings any character back with 50% HP, without the need of an FoF, AND leaves a full Light circle where it was cast (although the game does not allow Resurrection to be cast unless someone is actually dead). And, Resurrection’s FoF, Regenerate (Water), is an area effect that resurrects and heals 75% HP, an overwhelming amount for only 40 TP. Resurrection is also useful as a healing move, especially when backed up by Enhance Cast. If a team member is dead, Resurrection can be cast, and assuming Tear has the AD Skill Magic End, while the feather is falling, and thus while the teammate is still dead, another Resurrection can be started, and can be used either on the person just brought back to life, or another team member who is hurting. Since Resurrection is coded to hit an unmoving target, it is unable to miss the target (although where the feather falls on the ally where he or she were standing at the time of it being cast), even if the target has moved away, the healing still magically takes place. So any character can instantly be granted half of their health back without fear of moving out of the AoE (GUY!). Not only that, but since Resurrection automatically targets the any dead character regardless of whether or not the player targets them, if a different character were to fall in battle while Tear is casting the second Resurrection, it would automatically switch to that person and bring them back to life, even if they die at the exact same instant in which she casts the spell! But let’s not forget the most expensive solely healing spell in the game: Revitalize. While it doesn’t automatically hit the entire field, as Raine’s did in Symphonia, it still covers about 2/3 of the battlefield (it IS the largest Arte glyph in Abyss, after all), which in most cases is quite sufficient. It heals the same amount as Fairy Circle, around 60%, over a long period of time, and comes in quite handy to keep a tank just barely alive if said tank is on the receiving end of an opponent’s melee attacks, assuming Natalia is readying a Heal/Cure to actually heal them to full in one shot. It is also a useful spell to cast just as, or before, another ally begins his or her Overlimit, as it heals everyone during said Overlimit. Tear also proves useful in double-healing with Natalia: everyone knows that Guy is a fast-moving character, and to ask him to stop moving long enough to be healed by Healing Circle may give him more damage than he recovers (and thus prove fatal). In fact, sometimes, even Revitalize is not big enough to allow Guy the necessary level of freedom to not be hindered at all by the spell! However, since Natalia’s Heal/Cure only hits one target, BUT heals that ONE target for either a little more than half of their HP (when Carmined) or slightly less than all of their HP (when Carmined), it seems logical that Tear heal the three non-moving casters, who would all theoretically be clustered together at the far end of the field, while Natalia heals the one party member that cannot wait in an area heal for fear of death.


Overall, this team is incredibly solid and has absolutely no clear weakness. We have died with it before, yes, but that is due to the sloppy and ineffective job that computers, and even human players, seem to be unable to escape. There seems little point to remove any of the aforementioned characters for any other characters: they each fill a crucial role and all provide some skill or usefulness that Luke, Asch, and/or Anise cannot replace. Having played as every character for extended periods of time, I have grown accustomed to each of their battle tactics, and Luke is by far the worst of all of the characters (Asch is slightly better because of his Mystic Arte, but since his armor is unchanging, and he is a hacked character, including him here seems negligible). Luke has one job: giving melee damage while being able to take it. Since his attacks are slower and have less range than Guy, he cannot logically compete. Anise has way better P. Atk than Luke, and Guy’s P. Atk is also higher. In fact, the only character that gains less P. Atk than Luke is Tear! So Luke is at least tied with every character in the game in terms of P. Atk, except the main healer that also casts Fonic Artes. Therefore, he has no strong point. Then, we have Anise, who has difficulty fitting into any clearly defined category, and instead floats in a limbo of semi-usefulness in many categories. Anise has the highest P. Atk gained, per level, in the game. She also can stand off to the side and cast, if need be, so it makes up for her having the smallest melee range of every character. So Luke is even less dynamic than any other character, and is the worst damager among the melee characters. Anise is better than Luke, yes, and she is fun and challenging to play, but in reality, competitively, she is illogical, along with Luke, which should be obvious.

If this combination does not immediately stand out, consider this: the Exhibition Match follows the exact same character selection. The hardest multi-battle in the entire game has a team of four players that almost perfectly matches up to the team described here. Yes, that team is conquerable, but that is because they are computers, do not have Revive/Angel’s Breath, and it is supposed to be remotely possible to overcome them since the items they give cannot be obtained anywhere else in the game. In other words, if they were not programmed with limits, the Cameo Team would be impossible to beat. Without a little luck and amazing skill, they are almost impossible to beat, as it is! And they are the same team format:

Reid has almost all of Guy’s useful Artes (he has Lloyd’s Rising Phoenix that no one else does), minus Soaring Light Spear (which isn’t useful, anyway), and he also is the ONLY close-proximity fighter. The only skill he possesses that is greater than Guy (other than Burning Phoenix, his pseudo-Overlimit Arte that cancels all spells and destroys multiple people, and which no one else has at all in all of Abyss) is the effect of Aurora Wall healing all party members while also doing damage. However, since Aurora Wall’s hit radius is so small, it is not the best Overlimit on the team, despite the fact that anyone caught in it is guaranteed to die. But it does makes up for the lack of a healing Mystic Arte on their team by healing their entire party, and even resurrecting fallen comrades, just as Fortune’s Arc’s Extension does. (Since there is a character on our team that accomplishes the same thing, actually even better, saying that their lineup having a tank use this ability makes them different, and better, is moot, especially since it would not make sense on any of the melee characters from Abyss, anyways…)
Nanaly is the massive long-range physical-damage dealer that never has to use any time for support (such as healing or buffing), just like our Natalia. She also has the ability to Resurrect (although she is the secondary Resurrecter to Mint), although Natalia cannot cast Resurrect. However, Revive is a leg up from Resurrect (since it prevents them from dying, instead of bringing them back from the dead), and thus is probably why Revive costs more (not to mention the fact that Angel’s Breath is better than Resurrection, and our Natalia does this quite often, so she is in fact better as a healer in this regard). And while Nanaly does possess two Fonic Artes that Natalia does not, Splash and Negative Gate (which are not actually that good), Nanaly does not have access to Scare Shot or some of Natalia’s better skills (Gallant Barrage, Storm Edge, and the arguably not-too-great Star Stroke). Otherwise, just like Natalia, Nanaly uses Piercing Line (which she basically does constantly), Star Embrace (which kills characters in one hit, on occasion), and a Mystic Arte somewhat similar to Noble Roar: Wild Geese has less range (minus the last five hits), but does more damage per hit (since it hits less).
Mint has a lot of Natalia’s skills and some of Jade’s. Pow Hammer serves as Mint’s non-spell attack, and besides being an incredibly powerful Strike Arte that hits anywhere on the field for a ton of damage, it has also been known to freeze the game… Now, since the other caster, Philia, casts FoFs without the need of any FoF circles, Mint serves no purpose with Jade’s spells except to get her own FoFs (such as Gravity Well). Thus, she has some of Jade’s learnable spells and also has all of Natalia’s buffs. While she cannot truly be of help casting FoFs for the other members of her party, she can be buffing everyone, and occasionally gets Blaze Emitter, etc., off of FoF circles she makes or FoF circles the opposing team makes. She also casts Acid Rain at the very beginning of battle, a skill that no playable characters posses, and that only Coal Tars possess besides her (this is because the spell is incredibly broken and easy to do). Mint is also the primary Resurrecter, since she immediately casts the spell, especially if Nanaly does not beat her to it (if she is dead or being hit, etc.). While Natalia, again, does not have Resurrect, she does have Angel’s Breath, which does require an FoF circle to complete, but brings the person back with full HP and an instant lifesaver for their next death. Resurrect, or even Regenerate, again cannot compete with this. Now, along with all of the Hourglasses that this team uses, Mint’s Mystic Arte happens to be Time Stop (which explains where Nebilim stupid got it…). This allows a little more time to prepare (theoretically, double jumping so that your character has reached the top of the parabola right as time stops, and hopefully on an edge, that way only Meteor Storm can actually hit) than does an Hourglass, but regardless they both allow them to do massive damage. While not actually a damaging Overlimit, since it completely incapacitates all opponents for a set amount of time (not terribly long, but long enough), it allows incredible pain to be inflicted upon the opponents, namely us, regardless. Mint also possesses theoretically all of our healing spells, and can be seen using First Aid and Cure in the English version, and even Revitalize in the Japanese version, although she sparingly uses them in the English version.
Philia, the last member of their team, is the massive magical damage dealer. Come on, she has Meteor Storm, of course she is the best damage-dealer! She casts all of Jade’s mid-spell FoFs, Flare Tornado, Eruption, and later on Explosion and Icicle Rain (although Icicle Rain sucks, and doesn’t really add to my argument), without the need of an FoF circle, a feat of which no playable character (minus Asch’s hacked weirdness and Anise’s single doll) can accomplish. (She also possesses Bomb Rain, an intensely damaging Strike-like skill that hits directly in front of her.) However, she does not posses Jade’s high-spell FoFs, which makes up for the advantage of the FoFs she can cast immediately. Philia’s Mystic Arte, Sacred Penance, is basically Fortune’s Arc, only it is slightly less beneficial for the opposing team: it hits via a glyph behind the character and never misses, but does not provide them with stat boosts or healing (since Mint and Reid, respectively, handle that all too well). However, it is still sufficient for guaranteed damaging. Oh, but wait, there’s more!: Philia ALSO uses Arietta’s Mystic Arte, Big Bang, which again is similar to Jade’s Mystic Cage, minus the guaranteed knockdown. So she actually has two equally damaging attacks, both of which rely on her ridiculously high F. Atk., and both of which she can use more than once and also use to hit every person simultaneously!


Since our all-star Cameo team is obviously composed similar to the aforementioned Cameo team, it seems only logical to state that there is basically no need for any other team. Every good skill a different character CAN contribute has already been tested numerous ways, and they all have been categorically rejected.

Anyway, I hope this has helped shed at least a little light on gameplay, and enjoy Abyss (like you need me to tell you that)!


Please, if anyone notices anything I left out, or has anything they wish to suggest, don’t be afraid to let me know. If I can help someone else get better with this post, that is my intention, so any help I may be able to receive would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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[Wabbon]

i went with Luke,Jade,Tear,Guy ( i play as guy)

well i play as guy since he is the most ideal fighter for fast swordsmen and have a good combo set, Luke is also great but he is not as fast as Guy and therefore lose out when you play on harder difficulty and Guy´s second Mystic arte is much better than Luke since you can use it more than once and don´t need to have 15% hp for it, its 50% or lower for guy and one button to use as luke uses an arte and then does it

As for Tear great healer what else even her second mystic arte is awesome since it gives full healing and resses all dead members

as for jade.....what else can i say except INDIGNATION! along with his other high damage spells

I found this team to be nice so i stuck with it[/quote]
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[Ziggaway]

Natalia=hated... In terms of computers, Natalia's is better, since she can melee from far away AND heal, whereas Luke's computer needs healing because it isn't good at meleeing up close without taking damage...

I also love Tear, but any good Guy player has a hard time getting her heals unless she blows TP on Revitalize unnecessarily and often. That is where Natalia's Cure comes in handy.

Plus, if a straggling monster does get past Guy's amazing offensive attacks, Natalia can just arrow them to death to keep them away from the other caster.
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[Wabbon]

Yeah she was nice and all that but i was never able to get her weapon for the second mystic arte so what choice did i have and about her second healing arte it did not heal or something like that it´s name was Healing flow? it didn´t do anything when i tried to use it but it could just be me.
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[Iluvpudding4eva]

[Hitokage]

If you are having trouble getting the Elven Bow, use http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/929343/45708 .
I also never really got anything from Healing Force, if anyone has please tell me.

[Wabbon]

[Hyzenthlay]

Towards the beginning of the game I used Luke (I always have to fight as the protagonist. Always. It's just a quirk of mine. Not to mention I'm good with the classic Tales protagonist fighting style and not good at healing or casting, so I like to leave that to the CPUs.), Guy, Tear, and Natalia (I like to have two healers for backup.), but later on I traded Guy for Jade.
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[Airk]

Awesome, Awesome post by Ziggaway. While I disagree with some of the numbers (Pretty sure Fortune's Arc heals for more than 35%), that's a really, really good post.

The one thing that people really, really tend to forget when using Tear though (And this post is addressed to everyone in this thread who complains about not being able to get her heals to land) is First Aid. First Aid is awesome. With the AD Skill HP Recovery and a Carmine Chamber, it heals 30% HP on a single target. More importantly though, it casts insanely fast and it's cheap as dirt. There are multiple AD skills that kick in if you cast the same spell twice in a row as well, so it's easy to land two First Aids in less time than it takes for Natalia to struggle through a single Cure. Plus it ends up costing you all of about 14 TP -and- Tear can run and dodge between casts rather than being stuck in one spot trying to complete the spell. It compliments Natalia's weaknesses very nicely - namely, Natalia's heals are monstrous TP sucking beasts (a problem compounded by her having the smallest TP pool of any character), and they take a surprising amount of time to cast. Spot healing with First Aid can fill the critical "player X needs health NOW" gap and it doesn't require Guy to stand still. (Or for that matter, TEAR to stand still for any length of time.)

While I generally just use whoever is lowest level at the time when I form my party, and I firmly believe that any party is viable, Guy/Jade/Natalia/Tear is what I run when the fight is going to be hard. (Okay, sometimes I swap Luke for Guy.)

[fleish]

[Ziggaway]

First Topic: If anyone reading it is a God, then what would that make me? Technically, typing it would require more work, and since the philosophical definition of God is one than which no greater can be conceived... (BTW, LOVE MARTH! He's freakin awesome, love the Brawl pic, love Critical Hit).

Second Topic: Healing Force is stupid, it heals 3% of someone's health every second, for, like, 6 seconds, almost like a status condition that you can't see, but the circle is so small and the effect so little, it's pointless.

Third Topic: I do realize the amazingness of First Aid (even in second and third playthroughs, that was the sole healing move we used, unless we HAD to squeeze Natalia for Heal [and BTW, Healing Wind is very good, wish it attacked like Kratos'/Zellos' did, though...]), but what slot should we get rid of? Besides, if there's a pinch such as that, since Guy is the only tank, if an FoF were not available to sustain him, Recover (Grassed) would suffice, if used consecutively. And even if Jade were battle-maging, he also has an almost instant air FoF (Sunshined Lightning Tempest in Sovereign Gale).
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[Airk]

[Ziggaway]

[Ziggaway]