Character Rankings?

[Archy]

Anyone care to help?

See, I'm doing a "cream of the crop" list for S5. I fgured that the easiest way to do this would be to divide the characters into tiers, with Tiear 1 being the best of the best, and tier 3 my lowest. Here's what I would have, so far:

Tier 1:

Georg
Zerase (only here because of Star, other than that she's crappy)
Cathari
Belcoot
Levi
Richard
Viki (Her MAG is really, really high)
Killey (Pretty much a Zerase, except lower MAG, and higher speed +more damage with needle)
Lyon (Twilight)
Prince

Tier 1.5:

Bernadette
Lu
Dinn
Gavaya
Miakis
Kyle
Galleon
Jeane
Shigure

Tier 2:

Roog
Rahal
Raven
Shoon
Zegai
Lorelai
Isabel
Mathias
Sharmista

Tier 3 (my lowest):
Zweig (I have no use for him. He dies so quickly, even with good stats and armor.)
Everyone else not mentioned

So, any characters I under/overestimated?
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[Fox Hound]

- Zerase without the Star rune is still a killer, she deserved to be on top.

- Hazuki should be added up there in Tier 1, she's a hard hitter, up there with Richard, Georg and Cathari.

- Miakis should be on Tier 1, she can diss out 9999 damage with the proper Runes and equipment.

- Zegai's also a powerhouse, he's up there in Tier 1,5 or can even added to Tier 1.

- Jeane is a Tier 1 mage, her magic and mdef is one of the highest.

- You should add Eresh, she's up there with the Tier 1 Mages with the likes of Zerase, Levi etc. her only drawbacks is the Rune slot though.
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"Freedom comes at a price, Blood" - random WW II Vet

[Sophita]

If Zerase gets there because of her rune*, I think Ernst deserves a mention, too. His beast rune has a spell with a 100% stun rate, I think; the only draw back is it takes a turn to cast, but jeezu, the stun works [i]against the final boss[i], I think.

I think Lorelai could go higher (good mage, good fighter, ok stats and she gets three slots with no limits; with rings you can buff up most of her magic to A level) but I'm not sure she could transcend tier 2/tier 1.5.I think she's tier 1.8. :p

*Am I the only one not completely impressed with the Star Rune in normal combat?
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[Rainrir]

God Tier

Me. The world of S5 stops if I am not playing heh.

Top Tier

Georg-----Completely messed up stats plus the fact that he can do more damage then his stats+rune set up suggest. Crap MDEF makes him a liability in some battes and not too eligble for a Double Edge Rune(dropping his damage quite a bit)

Richard----Almost as messed up as Georg, parries and dodges everything. Swallow Rune is simple but effective. He hits less hard then Georg but can combo rather well.

Hazuki-----Lady Georg. Multihits and Crits often, parries less often then Richard and Belcoot though. Swallow Rune's lack of utility hurts her.

Galleon----Unkillable in battle. But His damage potential isn't great and a unremovable Knight rune is very pointless when he can be fireflied.

Killey------Probably capable of doing the biggest single L range hit in the game. Being L ranged and having 3 slots rules. Power+Double Edge+Boost/Crazed FTW! He also has nice magic, making him real versatile.

Belcoot----He is good, he can parry more often then Georg, despite a lower TEC score than Hazuki and Georg. He has at least some MDEF (more then Georg) and hits harder than Hazuki. Only 2 rune slots hurts him, but double edge works for him due to his parry-ness. 2(3)-hit Falcon and Double Edge that crits or double crits make him do the HIGHEST damage in 1 turn for the game. His Critical Rate is really low thou..due to his crap LUC stat.

Hero+Lyon--- Yes, they must be together. Creation is a Hack for this game...just give Lyon and Hero Corruption Shells and watch the enemies fall. Both have solid stats as well.

Viki-----No other mage touches her in damage potential. Has the 4th highest magic score (after Eresh,Zerase and Jeanne) but Chain magic owns the shit out of bosses. Her only weakness is that the Blinking rune sits on the slot Magic Drain/Alert Rune should go.

Levi----Of the serious mages, he has the lowest MAG score in the end(but excels before that) and has a wasted skill slot in Tutor. But 3 free rune slots allow him to do the Magic+Magic Drain/Alert+Rage/Thunder combination for the 2nd greatest spell damage after Viki.

Isabel----IMO better character than Matthias. Parries exceedingly often despite the fact that her TEC score isn't that high. That allows her to use the Double-Edge+Fury combination work.

Gunde----Surprise! He is also unkillable like Galleon but has the HP to make Double Edge work on him. He might take slightly more damage then Galleon, but with his high HP (700+ in my game) and the life he will get back from Double-Edge-Eyeball Ringed attacks makes sure he never dies. Too bad he has no Armour of Gods Epic...or he will dethrone Galleon as the best tank in the game.

Gavaya---YES he IS good. He has crazy hit points, very good attack power and can make Double-Edge work with his decent defenses. His main draw is his Freeze ability, which ownes the bee-jeezus out of enemies. I am not sure if it works on bosses, but if Ernst can use his Stunning Roar on Bosses Gavaya can too.



That being said I feel the absolute best team in the game is the Queen's Knight's+the Prince. Falaena's Finest and Maze of Steel is cool.
Healing is handled by Kyle with Magic Drain+Flowing+Double Edge. Miakis boosts and can emergency heal with her Shield+Double Edge+Drain Combo.
Galleon protects everyone with Firefly, so that everyone else(but Georg) can use Double-Edge.
Hero and Lyon can provide the magical power with creation and Georg will do most of the Physical damage (togther with Miakis and Kyle)

[Archy]

Hazuiki . . . is she that crazy lady who rants about Gavaya and wants to follow Belcoot? She's actually good?

[Captain Hero]

On my second playthrough, I started using less-popular characters and got amazing results! Here are some of them:

Goesch - Need a tank? Go with Goesch!
The club-wielding gardener is awesome! He's built like a weaker version of Galleon, only with better EVA stat. He has the same amount of HP when they both reach level 50+, but he gets 2 empty rune slots compared to Galleon's 1. Goesch can wear Heavy armor, and has the Mow Down skill that is very effective in taking down multiple enemies. A very effective character to use in one of those 3 teams.

Isato - He's an elf, which makes him an archer! XD
Save for his low HP, Isato is a pretty effective archer mage. He has an equal MAG and MDF, which reaches around 250+. He also has 2 free rune slots, and on his right is a trusty Great Hawk Rune. He's great for reliable rear line damage.

Kisara - A personal favorite of mine.
One of my favorite battlemages. Kisara's looks isn't her only weapon, because she gets 300+ MAG stat along with her near 400 HP. She also has high MDF and decent EVA and SPD stats. She gets an A in Water Rune affinity, which makes her a great healer too. She also gets 3 empty rune slots, and we all know that Rune slots are the <3. Too bad she can only wear light armors, but who's complaining? She shows skin, and I'm okay with that. :D

Moroon - He's not all talk after all.
Not only does he adds a change in the battle music, but he might even make a difference in the outcome of your battles. He has freakish high HP for a beaver, and has high STR, SPD and EVA stats. He also has decent MDF. He has an A in Water Rune affinity, but he only has 50-ish MAG stat. He makes up for his sucky magic with high damage and decent defense, because he gets to wear medium type armors.

Nikea - A Shocker.
High HP and decent SKL, EVA, MDF and SPD. What more can you ask? Too bad she has sucky Rune Affinities. But what I like about her best is that she can combo up to 4-5 times, which makes up for the weak PDF she has. :D

Hope this helps.
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[Justice Johnny]

Gunde? Like... the Gunde who's the only physical character (besides the DoReMi elves, but they don't count) who doesn't get access to any single epic skill? :P


I agree with Miakis being moved into Tier 1.Boost-Crazed-Double-Edge pretty much multiplies her attack by six times, she gets two free skill slots, AND can dish up to FIVE consecutive attacks to a single enemy. In my game, she's the character who's dealt the highest damage to a single enemy (about 20000 aggregate damage).

I would also put Sagiri in either Tier 1.5 or Tier 2. She has pretty great speed, and the only other L-range character besides Lu who can hit more than once in a single attack (she can attack up to five times, like Miakis). She only gets one rune slot though, and her epic skills can only be upgraded up to A, but Tier 2 is still a fair ground for her.

Zegai should definitely be moved higher. He even deserves Tier 1!!! He's pretty much like Georg (minus the speed and the deathblow). He also gets an SS in Untold Clarity. I gave him a Killer and Double-Edged Runes and he dishes out critical hits like nobody's business. He's also got pretty high HP, which allows him to be an able tank. One thing he has over Georg is that he can attack twice, albeit at quite a low rate.

Killey is quite overrated, in my opinion. As a magician, he really doesn't compare to the others like Levi, whose magic is like, a hundred points higher than Killey's, not to mention his elemental affinities are much better. And Levi can get an SS in Magic, while Killey can up to an A. Still, I can't really say if he should be ranked lower than Levi.

Killey is able to serve better as an attacker, and purely an attacker, because for me, it's a matter of utilizing your greatest potential. Your attacks are either magical or physical. Pick a side. At least, that's how I work. Levi's MADE for magic, so it would make sense for him to be used only for magic (no worries about MP because he can restore it with Magic Absorb). Killey as a magician just pales in comparison. He is definitely much better as an attacker. But I like to use Cathari more as the signature badass L-range attacker, who has two free skill slots, and two free rune slots.. Killey may be able to outdamage her with Boost-Crazed-Double-Edge though... but I haven't really tried.
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"Oranges can't fit into circles because rectangles are made of cheese."

[Rainrir]

Here are my High Tier Characters:

Cathari-----She really does alot of damage, but too bad the Godspeed rune is useful on the field but useless in battle...However even with 2 free slots she can almost catch up with Killey in the damage department. Her only real weakness is her Georg-like MDEF.

Eresh------Highest MAG in the game. However, her problem is that while her two permanent runes are good they are placed on the wrong slot...and she cannot use Magic Absorb....which hinders her utility. Still not many can do her level of Magic damage..1100 for Scream of Ressurection! Oh she also get stuck with the Tutor skill.

Shigure----Richard-lite without the Swallow rune. Can parry, crit and multihit very well. His weakness is his weak HP and Defense...but it can be negated by his good dodge and parry rates.

Sagiri -----Noone mentioned her! She is really good...even if her hits are not that powerful. Stick a Double-Edge on her and be stunned when she hits 5 TIMES in a row and 3 of them are 1100 criticals! She is the only L character other then Lu to be able to multihit. Too bad the Shrike Rune is very crappy(its seems to base its damage of 1 hit...which in her case isn't that big a hit)

Miakis-----Keep that Shield rune on her, and give her the Drain and Double Edge Orbs and watch her be the Ultimate Support character.

Roy-------He is the prince-lite. Very good stats across the board and can excel in whatever you want him to do (like the prince).

Zerase---- Yeah and there is Zerase too. Star Rune isn't as powerful as I hoped and Tutor in that skill slot sucks. But she is basically someone with an advanced elemental orb before you get any. At least you get to stick Magic Absorb and Magic Runes on her.

Bernadette--- The only other somewhat serious mage without the horrible Tutor Skill. Her MAG will be high thanks to two Epic skills feeding it. And she can excel with any attack rune. Her free slots let her pull of the Attack Rune+Magic Drain/Alert+Magic Combo for nice damage.

Jeane---- Charm Rune is ok in S4 but in S5 it really don't have much of a purpose. also she DOES NOT get any Epic Skills which suck and she also has one slot taken with the useful but not in battle Rune Sage Skill. At least she can stick a Magic Drain and Thunder Rune for decent utility and her MAG is like 2nd or 3rd (After Eresh/Zerase)in the game. I think she is the weakest among the serious mages.

Raven----Stick a Boundary Orb on him and he IS unkillable. Even more so then Galleon. The problem is he has next to NO Damage.

Shoon----IMO the better of the two fist fighters. While he hits for less then Nikea, he makes up for it with much with consistant multihits. And his command rune multihits more often then Nikea's(does her's even multihit at all?)

Kyle-----He can do alot of damage if you set him up right (Power+Double Edge +Crazed) but he is better off a healer/support fighter. Give him Flowing+Magic Absorb+Double Beat and you have a Tough healer who can do good damage. I think he is probably the best of the hybrid characters (like Kisara, Nelis, Rahal, Lorelai, Zweig and Shamista)

[sybillious]

putting the guardian set on georg helps to offset his abysmal mdef, but you have to be willing to make due with the drop in pdef (not that bad, but if a certain item the becomes available at the last were actually earlier sooner... :( ).

zweig never dies that often for me; lorelai dies faster, as does eresh, but eresh has better magic than lorelai, so lorelai ends up benched.
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prinny...DOOD!

gotta gotta get a...SPICE WEASEL!

to paraphrase my fellow mod, parallax:
I hate my job with the passionately burning intensity of a thousand fiery suns.

[Scott]

Not gonna use Georg, Zerase, Cathari, or Belcoot. WAY overpowered.

Killey:
Lv. 50 stats:
HP: 314
STR: 295(!)
PDF: 50
MAG: 250
MDF: 201
SKL: 324(!)
SPD: 255(!)
EVA: 103
LUC: 206
Yes, everyone loves him, but for a reason. He has 3 Rune slots and comes with Rage. Rage is amoung the best offenseive runes you get and he works DAMN well with it. In some regards, he reminds me of the Prince. He can be a monster attacker or a Monster Mage. He has notably higher Attack than most non powerhouses, is fast as hell, and has Above Average magic, and a "B" with most every offensive rune. As for big battles, Pairing him, Josephine, and Levi nets 5 Uses of Rage. That's just not fair.



Faylon: His stats are relativley average and he isn't able to tank as well as some other characters, but for me he would crits freakishly often. Plus, his attack is a smidge higher than most chatacters.
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To relive those Halcyon days of youth

[ferin]

some things about Zegai, he can equip heavy gauntlets/gloves and the saint robe so he's really only missing 8 or so defense from having a weaker helmet. he can equip engraved gaunts too, for 5% more crit chance. not much, but still nice.

he has d fire affinity but b for lightning, and the deadliest magic attacks are usually lightning based

he gets his 3rd rune slot opened at 40 as opposed to 55

he has the highest hp (tied with Gavaya and Gunde) for non-large characters

he's good overall.. he can deal decent damage (have to get % on multi hits and crits to be sure), has 2 runeslots and a fury status that has to be activated, 3rd or 4th highest strength, *almost* able to equip the best armor. he can fill in to tank damage or deal melee damage pretty well. if he misses a lot it's probably because he's in the front row, if you have him medium range he doesn't miss often. his tec and accuracy are fairly high too.

and killey can do amazing damage with a high str stat and three free slots, possibly much more than Cathari with the right runes.

Sagiri is also very good like it was mentioned, so is Lu (even though she dies all the time).

Urda is also pretty good, imo. She's very fast and has decent attack + magic making her a good hybrid- three open slots too. I don't know if affinity to shoot increases her damage (i suspect it does) but if it does that's a nice bonus too. I have cyclone rune stuck on her to make her more interesting.

[Justice Johnny]

syb, my advice is to equip Georg with the Saint's Cloak. That's a bigger help for his magic defense, but you will have to sacrifice taking advantage of his super duper badass-ness at the start of the game.

Oh yeah... interesting point you mentioned about Zegai. He can equip heavy gauntlets and boots, but not heavy helmet and armour. But I think he still qualifies in being able to equip the Samurai Set. The Minamoto Helmet and Taira Armour are not heavy equipment, though the Fujiwara Gauntlets and the Tachibana Greaves are. The Samurai Set's pretty handy. I believe it improves critical and double critical chance by 10%. That would make him even more of a badass. Definitely Tier 1.

Isabel should also be moved higher. She's a pretty crazy tank, with pretty good stats, two free rune slots, and two free skill slots. Mathias may have one rune slot over her, but two free skill slots helps her maximize her potentials. An S in Triple Harmony would greatly improve her fighting capabilities, and an S in Raging Lion will help her role as a tank, and at the same time, increase her damage output. She can attack three times too, which is pretty good, for a tank. Stick the Windspun Set to her, and she's good to go! No agility penalties = higher chances of consecutive attacks. Not to mention the high defense the equipment set offers.
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"Oranges can't fit into circles because rectangles are made of cheese."