Team Building Basics

TEAM BUILDING COMMON QUESTIONS:

• Do I need this new character? Are they good?

  • This is a roster focused game. You need Damage Dealers (Attackers), Supports, and other important roles covered. Look in the top left of the character's infographic - see what roles they cover, and check out our Roles page to see if you already have those roles covered.

  • Remember to primarily focus on LD characters only. EX+ only characters are useful though in LV180 content and in Dimension's End: Entropy. Keep in mind that stages continue to get harder, so every so often, you'll need to refresh your role coverage.

  • Lists of mentioned roles are hyperlinked so click/tap them and check if you have any or any are available to pull for!

• What does a team usually look like?

  • With the addition of Shinryu difficulty and Force Weapons you will need:

    1. A Force Weapon user first and foremost. This is the ticket to big damage the new Force Gauges and Force HP DMG Bonuses revolve around so get a good Force Weapon User (You need everything in their kit too still!) and the team that surrounds them will either be able to take advantage of it's conditions (BT users with FR units are good candidates), support the units that can empower units taking advantage of the Force Conditions or units that provide free damage for existing to squeeze the most out of Force Time.

    2. A damage dealer to end the fight within the turn count. This can be in either on-turn form (lots of HP attacks upfront) or off-turn form

       • Off-turn can mean linked attackers who will attack after an ally attacks.

       • Off-turn can also mean characters who punish enemies who take turns through counters or traps

       • Some units will trigger every field turn while conditions are met (essentially after ANYONE's turn)

    3. Consider a support to keep your team hitting hard, maybe also keep them healthy if needed

       • A support is a unit that boosts the party's important stats such as ATK, mBRV, BRV DMG, HP DMG, etc. They can do so by placing a buff (the blue-green icon) above a unit's head (aka buffer) or by having effects spread to the party from either a buff above their own head, a special effect (unique icon above the buff slots) or from invisible passives (aka aura bots)!

       • On the other side of the coin, units that enfeeble enemies by lowering their defense, BRV DMG taken, HP DMG taken are debuffers or have debuffing auras.

    4. Anyone that can protect you against what is special about that specific boss

       • Consider bringing a Healer, Tank, or someone who can mitigate oncoming BRV or HP damage. For Lufenia fights, prioritize having a unit that handles the orb condition

• IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ROLES*: Units have many tools available to them and roles can and will overlap. Just because 2 units share a tool/role does not mean it is easy to compare their entire kits nor does it mean they are only limited to 1 single role.

  • For example, Garnet is a buffing Support with Water & Thunder Enchant/Imperil who can also deal big AoE Magic Damage and has access to a burst weapon and burst healing. Comparing her to, for example, Ramza who is also a buffing support, but much weaker healing, melee damage focused with access to free turns, a burst weapon and higher HP DMG Limit boost from said BT weapon is ok if you look at their entire kits and what they excel/falter at.

  • DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO SAYS X IS BASICALLY AN [ADJECTIVE] Y IN A SERIOUS CONTEXT

  • From the previous example, saying Garnet is basically enchanting Ramza does them both a disservice, doesn't convey their actual kits and can lead to misinformation through an unecessary game of telephone.

• Why doesn't my character deal as much damage as someone else's in co-op

  • Make sure your character is max limit broken across ALL of their available weapons (BT is luxury).

  • Check our Fully Powering section of our beginner guide for more details on summon boards, character boards, high armor, bloom stones, Ultima Weapon, and more.

• I run out of gas in a fight, always at the end :c

  • If using an aggressive strategy, make sure you use your Force Times effectively with well-timed calls, Burst Effects, supports, friend units etc.

  • If using an off-turn strategy that punishes enemies taking turns, ensure you have survivability and buffs, calls, Burst Effects, etc that will last throughout the important duration of Force Times.

  • IT IS OK TO USE MORE THAN 1 FORCE TIME!

• I die before I can even run out of gas...

  • In the hardest stages, the most important thing is negating or mitigating the mechanics of the boss. That's more important than anything. Look at our Lufenia Research or Shinryu Studies page, and see what makes a boss special and how you can counter it.

  • Lufenia fights have orbs to directly counter or they can outright wipe the party

  • Shinryu fights have Force Gauges that grant enemies extra effects or can debuff the party with auras and they also get access to a Force Time of their own including a potentially dangerous Force Ability.

• Have more questions? Submit a question to the Tonberry Troupe and we'll get back to you! If it's common enough, we'll add it here!