Squall
Infographic (April 2023)
Character Notes & Recommendations
Have updates or suggestions? Contact us via Reddit or Discord, find our info Behind the Scenes!Summon Board Passive selections:
Odin choose 3 / 6 / 7
Bahamut choose 4 / 5 / 6
Usuals:
Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Brothers 4 / 5 / 7
Leviathan, Pandemonium, Diabolos, Alexander 4 / 5 / 6
For more details and help with summons, check Summon Hub!
Additional Weapons
Fury Blade: iBRV & mBRV +20% when HP > 80%
Acquire through Item Exchange > Power Token Exchange
Manikin Weapon: Adds S1 & S2 BRV DMG +10%
Acquire by finishing Act 2, Chapter 5 and going to Chapter 5.8
Acquire through Item Exchange > Power Token Exchange
Sphere Recommendations
NOTE: The sphere letters below are hyperlinked to our Sphere Hub which lists all available spheres sorted by effect!A Spheres - BRV DMG is best, and feel free to give him refined Kuja spheres if you have them! ATK, Melee ATK, Physical ATK spheres are certainly great also.
How-To-Play Notes
Squall is extremely easy to play, use LD, use BT finisher and he's ready for a big Force Time!
S1 and S2 are filler, S2 being the more damaging option while FR gauge isn't full.
Assault Trigger (EX) recharges in 2 skill uses and extends buffs on himself 2T extending his longevity and damage output a ton! With his BT rework, he can use it every turn as long as his BT effect is active!
Rough Divide (LD) is what refreshes his Roaring Hammer overhead effect for extra stats and his Additional Attack
His additional attack is 3 HP attacks to the target with 1 splash to non-targets at the end.
Blasting Zone (BT) provides the party with many more goodies thanks to his rework but Squall gets an added boost of 50% HP DMG Limit for himself.
Squall's kit is a bit lacking in HP attacks and this personal HP DMG Limit is supposed to counter that, however with how much HP DMG Limit allies provide with BT effects, HA effects and access to Ultima Weapons his personal 50% can feel less significant.
Conceal Zeal (FR) is a decent FR for allies, great for Squall, as it asks for:
Melee abilities on turn (30%) &
Stacking buff/effect on turn (40%)
If the buff/effect has roman numerals, it's a stacking effect! BT effects, Overhead effects, buffs and even Garland LDCA (no roman numerals, but is still considered stacking)
During his FR he provides 50% HP DMG & Limit to allies attacking a broken enemy which is great and adds to Squall's flexibility as it allows you to bring allies to boost his damage.
Removable Passives
(if you lack enough CP to equip important passives)Low BRV Speed Up (this is just not a good passive, you can remove this whether you need CP space or not, since it can bounce his turns around)
BRV Attack+ Up (from character board, never used)
HP Attack+ Up (from character board, never used)
Chain Bonus (generally useless)
Lionheart’s Pride (keep it unless you need room)
In-Depth Analysis of Early Echo Era Damage Dealers
After many questions and requests of whether to chase Vivi, Serah or Squall or if Rinoa can keep up or are Mog and Serah really worth it outside of support, we crunched a few numbers and so did our friends!
Estimates of Expected Damage by Cel
Burst Damage Estimates by Destroth
Quick FAQ
Units chosen were mainly favorites/recent units/convenience
Estimates may have slight innacuracies
Estimates don't take into account launches/linked follow-ups/FR bonuses
Tifa is still a solid damage dealer (12 HPs to target + extra true damage) and can be used to great effect. In Single Target focused fights, she can focus the main boss better than Vivi, however in 2+ target fights she would offer the equivalent of 12-14 HP attacks over 2 enemies (about 6-7 HPs per target avg) and while it scales great with launch, it's still slightly behind the listed units and she offers no unique utility or significant mechanic. (See reminder below)
Notes of Pros/Cons of early Echo Era Damage Dealers
REMINDER: All these units are amazing damage dealers and unless fights have specific requirements, they can each heavily overkill content for months
His own FR offers said 50% HP DMG Limit, but having allies to boost FR Bonus may be difficult
Follow-up attackers can benefit nicely from his 50% HP DMG Limit
Can pump out tons of damage for newer players who lack access to UW, supportive HA+ and many BT+ options
Very reliable damage, but his own FR offers no HP DMG Limit
His own FR may also be difficult for allies to raise if there is an HP regen present
Tied to an element which may be restricted in fights
On top of her strong damage, she offers great support if opting to not BT phase (everyone in party can dish out good damage)
Bow UW may not be easily accessible for those who can't decide on which damage dealer they want to use
His HA+ holds him back
His BT phase can feel weird to plan for, but is a great support if no BT phase needed (everyone in party can dish out good damage)
On top of his strong damage, he offers great utility in the form of auras, confuse and enchant
He is tied to elements that may be restricted in fights which extends to the party
No access to FR Echo means she is either relying on her own FR and allies may struggle to mean the conditions or she's relying on allied FRs and can't echo to raise the bonus before BT phase
She can however use her own FR and S2 to 8T to leave 1T for allies to summon and echo for any remaining enemy HP
While she has a super high damage ceiling, she needs extreme help to reach it as Ultima is 1 BRV + HP done 9 times and BRV gains have strict limits meaning she'll need modern batteries and potentially Prishe/Iroha LDCA. Especially vs 3 targets.