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#.as ninja while avoiding frontline combat
everyneji · 2 years
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Do you think the Main Branch would have even let Neji become a Chunin? From a clan perspective, giving a cadet branch better training and access to jutsu COULD UNLEARN the caged bird seal and then what? They're screwed, and could have a coup. I personally theorize that as the whole purpose of letting Neji compete was at the end to be like "nah, lmao, you're staying in your lane" hence why Neji really said "If I fall, you're going down with me"
I don't think it's the ONLY reason but I think it sure was A Factor, especially since Neji knows Rotation which is Not Allowed for Main Branch to know and he did that in front of a shitload of people. Thoughts?
I do indeed have a lot of thoughts about this and admittedly, this will be a lot of headcanon.
While the main family likely doesn't have the ability to block Neji from a promotion (this would be interfering with state matters) they could always pressure him personally. It's possible that, if they wanted to limit his growth, they would only allow him to take part in the exams out of A) an arrogant belief that Neji's blood makes him lesser despite his reputation as No. 1 Rookie and/or B) to keep an eye on Hinata in a situation with a lot of foreign nin who could be after her eyes.
This is an interesting concept, though it seems a little unlikely since Hinata was semi-disowned (though I wouldn't be surprised if she still had supporters since birth order matters so much to the clan) and even before he sees Neji fight Hiashi says "The Hyūga blood flows thicker in his veins than in anyone else's ... watch closely, Hanabi." He isn't in denial that Neji has the greatest potential in the clan. This echoes what Hizashi tells Neji as well:
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To have them both say it suggests this was something the family has been aware of since Neji was very young. Yet his potential is destined to be wasted because he was not in the main branch ... but we have to consider that Hizashi is a jōnin, and clearly a respected one since he got resurrected for the war. So is it just about promotions within the village structure, or is it something else?
What we also have to consider here is the role the Hyūga play in the village. While I interpret them as isolationist and arrogant, their loyalty to Konoha has never been in question. They call the choice to hand over Hizashi a "painful sacrifice" and Hiashi is willing to take the L before Hizashi forces his hand. They have their little saying they love:
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OTOH I think the Hyūga obviously kneecap themselves by so strictly rationing who learns what technique. Something like rotation is said to have caused foreign nin real trouble in past wars, but only the clan head and heir are taught it? (I think Kishimoto forgot he wrote that honestly but whatever.) Cutting off the nose to spite the face and all that. OTOH they clearly take pride in their place in the village and the strength they have to protect it.
My final point before I get back to the question at hand is that when you look at how IRL cadet branches work, there are some interesting points, with the main one being that they're often expected to take on duties that are 'below' the main family or too dangerous, such as travelling abroad or military service. The most dangerous job in a ninja village is being a ninja. That one Hyūga elder states:
"The kekkei genkai of the Hyūga clan is a vital asset of the village. And [Hiashi's] primary duty as head of the main branch is to protect it, now and forever."
With this in mind, do we consider that the role of branch members is to not just be a meat shield for the main family (which is functionally impractical) but to be the meat shield for the village as a whole, granting the clan great honour and respect in exchange? The main family do seem to end up ninja, but it's worth mentioning that it wasn't until the fourth databook that Hiashi was confirmed to be a jōnin; his rank before was always unlisted, as if his role as a shinobi was not of primary focus in his life until the war called everyone into action. In the first databook we also get:
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"Will a day of rest come for Neji..." His is a perpetual struggle: not just for acknowledgement, but for respect, and a place in the family that isn't what he has. Like Hizashi, I think Neji values his clan as a whole, but resents the caste system. He takes pride in being a Hyūga, and the reputation and role they have in the village, but he wants more than what is expected of him.
All of this is to say that I think the main family doesn't care what rank branch members reach, so long as they remain submissive, don't get personally ambitious and continue to obey them and serve Konoha. In fact they probably want branch members to achieve a certain level of success so the most dangerous missions go to them. It's like a resource they are exploiting. No doubt Konoha also sees this as a resource, since they have so little interest in interfering in the Hyūga's little slavery ring.
The note about learning how to dismantle the seal is interesting too because probably the biggest expert on jūinjutsu we see is good old Orochimaru, who did some pretty ooky things to gain his knowledge. I think this is some very esoteric knowledge, and a bigger threat than a branch member learning how it works on their own is collaboration between a main and cadet branch member, particularly between the clan head and a branch member: whatever knowledge they have on how the seal works could be extremely valuable to countering it. If I were a member of the main family, I would make sure this kind of bond could not exist, and I imagine the resentment on the part of the branch family is expected and almost encouraged in order to avoid it.
(In this sense, the family was 'fixed' by Hiashi and Hinata mending fences with Neji, hence the emphasis on how they now 'fight side by side' in the war. We just have to, you know, assume they put an end to the sealing practise and everything off screen. No word yet on reparations ...)
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Another thing I'll say is that I wish we got to see Neji's relationship with other branch members. I think in a way Neji is a kind of -- I use this very loosely but you get the idea -- 'model minority' who excels so thoroughly he's given privileges (e.g. training with the head of the family) which others could not get. He's also got very close blood ties to the head family. In many ways he's an exception, and we're told that he has the ability to be """free""" and reach great heights despite his position ... but what about everyone else?
This isn't to say Neji is privileged (it would be like saying Yang Guifei was privileged) but his compatriots who aren't geniuses and beloved nephews also deserve respect. It's entirely possible that everything I've outlined about my understanding of how the clan dynamics work only functions that way for Hizashi and Neji because they were so important to the main family outside of their branch status, and there are severe limits placed on branch members in general. Considering how badly Hizashi and Neji were treated, this is saying something.
When we see Neji in the chūnin exams he is exceptionally cynical to hide how deeply he cares and how thoroughly traumatized he is. I think he was beyond caring about consequence because he felt he would be killed no matter what, it was just a matter of how soon. So he said fuck it, I'm going to show off, run my mouth, and for just one blazing moment at least get to be the best not as a meat shield but as a person in my own right. In fact, "If I fall, you're going down with me" is very Neji in general: it's exactly how he handles the fight with Kidōmaru.
(Needless to say, I think growing up thinking his life has no value severely screwed up his perception of self but that's another topic entirely ...)
TL;DR: The main family is insulated by the branch members going out into the world and doing the most dangerous work the village could ask of the clan; while ambition wouldn't be desirable working hard and serving the village and clan well is; a sense of kinship and equality would be dangerous because the main family's power rests in dehumanization and othering; Neji wants to do his best but not just as a mindless meat shield, but as someone who is defending real values like family/friends/village and respected for it.
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noneatnonedotcom · 3 years
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concept: TOTAL WAR RWBY
in a universe where the great war destroyed every kingdom and caused a collapse of civilization you play as one of the five remaining peoples of remnant as you seek to (re) forge a kingdom that can stand the test of the grimm tide
KINGDOMS
Vale: led by Ruby Rose
ruby's kingdom of vale focuses on light cavalry and ranged. her own special abilites as a general are
SILVER EYED WARRIOR: grimm are weakened greatly within her aura and can even be outright destroyed if the differance in power between her and them is great enough
OPTIMISTIC HEROISM: lower unhappiness in area's controlled by ruby means that there's less Grimm to fight overall meaning lower garisons and more money spent on the main armies
unique units
Wood Runners: long bowmen with added range and melee combat stats equal to melee infantry. light armor means that you should keep them in cover though as well as being a juicy target for cavalry. added range over most normal archers and better armor piecing with their arrows makes them a powerful, unit that can last in melee as well specializing in Anti heavy infantry
Dire corgis: large war dogs with aura unlocked. look like giant corgis because they are giant corgis. great for running off ranged units and light cav. weak to spears, though their aura lets them hang around in combat longer than most would think. they do rely on the charge bonus though and can't be controlled once they're let off the leash. can be called back to their handlers though to be repositioned
FOCUS OF CAMPAIGN: ruby's main focus is to retake the cities and villages of vale that were lost to the grimm tide. your main strategy should be to build up on patch while the rest of vale falls to the grimm before striking out. your main advantage is against the grimm not people after all. and your added happyness means that you can spend more on your armies to put in your frontlines rather than worrying about protecting your rear (ruby's got a great rear guys) your main rival will be
UNITED TRIBES OF VALE: led by Yang Xiao-Long
yang's all about shock infantry and charge bonuses. using them to break the morale of enemy armies her special abilities are
HOT STUFF: human morale lowers around her and buildings catch fire in her aura when she's in combat. she's too hot to handle
PROBABLY WASN'T IMPORTANT ANYWAYS: still recruits units and receives money from buildings that are burned down. though at a slightly reduced rate
UNIQUE UNITS
Bandits: replaces mob, cheap units that gain charge bonus when next to another bandit unit. burn down buildings when nearby. no formations though and can't brace for charges so avoid cav. low morale, they're bandits they're not sticking around when shit goes south
berzerkers: shock infantry, cause dread in enemies lowering morale. chance of going berserk which makes them unbreakable but uncontrollable may even attack allies if they're the closest unit. REALLY FUCKING STRONG ON THE ATTACK! weak to ranged
yang's campaign is all about uniting vale as a tributary state to the tribe. you can recruit units from burned down buildings and still get money so spread like a wildfire and try to show your baby sis that it's safer under your protection. be aware that grimm are gonna be a huge problem for you so keep some bandits as a garrison in every village to deal with grimm.
"some of you may die... but I don't really give a shit about you" - Yang to the bandits probably
vale is a mix of American and French culture. so yeah kinda like Louisiana plantations but with more anime
Vaccuo: led by Jaune Arc
jaune specializes in pike infantry with heavy armor and heavy knights on horseback. he's set up to be a slugger with his special abilities
AURA AMP: allied units in jaune's aura slowly recover health and have increased stats (including armor)
SCION OF HEROES: the effects of chivalry are doubled and you gain it faster.
UNIQUE UNITS
shining knights: heavy knights with aura and mounts also in aura and armor. fuck you, fuck the guy behind you, and fuck the guy behind him I'm coming through. very expensive high morale and capabilities
rainbow guard: heavy pike infantry that proudly protect the standard of the arc family. give extra morale to those around them. fuck you they're not breaking. if there's even one guy left they're still fighting.
jaune's campaign is centered around taking control of the deserts and jungles of vaccuo from your origins in the mountains and hill country of the arc territories.
vaccuo's culture is like Scotland mixed with the middle east. fiercely independent people with a very strong sense of honor. also fuck you they'd rather die then be seen as a coward so you'd better just fucking kill them all. AND FUCK TAXES! so jaune has his work cut out for him, but he's in it for the long haul
MINSTRAL: LED BY PYRRHA NIKOS
pyrrha's all about personal combat and single entity units
INVINCIBLE GIRL: pyrrha herself is fucking busted and everyone wants to be like her. single entity units like huntsmen or companions are stronger and get more XP from battles
AN OFFER THEY CAN'T REFUSE: if pyrrha has more military power than someone they have improved relations with her. peacefully annexing people is possible this way. though this can cause a problem if you expand too fast
UNIQUE UNITS
pyrrha's guard: heavy spear infantry made in the image of spartans. slow but they decimate cav outlast ranged and out fight most over infantry. but they are fucking slow and hate being flanked where their phalanx will not work.
nora and ren: two unit entity, stealth shock is the name of the game ren sneaks them in close to anything even grimm. nora deals a fuck ton of damage all at once that can't be blocked by armor and shatters units. you only get one though sorry the world isn't ready for two noras
while sino/Greco/Roman culture makes martial ability the most important, however, only champions and highly expensive units can be trained. your low-level fighters (I.e most of your army) will have to be mercenaries. still with enough champions, you can take on most things so that's good
SCHNEE DUST COMPANY led by Weiss Schnee
atlas is all about dust weapons. a necessity because of but funded by Weiss's special abilities
COMPANY MEN: units require less upkeep cost
WEISSY: she's kinda a bitch, -50 to all diplomatic relations -75 to faunas factions
UNIQUE UNITS
WEISS GUARD: dust rifle units, slow to reload but longer range than normal dust muskets. dust round in general deal moral damage greater than almost any other units in the game (only yang's berzerkers and blake's beast-men scare people more)
BIG GUNS: 24LBS rifled field guns. or cannons rather for those who don't know the difference. fire straight and have an effective range of 1500 feet. highly accurate and with enough kick to drop even the largest of grimm
atlas and the SDC by extension are based on German and Russian culture (mainly german now that the nobles are gone) and have their main campaign focused on dealing with internal divisions and grimm. their cheaper units lends themselves to using dust arms rather than melee but bare in mind they suck in melee as a result. still, weiss is of the opinion that if you can kill your enemies from the comfort of your home and simply bombard them into submission or dust, why wouldn't you?
Menagerie led by Blake belladonna
menagerie must toe the line between animal and man, utilizing special abilities like
SAVAGE REPUTATION: the effects of dread are doubled and you gain dread faster
CUNNING HUNTERS: blake has bonuses to stats and the stats of her army while ambushing or attacking at night. doing both will make the bonuses stack
UNIQUE UNITS:
white fang infantry: can deploy anywhere light armor but use spears so cav has a hard time with them
NINJA: can deploy anywhere, inspire dread, use grenades flung from slings. capable of vanishing or using smoke bombs to lower enemy stats in melee for a short time
menagerie is a mix between Australian and Polynesian cultures but they are relatively new on the world stage. having been granted the island of menagerie in the brief time before the collapse of vale after the great war. the fuanas population outside of menagerie is very low as a result of the collapse and you have to ask yourself "what will you do to ensure the survival of your people?"
menagerie is a mix between Australian and Polynesian cultures but they are relatively new on the world stage. having been granted the island of menagerie in the brief time before the collapse of vale after the great war. the funas population outside of menagerie is very low as a result of the collapse and you have to ask yourself "what will you do to ensure the survival of your people?"
concepts.
chivalry: is a meter in the game, doing honorable actions increases chivalry. making formal declarations of war and waiting a turn to attack, not doing night battles, honoring alliances and calls to arms. generally making combat harder for yourself will be seen as chivalrous. the higher your chivalry the bigger bonus you will have to morale in battles and to diplomatic interactions.
dread: dread is the opposite of chivalry and is gained by doing unchivalrous actions. it will cause the enemy to start with lower moral and cause everyone (including yourself) to lose moral more quickly. this can be really helpful against strong enemies that have better weapons than you. it will also cause diplomatic relations to be harder. using dust muskets or cannons will cause dread but only in small amounts the more you use them the more dread you'll cause
post-campaign content
finishing your kingdom will open up international diplomacy and will allow you to start a campaign in another kingdom. each with different results based on the person you're playing
jaune can marry the ruler of another kingdom giving him their special abilities (jaune can only get dust muskets and cannons after he marries Weiss btw)
Pyrrha may offer protection to the others and gains their general unit for her own army
yang may extort tribute from them and treat them as the tributaries she had before gaining access to their unique units. ruby may offer bonds of friendship and do the same
blake may create embassies and get faunas versions of each unit (they can fight at night) as well as improve her chivalric reputation with each campaign (basically lets you gain the bonuses of dread without the negatives)
and Weiss may open up branch offices and have each character as a leader under her (you basically play the official campaign as the character you choose but with access to Weiss's abilities and units now as well)
you may only do one campaign at a time. so if you're jaune you have to subjugate yang and ruby in vale before you can try to marry weiss. you gotta finish what you started before you move on basically
on each map, there's an ancient grimm. this is a massive single-unit entity and has an army of grimm backing it. defeating this grimm will grant you a major bonus to happiness and prevent further grimm from showing up later.
single unit entities are very powerful but get weaker as their health goes down. their health will recover with time though
if you finish every campaign as a single character you unlock the grimm tide. salem has taken notice of you and wants you gone before ozma has a chance to bring you to his side. grimm will spawn every turn based on the unhappiness of cities in every kingdom you will wage a war all over the world against the grimm and try to hold on as unique and powerful generals lead hords of powerful grimm to attack you. these hords will even be supplemented by the grimm attracted to your unhappiness to keep your pops happy!
if you beat every general salem herself will come to take you out. she has an unending army that will constantly get reinforcement from offscreen every time you kill off a unit and she's a capable commander in her own right with powerful magic that will prevent you from camping too much (she's out of practice so she can only cast a spell every once in a while, be sure to move when you see the strange glow) if you can manage to get your character to her through her army you'll win and defeat her once and for all
@weatherman667 don't know if you play total war but had an idea for total war rwby and wanted to know your thoughts on the various kingdoms as lead by the main characters.
anyone else who sees this and has suggestions go nuts with it. it's just a bit of fun at the end of the day. how would you incorporate a character? what would their unique units be?
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sophibeans · 5 years
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Etrian Odyssey Nexus class descriptions
A brief, spoiler-free explanation of what each class wants to do and how to use them in a party.
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Hero- Frontline Damage and Utility A well-rounded frontliner, Hero's primary gimmick is that skills have a chance to create an "afterimage" in the open 6th party slot, who repeats the skill next turn. Their skills cover most bases, with area, single-target, and all three elements, as well as some shield skills that reduce damage to the party for a turn. A superb DPS with tons of versatility, though they need a bit of build-around to get the best damage possible. Greatest strength is breadth of options, as Hero is one of the best classes to have in nearly every situation. Closest thing to a weakness is that they're somewhat SP hungry- think carefully about whether you’d rather have shield or sword techniques. Pairs best with any strong party that leaves an open spot on the frontlines, since you want the afterimages to be in melee range and need lots of damage to charge up the Hero’s strongest attack.. Also can put out a little bit of off-healing and solid damage reduction, making it easier to get by with less dedicated supports such as Harbinger and Survivalist.
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Protector- Defensive Support A defensive support that works on either line, Protector is the class that best reduces incoming damage. Taunts, direct cover, flat damage reduction or even nullification, attack debuffs, every trick in the book from past games is here to improve survivability and give the rest of your party more room to breathe. Can function in frontline for increased aggro or backline to reduce damage taken. Greatest strength is the unique niche of making the party way, way harder to kill. Greatest weakness is limited contribution outside of that, though at least their new counter move chips in on damage somewhat. Pairs wonderfully with squishy damage-dealers such as Nightseeker and Shogun, and allows less dedicated healers such as War Magus or Harbinger to fit the bill.
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Medic- Primary Healer Surprising nobody, Medic is the single best healer class in the game, with every kind of healing, revival and curative one could ask for, as well as a get-out-of-jail-free Force Break that fully cures and revives everyone. Would you believe they can deal reasonable damage with hammers, too? Fun tools such as overhealing and multicasting healing allow for a significant degree of creativity. Greatest strength is being the best at getting the party out of bad situations. Greatest weakness is chugging through TP real quick, but realistically a smart player won’t be too worried. Every DPS loves to have a Medic on deck, but due to practically being a defensive support, stacking Medic with another healer is definitely overkill- just one other support should be more than enough.
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Survivalist- Backline Damage/Defensive Support/Labyrinth Utility This class is interesting in the best of ways. Out-of-combat utility such as a revive, inventory space increase and gathering is nice. General archery skills give multitarget coverage and access to fire, as well as fairly standard damage-dealing. Where these guys stand out is their dodge utility; their blinding arrow, force boost and accuracy debuff combine to potentially nullify incoming threats, and Hazy Arrow- which you can only use after dodging- is tied for the strongest attack skill in the game. They also can play around with turn order, giving an ally instant priority on the turn order. Greatest strength is widely varied utility. Greatest weakness is middling damage unless you get lucky, and the risk involved in dodge-tanking. Pairs well with inaccurate, slow, or squishy classes such as Gunner and Imperial, and few parties would turn down a little extra damage.
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Ronin- Frontline Versatile Damage If you ask me, Ronin is the most interesting it's ever been. Glass cannon katana-wielders by default, they can use Upper Stance to boost damage and lay down single-target skills, Clear Stance to bolster their damage and infliction rates when they use binding or petrifying cuts, or Drawing Stance to improve speed, accuracy and evasion for multitarget damage... or Force Boost to do all three! Using skills during matching stances will grant critical hits, providing some serious value. As the class with the highest Strength in the game, Ronin are superb damage dealers, but ironically are unambiguously the best inflictors thanks to Clear Stance. Greatest strength is awesome damage and the option to build towards a specific direction. Greatest weakness is squishiness, though if you’re careful that shouldn’t be crippling. Loves any and every kind of support.
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War Magus- Frontline Healing/Offensive Support Healers with a twist, War Magi have good (no longer insane) damage output, with skills that apply strong secondary effects against targets with ailments, such as debuffs and binds. Bring a dedicated inflictor along with to combo with them! As for their healing, they pack numerous proactive options to block ailments and heal damage, including heal skills that trigger at the start and end of the turn. Greatest strength is extreme versatility, with more to do than other healers. Greatest weakness is lack of specialization- neither their healing nor debuffs nor offenses are as good as more dedicated units, and that’s assuming you even stick the ailment. Pairs best with an ailment inflictor such as Ninja or Nightseeker, enables Harbinger and Pugilist, and enjoys having a non-healing support such as Survivalist or Protector to help out.
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Highlander- Focused Frontline Damage Back into the simpler classes, Highlander is a spearfighting berserker class, with powerful attacks and huge strength buffs that cost a chunk of HP and other moves that can restore HP. They also sport mild utility, with anti-status effects and a pseudo-counterattack when they lose HP. Overall, if paired with a decent supprt base, capable of pumping out great damage. Greatest strength is an easy-to-execute way to get excellent value in the form of damage. Greatest weakness is the ever-present chance of getting themselves into kill range with their HP loss. Pairs awesome with other frontline DPS such as Ronin or Imperial due to a row-target attack buff, and enjoys defensive support, particularly healing.
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Gunner- Versatile Backline Damage Gunner is probably the most well-rounded of the backline DPS, with all three binds (and huge infliction rates), all three elements (with great damage), and a unique gimmick centered around accurate attacks that reduce evasion and inaccurate attacks that do loads of damage. Heck, they even have a healing move if you're desperate. If you aren't sure who to add and have an open spot on your backline, why not toss in a Gunner? Greatest strength is being one of the most effective "self-sufficient" DPS. Greatest weakness is that most high-value plays Gunners can do are unreliable due to poor accuracy or lowering your defense. Fits into basically every team, but pairs well with ailment inflictors like Nightseeker or Arcanist, since blinded or paralyzed enemies can’t dodge.
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Sovereign- Buffing/Healing Support Another support class, Sovereigns are dedicated buffers that make your team deal more damage, take less damage, and all sorts of other tricks. Notably, they have a number of sustain-based healing abilities and can purge buffs and debuffs for more substantial healing. Also of note is Final Decree, a huge one-turn multiplier to outgoing and incoming damage that requires the Sovereign to purge three buffs from themselves. Greatest strength is that Sovereign can (theoretically) handle every imaginable aspect of support all on their own to carry a team. Greatest weakness is that doing so means keeping a lot of plates spinning, and spinning them can run you dry on TP quick. Pairs well with high-power DPS to enable, preferably all on the same line. For instance, a frontline of Ronin+Landsknecht+Highlander. Buffs of the same type stack additively, by the way, if you’re thinking of running more buffs and debuffs alongside a Sov.
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Ninja- Backline Debilitating Support Here's another odd one. Ninja can use melee weapons from the backline with full power, have all sorts of status infliction moves, and have dodge-tanking abilities to attract and avoid enemy attacks. Is it a DPS? Is it an ailment inflictor? Is it a defensive support? Its greatest strength is that it can be two of the above at once, and will basically always go first to slap enemies with a hard disable or eliminate a priority target- or even pass an item to someone who needs it! Its greatest weakness is it may not be as good as just running more dedicated units in those roles. Pairs well with anyone who likes ailments and dislikes taking hits (Nightseeker and Shogun spring to mind). Note that Clone isn’t nearly as good as EO3, so completely ignoring it is perfectly valid.
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Zodiac- Backline Elemental Damage The dedicated blaster caster. Zodiac get access to fire, ice and lightning right off the bat, and have strong area of effect moves to burn down random encounters. Elemental weaknesses are slightly stronger in this game than in past EOs (no more x1.25 weaknesses), so take note. Also, the base damage on their skills is less than you might expect, so picking up Charge moves to power up is key. Greatest strength is elemental access and consistently high area damage. Greatest weakness is churning through TP astonishingly quickly and, surprisingly, fairly mediocre damage output, especially against weakness-less targets. Pairs well with supports such as Survivalist to draw enemy attacks away or Sovereign to buff the Zodiac’s damage.
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Farmer- Debilitating/Resource Management Support Ladies and gentlemen, Farmer is an actual class now. Outside of bosses, they’ll mostly act as inflictors and labyrinth support, giving you extra EXP, items and money while putting enemies to sleep. Unlike before, they can contribute wonderfully to boss fights with their Force Boost, which double-casts all items for free (including status-inflicting items, damage-dealing items, TP-restoring items...) and a Force Break that restores your entire party’s Force to full with a chance to repair broken gauges. Greatest strength is how much easier they make life during day-to-day exploration. Greatest weakness is abysmal stats and how much they struggle to contribute if you don’t come packing an item supply, which means their early game suuuucks. Pairs well with anyone who really wants TP, relies heavily on Force, or likes to see disabled enemies- Hero and Imperial spring to mind, but who doesn’t like an easier time in the exploration phase?
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Shogun- Damage/Offensive Support Shogun can either act as dual-wielding katana masters on the frontline, or strategic commanders dispensing buffs and coordinating team attacks from the backline. Perhaps a mix of both! Dual-wielding and no access to armor means they desperately want a defensive support to help out, and they probably want at least one big frontline DPS to enable, but with the right party they can enable some great stuff. Notable for having the strongest attack buff in the game in Great Warrior. Greatest strength is big damage and enabling fun party builds. Greatest weakness is the fact that I cannot overstate how squishy these guys are for frontliners. Pairs well alongside a strong set of frontline attackers, and whatever kind of defensive support you can find- fittingly enough, Ronin and Ninja are great examples. Good at setting up for Landsknecht, too.
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Landsknecht- Versatile Frontline Damage The bread-and-butter melee DPS, Landies gain access to sword, rapier, and shield-bash skills, as well as Links: an elemental attack that then hits again every time an ally hits the same target this turn. They also sport a number of abilities to play with turn order, with ways to enable going first and skills that reward you for going first. Greatest strength is pure simple power (for non-linkers) or the strong elemental damage (for linkers). As for weaknesses, Linksknechts really need a party built around enabling them by hitting enemies as many times as possible and need to juggle two self-buffs. Meanwhile, non-Linkers are pretty much the “baseline DPS”, with no real weaknesses (but not as high peaks as other options.) Fits wonderfully into any team, since everyone likes a tough, powerful frontline attacker. Worth noting that the only DPS that don’t have a strong multi-hit attack to Link off of are Highlander and Imperial, while Shogun and Pugilist have the greatest focus on multi-hits. [Disclaimer: This ain’t EO4, and Links are no longer busted OP. If you build a party that sets off a lot of links and nothing else you’re gonna be disappointed.]
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Nightseeker- Frontline Ailment-based Damage Speaking of good damage, Nightseekers have Throw skills to inflict enemies with ailments, and gain huge buffs to damage against disabled foes. Though they have poor defense, their Shadow Cloak ability can temporarily block incoming attacks. Greatest strength is that they can pump out huge damage with little specialization and only a turn of prep. Greatest weakness is inconsistency, between the chance of ailments not sticking and their low defense. Pairs well with a good defender such as Protector and maybe ailment inflictors such as Arcanist, though depending on your build your Nightseeker may want to solely inflict ailments themselves to build up stacks of Foul Mastery. (Consider Nightseeker as a subclass for any of your DPS if you already have a strong inflictor.)
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Arcanist- Backline Disabling/Healing Support And here's another disabler. Arcanists apply Circle spells, lasting effects that repeatedly try to inflict ailments or binds on enemies that the Arcanist can dispel early for a powerful effect. The first such effects are all-party heals and revives, making them good supports. They also put out good damage with the dismiss attack spells. Greatest strength is their strong disables and incredible healing numbers to keep momentum in your favor. Greatest weakness is running out of stuff to do once you’ve set up, as well as high TP costs. Note that Circles have relatively low infliction rates to balance their over-time effect, too. Capable of healing reasonably well for most teams, but especially loves to work with allies who can get value off of ailments and binds such as Nightseeker or War Magus.
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Imperial- Frontline Burst Damage If you like to see big numbers, do I have a class for you. Imperials overheat their mechanical swords to deal hundreds if not thousands of damage, then chain together combo skills to reduce the cooldown timer and prepare for the next burst. For best results, lay down as many buffs as you can to get some real fun cooking. Greatest strength is their apocalyptically high damage numbers, and not unreasonable damage while on cooldown. As for weaknesses, they're incredibly slow, expend huge chunks of TP from a tiny pool, and take double damage on the turn they're using their big damage skills. Be wary. Pairs great with Survivalist to make them faster, Protector to cover their defenses, or (god forbid) Farmer to keep their TP and Force meters topped off.
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Pugilist- Frontline Debilitating Support Barrage Pugilists return from EO5 to apply binds, deal damage and hit as many times as possible in a turn. Each attack has a chance to lead into another, with binds tacked on for good measure. Fully bound enemies, in turn, take massive damage from their finisher, Leading Blow. Please note that these guys are NOT the same as EO5 Pugs- Impact Pugilist goodies have migrated to Highlander, and moves like One-Two Punch got nerfed in damage but buffed in infliction rates. Greatest strength is being far and away the best in the game at hogtying enemies. Greatest weakness is a dearth of options in multi-target fights, and thoroughly mediocre damage. Loves to pair with anyone who wants their prey debilitated, such as Gunner or Imperial, and makes a great Link activator for Landsknecht.
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Harbinger- Debuff/Healing Support The final returning class, Deathguard Harbingers act as debuffing supports, lowering enemy attack, defense, and notably ailment and bind resistance. As they apply stacks of the Miasma Armor stance, they can remove it to heal and revive the party, and block incoming ailments. They can do reasonable damage on a fully debuffed target, too, although if you want Deathbringer Harbinger you may want to use Nightseeker instead. Greatest strength is the mixture of healing, damage and debuffs becoming more than the sum of their parts. Greatest weakness is that you need to juggle a lot of timers and getting thrown off hurts your effectiveness. Pairs wonderfully with anyone who wants to stick ailments or binds, but fits into most parties that don’t already have a dedicated buffer, since buffs and debuffs stack additively and thus aren’t great in saturation.
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osmw1 · 5 years
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Dimension Wave   Chapter 25 — Defensive Battle
“Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that the event’s started here.”
“Gotcha. I hope it’s lucrative for you, Kizuna.” “You too. Earn lots, okay? See ya.”
As I ended the chat with Alto, I turned back to my party members. The three of them were already engaged in battle against monsters and the fight was only getting more intense. Other parties were in the same predicament. It was truly like a battlefield. Our reinforcements include my sisters, Alto, and others. We just have to hold out more until our main forces arrive.
‘I’m telling you, the enemies came out of nowhere! Send backup now!’ ‘It’s the same over here!’
… the local chat was a mess. Everybody was in a state of confusion and yelling at each other. There was no way to calmly speak to each other. Now that I’ve finished calling for reinforcements, it was time for me to return my allies. With my Cetus Longsword in hand, I joined the fray.
‘Compose yourselves!’
A voice boomed across the battlefield. It was so loud that my legs almost gave out. All other party leaders must have felt the spirit from the voice as everyone fell into silence. That’s something that only happens in a VR game. If it were a PC MMORPG, no one would listen.
‘I believe we have all called for reinforcements. Our duty now is to do whatever it takes to resist the enemy and wait for our comrades!’
That’s certainly not wrong. I look ahead at the monsters. We don’t have enough people on our side, but it’s not a huge deficit.
‘Engage in a fighting withdrawal! Then, all party leaders shall report on their current situation with their map coordinates. It is utmost important we have a strong grasp on our own forces!’
Oh, I should point out that the map looks like this.
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It wouldn’t be hard to get a sense of where people are with their coordinates.
‘I shall speak first. I am at C3, in the middle of the action. There is a black tower in construction beyond the hill and the swarm of enemies!’
A black tower? That’s probably a monument us players have to destroy. Well, with the number of monsters in front of us, that’s not something we can do right now, so let’s wait for backup. Alright! Let’s follow that person’s defensive battle tactics. I took a deep breath and shouted as loud as I could.
‘I’m at B5, right flank. Currently engaged with enemies! I have already called for reinforcements!’
I followed suit and reported our status. The enemies were flooding in from all three paths and everybody was engaged in combat. We have no choice but to go on the defensive until support arrives.
‘Reinforcements are not the end-all be-all but do hold fast for help!’
The voice booms back at me. I should get back to battle since I’ve finished reporting, though I could’ve done it while fighting. I headed back to my friends and see Yamikage first. She’s at the rear of the party which makes sense.
“Cleaver! We’ll form a defense until we get reinforcements. Let’s play it safe, everyone!” “Understood!” “Aye, aye!” “‘kay.”
Cleaver connected with a Dimensional Skeleton as I spoke to my friends. It’s a tough situation, but not an impossible one. The people beside us seem to be former frontliners too. We won’t get defeated so easily.
“Kizuna, you should focus on wide-area attacks.” “Yeah, they’re a huge swarm, but it’s not like I have any other skills.”
Cleaver—a beginner’s skill for gutting weapons—is a single-target skill. Luckily, it seems to work well at the skeletons, but that kill was but a drop in the bucket. I’m not trying to minimize the importance of a single kill though. Oh, right. I should probably tell the others.
‘There are lots of ‘em, so focus on area of effect attacks!’
The other parties probably didn’t need to be reminded, but just in case.
“Speed Gutting… Cleaver!”
I activated both skills in a row. Speed Gutting helps make me feel a little nimbler, so I used it as a self-buff. Every little bit counts, right? Or at least, I’ve no choice but to do so until our reinforcements arrive.
“Kizuna, try not to spam—” “I can get it back with every kill. What’s important now is to kill as much as we can!” “That makes sense. Then, I shall use… Wild Dance, the Second: Bloom!”
That the biggest advantage Spirits have over the other races. We can keep using our skills with the Energy we gain from every kill. Though we’re weak normally, spamming skills might actually be beneficial to us. Each fallen Dimensional Skeleton gets replaced by another of their kind, but we just have to keep at it.
“Keep firing, archers! Rain upon them!”
Someone, somewhere called out. What a staggering number of arrows. That’s gotta hit at least something. I glance over my shoulder to see a party of archers shouting out their skills. Kanata had mentioned before, but any AoE attacks will not hit allies. Instead, the arrows rained down upon the horde of enemies. Piercing attacks like that don’t work very well against skeletons, but it still did quite a bit of damage. The enemies aren’t advancing as quickly now. Perhaps they’re trying to avoid the arrows. They’re not letting up so easily.
“Cleaver!” “… Toggling.”
Even though her specs are split between crafting and combat, Sheryl was fighting as well. That’s the second time she’s used Toggling this week. It’s a skill that does piercing damage and was very effective against fish-type monsters. And here, her skill pierced through three monsters at the same time.
“I, too, shall use my special ninja skills!” “Special ninja skills? You mean Drain?” “Nay.” “… what?”
Normally, Yamikage uses nothing but Drain. It’s strong for us four, but almost definitely trash-tier for other parties. She’s fixated on Drain, but she’s saying she knows other skills too? It must be super powerful. Yamikage finished casting as we take down some more Dimensional Skeletons.
“Here be my Circle Drain!”
“Ain’t that still just Drain?!”
A great purplish black circle appeared on the ground and attacked the skeletons, then orbs of green floated over to her, much like normal Drain… except these orbs are way bigger. The area is huge on that skill. It hit 10 of them at once. I don’t think she has another chance to use this skill. Whatever. If it’s Yamikage’s Drain, it’s gotta be pretty good.
“There’s so much I want to say to you, but just keep spamming it!” “Verily!”
Still, that was yet another drop in the bucket. We simply don’t have enough people on our side. This really is a raid battle. I mean, obviously.
“Gah!”
I was busy spamming my skills but left an opening for four attacks on me, totaling 470 damage. A single hit doesn’t do too much, but it adds up quickly.
“Kizuna! Wild Dance, the Third: Cherry Blossoms!” “Thanks! Cleaver!”
There are lots of AoE skills for folding fans—perfect for this fight. Shouko took down five enemies at once with that attack. Even with using all those skills, I’ve been gaining just a little Energy. But if I keep getting hit then it means nothing. It’s all thanks to Shouko that I didn’t get a fifth time there.
“Kizuna, let us fall back. We are overextended.” “Damn! Okay!”
I took a calm look at our surroundings and as Shouko had said, we’re isolated. Skill spamming is effective and all, but we’ll be screwed if we get flanked from the sides. We fought off the enemies to the left and right as we began to withdraw.
contents: /prologue/ /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /ch005/ /ch006/ /ch007/ /ch008/ /ch009/ /ch010/ /ch011/ /ch012/ /ch013/ /ch014/ /ch015/ /ch016/ /ch017/ /ch018/ /ch019/ /ch020/ /ch021/ /ch022/ /ch023/ /ch024/ /ch025/ /next/
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acradaunt · 5 years
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EON Playthrough - Week 4
As suggested by last week, ever since getting subclasses, the rotation pool has grown ever larger. Perhaps too large, slowing down levelling to where I'm well below what it expects. This resulted in me making the rather dubious decision to fight the 9th stratum boss at a meager level 50-53, when I imagine the recommended is about 58-60, as all three regional FOEs remained as red.
Still, my stubbornness made me take four attempts to kill the guy, trying different tactics of varying offense and defensive. In the end, Laura frontline Combat Medic-ing beat out actually trying to block his nasty moves with Protector or Zodiac. I don't think Protector was by any means a bad choice, it's just that when the assface panics four of the five party members, your options are to use Healing Touch or to just wipe.
My reward for that was to be greeted by another full-on boss within about twenty minutes. So my efforts to get better gear before doubling back and taking out those FOEs was punched right in the face. Barf. Honestly, I've spent the majority of EO-time this week running around and cleaning things up and getting those awkward tiles on the map in FOE territory, so forward progress has been fairly minimal.
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Iris the Protector/Imperial: The main idea with her is that she can use free turns to use a Drive attack and use that Heat Guard make her even better as a meatshield. Also, she was literally in EOIV as an Imperial, so it's only fair. However, the fact is, I didn't even HAVE a Drive Blade until like minutes ago. It's definitely a good fit for her, but things just haven't worked out that way yet, partially because I'm a cheapass. Doubly poor for her, both 9th's boss and 10th's midboss suffer from extreme quickening, getting radically more difficult as the fight goes on. Protection just cannot keep up with bosses who suddenly start taking multiple turns per turn midway into the fight. The only viable option is to carefully whittle them down to about 40%, and then just blow the everliving crap outta them in 3-4 turns. Slow and steady just can't mitigate enough or do enough damage. It's annoying because quickening isn't really a thing often in EO; apart from both Nexus' 4th stratum boss and side-region boss both having it to lesser, more reasonable degrees, the only real instance I can think of is friggin' Star Devourer. Possibly Undead King did? He didn't unlive that long to really know what he could do. It's fine when they take a second action after a set amount of turns (5th boss did this), but when they start doing it every turn, with stronger results? Not really fair.
Klein the Hero/Imperial: Regiment Rave is without a doubt absolutely nuts in terms of damage, but thinking about it, it's somewhat fair. It's a turn-end move, AND its damage comes largely from the rest of the party piling on. If anything goings wrong with anyone, it does fairly blah damage. In those regards, it's basically a stronger but more easily stuffed Link. Like Iris, the Drive Blade hasn't come into play yet, and for him, not sure if it will. Regiment Rave might be all or nothing, but when it is, it's likely stronger than a subbed Drive could hope to be. Its upside and downside is being fire-based, and I'm guessing both 10th's midboss and boss are gonna be wholly immune to that. So he's probably taking a break for a while.
Juri the Survivalist/Harbinger: Apart from her usual job of running nighttime gathering jobs (so you can immediately re-harvest those points when midnight strikes), after taking a good hard look at the 9th's enemies, Juri was a perfect fit to counter nearly every last one of them. Adept at avoiding hitting particular (frontline) targets and the toughest two enemies being easily crippled by Leg Bind and Blind made her exemplary towards the end of the stratum. Not to mention nearly every quest as of late has been simply gather crap from resource points. If you have a Survivalist and dumped them when stratums 5/7/8 were awful to them, look at bringing them back for the 9th.
Kahna the Landsknecht/Harbinger: Yeah, she squarely cracked into the main rotation. Linking is great for quickly subduing random monsters, but she's been performing questionably during bosses and FOEs. Yet I still keep using her. Hmm.
Coral the Landsknecht/Protector: Honestly, hasn't seen too much use since subclasses arrived. Dunno why, as while Kahna is definitely better for randoms, when I've taken her to bosses, she always seems stuck using her subpar Shield Breaks to keep things open for Erika and Olga, barely having time to contribute herself. Coral's at an unfortunate position where she's not as strong as Erika/Olga, and not as versatile as Laura. Landy's Force skill is decent enough, but it sure lacks the oomph of perfectly restoring everyone or killing just everything on screen or completely stealing a foe's turn. It's the same 'slow and steady isn't good enough' problem Iris has.
Laura the Medic/Landsknecht: It seems like in pinch situations, she's going to basically be a frontline debuffer, while Leon runs the healing & buff duty. While she's not as good or as durable as Coral, the potency of Healing Touch is somewhat ridiculous, having torpedoed the two brand new bosses strategies utterly.
Adam the Medic/Zodiac: Unlike Laura's reckless nonsense, Adam does so-so damage in the back, and has multi-hit options. Better for random encounters and those with massive physical resistance, but kind of a waste of TP during FOEs and bosses. They both fill niches, so I'm actively using both. Never at the same time, though. Two Landsknechts work great together, but two Medics sure don't.
Leon the Sovereign/Ronin: As mentioned on Laura, Leon tends to do more HP healing by buffing than the Medic actually does. It's not enough though, as he can't do a thing about ailments or binds, outside of the tremendously unreliable Prevent Order, and even then, it's too late to actually remove the ailment. Or take a mortally wounded character from almost dead to full health. He's more keeping things between okay and good; any critical situation and he's absolutely useless. The idea of Ronin was for him to Air Blade or Arm Bind or at least have SOME kind of offensive move, but he rarely ever has time, and I've also been too much of a cheapass to buy another quality Katana, so he's usually not even using one. He also can't revive at all, which sucks, but I guess not as bad as in IV or V, where Nectars required ultra-rare materials, which are now handed out daily on the world map. By the way, I LOVE map-gathering points. It saves time and money, and actually lets you get useful materials and rare drops without spending weeks running old points and fighting harmless enemies. It just cuts out needless tedium, and you get them only after you're done with the area, so it's not really giving you free stuff until after the prime-time has past, so gathering runs still do have a time and place. Just a lot more dangerous a time and place.
Kagura the Ninja/Ronin: Giving her Ronin suddenly made her do alright damage. Actually, genuinely great damage. Her array of ailments makes her pretty ideal for randoms and getting conditional drops. She would be really good now, if, ironically, Erika hadn't gotten over her own crippling frailness and there wasn't a fight for the back-row slots, with Laura, Leon, and Klein all being row-hoppers. Still, conditionals mean better gear, so I think she's keeping a spot in the rotation.
Erika the Ronin/Gunner: Definitely the workhorse of the entire game so far, Erika's finally getting over her frailty issues and remains a ludicrous source of damage. Gunner subclass and its Double Action is kind of hilarious, as it lets Charging Thrust and Sheath Strike hit twice and get massive Stance refills. I imagine it cuts both ways though, with Helm Splitter/Haze Slash/Horizontal Slash taking 4 Stance points away, but I frankly rarely use them, usually sticking to Arm Strike and Volt Stab and the rare risky Stone Thrust.
Olga the Gunner/Ninja: The other, far more recent, immovable pillar of the party, Ninja hasn't been quite as beneficial as Erika's Gunner, but -2 TP to all moves and better evasion have done plenty for her endurance. I initially planned on Ninja for mass backrow binding, but after learning that creating clones disables your Force meter, I dunno if it's worth it. Double Action and especially Riot Shot are amazing, with the latter being a 'free turn' button, something I'm obviously going to be needing in the extremely near future. I think more than anything though, her being the only person who can use a gun has kept her locked firmly in place, along with getting awesome guns at the exact right time.
Tate the Arcanist/Harbinger: Sorely disappointed. I expected to see pretty big numbers from her shiny new ice Scythe, but, uh, no. After demanding a leg-bind or other evasion down to hit, it still only does barely 60x3 hits. Pretty pathetic. Combined with a form of healing I don't find reliable at all, Arcanists just plain aren't my style. I think she's sitting things out from here, and'll stop getting all that free after-quest XP.
Stella the Runemaster/Protector: Seems like she might be useful for the 10th stratum. The shield helps MASSIVELY with her previously awful survivability, and her TP pool is large enough for her to have some sustain during FOEs/bosses by now, moreso with judicious use of Force. Damage is still iffy, all considered, and the Charges both take a turn and seem to absolutely suck, unlike V's Warlock.
Terra the Highlander/Protector: Like Tate, has been sucking down all the free XP but hasn't done anything since forever ago. Now that she's got ways to handle single targets, she's probably pretty good again, just hasn't found a way in. I'm probably missing out.
Yai the Pugilist/Ninja: Repeat previous statement. Pugilist needs a lot of both Skill Points and TP to be useful, and I'm getting to the point where she's probably almost there. Perhaps like Erika, she's over her ridiculous frailness by now, but I just don't see any circumstances where she'll outperform Olga. Actually, y'know, obvious answer. Olga's stupidly slow. Sure, she binds great, but after I've already been trampled that first turn. As with Terra, it's less about overall usefulness and more about not seeing a great Cestus or Spear come along that's kept them on the benches and Olga off them.
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