Rush's Build

[Kinsume]

Looking to complete as much of the game as possible though like going into these kinds of games with some kind of gameplan in mind regarding how I'm going to build my main character. Most of the information I've found via google is horribly out-dated and is more geared towards the old xbox version of the game. From what I've read, the PC version has some pretty significant differences.

Now overall I'm probably going to want to keep Rush a combat oriented build as its simply what I favor. Trying to figure out what weapons and weapon style I want to use in order to inflict as much damage as possible. Also need to know what classes I should be trying to get him leveled into.

[Fel]

If you want to go for a physical type, then it basically boils down to what class you want him to end as.

A pure tank would be a Guardian: one handed (not sword) + shield, and items greater than mystic (pretty easy to do if you don't use magic with him and use herbs to heal). (Paladin could work too, but it uses spells as a base to reach it and has one less skill)

A pure attacker would be either Assassin (one handed sword + shield and items greater than mystic) or Ninja (dual wield katana and mystic greater than items) as those classes allow you to attack from behind for a big boost in damage and no counter, with ninja also including the superb no instant death.

And the hardest physical class to reach (all weapons types to a petty high level and balance between items and mystic) Ordainer that gives a pretty significant boost to physical skills aside from normal attacks.

Those are basically the "end of line" classes you can reach as a physical fighter, with guardian being a bit easier to reach but giving lower boosts.

No matter which class you aim for though, those are end game ones that require a significant amount of fights to reach, but it's a good basis to know what to aim towards.


An other way to look at how to build Rush would be looking at the special weapons (remnants for the most part) and the skills related to weapon types and decide based on that.
Wield types and weapon types give birth to pretty significant differences in what skills they give you after all, and while there aren't weapon types that are above others by miles, sometimes it just comes down to personal preferences.

My personal choice usually lands on either assassin (harder to kill thanks to the shield) or ninja, but Rush is a character that can become anything given time, and the Ordainer class is always there if you decide to switch weapons before reaching ninja (the only other physical class of rank 7 from which you can't advance further).

I'm not sure if this wall of text is of any help, because this game has a lot of "personal preference" things that are barely worse than the optimal setup (if there is such thing anyway).

[Kinsume]

It was useful information, thanks. So lets say I wanted to aim for Ninja specifically, I would just need to go through the game using 2x Katanas and some mystic abilities and he will eventually fall into that class? What about the other classes along the way? Does a character have to go from Tier 1 Fighter to Tier 2 something or if they never qualify for something in Tier 2 can they go right to Tier 3?

On another note, a question I had refers to the weapons themselves. When dual wielding what type size Katanas should I be using? And finally, is there a way to make it so that Rush won't use herbs if I make his union use the healing ability?

[PinkPаптҥэя]

Publicado originalmente por Kinsume:

... lets say I wanted to aim for Ninja specifically, I would just need to go through the game using 2x Katanas and some mystic abilities and he will eventually fall into that class?

Basically yes, you can't miss it since it's a class of the highest possible Tier and all other Tier 7 classes cannot be reached just by accident. But you won't reach it until you fully qualify, which for Ninja besides the already high requirements for wield style and weapon skill also means qualifying for Mystic+Combat class. For that you need mystic significance and mystic > items.
But be warned, Ninja class is extremely time consuming to reach in a regular game. Only in NG+ using a Ragna-rock accessory (which triples the EXP on dual wield) it's usually reached until mid game.

Publicado originalmente por Kinsume:

...What about the other classes along the way? Does a character have to go from Tier 1 Fighter to Tier 2 something or if they never qualify for something in Tier 2 can they go right to Tier 3?

You can only move from one Tier to a higher one as soon as you qualify, but not 'sideways'. And yes, they can skip tiers, for example from Swashbuckler (3) directly to Scout (5).

Publicado originalmente por Kinsume:

...
When dual wielding what type size Katanas should I be using?

Mitra like Rush can only dual-wield medium sized swords, mace, katana or axes.

Publicado originalmente por Kinsume:

...
is there a way to make it so that Rush won't use herbs if I make his union use the healing ability?

Disable the entire herb skill tree for that unit in the menus.

[Kinsume]

Currently I have Rush using his dual katanas, as well as the occasional spark/restore. The herb and potion are disabled.

I'm not really understanding how the whole weapon leveling thing goes either. For example, Ninja, says that it requires Dual Wield 22 and Katana 19 in order to be achieved. Where do I see those number values at to see where Rush currently stands?

On a side note, the formations are also baffling me. Thus far I've gotten by with having each union using the Arrow of Athlum formation. For the others, they don't really seem to change the stats listed there so I haven't touched them. I've been going off the assumption that the top slots = front and the bottom slots = back, while the sides are obviously the flanks. Is that correct?

Finally, should I always be spamming the Combat or Mystic options in battle, or is there ever a reason to use the regular attack option? I'm currently BR 28 and have basically gotten by with just using the highest AP option availible.

[PinkPаптҥэя]

Formations:
http://lastremnant.wikia.com/wiki/Formations
IMO formations are mostly useless in a regular game. The good ones come way too late and the rest only boost a certain stat by max. 10%, so they can mostly be used to deliberately nerf stats, like slowing down unions.

For watching the skill levels I'd use TLRPlanner.
And keep in mind that you don't just want regular Ninja but also bringing it up to Legendary to reap the benefits of this class. Which means DW 29 and Katana 25. This comes down to 900 successfully executed combat arts plus 200 regular attacks.
As I said before, not a class to aim for in a regular game without Ragna-rock.

Using the highest AP option available is a decent basic guideline and certainly the best option for skill growth, but from a gameplay perspective it is many times not the best option, particularly regarding healing.
Using regular attacks saves AP and leaves open reassessment to healing/support arts when necessary for classes with healing preference, like Scout/Hunter/Healer etc.
Otherwise using arts is the better option.

[Kinsume]

So, the only times you want to mix in regular attacks are when you want to level a specific weapon type, or save AP?

Now I am planning on doing as much of, if not all of the content availible in the game, using a walkthrough for quest order to make sure I don't miss anything. Is it still unlikely that I will reach Ninja in this type of game? I tend to fight most enemies on maps that I'm on as I explore, ideally in as large of groups as I can, minus that giant sand place which I pretty much ignored everything there.

Currently I've just gotten to the meeting in nagapur part, where I plan on doing some more sidequests for a couple additional generals and what-not. I think my BR is something like 28.

[PinkPаптҥэя]

Yes, you'd need 1 1/2 games with all side quests done to reach Ninja.
Better to leave that to a NG+ using a Ragna-rock, then you'll have it at midgame and actually get to use it for some time.

Publicado originalmente por Kinsume:

So, the only times you want to mix in regular attacks are when you want to level a specific weapon type, or save AP?

As I said above, either conserving AP or leaving the units to reassessment from a regular attack to a healing/support art if needed.
Regular attacks only add to wield-style EXP, not to weapon skills. For these you need to use combat arts.