So, let's talk Spirit Pact

[Grakor]

I stopped playing this a while ago, but recently I've started wanting to get back into it again. What I'm thinking of doing is a "summoner-themed" run that with end with the majority of the party being replaced with monster adventurers via Spirit Pact.

One thing that I've been thinking about, though, is party composition class-wise. For those of you who have played through to end-game content, are there any classes you feel don't have good Spirit Pact candidates? I haven't been to end-game yet, but I've been struggling with finding any suggestions for Lords and Bishops in particular. There's the Werewolf Archer for the latter, but that one strikes me as being rather...bugged. There's some of the human-like enemies, but I'd rather not resort to those since they kind of break the theme for me, and most are very hard to contract anyway.

[The Weak]

My memory isn't perfect and I never contracted every enemy in the game, so this advice isn't perfect:

Most good and easy contract enemies are going to be Fighters and Ninja. There are a few other good ones like Mifune (Samurai) and Don Mags (Mage) that are pretty good and not too terribly hard to get. Having a preference toward humanoid characters does make selection more difficult, though if you are ok with Ghost types you can cover most classes.

As for hard to get classes...


Lords will probably be tough to find, since most the ones I know off the top of my head are harder to contract and not humanoid. There's Dragon Lord (Dragonewt) and Vampire Lord is humanoid-ish if you don't mind the whole undead thing.

Bard types are pretty rare. There's Bard (Hah), Chanter Lead, and Yokmongy which I suppose wouldn't fit your preference anyway since it's a Doll. Master minstral as well. Courtisan

EDIT: Looking through enemy lists for potential humanoid Bishops. Keep in mind that I have never contracted these, so it may turn into a Werewolf Archer scenario...

There's Arch Bishop in Igdra Underground, Cardinal in the Volcano, Vampanic Tutor in post game if you are ok with Undead, and Patriarch who is also in post game. Even if they don't turn into full Bishops they should at least have a variety of spells for you to use.

[The Weak]

Abbess might turn into a Bishop. That one is in Degus Gila Ice Cave.

Edit: Pardon, I ment to edit this into the post above and not create a new post. Oh well!

[Grakor]

You may have misunderstood: I prefer the non-human monsters when possible.

Tiger Centaur turns into a Bard IIRC, and Nue is a good Samurai. Plenty of Brawlers, since I believe Minotaurs, Bicorns, and Tempest Efreets all turn into those. Red Caps are the obvious Ninja candidate early-game. Golems for Fighters.

[The Weak]

Ooh, I suppose I did read that wrong then. I'll take another look.

[The Weak]

Would a skeleton work? Green is in the last dungeon in the game but it's a Bishop.

For Lord there's Magic Armor in post game, Phoenix in the last dungeon. I believe that Ancient Dragon is a Lord as well... I did Contract it once a long time ago, but it's at the very top of the last dungeon.

[Grakor]

No biggie, thanks for the suggestions so far.

Part of the reason why I'm asking is for making my initial party, and covering any classes that might be difficult with Dragonewts/Werebeasts, since they fit the whole "monster" theme I want to go for, if that makes sense. I'm good with experimenting a bit myself, just trying to establish what I ought to go with early.

Edit: Yeah, I saw Green on the wiki. That 99% summon resist is daunting, though.

[The Weak]

Ah, in that case it might be better to go with Dragonewts for Lords then. There are a couple of them and you wouldn't have to wait till the very last dungeon to try and get them.

EDIT: Yeah, pretty much everything in Ibag Tower is going to be very painful to get and would probably not be worth it unless you absolutely must have a non-humanoid.

EDIT 2: Are there specific spells you are going for? Could go for a non Bishop with spells you like/need?

[The Weak]

Looking at the wiki they say Gargoyle can be a Lord. 95% resist, but in the Underground.

Edit: Sphinx (80%) in the Tomb, Emerald Colony (90%) in Ibag. The wiki is pretty useful.

[Grakor]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I didn't realize a Garoygle would turn into a Lord, but that might be interesting to try if I have the patience to contract it.

Edit: Oh, Sphynx actually has some real good stats. That definitely works, thanks!

[The Weak]

Glad I could help. Sorry I couldn't find a non-Werebeast/humanoid Bishop.

Good luck on your run!