Please help with builds

[tatetitotu792]

So I beat the first game on normal the other day without caring too much about quartz cuz at the time I didn't know they are so important. Now I'm starting the second game which I want to play on hard, but I realize that I need good quartz setups for that. Problem is, I have no idea which setups are good for which character, so if anyone can help me by telling me which setups I can use I would appreciate it :)

[Koby]

Well for starters, builds change throughout the game as more quartz become available to you. So while I can recommend end game and NG+ builds, they likely won't help much in early game of your first run.

[tatetitotu792]

Originally posted by Koby:

Well for starters, builds change throughout the game as more quartz become available to you. So while I can recommend end game and NG+ builds, they likely won't help much in early game of your first run.

Anything is appreciated, but if it's not too much to ask, could you please include early game builds?

[Kurosu]

Ok first of all lets point this out : Delay is broken in Cold Steel 2. By using delay you can dominate the game including the final boss.

For Rean give him Impede (both 1 and 2) and action 1+2 and in general spam his crafts.
Fie once again can be an Evasion tank. Laura the physical damage dealer and Emma the magic one . Alisa I mostly use as a CP battery for Rean.

At some point I started using Jusis as well for his Noble Command Craft .

In general do not worry because "somehow" every Cold Steel game manages to become easier than the previous one thanks to the new mechanics introduced.

[tatetitotu792]

i gotchu, thanks for the help

[Stabbey]

A good build should have synergy between the character's crafts and their orbment setup.

The longer the line is on a battle orbment, the higher the maximum EP that character has. High EP is good for casters. Each line can have at most one status inflicting AND one stat-down inflicting quartz on it, so the more lines you have, the more status ailments you can inflict, which is good for physical attackers.

The first job is selecting the appropriate Master Quartz, as its special attributes are the cornerstone of builds. Some characters start out with good master quartz for their build, others have not-so-good MQ. MQ can vary in the number of spells they offer, between 0 and 6. The more spells, the better it is for a caster.

Starting Master Quartz

• Rean - Force: This is a good starting MQ, as Rean burns through a lot of CP, and this gets a lot of it back quickly.
  
• Alisa - Angel: Angel is good on anyone, but it's best on Alisa. Similarly, Alisa is best with the Angel MQ instead of anything else. This allows Alisa to survive getting KO'ed and recover CP (and eventually EP). Since a big part of Alisa's job is to spend her CP to get the CP of other characters up, Angel synergizes well with her crafts. Additionally, Angel comes with some handy utility spells which also synergize well. Angel has also been slightly buffed in CS 2 since it gets a fantastic 6th spell at max level - Seraphic Ring.
  
• Elliot - Canon: This starting MQ is not a great synergy, because it benefits healing arts, but Elliot already has several healing crafts. Try Criminal, or Aries, or other caster-type MQ.
  
• Gaius - Falco: This is a pretty decent MQ, as it gives boosts to evasion. One possible unusual idea is to give him Canon and put Breath/Holy Breath in his wind-locked slots to boost the power of those AoE healing spells... but it's probably best to stick with physical attacking stuff.
  
• Machias - Iron: Iron was a pretty bad MQ in CS 1, but it's been buffed and now can seriously cut down on the amount of damage Machias takes to the point of him surviving - in good condition - attacks which wipe out other people.
  
• Jusis - Mistral: This is a bad MQ. It gives a bonus to ATS, but it's a half-caster quartz so it only has 3 spells, so you can't take great advantage of it. In addition, Jusis already comes with the Noble Command craft which boosts ATS for himself and others anyway.
  
• Laura - Brave: Brave is an okay quartz early on, but later something like Vermillion is probably better.
  
• Fie - Raven: Raven boosts speed on the already-speedy Fie, but the rest of Raven's stat boosts are mediocre, which doesn't help Fie on higher difficulties. Consider Fie with Falco, which gives Insight for several turns at the start, which Fie loves with her inherent evasion chance.
  
• Emma - Mirage: This one is okay, but there are many other caster quartz which work well. The amount of EP you recover is small compared to the EP cost of the spells.
  
• Millium - Aegis: Pretty bad. One block of one physical/magical effect per battle is not going to make a difference enough to save her low-HP behind.
  
• Sara - Thor: Not a very good MQ. The HP/EP recovery is not going to help much, and that's all this MQ has to offer. Try Tauros, which boosts attack power in exchange for longer delay, because Sara is inherently fast, so the downside won't affect her much. Tauros is also improved from CS 1 as it affects crafts now, not just normal attacks.

Each character has 2 slots locked to one color of quartz, and one slot locked to a different color of quartz. Figuring out which is the best quartz for that slot based on what you want them to do is a good idea.


Elemental-Locked slots

• Rean - 2 Time/1 Fire: Put an Action quartz (or something else what boosts his SPD) in one of Rean's Time slots and a Chrono Drive/Chrono Break/Chrono Burst quartz in the other (or better yet the one which has both on it). Attack quartz goes in his fire slot.
  
• Alisa - 2 Fire/1 Space: Fire slots are more suited for physical attackers than casters like Alisa. Put in one Fire spell and the Ingenuity quartz to help her recover EP. I like Dark Matter in Alisa's space slot, since she gets most of the good utility spells from her MQ.
  
• Elliot - 2 Space/1 Water: There are some good space spells as well as EP Cut. Water is a good place for a healing spell, especially if you remove Canon as his MQ.
  
• Gaius - 2 Wind/1 Earth: Evasion is good for one of his wind-locked slots, and maybe Recuria or Breath for the other. Earth could have Defence or a utility spell.
  
• Machias - 2 Earth/1 Mirage: Defence in one, Adamantine Shield in the other. Not many good options for the Mirage slot, perhaps Confuse.
  
• Jusis - 2 Space/1 Wind: Dark Matter and perhaps a utility spell in his space slots, and probably Breath or Recuria for the wind slot.
  
• Laura - 2 Water/1 Fire: HP in one of her water slots, and either a healing or a Shield quartz in the other. Attack in the fire slot.
  
• Fie - 2 Wind/1 Time: Evasion and possibly Move (or Recuria) in her Wind slots, Chrono Drive or Action in her Time slot.
  
• Emma - 2 Mirage/1 Fire: Mind and EP in her Mirage slots, a fire spell or Ingenuity in her Fire slot. If not Ingenuity, Dragon Vein.
  
• Millium - 2 Mirage/1 Earth: Not great options for her Mirage slots. Defence for her Earth slot.
  
• Sara - 2 Wind/1 Fire: Evasion in one of her Wind slots, Attack in a fire.

I've spent too long on this so I'm not going to get into accessories, other than to say that the Gladiator belt goes on Alisa, to help her recover her CP so she can use her crafts, as she'll run out fast without it.

[tatetitotu792]

Ok I gotchu. Thanks for the help I appreciate it

[Stabbey]

Really, the biggest thing to worry about on higher difficulties is properly using accessories to protect against negative status effects, and finding recipes from NPC's.

Negative status ailments - especially those which steal your turns and make hits you receive automatic criticals - can be devastating, and you can no longer safely ignore them on higher difficulties.

Food items you create can be extremely helpful as they usually both heal some HP and remove a negative status effect. Other food items give you a buff, which can also be really helpful.