Spoiler-Free Builds for Everyone

This guide spoils the total number of characters. There are spoiler tags on character names, weapon names, and Lumina names and effects so that you don't get any unwanted information at a glance.

Expectations

This guide spoils the total number of characters. There are spoiler tags on character names, weapon names, and Lumina names and effects so that you don't get any unwanted information at a glance.

I deliberately chose not to mention certain Skills, weapons and Luminas to keep some sense of discovery - you'll know what to do with these by the time you get them anyway.

These are builds that you can start working toward as soon as you get each character, taking skills in any order that you like. They are strong builds that are effective even against the optional super bosses. I haven't put any truly ludicrous, game-breaking combos in here because they rely on Luminas and skills that you only get very late into the game, and I wanted to provide something more generally useful and spoiler-free. I do provide at the end of this guide a simple list of tips for massively increasing damage output in the late-game, but leave it to you to figure out the specifics. There are comprehensive guides all over the place for the munchkin builds if you don't feel like puzzling them out. These tricks are not at all necessary, they're just for fun - or for getting past enemies that you really struggle against.

Remember, these are just a handful of builds in a sea of possibilities. Feel free to tweak them to suit your preference, or even ditch them altogether to use your own! The goal is to have fun, after all.

1st Character Hybrid

Character's name: Gustave

Generally strong and flexible

SKILLS:

• Recovery: for curing status effects, not healing
  
• Lumiere Assault: cheap multi-hit to build up Overcharge
  
• Strike Storm: expensive, big damage multi-hit to build up Overcharge
  
• Overcharge: big single target damage when fully charged
  
• Shatter: good aoe damage and can break multiple enemies at the same time, can be useful for building up Overcharge
  
• Marking Shot: low damage support move, fantastic for setting up other characters who can take advantage of Mark

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Luck and Agility are ideal, but you should go for whatever matches your chosen weapon.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS: Sakaram is a perfect fit, but you can use whatever strikes your fancy, they are all fully compatible.

PICTO STATS: Crit and Speed. Health and Defense are fine if you want to be tankier.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• anything that increases damage % and chance to land critical hits
  
• anything related to applying or triggering Mark
  
• you've got a cool gun, so you may like Free-Aim related Luminas, especially Marking Shots

HOW IT PLAYS: for single target, either use Marking Shot/Free-Aim to set up party members or use Lumiere Assault/Strike Storm to deal damage and build Overcharge. Use Overcharge when at 8+ charges. For multi-target, cast Shatter, then Overcharge on a priority target if you have 8+ charges.

2nd Character Support

Character's name: Lune

Incredible healer, AP battery and buff giver, and eventually a very solid damage dealer

SKILLS:

• Healing Light: for curing statuses, not healing; gives AP and buffs with certain Luminas
  
• Revitalization: fantastic team-wide healing; gives AP and buffs with certain Luminas
  
• Immolation (replace with Wildfire, then Hell once you can afford the AP cost): some damage and applies Burn, to set up Thermal Transfer and to improve party member's crit chance and damage. Upgraded Hell is also fantastic aoe damage
  
• Thermal Transfer (can be swapped out for whatever you like once AP is no longer a concern): great for building AP back up and can let you play twice in a row. ALWAYS use it on a Burning target!
  
• Typhoon: the core of the build once you get the right Luminas. Gives a small heal, generates AP, and applies 3 buffs every turn for the whole team, BUT ONLY IF THEY DO NOT HAVE CONFIDENT, CONFIDENT FIGHTER, OR INVERTED AFFINITY! It also deals decent damage
  
• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • Thunderfall (upgrade to Lightning Dance): great damage, but only if you have high crit rate
    
  • Rockslide: very solid damage, can break

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Agility, Vitality and Defense. You can dump one for Might if you want to pump your damage. Prioritise matching the scaling of your chosen weapon.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS:

• Level 4+ Potierim is excellent early game, when you most rely on your healing skills (it works with Typhoon too!). The level 10 effect is also pretty useful
  
• Level 4 Redalim has the same effect as Potierim. Level 10 can help a bit with stain generation, and the level 20 effect is very strong when it triggers
  
• Level 10+ Benisim or level 20+ Chapelim are the best choices once you have a lot of AP, because they provide a guaranteed earth stain every turn. This is important in the late game to guarantee an upgraded Hell or Lightning Dance after using Typhoon

PICTO STATS: not too important. Crit to boost your damage, HP and Defense to help you survive better, or Speed to go before allies and enemies, possibly multiple times in a row. Pick any two and try to focus exclusively on them, but prioritise equipping Pictos with expensive Luminas.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Turn, and Energising Start 1 and 2
  
• First Strike
  
• Energising Heal to make Typhoon awesome
  
• Accelerating Heal, Powerful Heal, Protecting Heal to make Typhoon extra awesome
  
• Greater Powerful, Greater Rush, Greater Shell
  
• Beneficial Contamination
  
• Energising Burn (not strictly needed, but still very nice)
  
• Critical Burn
  
• anything that increases damage %. DO NOT take Inverted Affinity and Confident Fighter
  
• Longer Powerful, Longer Rush, Longer Shell to let other characters keep the buffs even if they act multiple times in a row
  
• if you have a party member who often applies Mark, take Rewarding Mark

HOW IT PLAYS: Use what the situation calls for. Once you have the Energising Heal Lumina, always use Typhoon first. It should always be active. Eventually, you will be primarily alternating casting Typhoon with upgraded Hell.

2nd Character Crit Damage

Character's name: Lune

Very high damage output at 100% crit rate

SKILLS:

• Elemental Trick: 100% crit chance means you are guaranteed one of each Stain; sometimes an enemy is immune to an element, which prevents the one Stain from forming
  
• Mayhem: Use only with 4 Stains in order to break, or if you really want to remove your Stains
  
  • you can replace this with Rockslide, which breaks more reliably. Some weapons require clearing Stains to trigger special effects, in which case you should probably keep Mayhem
• Elemental Genesis: Big aoe damage.
  
  • You can replace this with Hell if you can generate enough AP. Consuming Stains with Hell lets it deal similar damage, and it is mono-elemental, which makes it easier to avoid resistances/immunities. It also applies Burn on the first hit, which lets you trigger Luminas with related effects on the second.
• Lightning Dance: your go-to for single target damage, 100% crit means 12 nasty hits
  
• Tsunami: aoe damage for when you can't use Elemental Genesis, hits very hard if upgraded and applies Slow, which is always useful
  
  • Can also be replaced with Rockslide, which deals excellent single target damage and is useful for breaking if you do not have 4 Stains
• Immolation (upgrade to Wildfire, then Hell once you can afford the AP cost): applies Burn. Wildfire is okay aoe damage, it mostly exists to apply Burn. Hell hits like a sack of trucks if upgraded, but is too expensive to use just for applying Burn; it's purely a damage alternative to Elemental Genesis. Applying Burn will be necessary early on in order to reach 100% crit rate
  
  • Can also be replaced with Rockslide, same reasons, but only if you have another means of applying Burn on the enemy

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Defense and Luck early on to maximize crit rate, transfer those points to Might and whatever matches your chosen weapon once you have Pictos that give a lot of crit chance.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS: Those that do not generate Stains are easiest to manage. Scaling with Luck or Defense is nice, but not necessary since you will primarily rely on Pictos to improve your crit rate.

• Level 4+ Braselim provides a solid, consistent damage increase
  
• Level 4+ Lithelim is very strong, but will lock you out of Elemental Genesis and Mayhem's break component (use Hell for damage, Rockslide for break, and Mayhem to drain Stains)
  
• Level 10+ Trebuchim is an excellent AP and Stain generator to help you guarantee powerful follow-ups
  
• Level 20+ Scaverim has extreme damage potential, but will lock you out of Elemental Genesis and Mayhem's break component (use Hell for damage, Rockslide for break, and Mayhem to drain Stains)

PICTO STATS: Crit, Crit, Crit. Once you reach 75% crit chance, you want to look at Speed. At 100% crit chance, you can prioritise Speed.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• Critical Burn gives you an additional 25% crit chance against burning enemies, very important until you hit a baseline 100% crit chance
  
• First Strike
  
• anything that increases damage %
  
• Beneficial Contamination
  
• Energising Burn
  
• if you have a party member who often applies Mark, take Rewarding Mark, Powerful Mark*, Rush on Powerful*, Greater Powerful* and Greater Rush*

*not necessary if you have a party member who gives buffs

HOW IT PLAYS: cast Immolation/Wildfire to apply Burn (obviously not necessary if you do not benefit from it, or if the enemy already has Burn), then cast Elemental Trick to generate Stains. Use Elemental Genesis for aoe damage or Lightning Dance for single target. Mayhem or Rockslide to break the enemy. Tsunami/Wildfire/Hell for aoe if you cannot cast Elemental Genesis.

NOTE FOR LOW HEALTH BUILD: Hell will put you at 1 HP if you mess up the input. It's the only way to lower you own health as this character without using Luminas. I don't think it's really worth doing, but it's a cute trick.

3rd Character Tank

Character's name: Maelle

Protects the team and dishes out some serious hurt if you can land those Counters

SKILLS:

• Egide: protects your team from single-target attacks, but does not protect from aoe damage. Puts you into Defensive Stance (reduces damage received by 50%)
  
• Mezzo Forte: primarily to stay in Defensive or Virtuose Stance, but also excellent for building up AP after using an expensive skill
  
• Revenge: great damage if you got attacked a bunch, but will knock you out of Defensive Stance if you already were in it (you cannot stay in the same stance multiple turns in a row unless the skill you use specifically says otherwise)
  
  • Payback is a perfectly fine alternative, fills the same role
• Swift Stride: gets you into Virtuose Stance (200% more damage), for when you feel like the damage you're receiving is not too bad and you want to spank some butt
  
• Fleuret Fury: your go-to damage for Virtuose Stance. Alternate with Mezzo Forte to stay in Virtuose Stance, or use Egide/Revenge/Sword Ballet to get back into Defensive Stance
  
• Sword Ballet: use only in Virtuose Stance as a damage spike; puts you back in Defensive Stance

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Vitality and Defense, then whatever scales with your chosen weapon. Might scales with every weapon, so that's a very safe choice.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS:

• Level 4 Chalium increases your survivability immensely, while level 20 makes your counter attacks insanely strong. Your best weapon for a counter-heavy playstyle
  
• Level 4+ Duenum makes for an excellent AP battery for the team, especially when you parry
  
• Level 10+ Mellarum is great if you don't have an ally who applies Shell and want to save some Lumina points. The level 20 effect is pretty useful to transition into doing damage
  
• Level 20+ Stallum is fantastic, but risky: the longer a fight goes on, the more damage you deal and the more punished you get for leaving Defensive Stance. An excellent choice if you don't mind your HP yo-yoing between low and full. Pair it with the Tainted Lumina, and for the love of god do not take anything that prevents healing

PICTO STATS: Health and Defense are absolutely necessary, you want as much of both as you can get. Crit is nice to have, but Speed is almost useless.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• everything that improves Counters
  
• Empowering Parry
  
• Anti-Stun so you don't get knocked out of Defensive or Virtuose Stance
  
• Survivor
  
• if you have a healer, take Healing Share
  
• if you do not, take Healing Parry, Healing Counter and Effective Healing (you could still take them but it's a little excessive)
  
• Auto Shell*, SOS Shell*, Powerful on Shell*, Greater Shell* and Greater Powerful*
  
• anything that increases damage %. If you take Confident Fighter, also take Confident and do not take anything related to healing
  
• if you have a party member who often applies Mark, take Rewarding Mark

*not necessary if you have a party member who gives buffs

HOW IT PLAYS: Most of your damage comes from Counters and Fleuret Fury. Open with Egide, then use Mezzo Forte to stay in Defensive Stance. If you have an opportunity to get into Virtuose Stance and don't feel too worried about damage taken, use Swift Stride. Bounce between Fleuret Fury for damage and Mezzo Forte to build back AP, allowing you to stay in Virtuose Stance. Use Egide, Revenge or Sword Ballet to get back into Defensive Stance if you are worried. Revenge deals high damage if you got attacked a lot.

3rd Character Damage

Character's name: Maelle

Straight forward and hard hitting

SKILLS:

• Swift Stride: get back into Virtuose Stance if you get knocked out of it for whatever reason
  
• Fleuret Fury: bread and butter, use it to deal solid damage and stay in Virtuose
  
• Mezzo Forte (replace with Last Chance for a low health build): build back AP and stay in Virtuose
  
• Percee: cheap, high damage, only use as finisher or if you really need damage now and can't use Fleuret Fury or Sword Ballet. Eventually, you will remove this from your rotation, but it is excellent for most of the game.
  
• Sword Ballet: extreme damage output, will knock you out of Virtuose
  
• CHOOSE ONE (eventually a second one to replace Percee)
  
  • Spark: so that you can apply Burn yourself
    
  • Fencer's Flurry: decent aoe damage, Defenseless is good utility
    
  • Breaking Rules: very useful for getting rid of shields because it lets you generate back the AP you spend. The potential second turn is not especially important

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Might and whatever scales with your chosen weapon.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS: level 4+ Medallum is your best choice because it skips the necessary setup to get into Virtuose Stance. That said, any weapon works just fine, you'll just have to spend a turn using Swift Stride or Last Chance. Use your favourite one.

PICTO STATS: Crit and Speed. Try to have both on all 3 Picto slots. You want to eventually reach 75% or 100% crit rate (you only need 50% if using Critical Moment).

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• Anti-Stun so you don't get knocked out of Virtuose Stance
  
• Critical Burn until you have 100% crit chance
  
• anything that increases damage %
  
• if you have Lumina points to spare, this is a build that pairs very well with Free-Aim Luminas (Augmented Aim, Marking Shots, Burning Shots, Powerful Shots*, Accelerating Shots*, Energising Shots, Sniper, Breaking Shots). Most of them are very cost-effective
  
• if you have an ally to set up Mark, or if you set it up yourself through Free-Aim shots, grab Rewarding Mark, Burning Mark, Powerful Mark*, Rush on Powerful*, Greater Powerful*, Greater Rush*
  
• Beneficial Contamination is not a priority, but very useful if you can trigger it
  
• if using Last Chance, take Shortcut

*not necessary if you have a party member who gives buffs

HOW IT PLAYS: if you are not in Virtuose Stance, get into it. Then alternate Fleuret Fury and Mezzo Forte. Use Sword Ballet for a big damage spike. Use Percee if you need damage and can't use anything else. Breaking Rules if opponent has 3+ shields. If you have paired this build with Free-Aim Luminas, shoot a few times to apply Mark and trigger it every time you target a new enemy, to apply burn and buffs.

NOTE: This character is a natural fit for a low HP build. All you need to do is grab all the Luminas related to being low on health and use Last Chance as your opener to put yourself on 1 HP. After that, anything you do in Virtuose Stance will hit like a freight train.

4th Character Hybrid

Character's name: Sciel

Durable, good damage, can heal the team

SKILLS:

• Bad Omen: sets up Foretell for both single- and multi-target situations. With Rangeson, self-heals a minimum of 20% HP and a max of 60%
  
• Firing Shadow (upgrade to Dark Wave): your aoe damage, only use if Foretell has been applied
  
• Phantom Blade: your big single-target damage for most of the game, breaks. Only use if Foretell has been applied (the more, the better)
  
• Spectral Sweep: your single-target ability for applying Foretell during Twilight. With Rangeson, self-heals between 30% and 60%. The higher your crit, the better it does. Mostly for fighting bosses
  
• Twilight Dance: your end-game single target damage, hits extremely hard. Only use if Foretell has been applied. Mostly for fighting bosses
  
• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • Grim Harvest: healing for the team. Minimum of 30%, jumps to 50% after just one use of Bad Omen
    
  • Keep Firing Shadow: for the alternate boss opener below

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES:
Defense, Agility and Luck for Rangeson.
Vitality, Defense and Luck for Ramasson.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS:

• Level 4+ Rangeson: great self-heal
  
• Level 20+ Ramasson: less self-heal, but more group heal and a lot more damage
  
• You can technically use any weapon that you like, you'll just lose the self-heal

PICTO STATS: Speed is your most important stat, but you want a mixture of everything. 100% crit chance is ideal, but not necessary.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• Dodger
  
• First Strike
  
• anything that improves damage % and does not impede healing
  
• Base Shield
  
• Critical Moment if not at 100% crit chance
  
• Solidifying, SOS Power*, SOS Rush*, SOS Shell*
  
• Greater Power*, Greater Rush*, Greater Shell*
  
• anything that generates AP, if you feel you need it
  
• if you use Grim Harvest, Energising Heal, Accelerating Heal*, Protecting Heal*, Powerful Heal*, Longer Powerful*, Longer Rush* and Longer Shell* are pretty neat

*not necessary if you have a party member who gives buffs

HOW IT PLAYS: Rely on your weapon effect for self-healing. Open with Bad Omen to apply Foretell, then use Firing Shadow/Dark Wave for aoe damage, Phantom Blade for single-target, or Grim Harvest for healing. Rinse and repeat. Use Spectral Sweep during Twilight for single-target stacks, AP permitting. Twilight Dance is your big nuke, use it anytime you feel it is worthwhile.

ALTERNATE BOSS OPENER: Firing Shadow -> Spectral Sweep -> Twilight Dance. Will melt bosses.

4th Character Damage

Character's name: Sciel

Very simple and very high damage with a bit of utility

SKILLS:

• Bad Omen: applies Foretell stacks on everybody
  
• Firing Shadow (replace with Dark Wave once you've got enough AP): huge aoe damage, only use if Foretell has been applied
  
• Sealed Fate (replace with Twilight Dance once you've got enough AP): eventually absurd single-target damage output, only use if Foretell has been applied
  
• Phantom Blade (optionally replace with Final Path): for breaking
  
• Fortune's Fury: double your own damage, or that of an ally. Only really useful starting Act 3, but still situationally good earlier
  
  • Can be replaced with Marking Card if you want to apply and trigger Mark without relying on an ally
• Intervention: lets an ally play immediately and guarantees they'll be able to use their skills, very useful for setting up combos or for turning a bad situation around
  
  • Can be replaced with Marking Card if you want to apply and trigger Mark without relying on an ally (for triggering Lumina effects)
    
  • FOR LOW HEALTH BUILDS: replace with Our Sacrifice to deal a ton of aoe damage and put your allies on 1 health; use after applying Foretell

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Might and whatever scales with your chosen weapon.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS:

• Level 4+ Chation is your best weapon for this build. It makes you very fragile, but maximising Foretell stacks lets you dish out immense damage very quickly
  
• Level 10+ Guleson is a safer alternative. The damage is lower but still very respectable

PICTO STATS: Crit and Speed only. Speed is your priority, but you want to eventually get 100% crit chance.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• anything that increases damage %
  
• Powerful Mark*, Rewarding Mark
  
• Burning Mark if you do not have an ally to set up Burn
  
• Critical Burn if you do not have 100% crit rate
  
• Rush on Powerful*
  
• Greater Powerful*, Greater Rush*
  
• Longer Powerful*, Longer Rush*
  
• Beneficial Contamination, not needed with Energy Master

*not necessary if you have a party member who gives buffs

HOW IT PLAYS: Turn 1: Bad Omen. Turn 2: Firing Shadow/Dark Wave for aoe, or Sealed Fate/Twilight Dance for single target. Rinse and repeat. If you do not have an ally to set up Mark for you and do not have an ally to buff you, use Marking Card on turn 1 and every time your buffs fall off. Use the other skills if there is reason to. Only use Our Sacrifice after applying Foretell if you're equipping it.

4th Character Support

Character's name: Sciel

The team's caretaker

SKILLS:

• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • All Set: apply all 3 stat buffs to everyone, very useful and straightforward
    
  • Rush: can apply all 3 stat buffs with the right Luminas. Lower AP cost than All Set but costs more Lumina points
• Fortune's Fury: double an ally's damage for 1 turn. Not terribly useful until you hit the end-game, but becomes incredible as your enemies get increasingly powerful
  
• Intervention: give an ally a turn immediately and ensures they can do something, always amazing
  
• Grim Harvest: heal the team, which gives AP and applies buffs with the right Luminas
  
  • FOR LOW HEALTH BUILDS: replace with Our Sacrifice to set your allies to 1 HP. Useful for saving Lumina points on your team. You don't need to apply Foretell stacks first, this is not a damage build
• Plentiful Harvest: excellent AP battery, very useful early on when you don't have too many Luminas that generate AP
  
• Bad Omen: to apply Foretell stacks for Grim Harvest and Plentiful Harvest. Just one application is enough, you don't need a ton of stacks

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Vitality, Defense, and Agility. Don't invest in anything else.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS: doesn't really matter. Just don't take anything that makes you take more damage.

• Level 4 Rangeson improves your survivability, and level 20 improves your healing
  
• Level 4 Ramasson sacrifices your damage for more healing, but level 20 fixes that and potentially massively increases your Twilight damage bonus

PICTO STATS: Health and Defense. Speed is good too.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• all the Energising Starts and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• if using Rush, take Shell on Rush and Powerful on Shell
  
• Greater Powerful, Greater Rush, Greater Shell
  
• Longer Powerful, Longer Rush, Longer Shell
  
• Accelerating Heal, Powerful Heal, Protecting Heal

HOW IT PLAYS: open with Rush or All Set. Use Bad Omen to set up a few stacks of Foretell, then use basic attacks until it makes sense to use a skill. You want to save up AP until it's time to spend it. Don't use your Harvest skills if you do not have Foretell applied. Use Fortune's Fury on your primary damage dealer (redundant if you're already hitting for max damage, it's more of a late-game skill).

5th Character Free-Aim Damage

Character's name: Verso

High damage output and good utility

SKILLS:

• Follow-up: your main source of damage at Rank S. Use after 10 Free-Aim shots or at 2 AP. Try to use it on a Marked enemy for that sweet 50% damage buff
  
• Phantom Stars: for breaking and aoe damage, only use at Rank S
  
• Purification: for curing yourself of Status Effects while still dealing some damage
  
• Burden: can turn a really bad situation around through self-sacrifice
  
• Perfect Recovery: for curing Status Effects, the heal is a bonus
  
• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • Radiant Slash: cheap break option
    
  • Overload: for a low health build
    
  • Leadership: great AP battery for the team

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Agility, and whatever matches your chosen weapon. Might is always good.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS:

• Level 4+ Dualiso: Free-Aim shots until empty, use normal attack, play again
  
• Level 4+ Nosaram: accelerates Rank gain and Free-Aim damage output
  
• Level 4+ Corpeso: pops off at level 20, but very good no matter what. Allows you to apply an immense amount of Burn stacks. Grab all Attack Combo Luminas

PICTO STATS: Crit and Speed. Prioritise crit until 75%, and try to get to 100% after that (you only need 50% if using Critical Moment). Speed is extremely important, do not neglect it. Try to have Crit and Speed on all 3 Picto slots.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• Versatile
  
• Augmented Attack
  
• Combo Attack 1. Combo Attack 2 and 3 are great but not mandatory (unless using Corpeso)
  
• Empowering Attack*
  
• Exposing Attack, Greater Defenseless
  
• Energising Attack 1. Take Energising Attack 2 if you do not use Combo Attack 2 and 3
  
• Augmented Aim, Marking Shots, Powerful Shots*, Accelerating Shots*, Burning Shots, Energising Shots
  
• Rewarding Mark, Burning Mark, Double Mark
  
• Beneficial Contamination
  
• Critical Burn if you don't have 100% crit rate
  
• Greater Powerful*, Greater Rush*
  
• Longer Powerful*, Longer Rush*
  
• anything that increases damage %
  
• if you use Overload, take Shortcut

*not necessary if you have a party member who gives buffs

HOW IT PLAYS: If you are not Rank S, Free-Aim all you AP away and do a normal attack to get all your AP back and apply Defenseless. If you are Rank S, you have a few options. Free-Aim 10 times or until you have 2 AP left, then use Follow-up. Use Phantom Stars for aoe damage or to break enemies. Use your support Skills as needed. Use normal attacks to build AP back.

5th Character Low Health Damage

Character's name: Verso

Very high damage, a little risky

SKILLS

• Overload: drop to 1 HP to trigger all your Luminas, reach Rank S, and refill your AP
  
• Berserk Slash: your bread and butter single target damage at low health
  
• Phantom Stars: your go-to aoe damage, also breaks, only use at Rank S
  
• Assault Zero (upgrade to Strike Storm): for building up Rank and dealing damage if you do not want to reduce your health
  
• Defiant Strike: reduces current health by 30%, good if you don't want to commit to Overload. Deals good single target damage and applies Mark
  
  • you can replace this with anything you like
• Purification: in case you get afflicted with a Status Effect
  
  • you can replace this with anything you like

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Might and whatever matches your weapon.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS:

• Level 4+ Blodam: instantly reach Rank S upon falling to 1 HP, which means you don't need Overload with the right set-up
  
• Level 10+ Gesam: good all around weapon, makes all your damage physical
  
• Level 10+ Chevalam: start at Rank S and get a stacking damage buff, so you don't have to lower your health to still immediately do very good damage

PICTO STATS: All-in on Speed and Crit. You need 50% crit rate (or 100% to save a few Lumina points) and you want to be extremely fast to get multiple turns before your opponents. Prioritise Speed if you must choose.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• At Death's Door, Critical Moment
  
• Shortcut
  
• Solidifying, In Media Res, Powerful Shield, Shield Affinity
  
• SOS Powerful*, SOS Rush*
  
• Greater Powerful*, Greater Rush*
  
• Longer Powerful*, Longer Rush*
  
• anything that increases damage %
  
• if you have a party member who often applies Mark, take Rewarding Mark

*not necessary if you have a party member who gives buffs

HOW IT PLAYS: Use Overload or use Assault Zero/Strike Storm to build up rank. Use Defiant Strike if you want to lower your health without going all-in with Overload. Use Berserk Slash at low health for massive single target damage. Use Phantom Stars for aoe damage and for breaking. Use Purification if you've got a Status Effect on you. Use Overload or an item to build back AP.

6th Character Support

Character's name: Monoco

This is a unique character in that you have to defeat specific enemies in order to unlock their associated skills. This build uses easily found skills.

Common skills for excellent utility and decent damage

SKILLS:

• Chevalier Ice: applies Slow on all enemies and deals solid damage
  
• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • Moisonneuse Vendange: good single target damage, breaks
    
  • Chalier Combo: expensive but excellent single target damage
    
  • Clair Enfeeble: apply Powerless to all enemies
• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • Sakapatate Explosion: solid damage, especially with high crit rate
    
  • Troubadour Trumpet: good way to apply buffs to allies
    
  • Pelerin Heal: another good way to apply buffs
    
  • Demineur Thunder: high single target break damage
• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • Chapelier Slash: applies Mark on all enemies and deals solid damage
    
  • Ramasseur Bonk: high single target break damage
• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • Hexga Crush: applies Defenseless on a single enemy, excellent for killing bosses
    
  • Stalact Punches: high single target break damage
• CHOOSE ONE
  
  • Portier Crash: good aoe damage and breaks all enemies
    
  • Glaise Earthquakes: yet another good way to apply buffs to allies

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Might and whatever matches your chosen weapon.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS: whichever one you like! This character has a great selection of weapons, each with their own utility and subtly different playstyle. Pick the one that you enjoy the most.

PICTO STATS: not too important, prioritise Pictos with expensive Luminas. Health and Defense are best for supporting, Crit and Speed for dealing damage.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• Beneficial Contamination
  
• Greater Slow
  
• if you use Hexga Crush, take Greater Defenseless
  
• if you use Clair Enfeeble, take Greater Powerless
  
• if you use Chapelier Slash, take Double Mark
  
• if you use Troubadour Trumpet, take Rush on Powerful, Shell on Rush and Powerful on Shell (you only need any two of these if you only use Troubadour Trumpet in Caster Mask)
  
• if you use Glaise Earthquakes, take Rush on Powerful and Shell on Rush
  
• if you use Pelerin Heal, take Powerful Heal, Protecting Heal and Accelerating Heal
  
• if you use any of Troubadour Trumpet, Glaise Earthquakes or Pelerin Heal, take Greater Powerful, Greater Rush, Greater Shell, Longer Powerful, Longer Rush and Longer Shell
  
• if you have multiple break damage skills, take Break Specialist and Breaker. If you also have high crit rate, take the relevant Break Luminas
  
• if you have a party member who often applies Mark, take Rewarding Mark
  
• anything that increases damage %

HOW IT PLAYS: Use the skills that match your current Mask. That's it!

6th Character Damage

Character's name: Monoco

This is a unique character in that you have to defeat specific enemies in order to unlock their associated skills. This build uses hard to find skills. Use similar skills you've already unlocked until you find them.

Rare skills for immense power

SKILLS:

• Sakapatate Fire: fantastic aoe damage, applies Burn, use only in Almighty Mask
  
• Dualist Storm: fantastic single target damage, breaks, use only in Almighty Mask
  
• Benisseur Mortar: use it to consume Mark and get back into Almighty Mask, it does not matter what Mask you are in when you use it
  
• Chapelier Slash: applies Mark on all enemies and deals solid damage, ideally used in Agile Mask, but its main purpose is to apply Mark
  
• Gault Fury: applies Mark on one enemy, deals decent damage, ideally used in Balanced Mask, but its main purpose is to apply Mark
  
  • FOR LOW HEALTH BUILD: take Cultist Blood instead to drop to low HP
• Lampmaster Light: cheaper aoe damage, good for enemies resistant or immune to fire damage, use only in Almighty Mask

RECOMMENDED ATTRIBUTES: Might and whatever matches your chosen weapon.

RECOMMENDED WEAPONS: Level 4+ Joyaro is the best choice because it starts you in Almighty Mask.

PICTO STATS: Prioritise Crit up to 75% or 100% (you only need 50% if using Critical Moment). Then whatever you like. Speed is best, but there's nothing wrong with going tanky.

RECOMMENDED LUMINAS:

• Energising Start 1, 2, 3, 4 and Energising Turn. With Energy Master, you only need Energising Start 1, 2 and Energising Turn
  
• First Strike
  
• anything that increases damage %
  
• Beneficial Contamination
  
• Rewarding Mark, Burning Mark, Powerful Mark*
  
• Double Mark is great but not essential
  
• Critical Burn if you don't have 100% crit rate
  
• Marking Shots, Burning Shots, Energising Shots, Powerful Shots* and Accelerating Shots*
  
• Greater Powerful*, Greater Rush*
  
• Longer Powerful*, Longer Rush*

*not necessary if you have a party member who gives buffs

HOW IT PLAYS: If you are in Almighty Mask, use Sakapatate Fire or Lampmaster Light for aoe, and Duallist Storm for single target. If not in Almighty Mask, apply Mark through Skills or Free-Aim, then use Benisseur Mortar to get back to Almighty.

Tips for improving your damage

• Upgrade your weapons
  
• Stack % damage Luminas
  
• Debuff the enemy
  
• Find ways to reach 100% crit chance
  
• Find ways to apply Greater Powerful
  
• Find ways to lower your HP to 1 to trigger low health Luminas
  
• Find ways to play twice in a row
  
• Use Powerful Shield and Shield Affinity, and stack as many shields as possible
  
• Have teammates die to trigger on death Luminas
  
• Fight alone to trigger lone wolf Luminas
  
• Do all of the above at the same time!