Part 2: Description of Knight classes in the game

There are seven different classes of Knights in this game (and once special class). Each Knight class has a different attack pattern and a special ability. I will be leveling up one knight from each class…which is a pretty lousy strategy, but don’t worry, it will be fine. I mention The Tome of Lost Souls in this section...which is the collector’s art book that came with preorders for the game. I got a copy from Amazon for like $12, and it is totally worth it if you want more details about the game.



Warriors
“I’ll cleave your skull!”
Faces: northwest, northeast
Mobility: none
Weapon: Axe
Sex: Male only

The warrior is probably going to be the single most used class in the game. Featuring a decent attack range in Law phase and a very good range in Chaos, warriors are able to administer damage over a good area. In addition, there is a very important feature to their attack – it is the only way to completely destroy an object on the field. This is mandatory for getting certain key items, and also needed to gather materials for weapon upgrades. In addition, they are one of the three Knight classes that can attack in the northwest/northeast directions—and the only one that can consistently and reliably do so in Chaos phase. Because of these reasons, warriors see a lot of play in the game.

Our warrior:
Johann Elliot of the 11th Order

"I've only just left, yet I already miss home..."

Class: Warior
Atlus.com says this of Johann:
“A young, timid boy who joins the knights to make his mother proud. He treasures the things she sends to him from home.”
The Tome of Lost Souls says this:
Sullen Axe
“Johann is always worried about the well-being of his mother, Nadia. He is incredibly homesick, but he continues to endure because he wants to make a difference in the kingdom. Lisbet tends to worry about him and does her best to take care of him. Johann has a secret crush on Leier, but he is afraid to tell her how he feels.”

Johann is a bit of a sadsack, which I think is why he appeals to me. It's also pretty clear that he doesn't really want to be a Knight, but did so out of obligation/duty/whatever. He likes Leier, but unfortunately, we won't meet her this playthrough. You just want to give him a big hug and tell him everything’s going to be alright! Without mentioning that he’s dead.



Hermits
“Revenge is mine.”
Faces: southwest, southeast
Weapon: Daggers
Sex: Female only
Mobility: none
Hermits have a few interesting mechanics to play around with. They see a significant increase in their charge speed the higher their elevation is. They also possess the ability to inflict status effects on enemies when they attack in Law phase. The status effects are quite varied and, if taken advantage of, can be devastating. Plus hermits are just plain cool. I quite enjoy using hermits.

Our hermit:
Moira Chateletze of the 11th Order

"I wanted to support him..."

Class: Hermit
Atlus says this of Moira:
“A calm and collected woman with combat experience to spare. She is engaged to Wunsche of the 4th Order.”
The Tome of Lost Souls says this:
Iron Rose
“She is a strong and beautiful woman who commands a great deal of respect from her subordinates. Her unit has been known to get rowdy at times, but she has a lot of pride in all of them. Although she is generally calm, when Moira gets angry, she does not hold anything back, and her subordinates have learned how to keep her content. Moira is currently taking care of the stray dog that Cress found, and she is betrothed to Wunsche.”

Not really much of a hermit, is she? I like Moira; first impression is that she has a stick up her ass, but she's really an approachable person. She was supposed to get married to Wunsche. Unfortunately, he is not available to us in this playthrough, so she will most likely never see him again...



Lance Knights
“I shall crush my foe.”
Faces: any direction
Weapon: Lance
Sex: Male or Female
Mobility: one or two squares when charged in Chaos Phase
Lance Knights have two very obvious attributes: They can attack in any direction, and they can move on the battlefield. Movement requires being charged while in Chaos Phase; the movement itself is a rush attack. Lance Knights cannot move if the elevation difference is greater than 1.0. While in Law Phase, Lance Knights have a long reach straight ahead and can often nail multiple enemies or objects that are lined in a row. Additionally, a Lance Knight's attack has a knockback effect.

Our Lance Knight:
Alonso Updike of the 11th Order

“What do you mean I talk too loud!?”

Class: Lance Knight
Atlus.com says this of Alonso:
”A spear-wielder, Alonso is highly critical of others and slightly arrogant. People know him for his booming voice.”
The Tome of Lost Souls says this:
Savage Impaler
”He looks after the rest of the order almost obsessively. Alonso’s expert knowledge on spears is almost unmatched, and local blacksmiths are nervous about dealing with him because of it. However, what Alonso is best known for is being a very loud talker, and his comrades talk about it behind his back frequently. He is aware of how loud he is, but he has no desire to lower his volume.”

Alonso earned his place in our roster by virtue of being a loudmouth. Well, he also started with a good amount of vitality and his elemental affinity is lightning, which gives our group a little diversity. We are definitely going to see Alonso being used a fair bit in this game, as his movement capabilities are essential to positioning our other Knights.


Archers
“I’ll carve you into pieces!”
Faces: Southwest, Southeast
Weapon: Bow
Sex: Male only
Mobility: none
Archers have quite a few details to them. Their Law Phase attack is a single square that, once charges, cycles through the available ranges until you release the stylus and attack. In addition, a Law Phase attack will afflict the enemy with the “stun” condition, which freezes them in place for a moment and grants a minimum of 100% damage to them from the next received blow. In Chaos Phase, their attack range grows from a single square to a small AoE, and again cycles through available ranges like the Law Phase attack did.

Both Law Phase and Chaos Phase attacks will, upon lifting the stylus, lock down any targeted enemies so that they cannot wander out of the attack during the animation. This is unique among Archers and helps guarantee you that the enemy will receive damage. Furthermore, each square hit by an Archer’s attack is a valid source of damage for the enemy, meaning that large enemies that cover more than one square will receive damage from both squares, as long as the Archer’s attack lands on them.

Finally, Archers see a huge decrease to their charge times if they are on a higher elevation block. Getting an Archer on a 12-Height block nearly removes the charge time completely.

Our Archer
Dreyuss Koubelka of the 11th order

“Wow, the world is a pretty big place.”

Class: Archer
Atlus.com says this of Dreyuss:
“A pure-hearted boy from the countryside who has a hard time finding his way in the royal city. He shows great promise with his bow.”
The Tome of Lost Souls says:
Eagle Eye
“He is an excellent Archer, and he knows it. Dreyuss has a tendency to be blunt and rude at times, but he always means well. For a young man who spends most of his day focusing intently on targets, measuring wind speeds, and searching for strategic firing locations, he has a surprisingly horrible sense of direction. Dreyuss studied archery under Legaard, and he is fortunate to have Frances looking after him like an older sister.”

Dreyuss is a young whippersnapper that we see get killed by the werewolf, Jamie, in the flashback cutscene of Scene 4. (It looks like Firenz was giving him some valuable life lessons for naught.) I do expect him to get a lot of play during this run, as Archers are able to cover quite a bit of ground and do good damage.



Duelists
“Fear my blade!”
Faces: Northwest, Northeast
Weapon: Rapier
Sex: Female only
Mobility: can move one square forward in Chaos Phase, regardless of height
The most striking thing about Duelists is that they can move on the battlefield, even climbing up to blocks of higher elevation. There does not appear to be a limit to how high of a block they can jump up to. This movement is a function of their Chaos Phase attack and can make it possible to reach strategic locations. However, it is possible for a Duelist to hop her way into a corner and get stuck, like a cat in a tree. Be sure to plan ahead before moving a duelist or you may have to restart the Scene.

Another notable weakness is that yes, the Choas Phase attack is a move…so it’s difficult to really plan on attacking with a Duelist in Chaos Phase. She’ll keep hopping up the map until she gets stuck! Unfortunately, this often limits a Duelist to landing one or two key attacks in Chaos Phase at most, and secures Warriors as the preferred means of attacking Northwest and Northeast in Chaos Phase as they will stay in place when the attack triggers.

The Law Phase attack is a straight line in front of the Duelist, with a small AoE at the Duelist’s location. The attack pattern actually kind of looks like a sword; appropriate.

Duelists will knockback an enemy when the blow lands. Knocking an enemy off a high elevation can potentially hurt it severely; unfortunately it is difficult to pull this off due to the fact that Duelists only face Northwest and Northeast. This significantly limits how often your opportunity to shove enemies off a cliff comes up.


Our Duelist
Hilgard Rei Merkitas of the 2nd Order

“This is a conspiracy. Make no mistake of it.”

Class: Duelist
Atlus.com says this of Hilgard:
“A pessimist at heart, she often compares herself to her knightly comrades in hopes of finding redeeming qualities in herself. It seems she is aware of some secretive information...”
The Tome of Lost Souls says this:
Striking Lily
"A pessimistic young woman who tends to over-think the situations she is in, Hilgard is often fawned over by the men around her. Her best friend is Janus, whom she thinks of as an older sister at times. When tragedy swept Aventheim, she was one of the first to be caught in the middle of it…"



Priestesses
”Follow my lead. We’ll obliterate the enemy!”
Faces: southwest, southeast
Mobility: none
Weapon: Rod/Mace
Sex: Female only

Priestess are capable of covering quite a bit of ground with their attacks in Law Phase. Additionally, it seems that many of their weapons have the attribute of launching enemies and knocking them to the ground when they are struck. When this happens, you are presented with the ability to switch the enemy’s elemental affinity; a small box appears next to the monster and if you spin it, the element will change. This can be very useful if you couldn’t fit enough weapons to cover all the monsters’ elements; just change it to something you can exploit. Note that this is not exclusive to Priestesses, but it does seem like their weapons do it frequently.

In Chaos Phase, Priestesses attack with “gram” traps, similar to a Wizard’s attack in Law Phase. I don’t particularly care for grams, and do not plan to use them very often.

Our Priestess
Lyzz Linda Ragford of the 2nd Order

“People know I work hard. But the truth is, I lack the confidence to do any less.”

Class: Priestess
Atlus.com says this of Lyzz:
”Orphaned at a young age, Lyzz became a quiet admirer of the skilled knights around her. She can often be found playing her flute.”
The Tome of Lost Souls says this:
Light Bringer
”Her loving parents passed away while Lyzz was very young, and she was adopted by Isabel. She is constantly unsure of herself, so she puts everything she has into each task she undertakes. When Lyzz joined the knights, Ernest saw she had great potential but lacked the confidence, so he took her under his wing. She has also become good friends with Woosh, and she holds all her superiors in high regard.”



Wizards
“They’re in for a surprise!”
Faces: Southwest, Southeast
Weapon: Rod/Staff
Sex: Male only
Mobility: none
Wizards are something of a straightforward class in this game. Their Law Phase attack leaves a “gram” on the field, which is basically a booby trap. When a ground-movement type enemy walks over it, the gram is triggered and attacks the enemy.

In Chaos Phase, Wizards must wait a long time to charge up, but once they’re ready, they can unleash a damaging attack that covers a huge area—13 squares! They’re well suited for sitting in the back, nuking enemies.

Our Wizard
Frieber Will Permeal of the 2nd Order

“A teacher’s finest moment is when the student surpasses him. Such is my daughter.”

Class: Wizard
Atlus.com says this of Frieber:
”A divorced man who devoted himself to his daughter, Annalot. Though he is getting on in age, he is well respected and still lends his expertise to the young knights.”
The Tome of Lost Souls says this:
Sable Adept
”He is a veteran Wizard who cares deeply for his peers, but his greatest concern in life is the welfare of his daughter, Annalot. Frieber spends a lot of time with Lillian and Hilgard, and he treats them like family. As he grows older, he does not cling to the past, but rather, he embraces the younger generation of knights who will one day be taking over.”