Part 43: Class Changes: The Second Second Round

Class Changes: The Second Second Round

Probably the best thing about this second party is that we've only got one character we've played before, meaning that there are some interesting choices to make. You could probably make some interesting statements about the meaning of Darkness as part of the analysis, but I'll leave the question of what truly constitutes "Dark" to you guys. Rather, I'll talk about the options before us.

Kevin

Dervish (Dark Dark)

The first thing with Kevin's advanced forms is that three out of the four have full screen techniques, including both of the Dark options. Dervish gives us Suzaku Sky Dance and Veritubach as techniques, and grants Moon Saber as a spell. It's not a bad spell for Kevin, as it boosts his already formidable attack and allows him to gain HP from every blow.

Max Stats:
Strength: 18
Agility: 17
Vitality: 22
Intelligence: 17
Spirit: 16
Luck: 16

Death Hand (Dark Light)

The second option for Kevin has higher strength and agility as a trade off for lower spirit, luck, and intelligence… all things Kevin doesn't have much of a use for. We also get the much more bad-ass sounding Seiryuu Death Fist and Dead Crush as our attacks. The only problem with this form is that the spell we're given is Energy Ball, a crit-rate enhancing spell. Since critical hits are broken in this game, the spell is utterly useless.

Max Stats:
Strength: 19
Agility: 18
Vitality: 22
Intelligence: 16
Spirit: 15
Luck: 15

The Roads Not Taken

God Hand (Light Light)

Kevin's purest light form has strength equivalent to the Dervish and the same monstrous vitality. We get a full screen tech in Byakko Shockwave and the interestingly named Stardust Bomb, as well as a spell that allows us to instantly fill our tech gauge for 3 mp. The benefits to this are pretty obvious, especially stacked with the pressure point ability.

Warrior Monk (Light Dark)

Surprisingly, Kevin's mixed form on the light side actually has less strength and agility than the pure light form as well as having single target techniques. Genbu 100-Kick and Blow Impact would seem to suggest a defensive fighter, but that isn't necessarily reflected in the stats. He does, however, get the ability to steal the enemy's MP with Leaf Saber and use a multi-target Heal Light to serve as an auxiliary healer.

Carlie

Evil Shaman (Dark Dark)

Going full dark with Carlie basically turns you into a tomato man, only slightly more effective. Carlie's technique is single-target in this form, but she gets Antimagic to strip the enemy's attack gauge, the ability to summon Gremlins and Great Demons, and a multi-target Dark element spell that reduces magic stats. She's also nearly as strong as Kevin, which suggests that she'd make a decent secondary attacker.

Max Stats:
Strength: 17
Agility: 16
Vitality: 18
Intelligence: 20
Spirit: 20
Luck: 19

Necromancer (Dark Light)

Going on this path with Carlie results in lower physical stats, but a more potent caster with a few interesting abilities. Necromancer Carlie can use Dark Saber (not terribly useful), summon a Ghoul and Ghost, cure the entire party's status ailments, and lower all of an enemy's stats at once with Black Curse. Choosing between these two is pretty hard, all things considered, as both options have a lot of benefits.

Max Stats:
Strength: 16
Agility: 15
Vitality: 18
Intelligence: 19
Spirit: 21
Luck: 20

The Roads Not Taken

If you're really curious, take a look back at the previous post on Carlie. Light Carlie is a great support character, with a number of ways to increase your damage and a ton of healing ability.

Angela

Meigus (Dark Dark)

I'm pretty sure they meant Magus Techniques don't really matter for Angela, so we'll go on to her spells. The Meigus gets level 2 Earth, Wind, Fire, and Ice single target spells and a multi-target spell called Ancient which might be one of the most powerful spells in the game. This form also grants Angela her highest intelligence, which can provide a bit of an edge on damage.

Max Stats:
Strength: 16
Agility: 16
Vitality: 18
Intelligence: 22
Spirit: 18
Luck: 15

Rune Master (Dark Light)

Rune Master is the only class that gives access to level 3 Earth, Wind, Fire, and Ice attacks, while granting the ability to cast Dark Force on an entire screen full of enemies. It also gives us Death Spell, which causes 999 damage to any enemy with a lower level. It's a great way to deal with annoying enemies with powerful attacks, as most regular enemies definitely can't stand up to that kind of punishment. If you want to pick at an elemental weakness, the Rune Master is the class to go with.

Max Stats:
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Vitality: 19
Intelligence: 21
Spirit: 19
Luck: 16

The Roads Not Taken

Grand Deviner (Light Light)

Once again, spelling is a problem. The Grand Diviner gets multi-target elemental spells, including Saint Beam, and the tri-elemental Double Spell. It's a great build for destroying groups of enemies, although by the time you get it there aren't too many enemies who are vulnerable to elemental attacks. On the other hand, Holy Damage is always useful in the endgame.

Arch Mage

To be honest, there's not much difference between Angela's light classes. Instead of Double Spell we get Rainbow, which may or may not be non-elemental. The two classes are functionally identical, except that Grand Diviner has a slightly higher intelligence. At this point, though, it's really academic which one you choose. Rainbow might, however, be a prettier attack.

You guys know how it plays out by well. Tell me which three classes in bold, and if you want to explain your reasoning, go ahead. It might spark some lively discussion and that's always a plus.