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*Plus Disk Bulky Attacker: HP, ATK, MAG, SPD
*Plus Disk Bulky Attacker: HP, ATK, MAG, SPD
**Recommended Subclass: Warrior, Monk, Transcendent
**Recommended Subclass: Warrior, Monk, Transcendent
** In Plus Disk, HP is much more important than defenses, so Flandre's high HP can actually help her readily survive hits, allowing her to become a more regular attacker. Due to her spellcards' drawbacks, you may want to rely on subclass spells as your main source of damage, and save up Flandre's personal spellcards for dire situations. Do note that Flandre still has a major weakness in her extremely loopsided affinities, so proper equipment to patch them up is necessary against enemies that commonly use the elements she's weaker to.
** In Plus Disk, HP is much more important than defenses, so Flandre's high HP can actually help her readily survive hits, allowing her to become a more regular attacker. Due to her spellcards' drawbacks, you may want to rely on subclass spells as your main source of damage, and save up Flandre's personal spellcards for dire situations. Do note that Flandre still has a major weakness in her extremely loopsided affinities, so proper equipment to patch them up is necessary against enemies that commonly use the elements she's weaker to. After awakening, she also gets a great skill in Vampiric Attack, which will help in keeping her alive while also further enhancing her damage.

Revision as of 23:33, 22 August 2019

Labyrinth of Touhou 2 has a multitude of characters that can be recruited. It is common for new players to be unsure of what or how to build characters as many characters have several different usage. This page is a guide to make a full use of said characters. This guide will cover from stat-building to subclassing.

Level-Up Bonus distribution and Library Points

The following is a basic guide general possibility of what you can build for a character. Depending on your play style, a character can be made into either an attacker or a supporter. There are a few characters are generally better to be raised as tanks.

  • Tanks are characters that usually have great DEF and/or MND. (there is one exception) They are generally raised in HP, DEF and/or MND to ensure they can protect your party members from enemies' assault. Characters who are raised to be supporters are also built this way so they can take hits and continue support your party.
    • SPD is also particularly important for support-oriented characters; the more turns a character gets, the more buffing/healing she can do. Support characters often have little or no use for ATK/MAG (healers are an exception), so these stats can be ignored in favor of SPD.
  • Physical Attackers and Magical Attackers are raised in ATK and MAG respectively. Composite characters should be raised in both ATK and MAG. For the best result, whichever stat has higher growth rate should be raised with Level Bonuses and the lower stat should be raised with Library Points. Attackers who has from-average-to-great defensive stats are also encouraged to be raised in HP, DEF and/or MND to ensure their survivability should they get hit.
  • Each point in a character's elemental resistance in the library raises that affinity by 1% of base resistance. On the surface, it makes them equal for every character since they all reduce damage by the same precentage. In practice though, since equipment bonus are integer, library points in higher affinities see greater reduction precentage than points in lower affinities (for example, if two characters with 50 and 100 base resistance respectively equips an item with +100 to that resistance, 10 library levels will reduce damage by ~4.8% for the character with 100 base resistance, and ~3.2% for the character with 50 base resistance). That being said, reducing high incoming damage is more beneficial to overall survival than reducing low incoming damage, so a balanced investment is probably still the best.
  • Glass Cannons and characters who aren't built to take hits, which have poor defensive stats, should focus solely on their attacking stat.
  • Last but not least, regardless of how you spend the Level Up Bonuses and Library Points, it is advisable that you raise the SPD of characters in your party with Library Points even if they are slow and have low SPD growth rate. Characters that take a while to get a turn is better than characters that take forever to get a turn.
  • Don't forget that Library Points can only be reassigned/refunded through Tome of Reincarnation, which is limited in numbers so decide what role you want each character to play as before spending them. Also, using the tome will also reset the Level-Up Bonuses of that character so don't forget to reassign them.

Subclassing

It is also common for new players to be unsure of what subclass to give to a character. Like character building, this guide will list all recommended subclasses to give for each character. This guide also assumes that you have read the basic function of each subclass and what new skills they give in the Subclasses page. Unless clarification is needed, the subclasses' obvious applications will not be stated here.

Skill Points

  • Don't confuse Skill Points with Magic Library points. Skill Points can always be reassigned through Skill Reset at the Magic library while Library Points needs Tome of Reincarnation.
    • To reset without using a Tome of Reincarnation, you say yes to wanting to reset, but at the second prompt asking if you want to use the tome, say no, and you will not use one up.
  • Spellcard levels generally have a minuscule effect on damage/healing formulas, so spells meant solely for either of those should only be leveled if you have nothing else to use the points on.
  • Leveling buff/debuff spellcards generally increases the strength of the resulting effect.
  • The chance of successful ailment infliction often increases with spellcard level. In some cases, this is enough to reach a 100% base chance.

Character Building

The following guide is a detailed list of possible stat-building and the recommended subclasses for each character. Since SPD is valuable for all characters, it will not be listed unless the build involves putting level-up bonuses into it.

Reimu

  • Spirit Composite attacker: ATK, MAG.
    • Recommended subclasses: Guardian, Warrior, Sorcerer, Transcendent
    • Notes: Reimu's unspectacular offensive stats means she's not the best choice for an offensive role, but she can do it with enough ATK/MAG investment at the library and with Grand Incantation skill, especially if you use Guardian's Efficient Concentration to make her turn comes faster.
  • Supporter (focus on her healing and buffing.): HP, DEF and MND.
    • Recommended subclasses: Enchancer, Healer.
    • Notes: Reimu's healing spell is MAG-based, so MAG should also be a focus if using her as a healer.

Marisa

  • Mystic attacker: MAG
    • Recommended subclasses: Sorcerer, Magician (quick way to gain MP for Master Spark), Gambler (if built to be a glass-cannon Master Sparker)
    • Notes: It's worth noting that while High Stakes double Master Spark's MP cost, the damage bonus from MP is still calculated by subtracting 27 from it. However, High Stakes will also double the MP cost of Concentrate.
  • Status inflicter: SPD, HP, MND
    • Recommended subclasses: Guardian, Toxicologist
    • Notes: Though Marisa doesn't have any status-causing spells of her own and is thus reliant on subclassing to get any, she does have the Sheer Force skill, which makes infliction easier. While Toxicologist is an excellent choice for such a route, the Guardian's Shield Bash has a 74% chance of dealing Shock at max level (you won't be dealing any damage with it due to Marisa's bad ATK stat), which also works in this regard.

Rinnosuke

  • Supporter: DEF, MND (and ATK,MAG if you focus on his First Aid or other healing spells)
    • Recommended subclasses: Healer, Enhancer, Herbalist (his buff spell, maxing out at +16%, is weak enough that he's often better off using Placebo Effect to maintain high-level buffs)

Keine

  • Attacker: MAG
    • Recommended subclasses: Sorcerer
    • Notes: As with Reimu, Keine's MAG isn't exactly amazing, so she requires significant MAG investment to be effective offensively. Also, do make sure that Mokou is on the front line with her to take advantage of Keine's With Mokou skill, since it's necessary for this build to be effective(thankfully, Mokou makes for a excellent stay in tank, which helps a lot).
  • Supporter: DEF, MND
    • Recommended subclasses: Enhancer, Herbalist
    • Notes: Enhancer's has excellent synergy with Keine's buff spells(making the subclass's spells pointless), while the Herbalist's spells can be used to help increase the number of options that she has to aid the party.

Momiji

  • Tank: HP, DEF, MND
    • Recommended subclasses: Guardian
    • Notes: Momiji's substantial bulk, along with her Eyes That Perceive Reality skill, can go a long way in terms of being a tank, as she can ignore an enemy's buffs when they attack, thus preventing said buffs from counteracting any defensive buffs that she has on her. She also can build her defenses quickly by using Shield Bash repeatedly in conjunction with her Accelerate skill, and Shield Defense's drawback is somewhat mitigated by Accelerate as well. Finally, the Efficient Concentration skill works well for her if she runs low on MP.
  • Attacker: ATK
    • Recommended subclasses: Warrior, Monk
    • Notes: Momiji's ATK is far from lacking, and both the Warrior's self-buffs and the Monk's Body Revitalization skill synergize very well with Accelerate, allowing her to gain strength pretty quickly. Her Ability to See Far Distances skill can also counteract the lower accuracy of Explosive Flame Sword, while Puncturing Thrust(essentially a poor man's Peerless Wind God) can speed up Momiji even more, and Iron Mountain Charge's defense piercing formula is further helped by her Eyes That Perceive Reality, allowing it to pierce enemies who normally are nigh-invulerable due to using a massive DEF buff, thus making it more reliable in those cases.
  • Supporter: HP, DEF, MND
    • Recommended subclasses: Enhancer, Healer, Herbalist
    • Notes: Accelerate once again helps out for these subclasses, due to the need for speed in such cases, and Instant Attack lets Momiji pop in an emergency heal/buff/status cure the moment she's switched in, which is a potential lifesaver in the right situation. If you decide on using Momiji as a Healer, her ATK stat should be focused on as well.

Youmu

  • Tank: HP, DEF
    • Recommended Subclasses: Tactician, Transcendent, Monk
    • Notes: Youmu combines high HP and DEF with the ability to regenerate HP, a 12% passive self-buff for not using up MP, and a further 25% boost if her HP is below 60%, making her a fairly durable character. This setup does have many weaknesses - it's much less useful against magical foes (unless Yukari is also on the front), as well as weak to bosses that can drain MP or maximum HP. Meikyo Shisui's reliance on having maximum MP also removes basically any utility Youmu can play other than switching. Despite all the weaknesses, this setup is very self-sustaining and requires very little maintenance from other support characters, which can remove a lot of burden for the rest of the team. Tactician is even more of an attractive pick for her because she won't need to use MP, but if another Tactician is also used, Transcendent and Monk are also options.
  • Post-awakening Attacker: ATK
    • Recommended subclasses: Gambler
    • Notes: Youmu's offensive abilities get a huge boost from awakening, which gives her an endure and a skill with a huge damage bonus for staying at low HP. The game plan is simple - Concentrate to get Swordmaster's Spirit, take a hit and endure it with 1 HP, then launch attacks at up to 110% bonus with a 25% stat bonus on top of that. Be sure to equip her with a First Aid Kit as well so she doesn't regenerate HP too fast. Gambler is obviously ideal as it lets Youmu do more damage and take more damage so she can more reliably reach 1 HP, although her gigantic base MP costs means that she probably won't appreciate doubling those costs.

Kogasa

  • Attacker: ATK
    • Recommended Subclasses: Warrior
    • Notes: Between Kogasa's skills revolving around TRR (especially her ability to hit 33% harder on targets with the ailment set), her fairly decent ATK and fast levelling rate, as well as her surprisingly powerful spells, Kogasa can make a fairly strong attacker that is terrificly strong when TRR is set and still very decent when it is not. Warrior is probably her best bet in this setup as it greatly powers up Drizzling Large Raindrops while giving her a FIR-elemental attack to use as well.
  • SHK inflictor: SPD, HP, DEF
    • Recommended Subclasses: Guardian
    • Notes: Sheer Force can be used for things other than TRR, and Shield Bash with its 74% base SHK rate makes an excellent combo with it, and while Kogasa's ATK isn't very strong it's still high enough that Shield Bash may do OK damage. If you can still inflict TRR (either hoping Ability to Surprise Human activates or get someone else to do it), Guardian's damage reducing passives also work in tandem with Kogasa's ability to take 40% less damage from targets with TRR, making her a surprising sturdy tank as well.
  • Post-awakening Healer: SPD, HP
    • Recommended Subclasses: Healer, Strategist, Ninja, Elementalist
    • Notes: The Sweet Taste of Others' Terror regenerates a minimum of 8% of maxHP for the entire frontline per turn which is insanely strong, and while it's great even as a bonus for attacker builds, building specifically for it (by making use of her 91% post use switches) can turn the party nearly immortal against anything not strong enough to land instant kills. A couple of Instant Attcker is recommended so Kogasa can meaningfully switch them in back and forth while quickly regenerating the entire party. Healer enhances this regeneration while also giving her an active heal when it is desperately needed (she'll need ATK investment if you want to make good use of it), while Ninja and Elementalist are options if you want to use this feature without overloading on instant attackers.

Rumia

  • Attacker: MAG
  • Recommended Subclasses: Sorcerer, Archmage
    • Notes: Rumia's MAG may not be the best, but her spells are quite good. Moonlight Ray has a strong formula and Dark Side of the Moon is one of the cheapest all-target attacks in the game, and ignores defenses to boot. In addition, her Youkai's Knowledge skill boosts her damage against quite a few bosses, and Piercing Attack gives Moonlight Ray a defense-piercing effect. Her awakened skills add statuses to her spells, but the real boost comes from the synergy boosts; the Team (9) characters are fairly fragile and unlikely to spend much time on the front lines, so being able to get stat boosts while they're in the back or not present at all is useful. Another benefit is that since Demarcation is MAG-bases, an attacker Rumia can also function as a backup healer if needed. Subclass-wise, Sorcerer's boosts to magic damage make it an obvious choice, but Archmage's additional multi-target spells give her more options during exploration, though it may not be as good a choice against bosses.
  • Healer: MAG, MND
  • Recommended Subclasses: Healer, Enhancer
    • Notes: Rumia's heal is weaker than Reimu's, but it's a bit cheaper and faster, and any multi-target heal is valuable. Demarcation also has the additional utility of lessening debuffs, making it particularly valuable against debuff-happy foes. Rumia also has slightly highter MAG than Reimu and more skills that can boost her MAG, and her high MND helps her survive long enough against magic-focused enemies to get her healing spells off. For subclasses, she has the usual choice between Healer and Enhancer. Healer's strengthening of heals can help compensate for Demarcation's lower strength, and a status heal is always nice to have, whereas Enhancer gives her healing a defense-buffing effect, something that's especially valuable with a multi-target heal.

Cirno

  • Debuffer/Paralyzer: SPD, some HP/DEF/MND
    • Recommended Subclasses: Hexer, any subclass that boosts SPD
    • Notes: Cirno may only have natural access to SPD debuffs, but her SPD debuff is the strongest in the game, and SPD is often the best stat to debuff. In addition, Icicle Fall reaches a 100% base infliction chance at level 3. Her paralysis is weaker, but hits the entire party and has almost as high an infliction rate (in needs to be level 4 to reach 100%). This gives her considerable utility in both regular and boss encounters. When awakened, she gets even better, becoming able to inflict a SPD debuff even on immune or highly-resistant enemies, making her exceptionally useful against such foes. The Hexer subclass allows her to debuff other stats if the enemy's SPD is at its minimum, though other characters are probably still better suited for targeting those stats. It lowers enemy debuff resistance, as well, but Cirno's ability to always inflict a SPD debuff means this is less important for her than for others, and the same is true for its strengthening of debuffs given how strong hers already is. Cirno arguably benefits far more from the SPD increases some subclasses offer, as this allows her to get her debuffs off more quickly. Overall, however, subclassing a debuffer Cirno is a low priority, as her own spells and skills are more than sufficient for the role.

Minoriko

  • Healer/Support: MND, SPD
    • Recommended Subclasses: Healer, Enhancer
    • Notes: Minoriko has a very strong single-target heal by default, and it's also low-cost and low-delay, so she can keep going even in long fights, especially with her high MP Recovery. She also has a similarly quick and cheap single-target defensive buff, giving her another way to keep allies alive. Her healing spell is strong enough that investment in MAG isn't really necessary; it's generally better to focus on SPD and her already-good MND. Since she doesn't need MAG investment to be a good healer, she can shift between healing and buffing at full effectiveness whenever needed, even mid-battle. The Healer subclass strengthens her healing and gives her access to a status heal, but though the status heal is useful, Minoriko's heal is strong enough already. Enhancer, on the other hand, strengthens her buff and allows her to buff offensive stats as well. It also gives her buffs a healing effect and her heals a defense-buffing effect, allowing her to do both at once.

Komachi

  • Tank: HP, Elemental Affinities
    • Recommended subclasses: Guardian, Healer
    • Notes: Komachi's DEF and MND are pathetic, so she needs to rely on HP and affinities to take hits. The Guardian subclass, with percentage-based damage reduction, is particularly useful for her. Healer, on the other hand, supplements her Regeneration skill as well as heals allies, plus gives her a heal spell to restore her health even further and a status curing spell that can also heal 25% of a person's HP with the Devoted Care skill, making her a self sustaining tank that can also double as support. If you decide on being a Healer for Komachi, some focus on ATK with be needed as well.
  • Attacker: ATK
    • Recommended subclasses: Warrior, Monk
    • Notes: Komachi has a good ATK growth, so she can take advantage of the Warrior's self-buffs to raise her offense quickly(Eye for an Eye helps for this), and Row Strengthening can power up Ferriage in the Deep Fog. Meanwhile, the Monk's Body Revitalization skill can both buffs and heals her, making it good for powering up and improving her ability to tank hits via the HP heal, and Iron Mountain Charge is a good attack to use for defense piercing. Either way, an ATK build for Komachi will turn Scythe That Chooses The Dead into a potent Spirit attack and also make her counterattack skill stronger.

Chen

  • Attacker: ATK
    • Recommended Subclasses: Warrior, Gambler, Monk, Hexer
    • Notes: An offensively-built Chen makes for a good Gambler, since she's frail enough that she'll probably die in one hit from anything anyways. Warrior's skill set can maintain Kimontonkou's ATK buff once it's set up, as well as strengthen her row attack. The Monk subclass offers both Puncturing Thrust and Body Revitalization to synergize with her Accelerate skill, as well as granting her a means to pierce through DEF via Iron Mountain Charge. Finally, Hexer's Conversion has a good synergy with Kimontonkou's debuffs, allowing her to attack continuously without a need to switch out due to running dry on MP.
  • Buff Support: SPD
    • Recommended subclasses: Enhancer, Herbalist
    • Notes: Chen has no buffs aside from a self-target, but her Instant Attack skill and high SPD means she can get support spells off fast. She makes a particularly good Herbalist in conjunction with multi-stat buffs such as Miracle Fruit or the Majesty skill. She's too frail to survive any hits, so focus on her SPD so she can act more quickly.
  • MP Support: SPD
    • Recommended subclasses: Magician
    • Notes: Her Instant Attack skill and high speed also makes her a good Magician. Again, don't bother trying to get her to survive any hits; just get her SPD as high as you can.

Nitori

  • Attacker: ATK
    • Recommended Subclasses: Warrior, Gambler, Transcendent
    • Notes: Nitori has good options for regular encounters, but her standout spell is the single-target Super Scope 3D, one of the strongest spells in the game. She also has access to a self-buff, and though it's a low effect (maxing out at 20%), it's cheap, has a low delay, and buffs all her stats at once (except EVA). Nitori can get herself buffed, or work with other buffers to speed things up, then let loose with a Super Scope for high damage. Super Scope does have a high MP cost, but Cooling Down lets her restore her MP quickly, especially if coupled with MP Recovery-boosting equipment. The spell is high-delay, too, so it's generally best to switch Nitori out afterward. The Maintenance skill is important in order to make up for Nitori's unimpressive stats, so she should probably be a priority for your best equipment. As with other physical attackers, Warrior is an obvious subclass choice, but since Nitori's likely to switch out after attacking, Gambler is also worth considering, though care is required to make sure she doesn't take hits, which hinders her ability to stay in to buff herself or recover MP. Transcendent maximizes the power of Maintenance which lends itself well to using her as a stay-in attacker with high power and defenses.

Parsee

  • Jealousy of the Kind and Lovely: ATK
    • Recommended Subclass: Gambler
    • Notes: Jealousy of the Kind and Lovely is one of the strongest spells in the game, and Parsee has a number of damage boosting passives that lets her do terrifying damage to any opponent that can be hit with this spell. Gambler and pure ATK investment are obvious things to do to maximize the power of this attack; Big Box or Small Box can also be utilized in this setup for opponents that are much weaker to PHY than DRK and/or are immune to TRR.
  • Final Blow: ATK, some HP/DEF/MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Warrior, Monk, Transcendent, Ninja
    • Notes: Although Parsee's HP is poor, she has solid DEF and literally the best MND in the game, and her powerful passives work with her faster spell Midnight Anethema Ritual as well, so she can be built as a successful stay-in bulky attacker, while still doing solid damage with Jealousy of the Kind and Lovely if needed be. Her biggest weakness in this area is her utter lack of self-buff and relative lack of defense penetration, so Warrior and Monk are good picks to let her keep buffs up, though Transcendent and Ninja are also good options if you can cover her in that area.

Wriggle

  • Poisonous Tank: HP/DEF/MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Toxicologist, Guardian, any support class
    • Notes: Wriggle is by far the strongest poisoner in the roster, and poison is basically the only thing her spell list and passives are focussed around, so there aren't many other options open to her. While maximized speed is technically the best for inflicting poison as fast as possible, poison works over time anyways so focussing on her good defenses can give her other things to do. Toxicologist is the obvious choice for both strengthening her PSN and giving her several other ailments to inflict if the particular foe isn't susceptible, while Guardian increases her defensive abilities and gives her a SHK-inflicting spell as well. Any party supporting subclass like Healer, Enchanter or Herbalist are also options, though they won't do anything for her PSN.

Kaguya

  • Lunar Nuke: MAG
    • Recommended Subclass: Gambler, Magician
    • Notes: Kaguya has one of the strongest SPI-elemental attacks in the game that she can also make to ignore 90% of enemy MND. Said attack also has high delay, and Kaguya's defenses are poor, so a hit-and-run style works best with it. Her poor defenses and MP regeneration skill makes Gambler work out really well for her, but if you feel you can make up for her abysmal HP (Eirin overheal perhaps?) or wants to let her clear out random encounters as well, Magician helps makes up for Noble People of the Moon's demerit and lets her launch more attacks.

Mokou

  • Immortal: HP, some DEF/MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Any support subclass, really
    • Notes: Despite having somewhat average DEF/MND, Mokou's high HP combined with a slew of defensive passives including but not limited to auto-resurrection gives her excellent tanking potential. Her real downside as a tank is her lack of support abilities, but her 4 MP regeneration also lets her use subclass spells really well, and her ATK growth is high enough that she can make good use of Healer with just some library investment, so pick your favorite and go.
  • Attacker: ATK, some HP/DEF/MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Warrior, Monk
    • Notes: Mokou's ATK growth is also fairly high, and her skills have enough offensive aspects that she can make a respectable stay-in attacker as well (after all, a stay-in attacker needs to survive to dish out damage too). Her main weakness in this area is that Flying Phoenix is rather weak, so Warrior helps out by providing her a much stronger FIR-elemental attack to use (as well as self-buffs). Monk is also an option to give her more speed and regeneration as well as a third element to work with, and makes her a better random clearer as well.

Aya

  • Speedy Support: SPD, HP
    • Recommended Subclass: Magician, Healer
    • Notes: Aya's blistering base speed and the ability to buff it further work in tandem with her other ability to pass free turns to teammates to greatly increase the tempo of your team, making her a powerful support for just about any party. They carry somewhat pricy MP costs however, and Aya's base MP isn't the best, so Magician can help ameliorate that for her. Healer is also an option to convert her speed into passive HP regeneration for the team and gives her another venue of support, but her ATK is also somewhat low, so she will need a fair amount of investment in that area to heal well.

Mystia

  • Instant Support Attack: ATK, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Toxicologist, most support classes
    • Notes: While Mystia has trouble with high DEF foes due to her low ATK growth, her spells have fairly good multipliers and she can output decent damage on most enemies still, and she has access to three ailments backed by Instant Attack, as well as an emergency status heal. While she can work with most support classes due to Instant Attack, Toxicologist deserves a note for bolstering her unique strengths (as well as giving her access to HVY if needed be).

Kasen

  • Stay-in Attacker: balance of everything but MAG
    • Recommended Subclass: Transcendent, Strategist, Monk
    • Notes: Kasen has very high and well balanced stats, skills that further play both offensive and defensive roles, and two single-target spells with decent delays, so a stay-in attacker is a natural role for her. As she has access to self-buff already Transcendent is her best option, while Strategist may be even better if the party doesn't otherwise have one. Monk is a lesser option for her, but can still be used to help her clear randoms better as well as dealing with extremely high DEF foes.

Nazrin

  • Farm: MAG
    • Recommended Subclass: Appraiser, Magician
    • Notes: Nazrin's entire spellset is built around grinding things, so all she really need is heavy MAG investment to be able to land the killing blows she need. Appraiser is the obvious choice for this role, while Magician works as an alternative to keep her MP filled.

Hina

  • Debuffing Support: SPD, MND, DEF
    • Recommended Subclass: Hexer
    • Notes: Misfortune God's Biorhythm is strongest debuffing spell in the game by a country mile, but it does have a large downside so your party needs to be ready to defend against it. If you can arrange that, any boss that aren't totally immune to any specific debuff will not find themselves in good condition with Hina around. Hina's own gimmick makes her exceptionally good at keeping herself "buffed" as well, so her tanking ability is actually very good, especially towards magic. Hexer has so much synergy with her that a passive even needed to be specifically nerfed in her hands, and it's difficulty to justify any other subclass over it.
  • Debuffing Attacker: MAG, SPD, MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Sorcerer
    • Notes: While Hina's MAG growth isn't fantastic, her tendency to keep herself well "buffed" and opponent well debuffed generally allows her to deal decent damage anyways, particularly to FIR-weak foes. Sorcerer strengthens her best spell greatly while giving her two other elements to use as well, though beware that its self-buffing passives may conflict with Hina's own gimmick.

Orin

  • Attacker: ATK, some MAG and SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Warrior
    • Notes: Despite her growths looking less than impressive, Orin has access to two fantastic damage boosters in Final Blow and Extra Attack, and she has access to good spells of three different elements as well as the ability to do emergency switches while barely impacting her own action bar, so she is still a very competitive attacker if you can get past her frailty (especially on the physical side). Warrior's Tension Up and Enhanced Row Attack work exceptionally well with Extra Attack and Former Hell's Needle Hill respectively, making it by far the best subclass Orin can take.
  • Speedy Supporter: SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Monk, Transcendent
    • Notes: Her Speedy Formation Change and high SPD can work well with the hit-and-run style and Instant Attackers, for she saves the ATB bar loss while changing the formation.

Okuu

  • Stay-in Attacker: MAG, HP
    • Recommended Subclass: Transcendent, Magician
    • Notes: Despite Okuu's non-exceptional defenses, her self-buff's DEF/MND down side effect, and access to Giga Flare, her skill set support her fire spells almost exclusively, so they are the best things to focus on for Okuu. Since HP cannot be debuffed and Okuu has access to precentage damage reduction anyways, focussing on that stat can be more effective towards keeping her alive than raw DEF/MND (though you may not want to totally neglect them either). Transcendent is best in theory for keeping her damage and defense up, but in practice you may find her mounting MP costs difficult to deal with, so Magician can be used to alleviate that issue somewhat as well.

Satori

  • Copycat Attacker: MAG (ATK can be used too but the best spells to copy are magic), some HP/SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Gambler, Monk, Transcendent
    • Notes: The best spells to copy are Narrow Confines of Avici and Gathering and Dissipating, but Trauma Recollection means that hitting weakness is more important. Satori's damage is actually not as good as one may expect since she has only one damage boosting passive and copied spellcards are stuck at Lv0, but some spells are just so good that having a weaker copy is probably stronger than some other character's personal spellcard anyways, especially when they hit weakness. Since Satori has no need for subclass spells, passives are all that she cares about - Gambler maximizes her damage output (while Small MP Recovery means she doesn't have as much problem paying the upkeep), while Monk and Transcendent are mainly useful to patch up her exceptionally bad speed.
  • Copycat Support: HP, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Monk, Transcendent
    • Notes: Of course, being able to copy every spellcard means Satori can make a versatile support as well, since she can literally double any useful effect your party might have (except Aya's turn passing; trying to use that spell as a copy will instead set ATB to 0, so don't do it - Yukari's Spiriting Away works though), and Small MP Recovery means she might actually use some of them better than their original owners in a sense (Yukari's Spiriting Away is a primary example). Again, Monk and Transcendent are all-purpose subclasses that fix up her bad speed.

Meiling

  • Tank: HP, DEF, MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Guardian, Strategist
      • Notes: Meiling has arguably one of the best HP growths in the game while also having a high levelling rate, making her a very effective HP sponge (who unlike the likes of Komachi also has decent enough defences to complement it). Guardian to reduce damage received and draw enemy aggro, or Strategist for their passive skills are both solid choices (and classes like Herbalist or Magician can also somewhat work out). Meiling will be mainly switching other characters, while occasionally healing herself with Colorful Rain if needed(make sure to get Natural for the increased healing) or cleansing ally statuses with Healer.
  • Attacker: ATK, HP, some SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Warrior, Monk, Transcendent
      • Notes: Alternatively, Mountain Breaker boasts an absolutely ridiculous damage formula, and Meiling has decent enough base ATK to make use of it, allowing her to deal high PHY damage at very reasonable delay and cost (Brilliant Light Gem is also very decent due to its low cost and very low delay). Gatekeeper Nap complements this playstyle incredibly well and should be learned ASAP, Meiling's natural tankiness when combined with the skill's damage reduction and Guts makes her deceptively tanky, and the increased SPD also increases her DPS. Since Meiling doesn't really need much in the way of subclass spells, choosing the subclass based on their passive skills is probably the best; Warrior, Monk and Transcendent are all very decent picks.

Alice

  • Tripwire Support: HP, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Hexer, Toxicologist, Magician, Herbalist
      • Notes: Tripwire is arguably one of the best spells when it comes to slowing enemies down, being able to inflict a SPD debuff, PAR and HVY all at the same time (and its HVY effect is one of the highest you get access to), so building Alice entirely around spamming it and tripping enemies up is pretty viable. Alice only needs to be fast and somewhat bulky to do her job (and her high evasion due to her passive skills already increases her survivability a decent bunch); Rapid Charge should be learned once you have a few spare skill points to increase her longevity in boss fights. For subclasses, Hexer and Toxicologist increase Tripwire's effects and can provide her with more debuffs and statuses, while Magician and Herbalist allows her to give some more support to her teammates.
  • MAlice Cannon: MAG, SPD, some HP
    • Recommended Subclass: Sorceror, Transcendent
      • Notes: MAlice Cannon gives a large boost to Alice's MAG, greatly increasing her damage output as long as Marisa is in the back (and she usually is), Artful Sacrifice is very decent for single target, while Hanged Hourai Dolls becomes very powerful with Row Attack Enhancement. Alice's natural bulk isn't too bad for a mage, and her EVA increasing passives will also help her stay alive. Once you can afford them, her defence piercing passives will also give her an edge against enemies with high defences. Sorceror would be the best choice for a subclass if you're planning to use Hanged Hourai Dolls, otherwise, Transcendent is also an option.

Sanae

  • Buffer: HP, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Enhancer
    • Notes: Sanae's Miracle Fruit is one of the best buffing spells in the game, losing only to Byakuren's Duplicating Chant in terms of all-stat buffing ability. It's especially useful for bulkier attackers, who benefit from the defensive buffs in addition to the offensive ones. Miracle Fruit does have a noticeable delay, making it a little slower than other buffs, but this can be compensated for with switching or investment in SPD. The Enhancer subclass not only helps by strengthening said buff, but can also add a minor heal to it as well, making it even more useful.
  • Healer: MAG
    • Recommended Subclasses: Healer, Enhancer
    • Notes: Sanae's healing spell is much less potent than Minoriko's, and also slower, but it does carry the benefit of curing several statuses, allowing healing and status removal in a single action. The Healer subclass's strengthening of heals is quite valuable for her, though she doesn't have as much need for its status cure. Enhancer is also worth considering, since it adds a buffing effect to her already multi-purpose healing spell.

Iku

  • Buffer: HP, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Enhancer, Herbalist
    • Notes: Thundercloud Stickleback is the best offensive buff in the game, its drawback becomes less and less relevant as you advance in the tree thanks to a combination of better equipment and Resistance Tomes (plus as long as Iku has learned Supple Hagoromo, the PAR chance and effect are both greatly reduced). Whiskers of the Dragon God is a bit more situational, though it works great as a self-buff since Iku has Flexibility. Enhancer is a good class to further increase the power of Iku's buffs, though Herbalist can also be a decent option to give her something to do once an ally's buffs have been maxed out.
  • Magic Attacker: MAG, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Sorcerer
    • Notes: Hagoromo like Sky gives a massive buff to Iku's normal Attacks, making them almost completely ignore the enemies' MND and then adding some extra damage on top of that-combine this with the Sorcerer's Enhanced Normal Attack and passive MAG buffs, and Iku becomes a powerful, fast and self sufficient MYS attacker.

Suika

  • Attacker: HP, ATK
    • Recommended Subclass: Monk, Warrior, Transcendent
    • Notes: Suika's sports a combination of great ATK, useful passives and powerful spellcards-all backed up by great HP and decent defenses. She can either choose to stay in the frontline spamming her lower cost and delay spellcards or switch in and out using Throwing Atlas. All 3 subclasses give Suika some useful passives, and Warrior gives her 2 more elements to play with, Monk and Transcendant work better with a stay-in playstyle though.

Ran

  • Backline buffer: HP, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Enhancer, Strategist, Magician
    • Notes: Ran's main niche is her role as a backline buffer once she learns Super-Hard Fast Arithmetic, so Enhancer is a natural option for her. That said, because Enhanced Buffing doesn't actually work on the buffs received by the backline, if your main objective is buffing up the backline characters, other subclasses may be more attractive; Strategist allows her to passively support the rest of the frontline while buffing while Magician's free spell casts and MP restoration can greatly increase the amount of buffs Ran can cast before needing to Concentrate, since her party wide buffs do cost a lot of MP.
  • Mage: HP, MAG, some ATK and SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Sorcerer
    • Notes: Soaring En no Ozuno sports a great formula at a decent cost and low delay, and becomes quite fearsome once backed up by Row Attack Enhancement, so Ran can also choose to go the offensive Mage route. The passive buffs granted by the subclass and Ran's great MP flow makes her rather low maintenance; once you can afford it, Shikigami Defence can also make her rather bulky even with an offensive build (though it may be a bit RNG-based). Ran's lack of offensive passive skills does hurt her damage potential a bit though (particularly against anything resistant to PHY).

Remilia

  • Attacker: HP, ATK, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Monk, Warrior, Transcendent
    • Notes: Remilia has some of the best stats in the playable cast, sporting above average stats in everything but Magic, so she makes for a good bulky attacker. Her main weakness is her lack of variety when it comes to offensive spellcards, so she's reliant on subclass spells against anything that resists PHY. Mental Concentration and Majesty are her most important skills since the first will extend her longevity in battle and the second allows her to upkeep higher buffs, afterwards it's probably best to focus on subclass passives.
  • Tank: HP, DEF, MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Herbalist, Strategist, Magician
    • Notes: Alternatively, focusing entirely on her defensive stats to make her a tank also works out well, though Remilia has the notable problem of lacking any kind of innate support spells, so Herbalist and Magician are good choices to give her something to do while enduring hits; having Remilia as a Strategist that focuses entirely on switching characters is another choice if you want the Strategist's passive skill effects.

Sakuya

  • Time Support: HP, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Enhancer, Magician, Herbalist
    • Notes: Since Sakuya has one of the few multi-target SPD buffs in the game, she can work out well as a buffer that focuses on speeding her allies up, and can also use Private Square in a pinch to delay the foes. That said, Sakuya lacks other buffs or easily usable supportive spells, and other than maybe Extra Attack, she doesn't really have any supportive passive skills either, so she's entirely reliant on subclasses for those. Enhancer can strengthen Lunar Clock and add a small heal to it, and gives her access to 2 more buffing spells; Magician is great both for their extra spells and for their great MP flow, since Sakuya's spells are expensive; finally Herbalist is another choice due to their unique support spells and various passive effects.
  • Attacker: ATK, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Warrior, Monk, Transcendent
    • Notes: As an attacker, Sakuya has access to the Extra Attack skill that can greatly increase her damage if luck permits, that said, Sakuya is somewhat reliant on offensive subclass spells as an attacker, since Killing Doll's extremely high DEF factor generally means it won't be able to do much damage, leaving her with only Soul Sculpture as her most reliable offensive spell; thus she generally wants to be a Warrior for Explosive Flame Sword or a Monk for Iron Mountain Charge to get more options (this also means that Plus Disk nerfing Extra Attack's activation rate on subclass spells is a big hit for her). All that said, she does get a decent Attack boost from Jack the Ludo Bile, so her damage is still decent regardless.

Kanako

  • Bulky Mage: HP, MAG, SPD, some DEF and MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Transcendent
    • Notes: Kanako is basically just innately built as a bulky offensive mage, there's really not any other path for her (and she's great in her role anyway). She gets a decent selection of spells from 4 different elements that can target DEF or MND and can also be single or multi-target, and most importantly a bunch of great passives that complement her role extremely well; due to this, she generally isn't reliant on subclasses for spells or passive skills, so Transcendent is a natural option for her, since it just grants her better stats overall. Majesty and Sky Creation are her most important skills, though Desperation and Strong Faith are also great in tougher fights.

Suwako

  • Frog Nuker: ATK/MAG, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Gambler
    • On the opposite end, Suwako is just built as an extremely frail glass cannon, while she can focus either on ATK or MAG, generally MAG is the best choice since all her multi-target spells use that stat, which means a MAG built Suwako will be able to help out in random fights much better than an ATK-based one, Mishaguji-sama is also only slightly weaker than Long Arm and Long Leg, so her NTR-nuking potential in boss fights is mostly retained too. That said, depending on boss weaknesses, switching to ATK for the Warrior's Explosive Flame Sword may be necessary. As for skills, Froggy Power! and Earth Creation are the most important and should be obtained ASAP, while the rest are much more situational.

Tenshi

  • Celestial Tank: DEF, MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Strategist
    • Tenshi's extremely high defensive stats make her suited to be your party's tank, with enough bonuses on both stats, most attacks will straight up deal single digit damage to her, her HP however, is pitiful, so attacks that ignore or pierce defenses are very dangerous to her. Other than having some utility in the form of buff removal and ATK/MAG debuffs, Tenshi should mostly be switching your characters, since her Keystone Formation skill will make every switch she makes buff everyone on the front, which is also why she has great synergy with the Strategist's Inspirational Plan, allowing her to help upkeep your party's buffs. Most of her skills give benefits to the front line party, and make her mere presence strengthen your party a bit, Keystone Formation, Kusanagi's Former Owner and Freedom from Wordly Thoughts are all valuable for her role, while the other skills are a bit more situational.
  • Post Awakening Attacker: ATK, DEF, MND
    • Recommended Subclass: Warrior, Monk, Transcendent
    • Tenshi's awakening skills give her some more offensive bonuses, which when combined with enough base ATK boosts from gems and tomes and the offensive boost she gets from Iku being in the front can make her a great attacker. Her own spellcards all have surprisingly good formulas and delays, World Creation Press in particular is not only powerful, but also very cheap, and Sword of Hisou has the advantage of never missing. That said, she may need to rely on subclass spells to get the bonus stats from Keypoints of Spirit, since at base she only has NTR and SPI spells. Girl of Bhava-agra, Courageous Sword and Keypoints of Spirit are all great to enhance her offensive potential, while Seven Celestial Peaches may be necessary to keep her alive, since DEF and MND matter much less in Plus Disk.

Flandre

  • Harmful Nuker: ATK, MAG, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Gambler
    • Flandre relies on her extremely high offensive stats and powerful spellcards to dish out heavy damage at the expense of herself and her allies, so enhancing that with the Gambler subclass generally works out well (her MP costs are high, but she also has high MP, so she can generally afford the extra costs). Realistically, she won't be able to take a hit, so proper support from her allies to keep her safe is needed, the heavy drawbacks on Laevatein also mean choosing the right moment to use it is important. In exchange, her extreme damage will generally allow her to kill anything that isn't resistant to FIR or DRK in very few hits, bosses included.
  • Plus Disk Bulky Attacker: HP, ATK, MAG, SPD
    • Recommended Subclass: Warrior, Monk, Transcendent
    • In Plus Disk, HP is much more important than defenses, so Flandre's high HP can actually help her readily survive hits, allowing her to become a more regular attacker. Due to her spellcards' drawbacks, you may want to rely on subclass spells as your main source of damage, and save up Flandre's personal spellcards for dire situations. Do note that Flandre still has a major weakness in her extremely loopsided affinities, so proper equipment to patch them up is necessary against enemies that commonly use the elements she's weaker to. After awakening, she also gets a great skill in Vampiric Attack, which will help in keeping her alive while also further enhancing her damage.