Best Combat Arts/Magic

[ZanaLyrander]

My strategy in Three Hopes typically makes heavy use of combat arts and spells, so at this point I figured it was time to have a discussion on which ones I've had the most success with for each weapon type, mainly to hear which ones others have had the most success with. After all, there are a lot of different CA and spells, even after plenty of runs, I probably still haven't used them all.

Let's start with Swords. Honestly, the sword combat arts kinda frustrate me, I've tried tons of them and few of them really click with me. I'm a big fan of Electric Grounder, and both Windsweep and Firesweep are very useful, but most of the non-elemental sword CA feel kinda unimpressive to me. Even Shez's unique CA, Swift Slice, while tremendously powerful and impressive, annoys me because of its insanely high cooldown and durability cost. I think the real problem I have with the Sword combat arts is that every single master sword class can also use spells, and nine times out of ten, it feels like spells deal more damage due to most enemies having lower resistance than defense. The one exception is probably Beast Fang, Blutgang's crest specific combat art: high damage, heals the wielder based on the damage dealt, and effective against cavalry. If it wasn't so short range, I'd call it completely overpowered.

Axes fare much better. As far as I can tell, everyone can learn War Strike from the Warrior class, and if you're using an axe class and not using War Strike, take a long hard look at what you're doing wrong with your life, because War Strike is broken as shit. I've also made fruitful use of Armored Strike, Focused Strike, and Lighting Axe/Returning Axe, not to mention the multitude of insanely nasty combat arts keyed to the axe Hero's Relics.

For Lances, leaving aside Dimitri's insanely powerful Paraselene and Atrocity, I've gotten very good use out of Glowing Ember, Frozen Lance, and Knightkneeler. Having said that, since most lance master classes can also use magic, they do still have kinda the same problem as swords, because spells are just so powerful in this game.

Bow combat arts I definitely get a ton of use out of, because The Inexhaustible is ridiculously overpowered. My usual tactic is to give each archer one wide AoE combat art, such as Flame Volley, Drill Arrow, or in Claude's case the absurdly overpowered Wind God, and one long range, high damage combat art, typically Deadeye, but sometimes Precision Volley. Bows definitely support a combat art centric playstyle better than most weapon types.

For a while, I had a hard time finding Gauntlet Combat arts that I liked. Obviously for Balthus, Eviscerate is a no-brainer, but for others, I haven't yet found anything that can top the Flamewhorl Kick + Duel Devastators combo, which is arguably all you need, but I haven't been impressed by most of the other combat arts for gauntlets.

Finally we come to spells. Honestly, it'd probably be a lot quicker to list the bad spells than the good ones, spells in Three Hopes are crazy strong. As such, I'm going to list my favorite spell combos instead, as I have found numerous spells that work tremendously well in conjunction with each other, using one as an opener, and the other as a finisher while the enemies are still trapped in the effect of the first. Luna followed by Dark Spikes or Hades is devastating, especially for Essence of Darkness users, this is my favorite combo for Shez. Bolganone followed by Hades is also insanely strong, and both benefit from Essence of Fire. Excalibur followed by Agnea's Arrow is frankly absurd, this combo wipes out basically everything, and shreds the stun gauge of anything that miraculously survives. While not quite as powerful as the Excalibur/Agnea's Arrow combo, any spell which freezes enemies in place like Blizzard or Fimbulvetr is also a very viable opener for a Agnea's Arrow finisher, as the only real drawback of Agnea's Arrow is how easy it is for enemies to guard against it.

These are my favorites combat arts and spells, please give your own recommendations, there's certainly plenty of choices, and not everyone will have tried all the options.

Edited July 28, 2022 by ZanaLyrander

[Dark Holy Elf]

My feelings are... remarkably similar!

Swords: Mostly underwhlmeing, but I Windsweep/Firesweep for the same reasons you do.

Lances: Glowing Ember and Frozen Lance are indeed nice, but yeah spells are obviously gonna replace them eventually. Knightkneeler I found a bit underwhelming outside weakness hits, but those weakness hits were enough to keep it on my moveset for a while.

Axes: War Strike feels like cheating sometimes. "Did that enemy's healthbar just disappear instantly? Is this a mistake?"

Bows: For the first time I'll add one you missed; I love Point-Blank Volley. Stun everything in a big range, rack up so many hits that your adjutant attack will activate immediately, easy to combo that into critical rushes.

Gauntlets: I kinda like Fierce Iron Fist and Dual Devastators but nothing wows me.

Spells: Are kinda overpowered in general. I particularly love Bolganone for drawing enemies in from a huge range and AoE and letting me destroy them (I gather Excalibur is similar but I've not gotten my hands on it yet), Meteor for being so flexible by moving with the caster and giving me a constant range of death, Thoron for its speedy ranged attack that all but instantly breaks when coupled with an adjutant, Dark Spikes for cavalry slaying... I could go on.

[ZanaLyrander]

1 minute ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Axes: War Strike feels like cheating sometimes. "Did that enemy's healthbar just disappear instantly? Is this a mistake?"

I swear, every time Hilda hits someone with War Strike, I feel like the game should just skip the death animation and immediately delete their character model, because that's pretty much exactly what it does to their health bar. I almost feel like War Strike was an apology from the developers to axe users for not letting them use magic.

4 minutes ago, Dark Holy Elf said:

Spells: Are kinda overpowered in general. I particularly love Bolganone for drawing enemies in from a huge range and AoE and letting me destroy them (I gather Excalibur is similar but I've not gotten my hands on it yet), Meteor for being so flexible by moving with the caster and giving me a constant range of death, Thoron for its speedy ranged attack that all but instantly breaks when coupled with an adjutant, Dark Spikes for cavalry slaying... I could go on.

Meteor is another great opener for spells like Agnea's Arrow, and it lasts a crazy long time. The only problem I have with it is how short range it is, I don't ever want my Gremory getting that close to an enemy if I can help it. It's still a great spell, it just requires a change in mindset. Thoron is definitely the best Lightning spell imo, even if it doesn't really effectively combo from/into any other spells, it doesn't really need to, it's high damage at absurdly long range, and that's all you really need.

And yeah, Excalibur juggles enemies for so long, you hardly even need a followup spell if you're playing as a sword or lance class: just cast Excalibur and then shred their stun gauge with combos while they're stuck in the air, that's what I do with Holy Knight Lindhart and the effect is devastating.

[Archeleon]

I eventually want to get into a more nuanced analysis of each CA so I won't go long(er) here. I have not used every one of them personally but I have analyzed their attributes (effects, hit box, damage, CD, etc) enough that I think I got a decent idea. Mostly ignoring exclusive/relic arts.

Sword - I think sword CAs are a bit better than I see others mention. You have a lot of options for hitting Res and a quite a few that can be augmented with Essences. Astra is pretty great as it lets you break guards and deal damage while essentially becoming immune. Only ones I really don't like is Assassinate because of how it jerks you around and Haze Slice for just feeling like a gimped Astra.

Lance - Not as versatile as Sword but some powerful options for high Str+Mag units that can be augmented with Essences though none of them hit Res.

Axe - Least versatile, probably the worst of the bunch. It's usually War Strike or bust though Lightning Axe has its uses for hitting Res.

Bow - About the same as Lances though no benefit from having high Str+Mag you always hit Fliers hard. Flame Volley and Tornado Shot are handy and then you got Deadeye/Precision Volley for nuking.

Gauntlets - Same boat as Bows but without free effectiveness. You can hit Res using Mystic Blow and Frozen Fost, which is interesting, but Rushing Blow is my favorite so far.

Not gonna talk about spells as they require a lot more detail.

[Shadow Mir]

11 hours ago, ZanaLyrander said:

Blutgang's crest specific combat art: high damage, heals the wielder based on the damage dealt, and effective against cavalry.

Speaking of, effective damage was nerfed in this game, wasn't it? It was easy to nuke enemies out of orbit in the first game with effective weapons, so I'd imagine they'd have to do something about that.

[Dark Holy Elf]

It's still pretty effective but... not whatever the heck was going on with weakness hits in FEW1, no.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Dark Holy Elf

[ZanaLyrander]

9 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

Speaking of, effective damage was nerfed in this game, wasn't it? It was easy to nuke enemies out of orbit in the first game with effective weapons, so I'd imagine they'd have to do something about that.

The damage increase from effective damage is still fairly significant, but not massive. I never played the first FEW so I wouldn't know how it compares. But the stun gauge damage from effective weapons seems pretty massive, you can shred stun gauges with effective weapons.

[Moondrag]

On 7/29/2022 at 1:02 PM, Dark Holy Elf said:

It's still pretty effective but... not whatever the heck was going on with weakness hits in FEW1, no.

To be exact, effective damage in FEW was 1000% damage...yeah you can see why Hopes nerfed that a bit.

[Jotari]

Dark Spikes seems to be amazing, even for  on cavalry. The final hit deals a tonne of damage, and it recharges very fast.

[Pie Burritos]

Dark Spikes is probably the go-to spell for Shez since it takes down lance users they'd otherwise be disadvantaged against and also takes out great knights who would be tough to break through due to their insane def. For tome users it's a great spell but there's more of an argument to run Hades over it.

Edit: I suppose any regular spell would be sufficient for a great knight though since they have horrible res. Not that I know because I've only ever run Luna and Dark Spikes on Shez, one of which doesn't care about res, and the other of which deals effective damage and instantly kills any great knight it touches.

Edited July 31, 2022 by Pie Burritos

[ZanaLyrander]

24 minutes ago, Pie Burritos said:

Dark Spikes is probably the go-to spell for Shez since it takes down lance users they'd otherwise be disadvantaged against and also takes out great knights who would be tough to break through due to their insane def. For tome users it's a great spell but there's more of an argument to run Hades over it.

Edit: I suppose any regular spell would be sufficient for a great knight though since they have horrible res. Not that I know because I've only ever run Luna and Dark Spikes on Shez, one of which doesn't care about res, and the other of which deals effective damage and instantly kills any great knight it touches.

I keep going back and forth between Dark Spikes and Hades for Shez. They're both insanely high damage spells with one final big hit. The only real tradeoff is effectiveness against cavalry vs slightly better AoE.

[IonicAmalgam]

I did a comparison of combat arts and magic based on the weapon role of the user and the task a specific Art/Spell fulfills. (Type refers to if the unit is pure melee or a mix magic/melee unit, not the damage type)

Bold is the best for a particular Task within the Role.
Italics refers to a unique skill most classes do not have access to
Underline refers to a skill that best fulfills the task across all Roles.

Sword Users:
Sword has good coverage for all tasks, but doesn't have many "Best" arts/spells. Trickster/Assassin has a very strong class action that breaks guard and stun locks opponents without animation locks. Dancer and Mortal Savant should probably run spells for Fire/Dark/Light coverage on maps with Monsters. For regular maps, Excalibur and Dark Spikes T provide good coverage against Lance units. Assassinate is the best Guard-Breaker to combo with a Damage art/spell such as Finesse Blade or Aura/Abraxas. Non magic users can run Iceblade/Grounder for anti-flier coverage or Assassinate/Finesse for damage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance Users:
Similar to sword, lances have good coverage in all roles, excelling in anti-cavalry, wind, and ice. For type coverage against Axes, Knightkneeler and Excalibur can be considered. Although most axe units are weak to magic so you can instead use Tempest Lance and Hades or another spell. Class features long animation locks so strongly recommend running at least 1 fast animating art.

Axe Users:

War strike is broken on axe users, also axes have the best thunder coverage skill in lightning axe. They lack pretty much everything else however.

Bow Users:

Bow users have the best anti-armor and anti-flier art that lowers the opponents defense in Drill Arrow. Units without access to it have the similar Break Shot art. Besides that they have decent type coverages but most of their skills are similar in raw stats. Mostly up to personal preference on the art ranges.

Fist Users:
There's nothing really redeeming about Fist users. I wouldn't bother bringing them unless required for a Monster. The only good thing is that their strongest art combo Mighty Blow/Fierce Iron Fist is accessible to all units and don't require training. Fierce Iron Fist is also spammable for a "Large" damage attack.

Unmounted Mages:
The one area that mages lack good coverage for is in Ice magic, but sword and lance roles have a great ice art so it should be fine. In addition passives such as Marianne's make ice unnecessary.


 

Edited August 19, 2022 by IonicAmalgam

[ciphertul]

9 minutes ago, IonicAmalgam said:

Bow Users:

Bow users have the best anti-armor and anti-flier art that lowers the opponents defense in Drill Arrow. Units without access to it have the similar Break Shot art. Besides that they have decent type coverages but most of their skills are similar in raw stats. Mostly up to personal preference on the art ranges.

I don't know how many know this or not but Drill Arrow and Warning Shot weaken the user's stat as well.

[Fabulously Olivier]

1 minute ago, ciphertul said:

I don't know how many know this or not but Drill Arrow and Warning Shot weaken the user's stat as well.

My experience seems to be that they debuff you if you fail to hit an enemy captain or something. It's weird.

[ciphertul]

Just now, Fabulously Olivier said:

My experience seems to be that they debuff you if you fail to hit an enemy captain or something. It's weird.

I haven't experimented with Drill Arrow much but I have gotten the Warning Shot debuff on Bernie every time I have used it.

[IonicAmalgam]

Might be bugged then. I usually don't control archers too often myself, will check next time I do.

[Dark Holy Elf]

The asymmetry of how damage works in this game means that even if you hit yourself with a defence debuff, it's not particularly important.

[IonicAmalgam]

Example coverage with 4 units:

Mortal Savant:
Weapon: Rapier
Excalibur: Wind, Break, Anti-Air
Seraphim: Holy, Anti-Monster

Holy Knight:
Tempest Lance: Wind, Break
Hades: Fire, Dark
Mercedes/Constance Passive: Holy

Fortress Knight:
Class Action: Guard-Break/Stun
Lightning Axe: Thunder/Guard-Break
War Strike: Anti-All
Marianne Passive: Ice

Archer:
Drill Arrow: Anti-Armor
Flame Volley: Fire
Bernedetta Passive: Ice
Class Passive: Anti-Air

[ciphertul]

1 hour ago, IonicAmalgam said:

Holy Knight:
Tempest Lance: Wind, Break
Hades: Fire, Dark
Mercedes/Constance Passive: Holy

If you are worried about Light damage, remember most of the Holy Knights chains deal Light damage... and you only get Light 50% of the time with Constance's passive.

[IonicAmalgam]

3 hours ago, ciphertul said:

If you are worried about Light damage, remember most of the Holy Knights chains deal Light damage... and you only get Light 50% of the time with Constance's passive.

Yes it is true that the class action does light damage. Now that I look at the list of passives, Shamir would work for Ice coverage.

Using Mercedes passive is okay because the Holy Knight chain puts you into an animation lock. Element is primarily for fighting monsters and getting into animation lock is bad versus monsters because you can't dodge out of attacks.

You are right about Constance's passive, it depends on her personality. Flayn would be a better option.

List of Passives for elemental coverage:

Edelgard's passive (Fire)
Dimitri's passive (Thunder)
Ashe's passive (Wind) - switch Tempest Lance to Frozen Lance or Knightkneeler (for break)  reliable coverage option but overall weak for non Monsters
Claude's passive (Wind)
Yuri's passive (Wind)
Dedue's passive (Dark) - kinda overlaps with Hades though
Hapi's passive (Dark) - same issue as above, but worse since this requires strong attacks which send you to animation lock
Ignatz's passive (random elemental) - RNG and also requires strong attacks with animation lock
Dorothea's passive (random elemental) - works on weak attacks so no animation lock, but RNG
Shamir (Ice)
Bernadetta (Ice)
Marianne (Ice)
Ingrid (Ice) - requires strong attacks I think, not sure haven't unlocked her but the description implies it
Mercedes (Light)
Flayn (Light)
Constance (Light/Dark RNG) - Fixed per stage

Manuela and Lysithea's passive doesn't seem to work for me but they are Thunder and Dark respectively.

Assist Ability (all elements) requires a unit to be an adjutant

Edited August 20, 2022 by IonicAmalgam

[IonicAmalgam]

Working on categorizing animations now (don't have all skills unlocked). Interesting to note that 2 skills have the wrong range Indicator: Witstrike and Flame Volley are given Line indicators but they aren't. Also changes some of the previous skill evaluations, Assassination is pretty terrible because of the animation (Wrath Strike if need guard break), while Iceblade is hands down the best Ice skill available now due to the superior animation.




 

Edited August 22, 2022 by IonicAmalgam

[Archeleon]

Here is my take on ranking them, below is a more fleshed out explanation.

Sword

Lance

Axe

Bow

Gauntlets

Spells

A

Bombard

Excalibur

Flamewhorl Kick

Dark Spike Tau

Lightning Fist

Hades Omega

B

Astra

Lance Jab+

Crush

Flame Volley

Fierce Iron Fist+

Bolganone

Windsweep

Glowing Ember+

Smash

Deadeye

Dual Devastators

Cutting Gale

Firesweep

Lightstrike+

Shredder

Drill Arrow

Battle Trance

Thoron

Thunder Rush

Invigorating Spirit

Thunderbolt

Steady Mind

Bolting

Shatter Slash

War Strike

Hide Presence

Aura

Stormblade

Break Shot

Meteor

Titanic Might

C

Finesse Blade+

Dark Lance+

Armored Strike+

Precision Volley±

Whirlwind Kick

Ragnarok

Electric Grounder±

Frozen Lance+

Swinging Fury

Point-Blank Volley

Draining Blow

Abraxas

Magic Blade±

Tempest Lance

Helm Splitter

Hunter's Volley

Wind

Haze Slice

Knightkneeler

Tornado Shot

Banshee Theta

Sword Dance

Luna Lambda

Assassinate

Seraphim

Grounder

Agnea's Arrow

Fimbulvetr

D

Iceblade±

Wheelsweep

Lightning Axe+

Waning Shot

Frozen Fist+

Fire

Shadowblade±

Airshaker

Armor Smasher

Ward Arrow

Mystic Blow+

Thunder

Lightblade±

Earthsplitter

Wild Abandon

Spiral Shot

Mighty Blow

Swarm Zeta

Wrath Strike

Vengeance

Focused Strike

Curved Shot

Rushing Blow

Nosferatu

Flash Strike

Diamond Axe

Tracking Shot

Sagittae

Mortal Struggle

Spike

Miasma Delta

Returning Axe

Mire Beta

Death Gamma

A - These are borderline overpowered

Spoiler

Bombard (Brawler)

Attributes: Medium, Guard Break, Launches, High Hit Count

Unique: Critical

True Launcher. Powerful and reliable. Has many applications. Only downside is the 6s animation lock.

Flamewhorl Kick (War Master)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Fire. Essence of Fire causes it to create two tornadoes in a straight line.

True Launcher. Groups enemies together. Top notch CA.

Lightning Fist (Grappler)

Attributes: Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Armor, Lightning. Essence of Lightning causes the final strike to release a massive lightning wave.

Powerful CA overall.

Excalibur (Warlock/Dark Mage/Dark Bishop)

Attributes: Large, Wind, Launches, High Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Fliers, Guard Break. Essence of Wind increases the size of the tornado.

True Launcher. Gathers enemies in. This is the strongest, most versatile spell.

Dark Spikes Tau (Warlock/Gremory/Dark Bishop/Asura)

Attributes: Large, Dark, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Cavalry. Essence of Darkness increases the strike radius.

Strong with a very useful niche.

Hades Omega (Warlock/Gremory/Dark Bishop)

Attributes: Large, Dark, Fire, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Essence of Darkness/Fire causes it to create dark and fire explosions at the base of the tornado.

Strong with a very unique property. The only CA that can apply two elemental effects at once.

B - Strong, go-to options

Spoiler

Astra (Swordmaster Signature)

Attributes: Large, Guard Break, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: None

Astra is reliable and versatile. You can use it to compliment any build to great effect.

Windsweep/Firesweep (Mercenary/Fluegel/Silverheart)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, High Hit Count.

Unique: Wind/Fire. Essence of Wind/Fire makes it create three, larger tornadoes.

True Launchers. These group enemies together. Excellent utility and strength.

Lance Jab (Falcon Knight Signature)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Critical, "Speed Factor"

A rank on units that build around Spd. Has a lot of powerful attributes but can be tricky to use. Main issue is its availability.

Glowing Ember (Cavalier)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: "Defense Factor", Fire. Essence of Fire makes the final strike launch three spears.

A rank on units that build around Def. This is very strong and versatile.

Lightstrike (Holy Knight Signature)

Attributes: Small, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count, "Magic Factor"

Unique: Light. Essence of Light causes it to fire three light spears at the end of the charge.

A rank on high Mag units. Small version of Lance Jab with self-healing.

Thunder Rush (Cavalier/Great Lord)

Attributes: Medium, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Armor, Lightning. Essence of Lightning causes it to unleash lightning shockwaves as the unit strikes.

Shatter Slash twin but with 100% more lightning.

Shatter Slash (Holy Knight)

Attributes: Medium, Guard Break, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Weaken Defense

Powerful on its own, the defense debuff it applies is a good bonus.

Stormblade (Pegasus Knight Signature)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count, Wind. Essence of Wind makes the final swing launch three wind blades.

Unique: Effective vs Fliers

Strong option, its only issue is being gender locked.

Titanic Might (Dark Knight)

Unique: Strength buff

Increases your Str by 50% for about 22s.

Crush (Wyvern Rider)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Ice. Essence of Ice causes it to strike twice as many times in the same time window, generating many more, taller ice spikes.

Very strong, you can move left or right slightly to adjust the strike zone. Only drawback is its 6s animation lock.

Smash (Fighter/Brigand)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Critical

Same advantages and disadvantages as Crush. You trade the freeze component for higher crit.

Shredder (Armored Knight/Armored Lord)

Attributes: Small, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Fliers

Gets a bit more out of vs Fliers due to favorable weapon match ups.

Invigorating Spirit (Brigand)

Unique: Strength buff

Increases your Str by 50% for about 22s.

War Strike (Warrior Signature)

Attributes: Large, Launches, Low Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs All

This does one thing but does it very well: pure damage.

Flame Volley (Sniper)

Attributes: Medium, Guard Pierce, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Fire. Essence of Fire causes it to launch a wider volley.

Very effective and easy to use.

Deadeye (Bow Knight)

Attributes: Large, Critical, Guard Pierce, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, High Hit Count

Powrful with long range.

Drill Arrow (Archer)

Attributes: Medium, Guard Break, Weaken Defense, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Armor

A lot of good effects rolled into a strong attack.

Thunderbolt (Sniper)

Attributes: Medium, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: Lightning. Essence of Lightning increases the width of the attack by about 50%.

Its only issue is lack of guard negation. Really strong otherwise.

Hide Presence (Sniper)

Unique: Buff

Increases your Str by 50% and Lck by a flat 20 for 22s

Break Shot (Archer/Wyvern Master)

Attributes: Medium, Guard Break, Weaken Defense, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count

Similar to Drill Arrow but with different applications.

Fierce Iron Fist (Grappler Signature)

Attributes: Large, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Unique: "Speed Factor"

A rank on units that build around Spd. Functionally as good as Lightning Fist, just doesn't have as many bonuses.

Dual Devastators (Fighter/Brawler)

Attributes: Medium, Reduces Stun Guage, Launches, High Hit Count

Less reliable Bombard without Crit but also a shorter animation lock. Has a pretty good niche as well.

Battle Trance (Brawler)

Unique: Buff

Increases Warrior/Awakening gauge fill rate for 25s.

Steady Mind (Grappler)

Unique: Buff

Increases Str by 50% for 22s.

Bolganone (Mage/Warlock/Dark Mage)

Attributes: Medium, Fire, Launches, High Hit Count

Essence of Fire increases the strike radius.

True Launcher. Gathers enemies in. Full of utility and power.

Cutting Gale (Mage/Warlock)

Attributes: Medium, Wind, Launches, High Hit Count

Essence of Wind makes the blades of wind spin faster and cause four explosions when it ends.

True Launcher. Particularly good for racking up hits.

Thoron (Mage/Warlock/Dark Mage)

Attributes: Medium, Lightning, Reduces Stun Gauge, Sends Flying, Launches, Medium Hit Count

Essence of Lightning causes it to fire two lasers, increasing width.

Strong with a good niche.

Bolting (Warlock/Dark Mage)

Attributes: Large, Lightning, Sends Flying, Launches, High Hit Count

Essence of Lightning increases its strike radius.

Simple but effective.

Aura (Bishop/Gremory/Enlightened One)

Attributes: Large, Light, Launches, Medium Hit Count

Essence of Light calls down two columns of light.

True Launcher. Gathers enemies. A Light version of Bolganone.

Meteor (Warlock)

Attributes: Large, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

True Launcher. Good damage and constant disruption but doesn't interact with elemental abilities.

C - Usually outclassed by those above but have a niche that makes them shine in some situations.

Spoiler

Finesse Blade (Swordmaster)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count.

Unique: “Dexterity Factor”

B rank on units that build around Dex.

Electric Grounder (Trickster)

Attributes: Medium, “Witstrike”, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count.

Unique: Lightning. Essence of Lightning makes its strike radius larger.

B rank on high Mag units. D rank on low Mag units. The best sword witstrike option.

Magic Blade (Trickster)

Attributes: Medium, “Witstrike”, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count.

Unique: Effective vs Armor

B rank on high Mag units. D rank on low Mag units. Lack of element holds it back.

Haze Slice (Mortal Savant Signature)

Attributes: Large, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

Everything else that applies to Astra also applies here. Overall, this is a slightly worse Astra as is less reliable.

Sword Dance (Dancer Signature)

Attributes: Medium, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count.

Unique: Cannot Guard

Very reliable but it does not have the raw strength or versatility of other CAs.

Assassinate (Assassin Signature)

Attributes: Medium, Guard Break, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count.

Unique: Instant Kill

A less reliable Sword Dance. In my experience if the enemy guards the first hit, you sometimes end up zipping past them. The Instant Kill component is negligible.

Grounder (Myrmidon)

Attributes: Small, Sends Flying, Mid Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Fliers

The most average sword CA.

Dark Lance (Dark Knight Signature)

Attributes: Small, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count, "Magic Factor"

Unique: Dark. Essence of Darkness causes it to fire four columns of dark magic.

B rank on high Mag units. Has a great strike area.

Frozen Lance (Cavalier/High Lord)

Attributes: Small, Low Hit Count, "Magic Factor"

Unique: Ice. Essence of Ice causes it to fire four columns of ice magic.

B rank on high Mag units. Dark Lance twin but not as versatile. Its strongest point is freezing enemies in place.

Tempest Lance (Paladin Signature)

Attributes: Medium, Guard Break, Launches, Mid Hit Count, Wind. Essence of Wind increases the strike radius.

True Launcher. Very reliable.

Knightkneeler (Soldier)

Attributes: Large, Guard Break, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Cavalry

It does not contribute much to builds but has a nice niche.

Armored Strike (Great Knight/Emperor)

Attributes: Large, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count.

Unique: Guard Pierce, "Defense Factor"

B rank on units that build around Def. Reliable but doesn't set-up for further damage.

Swinging Fury (Fighter/Brigand)

Attributes: Medium, Guard Break, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count.

Average axe CA.

Helm Splitter (Wyvern Lord Signature)

Attributes: Large, Guard Break, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Armor

Its niche doesn't lend itself to weapon match ups that well. Not to mention Axe of Zoltan has it for free.

Precision Volley (Bow Knight)

Attributes: Large, Guard Pierce, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, High Hit Count

Unique: "Dexstrike"

B rank on high Dex units, D rank on low Dex units. Pretty strong on the right unit.

Point-Blank Volley (Archer Signature)

Attributes: Small, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, High Hit Count

The most basic bow CA.

Hunter's Volley (Sniper Signature)

Attributes: Small, Critical, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, Medum Hit Count

For most intents and purposes, it is a weaker Deadeye.

Tornado Shot (Sniper)

Attributes: Medium, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Low Hit Count

Unique: Wind. Essence of Wind causes it to create a larger tornado.

True Launcher. Mostly here due to its unique properties. Otherwise, a mediocre CA.

Whirlwind Kick (War Master)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Low Hit Count

Unique: Effectives vs Fliers, Wind. Essence of Wind causes it to create two whirlwinds in a straight line.

True Launcher. Surprisingly not as good as its Fire counterpart but still has a good niche.

Draining Blow (Brawler)

Attributes: Small, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count

Unique: Self Heal

Pretty mediocre CA with a simple niche.

Ragnarok (Mage/Warlock/Dark Mage)

Attributes: Large, Fire, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count

Essence of Fire increases the strike radius.

Outclassed by Bolganone due to lack of utility.

Abraxas (Bishop/Gremory)

Attributes: Large, Light, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count

Essence of Light causes two parallel columns to erupt.

Similar to Aura but with weaker utility

Wind (Monk)

Attributes: Small, Wind, Launches, Low Hit Count

Unique: Cannot Guard, Essence of Wind causes it to launch three wind blades.

Not as strong as the other Wind options but very reliable.

Banshee Theta (Warlock)

Attributes: Medium, Dark, High Hit Count

Essence of Darkness increases its radius.

It's outclassed by the other Dark options.

Luna Lambda (Mage/Warlock)

Attributes: Medium, Dark, Low Hit Count

Unique: Ignores Resistance. Essence of Darkness increases its radius.

Gathers enemies. It is not particularly strong, but it has great utility.

Seraphim (Priest/Bishop)

Attributes: Medium, Light, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Unique: Effective vs Monsters. Essence of Light causes it to launch three bolts.

Not quite as good as other options and its niche is not always useful.

Agnea's Arrow (Dark Mage/Gremory/Saint)

Attributes: Large, Reduces Stun Gauge, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Not very reliable and lacks synergies but it is great at what it does.

Fimbulvetr (Warlock)

Attributes: Medium, Ice, Low Hit Count

Essence of Ice causes it to create larger ice spikes.

Mediocre in comparison to its counterparts but the freeze effect is always useful.

D - Rarely worth using over other options, even their niches rarely cut it.

Spoiler

Iceblade/Shadowblade/Lightblade (Thief)

Attributes: Small, “Witstrike”, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count.

Unique: Ice/Dark/Light. Essence of Ice/Darkness/Light makes the blades it launches larger.

C rank on high Mag units. Only really useful to apply elemental effects.

Flash Strike (Myrmidon)

Attributes: Medium, Low Hit Count, 2s Animation

Unique: Effective vs Cavalry

Quick, making it somewhat reliable despite lack of guard negation. It is not versatile at all.

Wrath Strike

Attributes: Small, Guard Break, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count, 2s Animation

Generally, it is overshadowed by all other options and should be replaced early.

Mortal Struggle (Swordmaster)

Unique: Stun Gauge reveal buff

The struggle is real. Niche in its primary use as other CAs reveal the gauge, do damage, and do not make you vulnerable.

Wheelsweep (Soldier)

Attributes: Medium, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count.

Very limited applications, overshadowed by most CAs.

Airshaker (Holy Knight)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Unique: Guard Pierce

Knightkneeler twin but with a weaker niche.

Earthsplitter

Attributes: Small, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Worse than all other options in the majority of situations but gotta start somewhere.

Vengeance (Dark Knight)

Attributes: Medium, Low Hit Count

Unique: Strengthens as HP lowers.

Particularly in Maddenning mode it is not recommended to run around with low HP. This has limited uses and a bad niche.

Lightning Axe (Armored Knight)

Attributes: Small, Guard Break, Launches, Low Hit Count

Unique: "Witstrike", Lightning. Got no data on the Essence effect atm.

C rank on high Mag units. An otherwise bad CA that stands out only because of its unique properties.

Armor Smasher (Great Knight)

Attributes: Large, Guard Break, Low Hit Count

Unique: Weaken Defense

Nice debuff but not very reliable. Very niche.

Wild Abandon (Fortress Knight)

Attributes: Medium, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count.

Outclassed by other options.

Focused Strike (Fortress Knight)

Attributes: Medium, Sends Flying, Launches, Low Hit Count

Nothing special about this one.

Diamond Axe (Wyvern Rider)

Attributes: Large, Launches, Low Hit Count

Unique: Cannot Guard

Good niche but doesn't set up for much. Other CAs do it better.

Spike (Brigand)

Attributes: Medium, Sends Flying, Launches, Low Hit Count

Nothing special here.

Returning Axe

Attributes: Small, Launches, Low Hit Count

This is what Lightning Axe looks like without Witstrike and Lightning, and it's awful. Probably the worst CA overall.

Waning Shot (Bow Knight)

Attributes: Medium, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count

Unique: Instant Kill, Weaken Strength

Its niches are very weak, borderline useless. There are even rumors that it debuffs the user.

Ward Arrow (Bow Knight/Barbarossa)

Attributes: Medium, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, Medium Hit Count

Unique: Weaken Magic

Mediocre CA with a niche that is not conducive to weapon match ups.

Spiral Shot (Fighter/Archer)

Attributes: Medium, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Basically, Tornado Shot if it had no niche.

Curved Shot

Attributes: Small, Effective vs Fliers, Medium Hit Count

Awkward CA with very little synergies.

Tracking Shot (Fighter/Archer)

Attributes: Small, Effective vs Fliers, Launches, Low Hit Count

Unique: Reduces Stun Gauge

Its niche is decent but it's otherwise weak.

Frozen Fist (Grappler)

Attributes: Medium, Low Hit Count

Unique: "Witstrike", Ice. Got no data on the Essence effect atm.

C rank on high Mag units. An overall weak CA that is only good for freezing.

Mystic Blow (Grappler)

Attributes: Small, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Unique: Buff

C rank on high Mag units. Gives the "Witstrike" effect for about 15s.

Mighty Blow (War Master Signature)

Attributes: Large, Guard Break, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Outclassed by other options.

Rushing Blow

Attributes: Small, Reduces Stun Gauge, Low Hit Count

Unique: Cannot Guard

This will hit but does nothing else that other CAs dont do better.

Fire (Monk/Mage)

Attributes: Small, Fire, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Essence of Fire causes it to fire three fire balls.

Weaker than the other Fire options.

Thunder

Attributes: Small, Lightning, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Essence of Lightning causes it to call down an extra bolt of lightning at the end, infront of the user.

Weaker than the other Lightning options.

Swarm Zeta (Mage/Warlock)

Attributes: Small, Dark, Launches, Low Hit Count

Essence of Darkness makes the swarm clouds and explosions bigger.

Weaker than the other Dark options.

Nosferatu

Attributes: Small, Light, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Essence of Light causes it to fire off three orbs.

Weaker than the other Light options.

Sagittae (Mage/Warlock)

Attributes: Small, Launches, Sends Flying, Low Hit Count

Weak spell that can't be augmented.

Blizzard (Monk)

Attributes: Small, Ice, Low Hit Count

Essence of Ice increases its strike area with additional ice columns.

Straight up worse than Fimbulvetr which is already weak.

Miasma Delta

Attributes: Small, Dark, Launches, Low Hit Count

Essence of Darkness causes it to fire more orbs.

Outclassed by other options.

Mire Beta (Mage)

Attributes: Small, Dark, Launches, Low Hit Count

Essence of Darkness increases its radius.

Outclassed by other options.

Death Gamma (Warlock/Dark Mage/Death Knight)

Attributes: Medium, Dark, Low Hit Count

Unique: Instant Kill. Essence of Darkness increases its radius and causes it to radiate dark blades outwards.

Outclassed by other options.

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Archeleon

[ZanaLyrander]

Damn, seeing Luna and Agnea's Arrow, two of the most powerful spells in the game, rated at C, makes my head spin a bit. I suppose if you're evaluating spells purely on an individual basis rather than in terms of combo potential, that kinda makes sense. Agnea's Arrow is admittedly unreliable without a setup spell such as Excalibur, Meteor, or anything that freezes, but with such a setup spell, it's unbelievably powerful. Excalibur + Agnea's Arrow is honestly the most powerful combo in the game imo, it can destroy just about anyone from full health. When a Trickster with 60 Magic can oneshot even high resistance targets like warlocks/gremories on Maddening, you are dealing with an insanely powerful combo. As a single spell, yeah, Agnea's Arrow is not reliable enough. As a combo finisher, it's the most powerful spell in the game.

Similarly, Luna makes the perfect setup spell for Hades or Dark Spikes, gathering them all together, and typically applying Spellbound to drastically reduce their resistance before Hades/Dark Spikes annihilates them. Not to mention, since it ignores Resistance, it does shockingly heavy damage in a massive area, even to target normally quite resistant to magic damage. In addition, referring to it as 'low hit count' is technically accurate, but misleading. The main problem with low hit count effects is that they're easy to block, hence why a setup spell is so important for Agnea's Arrow. But Luna is low hit count only in so much as it provides those hit by it a long period of time before they are hit by it again. But for those guarding the effect, Luna appears to keep trying to hit them continuously until it connects, much like spells with a high hit count, giving it many of the advantages of spells with high hit count despite only doing damage 2 or 3 times. I would rate it one of the strongest, most valuable dark spells in the game, as important to a dark mage as Hades or Dark Spikes.

Edited August 26, 2022 by ZanaLyrander

[Archeleon]

17 minutes ago, ZanaLyrander said:

Damn, seeing Luna and Agnea's Arrow, two of the most powerful spells in the game, rated at C, makes my head spin a bit. I suppose if you're evaluating spells purely on an individual basis rather than in terms of combo potential, that kinda makes sense. Agnea's Arrow is admittedly unreliable without a setup spell such as Excalibur, Meteor, or anything that freezes, but with such a setup spell, it's unbelievably powerful. Excalibur + Agnea's Arrow is honestly the most powerful combo in the game imo, it can destroy just about anyone from full health. When a Trickster with 60 Magic can oneshot even high resistance targets like warlocks/gremories on Maddening, you are dealing with an insanely powerful combo. As a single spell, yeah, Agnea's Arrow is not reliable enough. As a combo finisher, it's the most powerful spell in the game.

Similarly, Luna makes the perfect setup spell for Hades or Dark Spikes, gathering them all together, and typically applying Spellbound to drastically reduce their resistance before Hades/Dark Spikes annihilates them. Not to mention, since it ignores Resistance, it does shockingly heavy damage in a massive area, even to target normally quite resistant to magic damage. In addition, referring to it as 'low hit count' is technically accurate, but misleading. The main problem with low hit count effects is that they're easy to block, hence why a setup spell is so important for Agnea's Arrow. But Luna is low hit count only in so much as it provides those hit by it a long period of time before they are hit by it again. But for those guarding the effect, Luna appears to keep trying to hit them continuously until it connects, much like spells with a high hit count, giving it many of the advantages of spells with high hit count despite only doing damage 2 or 3 times. I would rate it one of the strongest, most valuable dark spells in the game, as important to a dark mage as Hades or Dark Spikes.

I knew my ranking of those two spells would be the most controversial. Indeed, I focused on how each CA functions on its own merit. If the argument is that spell 1 is awesome if spell 2 is used with it, then you are effectively talking about a spell that is only half as functional and that ends up potentially costing twice as much resources as a single spell that could do that and more.

Luna is very useful but without a follow-up it doesn't really accomplish much. Excalibur, Bolganone and even Aura can offer similar utility and do other things on top of that as well. The ignore Res is nice but only really comes up if you are a Dark Bishop/Gremory dealing with high Res units. Otherwise just run up and follow up with physical attacks to finish them off.

Agnea's is just so inconsistent on its own. There are other powerhouse spells that are more reliable. Heck, I prefer Thoron over Agnea's when dealing with Stun Gauges. 

[ZanaLyrander]

3 minutes ago, Archeleon said:

I knew my ranking of those two spells would be the most controversial. Indeed, I focused on how each CA functions on its own merit. If the argument is that spell 1 is awesome if spell 2 is used with it, then you are effectively talking about a spell that is only half as functional and that ends up potentially costing twice as much resources as a single spell that could do that and more.

Luna is very useful but without a follow-up it doesn't really accomplish much. Excalibur, Bolganone and even Aura can offer similar utility and do other things on top of that as well. The ignore Res is nice but only really comes up if you are a Dark Bishop/Gremory dealing with high Res units. Otherwise just run up and follow up with physical attacks to finish them off.

Agnea's is just so inconsistent on its own. There are other powerhouse spells that are more reliable. Heck, I prefer Thoron over Agnea's when dealing with Stun Gauges. 

That's fair, at least about Agnea's Arrow, it's not terribly useful on its own, even if its potential as a combo finisher outstrips just about every other powerhouse spell.

As for Luna, I do still have to disagree with that one. Used by a powerful magic user, Luna can annihilate even multiple commanders in one cast, along with the 50+ mooks nearby. Sure, Excalibur is probably better, but without Essence of Wind, it's got a smaller AoE, and it costs more. Luna is one of the most powerful Medium might spell in the game due to the ignore resistance effect, it does startlingly high damage. Seeing you list it as 'not particularly strong' confuses me given how easily and rapidly I see it devour enemy commanders. With a strong dark magic user like Shez or Hubert, it can be cast into a crowd of commanders and mooks, and then you move on knowing they're all already dead. Even leaving aside Luna's potential as a combo starter, it's one of the best dark magic spells in the game.

Aura has never impressed me, its effect is too brief to be an effective combo starter the way Bolganone is, you won't have time to get off another spell, plus with Essence of Light, it has an AoE deadzone right in front of the user, similar to Fimbulvetr, leading to some occasional frustration with trying to land a hit with it.