Triangle Strategy Character Tier List

By now, many people are starting to get interest in Triangle Strategy. It’s one of Square-Enix’s projects that has gotten a good deal of positive feedback (including from me), and it’s still less than a month old or so.

In that time, I have played through the game four times: two “new games” and two “new games plus.” In those, I have taken nearly every route available (I refuse to do Roland’s ending because it doesn’t jibe with what I’m looking for), and as a result, I feel pretty confident in my ability to rank the characters.

I will mention that I have not gotten Travis as a character, since his requirements are rather strange. However, I have gotten every other character from every other path and played them in at least a few missions, both regular story beats and mental mock battles.

My ranking is based partly on their initial use, but also some on how they end up being. Most units really hit their full growth toward the end of a first playthrough, and since the game encourages you to go around at least twice, that means that a lot of their use comes from that second go around. I will make note of whether or not a character is all that useful for a first playthrough as well.

I also evenly leveled each and every character, since the game makes that pretty easy to do. They are almost always done at equal strength.

Tiering works as follows:

• F Tier – completely useless, junk or joke character/show/etc (none in this listing)
• D Tier – good by situation, personal interest, or specific moments.
• C Tier – Perfectly acceptable and enjoyable all around
• B Tier – starting to get good now; good to have around and watch/play with/read/etc.
• A Tier – something/someone you should look into, definitely has good qualities
• S Tier – unabashedly good, probably either objectively good or a personal favorite of mine

D Tier

I wanted to love this little creation. It comes with a cute little backstory that seems kind of intriguing and all. Plus it is taking inspiration from the Calculator, one of the most broken jobs in Final Fantasy Tactics.

It did just make that job worse though (as does a char that’s only a few higher than Decimal here). The abilities basically just do damage to a group of enemies that fulfill a certain odd math characteristic, almost always HP, which means at most he’s hitting three to four enemies, an amount that can be hit with a well placed area of effect ability. Or Decimal can buff just chars that are out of TP. But you’re likely saving TP on most of your party, so that’s not helpful.

Decimal’s attack isn’t great. It’s a decent tank, but not by much. Plus, it’s strange ability means that it has to take an entire turn to wait in order to restore three TP, and most of its abilities take two TP. It’s functionally going every other turn, and that just doesn’t work out well in a game like this. I have never found myself thankful that I brought Decimal along in a mission. A unit that can only really function on every other turn, dies quickly, and doesn’t have great attack isn’t a good unit.

I really wanted to like this character. There’s something about the idea of a girl who’s been struck by war but still retaining her innocence that I like. On top of that, she’s got some genuinely sweet moments, like when she reflects on the potential of overcoming all this to return to her adoptive family. The writing around her is fairly good, even if the voice acting sounds a bit… off at times.

Problem is that she’s not great in combat.

I’ve tried using the various items and so forth, which is touted as one of her strengths. But they’re always weaker than just using spells that several other characters come with. It is true that her doppleganger draws aggro like crazy, and when you mix that with some later abilities, it has some potential. But you could just tank with one of the other tanks instead. However, on my fourth playthrough (yes, that many), I came to realize there are two things that make her pretty decent. One is that her doppleganger takes up an extra turn. on any survive 100 turn missions, this can actually be pretty decent (and the fact that it takes aggro helps).

The other is her “Copycat” ultimate weapon ability. This lets her take one ability from someone else. That turns Piccoletta into a jack of all trades, which was enough for me to bump her up from the bottom slot. She’s still bad, but at least she’s better than Decimal and could make sense in a line up from time to time.

I understand the idea here: this sort of concept that a character can set things up in the battlefield and help people position things. But when your big ability for leveling up is “Ladder II” while other people are flinging spells, you probably should reconsider.

On top of that, he just doesn’t have many other useful abilities. It’s rarely useful to have an ability that just delays the enemy’s turn, and despite several efforts, and that spring trap only works on a few select levels.

I will admit that in my first playthrough, Jens was on the bottom. But there’s one map on one path where Jens is amazing: it involves fighting on several short tiers. His ladders will help get your group up there and his spring traps will launch them off onto lower tiers. So, very occasionally, he works great.

I will also confess that I never got to use his Weapon Ability in combat, even when I had to split the party into three teams toward the end of my Golden Route playthrough. So it’s entirely possible that ability would cause him to go up several ranks, and I’d be willing to move him if that’s confirmed.

Giovanna here takes the geomancer class from old Final Fantasy Tactics and essentially makes it worse. Her backstory is kind of interesting, found if you choose to go to Aeslfrost in the beginning and ask around: she’s a researcher who got very into rocks and was then forbidden to study further. Sure, her actual writing kinda wobbles after that, as she comes off as that whole airhead researcher that’s occasionally making sense (since she understands ancient geology and has discovered some stuff about the world that’s kind of interesting).

But her abilities aren’t great. They’re dependent on her sitting on a certain kind of terrain. Given how the vast majority of maps are, this means you’ll be stuck with a weak ranged physical attack (rock) for most of the time. If you use her with Ezana, you can sometimes get puddles, which gives her a weak heal.

But very occasionally, those abilities can come in handy. If she stands on a flaming patch (taking damage every turn), or gets lucky to find some random green, her ability to hit a row of enemies in a pretty long line can come in clutch, particularly against shield bearers or the like. Mix that with her Trekking for TP ability, and she can, on occasion, be worthwhile. Still not enough to claw out of D Tier, but close.

C Tier

I do not get the hype around the ice mage either. He’s a quasi mandatory character, the one that joins if you go to Hyzante instead of Aesfrost in the first real voting session. This means his availability is crazy high, and that he’s a caster that shows up early (I got him in my first playthrough, so I had him around for a while). His story is kind of interesting, and they throw in some fun humor beats.

But I’ve found ice to be the weakest of the available magics. His ice wall is great in a few maps, allowing a blockade that enemies are often quite dumb about, wasting turns attempting to destroy instead of going around. And his ability to silence enemies with his attack can be quite useful, and has come in light clutch every once in a while (though there are a few other characters that have better nullifying abilities). He just doesn’t have the raw stopping power or combat potential of his other mages.

I have only gotten his whole “TP on Ice” thing a few times, and I admit it’s relatively useful. But honestly, Rudolph is just such a superior character that there’s almost no reason to pick Corentin up, particularly since you’re likely getting Narve around the same time and already have Frederica (so two better magic users). This placing is probably controversial, but I’m sticking to it.

The reaction to the old archer seems a bit mixed among fans/players, which, to me, speaks to his positioning here. His range is spectacular, and his abilities seem to naturally enhance that. When you mix that with some good crits and a fair bit of combo potential, he’s a solid unit.

in fact, on some maps, he dominates. Any time you’re positioned defending a higher elevation from someone, he becomes a mighty force to be reckoned with (this happens in most battles involving the Roselle). His range can often come in clutch, and he does a fair amount of damage too. Given him that height advantage and stick him somewhere he’s hitting most people and he can really nail some of those annoyances (Inescapable Arrow can sometimes be great against casters that hide in back).

The issue is that he’s incredibly slow. His action turn is slow and his movement is scant. Any time you need to move in this game, he’s in trouble. Since this game is often all about positioning and movement (that’s why they literally have characters built around it, like Jens), that means that Archibald and his mighty bow just kinda end up falling off most missions. Great for a handful though, making him a worthwhile addition.

This one came as a bit of a surprise to me .It wasn’t that surprising to find that there’s a martial artist in a game like this .What was delightfully different is that she’s an older woman who looks a bit dumpy. That almost feels like a character I would write. Her actual story is a bit wobbly, with her being another Aesfrosti who regrets what she did, but it has some pathos to it. Plus it’s kind of fun to have “this old maid” as she calls herself run around punching people.

Now, like a few others, I didn’t get her until my second playthrough (she requires you to lean more toward Utility than I ever naturally did), but she’s kind of useful. They’ve built her to be a dodge tank, and you don’t see a lot of those period. She can actually do okay on the front lines thanks to decent evasion and defense. Of course, this isn’t a Fire Emblem style game, where dodge-tanks are a fairly viable option: there’s just too many abilities that can’t be dodged.

Two more issues: one is that her HP is the third lowest out of the group, beating Archibald (who isn’t getting near the front line) and Decimal (aka, the worst character). Second, she doesn’t have great damage output. She saves this by being able to provoke and stun enemies, both of which are pretty solid abilities, but she’s still not quite as good as some of the others. I want a front liner who can dish out some damage, and Groma just isn’t capable of doing that, period. Usable, but not great, so, y’know, C tier.

The merchant almost makes it to B tier for me. He actually serves as a halfway decent tank, with the ability to draw aggro with his long range provoke ability. That one is probably one of the best, as you can essentially stop a healer or caster from being all that useful. Nothing is quite as satisfying as forcing a healer to pound on Lionel’s bulk with a stick.

Plus Lionel has some good abilities revolving around money. He’s probably one of the best if not the outright best at picking up loot. There are all sorts of videos out there praising his ability to gather money and get you money fast. Almost every “how to grind money” video uses Lionel, and in my third and fourth playthroughs where I did precisely that, he is incredibly useful.

Outside of that, he’s not likely to get tossed in all that often. There are at least two better tank characters out there, which mostly leaves his long range provoking abilities. His ultimate ability: endless speech does come in handy for silencing/sleeping a group of enemies, which is why he’s hitting that upper C Tier. But I almost always preferred having a few others

The barkeep felt like an odd addition (she was the first of the support staff for me), but her brash personality is fun. Supposedly she’s old, but she still looks hot (then again, Benedict’s a silver fox and Erador is a pretty decent looking guy if you dig scruff). Plus she has a very moving backstory about the perils of war and the loss that comes with it, and how we need distractions in our life.

I’ve seen some point out that she’s more of a mounted combatant with a few healing abilities, and that seems to match. She’s great for riding up and whacking enemies with a stick, which is great fun. Her abilities are all solidly good, including some that let her hit multiple targets or push enemies around (always a plus in this game). Not to mention her ability to just gain TP by moving is quite good and easy to use well: she’s already a mobile unit.

Her heal is a bit lighter than some, despite hitting multiple targets. Honestly considering that she’s supposed to be a front-liner, it really should have targeted her as well. Plus she never felt quite as good at either task as some of the characters I’ve encountered. It almost feels like they set out to make a “C” rank unit and succeeded all too well.

B Tier

I went through four playthroughs of keeping notes, got Flanagan in three of those four, and forgot to make notes about him ahead of time. That kind of says a lot about his positioning both in this list and in the story. He’s an interesting idea, but there are already so many Aesfrosti who are disgusted by what the country is doing that he kinda blends into the crowd (Groma, Giovanna, and definitely Avlora have better arches in the same vein).

For combat he’s an interesting concept. He’s a tank… with mobility. The ability to fly around the map and move freely is one that’s great, and he has a movement ability, which is almost enough to bump him up several levels on its own. He can also consistently inflict rage on a target with his Shield Bash, which comes in all kinds of handy for getting mages and the like to be useful.

the issue is that there are better characters at this same job. There’s at least one, arguably two, better tanks. Plus he just never really stood out to me on the whole. I can see someone using him, but when the base tank Erador is pretty decent ,and the main character already tanks… there’s just likely better slots.

This is a character who I kept thinking should be higher up than he is. In some ways, he feels a bit like a backup Benedict: he can enhance stats and aid in establishing TP. Some have labeled him as a replacement for Benny. Through several playthroughs, I kept thinking that he would become more useful and that I’d put him in a group more.

He’s also a pretty decent front liner, which you wouldn’t expect by looking at him. He can’t tank quite as well as some characters, but his damage is pretty decent on the whole. I have found him somewhat useful as a front liner, most often supporting mages. He can take the damage that might drop them, while funneling TP toward the casters (often enhancing their damage along the way). He is very much the walking battery of the group.

I think what stops me from ranking him higher is the range of his abilities. Pretty well every ability he has can only be done when he’s right next to someone. On top of that, he gets an almost useless ability where he does a non-elemental magical attack. Julio does not do magic.

I even had him in C Tier right up until making this final listing. He bumped up in that last playthrough, as I often found myself tossing him into the mix to keep Frederica and a few other casters ready to roll.

I like Hughette a lot, and particularly on my first playthrough ,she got a lot of action. A solid mix of mobility plus range makes her a good addition to most maps. Bows just work well in this game, and Hughette is the first hunter type you get. On top of that, her mobility is insane. Many a strategy RP player has longed for a ranged fighter who can also fly freely around the map.

However, her damage output’s not all that great. I often found myself using her for her ability to apply long range elements over dealing damage. Hitting another archer with blind or pinning a melee fighter takes them out of the fight almost as well as killing them. Plus you have to factor in her availability.

Her story purpose is a bit odd: there’s a few times where I’m not sure why she’s still sticking around in the group (particularly when Roland leaves the party). Her mobility is great, but her lack of severe damage output/reliance on crits makes her the lowest of the main eight (though you could make an argument for one or two being lower).

The kid mage feels younger than he even looks, and that’s saying something. He’s billed as a “sage”, the inheritor of some impressive power, and he kinda lives up to the moniker. He’s the only character who has access to pretty well every type of magic, which is obviously a plus. Heck, he can both heal and harm.

His story is… okay? It’s sort of about how he needs to live up to his grandfather’s legacy and the whole ending point seems to be all about how we need to be aware of the small impact our lives can have on others or something. Kinda generic, really.

But the issue is pretty much there: kid’s a jack of all trades, master of none. His spells are all useful, but he never seems to do quite as much damage as several others. Literally everything he can do except for his final weapon attack, someone else can do better. However, that does mean he can pinch hit for several other characters, and sometimes he’s a good one to throw in if you want just a little more magic “oomph.”

This is another where my tilt may be showing a little. She does take a bit to really get set up, but her weather control abilities can often change the entire battle to your favor. I found myself summoning rain more frequently than anything, and using her enhancement to deal some real powerful lightning damage on top of it. I do admit that in four playthroughs I don’t think I ever utilized the Tempest condition and never encountered it in any route naturally. That’s probably part of why she fell in my rankings some, and could arguably be lower still. Still, the rainstorm is more than enough on its own. I just love me some combos in any game.

Plus that same rainstorm can dampen some of the fire stuff. This works a bit against you if you go a bit fiery, but can also work to your advantage. It can really dampen several enemies.

There’s at least one route that includes a bunch of rain maps. Mix that with her lightning up in rain and she becomes essentially required (which bumps her to A, but only for select maps).

I find her story to be alright on the whole. Not quite as interesting as some of the others, but worth paying attention to. I do almost wish she’d gotten a more bittersweet ending, particularly considering that so many character stories end well. But when it comes to combat, she’s incredibly situational, but often really comes through in those specific situations.

Yes, he does show up on your team, so slight spoilers. He shows up fairly late though, which is somewhat surprising (there’s at least one recruit later though). I fully expected him to be a rampaging bada** capable of decimating the enemy.

He’s okay. He’s a pretty decent tank, but by the time he arrives, you’ve probably got some others. his abilities do a fair bit of damage and the spear is a pretty solid weapon on the whole. It can consistently generate kudos, which is always welcome.

It takes a bit to unlock him to get him up to here though. He’s a mid-C tier unit until he starts unlocking later abilities. The one that helps lock him here is Transverse, which is an extra movement ability that also allows him to move again. These are invaluable in a game about positioning, so they bump him up alone. Plus if you promote him to third tier, he gets a free resurrection. This does make him one of the more mobile, great fighters, and some may call him “A” tier. But I feel you have to factor in the fact that he takes a while to truly become a great unit, while most units I put above him are stronger “out of the box.” Still undoubtedly one of the better melee characters.

Our dashing mounted prince is a pretty solid fighter throughout. He’s got that important role in the story and is probably your main lance wielder for most of it. His ability to hit multiple enemies on a regular attack is quite useful, and he’s got a few abilities that are pretty decent.

Plus he’s got a really important role in the story, arguably one of the best if not the outright best written characters. We watch him fall into despair and then either pull himself back up or fall further depending on our choices. So it’s cool that he’s a halfway decent unit as well.

I have to admit I never really used “Rush” though. It’s hard to put someone higher when they’ve got an ability that feels like dead weight (see Jens and his glorious Ladders). I mean, it can occasionally be useful, if you, for some reason, need to get Roland five squares away (but that just means he’s running out by himself, which even the game tells you is a bad idea). Plus for a front line fighter, he always seemed somewhat fragile: he died in about one fight in five I took him into, which is higher than everyone else.

The better of the two “required” choices, Rudolph is a pretty solid unit here. His story is actually pretty good, one of the best among the side characters (plus I dig that there’s a kinda romance between him and Anna hinted; wish this game had more of that).

He’s an archer in game that loves archers. But he has some truly great skills. Even early on he gets Straight Shot, which lets him melee as a ranged unit ,but also gives him pretty great damage even from early on. His trap ability can be absolutely clutch, as it both damages an enemy and flat out ends their turn. On top of that, he gets a slumbering arrow.

I got him in my second playthrough during my first duo run, and I found myself wishing I’d picked him instead of Corentin. Tried that with my third, and he does amazing at those lower levels. There are several maps early on where his abilities come in truly clutch.

The issue is his later abilities don’t hold up to his early ones, so he peaks early. The Rain of Arrows just isn’t all that great, and the rest are mostly passives that are just okay. He still remains a very good unit throughout the entire duration, and there’s really only one archer that beats him out (and they have way worse availability, which counts).

Erador is the tankiest tank to ever tank, and he seems to know it. When you literally have no weapon but a shield, you know what you’re about. His ability to provoke enemies can often be a godsend, though it’s limited range is definitely a drawback. When you get the counter ability though, the two work quite well in tandem.

It’s odd that he has a dash ability, but it’s still pretty useful. Mix that with his ability to shove people around, and he’s pretty solid. What really works to his favor is that he’s incredibly hard to kill. I often had entire sections that were held off by Erador (often teamed with Anna, who is more fragile but all kinds of deadly). He’s invaluable in a few spots and I could see someone bumping him higher.

He does suffer some from at least one ability I almost never used (On the Attack), and some other limited uses. But they have designed one of the most effective tanks in a game where those are actually pretty useful. Plus his story is kind of interesting, and it’s fun to see a character like this last an entire playthrough instead of getting sidelined.

Benny here gets some flack, and he kinda deserves most of it. He’s a sort of quasi tank who can’t really tank as well as Erador or Lionel. He can deal a bit of damage, but not enough enough to even match someone like Hughette.

If you’re not into upping status, you probably won’t like him. He spends most of the game only really able to make others hit harder. But if you mix that with someone like Anna or Frederica, you can really clear a board. And his ability to enhance defense can make Erador even more unkillable.

But for me, what puts him all the way up here is his ability to grant someone the ability to act twice on their turn. That can mean double-healing when you need it, or more magic from a caster. Or you could toss it onto Anna and watch her hit someone four times. Oh, and he also gets a later ability that can allow up to four units one hit of invincibility. Throwing this on a group at the very first move can prove invaluable in keeping some of the squishier targets alive.

On top of all that, he has some of the best writing in the game around him, showing this idea of a pragmatist and someone who could just as easily be a villain as a hero.

So, yeah, upper B Tier.

I only got Cordelia once in four playthroughs, at the tail end of my third playthrough. It’s a bit of a shame that her and Avlora don’t share a natural story progression, given how their story plays out. For that story, Cordelia really shares a lot with Sansa Stark, which feels a bit like spoilers if you haven’t gotten that far, but is also a pretty fair assessment and compliment to how she’s handled.

In battle, she’s another healer, and a pretty darn good one. She eventually gains the ability to over-heal a unit, bumping them over their max HP. put this with some of the characters and you can create an essentially invincible tank out of nearly everyone; do that with someone who’s already a tank and they’re incredibly hard to put down. They give her that regen ability that every other enemy healer seems to have, plus the ability to regain TP just by standing around and doing nothing.

Her availability kinda sucks, and she’s hidden down a path that a lot of people aren’t likely to take often (you have to side with Roland and look around the capitol at one point). For some, it may be worth picking her up, but considering that the game kinda nudges you toward two playthroughs, there’s simply better choices out there.

A Tier

I waffle a lot with Quahaug here. He’s another of those tragic children characters, much like Piccoletta, though I’d argue he’s much better turn. I kinda liked the soft mystery of figuring out who his mother is (which the game never confirmed in my runs, but pretty strongly hinted). Plus, there’s something about having that “Time Mage” that always works.

He’s got some incredibly good abilities too. I’ve been continually singing the praises of movement abilities for most of this listing, and Quahaug has the absolute best of those: he can switch positions with anyone, freely move, etc. Plus his rewind time abilities function as a heal or harm for some characters, and he gets a time released attack spell.

I think I’ve seen a few put him in S tier for all this ,and I wouldn’t blame them. There’s a lot going for him here. But I found him to be remarkably fragile, often weaker than even Decimal and that’s saying something. On top of that, his availability often sucked for me: I never got him on a first playthrough on either of my two runs. It’s hard to get used to and work a character that’s not around a lot. Still, there’s no denying that he’s incredibly useful, and if you get used to his movement abilities, he becomes almost broken.

oh look, the protagonist ends up in A tier, what a surprise. He’s a solid enough unit: just tanky enough endure a few hits, and he gets some fairly decent attack moves and the like.

It took me something like three playthroughs to really get into Delay Slash. That ability doesn’t seem great, until you start paying attention to the line and who it can hit. Mix that with the ability to enhance it (usually a better option over increasing Hawk Dive’s range, since Serenoa’s already going to be up in the enemies’ faces), and that makes Serenoa pretty good on the defense. Hawk Dive comes in early and is a pretty decent damage dealing ability, being one I used a lot in my first couple of playthroughs. Some of his other abilities kind of work.

Personally I think a lot of his abilities and Julio’s should’ve been switched for the most part, but he’s still a pretty solid unit on the whole.

You’re putting Geela on your team.

The game all but forces you too, as for a large chunk she’s the only character with any healing. Eventually you get Medina (who you’ll note hasn’t made her appearance on this list), and yes, there are a few lighter abilities.

But Geela’s simply the best at it (until Medina levels up). From the start she can essentially free heal at range per turn. If she can’t heal, she gains the ability to Haste almost immediately, and that’s always a plus. Then she gets group heals and other abilities to keep her constantly relevant.

Her downside is that she can’t deal a lot of damage, and she’s incredibly vanilla: you’ve seen her archetype before. Still, she’s a fascinating character for the story and probably your best basic healer.

I do not know why people are down on Frederica and her fire magic. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that her particular stance and character doesn’t influence me some: I love her personality and her views on life. I have seen several dismiss her as the standard good girl type that shows up in a lot of RPs, but I feel like they’ve given her more to work with than some of those archetypes. Plus, she’s the first offensive caster you get, and in my opinion, probably the best of the bunch.

Her fire magic always consistently packed a punch for me. If you light something on fire, it literally results in constant damage, which is almost like every attack poisoning. On top of that, Frederica can deal extra damage to someone if they’re already on fire, literally adding fuel to the flames (she does have to be upgraded for this).

Mix this with great availability, and she’s a powerhouse of a mage. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, she can even support to some degree. Fire shield has limited uses, but it’s sometimes useful, particularly in the early game.

I feel like there’s more to this character than I got to see. She’s one of the few “choice” characters that you always get to at least see in action, no matter what. And that preview makes her seem somewhat interesting: she clearly knows more than she lets on, and she also has some intriguing abilities (including a free movement action, and those are almost broken in this game).

Her story role is quite interesting, and she becomes unlocked if you go back to Wolffort (which I do admit has the most story impact of the three choices). There does seem to be something else there, though I admit I actually thought she might be the true final boss when she appeared (she gives off series Daughter of Darkness vibes, like the wandering woman from Octopath Traveler).

In combat she’s pretty good. She can freely move around the battle field, suck TP from enemies, and inflict status effects. What really bumps her is her ability to charm others. Yes, her best one requires her to be right next to an enemy, but it often has upwards of 70% success rate. Charm is by far one of the best/worst statuses, turning an enemy into an ally and all but forcing others to attack. That makes Milo incredibly useful, and if you wanted to argue her up to S tier, I wouldn’t blame you.

S Tier

I initially tilted Trish like crazy. I wanted her to join my party since she first showed up in the very first chapter, because I love the whole bandit makes good. Add on that she’s pretty attractive in appearance, and that she and her dad serve as regular comic relief for a large chunk of the game. Plus, if you delve deeper into her personality, she starts to show that she embodies the whole Chaotic Good ideal to perfection. And we see some genuine development, as she attempts to become a better person.

But how does she do in combat?

Well, for starters, she’s another archer in a game where those have a lot of power. She’s quite mobile too: not quite as good as Hughette, but a close second (maybe third with the other hunter, we’ll see for me). Plus she has the ability to pick up loot as she goes and get TP for doing so. Her leap lets her get the height she needs to get the best positioning.

Plus she gets the fire arrow that was used against you for most of the game, which is quite satisfying to use against someone. What bumps her straight to S, however, is her later abilities. She can straight up steal with normal attacks, adding those necessary items into the ranks. And she gets the ability to give herself two turns in a row for a few turns. That means giving up one action to get three turns, but she’s likely going to want to move to get into an ideal shooting position anyway.

This is probably my most controversial move (putting Frederica at the top of my A tier may be up there too). But I considered Medina a beast before she learned “TP Physik” and at that point, she became an utter monster.

She starts by being able to chuck medicine, which is in itself a great move. Chemists have been impressive since Final Fantasy Tactics, and she seems to be falling right in line with those. That ability alone would give her plus, particularly when you can often start combat by dropping two abilities.

But she also has the ability to just give someone an extra turn, which can be awesome if there’s nobody near her who needs healing (often in the early parts of a battle). Admittedly her poison ability isn’t the best (it doesn’t damage for some reason), and several of her abilities also cost literal money through items, but it balances.

No, what makes her “S” is the TP Physik. This means that every time Medina heals someone, she also gives them TP. Read that again: she literally can heal and restore the ability to use special moves. And she can do that twice in a turn. Sometimes I’d just cram light healing pellets down Frederica’s throat so she could blast the enemy with fire on her next turn. This ability turns Medina from a solid backup healer to an absolute beast of a support character.

Wow, look at that, the super-secret surprise, only recruitable in the Golden Route character is S tier, who would have thought?

Seriously, you fight her throughout the game, and you pretty much know going in that unless they nerf the hell out of her, she’s going to be able to hold off entire armies essentially by herself.

They did not nerf her.

She’s also got some of the best writing in the game. We see her fighting hard for her position, then defending it against some of the worst people in the entire story. Her relationship with Cordelia is incredibly well done, giving off serious Brienne x Sansa vibes for those of us who are Game of Thrones fans (I’m convinced the writers of this game were into that).

But in combat, she’s one of the best. She deals damage like crazy, can tank better than almost anyone in the game, and is just a monster on the field. But she’s only going to show up for the last few battles of what is likely a second playthrough in a game that’s really built for only two playthroughs (stupid low-magic level cap; why isn’t the cap level 100 instead of 50? Particularly in a game that really wants four playthroughs to see everything…). For the short time she’s in though, she’s amazing (though she’s also flexible; I could see ranking her under the last three or four characters).

Pretty well everyone will tell you that Anna is the best for this game. The reason is simple: she gets two actions a round. That means that she moves twice as much as anyone else, which means she levels twice as fast and is usually dealing an impressive amount of damage.

Her abilities are a bit mixed, sure. But she can poison an enemy and then put them to sleep in a single turn, essentially removing someone from a fight, possibly for the duration of the fight. On top of that, if she can’t reach an enemy, she can go invisible. Oh ,and she does extra damage if she backstabs. That damage will increase if you give her the Critical Bracelet, which isn’t that hard to get, and/or boost her with Benny or some other bonus. This means she’s usually out front, slinking around behind, stabbing someone in the back, and gaining kudos all the while.

She doesn’t do killer amounts of damage because that would just utterly break her. Plus she does have that wait and see ability, which is utterly wasted on her (why isn’t it on someone like Archibald? Or Decimal, to make him actually useful). But she’s still the best, as everyone says, for a reason.

Plus her story writing is pretty decent. Not the best, but it makes her engaging and gives her some great moments.