Deciding the best classes in Etrian Odyssey Untold was difficult if we’re honest. The Etrian games themselves tend to be designed in such a way that almost any class and combination can work. The grimoire system lends itself to players being creative with their characters, letting you pick and choose abilities whilst you build a world beating team.

How should we decide the best classes then? Well we’ve rolled our experience in with some statistics and community opinion to come up with the following list.

5. Ronin

The Ronin is your front row, glass cannon damage dealer. It’s a class that’s simple in both design and execution: Take a stance then put out huge amounts of damage. Of course, that’s far too simple of an explanation for an Etrian Odyssey class, but essentially you’ll be relying on the Ronin to put out big damage no matter the occasion.

There are a few options for the class to choose to commit to. You can focus on dealing big amounts of elemental damage, which is highly useful throughout the game and will help you bring down some of the more annoying bosses. Alternatively you can push it down the ‘Chaser’ route, focusing on outputting constant slashes of purely physical damage.

We tend to prefer the elemental route since it allows you to adapt to your situation, rather than requiring a team built for chaser damage. Fair warning, you’ll really want a good Protector to keep your Ronin safe, they’re incredibly squishy.

Key Skills:

• Freezing Slash – This works as a ranged attack which can be very useful.
• Katana Mastery / ATK Up – Self explanatory, more damage is good!
• Horse Slash – This is a fairly economic skill that will be useful throughout the game.

4. Hexer

We love the Hexer class type in Etrian Odyssey games, especially in Untold. The class is based around debuffing the enemies in a variety of ways, be it by lowering their statistics or by inflicting all manner of other debilitating ailments. Whilst this particular example of a debuffing class isn’t all powerful like some others, it’s still capable of bringing the most powerful of enemies to their knees.

To actually use one throughout the game is a rather strange experience however. At first you’ll be thankful of those boss weakening spells, but this will likely be followed by a slight lull in action, as you level up and wait for the juiciest of spells to make themselves available. Once you do however, nothing will be able to stand up to you.

Key Skills:

• Sapping Curse – We always pick up a few value points here. Combined with the Protector’s defence buffs it will eliminate any passing concern about physical damage.
• Suicide Word – Making enemies attack themselves is good on so many levels. This is the big skill you’ll want to aim for.
• Blinding Curse – Blind isn’t the best debuff going, but you’ll find it very useful throughout regardless. It’s pretty cheap in the early game too and it might just make the difference.

3. Survivalist

There’s just something so satisfying about support classes in Etrian Odyssey Untold, and indeed any of the series’ titles. When building a team we like to include a couple of them: Tank, healer, high damage and two supports feels like it’s truly ready for whatever the dungeon can throw at us.

The Survivalist achieves this by adapting to whatever situation you’re in. If you need a bind of sorts there’s an option for that. If you need some extra damage there also an option for that. There’s even an option for healing, albeit by amplifying your items and their potency. We love having a ‘multi-tool’ in our Etrian party, and the Survivalist suits this role perfectly.

Key Skills:

• Efficiency – We did say heals didn’t we? This skill amplifies the healing done by items, and that includes TP restoring items. At max level it doubles the effectiveness, which is huge and almost makes our next class choice obsolete..
• Power Shot – This is a basic higher damage attack. It’s simple but effective.
• Multi Shot – This almost replaces Power Shot later on in the game, since it attacks two random targets and as such, will hit a single target more than once. It costs a bit too much TP for our liking, but that doesn’t stop us using it all the time..

2. Medic

Healers have always been a bit of a sore point for the Etrian Odyssey series. On the one hand they’re entirely necessary: They keep your party alive, repair damage, remove binds and debuffs and generally keep you ticking over throughout your dungeon dive. On the other hand, you don’t technically need one at all. There are plenty of items available and to leave one behind would open another slot for more damaging options. We’ve seen plenty of teams do well in these games without a dedicated healer.

In Etrian Odyssey Untold however, we pertain that the healer class and the Medic in particular, is highly necessary and almost invaluable. Not only will you inevitably need the healing, especially in the early game, but compared to other titles in the series you’ll be coming up against some crippling debuffs over and over again that absolutely must be removed. Pair this with a few decent attacking options and you’ll find the medic becomes essential to all but the most novel of party compositions.

Key Skills

• Delayed Heal – One of the best skills in the game, which offers you healing at the start of the next turn. Whilst that sounds middling at best, the heal it provides is hugely powerful and soon becomes your go-to healing spell.
• Revive – Of course, this being an Etrian game, having a revive will save runs. And money. You can of course grimoire it later, but we’ll credit the Medic for the early game.
• CPR – At maximum level this is a godsend, giving all of your party 100% chance to survive a fatal attack, staying alive at 1 HP rather than perishing.

1. Protector

Come on now, you knew the tank had to be here somewhere right? Of course, much like the Medic, they’re not always necessary depending on the title. However in Etrian Odyssey Untold the Protector is entirely necessary and wonderfully powerful, though that really comes down to the game itself more so than the class.

The thing is, defensive buffs are super powerful in Etrian Odyssey Untold, and the Protector is the pinnacle of such things, either via nullifying elemental attacks or physical attacks. Both of these things are so very critical to surviving that we’d almost call a run without a Protector deliberately hampered. Pick it for your party, make use of it’s buffs and feel safer on each and every jaunt into the wild. You’ll thank us.

Key Skills

• Front Guard – Your front line will be attacked the most and take the most damage. It’s also likely to have one or more squishy targets there who could really do with being protected.
• Fire Wall / Ice Wall / Volt Wall – These skills speak for themselves. Reducing elemental damage is such a nice option and it’s something you’re likely to use more and more as the game progresses.
• Shield Smite – You may not find yourself attacking very much with your Protector, but it’s always nice to have the option should you need to. Don’t expect it to do a huge amount of damage, but at least your Protector will contribute slightly more than a regular attack.