Much like Damage and Healing, Support Classes are critical to any party, especially in Etrian Odyssey Nexus. They’re capable of turning the tides of any battle, be it by buffing up your attacking units, tearing down the defences of your opponents or even assisting your team’s exploration efforts outside of battle. They’re every bit as essential as your other members, and their choices will often influence the flow of your battles more so than the others.
Happily, supporting classes aren’t exactly in short supply in Etrian Odyssey. Not only can you make almost any class a supporting type, but a significant portion of them exist for that sole purpose. With all these choices on offer – Nexus really has a great deal of classes to choose from – who should you pick, and what kind of party builds do they fit in with? Join us below as we classify our Top 5 Supporting Classes in Etrian Odyssey Nexus.
5. Farmer
The Farmer class is unlikely to be familiar to all but the most hardy of Etrian Odyssey fans, having debuted in EO3 and being absent ever since. The class focuses on well… Farming, by which we mean gaining more items and indeed resources in general from every trip into a labyrinth. These resources can range from monster drops to gathering materials, and even expands into increasing experience gained by the party and restoring TP as you explore. All of this comes at a price however, and that is woefully bad combat performance. Outside of a few skills, the Farmer class isn’t going to do you any favours in battle, if anything holding you back. Thus the player is left with an interesting conundrum: Do you value exploration and loot higher than a single slot in your party?
The class takes the fifth slot in our list because, against all odds, it works. Any budding loot hoarder will surely have to make concessions in their party build, but the benefits do outweigh this. Once the class gets a few levels under it’s belt, your trips out into the wild become markedly more profitable. You’ll notice heaps more loot making its way into your bags, significantly more experience points are gained and, thanks to skills like Survival Wisdom, your team is kept healthier than ever.
Support Tips
- Perilously low defences will need protecting.
- Ideal for a defensive party with tanking front line classes.
- Supports with defensive party buffs should be considered.
- Some players recommend having a Farmer as a 6th class, brought out in between ‘progress’ runs to complete ‘farm’ runs.
Advertisement
4. War Magus
It’s rather shocking, if we’re honest, to see just how overlooked the War Magus class is in Etrian Odyssey Nexus. Yes, it’s not at the top of our list, but that doesn’t mean it should be dismissed completely. We’re all aware just how good classes like the Sovereign are, but the world would be boring if we all picked the same option every time, right? Anyhow, the class focuses on ‘War Edge’ abilities, which focuses on dealing damage whist causing additional effects, though only if the target is currently suffering an ailment. This ailment requirement is the main issue, and it’s one that often puts players off, requiring additional turns before the class can deal it’s main effects.
Do you really thing the developers would get 6 games deep and leave a dud in there, really? Don’t dismiss this class. Take a look at those skills outside of the war edge requirements; War Response and Artery can keep a party healed with ease, and if you combine your work with another ailment-causing class, Vampire can keep them going forever. Their damage isn’t exactly bad either, so whilst we do understand the reticence here, don’t ignore the War Magus out of hand.
Support Tips
- Works well in most party set ups, though early healing is small.
- Very good synergy with other ailment heavy classes.
- Combines well with another passive healer like Sovereign, to completely cover party healing requirements.
3. Survivalist
Experienced Etrian gamers will no doubt be familiar with this class, with it having starred in the majority of the series. The class is, in many ways at least, very similar to previous incarnations. It’s still the king of Bow based attacks, delivering the usual stab damage from your back row, and it continues to be very fast, often acting first in battle. It retains the ‘helpful’ abilities from previous Etrian iterations too, so expect to find your journeys of exploration be made a little easier by your Survivalist.
Why third in our list then? It mainly comes down to it’s ability to offer a few things that others do not. Once levelled, it’s Blind Arrow ability is a tremendously reliable source of the ailment, Flame Arrow and Power Shot offer great mid game damage options and with a little work, the class can act as a dodge tank. Of course, your target is likely to be blindly attempting to attack your Survivalist, unlocking it’s strong Hazy Arrow ability. In theory, and indeed when comparing the class to some older iterations of it, feels very alien and unusual. It’s not going to out damage a Gunner, nor will it weaken your enemies like a Harbinger, but don’t ignore it – with a little work, it’s a powerful addition to your team.
Support Tips
- Will fit into almost any team.
- Not a great deal of synergy options. Quite a ‘solo’ class.
- Ultimately outclassed by focused damage or healing classes, but ideal for a ‘fifth’ slot, with plenty to offer a team.
2. Arcanist
Keen readers will no doubt be aware that we’ve written about the Arcanist class previously, specifically in our Top 5 Healing Classes article. There we commented on it’s circles and their ability to heal your party, but alongside this the class also applies a myriad of debuffs and ailments to your opponents at the same time. So much so in fact, that we’re compelled to put it in second place in our Supports list – the class is just that good.
It’s supporting elements mainly focus on the enemies, alongside it’s trickles of healing. Their ability to lock down entire enemy parties whilst keeping your team going is unparalleled. In many ways it’s the Yin to the Sovereign’s Yang – where the royal class buffs your team whilst healing, the Arcanist debuffs the enemy whilst healing. Together they’re a force to be reckoned with, to the point where we’d almost call this combination broken, albeit alongside some hard hitting members. In essence, the Arcanist is a fantastic supporting unit by proxy – your aim is to have circles in place, and by doing so it provides benefit on top of benefit.
Support Tips
- High performer in any team.
- Debuffing of enemies can synergise well with other classes.
- Perfect sustain pairing with a Sovereign.
- Ideal for non-tank teams alongside another source of healing.
Advertisement
1. Harbinger
The Harbinger is a relatively new class that was introduced in Etrian Odyssey V. Upon said arrival it took up the position of debuffer extraordinaire, a role which is retains here in Nexus. Their entire kit is focused around inflicting numerous debuffs on the opponents, followed by damaging attacks that also have a chance to apply ailments. As you might imagine, when used correctly the Harbinger can completely nullify enemies, leaving your party free to tear them to pieces.
Were these their only tricks, it’d be a great class but perhaps not the absolute king, but they have even more up their sleeves. Healing is possible with Atonement, they can Instakill single enemies and even remove debuffs and ailments placed on the party. All of this adds up and, when positioned alongside damaging classes specifically, makes the Harbinger the best supporting class for us. It’ll boost almost any other class, stepping up any party arrangement and ensuring your continued trips into dungeons go well. They’re the ultimate enabler.
Support Tips
- Powers up any party build.
- Facilitates full damage builds that do not require either tanks or other supports.
- Combined with Sovereign and Arcanist, turns Nexus into an easy game.
- Just try it, it’s a wonderful class that will fit into your party.
- Essentially an enabler for every other class in the game.
- A tremendous Subclass choice for almost all classes in Nexus.
More Etrian Odyssey Nexus…
Unusual Party Builds | Etrian Odyssey Nexus
Dreaming up party builds is one of the great joys of an Etrian Odyssey title. Each of the games tends to come with a large selection of classes to choose from, and picking out those that best suit your team aims will often shape the entire experience of your play through. Today however, we’re aiming…
3 Best Zodiac Subclass Choices | Etrian Odyssey Nexus
In Nexus, the Zodiac is the main form of elemental damage. Well, in reality there are plenty of classes capable of providing similar, but the Zodiac in particular is the ‘pure mage’ option, much like Runemasters of Etrian’s gone by. If you’re looking to deal chunks of elemental damage to large groups of enemies, then…
3 Best Pugilist Subclass Choices | Etrian Odyssey Nexus
The Pugilist class holds a strange position in Etrian Odyssey Nexus. It’s previous appearance in the fifth game found it capable of dealing tremendous damage whilst inflicting all manner of binds, and whilst the basic principle still exists here, it’s focus has shifted rather more onto the latter of the two. Given the sheer amount…
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Categories: Etrian Odyssey Nexus