Picking the right party build is literally the entire point of an Etrian Odyssey game. Outside of the Untold story versions, the entire player experience will be shaped by the classes involved in their team. Unlike other RPG games these class choices will interact heavily, with each choice directly influencing the subsequent requirements of the team. Each of these classes has a wealth of options available to them, to the point where they often overlap, so building a powerful team often requires patience and planning. That being the case, we’ve taken some time out of our dungeon crawling to detail some of our favourite builds and exactly why we like them.
1. Sustain Build
- Hero
- Highlander
- Harbinger
- Sovereign
- Gunner
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, Etrian Odyssey is not exactly well balanced. Yes, it’s possible to make just about any class work, and in the majority of situations they can slot into just about any party, but closer inspection will reveal that there are objectively better classes than others. This build features those that, in our opinion at least, all rise to the very top of the pile… Alright so we’re embellishing things a little here, but every class chosen tends to perform well no matter the situation, so why not jam them together?
The Hero is capable of bringing pretty much everything to the team, but here we focus on it’s ability to create afterimages, defend the party and push out some neat group heals whilst doing so. Second to this, though just as important overall is the Sovereign, which focuses on group buffs and heals aplenty. These two classes pair very well together, and their overall healing will free up the remaining three members to focus on inflicting huge lumps of damage and, in the case of the Harbinger, reducing the opponents threat considerably by debuffing . Yes, the Highlander might clash slightly with the Sovereigns fantastic passive heal, but it makes up for this by inflicting tremendous damage and even contributing to heals during exploration. All in all, this is probably our absolute favourite team build in Etrian Odyssey Nexus, mainly because it’s capable of simply overpowering opponents rather than picking them off with disables. Still, if such things are required there is the small matter of the Gunner class that you have in your back row…
Key Build Skills
- Hero: Afterimage, Encourage and Dark Image.
- Highlander: Turning Tide, Draining Burst and Black Sabbath.
- Harbinger: Eroding Miasma, Toxic Reap and Black Wave.
- Sovereign: Reinforce, Royal Lineage and Tactical Decree.
- Gunner: Splash Shot, Scatter Shot and Charged Fire/Ice/Volt.
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2. Ailment Build
- Protector
- Nightseeker
- War Magus
- Arcanist
- Zodiac
Perhaps overpowering your opponent isn’t for you? In this regard we’d argue that Etrian Odyssey itself doesn’t tend to conform either, so we’re going to back to basics with our next build which, as you might imagine, focuses on inflicting ailments. These powerful abilities range from Blind, which causes your opponent to frequently miss their attacks, to Poison, which in true RPG traditional will deal damage over time to your enemy. As oppose to sheer ability damage, the classes featured here are all about disabling and dismantling, so whilst they’re not likely to break any records for damage numbers, they’ll see the victory screen just as frequently.
Firstly, When it comes to these ailments there are a few exceptions. The Protector is unlikely to contribute here, rather functioning as a purely defensive unit designed to soak up hits, and the Zodiac too will simply bring damage in the form of elemental types. Things really begin to get going from an ailment perspective with the Nightseeker; the class is capable of inflicting all kinds of ailments whilst still occupying the front line, which is exactly what we’re looking for here. The final two positions split their responsibility between sustain and ailment infliction; the War Magus will chime well with the Nightseeker to bring some good levels of healing, and the Arcanist will exploit it’s circles to bind the opponents whilst contributing healing.
Key Build Skills
- Protector: Rear Guard, Shield Bash and Heal Guard.
- Nightseeker: Sand Throw, Backstab and Venom Throw.
- War Magus: Vampire, War Response and War Heal All.
- Arcanist: Circle Boon, Hood Circle and Poison Circle.
- Zodiac: Etheric Return, Binary Fire/Ice/Thunder and Free Energy.
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3. Farming Build
- Farmer
- Medic
- Survivalist
- Protector
- Gunner
Should you find that tens of hours playing Etrian Odyssey somehow manage to turn into hundreds, then we must inform you that it has it’s hooks in you and that your free time no longer belongs to you. You’re also now the ideal candidate for the ultimate in obsessive team builds: The second squad, or what we like to call the Farming Build. In short, this is a second string team that we like to bring out when a dungeon has been thoroughly identified and you’re looking to build towards the next – Etrian games are all about preparedness after all.
The key members of this build are the Farmer, Medic and Survivalist. The skills available through these three classes specifically will allow you to maximise your profits and resources during your escapades through Nexus’ many stratum. With the right party member builds you’ll be able to grab more and better loot from harvesting spots, enemy encounters and even find some through exploration alone. That’s not all either, because the combined skills of both the Medic and Farmer will ensure that your team’s health stays topped off, ready to push your way through the next familiar encounter. The Survivalist isn’t strictly necessary, since it mainly brings a skill that increases your inventory space, but we’re all about maximising our yield from every trip. Just be sure to switch the Memory Conch between your battle and farming party – keeping them both up to speed is critical if you want to farm subsequent stratums.
Key Build Skills
- Farmer: Harvestry, Godsend and Nature’s Blessing.
- Medic: Scavenge and Take.
- Survivalist: Natural Instinct and Sorting Skill.
- Use the Memory Conch.
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Categories: Etrian Odyssey Nexus