Subclassing Synergy List attempt

[Daige]

Okay, time to create some horrible textwalls...*cracks knuckles*
(Actually, I'll try to avoid it and keep it relatively readable)

First of all, it's important to clarify this:
1. Having either Landsknecht or Fortress as sub makes it possible for the character to wear a shield, which will improve defense tremendously. Yes, you can have a shield even if the main character is an Imperial with a twohanded Drive Blade or a dual-wielding Nightseeker/Bushi/whatnot.
2. Weapon parry is said to decrease damage but that only goes for physical damage, not elemental, so using two weapons (with or without Blade Flurry) will always make your character more fragile overall than just having one weapon and three pieces of armor.

Secondly, a question:
Landsknecht/Fortress
"but you probably want a Landy attacking and F/L will do this better than L/F will."

This seems strange to me. Since when does an F/L attack better than an L/F? Maybe it's a typo, maybe it's me misunderstanding something. If someone understands this, please clarify.

Thirdly, the feedback. I agree with most of the info in the original post but I do have some info to add, so here goes:

Landsknecht/Bushi
Bushi also brings Defiance, extra Power Boost, Endure, Deep Breath and Ferocity. They're definitely worth mentioning and makes Bushi an even better sub choice for Landsknecht.

Landsknecht/Imperial
The Drive Blade counts as a sword, so make sure you use it because you will still have full access to all skills from both Landsknecht (except the rapier skills) and Imperial. The elemental attacks from Imperial are crazy powerful, so use them as often as possible.

Fortress/Landsknecht
It's worth pointing out that Weapon Parry doesn't work on elemental damage and elemental is quite common so avoid using two weapons if you want your Fortress to use Party Shield a lot.

Fortress/Bushi
This is red in the original post but should at least be blue, maybe even green. Bushi is said to only offer Roar and Ferocity, but Endure is GOLD for every character, Blood Surge+Deep Breath is always useful (albeit slow), extra Power Boost is always welcome, and you also get several extra Mace skills from Bushi. Not to mention Surge Mastery, which increases both damage and defence when HP and TP decreases. Bushi is actually a very solid sub choice for Fortress.

Fortress/Imperial
Should definitely not be red, at least blue. You get three very powerful elemental skills, so ditch that mace and start using a Drive Blade instead. Drive Blades are generally more powerful than maces, so you will probably increase your attack value quite a lot. You get even better attack because you get Power Boost, and you also get the useful skill Hawkeye. Furthermore, should your TP dwindle (and it does, because you use Party Shield way too often and it doesn't always replenish TP as much as you would wish) you can always refill it easily with Sharp Edge+Impulse Edge without really losing anything in the process. On the contrary, it makes is possible to refill TP while still being offensive, especially since you also have Wide Effect. Having Absorber and Finisher is also nice. Choosing Imperial as a sub makes your Fortress more offensive and versatile, providing powerful elemental attacks and solid TP regain skills. This is definitely not a red choice.

Sniper/Arcanist
If you have some extra skill points you can always pick any random circle at level 1 and then either let the circle stay, to heal a little extra each round, or dismiss it to heal even more (or use dismiss blast, if you want that). Why limit the Sniper to just attacking when he can also heal with just a few more points?

Medic/Landsknecht
It's interesting that this is considered a blue choice, since most subclass discussions mention M/L as one of the top choices. It should probably be green.

Medic/Bushi
Blood Surge+Deep Breath is a little slow but it refills TP quite efficiently. Ferocity is a good way to refill the Medic's health for free, and Bushi also gives the Medic a few useful mace skills. Skull Crusher can surely come in handy every once in a while, and even Roar will be useful sometimes, so Bushi offers more than just Endure and should definitely be at least blue.

Medic/Imperial
Sharp Edge+Impulse Edge also refills TP, but the end result is slightly lower than what you get from having Bushi as a sub. However, with this method, you also get two attacks and I prefer to be offensive rather than doing nothing for two rounds, so refilling with attacks is better in my book. You also get powerful elemental attacks, Hawkeye, Absorber, Finisher, Wide Effect. This is not a red choice, it's at least blue.

Runemaster/Landsknecht
You also get the option to use a shield, which improves the Runemaster's survivability significantly. That is a worth a lot. You also get Power Break and Mind Break, which is a nice bonus.

Runemaster/Fortress
Well, equipping a shield and some improved survivability too. But not really a good choice, no.

Runemaster/Dancer
Of course, Fan Dance has to be mentioned, and Runemaster is probably a good source to keep a Refresh Waltz or Freedom Waltz going, but that's about it.

Runemaster/Bushi
I feel that you definitely must mention Endure. It's a literal life-saver. And also Ferocity, it's good that you can let the Runemaster heal himself using that. Other than that, it's the usual Blood Surge+Deep Breath as an emergency TP refill.

Dancer/Landsknecht
This combo can actually become a competent linker since Dancer has higher TEC than Landsknecht and also won't have to use Vanguard to act first. It's an interesting choice. Also, you get to use a shield, and Power Boost+Iron Wall, that can't be bad.

Dancer/Fortress
Getting both Iron Wall, Guard Mastery and the ability to use a shield sure is nice. I also read that Sword Dance doesn't work with pierce weapons but that means it DOES work with bash weapons, so why not give your Dancer a mace and start using Bolt Strike, Holy Smite and Vengeance Bash? Since you have supreme evasion, you might be able to boost Vengeance Bash a lot if you use Party Shield. Or maybe you just die. But still, it's a possibility.

Dancer/Runemaster
This could be a sort of "jack-of-all-trades" choice. The Dancer is already a heal and support character who can also fight decently, although the blows are not strong but many. Giving Dancer a full assortment of elemental spells really makes him a "do it all" character. His TEC and TP are probably high enough to give decent results.

Dancer/Bushi
Dancer can become virtually immortal, using Sword Dance and Ferocity. With 2-4 normal attacks each turn, his HP will refill almost instantly, even if he starts the round with just 1 HP. And as pointed out before, Endure, Roar, Deep Breath and Charge is very useful. You also get a little extra Power Boost.

Dancer/Imperial
Just want to point out that attacking with a Drive Blade 2-4 times every round is very powerful. Sword Dance is crazy. Adding the usual Imperial package on top of that is just awesome. This might even be a green choice.

Arcanist/Landsknecht
Getting a shield, plus Iron Wall, plus Swordbreaker is definitely not "minor" survivability boosts. Add Power Break and Mind Break and you definitely get at least a blue choice.

Arcanist/Fortress
As above, but substitute Swordbreaker for Guard Mastery, and you get a few mace skills. Definitely useful.

Arcanist/Bushi
Increased survivability again, this time with Endure and Ferocity. Roar and Skull crusher provides some usefulness. Blood Surge+Deep Breath refills TP as always, although still slow.

Arcanist/Imperial
It hasn't exactly got nothing, but it has a more offensive way to refill TP. But overall this is not a good sub choice for Arcanist, though it still has more to offer than just "nothing".

Bushi/Landsknecht
Add that shield and you won't be as fragile anymore. Swordbreaker also works wonders, and you get Power Boost and Iron Wall. Could be much worse off.

Bushi/Dancer
Probably one of the most overlooked and underestimated combos ever. Dancer's Sword Dance lets you attack 1-3 times using normal attacks. Bushi's normal attacks refills 12 TP and 125 HP. Combine this with Bushi's attacks that are costly both to TP and HP and you got yourself a neverending killing machine. Also, getting increased evasion from Dancer helps the Bushi survive longer and you also get excellent support skills (and Bushi never really runs out of TP). To me, this is a green choice, or at least a blue choice. It's definitely not red, because it's awesome.

Bushi/Imperial
Or just use a Drive Blade instead and become even more awesome. Blood Surge+Charge+Elemental attack=loads of damage.

Imperial/Landsknecht
Actually, you get to use a shield too, plus you get Power Boost, Iron Wall, Swordbreaker...and a bunch of cheap elemental attacks which you can use while waiting for the Drive Blade to cool down. You're both strong and have good TEC, so those cheap attacks will still do a boat-load of damage and since they're cheap, you might actually end up with more TP than before you used the elemental attack. Also, you can use the Landsknecht's sword skills, so you really get a bunch of extra options here. To me, this is a green choice.

Imperial/Fortress
Yes, Imperials can have shields, if they have Fortress or Landsknecht as sub. Increased survivability here, but not much else.

Imperial/Medic
Not really a good choice, but Imperial does have quite high TEC so the healing skills will at least be quite effective.

Imperial/Dancer
Increased evasion and extra attacks is never bad. You also get lots of extra support skills that will become very useful in certain fights. This is a decent sub choice.

[Daige]

Regarding sub choices overall, it depends a lot on your personal play style. I don't like "specialized" characters that do only one or two things. I want all my characters to be versatile and be able to be either offensive of defensive, depending on the situation. Having a Fortress that only uses Party Shield and never ever does anything else is my definition of boring, so therefore I have tried several unusual class combinations.

I also like to have access to both group attacks and elemental attacks (and elemental group attacks is of course better than anything else) and knowing full well that boss fights can drag out on time and become quite lengthy, I prefer to be more or less self-sufficient on TP and not having to lug around loads of extra TP refill items (they can be both tiresome and expensive to achieve).

When I got access to Bushi I subbed nearly all my characters as Bushi just to be able to refill TP with Deep Breath. Later, I realized that when/if you have to refill your TP with Deep Breath, you're almost always in so much trouble already that refilling TP with Deep Breath won't really help you in the long run. That's when I started switching to Imperial as sub on almost all my characters, because if you're low on TP, you can at least try to attack the enemy's weakness to refill it, or you can use Sharp Edge and Impulse Edge to keep your offensive up while refilling your TP at the same time. The latter method really works wonders for me.

However, just focusing on being self-sufficient on TP is also kind of boring and it also stops you from achieving the full potential of certain characters, so I'm once again resting my guild members and reevaluating new options.

Here's my current plan:

Landsknecht: Will probably have Imperial sub, mainly because Drive Blades are nice and very powerful, which will let me use either common Drive Blade tactics, or use a mass-link attack (probably combined with Squall Volley from Sniper). Drive Blades also plays nicely with the Landsknecht sword skills.

Nightseeker: Haven't really used this character and probably won't do it either since I strongly dislike "fragile fighters". However, I will give him a chance but I'm not sure if I'll go with Landsknecht and dual-wielding, or a TP-refilling Imperial. Remains to be seen, and would like to hear what you have to say on this matter.

Fortress: A must-have, of course, and since defense is everything, I chose Landsknecht but without Weapon Parry. Will use a sword so Fortress can also be offensive using elemental attacks.

Sniper: I had Imperial as a sub here but I think it won't do much good, especially without a Drive Blade, so Bushi will probably be the choice here. Sniper already has a good bind chance and with Auto-Surge he might start most battles in Surge mode, then it won't hurt as much to use one turn for Deep Breath to replenish his HP and TP. I might switch to Arcanist as sub later to get extra bind chance with Ailment boost but even without that, a maxed bind attack from Sniper has a 65% success, which is higher than a maxed Arcanist with maxed Ailment Boost, so I might not need that extra bonus at all. Or maybe I do, that remains to be seen. Since I need the Sniper to unlock powerful link attacks with the Landsknecht, Sniper is still a better choice than the Arcanist. When/if I sub him as an Arcanist instead, I might put a few points on the circles, just to get dismiss heal. Can't hurt to have it.

Medic: Had Medic in the team, switched him out when I got access to Arcanist. According to "the whole internet" Arcanist would be the all-time awesome healer that everyone wants to use, but I'm actually very disappointed with her healing so I will switch to Medic again to finally get some decent healing back in the team again. Not sure which sub to use here, Landsknecht gives better survivability, Runemaster gives extra TP and offensive capability, Bushi gives extra mace skills, survivability and TP regen, and Imperial gives powerful attack spells and decent TP regen coupled with offensive capability. This will be a tough choice indeed, but I'm leaning towards Runemaster, because elemental group attacks are awesome and much needed. I'm a huge TP-waster.

Runemaster: Imperial has worked really well here, so far. My Runemaster even uses a Drive Blade to refill TP every now and then. The elemental Drive Blade attacks are super powerful, despite that the Runemaster is both weak and in the back row. Quite satisfied but considering switching to Medic as sub to get some decent extra-healing when I need that. Versatility and all that.

Dancer: Probably Imperial here, because I think he won't be good enough neither as a linker nor as a Runemaster, so...going for lots of overpowered Drive Blade attacks instead. Might or might not be a part of the team, I'm still not done with the Hall of Darkness and I heard from my friend that the Refresh Waltz will be much needed there.

Arcanist: Disappointed with the healing ability, mainly because it was too little and because the healing over time just never worked because all I wanted to do when I got a circle started was to dismiss it right away to either heal or blast. The bind circles also felt sub-par, the Sniper will probably bind better. Will most likely choose Runemaster as sub instead, and the healing that is left will be a decent bonus.

Bushi: Like I pointed out before, I'm not a fan of using two weapons because I like having good defense and characters that survive. Landsknecht gives a very big defence boost here, which makes it a very good sub for Bushi, along with nice attacks but I will lose lots of Bushi's skills. Dancer IS a really good choice, since I get more evasion, more attacks and lots of nice support skills. It's magical when Bushi attacks three times and refills almost all HP and 30% TP in one round. Imperial is a possible choice but I think it gives less options than going with Landsknecht or Dancer, so all in all, I think it has got to be one of those two but I'm not sure which one.

Imperial/Landsknecht: This is almost a no-brainer. Imperial gets so much good stuff from Landsknecht that I just can't turn it down.

[SteelCrow]

Hahaha, ah, I remember this thread. Found it so laughable that out of my main team I finished the main story with, two are "red", two are "blue", and one is "green". I mean, why not Dancer/arcanist, with Mist Dance and TP Return, plus more healing?...

To soften my ire, it's just an initial opinion based on the information and biases on hand. Numbers-chasing bores my mind out: it's interaction and metaphor-from-mechanic that I'm after. Thus, my team's primary members were a Bushi/dancer and a Dancer/arcanist, with a Fortress/dancer providing defenses and two Dancer/bushi filling the team. I like the Dancers a lot. That Eneeerrrrgyyyyy Taannngooooo...

But I've got to change it up if I do another run. I'm keeping my Bushi/dancer, because she's so elegant and fierce and beastly! The many attacks she makes, and the lengthy battles she prevails through!

Let's not forget that Blood Surge only counts the first action, so each Sword Dance attack is free HP/TP.

[Daige]

[SteelCrow]

[Wolkenritter]

[zamisk]

I loved my Medic/Arcanist, the healing buffs mean you don't need to invest many points in anything to fully heal, and the TP regen lets you heal forever and stay in the dungeon as long as necessary.

[Wolkenritter]

[Daige]

[Daige]

[zamisk]

[Wolkenritter]

[Daige]

Wolkenritter:

Regarding Arcanist and having Nightseeker as sub: Yes, it does make her more useful but it still doesn't give neither group attacks nor elemental attacks. Well, Ice Knife, but it's not enough. However, I think I'll be very satisfied with my A/R now, she has both support, healing and elemental attacks.

Dancer: Well, you can always use a stone weapon for random fights and stun weapon for foes and bosses.

Fortress: You did mention it, but it's still only one elemental attack and using other elemental attacks from Runemaster is almost hopeless because Fortress has too low TEC.

On a different note, I can always reconsider things, but all my characters should have a decent combination of group attacks, elemental attacks and TP regen. Not all at once, though...even if it's sometimes possible. I guess my reason for this is that I want to get rid of random mobs without putting too much time or effort into it.