#the theoretical combat game player would be capable of playing a non combat game right

[ria-starstruck]

and also "putting everyone in a simulation will make it all ok 👍" and also "let's park next to this random system's sun" and also "we can't live on our own planet because of our own folly" and so on

[sophibeans]

Etrian Odyssey Nexus class descriptions

A brief, spoiler-free explanation of what each class wants to do and how to use them in a party.

Hero- Frontline Damage and Utility A well-rounded frontliner, Hero's primary gimmick is that skills have a chance to create an "afterimage" in the open 6th party slot, who repeats the skill next turn. Their skills cover most bases, with area, single-target, and all three elements, as well as some shield skills that reduce damage to the party for a turn. A superb DPS with tons of versatility, though they need a bit of build-around to get the best damage possible. Greatest strength is breadth of options, as Hero is one of the best classes to have in nearly every situation. Closest thing to a weakness is that they're somewhat SP hungry- think carefully about whether you’d rather have shield or sword techniques. Pairs best with any strong party that leaves an open spot on the frontlines, since you want the afterimages to be in melee range and need lots of damage to charge up the Hero’s strongest attack.. Also can put out a little bit of off-healing and solid damage reduction, making it easier to get by with less dedicated supports such as Harbinger and Survivalist.

Protector- Defensive Support A defensive support that works on either line, Protector is the class that best reduces incoming damage. Taunts, direct cover, flat damage reduction or even nullification, attack debuffs, every trick in the book from past games is here to improve survivability and give the rest of your party more room to breathe. Can function in frontline for increased aggro or backline to reduce damage taken. Greatest strength is the unique niche of making the party way, way harder to kill. Greatest weakness is limited contribution outside of that, though at least their new counter move chips in on damage somewhat. Pairs wonderfully with squishy damage-dealers such as Nightseeker and Shogun, and allows less dedicated healers such as War Magus or Harbinger to fit the bill.

Medic- Primary Healer Surprising nobody, Medic is the single best healer class in the game, with every kind of healing, revival and curative one could ask for, as well as a get-out-of-jail-free Force Break that fully cures and revives everyone. Would you believe they can deal reasonable damage with hammers, too? Fun tools such as overhealing and multicasting healing allow for a significant degree of creativity. Greatest strength is being the best at getting the party out of bad situations. Greatest weakness is chugging through TP real quick, but realistically a smart player won’t be too worried. Every DPS loves to have a Medic on deck, but due to practically being a defensive support, stacking Medic with another healer is definitely overkill- just one other support should be more than enough.

Survivalist- Backline Damage/Defensive Support/Labyrinth Utility This class is interesting in the best of ways. Out-of-combat utility such as a revive, inventory space increase and gathering is nice. General archery skills give multitarget coverage and access to fire, as well as fairly standard damage-dealing. Where these guys stand out is their dodge utility; their blinding arrow, force boost and accuracy debuff combine to potentially nullify incoming threats, and Hazy Arrow- which you can only use after dodging- is tied for the strongest attack skill in the game. They also can play around with turn order, giving an ally instant priority on the turn order. Greatest strength is widely varied utility. Greatest weakness is middling damage unless you get lucky, and the risk involved in dodge-tanking. Pairs well with inaccurate, slow, or squishy classes such as Gunner and Imperial, and few parties would turn down a little extra damage.

Ronin- Frontline Versatile Damage If you ask me, Ronin is the most interesting it's ever been. Glass cannon katana-wielders by default, they can use Upper Stance to boost damage and lay down single-target skills, Clear Stance to bolster their damage and infliction rates when they use binding or petrifying cuts, or Drawing Stance to improve speed, accuracy and evasion for multitarget damage... or Force Boost to do all three! Using skills during matching stances will grant critical hits, providing some serious value. As the class with the highest Strength in the game, Ronin are superb damage dealers, but ironically are unambiguously the best inflictors thanks to Clear Stance. Greatest strength is awesome damage and the option to build towards a specific direction. Greatest weakness is squishiness, though if you’re careful that shouldn’t be crippling. Loves any and every kind of support.

War Magus- Frontline Healing/Offensive Support Healers with a twist, War Magi have good (no longer insane) damage output, with skills that apply strong secondary effects against targets with ailments, such as debuffs and binds. Bring a dedicated inflictor along with to combo with them! As for their healing, they pack numerous proactive options to block ailments and heal damage, including heal skills that trigger at the start and end of the turn. Greatest strength is extreme versatility, with more to do than other healers. Greatest weakness is lack of specialization- neither their healing nor debuffs nor offenses are as good as more dedicated units, and that’s assuming you even stick the ailment. Pairs best with an ailment inflictor such as Ninja or Nightseeker, enables Harbinger and Pugilist, and enjoys having a non-healing support such as Survivalist or Protector to help out.

Highlander- Focused Frontline Damage Back into the simpler classes, Highlander is a spearfighting berserker class, with powerful attacks and huge strength buffs that cost a chunk of HP and other moves that can restore HP. They also sport mild utility, with anti-status effects and a pseudo-counterattack when they lose HP. Overall, if paired with a decent supprt base, capable of pumping out great damage. Greatest strength is an easy-to-execute way to get excellent value in the form of damage. Greatest weakness is the ever-present chance of getting themselves into kill range with their HP loss. Pairs awesome with other frontline DPS such as Ronin or Imperial due to a row-target attack buff, and enjoys defensive support, particularly healing.

Gunner- Versatile Backline Damage Gunner is probably the most well-rounded of the backline DPS, with all three binds (and huge infliction rates), all three elements (with great damage), and a unique gimmick centered around accurate attacks that reduce evasion and inaccurate attacks that do loads of damage. Heck, they even have a healing move if you're desperate. If you aren't sure who to add and have an open spot on your backline, why not toss in a Gunner? Greatest strength is being one of the most effective "self-sufficient" DPS. Greatest weakness is that most high-value plays Gunners can do are unreliable due to poor accuracy or lowering your defense. Fits into basically every team, but pairs well with ailment inflictors like Nightseeker or Arcanist, since blinded or paralyzed enemies can’t dodge.

Sovereign- Buffing/Healing Support Another support class, Sovereigns are dedicated buffers that make your team deal more damage, take less damage, and all sorts of other tricks. Notably, they have a number of sustain-based healing abilities and can purge buffs and debuffs for more substantial healing. Also of note is Final Decree, a huge one-turn multiplier to outgoing and incoming damage that requires the Sovereign to purge three buffs from themselves. Greatest strength is that Sovereign can (theoretically) handle every imaginable aspect of support all on their own to carry a team. Greatest weakness is that doing so means keeping a lot of plates spinning, and spinning them can run you dry on TP quick. Pairs well with high-power DPS to enable, preferably all on the same line. For instance, a frontline of Ronin+Landsknecht+Highlander. Buffs of the same type stack additively, by the way, if you’re thinking of running more buffs and debuffs alongside a Sov.

Ninja- Backline Debilitating Support Here's another odd one. Ninja can use melee weapons from the backline with full power, have all sorts of status infliction moves, and have dodge-tanking abilities to attract and avoid enemy attacks. Is it a DPS? Is it an ailment inflictor? Is it a defensive support? Its greatest strength is that it can be two of the above at once, and will basically always go first to slap enemies with a hard disable or eliminate a priority target- or even pass an item to someone who needs it! Its greatest weakness is it may not be as good as just running more dedicated units in those roles. Pairs well with anyone who likes ailments and dislikes taking hits (Nightseeker and Shogun spring to mind). Note that Clone isn’t nearly as good as EO3, so completely ignoring it is perfectly valid.

Zodiac- Backline Elemental Damage The dedicated blaster caster. Zodiac get access to fire, ice and lightning right off the bat, and have strong area of effect moves to burn down random encounters. Elemental weaknesses are slightly stronger in this game than in past EOs (no more x1.25 weaknesses), so take note. Also, the base damage on their skills is less than you might expect, so picking up Charge moves to power up is key. Greatest strength is elemental access and consistently high area damage. Greatest weakness is churning through TP astonishingly quickly and, surprisingly, fairly mediocre damage output, especially against weakness-less targets. Pairs well with supports such as Survivalist to draw enemy attacks away or Sovereign to buff the Zodiac’s damage.

Farmer- Debilitating/Resource Management Support Ladies and gentlemen, Farmer is an actual class now. Outside of bosses, they’ll mostly act as inflictors and labyrinth support, giving you extra EXP, items and money while putting enemies to sleep. Unlike before, they can contribute wonderfully to boss fights with their Force Boost, which double-casts all items for free (including status-inflicting items, damage-dealing items, TP-restoring items...) and a Force Break that restores your entire party’s Force to full with a chance to repair broken gauges. Greatest strength is how much easier they make life during day-to-day exploration. Greatest weakness is abysmal stats and how much they struggle to contribute if you don’t come packing an item supply, which means their early game suuuucks. Pairs well with anyone who really wants TP, relies heavily on Force, or likes to see disabled enemies- Hero and Imperial spring to mind, but who doesn’t like an easier time in the exploration phase?

Shogun- Damage/Offensive Support Shogun can either act as dual-wielding katana masters on the frontline, or strategic commanders dispensing buffs and coordinating team attacks from the backline. Perhaps a mix of both! Dual-wielding and no access to armor means they desperately want a defensive support to help out, and they probably want at least one big frontline DPS to enable, but with the right party they can enable some great stuff. Notable for having the strongest attack buff in the game in Great Warrior. Greatest strength is big damage and enabling fun party builds. Greatest weakness is the fact that I cannot overstate how squishy these guys are for frontliners. Pairs well alongside a strong set of frontline attackers, and whatever kind of defensive support you can find- fittingly enough, Ronin and Ninja are great examples. Good at setting up for Landsknecht, too.

Landsknecht- Versatile Frontline Damage The bread-and-butter melee DPS, Landies gain access to sword, rapier, and shield-bash skills, as well as Links: an elemental attack that then hits again every time an ally hits the same target this turn. They also sport a number of abilities to play with turn order, with ways to enable going first and skills that reward you for going first. Greatest strength is pure simple power (for non-linkers) or the strong elemental damage (for linkers). As for weaknesses, Linksknechts really need a party built around enabling them by hitting enemies as many times as possible and need to juggle two self-buffs. Meanwhile, non-Linkers are pretty much the “baseline DPS”, with no real weaknesses (but not as high peaks as other options.) Fits wonderfully into any team, since everyone likes a tough, powerful frontline attacker. Worth noting that the only DPS that don’t have a strong multi-hit attack to Link off of are Highlander and Imperial, while Shogun and Pugilist have the greatest focus on multi-hits. [Disclaimer: This ain’t EO4, and Links are no longer busted OP. If you build a party that sets off a lot of links and nothing else you’re gonna be disappointed.]

Nightseeker- Frontline Ailment-based Damage Speaking of good damage, Nightseekers have Throw skills to inflict enemies with ailments, and gain huge buffs to damage against disabled foes. Though they have poor defense, their Shadow Cloak ability can temporarily block incoming attacks. Greatest strength is that they can pump out huge damage with little specialization and only a turn of prep. Greatest weakness is inconsistency, between the chance of ailments not sticking and their low defense. Pairs well with a good defender such as Protector and maybe ailment inflictors such as Arcanist, though depending on your build your Nightseeker may want to solely inflict ailments themselves to build up stacks of Foul Mastery. (Consider Nightseeker as a subclass for any of your DPS if you already have a strong inflictor.)

Arcanist- Backline Disabling/Healing Support And here's another disabler. Arcanists apply Circle spells, lasting effects that repeatedly try to inflict ailments or binds on enemies that the Arcanist can dispel early for a powerful effect. The first such effects are all-party heals and revives, making them good supports. They also put out good damage with the dismiss attack spells. Greatest strength is their strong disables and incredible healing numbers to keep momentum in your favor. Greatest weakness is running out of stuff to do once you’ve set up, as well as high TP costs. Note that Circles have relatively low infliction rates to balance their over-time effect, too. Capable of healing reasonably well for most teams, but especially loves to work with allies who can get value off of ailments and binds such as Nightseeker or War Magus.

Imperial- Frontline Burst Damage If you like to see big numbers, do I have a class for you. Imperials overheat their mechanical swords to deal hundreds if not thousands of damage, then chain together combo skills to reduce the cooldown timer and prepare for the next burst. For best results, lay down as many buffs as you can to get some real fun cooking. Greatest strength is their apocalyptically high damage numbers, and not unreasonable damage while on cooldown. As for weaknesses, they're incredibly slow, expend huge chunks of TP from a tiny pool, and take double damage on the turn they're using their big damage skills. Be wary. Pairs great with Survivalist to make them faster, Protector to cover their defenses, or (god forbid) Farmer to keep their TP and Force meters topped off.

Pugilist- Frontline Debilitating Support Barrage Pugilists return from EO5 to apply binds, deal damage and hit as many times as possible in a turn. Each attack has a chance to lead into another, with binds tacked on for good measure. Fully bound enemies, in turn, take massive damage from their finisher, Leading Blow. Please note that these guys are NOT the same as EO5 Pugs- Impact Pugilist goodies have migrated to Highlander, and moves like One-Two Punch got nerfed in damage but buffed in infliction rates. Greatest strength is being far and away the best in the game at hogtying enemies. Greatest weakness is a dearth of options in multi-target fights, and thoroughly mediocre damage. Loves to pair with anyone who wants their prey debilitated, such as Gunner or Imperial, and makes a great Link activator for Landsknecht.

Harbinger- Debuff/Healing Support The final returning class, Deathguard Harbingers act as debuffing supports, lowering enemy attack, defense, and notably ailment and bind resistance. As they apply stacks of the Miasma Armor stance, they can remove it to heal and revive the party, and block incoming ailments. They can do reasonable damage on a fully debuffed target, too, although if you want Deathbringer Harbinger you may want to use Nightseeker instead. Greatest strength is the mixture of healing, damage and debuffs becoming more than the sum of their parts. Greatest weakness is that you need to juggle a lot of timers and getting thrown off hurts your effectiveness. Pairs wonderfully with anyone who wants to stick ailments or binds, but fits into most parties that don’t already have a dedicated buffer, since buffs and debuffs stack additively and thus aren’t great in saturation.