So who's the best adventurer to use?

[Naryoril]

Tielle is what I use when absolutely every single mob has to die, i.e for ingredient farming. She's sadly pretty terrible at bosses, mainly because her attack charge is interrupted by damage.

Really? Imo she reaps bosses into tiny shreds. Have you tried using the charge spell with her when fighting bosses? I just keep that active and fully charge her attack in a really short time. and as bosses tend to be pretty large they are hit 5 times with a shot which leads to amazing damage.

I'm only half way through obsidian tower though

[herki]

Tielle is what I use when absolutely every single mob has to die, i.e for ingredient farming. She's sadly pretty terrible at bosses, mainly because her attack charge is interrupted by damage.

Really? Imo she reaps bosses into tiny shreds. Have you tried using the charge spell with her when fighting bosses? I just keep that active and fully charge her attack in a really short time. and as bosses tend to be pretty large they are hit 5 times with a shot which leads to amazing damage.

I'm only half way through obsidian tower though

Tielle sadly sucks pretty much vs Griff, I tend to go through a lot of curry with him. Every other boss is pretty much Cuterage/Arrow Spam or that Spell #3, which also hits airborne mobs and has short time invincibility. Spam that one if you have multiple bosses or ones that spawn tons of mobs, great fun!
For illustration purposes, that's what I mean: http://herki.org/ext/tielle_spam.jpg

[Stratavarius]

Tielle is what I use when absolutely every single mob has to die, i.e for ingredient farming. She's sadly pretty terrible at bosses, mainly because her attack charge is interrupted by damage.

Really? Imo she reaps bosses into tiny shreds. Have you tried using the charge spell with her when fighting bosses? I just keep that active and fully charge her attack in a really short time. and as bosses tend to be pretty large they are hit 5 times with a shot which leads to amazing damage.

I'm only half way through obsidian tower though

Tielle sadly sucks pretty much vs Griff, I tend to go through a lot of curry with him. Every other boss is pretty much Cuterage/Arrow Spam or that Spell #3, which also hits airborne mobs and has short time invincibility. Spam that one if you have multiple bosses or ones that spawn tons of mobs, great fun!

Most adventurers don't do well against Griff/Charme as bosses because they get knocked down after two hits and get an invincibility period after they get up.

Her cuterage still helps to put a few more arrows into him, but it isn't strictly necessary.  Really once you get his pattern down he is a bit easier to use Tielle than Caillou.  Just knock him down, if he uses his lunge sidestep and strike him from the side.  If he casts fire just move away a few steps and charge forward and it'll miss every time.  If he summons bats just move up along the side and strike him.  If he gets too close use Starshot Arrow or the rebound arrow to abuse the casting invincibility and get some room.  It takes some practice to get the timing down, and I still have trouble with him in the Crystal Nightmare boss rush, but he isn't too bad overall since you can avoid all of his attacks.

[ORYLY]

It's Caillou all the way for me.

When using him, ZAPPER (the spray nuke) is your solution to 99% of dungeon threats. At close range, it will instakill or stun enemies into helplessness. At medium distance, it's got enough sideways range to kill shooty mobs like rock gnolls and statues or hold back crowds in the gauntlet.

Zapper also has the secondary function of being an evasion move because of the split-second of invulnerability when you cast it. Sidestepping is always preferable, but it's nice to have a spumy panic button. Falling rocks? Zapper! Pumpkin laser? Zapper! Arma sawblades? Zapper! The evade can also be used aggressively. You can evade a red ghost's fireball and kill it at the same time, for example. While other characters get the same deal with some of their skills, note that zapper spam is sustainable because of Caillou's SP regeneration.

The second useful spell is force gemini (orbiting missiles). The undocumented feature of this skill is that you can release the missiles with your button one attack. This gives you both anti-air and diagonal attack capabilities. But, unless you need to keep away from that tiny and agile boss, it's still more SP-efficient to spam zapper even if you miss three times!

Finally, teleport is useful if you find yourself at the dead end of a very, very long path. If you're lucky, it can save more time than if Charme dashed all the way back. If you're unlucky, it puts you in the middle of a fish trap.

His melee attack and fireball are just there for charging SP, guaranteeing that you can spam zapper. You don't need to charge SP in every battle because of SP restoration from level-ups and random candy drops. Your SP will be fine as long as you beat the SP out of the occasional cornered slime or skeleton.

***
Random Notes
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His other skills are completely overshadowed by zapper. Since you can change zapper's direction while shooting, zapper can accomplish whatever the two other spells can.

It's super yayness fun when the floor gets slippery because of DRIVE-BY ZAPPER and ZAPPER JOUST! I really wish there was equipment that kept the floor like that.

His lack of dash is his worst weakness for me, since I'm that impatient.

[Resetter]

Overshadowed? I think not.

Pyrobomb has the same invincibility frame but a much quicker recovery. In fact, it's possible to beat Arma without losing any hp by going around in a circle and pyrobombing as she throws the sawblades (they only hurt when returning), provided she doesn't bust out her machinegun, move away really fast or back up into a wall. It's also my main anti-Griff and anti-Charme spell since they get knocked down with Sparkburst. It also has really good upwards range, and you can clear floating pumpkins and bees easily. Not to mention it's not blocked by obstacles unlike Sparky, which is really useful when trying to hit that bomb under the crab boss. Cost effective too - it only costs 5 SP per use.

Ice Mine is great as a makeshift wall or spawncamp trap. Try it while doing a bossrush with Samhains and throw one while they disappear. Since they like to move around you in a circle there's a good chance you get 5 free hits on them, or at least knock away that pesky fire ghost while you Sparkburst the main threat into tiny tiny gems. Also, Geddon Device becomes an even funnier joke - set 5 of them on the same spot and watch as he lands oh so gracefully on them and suicides. The only problem is that it's not blocked by walls, so positioning them can get tricky. Mostly for fun though.


I think I'm gonna lay off Conqueror Caillou for a bit and work with other chars more.

[ORYLY]

Is it called sparkburst in-game? That info site from one of these threads lists it as zapper.

Pyrobomb has the same invincibility frame but a much quicker recovery. In fact, it's possible to beat Arma without losing any hp by going around in a circle and pyrobombing as she throws the sawblades (they only hurt when returning), provided she doesn't bust out her machinegun, move away really fast or back up into a wall. It's also my main anti-Griff and anti-Charme spell since they get knocked down with Sparkburst.

I haven't been screwing around with the bosses yet, but damn, that sounds like fun. The no knockdown damage looks sweet despite the risk of closing the distance.

It also has really good upwards range, and you can clear floating pumpkins and bees easily. Not to mention it's not blocked by obstacles unlike Sparky, which is really useful when trying to hit that bomb under the crab boss. Cost effective too - it only costs 5 SP per use.

Didn't know about the air-attack thing. In that case, it makes it better that force gemini when dealing with those damn flyers. But, everything on the ground is still cheaper and to kill with the similarly-priced zap.

Ice Mine is great as a makeshift wall or spawncamp trap. Try it while doing a bossrush with Samhains and throw one while they disappear. Since they like to move around you in a circle there's a good chance you get 5 free hits on them, or at least knock away that pesky fire ghost while you Sparkburst the main threat into tiny tiny gems.

I used ice mine on samhains at first, but I found it easier to just spam zap with the occasional spinning around. It kills the samhains faster and the spinning interrupts casts from ghosts. What really kills ice mine is the slow recovery and cast since it gives enemies an opening to approach. It's much faster to point sparks in the general direction you're worried about.

Also, Geddon Device becomes an even funnier joke - set 5 of them on the same spot and watch as he lands oh so gracefully on them and suicides.

I'm still on the way to that boss so I guess I'll try this out. But yeah, I guess ice mine would shine if you had the time to set it up.

[Failure]

The second useful spell is force gemini (orbiting missiles). The undocumented feature of this skill is that you can release the missiles with your button one attack. This gives you both anti-air and diagonal attack capabilities. But, unless you need to keep away from that tiny and agile boss, it's still more SP-efficient to spam zapper even if you miss three times!

There is one oddly specific boss I enjoy using Force Gemini on, and that's when you fight Tielle.  Her range and cone of offense means lining up for Sparkburst is dangerous, and, more to the point, she has none of the usual "knocked down after two hits" thing other player bosses have.  Which means every missile from Force Gemini hits for full damage, and you can stay diagonal from her and be relatively safe.

Really, the diverse responses in this thread shows that there's a "best" adventurer for everybody.  That's awesome.

[canon]

louie would be so much more awesome if he was unstunnable
instead of blocking ranged attacks while not attacking.

[Resetter]

There is one oddly specific boss I enjoy using Force Gemini on, and that's when you fight Tielle.  

Did you know that if you use Teleport while fighting her final form, you end up in the first area and can snipe her with Gemini Force from OUTSIDE her walkable area?

You just need to walk up a bit to get into range.

[laclongquan]

Just a passing thought: Charme is especially useful if you want to explore the dungeon quickly to meet Nagi. nagi is just plumb random, so we have to check manually. And in some 'palace' dungeon, Cailou's Teleport help to get out of it quickly.

[dkellis]

Tielle is my go-to adventurer now, mostly because I tend to always clear as much of the dungeon floor as I can, at least until the Wisps chase me out. It's a habit. Tielle is awesome at clearing rooms, so I'm happy. For everything else, there's Cuterage, which I suspect is overpowered.

I hear Griff might be better, but after learning to stay at range and blast away blithely at enemies before they hit me, Griff suddenly feels like I need to relearn all my melee timings.

Caillou is an odd case: I can see how he can be awesome, and I agree that against bosses he might be second-to-none (haven't tried him against humanoid bosses yet, but I am impressed by his performance against non-humanoids), but he's made of wet tissue and I end up worrying about his SP usage more than I think I should. It's probably a problem with the way I think, trained from old Final Fantasy games: conserve SP (or MP or whatever it's called) until absolutely necessary. So when I use Caillou's SP, I end up looking for regular critters to use my melee or no-SP fireball attack on, just to get it back up to full.

I can't play Charme or Elan effectively, mostly because of their dashes. I always end up accidentally triggering it somehow and then I crash into a wall and I'm vulnerable against critters. I suppose they have their strengths, but they just don't do anything for me.

Louie is, as usual, the old standby. Hard as a rock and about as smart. I love watching his scenes, and he's got the standard Zelda-esque wide arc.

I haven't tried Nagi yet. Maybe after I finish the Lapis Ruins and start working on levelling everyone else.

[Dood]

Meh.. In my opinion HP should be the last thing you should complain about since you can just pump your adventurers up with ferromin to up it.
Probably why I still use Charme, and Griff despite their horrible HP.
As for how I use Charme, I dash around the enemy and sometimes through their attacks and counter attack then run, she struggles against Charme, Griff, and Arma fights though.
I pretty much do the same thing with Griff except his dash is more limited but does allow you to dash through enemies. He also has Demon Soul which like any other character that has a similar skill, makes non-human bosses mincemeat.

[dkellis]

Meh.. In my opinion HP should be the last thing you should complain about since you can just pump your adventurers up with ferromin to up it.

If people get to complain about charging up Tielle's shots, I get to complain about Caillou's HP. Both can be worked around without much difficulty, but they apparently are factors.

The problem with dashing for me is that I end up triggering it without meaning to. This is one reason why I decided to stop using the controller, since apparently I'm much better with the keyboard.

This isn't a problem with the characters as much as with my playstyle, and I don't think it's a problem in itself anyway. When I used Charme, I never really found the dash to be incredibly useful (no point in speed when I intend to clear out every room of every floor), especially compared to Tielle and Caillou's range. I know others swear by it, though, so it's just a matter of different playstyles.

[QC]

(no point in speed when I intend to clear out every room of every floor)

Unless you want to avoid the Wisps...

[GrevenIlVec]

Cailou's HP is awful, and so is his defense.

I've had him, maximum geared, vector cannoned for over 2.4k damage. (the game only displays 3 digits, so it looks like 24x). None of my other characters ate as much.

In fact, unless you have an infinite HP hack on or is extremely good with teleport/pyrobomb abuse you're just not gonna get much milage out of him even top geared, completely ferromined, because he'll only have 386 HP or so, and that's less than one and half bite for half of the crystal bosses and arguably even a red knight (even though those are easy to kill), and wisps -will- 1-shot you.

I mostly use nagi/arma for dungeon crawling now that I got all the drops from CN bosses (and the adventure book). Arma with a gravity cannon/phalanx cannon is pretty much invincible until the wisps show up, and nagi is tankable and can charge. I only use caillou if i'm too tired to focus and have to use cheats. The guy wrecks everything but he's just too much of a pain to play legitly.