User blog:Linathan/Squad Spotlight: Essential Squad Compositions

There are tons of questions and help threads posted around the wiki asking for help on making a good squad. There are quite a number of messages on my wall asking for squad advice. Now, here is a Squad Spotlight dedicated to making very effective squads of what I like to call "essential squads"!

Why are they called "Essential Squads"?
Because they fulfill essential squad roles.

What are these "Essential Squad Roles"?
It's rather simple to narrow down. Here is a list of essential squad roles that make a squad effective:
 * Spark buffer - Units that provide Spark buffs
 * Units such as Raaga, Zenia, Chrome, Elza, Rosetta, Claire, Rhoa, etc.
 * Critical buffer - Units that provide Critical Rate buffs
 * Units such as Reis, Colt, Griff, Avant, Lucia, Kira, etc.
 * BB Atk buffer - Units that provide BB Atk buffs
 * Units such as Lava, Zenia, Haile, Gazia, etc.
 * Anti-debuffer - Units that remove status ailments
 * Units such as Sargavel, Elimo, Vertri, Rigness, Melchio, etc.
 * Mitigator - Units that reduce damage by at least 50% with their BB/SBB
 * Units such as Gazia, Elimo, Krantz, Edea, Darvanshel, Zeldeus, etc.
 * BB Utility buffer - Units that provide BB gauge effects
 * Effects include "boost to BB gauge when attacked", "gradual BB gauge recovery", "boost to BB gauge fill rate", etc.
 * Units such as Bestie, Libera, Andaria, Charla, etc.

Why are these "Essential Squad Roles" important?

 * Spark and crit bonuses are multiplicative to the base damage calculation formula. The premise of using these buffs is to boost the overall damage output of the squad. BB Atk buffers also help contribute to damage utility as Brave Bursts will receive a significant boost with these buffs to their damage modifiers.
 * Anti-debuffers are needed because status ailments are everywhere throughout the game, whether it'd be Poison, Weakness, Paralysis, Curse, Atk Down, etc. To avoid such problems, anti-debuffers are used to remove those status ailments for a smooth and effective battling experience.
 * Mitigators are, by far, the most important units in the game. There's way too much content that includes bosses that deal incredible amounts of damage. Because of this, mitigators are practically a must in these squads to reduce as much damage as possible.
 * BB utility is incredibly important too. More BB utility nets more BB usage. The more Brave Bursts you use, the more efficient your squad becomes, boosting BB gauge momentum.

Adjustables
There are certain quests that have high amounts of resistances, such as HC and BC drops, crit resistance, etc. Therefore, the team has to adjust to those changes. There can be times where you're fighting a single enemy and it's hard to recover HP due to the shortage of HC being produced. Here is a list of adjustables:
 * Healer - Units that heal and recover HP
 * Units such as Aurelia, Elimo, Krantz, Arius, etc.
 * HoT buffer - Units that provide gradual healing at the end of each turn
 * Units such as Selena, Quartz, Tridon, etc.
 * Def buffer - Units that provide high Def buffs (most preferably > 100%)
 * Units such as Tridon, Elimo, Kanon, Nadore, etc.

BB Gauge Momentum
BB Gauge Momentum is a term used in my Unit Spotlights. It resembles the frequency of the squad's performance of using Brave Bursts in an efficient manner. Squads with high BB Gauge Momentum can fill BB gauges very easily thanks to high BB utility.

You can manipulate BB Gauge Momentum with a variety of stacked BB utility effects. The units that utilize BB utility are included in the list of BB Utility buffers.

How do I make an "Essential Squad" with limited units to choose from?
Let's say I only have these units to choose from to make an essential squad. Let's identify our essentials being Spark buffer, crit buffer, BB Atk buffer, anti-debuffer, mitigator, and BB utility.

Off the bat, we can start off with Zenia. She provides an 80% Spark buff and a 200% BB Atk buff. However, there are better options to choose from, like Gazia with his 300% BB Atk buff and Raaga with his 90% Spark buff. Though, using Gazia and Raaga will use up two unit slots. But for now, let's place Zenia in our squad.

Then, we look at crit buffers. There's Griff, Avant, and Michele. However, there's a problem with Avant as his BB Atk buff clashes with Zenia's BB Atk buff, even though they're the same being 200%. So, that leaves us with Griff and Michele. Michele's crit rate buff is only 40% compared to Griff's 60% so it's already a given that Griff would be the winner among the three crit buffers. Besides, he provides additional damage utility such as providing elemental buffs and critical damage buffs. Now, that puts Griff in the squad to aid Zenia.

Then comes BB Atk buffers. Zenia already fulfills that role so there's no need to discuss about this one unless anything comes up.

Then comes anti-debuffers. Melchio and Rinon are the only anti-debuffers on that list of units. Comparing their additional roles, Melchio provides a Def conversion buff as Rinon provides Light and Dark elemental buffs. This is where it all comes to personal preference. Let's say I needed more damage utility. I would take Rinon because she provides elemental buffs. Rinon now joins up with Zenia and Griff.

Then comes mitigators. Out of that list, Shera and Gazia are the only mitigators. Here's the tough decision. Shera also provides an Atk buff, but Gazia provides a BB Atk buff that is superior over Zenia's. If I use Gazia, I would have to take out Zenia and come up with another Spark buffer to take her place since I'll lack a Spark buffer with Zenia out of the squad. Let's say I really want a lot of damage utility in my squad. I'll take Zenia out and replace her with Gazia, leaving me without a Spark buffer. Now, Gazia is there to fulfill the mitigator and BB Atk buffer roles. The squad now contains Gazia, Griff, and Rinon.

So, I need a Spark buffer now. Other than Zenia, there's Lucia and Raaga. I already have a crit buffer in my squad so I do not need Lucia. Besides, Lucia's Spark buff is only 70% compared to Raaga's 90%. So, I will choose Raaga to join up with Gazia, Griff, and Rinon.

Now, the final unit slot. The only squad role I'm missing is the BB utility buffer. I do have Griff who buffs BB gauge fill rate with his SBB, but that's not nearly enough for my liking. There's Bestie, Lucius, Sefia, Feeva, Semira, and Kikuri who have BB utility buffs. My units are going to get attacked often so it's best to put some sort of "boost to BB gauge when attacked" effect in my squad, narrowing my choices down to Bestie and Kikuri. Seeing how Bestie provides more BB utility than Kikuri, I will choose Bestie.

Now, my final squad should look like this: Gazia, Griff, Rinon, Raaga, Bestie

Now, who's the lead? That is actually up to you. If you feel like you need a lot of survivability, make Gazia the lead. If you feel like you need more damage utility, make Griff the lead for crits or Raaga for sparks. If you feel like you need more BB utility, make Bestie the lead.

This here is to serve as an example of what an "essential squad" and how it performs very well in harder content in the game.

Also, a very important note is to not worry about types. With the introduction of Elgifs, type serves very little relevance to the game anymore. Having the unit should always take precedence over type.

I'm still confused! I need serious help!
Need help? Head over to my Message Wall and ask for any squad advice you may need!

Conclusion
Comment below the squads you are currently using! What units do you wish to have? Do you think there is such thing as a "best squad"? Leave your comments down below!

Check out my list of analyses in Spotlights: Table of Contents!