Talk:Grand Quest/@comment-42.60.136.95-20150630115642/@comment-114.134.189.190-20150630130305

Just a guide for anybody looking to evolve Karl in anticipation of water vortex arena (he's one of the best non-7* units to use for it). You'll also get Graham, but he's more of a trophy unit as far as I can tell (max 5*).

This guide is for the third GQ (Cobalt Spirit's Waking), for those wondering.

 Run 1

Notes: Only the Summoner's squad needs to be particularly strong (status immunity recommended). The other squads only need to be able to burst the first boss fight down to 75%, which doesn't require mitigation and can be done very quickly with ATK leads.

Graham in this version of the quest can be killed in only a few turns, but note that he's capable of one-shotting a single unit on occasion.  Run 2
 * 1) Complete the first stage with each squad
 * 2) Proceed to the next map as any squad
 * 3) Take the Summoner's squad, follow the path, taking the chest in the left route on the way
 * 4) Proceed with the Summoner's squad until the boss. Defeat it.

Notes: Only Seria's squad needs to be particularly strong, otherwise this run is very similar to the above.

If Seria herself dies during this run, you'll game over.  Run 3
 * 1) Complete the first stage with each squad.
 * 2) Proceed to the next map as any squad.
 * 3) Take Seria's squad, follow the path, taking the north fork to the chest
 * 4) *You'll fight a raid boss here. It shouldn't take much effort.
 * 5) Proceed with Seria's squad until the boss. Defeat it.

Notes: This time, all 3 squads need to be decently powerful, with mitigation, status immunity, BC fill when attacked and healing recommended. You will be able to use all 3 squads for the final boss, with the Summoner's squad being used first, followed by Seria, followed by Karl. Squads swap when they wipe, but unlike a trial they'll keep whatever BB gauge they had before going into the boss fight. You will be allowed to re-arrange your units between the squads as desired before the boss fight begins.

In this run, Graham is much more powerful. He will kill a random unit on the first turn, so be prepared to revive it. He will repeat that attack every 10th turn, and it also applies an angel idol buff. He's also capable of reducing your entire squad's health to 1 and emptying BB gauges and removing buffs at the same time - I've noted using friend units that Spirit Tiara, Fallacy Orb and similar spheres will allow a unit to retain full health after this attack if they trigger (they heal the damage done instantly). Graham will massively increase in damage output towards the end of his life bar. Don't waste all your resources on the first squad - the boss heals occasionally and you don't want to be stuck in a damage race just barely holding onto a few units - rather the fact that your second and third squad spawn in with their BB gauges hopefully filled means you'll get a major damage spike when the previous squad wipes.

Noted by a couple users in the comments: Summoner's squad can take an Ultor with Xentar equipped and dual Cardes/Grah 6* leads to absorb most of the damage, including taunting out the insta-kill on turn 1 and surviving it. You'll still need to be prepared for the AoE buff wipe + BB drain + HP to 1, however.  Run 4
 * 1) Complete the first stage with each squad
 * 2) Proceed to the next map as any squad.
 * 3) Take Karl's squad, and proceed directly to the boss (direction at fork doesn't matter)
 * 4) *Karl must reach the boss first. The boss fight begins after the Summoner and Seria arrive.
 * 5) Take the Summoner's squad, and proceed directly to the boss (you can take the chest if you want)
 * 6) Take Seria's squad, and take the north fork for the chest.
 * 7) *This is necessary as the chest has a different item the second time you take it, and each item is one achievement
 * 8) Proceed with Seria's squad until the boss. Defeat it.
 * 9) *As mentioned, you'll get to change squads here if you want.

Notes: This run contains the same boss Graham as Run 3. However, after facing him, you'll need to fight one more round using Karl alone, so focus on making Karl's squad the most powerful. Graham's final form is actually easier than the one you'll fight with all 3 squads, only having massive damage, a one-time BB drain and the curse effect (no more instant kills, HP to 1 or BB drain), but you'll have likely used a lot of items before reaching him.

Be aware that the solo Karl vs Graham fight has a massive AoE which is warned with Graham spending a turn using dialogue and not attacking. This AoE removes buffs, so it's recommended to simply guard the turn after you notice Graham not attacking. The rest of the fight is simple damage spam from Graham which is dealt with using the usual methods. Status immunity is still a must.

As before, when you reach the Graham fight at the coliseum, you'll be able to re-arrange your squads. After you beat that fight, you'll be brought out to the world map where you'll have a chance to swap out your items with the reserve item set. There won't be any more waves to charge BB on, so if possible kill Graham with Seria or the Summoner so Karl's squad has max BB gauges (though you'll be able to use Fujin's from the map and swap out empty item slots, so you can prep Karl's mitigator if need be).
 * 1) Complete the first stage with each squad
 * 2) Proceed to the next map as any squad.
 * 3) Take Karl's squad, and proceed directly to the boss,  taking the left route at the fork.
 * 4) *Karl must reach the boss first. The boss fight begins when the Summoner and Seria arrive.
 * 5) Take the Summoner's squad, and proceed to the boss (you can take the chest if you want)
 * 6) Take Seria's squad, and proceed to the boss (you can take the chest if you want). Defeat it.
 * 7) *As mentioned, you'll get to change squads here if you want. After the fight, you'll also be able to change items.
 * 8) You'll only have Karl's squad. Proceed to the final location and defeat Graham one last time.

<p style="margin-top:0.357142857142857em;margin-bottom:0.357142857142857em;font-size:14px;line-height:1.42857142857143em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Best of luck with this one. The gimmick mechanics mean it's pretty open to RNG screwing you over, but it's doable and easier than it was for JPBF players when they first reached it thanks to our RS batch progression.

<p style="margin-top:0.357142857142857em;margin-bottom:0.357142857142857em;font-size:14px;line-height:1.42857142857143em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Clicking through the dialogue in this one takes forever... doing it 4 times was horrible just for how long it takes.

<p style="margin-top:0.357142857142857em;margin-bottom:0.357142857142857em;font-size:14px;line-height:1.42857142857143em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Important GQ Rewards: 6* Karl stats: 5* Graham stats: Increases crit chance by 30% when HP is full. Grants a chance of inflicting a random status ailments when attacking. Increases ATK by 75% and crit chance by 20% on turn 1
 * Karl's Evo mat; needed to reach 6* for Karl
 * 6300 HP, 2251 ATK, 1862 DEF, 1761 REC
 * 24 drop checks
 * Type 2 AI
 * LS: Fills 7 BC when attacking. Fills 1~2 BC on spark.
 * BB: 16 hit AoE. +240% damage modifier, +100 flat ATK. BC Cost: 20
 * SBB: 24 hit AoE. +400% damage modifier, +100 flat ATK. +100% ATK/DEF/REC self buff for 3 turns which stacks with ordinary buffs (Counts as a water element ATK/DEF/REC buff). BC Cost: 35
 * Graham 4*. Can be evolved to 5*.
 * 5210 HP, 1780 ATK, 1470 DEF, 1630 REC
 * 24 drop checks
 * Type 3 AI
 * LS: Fills 3~4 BC when attacked. 20% chance of reflecting 20% of damage taken.
 * BB: 17 hit AoE. +220% damage modifier, +100 flat ATK. 70% chance of inflicting curse. 15% chance of inflicting 75% ATK down. BC cost: 25
 * Sphere: Demon Sickle
 * Unique sphere, not sure if worth keeping (if Graham ever gets a 7* this could be his ES sphere or something, but you could probably re-buy from achievement store in that case)
 * Sphere: Amanohabaken
 * Just a nice freebie if you still need to round out a set.
 * Various imps
 * 1 gem on first clear