User blog:Linathan/Squad Spotlight: Trial 004

Summary
Trial 004 was released in January 2015. It was the first trial to ever feature multiple enemies. Unlike Trial 003, there is a lot less turn-counting, if any, at all. There is not much to fret over this trial as most players seem to think that Trial 004 is much easier than Trial 003.

But what if you don't have a damage mitigator or you are a player with terrible luck? Don't worry! I have provided with an F2P squad you can use to your advantage!

If you're reading this Squad Spotlight, I expect that you've read the Trial 004 page and have gotten a good understanding of how the trial works. If not, I highly recommend that you read the guide first before reading this.

Squad 1: Safety
Units= Items= Just by the looks of this squad, there are MANY substitutions you can make. This is a squad that is definitely not using the best units, but think of it as a squad that does not require 7* Rare Summon units or the completion of Grand Quest.
 * Fujin Potion x2
 * Fujin Tonic x3
 * Revive x1 / Cure x10 / Goddess Idol x2
 * Revive Light x2 / Hero Crystal x1
 * Crescent Dew x2

Grahdens is used as your lead to boost the survivability of your units and mitigate 15% of the damage taken by Zebra and Cardes. Unfortunately, there is no other way for this squad to survive Zebra's ultimate attacks but to use Magress's UBB. Additionally, the Light and Dark elemental buffs help to boost the damage dealt to Cardes. If you've already completed Grahdens's Grand Quest in its 100% completion, his 6* form can definitely come to use as that would work best. Other HP leads, like Tridon, Ragshelm, Eve, Kanon, etc. Note that if you are using Kanon in place for Grahdens, you can switch Rigness out for a Paralysis debuffer like Sefia, Semira, etc. as you do not need two anti-debuffers in your squad.

Diana is used as your BB utility lead. She serves as the Lilly Matah of the squad, helping the squad to regenerate BB gauges as they get hit. If you are paranoid about Luther removing buffs, you can use Sefia as a friend instead. Sefia offers a 50% boost to BB fill rate and Paralysis effects to attacks, allowing you to effectively drive your BB gauge momentum and Paralyze Luther and stop him from removing buffs. However, Diana can be used for HC effectiveness, which is something that Sefia lacks.

Rosetta is used as your Spark buffer. Since BB spamming is relatively common when Luther and Phee are summoned, it makes to Spark more and deal more damage in the process. There are better Spark buffers to sub Rosetta out for. Raaga is currently the best Spark buffer released in the game. Afla Dilith is also a good mention, but it is impossible to obtain him if you haven't cleared Trial 004 yet.

Magress is used for defense. His Def buff helps endure the barrage of attacks coming at you, especially during the Cardes phase. Most importantly, Magress is used to endure Zebra's ultimate attacks. If you are able to nuke Zebra from above 50% to below 25% and use Magress's UBB at the same time, you can endure all three of Zebra's ultimate attacks which would otherwise kill three units.

Shera is used as your damage mitigator. It shouldn't have to be specified that you need one as you always need one. Other mitigators that work just as well or even better include Darvanshel, Aaron, Narza, Edea, etc.

Rigness is used as your anti-debuffer. There are other anti-debuffers that work just as well or even better like Exvehl, Altri, Ulkina, or even the newly released Rinon.

Squad 2: 4-Turn Kill
Units= Items= Spheres= Who needs to go through all of these phases when you've got a way to defeat Cardes in just four turns?! Here's how!
 * Fujin Potion x2
 * Fujin Tonic x3
 * Holy Flute x3
 * Revive Light x2
 * Crescent Dew x2
 * Maxwell w/Geldnite Axe & Amanohabaken
 * Maxwell w/Geldnite Axe & Blighted Seal
 * Medina w/Lexida & Virtue Stone

Turn 1: Turn 2+:
 * Use all Fujin Potions on two Maxwells, Melchio, Shera, and the Medina who's not equipped with Lexida.
 * Use a Holy Flute.
 * Follow in order: Maxwell's SBB, Maxwell's SBB, Melchio's SBB, Shera's SBB, Medina's SBB, Medina's normal attack
 * This should one-shot Zebra. Should RNG mess you up, continue to BB spam.
 * Revive any dead units.
 * Use a Holy Flute.
 * Follow in order: Maxwell's SBB, Maxwell's SBB, Melchio's SBB, Shera's SBB, Medina's SBB, Medina's SBB

The reason why Maxwell is used instead of Kira is for the BC drops. Maxwell has a higher Drop Check than Kira and his SBB is easier to Spark with. Melchio is the only Light elemental buffer who negates status ailments. If you're lacking Medina, use Zelnites instead.

Squad 3: 3-Turn Kill
Units= Items= Want another method to even three-turn kill Cardes? Here's another!
 * Fujin Potion x2
 * Fujin Tonic x3
 * Holy Flute x3
 * Revive Light x2
 * Crescent Dew x2

Turn 1: Turn 2: Turn 3+:
 * Use four Fujin Potions on the two Maxwells, Sefia, and Raaga.
 * Follow in order: Maxwell's SBB, Maxwell's SBB, Raaga's SBB, Sefia's SBB, Tilith's normal attack, and Lilith's normal attack
 * Use the last Fujin Potion on Tilith.
 * Revive any dead units.
 * Use a Holy Flute.
 * Follow in order: Tilith's BB, Maxwell's SBB, Maxwell's SBB, Raaga's SBB, Sefia's SBB, and Lilith's SBB.
 * Revive any dead units.
 * Use a Holy Flute.
 * Follow in order: Tilith's BB, Maxwell's SBB, Maxwell's SBB, Raaga's SBB, Sefia's SBB, and Lilith's SBB.

Squad 4: Efficiency
Units= Items= This is mainly used for a safer and efficient route, barring the nuking Zebra part. If you're aiming for the Achievement Clear, this is the squad for you.
 * Fujin Potion x2
 * Fujin Tonic x3
 * Holy Flute x3
 * Revive Light x2
 * Crescent Dew x2

Colt and Raaga are used as leads to deal as much crit and Spark damage as possible. With this combination along with Feeva's BC drop rate buff, you should have no problem get everyone's BB up.

Lava is your BB modifier buffer, significantly increasing the damage output of your units.

Kikuri is used in case you don't get full SBBs for whatever reason. Her damage is very high so that's always a good plus.

Rinon is used to provide the Light and Dark elemental buffs and serves as your anti-debuffer.

With all of these units, you shouldn't have any problem nuking Zebra from above 50% to 0%. The damage output should be enough if you are lucky enough to score enough crits on Zebra to avoid any dead units in your squad.

Squad 5: F2P Friendly
Units= Items= Recommended Spheres= It's quite tough to make an F2P squad considering the lack of a free anti-debuffer unit. However, this will have to make due. After tons of testing, I managed to find this squad to be one of the safest F2P squads to use.
 * Fujin Potion x2
 * Fujin Tonic x3
 * Revive x1 / Hero Crystal x1
 * Revive Light x2
 * Crescent Dew x2
 * Elimo must have a Anti-Status Sphere, like Drevas, Refined Gem, Impiety Orb, etc. Recommended sphere setups are as followed:
 * Drevas & Summoner Key
 * Star of Hope & Buffer Jewel
 * Demon Core & Drevas

Alma is used as a lead to get Elimo's BB up almost, if not, every turn. Her Leader Skill boosts BB gauges by 5 BC, which is the best in the game and already knocks close to one-third of Elimo's BB gauge. Given the fact that there are other units contributing to BC generation and BB gauges, Elimo's BB gauge should fill up no problem. If, at any time, there is a turn when Elimo doesn't get her BB up, simply guard all units.

Zephu is currently the only free unit that can inflict Paralysis. He is there to stop Luther from removing buffs. Even though Paralysis isn't much of a necessity to have, it's still quite nice to keep mitigation up and not risk the chance of Cardes one-shotting your units with Deadly End. If you feel that Zephu is not your type of unit, switch it out for something better. Madia is a good unit to sub in for Zephu as she boosts BB gauges by 5 BC with her SBB, allowing Elimo to get her BB gauge filled a lot easier.

Magress is used to endure Zebra's ultimate attacks with his UBB. His Def buff also helps to lessen the damage from unfixed damage attacks.

Eru is used for BB utility. He provides a 25% BC drop rate buff and a BB regen when attacked buff. This will help Elimo get her BB up a lot easier.

Selena is used for high Drop Checks and for the HoT buff. You will need to sustain your units' HP even though Elimo is there to serve as the lead. This squad doesn't have the high hit count units, which makes it hard for them to produce HC.

Conclusion
I made this more for players of all types! Are you a F2P? Have you been complaining to RNGesus about not having a mitigator? I hope this Squad Spotlight helps you with clearing Trial 004 and I wish you all luck and success in your attempts to clear Trial 004! Whether or not you are a F2P or P2P, there is always a way to win!

Check out my list of analyses in [http://bravefrontierglobal.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Linathan/Spotlights:_Table_of_Contents! Spotlights: Table of Contents!]