User blog:Crimson Storm Mich/Summoner Arc: Weapon/Summon Arts

Available after clearing The Holy Emperor in Menon, the next major quest starts with some brand new features.

Getting Started
You can access Summoner Mode by tapping the Home button once Menon has been cleared. To transfer back to Grand Gaia and Ishgria, just simply tap the Home button again.

Once you access Summoner Mode for the first time, you'll be prompted to create your Summoner Avatar. Players will be able to customize the following about their Summoner:
 * Gender
 * Hairstyle
 * Element

Hair Color is dependent on element and will change along with the current element.

Changing Hairstyles and elements are free but changing gender will cost 1 gem per change.

Interface
Once you get started, the icons on the lower left will mostly remain the same. The only exception is the Summon tab which gets replaced by the Summoner tab. This tab is locked at first but is unlocked after beating the first quest of Bectas.

Summoner Tab
The Summoner Tab has 6 menus namely:
 * Status
 * Fusion
 * Equipment
 * Upgrades
 * EX Skills
 * LS Spheres

Upgrades
Similar to the SP system of Omni Evolution Units, the Upgrade tab allows you to allocate SP to your Summoner to boost their passive abilities. To gain SP for the Summoner, you can either farm them from Quests in Summoner Mode (previous maps don't give SP) or fuse certain fusion units to them.

SP Skills
You can allocate earned SP to raise the Summoner's HP, Atk, Def, Rec, Spark damage, BB Atk and/or BC, HC drop rate.

Stats and Spark= Upgrade HP, Atk, Def, Rec and Spark damage BB Atk= BC/HC drop rate=

EX Skills
The Summoner can have up to 2 Extra Skills active at any time. Extra Skills are gained by unlocking them through the Summoner's weapons. Unlike units, Emgifs are not required to change Extra Skills. Extra Skills are as follows:

LS Spheres
Exclusive to the Summoner, LS spheres are how the Summoner gets a Leader Skill since the Leader Skill slot is empty by default. These can be crafted in the building in Town which is unlocked after clearing ??? in Bectas.

Summoner Arts
Due to the story, you start off in Bectas with no units available. Once you advance the story enough, you'll be able to use 1 unit slot while the other 3 remain locked. However, there are now restrictions and penalties on what units you can bring along.

Element XP is only gained through questing. If you take a unit that matches the element of the Summoner, extra element XP is obtained.

The following restrictions are lifted once you reach higher Elemental levels. Note that these are not universal and you will need to level each element separately. For reference, at level 1, all 5★ and above units have base stats and 100% BC efficacy reduction

To summarize, at Lv 20 the following unit rarities have the following restrictions left:
 * 4-star units -> 100% Stats unlocked // 0% BC efficacy penalty // Up to BB Lv 10
 * 5-star units -> 80% Stats unlocked // 70% BC efficacy // Up to BB Lv 7
 * 6-star units -> 55% Stats unlocked // 60% BC efficacy // Up to BB Lv 4
 * 7-star units -> 45% Stats unlocked // 30% BC efficacy // Up to BB Lv 3
 * Omni units -> 35% Stats unlocked // 25% BC efficacy // Up to BB Lv 1

Weapons
Weapons are equipped to your summoner instead of spheres. There are currently 3 (4 in the japanese version) weapons available but at the start, only 2 are selectable, which are the Sword and Spear. The Axe is obtained by clearing the EX dungeon.

Weapon XP and Weapon Skills
Just like Summoner XP, element XP and SP, Weapon XP is gained through questing. Alternatively, you can fuse Metal units to get more weapon XP. Below is a table for fusions.

As you level each weapon, they'll grow more powerful and certain levels will give you Weapon and Extra Skills to use.