Ranking the seven playable characters to figure out who the best is, both as main character and partner character. Going to be reposting some old 7th Saga posts with edits/fixes, along with two entirely new posts on the game (this and a Lux Solo Game). While the game, and the characters, are all rough around the edges, I've always found this lineup really compelling for some reason. I've finished the game with all of them in my main duo at one time or another, so let's get to it.
Best Main Character
7. Lejes - A battlemage, this guy errs more towards "mage" and less towards battle (while Olvan is the reverse, and Kamil lands in the middle). Unfortunately, considering that he's supposed to have some casting power, they forgot to give him very much MP or Magic stat. So you've got a character with strong AOEs and damage spells, but not much MP to use them and not a lot of power behind them. Also, no heals, no buffs. This guy really needed more MP and Magic, and it would have made a lot more sense for the game balance if those stats were up near Esuna's.
6. Kamil - Another battlemage, this guy is the generic hero of the game and the default character choice. So you'd think he'd be the best, right? Yeah, not so much. He's average in all regards, with no real strengths. He does have weaknesses, like bad speed and bad magic defense, that can be crippling at times.
5. Valsu - Never gets anything above Ice 1, as far as attack magic goes. His magic power is so high that even Ice 1 is useful for the entire game, but he's still probably the lowest damage output character out of the seven. His physical attack power is basically nonexistent, even if you keep his weapons up to date. He does have heals and buffs, so his survivability is good, but your average fight will take too long and sap your resources. His main deficiencies are low HP and complete lack of AOE attack spells. In other words, this guy is tailor-made to be a partner, not so much a main.
4. Olvan - Basically a stronger version of Kamil, this guy gets fewer spells and more attack/defense. His weapon repertoire is better, as well, allowing him to dish out physical damage with the best of them. Easily the best of the three "battlemage" type characters. Also, choosing him as a main gets you some extra story, and there's at least one dungeon that only Olvan has access to. It's a fairly substantial dungeon, so Olvan is the best way to experience all of the game's content, in that regard.
3. Wilme - The monk of the game, this guy is strong and fast. His attack and speed stats have high growth potential, and by the midgame you'll find him dodging pretty much everything (unless you had terrible RNG with Speed level-ups). He doesn't have much of any versatility, though. But hey, who doesn't love playing as a monk? Enjoy never needing to buy weapons. His defend->attack combination reliably one-shots most foes, and he's tough enough to last a while in dungeons. Not sure why he gets some attack spells, as all of them are pretty weak, but it's a little variety I suppose. I'd like to rank this guy higher, but he can't team up with Valsu (as Valsu hates non-humans). That's a big strike against maining this guy, compared to say Lux. Also, his weakness to magic causes him to fall short of what would have been a potential contender to the top spot.
2. Esuna - Perhaps the most potent damage-dealer in the game, Esuna can unleash attack spells that make short work of foes. Right from the beginning of the game, she's one of the most powerful characters, and can generally defeat most of the early bosses a couple of levels sooner than the others due to her high damage output. Can't really take hits, though, so you end up relying on the Speed stat to get by.
1. Lux - Even tougher than Wilme in the defense/survivability department. The only character with a "3" tier attack spell in Laser 3, this guy can dish out some serious damage. He also has high stats in general, and is probably better-suited to winning battles than any other character. However, he lacks utility and isn't all that versatile. Stocking up on items is a must, because all of your healing and buffing is going to be from items, and his MP isn't the best. It's pretty hard to actually die while playing as this guy, though. And choosing him means not having to fight him...which is a pretty big perk.
Best Partner Character
7. Kamil - Everything this guy does, Olvan does better, which lands him at the bottom for partner apprentices.
6. Lejes - Comparable to Kamil, Lejes gets a decent amount of attack spells and debuffs that make him a bit more useful as a partner / supplement to other characters. Also Force Shield, which is important against casters.
5. Olvan - Highly versatile, and can supplement any other character well. He's especially good paired with casters, due to his strong physical stats.
4. Wilme - Just have him hack away at foes and don't think about it too much. Lots of damage output, not much else. Pairing him with another fighter is a bit of a mistake, and he's weak against magic, which causes him to lose ground here. However, as a partner character, he has better stat growth and equipment (at the time of obtaining him), so recruit him later in the game and he'll be a beast.
3. Lux - His damage output is superb, just make sure your main has some versatility to back him up. Can pair with more characters than Wilme can and has comparable strengths without the weakness.
2. Esuna - Has the most spell range of any character, with everything from healing to damage to buffs. Her only downside is being very frail, which makes her an ideal partner character while you have a tougher character up front hopefully absorbing most of the hits.
1. Valsu - Hands-down the best ally in the game, this guy runs the gauntlet of useful heals and buffs. Later in the game he gets the Elixir spell which basically makes your party unkillable. Pairs well with anybody, which makes him the best partner character by a mile and it isn't particularly close.
Best Overall
Giving everyone points based on their placement in the previous two rankings, here's where they land. In the event of a tie, I'll break the tie with a judgment:
7. Kamil: 2+1 (3 Points)
6. Lejes: 1+2 (3 Points) - Beats Kamil in the tie due to having considerably better Speed growth
5. Olvan: 4+3 (7 Points)
4. Wilme: 5+4 (9 Points)
3. Valsu: 3+7 (10 Points)
2. Esuna: 6+6 (12 Points)
1. Lux: 7+5 (12 Points) - Giving this guy the win due to his "tune-up" at Melenam late in the game. This is a significant stat boost that makes him even more of a beast. Factor in that a bug lets you do the tune-up repeatedly and max out his stats, and he's a no-contest best character for the endgame. Even without 'sploiting, I'd give him the duke. Also, again, choosing him means no chance of having to fight him, which is a huge plus. This brings me to...
Bonus: Ranking the potential apprentice fights from easiest to hardest
7. Lejes - Spends most of his time trying to debuff your defense, and has relatively weak attacks compared to the others. Probably the most "even" out of all these fights in terms of actually being a fair fight for your nerfed character. He's got heals, so the fight can drag on, but that's the only thing to worry about. Basically no threat if you continuously buff your defense with a rune, since he'll continually debuff, and you just have to wait for him to miss to strike back.
6. Wilme - Punches hard and has high Speed, which can be a problem if RNG isn't on your side and he lambastes your character right out of the gate. However he usually wastes most of his time casting his weak attack spells, and he can't heal. So while he's tough, once his HP is diminished, it's diminished.
5. Kamil - Spams AOEs, which is a problem if you're relying on the "revive your other character" bug to fight the apprentices two-on-one.
4. Olvan - Can buff his Defense, and does. Non-casters are going to have a tougher time with him. An all-around tough foe, and this fight can go all kinds of ways.
3. Valsu - Very high spell power, though his attack spells themselves are lower-tier than Esuna's. The main thing here is that he's got insane healing power, so this fight can go on for ages. It's like fighting a less-powerful Esuna who has near-immortality. The longer the fight goes, the more chances there are for luck to not be on your side. Has the low potential to actually force a restart.
2. Esuna - Dishes out pain, and annihilates low-MDef characters like Wilme. The key here is to buff your physical attack power and knock her out as quick as possible, due to her low HP. However, she also has super-high Speed, so good luck landing a hit on her if you've overleveled like, at all. Has a decent chance to force a restart.
1. Lux - Can't be the Patrof apprentice, which is a bit of a saving grace as you only have to worry about him being the Sky Rune apprentice. If you're unlucky enough to roll the 1/6th chance and get this guy, it might be time to hit the reset button and start the game over. The problem here is his Laser 3. It's vicious, and once he's got it, he can straight-up one-shot you. Add this to his beastly defense and attack stats in general and this guy is a tank. There's good news though: Since enemy apprentice stats scale to your character, get here at level 13 or lower and he won't be high enough level to use Laser 3. Get here over level 13 and you probably get to restart the game, congratulations. And it's pretty hard to not be over level 13 when you reach the Sky Rune, so yeah...this guy is a menace.
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