Should You Pull (Sept 1, 2017)

Original Post / Discussion: [https://nj.reddit.com/r/FFBraveExvius/comments/6x654x/defianthermits_should_you_pull_final_fantasy_iii/ DefiantHermit's Should You Pull? Final Fantasy III Banner 2 - Sep 1st]

Hello everyone, /u/DefiantHermit here once again, this time with the second part of the FF3 cast, mixed with Ser Davos and Arya from GoT! jk, if that wasn't clear

There's been nothing really interesting going on, so I'll just leave the same old disclaimer here: the ratings are my own personal, biased opinions and should not be taken as gospel. Please do your research and comparison too!

So without further ado, here's my analysis for the Final Fantasy 3 Banner #2! now with shiny unit faces!

Onion Knight
Another bomb released back to back, Onion Knight is here! With a whopping, all time high, base 158 ATK (+34 with pots) and an amazing +80% ATK from passives, OK reaches a stupidly high 345 ATK.

Equipment selection completely backs that up, as he's able to wield a crapload of weapons: Daggers, Swords, Greatswords, Katanas, Rods, Staves, Bows, Axes, Hammers, Spears, Instruments, Throwing Weapons and Knuckles and wear All types of Armour except Robes. Due to his innate Sword Mastery (+50% ATK when equipped with Sword) and TMR, you'll definitely be wielding a sword in one hand, while the excellent innate Dual Wield (Wield Two Weapons), elemental-imbued chaining moves and weapon selection allows you to freely pick your second weapon.

Supporting skillset consists of Mountain (+100% Blind/Paralyze/Petrify Resist), providing some excellent ailment immunities, Auto-Refresh (Recover 5% MP per Turn) for some MP sustain and Undead Killer (50% Physical Damage vs Undead) as his only killer. There's also Light Guidance (+30% Fire/Water/Wind/Earth Resist), which provides innate elemental resistance and goes along extremely well with his chaining moves.

His damaging kit is extremely varied, but comprised of only chaining skills. He has access to 4 Splendors: Splendor of the Wind/Water/Fire/Earth (380% ST 12 Hit Wind/Water/Fire/Earth Physical Attack & AoE 3 Turn +70% Earth/Fire/Water/Wind Resist), all of them sharing an excellent 7-frames between hits and giving crazy elemental resistance to the opposite element, granting elemental immunity for OK and a great buff for your team. Even though the frame data is nice, the hit-count is unique, thus Onion Knight can only properly chain with a copy. The lack of any sort of innate imperil means bringing someone with it is crucial for proper damage dealing.

If those elements don't suit you, you can always rely on Onion Slice (400% ST 12 Hit Physical Attack) for chaining, with the exact same frame data, a slightly higher modifier, but no imbued element. If you need AoE, but can afford a lower modifier, Full Speed Bladeblitz (yes, really) (220% AoE 12 Hit Physical Attack) provides the same frame data and hitcount.

Finally, there's LB support in the form of Protection of the Crystal (LB Fill Rate +100%) and Auto-Limit (Gain 1 LB crystal per Turn). The LB itself is Twin Swords (680% -> 800% AoE 16 Hit Physical Attack & AoE 3 Turn +50% -> +105% ATK & AoE 3 Turn -50% -> 74% DEF Debuff), offering excellent chain potential, a fantastic ATK buff and a top tier DEF break. It costs 24 crystals and the frame data is really wonky, so you can only chain with another OK, which you'll be bringing anyways.

As a final note, his TMR is rather special, as it unlocks a chaining skill for Onion Knight only: Onion Cutter (520% ST 16 Hit Physical Attack). It's a strict upgrade to Onion Slice (same frame data too!), having a higher hit count (so slightly higher chain modifier) and significantly higher modifiers.

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Onion Sword - +135 ATK, Grants Bladeblitz & Onion Cutter (Onion Knight Only) - Sword - S Rank

The strongest elementless Sword in the game by a large margin, still standing to this point in JPN. Not only that, but granting OK a fantastic chaining ability, making this a must farm, if you get him.

Why would you want Onion Knight?: Because he's a top tier chainer, capable of generating long, high damaging chains.

His elemental chains provide not only 4 different elements for various situations, but an amazing party elemental buff for the opposite element. They allow OK to not sacrifice ATK for an elemental weapon and brings flexibility on the OK companions you can bring.

His elementless chain, generated through his TMR, has very high modifiers and hit count, but lacks an element, so you might have to sacrifice some ATK to gear him properly. His LB is also chainable and provides not only a great self ATK buff, but one of the best DEF breaks in the game.

It isn't all rainbows for the little vegetable knight, as his only chaining partner is another OK (even though he's not limited and you'll be seeing quite a few of them on your friendlist) and he lacks any sort of innate Imperil, so you need to bring an outside source if you want his true damage to be dealt.

What about the future? No enhancements for Onion Knight yet, but we can hope they'll be some sick upgrades!

Aria
Luka, brace yourself, because another water priestess has come to challenge your position! With an excellent base 149 SPR (+26 with pots) and a great +30% SPR passive, Aria reaches a total of 227 SPR.

Equipment selection is the expected for a healer, being able to wield Staves, Instruments and Maces and wear Robes, Clothes and Hats. Nothing special here, but nothing too bad either.

Her spell kit is comprised of Curaga (AoE ~1000 HP Heal w/ 3.4x Mod) as her main healing spell and the duo Protectga (AoE 3 Turn +40% DEF) and Shellga (AoE 3 Turn +40% DEF) as her only buffs. Unfortunately there's no innate Dual Cast, so you need to give her a source of it so she can really do her job properly.

Ability/Supporting kit is comprised of Deep Affection Healing (AoE Cure All Ailments) as a great ailment cleanser, Maiden of Water (+50% Water Resist & Cast ST ~1800 HP Heal w/ 1x Mod per Turn) as an excellent passive Curada on self and Noble Dedication (AoE ~10 MP Heal w/ 0.3x Mod split over 3 Turns) as a decent MP battery of ~20 MP per turn at 300 SPR.

One of her differentials is Miracle of Rebirth (AoE Revive with 100% HP), offering fantastic AoE 100% Raise and an LB kit of Crystal Fragments (LB Fill Rate +100%) so you can more reliably use her Area Prayer (AoE 100% HP Recovery & AoE 5 Turn +75% -> 100% Water Resist). With enough party/LB support, Aria can work very similar to Tilith, but her LB costs 20 crystals, so you definitely need proper support to use it every turn.

The new GL exclusive materia provides a neat HoT ability, Water Maiden Blessings (AoE ~3000 HP Heal w/ 8x Mod over 3 Turns), which heals ~1400 HP per turn at 300 SPR. It's a good supplementary heal to Curaga, but being an ability means no DC and this has to be recast every 3 turns, which Aria might not have the free turn to do so. If this were a spell, a DC materia would be optional and Aria would be a fantastic healer, but alas, you still need it for her to really shine.

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Aria's Ribbon - +15 DEF, +45 SPR, +15% MP, +20% Water Resistance - Hat - A Rank

That's… a lot of things on a hat. Excellent SPR bonus, great MP boost and some water resistance to boot makes this a great defensive equipment!

Why would you want Aria?: Aside from her great defensive TMR, as a unit, because you don't have Tilith and are not happy with a DC Refia/Y'shtola. Aria's healing kit is pretty sturdy, but really needs either a DC materia or some serious LB support to function properly.

If you can provide either one of them, she has access to DC Curaga, AoE All Ailment cleansing, AoE Revive and even a Mana Battery. Her LB build is tempting due to the 100% Heal, but it costs 20 crystals and with Rikku on Malboro we've seen how hard it is to keep a 16 crystal LB up every turn, even with crazy LB support.

What about the future? No enhancements for Aria, so definitely be on the lookout for them!

Desch
The second in this banner is Desch, coming with some sick earrings and a horrid base 131 ATK (+30 with pots), with literally nothing to back that up.

His equipment selection is pretty good, though, as he's able to wield Daggers, Swords, Katanas, Bows, Spears and Throwing Weapons and wear Clothes, Light Armour, Hats, Helms and Small Shields. Throwing Weapons and innate elemental imbuer/Imperil opens up a FD/TDH build.

Relevant supporting skills include Man on a Mission (+100% Paralyze/Petrify Resist), providing some neat ailment immunities and Auto-Refresh (Recover 5% MP per Turn) for some MP sustain. Due to stupid lore reasons, Desch is stuck with Chivalry (5% Chance to Defend a Female Ally) so he can die when you least want him to.

His more serious kit is comprised of excellent breaks: Anti-MAG/SPR Spark (AoE 3 Turn -45% MAG/SPR Debuff) and all other variations of Offensive/Defensive Stats (MAG/DEF, ATK/DEF, ATK/SPR). Even though it's not better than WoL/Tim/9S, it provides you with a neat choice of what to break in case some bosses resist or retaliate to specific ones.

There's a further Ancient Wisdom (20% Chance Counter w/ ST 3 Turn -50% DEF), providing a better offensive buff if it triggers. Desch also has access to Annihilate (200% ST 2 Hit Physical Attack & ST Stat Buff Removal) as a dispel on a stick, which is okay.

His on-demand damaging kit is comprised of Thunder Guide (300% ST 3 Hit Physical Attack & ST 3 Turn -50% Lightning Resist) with a weird hitcount, but with a neat Lightning Imperil.

Since there are no currently good Lightning weapons (and for FD builds), you can take a gamble and use Lucky Strike (Randomly Use: (75%) 3 Turn Add Lightning to Attacks | (25%) ST 50% Target HP Damage) to make use of his Imperil.

Finally, there's Entrust (Give LB Gauge To Target), even though his LB is his best damaging skill: Primeval Lightning (290% -> 410% ST 3 Hit Thunder Physical Attack + Ignore 50% -> 60% DEF & 100% Paralyze - normalized to 580% -> 1025%). It has a seriously high modifier for FD/TDH, but unfortunate split hits and a hefty 24 crystal cost with no innate support.

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Desch's Earrings - +45 ATK - Accessory - A Rank

One of the best offensive accessories in the game, Desch's Earringss provide the equivalent of ~25% ATK for most damage dealers without counting towards the 300% cap. It also has great synergy with DH and TDH builds.

Why would you want Desch?: For his TMR. As a unit, Desch is a very good breaker, but doesn't really have much to compete with WoL and the other 2 top tier breakers we've just gotten.

As a damage dealer, Desch is such a stretch, even on very TMR heavy LB spam FD/TDH builds. You just must have a lot of better options.

What about the future? No enhancements for Desch, but his TMR is still BiS for a crap ton of characters, so yay?

Sara
Uh.. wow. Uh… Yeah, I'll just leave the boobie jokes to /u/TomAto314 because this is basically free content for him. Just.. holy crap. Ahem, as the unfortunate max unit on the banner, Sara has unimpressive almost everything, so this will be veery short.

Equipment selection is decent for a mage/healer, with access to Daggers, Rods, Staves and Maces for weapons and Robes, Clothes and Hats for armour.

Spell kit is comprised of Cura (AoE ~400 HP Heal w/ 3x Mod) as her strongest healing spell, Aeroga (180% AoE 1 Hit Wind Magic Attack) as her strongest damaging spell and Baraerora (AoE 3 Turn +50% Wind Resist) as a decent Wind Resist Buff.

As for abilities, there's the outdated Cheer (AoE 3 Turn +40% ATK/DEF), Princess' Healing (ST Cure All Ailments) as a neat ST all ailment cleanser and a decent LB in Sasune's Protection (AoE 3 Turn +50% -> +69% MAG & AoE 5 Turn +70% -> +89% Wind Resist), providing a hefty MAG boost and awesome Wind Resist at max level.

Finally, there's a neat little ability that's been abused as all hell by O'ZACK: Retreat Command (AoE Evade Attacks (Max: 1) for 2 Turns). AoE Evasion is surprisingly strong and this was recently nerfed in JPN due to all the abuse.

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Sara's Robe - +15 DEF, +20 MAG, +55 SPR, +30% Wind Resist - Robes - A

Once again, a lot of things on a piece of equipment, this time the prize here being the excellent SPR boost for your healers/support units, as this is tied for the highest SPR bonus on a Robe. The wind resistance is just a bonus.

Why would you want Sara?: For her TMR and maybe Evasion cheese, if this doesn't get immediately nerfed in GL.

What about the future? No enhancements and no for Sara, so maybe on the next FF3 event?

Should You Pull?
Even though you've probably realized by now that this is an OK banner, we're sticking to the good ol' depends here. All TMRs are decent this time around, but the units generally offer very little to the power level of most teams.

The is a niche cheese unit that might just get the nerfhammer it got in JPN. And aside from her TMR, shouldn't be bothered with.

The s (yay for double golds again >_>) both share great TMRs, with Desch having one of the best offensive accessories in the game for non-knuckle users and Aria having a great defensive Hat. As units, Aria is a proficient healer if you give her DC or some heavy LB support so she's a fine pick for people without a dedicated healer or that just want to replace Refia/Y'shtola for something new. Desch is a good breaker, but odds are you have WoL/9S/Tim already and don't need him. He might be neat as an FD LB Finisher, but don't hold your breath.

For whales, the is a fantastic chainer, albeit with some limitations, and stays as a top tier damage dealer up to this day in JPN. With the recent announcement that Sephiroth chains with Onion Knight, his popularity and usability shall remain high for quite a while. If you already have a chainer, OK doesn't really shake anything up, so proceed with caution. If you're not a whale and pulled OK, okay!