(This post is mosly for myself and to share with the few enthusiast friends I have, so feel free to skip it. TL;DR I created a tier list for the hardest challenge in Tactics Ogre: Reborn)
#tacticsogre #gaming
Tactics Ogre(1999) is my favorite game of all time. With it getting its Reborn edition earlier this month, I've put a LOT of time into it, getting nearly every Steam achievement and completing the game multiple times.
I've clocked in at 155 hours played so far(minus some sleeping with the game open by accident), and I would recommend anyone who likes strategy games, intricate political intrigue and just great world building in general to check it out.
My latest run is an attempt at getting all the "missable" titles in the game in a single save file. These are:
- Not having a single unit be incapacitated/die throughout the entire game, until you've beaten the last boss.
- Not using the Chariot Tarot system(basically a time manipulation mechanic that was implemented in the remake to facilitate the experience)
- No retreating from battles (Number of battles = number of victories).
Having some free time today, I set out to create a tier list of obtainable classes and how they fare in this run in particular(Note: I'm doing the Lawful route, as it provides the most White Knights for the task and Ranger is amazing).
S tier:
- Vartan Canopus has an enormous. flying movement range and can use a dagger + shield to effectively infiltrate enemy back lines and eliminate high damage threats. Using a dagger reduces the RT cost of his turn, allowing him to move around and collect buffs/escape/heal himself easier.
- White Knights are just better Knights. All my Knights use one handed swords/maces and shields for the extra defenses, and focus on preventing front liners from reaching the damage dealers while keeping their own health high. Accelerating the turn order just makes things all the more tasty when you're playing in a cluster of units.
- Ranger Vyce's main goal is to throw Dynast-king's mead at bosses and tanky enemies to inflict Breached. He's otherwise busy providing protection to the backline and fililng is as a mobile front liner.
A tier - The core of the squad. Knight Denam is force deployed, so he's there.
- Two clerics are always deployed. They're usually topping up the knights when needed or casting Boon of Swiftness. The reason they're required is the reduced item slots and gold costs making healing really useful, especially since your front lines will often be too busy to field two more people.
- Warlocks are just slightly better mages due to spellbook access (Biblion Anatomiae allows you to use a shield AND gives +3 spell range.). They're dealing the bulk of the damage with AOE spells(I used water/wind as my main elements). Poison Mist and Petriburst are insane utility to have, as is Paradigm Shift situationally.
B tier - Units that provide unique support that comes in handy most of the time.
Water Dragon grants buffs to the party and inflicts breached and water averse without spending items, while also being comparable to a knight in taking damage.
Terror Knight inflicts the most powerful status effect in the entire game, Frightened, which is great for dealing with large numbers of weaker enemies.
Swordmasters provide AoE buffs and healing. It's always good to have Hobyrim deployed when you eventually get him, imo. Just be careful with exposing him to too much damage. Don't bother with the debuff dances or actively attacking most of the time.
C - Situational is pretty self explanatory. Taming beasts is always a good source of income and you need to do the Deneb quest eventually anyway. Ninjas are great back line breakers and silencers, with Steelstance letting them survive on their own more than other similar classes and elemental jutsus providing anti-armor damage. Dragoons are always good in maps with beasts or dragons in them. Catiua is a slightly worse healer(no mother's blessing) with anti-undead/debuff utility for the run's purposes.
D tier is what you deploy if you want the bonuses from using those classes in certain levels.
The remaining tiers are classes that I haven't used for diverse reasons.
Note that theoretically I could have recruited a necromancer for myself but it didn't feel worth the hassle when they can't do anything special besides slightly outdamaging Warlocks for the purpose of the run(And Sheri/Olivya are non-generic Witches and therefore better anyway).
Bonus: A picture that's extremely funny if you know what's going on in it.
