These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
The Katanas aka Sayaclones in EXCEED: they require more than just one full combo string to go down and are capable of dishing out its own long, attack string. God bless if you happen to do battle with more than one of them at the same time. We're looking at you, MarkHunter.
The "surfer" sub-class mooks have ridiculous high amounts of speed (thus higher initiative to go first in combat) and if they want to, attack you before you can strike back.
The first game gives us Reiji, the party's strongest attacker, and carries the "Soul" *
In the Endless Frontier games, "Soul" deals twice the damage for the next attack, rather than 2.5 times
and "Swift" *
Perform the first action on the next turn, regardless of allied/enemy speed
Spirit Commands. He's preceded by Haken later in the game, who combines a more modest "Valor" Spirit Command *
In the Endless Frontier games, "Valor" deals 50% more damage for the next attack, instead
with his Special Skill "Rampage Specter". No Mooks can survive it, while end-game bosses will get a significant portion of their HP chipped away because of it.
In the sequel, Reiji gets the Special Skills "Arisu Ryuu Tenchi Shinmei" *
Refill 50-100 Spirit Points to the party
and "Arisu Ryuu Ura Kimon Kaihou" *
Gain the effects of "Swift" for the party
. Combined with newcomer Aledy Nassh's "Aspire" Spirit Command *
Refill the Frontier Gauge to 100%
, you can create a loop that gives infinite SP to the whole team. Also consider that Reiji has the "Friendship" Spirit Command *
Recover 30% HP to the party
, and add Haken's "Canfield" Special Skill *
Gain the effects of "Alert" (all enemy attacks will miss for one turn)
to the mix, only the latter parts of the Bonus Dungeon can pose a threat to the party.
Back in the first game, Haken has a 100% critical hit setup alongside "Jackpot", one of his attacks extremely easy to chain to avoid "Forced Evasion". The developers likely noticed this, so nerfed the critical setup and "Jackpot" for EXCEED. In return, he gained the Spirit Command "Co-Op" *
Personal support can be activated twice and Support Attack is granted an additional use
and the Special Skill "Canfield", all of which is learned relatively early. Later, Haken learns the attack "Quad Solitaire", which is bar none the strongest attack in the game, and still retains his absurdly high critical hit rate. Having Haken in the party gives you a powerful damage dealer, a decent Frontier Gauge filler and an almost sure fire way to make the majority of boss fights a total joke.
Don't forget that in the first game, using the 100% critical hit setup bypasses the need for casting "Valor" when using Rampage Specter - AND the setup ALSO boosts teammates' critical hits by 20% (15% in EXCEED).
Suzuka in EXCEED gets the attack "Jyaki-GUN Ghost Dance", which seems mediocre on its own. However, with a Support Attack that holds the enemy in place (Xiaomu and T-ELOS, for example), they'll instead be hit repeatedly, chaining for an exceptionally long attack string. Combine this with "Co-Op" to allow T-ELOS to Support Attack twice and Suzuka's "Passion" Spirit Command *
Double the rate the Frontier Gauge gains
, you can repeat this three times per turn, dealing high damage and filling the Frontier Gauge to 100% in one go.
KOS-MOS counts, to a lesser degree, in the first game: not only is she a very capable fighter and among the sturdiest of the party, she comes with the "Bond" Spirit Command *
Recover 30% HP to the party
, more economic than Reiji's "Friendship" ("Bond" costs 40 Spirit Bonds; "Friendship" for 30), and the "Attune" Spirit Command *
Allied character's will not achieve guard or miss when attacking for one turn
, further maximizing the party's damage. Also take note that when KOS-MOS joins the party, she starts with the "Fury" Spirit Command *
Auto-break enemy guard on the first attack
, to which Kaguya learns it later at a higher cost (25 Spirit Points to KOS-MOS' 15). Combined with her moveset, KOS-MOS can tear through mooks and most bosses. The only problem is learning how to juggle her combos effectively, which is relatively easy to overcome; unfortunately, the other setback is she's the slowest character in the party.
Xiaomu is the only character without a multi-target Overdrive, but is compensated by being the only character who can hit any enemy (including bosses) with Standard Status Effects, provided it doesn't prevent them from taking turns ("Paralysis" and "Stun", for example). Flunky Bosses like Saya's minions and the Jotun siblings are otherwise normally immune to status ailments. Also, she has the "Uranai" *
Cast a random Spirit Command for a party member
and the "Daunt" Spirit Commands *
Lower enemy E. Gauge by 50%
.
Item usage in general for both games: proper use of items supported by COM-restoration items can significantly reduce game difficulty, mainly thanks to the fact that you can use as many items as the COM bar allows you to.
Hell Is That Noise: Aledy's Aspire Spirit Command is supposed to be a Kiai. The sound is basically him vomitting.
Remove a negative status effect on an allied party member
). Should Kyon attack one party member instead of three, there's a chance it's going to be a long combo string that includes her Overdrive.
In EXCEED, Mark FUCKING Hunter: a Flunky Boss with three Katanas, exceptionally devastating and LONG attack string and a heavyweight, despite appearances. Chances are if he targets one party member for a combo, expect that character to be knocked out.
