Rune is S tier. Equip 2 silver shields, no wands or canes. Strictly techs and skills, he's a powerhouse. Also give Raja 2 silver shields. Mages don't need weapons.
You can argue Hahn for that exact same reason. Plus, unlike Rune, Hahn has a greater pool of techniques that heal and buff characters. Plus, he's a good backup to have in your party in case your formation macro attacks falter as a result of the enemy interrupting your formation attack.
@@danleach8266 I disagree about hahn if the same reason applies. I've already tested it and it doesn't even come close to the same performance as the rune and the raja with both shields
I just had to stop the video now. Raja is absolutely the best character in the game, in combat and out combat. Raja has an excellent cure, an excellent buff, can revive, can heal androids, can recover TP and also has St. Fire that has great damage against evil forces. It was already bad enough he put Kyra above Chaz and Alys so I am questioning if I played the same game as his now. Raja is so good he feels like an essential member and I bet almost everyone took him to go against the Profound Darkness the first time because of his huge capabilities, and with reason! As for Kyra, her healing is mid, her physical damage sucks(even with Shift), her magic also sucks and she at least has a defensive party buff but it just stops there. Nothing more. She has no NaFoi or NaWat too. I see no reason why she got so above others.
I think Rika should be in S tier as she hits pretty hard physically and has some very strong healing and defensive magic as well as weapons that have a chance at causing instant death.
The trick with Rika is that she gets her best weapon, the silver tusk, very early in the game and since its stats aren't fantastic, it's tempting to replace it with stronger weapons as you trudge your way through the techno-facilities on Dezoris and get enough meseta to purchase laconian claws. But elemental weaknesses can make a pretty major difference in PS4 and with the brief exceptions of the Soldier's Temple cave and Vahal Fort everything starting from the Air Castle on out is weak to the silver tusk's light element. Despite the fact that her attack doesn't seem great on paper, it's greatly bolstered by the fact that 90% of everything you face from Dark Force 1 on has an elemental weakness she can take advantage of, either through the silver tusk or the thunder claw you can buy in Zosa. This elemental buff allows her to keep with up Chaz in terms of damage all the way to the end, where a Shift-empowered Rika with a Silver Tusk and a Guard Claw is second only to Elsydeon-toting Chaz in terms of raw damage output. (helped by the fact that Crosscut and Double Slash can crit and have their damage boosted by Shift, which isn't true for Rune's über-skills) But her damage gets more limited if she doesn't take advantage of weapons that hit enemies' elemental weaknesses and is stuck with the weapons that simply have the highest attack-stat.
Rika has low hp and defense and dies to strong magic attacks from bosses. Her healing isn't that great either. She has some nice buffs and her attacks are strong. She is probably fine in A tier but I can also see B+ tier.
@@rdrouynriv Generally, I think Rika's better than Chaz though cause she can learn Sar spells and her damage output arguably rivals that of Chaz. Sure, Rika doesn't learn Megid but most of her techs are defensive, anyway.
@@termitesc.aardwolf3644 I think Rika and Chaz are pretty on-par. Chaz is more tanky and has better damage spells. Rika has more agility and has better healing spells and buffs.
I think Alys is very well designed because by the time she leaves the party she's at best as strong as everyone else and her absence is not missed in gameplay (only in plot, of course, I cry everytime)
I feel like the popular misconception is that gryz is a tank. He's your brute, have him do war cry to raise his strength, and then he completely destroys. S: rune, raja A; Rika, wren, Chaz B: Kyra. Gryz C: Demi. Alys, Hahn D: Seth
You know I have to say, I fully agree with your list here. I've played through the game 20+ times throughout my life, and yeah pretty much what you have written down is true. Maybe Hahn could go lower, and there is an overpowered trick you can use if you have demi in your party end-game (infinite repiar kit combo)...but otherwise perfect list.
One of the good things about most of the characters is the combination of you is the and how they can do combination attacks that are pretty powerful trying to make something as individuals wherever they're lacking over a certain area
S rank: Rune and Whren/ A rank: Chaz, Rika and Raja/ B rank: Alys, Demi, Hahn and Kyra/ C rank: Gryz/ D rank: Seth. And Rune and Raja with a build os 2 shields, mainly the rune, can tank as like Whren
How dare you not put Rune in S tier?! Lol, nah this is an OK ranking. I'd bump Rune up to S since he combos with so many people so easily and is extremely powerful and awesome and one of my favorite characters ever. I'd bump Chaz (main character, character growth, pretty strong and always useful) and Kyra (very strong magic like Rune, plus she uses slicers so that's an automatic +1 to rank) up to A. Hahn goes down to C due to his relative blandness and the fact that you only ever really have him in the beginning, though I know a lot of folks like him a lot. Raja goes down to B, he has nice healing but like you said, he's easily replaceable by items, and other characters do have heals enough I think. Alys? Oh Alys.. Probably A tier because of her story parts and she uses slicers as well. So yeah, for me it's probably - S - Rune, Wren. A - Kyra, Chaz, Rika, Alys. B - Raja, Demi. C - Hahn, Gryz. D - Seth.
I always, always thought Rune was the best (Story, Character and actual usability) but the last time I played, some reason he just started not being as awesome (magic and usability wise, story wise, still awesome)... Also, you made your own list and that's just phenomenal, love the in depth analysis.
I am currently playing solo side characters through this game. Just beat DF 2 with Kyra and everyone else is at their starting lvls. The Raja solo fight against DF 1 surprisingly was easy, very tedious but easy. Even the side characters are equipped to carry themselves for a bit. It’s fun to take on these crazy challenges alone.
I was watching the video and paused it to mention... ATARAXIA is the best skill in the game! Raja is S+ he's the best character in the game hands down. Best healilng, best utility, good damage (St Fire)
I think you are giving Gryz a little less credit than he deserves, just since Crash is one of the best instant kill moves in the game, since it can work on robots and biological enemies alike. Though, I guess I can't really argue about his placement given his limitations. Brose and like 3 skills, one of which you only get in the endgame, doesn't give him a lot of versatility.
I haven't watched more than the first 30 seconds so far, but if I were to rank the PS4 roster according to those same parameters, it would have to be: S Rank: Rune A Rank: Chaz; Rika; Hahn B Rank: Demi; Raja; Wren C Rank: Alys; Gryz; Kyra D Rank: Seth Rune is an absolute magical powerhouse, and you can equip him with two Shields to make him nearly unkillable, without limiting his access to offensive powers. Easy S. Chaz, Rika, and Hahn are all solid A-tier: Chaz is versatile and strong across both physical and tech attacks; Rika has amazing buffs, she can Heal, deal damage in both single-target and AoE; Hahn is everything Rune has, but just not quite as good or as interesting overall. Demi, Raja, and Wren are 3 of my absolute favorite characters, but I don't find any of them to be as powerful or as versatile as the characters above them. Raja is incredibly powerful as a White Mage, but I personally find that Rika can handle all of the healing / buffing duties on her own, while also bringing a ton of damage to the table. Alys and Kyra are both great conceptually, but Slicers hold them back. They deal decent enough Cleave damage, but it's often easier just spend a little Magic and have Rune destroy everything in one turn. I'm a huge fan of Gryz, but I find him to just be really one-dimensional. He only really brings physical damage, whereas Chaz can also cast spells. And his big impressive techniques never actually work, lol. Seth is cool, but he's just not around long enough to hold a candle to anyone else in my opinion.
How could you? Pana would be so disappointed! I mean come on... Gryz is an angry blue chick-person with a two-handed axe and the cutest sibling in the solar system. I recommend him for first timers because he deals and soaks damage so efficiently, reducing both complexity and strain on healing TP. And don't sleep on Brose, either. It seems lackluster at first because you get it early and it so often misses on the bio-monsters you're facing at the time. That's because Brose is one of Josh Kain's abilities... you're meant to use it on robots later in the game!
Gryz serves his purpose for end of early game. War Cry attack spam. That's it. nothing special, but he has good stats for his job. Hahn is actually good. Hes indispensable Early game. He is a tech combo machine, he heals, he dpses, he can use double shield. Raja trivializes the game, unless you grind spam then yeah he's useless. He's the best healer in the game, and double shield and you have a staple in any optimized party. Rika's high speed makes her an excellent clutch healer. Rune is just DPS. He's prob best DPS later on with AoE spam, and can double shield. However Rika can DPS and utility, Rune makes up for it with AoE Wren is the best tank, hits hard, independent. I'd put Seth next to Gryz. he's not terrible. Gryz being bottom B is also acceptable.
Rune is S tier. Equip 2 silver shields, no wands or canes. Strictly techs and skills, he's a powerhouse. Also give Raja 2 silver shields. Mages don't need weapons.
This right here. Runes defense is insane and he’s got plenty of magic
You can argue Hahn for that exact same reason. Plus, unlike Rune, Hahn has a greater pool of techniques that heal and buff characters. Plus, he's a good backup to have in your party in case your formation macro attacks falter as a result of the enemy interrupting your formation attack.
@@danleach8266 I disagree about hahn if the same reason applies. I've already tested it and it doesn't even come close to the same performance as the rune and the raja with both shields
Disagree on Raja. If he isn't healing, he should be throwing St. Fire or recovering everyone's tp. S-tier.
That TP recovering move is ace.
I just had to stop the video now. Raja is absolutely the best character in the game, in combat and out combat. Raja has an excellent cure, an excellent buff, can revive, can heal androids, can recover TP and also has St. Fire that has great damage against evil forces. It was already bad enough he put Kyra above Chaz and Alys so I am questioning if I played the same game as his now. Raja is so good he feels like an essential member and I bet almost everyone took him to go against the Profound Darkness the first time because of his huge capabilities, and with reason!
As for Kyra, her healing is mid, her physical damage sucks(even with Shift), her magic also sucks and she at least has a defensive party buff but it just stops there. Nothing more. She has no NaFoi or NaWat too. I see no reason why she got so above others.
@@dukkemonterier3429 Kyra does have nafoi. Can't remember if she has nawat but she definitely has nafoi.
@@wgh14775 I really don't recall she having any "Na" move.
@@dukkemonterier3429 Maybe you didn't level her high enough? Okay I just looked it up. She gets nafoi at level 33, no nawat.
I think Rika should be in S tier as she hits pretty hard physically and has some very strong healing and defensive magic as well as weapons that have a chance at causing instant death.
She also has a interesting story to back that up too.
The trick with Rika is that she gets her best weapon, the silver tusk, very early in the game and since its stats aren't fantastic, it's tempting to replace it with stronger weapons as you trudge your way through the techno-facilities on Dezoris and get enough meseta to purchase laconian claws. But elemental weaknesses can make a pretty major difference in PS4 and with the brief exceptions of the Soldier's Temple cave and Vahal Fort everything starting from the Air Castle on out is weak to the silver tusk's light element. Despite the fact that her attack doesn't seem great on paper, it's greatly bolstered by the fact that 90% of everything you face from Dark Force 1 on has an elemental weakness she can take advantage of, either through the silver tusk or the thunder claw you can buy in Zosa.
This elemental buff allows her to keep with up Chaz in terms of damage all the way to the end, where a Shift-empowered Rika with a Silver Tusk and a Guard Claw is second only to Elsydeon-toting Chaz in terms of raw damage output. (helped by the fact that Crosscut and Double Slash can crit and have their damage boosted by Shift, which isn't true for Rune's über-skills) But her damage gets more limited if she doesn't take advantage of weapons that hit enemies' elemental weaknesses and is stuck with the weapons that simply have the highest attack-stat.
Rika has low hp and defense and dies to strong magic attacks from bosses. Her healing isn't that great either. She has some nice buffs and her attacks are strong. She is probably fine in A tier but I can also see B+ tier.
@@rdrouynriv Generally, I think Rika's better than Chaz though cause she can learn Sar spells and her damage output arguably rivals that of Chaz. Sure, Rika doesn't learn Megid but most of her techs are defensive, anyway.
@@termitesc.aardwolf3644 I think Rika and Chaz are pretty on-par. Chaz is more tanky and has better damage spells. Rika has more agility and has better healing spells and buffs.
I think Alys is very well designed because by the time she leaves the party she's at best as strong as everyone else and her absence is not missed in gameplay (only in plot, of course, I cry everytime)
I feel like the popular misconception is that gryz is a tank. He's your brute, have him do war cry to raise his strength, and then he completely destroys.
S: rune, raja
A; Rika, wren, Chaz
B: Kyra. Gryz
C: Demi. Alys, Hahn
D: Seth
Wren, Raja and Rune are S Tiers for me. Chaz and Kyra are A Tier for me.
Lol Chaz is the best DPS character from level 10 onward.
B rank 😂
Chaz will always be a baby faced child to me and no amount of competence will change that :)
You know I have to say, I fully agree with your list here. I've played through the game 20+ times throughout my life, and yeah pretty much what you have written down is true.
Maybe Hahn could go lower, and there is an overpowered trick you can use if you have demi in your party end-game (infinite repiar kit combo)...but otherwise perfect list.
I think I have a soft spot in my heart for Hahn given how often I've played the start of the game compared to the end of it.
One of the good things about most of the characters is the combination of you is the and how they can do combination attacks that are pretty powerful trying to make something as individuals wherever they're lacking over a certain area
My ranking
S-Tier: Rika, Wren, Raja
A-Tier: Rune, Chaz, Kyra
B-Tier: Demi, Grys
C-Tier: Alys, Hahn
Speaking stricly from a battle perspective, my list..
S - Raja, Rune
A - Wren, Chaz, Rika
B - Demi, Hahn, Kyra
C - Gryz
D - Seth
S rank: Rune and Whren/ A rank: Chaz, Rika and Raja/ B rank: Alys, Demi, Hahn and Kyra/ C rank: Gryz/ D rank: Seth. And Rune and Raja with a build os 2 shields, mainly the rune, can tank as like Whren
How dare you not put Rune in S tier?!
Lol, nah this is an OK ranking. I'd bump Rune up to S since he combos with so many people so easily and is extremely powerful and awesome and one of my favorite characters ever. I'd bump Chaz (main character, character growth, pretty strong and always useful) and Kyra (very strong magic like Rune, plus she uses slicers so that's an automatic +1 to rank) up to A. Hahn goes down to C due to his relative blandness and the fact that you only ever really have him in the beginning, though I know a lot of folks like him a lot. Raja goes down to B, he has nice healing but like you said, he's easily replaceable by items, and other characters do have heals enough I think. Alys? Oh Alys.. Probably A tier because of her story parts and she uses slicers as well. So yeah, for me it's probably -
S - Rune, Wren.
A - Kyra, Chaz, Rika, Alys.
B - Raja, Demi.
C - Hahn, Gryz.
D - Seth.
I always, always thought Rune was the best (Story, Character and actual usability) but the last time I played, some reason he just started not being as awesome (magic and usability wise, story wise, still awesome)...
Also, you made your own list and that's just phenomenal, love the in depth analysis.
@@wallsofjerich0 Been a good while since I've played though it, myself. Maybe I'd end up feeling the same way by the end of it haha.
Endgame List:
S: Rune, Rika
A: Chaz, Wren, Raja
B: Alys, Demi, Hahn
C: Grys, Kyra
D: Seth/Darkforce, Sandworm (self-made battle fight)
I am currently playing solo side characters through this game. Just beat DF 2 with Kyra and everyone else is at their starting lvls. The Raja solo fight against DF 1 surprisingly was easy, very tedious but easy. Even the side characters are equipped to carry themselves for a bit. It’s fun to take on these crazy challenges alone.
That's pretty nuts, have you tried the Randomizer? I've heard good things about it.
I was watching the video and paused it to mention... ATARAXIA is the best skill in the game! Raja is S+ he's the best character in the game hands down. Best healilng, best utility, good damage (St Fire)
not only does Wren stick with you for most of Phantasy Star 4.. he sticks with you for all of Phantasy Star 3 too!
"Nobody takes Hahn end game"
:( *disappears... or maybe never existed in the first place*
I think you are giving Gryz a little less credit than he deserves, just since Crash is one of the best instant kill moves in the game, since it can work on robots and biological enemies alike. Though, I guess I can't really argue about his placement given his limitations. Brose and like 3 skills, one of which you only get in the endgame, doesn't give him a lot of versatility.
Scratches my nostalgia itch. Thanks
Nobody takes Hahn? I thought he was the go to choice if you didn't want easy mode Raja lol
I had Gryz in my final party when I beat the game.
I haven't watched more than the first 30 seconds so far, but if I were to rank the PS4 roster according to those same parameters, it would have to be:
S Rank: Rune
A Rank: Chaz; Rika; Hahn
B Rank: Demi; Raja; Wren
C Rank: Alys; Gryz; Kyra
D Rank: Seth
Rune is an absolute magical powerhouse, and you can equip him with two Shields to make him nearly unkillable, without limiting his access to offensive powers. Easy S.
Chaz, Rika, and Hahn are all solid A-tier: Chaz is versatile and strong across both physical and tech attacks; Rika has amazing buffs, she can Heal, deal damage in both single-target and AoE; Hahn is everything Rune has, but just not quite as good or as interesting overall.
Demi, Raja, and Wren are 3 of my absolute favorite characters, but I don't find any of them to be as powerful or as versatile as the characters above them. Raja is incredibly powerful as a White Mage, but I personally find that Rika can handle all of the healing / buffing duties on her own, while also bringing a ton of damage to the table.
Alys and Kyra are both great conceptually, but Slicers hold them back. They deal decent enough Cleave damage, but it's often easier just spend a little Magic and have Rune destroy everything in one turn. I'm a huge fan of Gryz, but I find him to just be really one-dimensional. He only really brings physical damage, whereas Chaz can also cast spells. And his big impressive techniques never actually work, lol.
Seth is cool, but he's just not around long enough to hold a candle to anyone else in my opinion.
Went in fully knowing wren would be top
How could you? Pana would be so disappointed! I mean come on... Gryz is an angry blue chick-person with a two-handed axe and the cutest sibling in the solar system. I recommend him for first timers because he deals and soaks damage so efficiently, reducing both complexity and strain on healing TP.
And don't sleep on Brose, either. It seems lackluster at first because you get it early and it so often misses on the bio-monsters you're facing at the time. That's because Brose is one of Josh Kain's abilities... you're meant to use it on robots later in the game!
Gryz serves his purpose for end of early game. War Cry attack spam. That's it. nothing special, but he has good stats for his job.
Hahn is actually good. Hes indispensable Early game. He is a tech combo machine, he heals, he dpses, he can use double shield.
Raja trivializes the game, unless you grind spam then yeah he's useless. He's the best healer in the game, and double shield and you have a staple in any optimized party.
Rika's high speed makes her an excellent clutch healer.
Rune is just DPS. He's prob best DPS later on with AoE spam, and can double shield. However Rika can DPS and utility, Rune makes up for it with AoE
Wren is the best tank, hits hard, independent.
I'd put Seth next to Gryz. he's not terrible. Gryz being bottom B is also acceptable.
Seth looks REALLY similar to Han, now that you mention it...
Han is evil, confirmed?
Confirmed.
I thought it was cool you made this.
Same man this is super underrated. I love it.
I think you nailed it bud
... Interesting.
Hahn is not good at all.
What an awful teir ranking you have too many B teir.
Lol you think Hahn is better than Chaz? Hope you’re using your disability money well
There's....no way...now I have to rewatch this thing....
@@wallsofjerich0 I think he’s technically behind Chaz but he made it sound like he was better. Very strange