Star Ocean: The Last Hope Characters

The cast of Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a motley bunch, and learning the subtleties of each character will be a real advantage in the long run. Star Ocean has the unique feature of allowing you to swap characters in and out in mid-battle, so being able to balance your crew and work with everyone will benefit you.

Edge

Your basic melee swordsman, Edge is a heavily offensive character with a handful of support skills. For most players, he's going to remain the primary attacker. His special attacks are primarily chain combo hits which has some defensive implications, as it makes Edge perfect for tying up enemies in long combos. By knocking enemies into the air, Edge can maintain very long juggle combos, allowing him to neutralize enemies until their Rush Mode builds up. Tactics for melee fighters vary greatly from battle to battle, more than for other classes. Edge is at his best when he's blindsiding an enemy from behind, and these situations provide great opportunities for extended combos. Unfortunately, Edge's blindside method is slower and requires a wide arc of movement. With the ATK Boost skill, Edge's attack power can be completely devastating. Unfortunately, melee fighting is a dangerous endeavor. Edge's HP bar and defense isn't meager, but he's still going to be one of the most fragile characters in practice because of the dangers of being on the front lines. Getting close to some enemies can be difficult. The No Guard skill helps tremendously in allowing edge to break in, but it does nothing to nullify damage, so it's still important to make sure you have good defensive equipment, and you may want to consider teaching him HP Boost.

Reimi

A skilled archer, Reimi is one of the best ranged fighters in the game. She's not really that durable, but she doesn't have to be since she can keep her distance. Reimi exists predominantly as a support character, so in most fights, you'll want to leave her duties to the AI, but having her leveled up can help. Her basic attacks seem pretty feeble, but once she gets her more powerful skills, she's a force to be reckoned with. In balancing your crew, you don't want to be too heavy on one kind of attacker or another, so Reimi is probably best considered as an alternative to Myuria or Bacchus. Reimi's main advantages over these characters are her powerful chain combos (which you should set up and level up in the skill menu as they become available) and her ability to attack while jumping, which can prove very useful.

Faize

Faize may be slight of frame, but he's a well rounded character with a mix of melee and offensive magic that make him very versatile. Compared to the combo-savvy Edge and Meracle, Faize will land fewer hits, but his symbology can be very powerful, and eventually this will eclipse his sword fighting abilities. Because of this, you should focus on boosting mind-related stats more than ATK-related skills. Faize can fit into just about any lineup and hold his own, but by that same token, he can be replaced by a well-rounded lineup.

Lymle

Little Lym is a powerful symbologist for her small size, and she's the first heavy-duty magic caster to join your party. Her basic attacks are virtually useless and her defenses are weak enough that they may demand enhancement, but her spell-casting is very useful. She primarily skews toward fire-based attacks, perhaps too heavily, but also packs some solid healing skills, which will mean she's going to be a primary fixture of your party for much of the game. Later on, Lymle outgrows some of her usefulness. Myuria is a stronger offensive symbologist with a wider variety of elemental attacks, and Sarah is a better healer. Lym still has her place when you need a well-rounded mage to support a melee-based crew, as well as a second string for when one of your other mages is incapacitated, but she probably won't be in your starting lineup.

Bacchus

As appearances suggest, Bacchus is a tank. He's got massive native defensive ability even without armor upgrades, and a huge life bar to boot. Even better, he can get the Emergency Repairs skill which will allow him to instantly recover his own HP with no down time at a very low MP cost. The combination of these abilities make Bacchus seem nearly invincible at times. Because of this, he is a good candidate for the Berserk skill, that boosts ATK at the expense of DEF, since he has plenty defensive ability to spare. Offensively, he exists primarily as a ranged support character, much like Reimi. But where Reimi focuses on combos, Bacchus is a heavy-hitter, able to stun enemies with incredible efficiency. His Black Hole Sphere is a powerful and very effective move, not only as a direct offense, but for its ability to leave enemies vulnerable to attacks from other characters. This makes Bacchus the perfect wingman for any melee fighter.

Meracle

The adorable teen feline, Meracle is a fast and frantic, combo-happy melee fighter, and she can be a ton of fun to play as. Her base ATK stat is the best in the game (along with Arumat), and her ability to perform blindsides is unmatched. Unfortunately she has a few natural deficiencies that make her a bit of a problem to use, so leveling her up intelligently is very important. Meracle's defensive skills are pretty deficient. Her life bar is very short, so you're going to want to extent it with the HP Boost skill and make sure to always invest in good armor. Beyond this you want to pay special attention to her chain combos, and consider giving her ATK Boost to enhance her already deadly offensive skill. Her nimble movement makes her an excellent choice to be your main player-controlled fighter, as skill can always compensate for defensive deficiencies.

Myuria

The sultry "older" woman of Star Ocean's cast, Myuria is an offensive mage with a wide range of elemental abilities, and some modest healing abilities. We'd recommend against using her as your primary healer (Sarah is ideal for that role, and Lymle is a better choice too), and instead think of her as an alternative to offensive support characters like Bacchus and Reimi. Myuria's real strengths aren't terribly obvious. Where she excels is with her elemental attacks. If you pay attention to your enemies' weaknesses, Myuria likely has the answer to any of them. You'll need to power up the Fast Cast ability to really make her really effective on her toes, and if you teach her Faerie Star she can be a pretty excellent secondary healer.

Sarah

Although you won't get her until the second half of the game, Sarah will instantly find her way into your regular lineup. She is quite simply the best healer in the game, and an absolute necessity if you want the most effective party. She has very powerful healing abilities and she can easily restore fallen characters, so she'll be your best friend in those long, difficult boss fights. Sarah has a handful of offensive attacks, but unless you're exploiting an elemental weakness, these are mostly a waste of time. Defensively, Sarah is pretty vulnerable, so you'll want to either boost her HP or make sure she's well supported by attacking anything that goes near her, or using Bacchus to maintain control of the field while Sarah does her thing.

Arumat

While he only joins late in the game (and inherits the level of another character), he is an excellent choice for a player-controlled character, with powerful attacks and excellent melee range. He attacks in wide arcs that can easily catch multiple enemies. He's not as much of a combo fiend as Meracle, though, so his rhythm is going to lean more toward hit and run. Unfortunately, Arumat's defense isn't very strong, despite a decent amount of HP. This can be troublesome when trying to break into close range against some enemies, but his superior blindside ability helps to make up for this. Unfortunately, like Meracle, this renders him a vulnerable character in the hands of the enemy AI, so you'll really only want to use him if you plan to get your hands dirty.