Depends on what kind of playthrough you're aiming for

A quick casual playthrough, the one I enjoy: It's Haschel and Albert.
During disc 2, Albert does such intense damage with GoWD that he single-handedly just rapes the face off of everything. During disc 3 Haschel catches up to him, while ofc Dart is always mediocre. During disc 4 Haschel passes up Albert in overall damage output due to his higher speed and just as high Addition multiplier. However, these two are still putting out the most damage overall.

A master playthrough [Gring grind grind to perfection]: It's Meru and Albert.
Albert only stays superior because his Rose Storm is a strategic trump card though. Meru is the fastest, and once you master her final addition, is unmatched in damage... and that's hit for hit before speed is considered. It just takes a lot of grind time and patience, as well as the right [Expensive] gear setup to get her working like a well-oiled machine. She's also purely late game. I've always found her pretty useless pre-3rd disc and most useful in the 4th.

That said, I have more fun playing through with Haschel and Albert because their strength is consistent throughout the game and they require minimal training... while Meru is a tedious character that's only good in the late game with the right gear setup.

A speed-run [Beat the game in the fastest in-game time as you can]: It's Rose and Albert
Rose = Low HP, mediocre damage...however, I love the fact that you can get her final addition so early, but mostly I like using Astral Drain as a double whammy Heal + Damage spell early-mid game [It's still good late game, but not nearly as good]. My fastest playthrough I used her: and I'll point out that Astral Drain + Rose Storm was such an amazing combo to bust out while using Dart for Special.

Just try it: When a boss has everyone at about 60-70% HP and can bust out a devastating attack at any time [Like Doel does for instance] use Dart to Special everyone into Dragoon... Physical Attack with Dart, use Rose Storm with Albert, and Astral Drain with Rose. Boom, you're healed a little bit, you just did a decent amount of damage total, and you're prepared for whatever s%$#storm he's about to send your way in the next few turns.

Kongol: I see a lot of people putting Kongol up there. Awful character. If you have to waste gear slots on a character just to make him viable against magical oriented bosses, then he f%$#in sucks... end of story. Not only that, but his Dragoon attacks/magicks aren't impressive or useful either. Honestly, from an offensive perspective, there's nothing impressive at all about Kongol, he's just a big fat tank with a mediocre gun.

To me, a strong character is a character that is competent no matter what gear you throw on them... because that means that superior gear is only going to make them that much better and allow a lot better flexibility in terms of what strategies and angles you can play. Kongol isn't one of them. Without a Legend Casque, Armor of Legend, and Physical Ring/Phantom Shield, Kongol is the worst character in the game, period. That's it... you have no other gear options other than that if you want to use Kongol. That's why everyone hates him.

Miranda/Shana: No additions = can't progress the character = useless. Sure, she has healing magic, but even that doesn't compensate for her incompetence in dealing out damage as well as her low HP.



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pika25 I've always wondered, just how strong is physical Meru? As strong as magic Meru? Stronger than say, Rose? Haschel?



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In my opinion, Kongol's great HP is his best quality. He does have an awesome defense, but his HP is the seller. Meru has really low HP, and I like comparing the two because they're pretty much the most opposite characters in the game. A lot of people prefer Meru, and I have nothing against that. Honestly, the way this game is set up, you can pick any two characters and as long as you use them consistently (and for some, get past their weak start-ups, like Shana), they'll be kick-butt powerful.

But as for Kongol and Meru, I choose Kongol. There are items you can give him to make up for his low speed (namely Bandit Ring/Shoes), which is the most general complaint against him. With these items, he can be as fast as the other players, and faster than some. The second would be his low MDF, and you can get a Legend Casque for that and not have to worry about anything even touching him for the rest of the game. His magic attack really sucks too, but he's got plenty of physical ones to make up for it.

And for Meru, her speed is incredibly high, and she has a pretty great MDF, but her physical DF and attack kind of suck. But once again, there's equipment galore that fix all these problems too. (Although her attack and defense are so low that it's hard to get anything to bump her up ENOUGH to really match any of the other highly physical players.) Also, her magic attacks and healing properties can be lifesavers. However, these all require items either to throw or to replenish MP, so that's one downfall. What if you run out of items? (And I understand that toward the last 3/4 of the game this isn't really a problem, but it has the potential to be.)

So each's weaknesses are the strengths of the other. And for me, the ultimate trump card is the HP.

Kongol, of course, has crazy high HP. And Meru has crazy low HP. There are items to fix this as well, although the best item for it only boosts the HP by 50%. So taking both character's HP at level 32, Kongol's is 3118 and Meru's is 1439. If you equip Meru with the Physical Ring (gotta be one of the best items in the whole game), her new HP is 2159. Still MUCH lower than Kongol's. And then this is my logic. There are many attacks that would do heavier damage to Kongol than Meru, and then Kongol will still be able to handle another one and Meru couldn't. Simply because Kongol's HP is so much higher. Not having the Physical Ring on Meru increases this a whole bunch. If an attack did 1500 to Kongol and 800 to Meru at the previously mentioned HP's, Meru wouldn't be able to handle another, and Kongol would.

Then again, there's a much higher chance Meru could dodge than Kongol. But there's items for that too.

This is why I generally like to use Kongol (or more often Albert). I will say that I've used Meru before and she really is pretty awesome, but I still tend to die more using her than with Kongol.



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Im not understanding all this hate for Kongol? I think he is the best party member in the game. Theres an item you can buy in one of the stores I think in the town you find Haschel and it puts his magic defense up higher than any other party member. He can basically just sit there and soak up damage forever without having to heal, regardless if its magic or physical. I had both Dart and Albert die in battle plenty of times but Kongol was always guaranteed to be left standing and able to revive the two.



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But Kongol is a great character he is a good offense and a great defense. Magic defense you got to keep it up. I like to stay on the defense even when I am facing Magician Faust I use Kongol and Albert I beat him with ease.



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