As usual, Global ratings are my own opinions relative to other character or TMs available at the time this is written (effectively, rating on a curve where a 10/10 unit is the best, or tied with the best, at this exact moment -- not forever), with Japanese ratings coming from altema.jp and are based on the characters current max rarity in Japan. Japanese TM ratings are on a scale from: Unranked, A, S, SS, to SSS.

FARIS:

Rarity: 3★ to 5★

Global Party Rating: 8/10

Faris is a support character with great ATK for a support (104 ATK 20% -- the highest, after passives, of any Full Break user), an amazing selection of weapons (dagger, sword, greatsword, katana, axe, hammer, spear, thrown, fist) and a fantastic selection of gear options (light shield, hat, helm, clothing, light armor.)

For support she brings Full Break (160% Single Target Physical Attack and 3 Turn -30% All Stats) and Focus (Group 3 Turn 40% MAG/SPR.)

Passively she brings 30% Summon Damage which, well, is something...

Offensively she brings Bladeblitz (140% AOE Physical Attack.)

Faris has a couple other commands you'll never (or at least probably should never) use: Provoke (3 Turn 70% Chance to be targeted -- I'm going to assume you have a better tank) and No Fear (Self 3 Turn 20% DEF/SPR -- but this won't stack with Cheer or Focus.)

Her Limit Burst is 250% to 345% (depending on rank) wind physical damage to all enemies and 40% to 59% (also, depending on rank) chance to paralyze all enemies.

Japanese Character Rating (altema.jp): 70/100

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Syidra's Protection - 3/10 6/10

Materia - Aquan Killer Dragon Killer

Outside of Dual Wield (or Dual Cast for Mages) "Killers" are the single biggest damage increase you can put on a character. Any "Killer" is a flat 50% damage increase on top of all other damage increases (but physical damage only, unless specified) as long as you are attacking the specified monster type. The problem with this TM is that Aquan Killer and Dragon Killer are already "easily" available through Friend Point units (Ollie for Aquan Killer, Skaha for Dragon Killer -- yes I know they're less "common" friend point units but trust me you'll get MANY of them eventually.) So as mentioned, killers are great, but rarely will you need this specific combination of killers and alternatives are relatively easy and free to acquire -- this is one of the strongest TMs that you will never ever ever have a reason to complete.

(edit: This probably stacks with normal Aquan Killer and Dragon Killer allowing you to bring either to 100%. While both enemy types aren't nearly as common as for instance, humans, this would have an effective niche use against Aquan/Dragons. I still don't rate this particularly high because all of the competing TMs which work in any circumstance, but it is likely better than I first listed it as.)

Japanese TM Rating (altema.jp): A Tier

Why would you want Faris?: Faris is a very solid support -- she's a straight upgrade in every way to Vaan (edit except Vaan's ability to equip White or Green Magic abilities. Useful for the bar-element-ra line of spells at very least) if he's your Full Break user currently. If you need Focus on your team, Faris will be the best Full Break user currently available -- if you have Focus covered you're better off with an Agrias (and her higher single target damage), but Faris is a close second (her decent ATK and excellent weapon selection also make her a great candidate for a Barrage TM.) It's hard to compare WoL as his role is slightly different, but if you're still using WoL as your tank then you probably don't need Faris unless you're missing Focus. Do note that the days of 6★ Rain are inching ever closer, so factor that in if you're Lapis budget is limited.

Is she FUTURE-PROOF?: No. Faris does not currently have a 6★ upgrade in Japan.

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BARTZ:

Rarity: 3★ to 6★

Global Party Rating: 8/10

Bartz is a physical/hybrid damage dealer who has somewhat low ATK for a 6★ unit (123 ATK 30%, 20% with a Sword) and (as a hybrid ability user) somewhat low MAG for a 6★ unit (122 MAG 10%, 20% with a sword), an incredible weapon selection (everything EXCEPT hammer, harps, whips, and guns) and incredible equipment options (every single type of equipment)

For support skills, Bartz brings Entrust and Life Giver. Entrust allows him to give his Limit Burst Gauge to another character (Need to refresh Cecil's LB buff? Entrust!) and Life Giver allows Bartz to commit seppuku to completely restore another character's HP and MP. Life Giver synergies incredibly well with Refia allowing Bartz to act as a mana battery for Refia, your Exdeath, etc and having Refia rez him back up.

For passives, Bartz brings the much abhorred Auto-Potion causing him to use a potion when he takes damage (potions are cheap, people -- get over it), HP 30%, ATK 30%, DEF 30%, SPR 10%, ATK/MAG 20% with a sword equipped, 150% LB gauge fill rate, and HP Stroll (recover 5 HP every 3 steps)

Offensively, Bartz has three main attacks you'll be using (the first two if building him physical, only his hybrid attack if you build him as a mage.) The first is Seeker Blade (Single Target 270% Physical Damage and -20% Wind Resistance for 3 Turns.) The second is Gale Barrage (5x 80% Random Target Wind Physical Attack) which is essentially a 5 hit Barrage with wind element so it has all the pros and cons of Barrage (high damage modifier, but virtually impossible to chain with) and all the pros and cons of an elemental ATK (increased damage against weak targets, lowered damage against resistant targets.) The final ability is Cyclone Slash (540% Single Target 1 hit Wind HYBRID Attack.) Finally, in situations where Wind element just isn't usable, Bartz still has Barrage like he always has.

There have been COUNTLESS threads in regards to building and gearing Bartz and I encourage you to do a quick search if you're looking for more information than I'm going to provide here but here's a (somewhat?) quick overview. Build Bartz either pure physical, or pure mage -- do not try to gear for both (even hybrid materia like Maxwell or Karl's TM will be more impactful to your party on your STRONGEST physical attacker if you have a Lightning, Luneth, etc than on Bartz.)

If you build Bartz physical and are NOT using an elemental weapon (other than Kaiser Knuckles, as it's Wind element) and are NOT already using Imperil and do NOT plan to use a turn using Entrust or Life Giver (that's a lot of exclusions...) then use Seeker Blade, then Gale Barrage, then Gale Barrage, then repeat for the highest 3 turn damage (270% (400%x1.2) (400%x1.2) = 1230%). If you're building him physical and are using an elemental weapon (like Excalibur or Chirijiraden), or you're aleady using Imperil, or you think you'll be using Entrust or Life Giver in the next three turns, then just spam Gale Barrage -- when in doubt skip Seeker Blade as it's a damage loss if you miss a Gale Barrage. Of course if you have other Wind element users (Kaiser Knuckles wielders or Wind ability users) that mixes things up so ymmv.

If you build Bartz as a mage, spam Wind Shear (ideally as a chain finisher) and never use his other two main attacks.

Is it better to build Bartz physical or magical? The true answer to this depends on your other party members. Unless he's going to be your best damage unit, it's best to look at your leftover gear, abilities, etc and see if you can make him a stronger mage or a stronger physical damage unit and go from there. Some bosses will have higher DEF or higher SPR and that will also change your priorities. Bartz is incredibly flexible.

His limit burst is the incredibly boring 310% to 430% (depending on rank) physical damage to one enemy.

Japanese Character Rating (altema.jp): 86/100

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Doublehand - 7/10

Ability - Increase equipment ATK (50%) when single wielding

Most of us are familiar with this ability already. It increases equipment ATK by 50% when single wielding (so no dual wield, no bows, two handed guns, no shield equipped.) This is best on characters that come with innate Doublehand (6★ Garland, Demon Rain, etc) but you can only use Doublehand OR Dual Wield, and Dual Wield is just simply stronger.

Japanese TM Rating (altema.jp): A Tier

Why would you want Bartz?: Bartz is a decent damage unit. You can absolutely make him incredibly high damage but he's no Lightning, Luneth, etc. Bartz biggest draw is his ability to, in addition to contributing damage, being a mana battery. On long fights and/or item limited fights Bartz will allow your mages (white or black) to keep on casting as long as you have a way to rez him back up.

Is he FUTURE-PROOF?: Yes. Bartz comes with 6★ and will keep his mana battery niche (6★ Tilith's incredible self mana recovery will lower his value) but he does not have Ability Enhancements in Japan.

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EXDEATH:

Rarity: 3★ to 6★

Global Party Rating: 10/10

Exdeath is a mage with fantastic MAG (145 MAG 30%), more weapon options than your usual mage (dagger, sword, staff, rod, mace) but questionable equipment (light shield, heavy shield, helm, light armor, heavy armor.) I know what some of you are thinking: "But /u/srs_bsns! That makes him a TANKIER mage! He can take a hit better than those wimps Kefka or Arc!" but you and I both know that given the option to wear mage gear for the extra MAG, you would put him in mage gear, so let's not lie to each other, okay?

For support, Exdeath brings Dispel and Imperil (but I'm sure you have someone better suited to cast those if you need them.)

Passively, Exdeath brings the AMAZING Transcender which increases magical damage against humans, birds, beasts, plants, and bugs by 30% -- the first pseudo "killer" to work with magic. He also has Auto-Regen and MP 20%.

EXDEATH HAS DUAL BLACK MAGIC (this deserved it's own line)

For spells, Exdeath has METEOR (AOE 250% non-elemental magic damage - ignore 25% SPR -- normalized to 333%) which will be your main attack in almost every situation, unless you need to conserve MP. He also has the standard trinity of -aga spells (Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga), as well as Graviga, and MP sustain via Osmose (30% Single Target Magic Damage 30% MP Drain.)

He also has two magical abilities which you'll rarely use because they cannot be Dual Cast, in the form of Wicked Light (AOE 280% Light Magic Damage, ignore 25% SPR -- normalized to 373%) and Earth Shaker (AOE 180% Earth Magic Damage.)

His Limit Burst is the still great 270% to 390% (depending on rank) Dark Magic damage and 4 random status effects (50% to 74% depending on rank) to all enemies.

Japanese Character Rating (altema.jp): 88/100

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Holy - 4/10

Ability - 230% Single Target Light Magic Damage

It's okay -- it's only single target and the modifier on it doesn't touch Meteor or Ultima. It's disappointing with Holy being such an iconic spell in Final Fantasy.

Japanese TM Rating (altema.jp): A Tier

Why would you want Exdeath?: DOUBLE. METEORS. Expect to see a LOT of Exdeath in your Arena games very soon. If you don't have a 5★ base unit, it's very likely that Exdeath will be the strongest member of your team -- at least for as long as his MP can hold out.

Is he FUTURE-PROOF?: Yes. Exdeath comes with 6★. Don't let the Japanese rating deter you, Exdeath will be amazing for quite awhile. Majin Fina (or whatever they end up naming her) will be stronger when she comes out with slightly higher MAG and Ultima but they will be VERY close and she's a 5★ base. Every single mage that's stronger than Exdeath for many months will be a 5★ base. Exdeath at 3★ is a mage bargain.

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GILGAMESH:

Rarity: 5★ to 6★

Global Party Rating: 10/10 WITH DUAL WIELD (8/10 without)

Gilgamesh is a physical attacker with great ATK (149 ATK 20%, 40% with a katana, 30% with a sword, 20% with a greatsword), with an amazing weapon selection (all of them!), and a somewhat limiting equipment selection (light shield, heavy shield, helm, light armor, heavy armor -- hat and clothing would have been great)

Offensively, he brings two main attacks (one single target, one AOE) and one highly situational wind aoe. His first main attack is Tri-Attack (100% ST 3 Hit Physical Attack (x3 Damage)). His main AOE ability is Divider (180% AOE Physical Damage - Ignore 50% DEF -- normalized to 360%). His wind AOE ability is Wind Slash (200% AOE Wind Physical Damage) but this is only worth using over Divider if you're chaining Wind AOEs or you have the enemies have -80% or higher Wind resistance.

Gilgamesh also has Jump, but I'm listing it separately as it's likely just here for flavour and unless there is a strategic reason for you wanting Gilgamesh outside the fight for a turn, there's very little reason to use this other his other abilities.

Finally his Limit Burst is (assuming you have Cheer or Embolden) a pretty disappointing increase ATK/DEF/MAG/SPR 50% to 74% (depending on rank) for 5 turns to the caster. Even at max rank, it's not worth losing a turn where you could be doing damage to cast this, if you already have an ATK buff.

Japanese Character Rating (altema.jp): 93/100

Global Trust Mastery Rating: Genji Glove - 10/10

Accessory - ATK/MAG 10% and DUAL WIELD

Easily the best TM in the game on Global at the time of its release. All the benefits of a Hero's Ring (well, without the DEF/SPR 3 but no one cares about that) and the benefits of Zidane's TM Dual Wield all in one package. Which will be better in the future will depend on if you have better accessories or abilities, but regardless this will be one of, if not the best, TMs for the foreseeable future.

Japanese TM Rating (altema.jp): SSS Tier

Why would you want Gilgamesh?: Gilgamesh needs Dual Wield, but fortunately he comes with it in the form of his TM. If you don't grind TMs (macro or otherwise) this is still something you can count on getting EVENTUALLY via Trust Moogles, so don't focus on my without DW rating too much (I value the extra utility and human killers that CoD brings over a non-DW Gilgamesh, and obviously Lightning or Luneth would be stronger with their innate DW.) Once he has Dual wield and you can activate two of his Weapon Collector passives, Gilgamesh's ATK and AOE damage will be insane. He can't hit the various elements that Lightning can (and either can Luneth) but if you just need straight physical damage, Gilgamesh will be the highest damage on Global.

Is he FUTURE-PROOF?: Yes. Gilgamesh is released with 6★ and has recently received (so do not expect them for a LONG time) Ability Enhancements in Japan. They include:

• Weapon Collector: Upgraded from " 40% ATK when equipped with Katana & 30% ATK when equipped with Sword & 20% ATK when equipped with Greatsword" to 50% ATK when equipped with Katana & 50% ATK when equipped with Sword & 50% ATK when equipped with Greatsword & 50% ATK when equipped with Dagger & 50% ATK when equipped with Lance

• Tri-Attack: Upgraded from 3 hits to 12.

• Divider: Upgraded from "180% AoE 1 Hit Physical Attack Ignore 50% DEF (normalized to 360%)" to "200% AoE 1 Hit Physical Attack Ignore 65% DEF (normalized to 571%)"

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SHOULD YOU PULL?: Yes. Both Bartz and Exdeath have been in the character pool since launch, so if you already have as many of each as you want and don't need Full Break, then obviously you shouldn't pull -- for everyone else this is a fantastic banner. Faris is just behind (or above if you need Focus) Agrias, Bartz is will do decent damage (better than any 5★ at least) and work as a mana battery, Exdeath will reign as King of the mages (and even as he starts to be outpaced, he's only a 3★ base so he was a bargain), and Gilgamesh (once you slot DW on him) will be fantastic damage on Global, with the best TM you can get, and as he loses steam in time he'll regain relevancy again with his future Ability Enhancements. As usual, please remember that 5★ base units are INCREDIBLY rare and I do not recommend you go all in on a 5★ unless you can afford it. Pull for the 3★ units you need/want on this banner and maybe RNJesus will bless you.

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Side Note: Please expect these, going forward, to be posted in the evening (PST) following the banner announcement unless I had time to write one out beforehand as I now have to wake up way earlier during the week. I expected this banner and should have written it, but I've been trying to be the very best, like no one ever was, for the last few days.