As some of you may or may not know, I recently started a challenge for myself, and anyone else interested to complete all trials up to Octopus Teacher with a team of only main characters. This exclude any side characters such as Charlotte, Luka, Fohlen, etc who we meet in the story but so not become permanent members of the party. Of course, no duplicates allowed.

Eligible units include: Rain, Lasswell, Fina, Lid, Nichol, Jake, Sakura and Dark Fina. For those of you without Dark Fina, you're welcome to use a Dark Fina friend for a party of six. Keep in mind that actually owning Dark Fina will not grant you any advantages in this challenge since you most likely won't find any friends using story unit leaders. If you need a Dark Fina friend, send me a PM w/ the build of your choice and I will try my best to accommodate you (I'm still working on 2x Mateus' Malice and Dark Bond, so don't expect too much).

The Gilgamesh Trial and the Beasts of the Dark Trial has been completed, the results can be found here:

Gilgamesh Trial - Main Character Challenge

Beasts of the Dark Trial (Dark Espers)

Moving onto my next prey, Echidna! Here are the results:

https://i.imgur.com/zGeZrcG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DBlI38M.png

https://i.imgur.com/29EVlB6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MuoSe89.png

https://i.imgur.com/EOe0Re6.png

Since Echidna is immune to all breaks, I decided to replace Jake with Dark Fina for some extra DPS and status infliction. The rest of my party consists of Rain, Lasswell, Sakura and Fina.

A ton of close calls, RNG really screwed me over and Fina was hit with Death Kiss despite Rain having Provoke up. Nevertheless, I was able to come back with a Phoenix Down and some off healing on Sakura's free turn. A couple of things that were crucial to winning the fight:

• All unit must have at least ~4.5K HP, sufficient MP regeneration, be immune to Paralysis, Confuse and Petrify, and have as much as wind & earth resist as possible.

• Barstonera, Baraerora and Defense Barrier has to be up at all times.

• Rain needs safety bit equipped and have to keep provoke up throughout the fight to attract nasty stuff like MP drain, and death kiss. Even then RNG might screw you over since Golem only provides a 70% Provoke.

• Dual Cast (insert spell) & dispel can be used to dispel charm on a teammate if needed. Keep in mind it will remove any defensive buffs as well, so make sure to reapply them.

• Again, the key to winning the fight is to find a good balance between DPS, HP, Elemental resist and status resist.

Below are links to my builds for each character if you're interested

Rain

https://i.imgur.com/wHUTrSY.png

https://i.imgur.com/VzL0LFM.png

https://i.imgur.com/QGkp8Mo.png

No enhancements, though enhanced Burning Soul and Leadership are strongly recommended if you're having MP issues. Rain should be able to keep up Provoke and Leadership (when not charmed) throughout the fight.

Lasswell

https://i.imgur.com/434JVyP.png

https://i.imgur.com/XmcONqA.png

https://i.imgur.com/VzavulZ.png

2 Heir to the Blade 2 Mirror of Equity

Sakura

https://i.imgur.com/72pj5u1.png

https://i.imgur.com/CwjSWiq.png

https://i.imgur.com/OaXsGBY.png

Sakura has a free turn to DC Cura or use items if needed once every 3 turns after casting DC Barstonra/Baraerora & Defense Barrier.

Dark Fina

https://i.imgur.com/1asJ9tY.png

https://i.imgur.com/B1uU3bN.png

https://i.imgur.com/OyWbGrF.png

Fully enhanced. Use Dystopia to reserve MP, and Distress for status infliction.

Fina

https://i.imgur.com/640SRaH.png

https://i.imgur.com/Lou2YOa.png

https://i.imgur.com/iIDMKo3.png

DC Curaja with an occasional teammate dispel here and there.

Overall an easier time than Gilgamesh & Dark Espers due to the addition of Dark Fina, but this is just preparation for the Octopus' Teacher Trial.

That'll be all for today, I will be attempting the Octopus Teacher Trial next week week. Let me know if you have any builds to recommend!

Please post your results, recommendations, strategies, etc. Any feedback is much appreciated