https://exvius.gamepedia.com/Chainer_Rankings_by_Suede

Dear god, there are a lot of units this month. It's also been a whole year since I started making these threads 🥳

Short summaries

Kadaj Formidable for a free unit, meaning he does around half to two-thirds the damage of the top 5. Kadaj has a simple 4 turn rotation that can be staggered a bit if harder hitting imperils or particular imbues are needed.

Cloud (AC) Probably better known as a finisher, AC Cloud also works fine as a dupe LB chainer despite the low hit count on the LB itsself, thanks to high backloading and his lack of a 6x chain cap to capitalise on. Most attractive features would be his immediately accessible high burst and ability to scale harder than others with party support e.g. better imperils, LB fill for consecutive LB chains such as from Warrior of Light Lenna or Emperor Foo. He is going to struggle to compete in real world situations when it comes to juggling LB damage boosters and killer sources, however.

Tifa (FFVII AC) Would be a fairly straightforward chainer if not for her LB. In order to maximise AC Tifa's damage, you do want to incorporate it and its unlocked skills as fairly dead setup turns. Your reward for putting up with this nonsense is a chainer that will outperform AC Cloud's average damage, and typically his burst as well, with better imperils to boot.

Shiva Lasswell Is a fairly straightforward chainer. I'm not going to pretend his emergency 1 turn ailment resist, element resist or reraise matter too much. While Mystical Ice Lasswell isn't hard locked to ice per se, the new two-handed ice katana and his innately ice LB do push towards it heavily; plus he can't imperil his other element, wind, until turn 4. Oops.

Fenrir Edel Kadaj, but furry flavour. Untamed Wolf Edel's damage is more consistent as opposed to burst-driven. Superficial support varies and she does notably have a stronger killer niche in punching beasts, but she's ultimately about as powerful as Kadaj with different elements and chain families.

Zeno of the Beta StarRebertaBoth Zeno of the Beta Star and Reberta are competing in the same ballpark as Untamed Wolf Edel and Kadaj for damage. Killers and elements aside, there isn't much reason to care for the distinction. Reberta's old tricks of weird attack typing and jumping remain underwhelming.

CG Akstar Zeno but bad. Some things never change.

Odin Raegen Boots Edward off his throne, though perhaps not by as much as you'd think. War Hero Raegen's average damage is a new high, pushed a bit further if both fire and ice elements are safe to use. High dragon and undead killers are a boon, though demon alone is arguably better. Defensively, he's fine, but he lacks the high elemental resistances that Edward has access to passively and via his unique TMR passive. Buff removal on his setup cooldown would be a powerful support option were it not tied to his only T skill unlock. 60% breaks aren't what you want to be using, but are plenty good in a pinch. Overall, War Hero Raegen's damage is what makes him #1 in my eyes despite not being the best in ancillary areas.

Tetra Sylphid Physalis Very strong mage with a few setbacks to consider. While Four Winds Physalis performs fine with her own STMR gun and event spear, she suffers a bit against demon/dragon/undead types since she'll have to spend a slot on a Krowa TMR to equip the appropriate killer rod; this also means she loses out on HP/SPR from weapon passives, when her defenses are already subpar for a recent mage. Lack of robes also hurts her access to better defensive options, including Rainbow Robe and Strategic Cape for elemental resistances.

Regardless, as a TDW mage with typically high MAG passives, Four Winds Physalis hits the 400% MAG cap very easily and can spend materia slots on more defensively-oriented pieces if necessary. Her flaws only tame her strengths somewhat, and her burst damage as a magic chainer is uncontested.

Bahamut Fang Yeah, she's primarily a finisher, but Graceful Champion Fang isn't awful as a chainer. Can't hold a candle to recent chainers, but she is an option if you only have the free alternatives, I guess.

Noel Contending with War Hero Raegen, Noel exchanges average damage for heightened burst damage. They really are quite similar in the sense that they're both TDW chainers with imperils and imbues for two elements, and 50% passive killers for two types with 150% active buffs to pile on top.

CG Serah Contrary to FFBE's usual contenders who perform better in longer fights like Madam Edel or Warrior of Light Bartz, Serah's opening turns are where she's at her best. Like the newer FFVI units, Serah has a cooldown to drop herself into critical HP which enhances her (low damage, purely setup) LB, giving her more powerful mod boosts and a turn longer duration on them and their associated imperils. The kicker is that she has no reliable way to drop into critical range outside of the lengthy 11 turn cooldown, so she'll have to suffer the ultimate punishment: dealing slightly less damage. This seems to be Serah's primary theme, as a dupe pairing on her preferred element of earth are unable to both simultaneously use her mod boosting setup chain skill as it consumes the entire esper gauge.

Questionable design aside, Serah doesn't really lose out significantly in longer fights or when paired with an esper-hogging dupe. While she is about as squishy as Four Winds Physalis, her high equipment MAG and MAG passives give her similar flexibility in gearing defensively when needed. I'm considering Serah to be somewhat better overall due to her additional element, higher availability of killers (passive as well as from Artemis' Bow), and robe access.

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As usual, let me know what you think.