Chained Echoes: Ba’Thraz, The Spellfighter Guide

Chained Echoes Ba’Thraz, The Spellfighter Guide: Stats & Build Suggestions. Also check; Chained Echoes Character Guide.

Chained Echoes: Ba’Thraz, The Spellfighter

Ba’Thraz is, in a similar way to Lenne, a magic-based attacker, though being a mixed fighter of sorts. His unique mechanic is his “Weapon Summon”, where his magic and physical attacks will grant him a stack, up to 3 (later the game this can be up to 6), and he can consume these stacks on certain abilities, to either deal neutral magic damage or recover HP or TP.

Unlike Lenne, Ba’Thraz deals damage with Light and Dark elements, as well physical. He has his own methods for nuking, though potentially more dangerous (for himself), giving him a true definition of a glass cannon, with Berserker and Heaven or Hell allowing him to deal absurd amounts of damage with his Ultra Move.

On top of that, Lenne can break in the ten thousand (!!!) of damages with the right setups, with Third Eye and Elemental Pact. Add other buffs into the mix and she’ll nuke anything.

Because of the way Ba’Thraz’s kit functions, it’s not worth using other offensive spells from the Class Emblems since they won’t contribute for his weapon stacking.

Strengths

• Magic Attacker focused on building stacks and release them for more damage or added utility.
• Has one of the highest damage-output potential in the entire game, alongside Lenne and Sienna.
• Second highest MAG, tied with Lenne.
• Highest TP, tied with Amalia.
• Has both single-target and area-of-effect skills.
• True definition of a glass cannon.
• One of the few characters who can remove enemy’s buffs (Dispel).
• Shines in either quick normal battles or extended boss fights.
• His Ultra Move is potentially the most damaging attack in the game, as one of the few that deal multiple hits.

Weaknesses

• Below average defensive stats, on top of using robes, makes him very frail.
• Fourth lowest ATK means his physical abilities are not worth using.
• Loses all his weapon stacks if he dies.
• Competes with Lenne for class emblems and accessories.

Baseline

• Summoned Attack: the core of Ba’Thraz’s kit, allowing him to deal very high burst damage based on the number of weapons stacks he gets from using other abilities.
• Light Claymore / Sword: bread and butter of his kit, alongside the Dark-based skills.
• Dark Spear / Scythe: bread and butter of his kit, alongside the Light-based skills.
• Berserker: unlike Lenne’s Third Eye, Berserker lasts for several turns. It’s a true double-edged sword as Ba’Thraz both deals and takes x1.5 increased damage. Because of that, having means to mitigate damage or a tank is valuable to keep him safe. Ideally you’ll want to pop Berserker right before using Summoned Attack.
• Summoned Ether / Heal: this turns Ba’Thraz into a potent situational support, allowing him to replenish TP or HP by consuming his weapon stacks.
• Heaven or Hell: with proper setup, combining multiple buffs, on top of Berserker and this one, allows Ba’Thraz to deal the most damage in the game in a single turn with his Ultra Move
• Dispel: on demand enemy buff removal. You’ll usually have Lenne with her own Cleanse, since Ba’Thraz needs all his slots for offensive spells and buffs. Not many enemies can buff themselves, but when they do, Ba’Thraz can easily get rid of them.
• Silver Lining: a passive that allows surviving lethal attacks when at full HP. This is a great way to circumvent the use of Berserker.
• Summon Effects+: a passive increases the number of stacks of summoned weapons, 1 per level (up to 3 additional weapons summoned, totallizing 6).

Class Abilities

• Firestorm / Earthstream Spirit: from Shaman. Synergizes extremely well with his kit since the damage scales with MAG. This ability can be equipped on pretty much any character as it has no set duration and adds extra damage on every turn.

Crystals

• MAG Up: stack those and Ba’Thraz will be hitting even harder. No-brainer choice. There is actually a diminishing return when stacking these stat up crystals, though.
• HP Drain: very straightforward. Hit enemy, get HP. The amount seems to scale with damage done, so the harder you hit, the more you heal. Useful on pretty much all characters.

Mid Game

By the time you recruit Ba’Thraz you’ll have access to tier 2 already. Don’t even bother with his physical skills since he has a very low ATK. Focus on getting Berserker, Light Sword and Dark Scythe. Dump the rest of the points on MAG, HP and DEF.

As for Class Emblems, Shaman or Summoner work the best.

End Game

On the final tier, get Heaven or Hell and Summoned Weapons+ right off the bat, and dump the rest of the points on improving stats.

Once you unlock the Advanced Class Emblems, you can equip him with Pyromancer to maximize his MAG bonuses (he will be competing with Lenne for that, though).

For accessories, the best one for Ba’Thraz is Magic Poleyns, which allow

General Tips

Setups are everything

Combat in this game, especially in the late-game, is all about setups. Your characters will unlock plenty of buffs and debuffs and it is key to lay those down to empower your team while simultaneously cripple the enemy.

For instance, Sienna alone has four really important buffs she should have active nearly all the time, while Glenn should always make sure the enemy has Break debuffs on, With certain setups you can see some really big numbers (I’ve been able to crit +18k with Lenne during the final boss) so it’s important to have your team cover everything.

Don’t bother with Crystals (until later)

The Crystal system at the blacksmith anvil is a potentially powerful, yet a bit obnoxious system (because of RNG and how the combining functions), way to make your characters REALLY powerful, allowing you stack passives to reinforce their strengths or to circumvent a weakness. For instance, stacking Crit Damage Up crystals on Sienna can make her dish out some really insane damage, while adding debuff crystals (i.e. Poison, Blind) on characters with multi-hit moves can make inflicting those easier.

However, I strongly recommend waiting to tamper with this system until the endgame. It’s not really worth hunting down crystals or farming, and the game is already relatively easy enough that you can clear the vast majority of the content without worrying about crystals.

If you want more details on the Crystal crafting, check Xenocite’s excellent Crystal Guide.

Agility is everything

Agility (AGI) is the single most important attribute in the game, hence why Sienna is so busted since she has the highest in the game. Improving your AGI in any way (passive skills, buffs, crystals) is key to get as many turns as possible before the enemy.

Drunken Master (a skill from the Monk Class Emblem) is an ability you should have learned with one or more characters and equipped at all times, and use it as soon the fight starts. It’s party-wide.

Additionally, crippling your enemy’s AGI with Robb’s Leg Shot (and also Kylian’s Leg Aim) is key in any boss fight to further enable more turns for you and less for the enemy.