Chained Echoes: Robb, The Archer Guide

Chained Echoes: Robb, The Archer Guide: Stats & Build Suggestions. Also check; Chained Echoes Character Guide.

Chained Echoes: Robb, The Archer

Robb is a very underrated character. Most people say he’s bad (in a way, he kinda is), but he actually brings a lot to the table in the form of many his status effects abilities. He has the very rare Leg Shot, which reduces enemy’s AGI, arguably one of the most important debuffs in the game; other than him, only Kylian has it in the form of his AGI down (and since he leaves the party later, that makes Robb’s far more valuable).

Outside of Crystals and certain Class abilities, Robb is the only character that can inflict Poison and Toxic, on top of his very useful Pandemic skill which spreads those status effects to all enemies.

On top of that, Robb also has Trap abilities where he places it on one of his allies, and if said ally is attacked by the enemy, it triggers the trap. There is even an exclusive accessory for Robb, called Leaf Hood, which gives a chance for the trap to not disappear after triggering.

Robb’s Ultra Move, Nature’s Springwell, is very useful in boss fights where enemies inflict various debuffs, as it not only removes debuffs from the entire party, it raises their resistance while also removing the enemies’ own resistances.

Strengths

• Can cripple enemies with a variety of status effects.
• Traps are very useful when used in tandem with a tank.
• Ultra Move is loaded with utility.
• Can deal very high damage with Charging.
• Has skills to cure status effects.
• One of the few characters with Increase Drops passive.

Weaknesses

• Mediocre to poor stats across the board.
• Low damage outside of Charging.
• His niche as can be filled by other characters by using status effect Crystals and multi-hit attacks.

Baseline

• Leg Shot: AGI is the most important stat in the game, and crippling your enemy’s means less turns for them. This should always be the very first skill Robb uses.
• Explosive / Ailment Trap: this former can deal surprisingly high damage when maxed (multiplier of 3x) while the latter can inflict up to 3 random debuffs that cannot be resisted. Very handy!
• Poison / Toxic Shot: while both being a damage-over-time effect, they actually stack! So having both Poison Shot and Toxic Shot is very useful, especially with Pandemic.
• Herbal Medicine / Naturopathy not many enemies can inflict debuffs, but it’s useful to on demand cleanses.
• Nature’s Mirror: this is potentially one of the most powerful buffs in the entire game, granting stat buff whose potency increases the more debuffs enemies have. The only issues is that it can only be used once, and the stat picked is random.
• Soul Parasite: reduces the enemy’s resistance to all elements. The beauty of this skill is that it stacks with other resistance down debuffs (such as the ones from Victor). Great for enabling Lenne’s damage.

Class Abilities

• Suspicious Darts: from Gambler. When maxed this skill has 100% chance of inflicting Poison, Paralyze, Blind or Silence on ALL enemies. This skill works on any character, but it’s a great filler skill on Robb and frees more slots for him.

Crystals

• AGI Up: ideally you want Robb to drop all his detrimental debuffs and swap him for someone else, so having high AGI is key.
• Status Extender: at max level, all the Extender Crystals have a 100% chance. Sleep / Paralyze Extender are amazing on Robb, for instance.
• 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.

Early Game

Robb starts with a solid kit, with Poison Shot and Pandemic being available right off the bat. Get AGI Up so he can act faster, and spend points on defensive stats. Use spare points for Explosive Trap.

Mid Game

On tier 2 he gains access to Paralyze Shot and Charging, the latter vastly improving his damage output and performance. On tier 3 get Toxic Shot and Leg Shot as soon as possible, all while focusing on improving his HP and AGI. Increased Drops is also a must for farming materials and loot.

You shouldn’t have enough Class Emblems for all available characters, but if you really want Robb equipped with one, Monk (for more AGI and HP) or Warrior (for more balanced stats).

End Game

On the final tier get Soul Parasite and Nature’s Mirror, and focus on his stats. Sleep Power is really good too, especially if you have the Sleep Extender Crystal. By now you should have the Advanced Class Emblems unlocked, so I strongly recommend having him learn Suspicious Darts from the Gambler.

For accessories, if you use his Traps often, then Leaf Hood is a must. Otherwise, he works fine with anything. Accessories that increase AGI are valuable to give him faster turns.

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.