Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana – Guide to Best Skills for Each Character

Best Skills for Each Character

All credit goes to CHI CHI CHI!

Introduction

Skill levels do matter. It either gives faster animation or extra effects, aoe, range etc.

Easiest way to level skills is to spam them on a nest with bees while equipped with an SP ring and a Warrior Seal.

Adol

Best character hands down. Cleared Inferno on first game using this beast of a character.

• Tornado Sword – Bread and butter for bossing. Because this skill lingers, you can use it it 3-5 times when you are on Flash Move then do normal attacks for a few times, and it will deal the accumulated damage instantly. Not sure if this is intended but it is really broken. Another pro is you can get this fairly early in the game. Don’t forget to auto-lock first for accuracy.
• Force Edge – Probably the best mob clearing skill in the game. Decent damage, wide AoE, fast animation and low SP cost.
• Brave Charge – Just like Force Edge but with dash. I really love using this skill during Raids and Hunts. Alternative to Tornado Sword when bossing. (You can’t use the Tornado Sword trick on bosses with super high mobility, specific mechanics or long i-frames)

Laxia

The Weakest Character in my opinion. She doesn’t have a lot of good skills in her kit.

• Lethal Raid – Her best skill. Has an effect that works like flash move that slows down time temporarily. High SP Cost.
• Needle Break – Best breaking skill. Level 3 of this skill has a faster animation compared to the first 2 levels.
• Piercing Tempest – An okay skill in terms of damage and breaking power. Biggest downside is the very long animation.

Sahad

Has some okay skills but unreasonably slow.

• Magna Wave – Good range and damage but with high SP Cost.
• Power Strike – Okay skill with decent damage and reasonable SP Cost. This is more like a budget Force Edge
• Wild Appeal – Taunt skill. Might want to equip this when you have him as a party member if you’re playing in Nightmare or Inferno.
• High Wave – Spammy low cost skill. 4 pops of this has higher damage than 1 Magna wave. You’d want to use Magna Wave instead after you’ve gotten some SP rings.

Hummel

Decent Character. Deserves a slot in the main party.

• Counter Trick – Skill that made this guy a fan favorite. if you are bad at timing with flash moves and guard, this skill is for you.
• Judgment – Overlooked skill. Deals a lot of single target damage.
• Assault Rain – Skill you learned from Master Kong. Just like Judgment but you trade the range for AoE
• Firecracker – Might be good but costs a lot. I’d stick to Judgment or Assault Rain instead.

Ricotta

FBI Open Up.

• Triple Bang – Probably her best skill idk. long animation.
• Spiral Dive – Might be top tier if not for the really high SP cost. Good for clearing mobs.
• Mighty Orbit – Best stun in the game. Vulnerable during animation and you get dizzy after skill animation ends. The cons outweigh the pros. I’d stick to other skills.

Honorable Mentions:

• Bandit Tackle – Best utility skill. Really good for farming materials.
• Handmade Trap – Used for stacking ailments on enemies. Not effective on Nightmare and Inferno though.

Dana

Used her as third party member as soon as I unlocked her. SP rings highly recommended. You may also want to use medals on her to change her attack type since you’re already playing Adol

• Dragon Spirit – Increases other skills’ damage and reduces damage taken. 10/10
• Spiel Round Dance – Best skill to use early game since you haven’t unlocked the other skills yet. Also, best skill you can get in Dana’s Era, I think.
• Ice Age – replace Spiel for this skill. High damage, large AoE, slightly high SP cost and slow animation. Use after Flash Guard and don’t forget to activate Dragon Spirit First to maximize efficiency.
• Boomerang Edge – Spammy low SP cost skill with long range.

The Best Characters

Best Characters in Terms of Gameplay:

1. Adol.
2. Dana.
3. Hummel.
4. Ricotta.
5. Sahad.
6. Laxia.

Personality:

1. Ricotta – Best character.
2. Dana – Might be a tie between him and Sahad.
3. Sahad – Never boring with him around.
4. Hummel – Unexpectedly good backstory. You’ll know why he is the way he is.
5. Laxia – Worst.
6. Adol – For obvious reasons.