Spartan

Skills

A defensive-oriented class, Spartans excel at preventing and mitigating strong single-turn damage from enemy charge attacks. Spartans retain their utility all the way into end game, with parties of multiple Spartans taking turns preventing damage for the raid being a common tactic. Its only weakness is lower-value EMP skills compared to other classes.

•  Phalanx IIIAll parties gain 70% DMG CutTaking 70% less DMG
  Duration: 1 turn Damage Cut reducing damage taken for all elements.
  Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! and 40% Debuff Res. UpDebuff resistance is boosted
  Strength: 40%Duration: 1 turn . is great for surviving bosses' special attacks, with the added bonus of a debuff resistance boost. The damage cut is still 70%, like  Phalanx IIAll parties gain 70% DMG CutTaking 70% less DMG
  Duration: 1 turn Damage Cut reducing damage taken for all elements.
  Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage!., and thus requires additional help to reach full Damage Cut. Consider taking Carbuncles or another character with a shield skill that stacks with  Phalanx IIIAll parties gain 70% DMG CutTaking 70% less DMG
  Duration: 1 turn Damage Cut reducing damage taken for all elements.
  Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! and 40% Debuff Res. UpDebuff resistance is boosted
  Strength: 40%Duration: 1 turn . if the enemy will use a party wipe attack.  Phalanx IIIAll parties gain 70% DMG CutTaking 70% less DMG
  Duration: 1 turn Damage Cut reducing damage taken for all elements.
  Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! and 40% Debuff Res. UpDebuff resistance is boosted
  Strength: 40%Duration: 1 turn . is raid-wide as well. If all raid members co operate, skill use can be shared round-robin style so that the raid always operates under a 70% damage cut. Some late game raids have mechanics that ignore All-Element Damage Cut, so care should be taken before choosing to bring a Spartan to an end game raid.
•  GuardianGain DEF UpDEF is boosted
  Duration: 3 turns and Hostility UpMore likely to be attacked
  Strength: 50Duration: 3 turns.
  (Consumes 30% of charge bar.) provides some hostility-based protection to the rest of the party, but is very expensive in terms of charge bar cost relative to the benefit it gives. It can function as an additional SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
  (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
  when used with Guardian's Xiphos.
•  Centurion IITarget ally gains UnchallengedNext DMG received will be ineffective
  Duration: 3 turns or 1 hit. has use to protect a party member whose buffs will be dispelled on hit or who is operating in red HP. It can also be combined with SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
  (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
  to provide a limited party invincibility to strong single-target attacks. Situationally useful, depending on the fight and team.
•  Hardened ShieldGain 50% ATK UpATK is boosted
  Strength: 50%Duration: 3 turnsStacking: Single.
  Self-inflict DEF DownDEF is lowered (Can't be removed)
  Duration: 3 turns.
  Inflict DelayReduce a foe's charge diamonds by 1
  on a foe. provides a strong ATK up and Delay, which is a good combination for a single skill. The DEF down penalty is mitigated by the Spartan's innate DEF boost.  Hardened ShieldGain 50% ATK UpATK is boosted
  Strength: 50%Duration: 3 turnsStacking: Single.
  Self-inflict DEF DownDEF is lowered (Can't be removed)
  Duration: 3 turns.
  Inflict DelayReduce a foe's charge diamonds by 1
  on a foe. is usually Spartan's leading pick for the mandatory EMP skill.

In most circumstances it is recommended to take the minimum required EMP skills and instead bring utility skills such as  Double Trouble IIIGain 100% TA UpTriple attack rate is boosted
Strength: 100%Duration: 1 turn .
Spear: All parties gain 10% DA UpDouble attack rate is boosted
Strength: 10%Duration: 3 turnsWithout other buffs and 5~10% TA UpTriple attack rate is boosted
Strength: 5~10%Duration: 3 turnsMaximum effect at 3 buffs..
Axe: Inflict DA DownDouble attack rate is lowered
and TA DownTriple attack rate is lowered
on one enemy. or  ClarityRemove 1 debuff from all parties..  SubstituteGain SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
(Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
Duration: 1 turn . is also an option to provide more party protection as Aegis Boon will lessen how much it hurts the MC.

Notable Main Weapons

• Guardian's Xiphos is a decent choice for a Spartan mainhand that synergises well with Stamina-based teams. Its charge attack provides a damage boost and shields to the whole team. Provides Lethal Attack Dodged (1 time)Can withstand lethal DMG (Leaves 1 HP)
  and has a chance to gain SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
  (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
  on every turn and Spartan's support skills will help mitigate some of the damage taken from that activation.
  • Legionnaire's Humanity - Adds more HP to your MC. Always useful and provides a safety buffer to counteract the extra damage you'll be taking due to the random Substitute activations from the Xiphos's innate skill.
  • Legionnaire's Divinity - Adds SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
    (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
    Duration: 1 turn to  GuardianGain DEF UpDEF is boosted
    Duration: 3 turns and Hostility UpMore likely to be attacked
    Strength: 50Duration: 3 turns.
    (Consumes 30% of charge bar.) -- turning the skill into an expensive  SubstituteGain SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
    (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
    Duration: 1 turn . with more defense and hostility for 2 extra turns. This will provide a 50% DMG Cut via Aegis Boon while SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
    (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
    is in effect.
  • Legionnaire's Devilry - Enhances  Centurion IITarget ally gains UnchallengedNext DMG received will be ineffective
    Duration: 3 turns or 1 hit. with shields, allowing the protection to extend beyond one turn. Useful for certain teams, but requires committing to  Centurion IITarget ally gains UnchallengedNext DMG received will be ineffective
    Duration: 3 turns or 1 hit. as your skill of choice.

Given Spartan's defensive nature, it is best paired with Swords or Spears that heal the party, provide extra defensive options, or StrengthATK is greatly boosted based on how high HP is
-like effects. Strong candidates include:

• Hollowsky Spear requires a team of spear and katana users, but provides a significant amount of health regeneration power to the team on charge attack, as well as Supplemental Damage once team members are above 80% health.
• Last Sahrivar helps turn random elemental damage into consistently mitigatable Water damage for an Earth team, as well as providing more power through its Massive ATK multiplier. Consider bringing  SubstituteGain SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
  (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
  Duration: 1 turn . or  GuardianGain DEF UpDEF is boosted
  Duration: 3 turns and Hostility UpMore likely to be attacked
  Strength: 50Duration: 3 turns.
  (Consumes 30% of charge bar.) to help activate its stacking passive Supplemental Damage.
• True Purity Sunblade provides additional damage to your team as long as you keep the MC's health high, a Massive ATK multiplier, party-wide Uplift, and a strong blind for defensive purposes. Bringing a form of healing for the MC will help keep up the damage bonus.
• Autumn's Transformation gives a strong Armored bonus to the whole team on charge attack, helping to reduce incoming damage. Lower damage than some other options, but its multiattack is decent and its crit multiplier can complement a developing crit-based Earth grid.
• Sword of Pallas provides a small but reliable Damage Cut on charge attack, which can help mitigate the damage on turns where  Phalanx IIIAll parties gain 70% DMG CutTaking 70% less DMG
  Duration: 1 turn Damage Cut reducing damage taken for all elements.
  Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! and 40% Debuff Res. UpDebuff resistance is boosted
  Strength: 40%Duration: 1 turn . is on cooldown.
• Rhongomyniad - Mirror Image (1 time)Next one-to-one attack received will be ineffective
  (Effect removed on next all-foe all-ally attack)
  and 30% Debuff Res. UpDebuff resistance is boosted
  Strength: 30%Duration: 2.5 turnsApplied during the attack phase.
  On the next turn, it'll have 2 turns remaining. to the whole party on charge attack is a strong combination. The Unworldly ATK multiplier is the strongest EX multiplier available. Consider bringing a skill-damage heavy team to take advantage of the Skill Damage Cap Up.