This guide is meant to be a general resource for anyone looking into Sky Armor setups or that is struggling with Hard Mode

In Accessibility options, you can change the game difficulty by changing the Overdrive Area Size, Enemy Stats and Agressiveness. This will reduce the yellow Overdrive area significantly, and increase enemy stats by 15%.

In Sky Armor battles, you are very limited in your options to increase your stats or abilities. There are no shops to buy upgrades until very late in the game, and most of the time you are restricted to what you find. This, paired with the increased stats on enemies, make Sky Armor battles very tight in a lot of scenarios.

This guide only has gameplay tips about builds and strategies but wont include specific strategies or item locations. This is meant to be used with what you find in the game

Let's start with a few basics before moving on into builds.


Always try to get every chest in Sky Armor sections as it is the only source of Sky Armor upgrades for most of the game!!

Refer to Treasure/Cave Checklist if you are missing chests in the area. If you need to know if you are missing chests, recruit Vesta to your clan on the island with the arrows (north of Farnsport, in the middle of a lake).

Is of upmost importance as Sky Armors are very limited in progression options and equipment is mostly your only source of stats in them. Proficiencies add, but don't add nearly as much as equipment.

Also true for RAM spots. Even though there is a Deal that makes enemies drop RAM slots, most of them are less effective that what you can find in chests.


Grind Bowgun level 5 with all your characters ASAP. +5 AGI is huge and there are not many sources of AGI in Sky Armors. Enemies will start to outrun you eventually if you don't get this upgrade.

Other than that, there are no other notable stat boosters through the proficiencies, You will eventually grind most of them as every unequipped weapon gets around 50% SP from every fight. It gives up some nice stat boosts but for the most part you are better only maining one set of weapons to unlock its skills quicker and just using the latest upgrades.

I really recommend this guide A Look at Combat Mechanics Behind the Scenes for a lot of the reasoning that will come in the following sections

First, we will introduce the weapons classes there are and comment on their usefullness.


You can always have one melee and ranged weapon. Each one can give you up to 4 skills, making the 8 skills of the Sky Armor. You get more skills as you gain SP with the weapon type, although all other unequipped weapons types will grow as well at a rate of roughly half the SP.

Most weapons are not used for their skills per se, most damaging skills are quite close one to another, but for the unique utility they bring.

Every weapon type, either be melee or ranged, brings the same stats and are only dependant on their rank. The higher the rank, the more stats. So a Sword and Shield and a Great Sword of the same rank both bring the same ATK and DEF value, but a Sword and Shield S300 and a Sword and Shield S200 gives different amount of stats.

Don't ignore the stat differences on ranks, as they are huge and the game scales heavily on base stats. Because most builds will rely most on ATK or INT for their damage, and that there is only a single piece of every weapon type for every rank, you should try to avoid repeating weapon types across characters. You can sometimes use a downranked weapon if they don't use the offensive stat on it (ATK or INT) for their build, but you will lose defensive stat and be much squishier, so beware.


All Melee Weapons increase ATK and DEF,


Easily the best Melee Weapon for any AoE damage oriented build. Has the biggest average Phys Skill in Piercer at x2.2 multiplier. Berserker is also the biggest damage buff of the available. But what makes it shine is its last ability. Energy Flow is extremely good. It makes every character an AoE machine and has very good applications that will be commented on the builds section.


Really useful, it can be used as a versatile weapon for any kind of build and can arguably be even better than the Great Sword for Single Target. Attack Mode is a better Berserk in that it lasts for a long while and the damage buff amounts to an extra 30% more or less, while not being as punishing. Quick Repair is a great backup healing option, and paired with Defense Mode, are very useful for any support builds. Wild Slash too is a decent enough Phys ability, having a x2 multiplier (around 20% less than Great Sword)


Not specially useful, as a lot of its abilities are Single Target and Sky Armor fights are most of the time against pack of enemies. Still, defensive and offensive break can be useful if you have spare turns, and Smash averages to a x2 multiplier so it's not too bad.

Don't use them. They are extremely bad and are outperformed by the other 3 heavily. Leg Sweep and Overload are worse versions of Energy Flow (although it has applications in lowering enemy resistances to reapplication, but is dependant on turn order). Fast Switch is extremely useless. Finally, his only saving grace is Hornet Dance, that can interact with some bosses abilities that require multiple attacks to remove, but fails heavily as a damaging move (1.8x average, the lowest of the 4 weapons), so put it into a support build if it's really needed.


All Melee Weapons increase INT and MND.


The CC weapon, is recommended to always have one person with this weapon type maxed out. Paired with a Great Sword and its Energy Flow ability, you will be able to make the whole enemy lose multiple turns and is fundamental for survivavility. Most enemies don't have status resistances so with Inact and Blind/Silence Shot, you are ensured to have 2 free turns in every combat. Poison salvo is also a very strong ability, as it's basically a x6 ratio ability over 5 turns and poison ticks on the turns the enemy is on Inact.

Also, keep in mind that is the only ranged weapon that uses ATK for their moves so you might be okay using a downranked version, With 2 Bowguns you can set up for a 4 turn lock if you have people repeat the same move again as soon as the debuff is removed, as those will consume the resistance stacks, allowing you to reapply them for a second time again. Every time an enemy heals themselves of a debuff they need to have it reapplied 1 more time to take effect. You can plan your turns using this info to gain turns to heal or rebuff allies.


The DPS weapon, either for ATK or INT builds. Charge is quite broken. 150% multiplier means that you are basically getting 50% free damage every 2 turns and at a lower cost. That said, the weapon is quite rigid, as you lose the buff if you don't use it on the next turn. Plus a lot of self buff abilities only last for 3 turns so, even though it's still a dps gain, it's even more turns that you are locked into a rotation, making it quite an inflexible weapon type.

Another thing to note is that there are very few enemies weak to light/dark in sky armor battles. But given how weaknesses work (being a around 1.3 to 1.5 multiplies as seen on the bestiary), that means there is not much dps loss between an INT build with the Ether Cannon or using the Elemental Cannon against those enemies, while heavily outperforming against any Light/Dark weakness enemy. Still, the Elemental Cannon is much more flexible as it should almost always be getting damage bonuses from weaknesses without setup and will outperform slightly against enemies with Elemental weaknesses.

For single target ATK builds, however, this is the must have weapon and you will be losing a lot of damage otherwise.


The versatile INT weapon. Has access to all Elemental shots and, because most Sky Armor enemies have elemental weaknesses, you have a consistent source of damage amplifier every turn. No need for setup unlike the Ether Cannon makes it also a very versatile weapon. Will outperform the Ether cannon for most fights just because of the Elemental Damage, although only slightly as weaknesses range between 1.3 to 1.5 multipliers for the most part, not 2x like in other games.


The healer must have. Repair all is a must to survive most fights and you will want someone in the team always equipped with it. It has a much better ratio than the shields of the Offensive drone. It's magic attack is rather weak at just a x1 multiplier though so you are better sticking with the melee weapon of your choice for attacks, or just fill any needs moving the overdrive gauge or blocking damage.


The buffer drone. It's usefulness is really great, as the buffs amount to a 30% damage / damage reduction buff that stacks with other sources. But I found that it's hard to find a spot for it as you will need the healing of the Support drone, plus all the other weapons bring a lot to the table either in terms of DPS or Utility. It definitely has a spot when going for a 2 support team or if you can tank a few enemy hits while the CC sets out, though.

Once we have checked up the weapons, we can check up some combinations to see how they fare. We will be referring to those names later in the Team Compositions section later in the guide.


They are your main source of damage in battles.


Melee: Sword and Shield = Great Sword > Hammer and Shield
Ranged: Ether Cannon
Stats to look out for: AGI > ATK = Crit Damage > Crit Chance

Single target damaging build. Has short burst windows using the Charge ability. Great DPS potential for neutral damage and for disposing quickly of enemies.

Sword and Shield gives much more versatility while Great Sword has better bases and allows for short damage windows. The DPS is similar, although I have to check how exactly the Berserker buff and Charge buff stack.

Always use the highest ranked melee weapon available as damage scales greatly from ATK.

Your bread and butter is [Buff] > Charge > Piercer/Wild Slash > Piercer/Wild Slash. That means that you will be locked for a few turns at the start of the combat but you should be able to quickly dispose of any enemy in the first few rounds. You can mix heals or switch gears between damage windows to heal, recover TP or shift the Overdrive gauge. Against regular enemies you might skip the buff to get quickly into the charge rotation, as you'll be looking to reduce the enemy number quickly before the CC time is over.

It deals a fair more bit of damage compared to an INT build if there are no weaknesses just because of crits, specially with the right RAM. Although it gets outperformed by an INT build if the enemy is weak to Light/Dark, and is totally outclassed on AoE damage.


Melee: Sword and Shield > Great Sword
Ranged: Elemental Cannon = Ether Cannon
Stats to look out for: AGI > INT

Single target INT based build. Very flexible, being able to provide some support with the Sword and Shiled heal, while constantly getting damage boosts from enemy weaknesses,

Sword and Shield is preferred as the competition for Great Swords is huge, although the Great Sword charge ability can be used for shorter damage windows. With no need to use Energy Flow, you can just use Berserk Mode for a shorter 3 turn damage window or go for a charge for even more damage.

Elemental Canon is preferred a bit over Ether Cannon for a few reasons:
- Ether Cannons are very contested, although ATK builds can go for downranked Ether Cannons as they scale from ATK.
- Most enemies in Sky Armor are weak to Elemental Damage. Elemental Cannon is much more versatile and needs less setup because it doesn't have to use Charge to do competent damage, being able to usually strike enemy weaknesses.

In any case, the Cannon that has the element that can strike the enemy weakness will always outperform the other. Elemental Cannons have a lower DPS ceiling, but are more flexible and consistent.

Rotation:
Elemental Cannon: [Buff] - Elemental Shot
Ether Cannon (with Sword and Shield): [Attack Mode] - Charge - Elemental Shot (Go back to Charge)
Ether Cannon (with Great Sword): [Berserker Mode] - Charge - Elemental Shot - Elemental Shot (Go back to Berserker Mode)

In brackets it means it can be skipped depending on enemy composition and fight duration. For shorter fights or if you need to dispose of a target quickly it might be wise to skip the turn of setup and do it later when there is less damage incoming.


Melee: Great Sword
Ranged: Elemental Cannon > Ether Cannon
Stats to look out for: AGI > INT

AoE INT based build. Really good for regular battles and most bosses that have adds. Energy flow plus exploiting weakness allows for great DPS potential.

Elemental Canon is preferred over Ether Cannon for a few reasons:
- Ether Cannons are very contested, although ATK builds can go for downranked Ether Cannons as they scale from ATK.
- Most enemies in Sky Armor are weak to Elemental Damage. Elemental Cannon is much more versatile and needs less setup because it doesn't have to use Charge to do competent damage, being able to usually strike enemy weaknesses.
- As the AOE setup has an unskippable setup on Energy Flow, it becomes even harder to setup the whole combination of buffs. That said, it has a lot of burst potential although I'd have to check how the buffs exactly stack each other to know numbers.

In any case, the Cannon that has the element that can strike the enemy weakness will always outperform the other. Elemental Cannons have a lower DPS ceiling, but are more flexible and consistent.

Rotation:
Elemental Cannon : [Attack Mode] - Energy Flow - Elemental Shot - Elemental Shot - Elemental Shot
Ether Cannon: Energy Flow or [Berserker Mode] - Charge - Elemental Shot - [Either Energy Flow or Elemental Shot]. You can swap Energy flow for berserker mode for a bit more AoE at the expense of being vulnerable longer on the initial setup.

In brackets it means it can be skipped depending on enemy composition and fight duration. For shorter fights or if you need to dispose of a target quickly it might be wise to skip the turn of setup and do it later when there is less damage incoming.

They are the main source of debuff in your battles. They give you free turns where the enemy can't attack, while doing a fair bit of damage on top of that. All debuffs need to be reapplied one extra time before it takes effect again after every successful debuff activation. They all use the Bowgun. Because Bowguns don't scale with INT, is usually OK to use downranked weapons for these, as well as for their Melee Weapons (although they will lose in Poison Damage) as their main purpose is to get extra turns for the team.


Melee: Great Sword
Ranged: Bowgun
Stats to look out for: AGI > ATK = HP = DEF = MND

Totally required unit, specially in Hard mode where you will be overwhelmed a lot of the times by enemies. Your first priority is always to get extra turns for the team using Inact Shot together with Blind/Silence Shot, This, in combination with Energy Flow will make sure that the enemy team doesn't do any damage while you set up buffs or heal.

You should always open with Energy Flow. Then, depending on the incoming damage you are expecting, you have to make the decision between in which order to use your three shots.

- Poison shot: Poison acts in practice as a x6 multiplier attack which is HUGE. The sooner you use it, the better, but some times you won't even be allowed to have the turns at the start of a fight to use it. In those cases is ok to first use Inact/Silence/Blind shot to ensure that you get your first few turns for the team.

Poison scale with the damage (without crits) of the attack you do. So waiting a bit for a buff from an Offensive Drone or a Break in the enemy can be very useful to increase the damage.

- Inact shot: Will make enemies skip their turns completely. Really useful ability because it will skip also enemy support actions. It also disables their counters. And on top of that it means the enemies wont move the overdrive bar, which can be really good or really bad depending on where the bar currently is.

- Blind/Silence shot: Blind and Silence shot respectively make the enemies miss their attacks or be unable to cast spells. Unlike Inact, enemies will still act. This has a few interesting properties. One thing to take into account is that even if they don't hit you, they will still move the overdrive bar, allowing you to be in gear 2 for longer, and also will trigger any Counter abilities you have. The only downside is that if the enemy mixes Physical and Magical Actions, or use Support skills, they will still be able to do so, but that also means the other shot is still potentially useful to prevent damage. Keep in mind Silence doesn't affect Support skills, only Magic attack!!

So the Rotation is highly dependent on team comp and turn order. Can you resist some damage at the start? Open with Poison. You need a few extra turns to set up or remove some enemies first? Open with Inact. Do you need to move the Overdrive gauge at the right? Open with Blind/Silence. You might even want to skip Poison Shot and just repeat Inact/Blind/Silence shot to remove the enemy resistance and be able to apply it again in the next rotation! Or even just spam Blind shot for the cheap AoE damage (its TP cost is much cheaper than the others).

If you bring 2 AoE CC into the team, you can have them remove the resistances for the other to ensure that enemies have even more turns lost from the debuff. Keep in mind that this is a huge DPS loss as the other CCer can't really apply Poison and will be stuck just doing basic attack damage.


Melee: Sword and Shield = Hammer and Shield > Glaive
Ranged: Bowgun
Stats to look out for: AGI > HP = DEF = MND > ATK


You can also go with a slightly more supportive role using other Melee Weapons. Sword and Shield provides heals and more overall tankyness thanks to Defense Mode, while Hammer and Shield bring Breaks.

Your role is still to remove resistances to debuffs from enemies on any spare turns you have, specially against bosses where you will want them to be unable to act as much as possible. Start using your Melee weapon Defense Mode or Break, then switch to remove resistances from the enemies. Glaive can be useful with Overload depending on turn order, although it's outclassed by Sword and Shield and Hammer and Shield (or just regular AoE CC!!). Only use it if you need to remove some boss gimmick with Hornet Dance, otherwise the other options are better

You will always need at least one support in the team. Even with CC, without Heals or shields your team will be quickly killed before you can even kill any enemy. Items should only be used on Gear 0, as they are expensive and uncommon, and are outclassed by the healing abilities.


Melee: Sword and Shield = Hammer and Shield > Glaive
Ranged: Support Drones
Stats to look out for: AGI > INT > MND > HP = DEF


Heal and revive as necessary, Repair All has a really good ratio at 1.5 and you should be using it almost every turn to top your party (and plan any gear shifts to gear 0 in advance, using some CC or items with some backup member). You also have a Revive and a Status Heal, although depending on turn order it might be wiser to let some other teammate revive using Exchange Parts, then heal with Repair All.

You shouldn't use your magic ability unless you really have low ATK (and you shouldn't, as you should try to go for the highest Rank available at all times). Stick with your physical abilities. The magic ability has a very low ratio of 1 compared to 2 of most Physical Skills.

As for Melee weapons, Sword and Shield is slightly preferred, Defense Mode gives better healing throughput while making you a bit tankier, plus you have an emergency single heal with a better ratio. Hammer and Shield on the other hand bring Breaks which might be useful for dangerous foes or to quickly dispose of an enemy, or in the case the Sword and Shields are highly contested.


Melee: Sword and Shield > Hammer and Shield
Ranged: Offensive Drones
Stats to look out for: AGI > INT > MND > HP = DEF


The support build is focused about buffing and preventing damage. They don't have any direct heals, and HP Shield has a much lower scaling than Repair All (1, compared to 1.5 of Repair All) so usually the Healer is preferred to recover and mitigate damage.

You should focus on setting up your offensive buffs before your DPSs damage windows. Usually in the 1st or 2nd turn. Other than that, is good to set Command Defense as soon as possible but you should always try to have HP Shield from Shields Up active beforehand. A Healer or any other backup teammate should take care of the healing while you set that up.

Keep in mind buffs don't scale with Gear but HP shield does, so plan accordingly when to use each skill. If you can use a buff in Gear 1 while going back from Gear 0 it will be great. But it shouldn't be at the expense of not having any Shields active.

You shouldn't use your magic ability unless you really have low ATK (and you shouldn't, as you should try to go for the highest Rank available at all times). The magic ability has a very low ratio of 1 compared to 2 of most Physical Skills.

Your melee weapons should be used on any spare turns you have. Sword and Shield is strongly preferred to Hammer and Shield because it adds a buff that lasts for a long time and increases the HP absorved of the shield, as stacking on top of your own buffs as well. It also adds a single target heal which can be beneficial in case someone got focused. Hammer and Shield requires constant refresh of the Break debuffs to be effective, which is hard to fit while refreshing Shields/Buffs

We will be reviewing now different team compositions that work for Hard Mode. There is one general purpose one that should work for most regular and boss encounters, but you will find some other options that can fit your playstyle.

Each build will use the name given on the Build Section for simplicity sake


As a general rule of thumb, properly distributing your equipment using the highest ranked ones available will be always better than going for the best weapon type setup. The same goes for compositions: don't be scared to switch compositions for a while if you are lacking some equipment, although I always recommend to at least have one AoE CC to handle most encounters.

Also, prioritize Damage dealers when distributing equipment as Damage scales much better from ATK/INT than Healing or Damage Mitigation from DEF/MND.


AoE CC
AoE INT Damage
ATK Damage
Healer > Support

This works out for most fights and should be able to let you going once you get to proficiency 8 with the main weapons. Focus on control the first turns, while your AoE INT Damage weakens enemies and the ATK one concentrates on one target at a time. The Healer can provide support with breaks and heal as needed. Your goal should be to lower the number of enemies to a point where healing is manageable.

AoE CC
AoE CC > Support CC
ATK Damage / Single Target INT Damage
Healer > Support

Specially useful for bosses with adds, or problematic comps with a lot of AoE damage, where you might need to hold them out a little longer to buy you turns. Beware of the lower DPS capability, although your Single Target Damage dealers should do more than enough before the enemy gets too much resistance to your debuffs.

AoE CC > Support CC
ATK Damage/ Single Target INT Damage
Healer
Support

Specially useful for single target bosses. You should be able to overpower them with little problem to heal any incoming damage.


AoE INT Damage
AoE INT Damage
ATK Damage / AoE INT Damage
Support > Healer.

Very useful once you can survive a few hits from the enemies. HP Shield should allow you to resist the few turns while your team sets up. Beware of multiple enemies focusing one person though.