GOLDEN SUN CLASS SETUP GUIDE v1.50
============================ =====
By Christopher Goss, aku chi (forum name)
Golden Sun is copyright 2001 - 2003 Nintendo of America, Co. Ltd.
This document may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise
distributed publicly without advance written permission. Most of the class
statistics and psynergy data I provide were found on Terence Fergusson's
"Battle Mechanics" Guide at
http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/golden_sun_2_mech.txt. All
trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
You may e-mail me asking questions about Golden Sun that directly relate to
class structure at
[email protected]. I don't check my mail very often, and
you may find your answers quicker by looking at other Golden Sun websites.
=====================
== VERSION HISTORY ==
=====================
v1.0 : 7/5/03 : Original Release
v1.01 : 7/7/03 : Fixed format problem
v1.11 : 7/10/03 : Added class stats to the link battle sections and fixed other
small errors
v1.50 : 4/03/05 : Rewrote most of the guide to reflect my changed opinions
Split the guide in two: GS and TLA
==============
== FOREWORD ==
==============
I've owned Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age for a long time now, and I
have, for the most part, done everything that I want to do with these games.
I’ve found the class system to be the most intriguing part of the Golden Sun
games. I've been experimenting and studying the class system of Golden Sun
and Golden Sun: The Lost Age for many years, and I may finally have become the
MASTA CLASSA! I have since decided to document some of my findings in this
guide.
This guide is not meant to teach the basics of class architecture or to give a
list of all the classes in the game. If you want that information, I suggest
that you read one of the many other guides at GameFAQs.com that reveals that
knowledge. This guide is meant to help you choose a class setup that is both
unique and powerful.
These abbreviations will be used throughout the guide:
HP: Hit Points
PP: Psynergy Points
Att: Attack
Def: Defense
Agi: Agility
Luc: Luck
ACR: Aku chi’s Combat efficiency Rank (out of ten)
=======================
== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==
=======================
I The Class System
II General Strategy
A. Single elemental classes
B. Triple elemental classes
C. Double double
D. Triple double
E. Triple triple
F. Double triple
G. Double elemental classes
H. Comparative psynergy board
I. Final Comments
III Link Battle Strategy
A. Warrior classes
B. Intermediary classes
C. Spell casting classes
D. Together now
IV Important Battles
A. Tret
B. Saturous
C. Killer Ape
D. Manticore
E. Kraken
F. Toadonpa
G. Storm Lizard
H. Deadbeard
I. Saturous and Menardi and the Fusion Dragon
======================
== THE CLASS SYSTEM ==
======================
The class system in Golden Sun follows a few simple rules that can produce
many unique class setups. Changing a character’s class will completely change
that character's stats as well as the psynergy techniques that are available
to him/her. Classes also affect the elemental levels of each character. The
number of set djinn can determine elemental levels. Each character starts out
with 5 elemental levels of one particular element:
Isaac: Earth
Garet: Fire
Jenna: Fire
Ivan: Wind
Mia: Water
Each djinn you set adds 1 level of that particular type. What do elemental
levels do, you might ask? Each level adds 5 elemental power and 5 elemental
resistance of that type. Elemental levels make an adept’s psynergy attacks
stronger and help that adept resist others’ psynergy attacks. Let me explain
the relationships between the elements in detail here. I stole this concept
from TFergussen because it makes my class descriptions much simpler. All
elements have an affinity, an opposite, and a neutral element. Here's a handy
list to explain:
______________________________________________
|__Base__|__Affinity__|__Opposite__|__Neutral__|
|__Earth_| Fire Wind Water
|__Fire__| Earth Water Wind
|__Wind__| Water Earth Fire
|__Water_| Wind Fire Earth
Let's look at how classes affect character stats. Each character has a set of
base stats, which are adjusted each time he/she gains a level. You may also
equip stat changing items such as weapons to add to that character’s stats.
Furthermore, each djinn gives him/her a set amount of stat bonuses that
differs between each djinn. The class he/she’s in then further adjusts all of
these stats together. The stats you actually see are worked out like this:
(Base Stats + Djinn Bonuses + Equip Bonuses) * Class Bonuses
The Class Bonuses are multiplied to all the other Bonuses combined, which is
why you will rarely see a weapon that says Attack +128 actually giving an
adept 128 attack points. Knowing this, you should try to equip the highest
offensive weapons to your characters with the highest class attack bonuses,
and likewise with defensive armor. I suggest that you choose your adepts’
classes before assigning equipment to make the most use out the particular
classes’ strengths. Djinn can also be manipulated to give the best results.
It makes more sense to give a djinni with an attack bonus to an adept in a
warrior class like Samurai. You should be able to find djinn stat bonuses in
most Golden Sun websites, so I won't bother to mention them here.
Now let's look at how classes affect a character's psynergy. Every adept can
control one, two, or three elements. For every element that an adept
controls, he/she will learn psynergy of that element. The particular psynergy
that is available for a character is determined solely by the class he/she is
in. Classes can be arranged into sets that share the same base psynergy. As
more elemental levels are added to an adept, that adept can advance up through
different tiers of a class set. In addition to gaining elemental levels, this
adept will gain stat increases and may learn additional psynergy. At this
time, I’m going to explain what types of top tier classes are available to you
with a maximum of seven djinn per character. I’m going to group these classes
according to how many elements they can control.
Single Elemental Classes: Adepts with six set djinn of their base type will
be in a single elemental class. An example of this
is Isaac as a Lord (6 earth). The single elemental
classes generally have low stats. They also tend
to have a low variety of powerful psynergy.
Double Elemental Classes: Adepts with six set djinn of a non-base type and
one djinn set of their base type will be in a
double elemental class. An example of this is
Isaac as a Conjurer (1 earth, 6 wind). The double
elemental classes generally have high stats. They
tend to have a nice balance of available psynergy.
Triple Elemental Classes: Adepts with three set djinn of their affinity type
and three set djinn of either their neutral or
weakness type will be in a triple elemental class.
Also, if the said neutral or weakness djinn are
earth or wind, an additional affinity djinn will
change the class into another triple elemental
class. An example is Isaac as a Ninja (3 fire, 3
wind). Triple elemental classes have varied stat
bonuses. They also tend to have a great variety of
weaker psynergy.
======================
== GENERAL STRATEGY ==
======================
The most important decision regarding your class setup is determining how many
elements each adept should control. The more elements an adept controls, the
weaker that adept's psynergy will be. The fewer elements an adept controls,
the less psynergy that adept will have available to him/her. Additionally,
several of the top tier classes in Golden Sun have significantly higher stat
bonuses and are therefore preferable. You must balance both power and
versatility, and psynergy techniques and stat benefits to truly have a great
class setup.
This section is arranged as a class setup countdown. The ranks are entirely
my opinion. First, I will discuss the class setup as a whole. Then, I will
provide sample classes and discuss their pros and cons. Note that these
classes work best at level 54. After each class, I will list its stat
bonuses. At the end of the class stats, I will provide an additional rank
(out of ten) that reflects my general opinion of how well that particular
character and that particular class perform in combat. I will provide the
average rank for the sample class setup as a whole when each class setup is
introduced. At the end of the end of the class setup countdown, there is a
table that compares the available psynergy of all the sample class setups.
==(#7)SINGLE ELEMENTAL CLASSES(ACR: 7.8)==
In this class setup, all the djinn of each character's base type is set to
That character. This causes each character to focus on one element. The
obvious advantage is the absurdly high elemental power and resistance in each
character's element. Each adept will have +60 in both elemental power and
resistance, yielding the strongest elemental psynergy attacks in the game.
Another advantage is the specialization of stat bonuses. All of the class
bonuses will lead up to their character's strengths. The greatest advantage
is the ability to place djinn on standby for summoning without much of an
elongated stat drop. However, there are several profound cons of being in
this setup. Each character is restricted to only one element. This means
that there will be only two healers on the team. It also means that each
character has a relatively low number of psynergy techniques available to
him/her. Additionally, the stats are the lowest you can achieve using top
tier classes.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Ivan - Magister (6 wind) 130% 170% 110% 120% 160% 110% 8.5
Garet - Champion (6 fire) 170% 110% 130% 140% 100% 100% 7
Isaac - Lord (6 earth) 170% 110% 140% 130% 140% 100% 9
Mia - Paragon (6 water) 140% 160% 120% 130% 110% 130% 6.5
There is only one set of classes that can be created by using all single
elemental classes (shown above). This setup has one spell caster, Ivan, who
has the powerful Spark Plasma and some stat and status altering psynergy.
Ivan is weak, but massively powerful when alive. Garet is the party’s
attacker with Heat Wave but suffers from some sub-par stats. He could make
use of the stat altering psynergy at his disposal, but using Pyroclasm is
costly and rather ineffective. Mia is a great healer with great luck, but she
doesn’t have any effective attack psynergy and is rather weak. In fact, Isaac
is the only character with any versatility. He has decent stats along with
the two powerful psynergy attacks Ragnarok and Grand Gaia. Furthermore, Isaac
can heal with Revive and Potent Cure. His biggest downside is his shortage of
psynergy points, which hinder him from using his great psynergy every turn.
All in all, this setup lacks versatility and is rather fragile, but it has
powerful attack and healing psynergy.
==(#6)TRIPLE ELEMENTAL CLASSES(ACR: 8.5)==
The next five class setups are all good and are worth giving a try. In this
class setup, all four characters are in the triple elemental classes. The
obvious pro in this category is versatility. Every character can wield three
different elements. Summons cannot be used effectively without very careful
planning. The stats are pretty evenly spread and are good. The cons of these
class setups include a weak djinn spread and a lack of great classes. Nobody
will have higher than elemental level 5 in any element. This results in less
of a focus to be put on ranged elemental attack psynergy and more of a focus
to be put on elemental physical attacks. Because of the djinn requirements of
the triple elemental classes, only one Samurai/Ninja and one White Mage will
be able to be in a particular class setup at the same time.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Mia - White Mage (4 wind, 3 earth) 150% 180% 130% 130% 150% 130% 9
Isaac - Dragoon (3 fire, 3 water) 160% 130% 140% 140% 110% 130% 7.5
Garet - Samurai (4 earth, 3 wind) 190% 130% 150% 140% 140% 90% 9.5
Ivan - Ranger (3 water, 3 fire) 130% 160% 120% 120% 160% 120% 8
It is widely accepted that the White Mage, Samurai, and Ninja classes are the
best triple elemental classes in the game. However, in this setup, it isn’t
possible to have both a Samurai and a Ninja (it actually isn’t possible in any
top tier class setup). The remaining two classes must be a Dragoon and a
Ranger. Isaac as a Dragoon is the weakest link of the group. He has mediocre
stats and relies upon Cutting Edge for all his damage dealing. His healing
spells are nice but he doesn’t get Revive. Ivan as a Ranger is a good spell
caster with Pyroclasm and some stat and status altering psynergy but poor
stats. White Mage is a great healing and spell casting class with good stats,
Freeze Prism, Pure Wish, and Revive. Garet as a Samurai is the best warrior in
the game with the beloved Quick Strike psynergy technique. Additionally,
Garet has great durability and some stat boosters to boot. All together, this
is a pretty well balanced group of fighters. It excels at stat boosting but
it’s lacking really powerful ranged elemental attack psynergy.
==(#5)DOUBLE DOUBLE(ACR: 8.8)==
A setup that is not often used, the Double Double places two characters in
double elemental classes and 2 characters in single elemental classes. This
class setup has the potential for very strong psynergy attacks. Additionally,
most of the double elemental classes have great stats, yielding a decently
durable team. Summons can be used in the two single elemental classes
effectively enough. The asymmetrical layout of the djinn can produce
interesting psynergy overlap. It’s possible, for instance, to have three
healers in one party. The asymmetrical layout is also a downside because the
stats might not fit with each character’s strengths. Additionally, there just
isn’t any way to get four great classes this way.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Ivan – Sage (1 wind, 6 water) 150% 180% 120% 130% 170% 120% 10
Garet - Champion (6 fire) 170% 110% 130% 140% 100% 100% 7
Isaac - Lord (6 earth) 170% 110% 140% 130% 140% 100% 9
Mia – Sage (1 water, 6 wind) 150% 180% 120% 130% 170% 120% 9
Sage is, arguably, the best spell casting class in the game. It has a good
elemental distribution, Pure Wish, Freeze Prism, and Spark Plasma. It also
has the Impact series, Bind, and Break. Ivan’s stat distribution perfectly
aligns with this class and he is, in my opinion, the best adept in the game as
a Sage. Mia can’t quite make use of the psynergy points and agility bonuses
like Ivan, but she is still a skilled healer and spell caster. Lord Isaac is
a welcome addition to this party with the powerful Ragnarok and Grand Gaia
psynergy, in addition to possessing Potent Cure and Revive. Garet as a
Champion is the weak link because he doesn’t quite have the stats to be an
effective warrior. In conclusion, this setup has three great adepts with
fantastic ranged elemental attack psynergy and healing capabilities but it
lacks some durability and can’t deal targeted damage well. Additionally, this
party doesn’t have Cure Poison or Restore, so beware of status inflictions.
==(#4)TRIPLE DOUBLE(ACR: 8.8)==
This setup is very similar to the Double Double. It has three characters in
double elemental classes and one character in a single elemental class. This
is one step closer to all adepts being in double elemental classes; therefore,
the stats are great. Summons can only be easily used in the single elemental
class. Again, this setup is asymmetrical and it can therefore yield three
healers in one party. However, the asymmetrical layout is also a downside
because the stats might not fit with each character’s strengths, but there’s
more versatility in this setup than the double double.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Ivan - Magister (6 wind) 130% 170% 110% 120% 160% 110% 8.5
Garet – Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth) 180% 110% 160% 130% 150% 70% 9
Isaac - Guardian (1 earth, 6 water) 170% 130% 140% 140% 130% 120% 8
Mia - Water Monk (1 water, 6 fire) 150% 160% 130% 140% 160% 120% 9.5
I chose Ivan to be in the single elemental class because he has an
unbelievably powerful Spark Plasma among other useful psynergy.
Unfortunately, he is rather frail. Garet is a great warrior in the Berserker
class. He isn’t quite as durable as the Samurai, but his attack is even
higher and he has Revive. He has dangerously low luck so always be ready to
restore him to normal status. Isaac as a Guardian doesn’t have any good
ranged elemental attack psynergy but he does have both healing psynergy and
the elemental physical attack Cutting Edge. His stats are below average and
he is the weakest character. Water Monk is, arguably, Mia’s greatest class.
In addition to having great durability, Mia also has great psynergy including
Pure Wish and Freeze Prism. This team is well rounded and has great healing
capabilities, but it has poor stat altering psynergy and few ranged elemental
attack psynergy.
==(#3)TRIPLE TRIPLE(ACR: 8.9)==
It’s time to address the Ninja, Samurai, White Mage problem. It’s impossible
to have all three of the previously mentioned classes in any top tier class
setup. Therefore, if you want all three, the final adept will have to suffer
in a lower tier class. So, this class setup places three characters in triple
elemental classes and one character in a lower tier double elemental class.
The greatest pro of this setup is that three characters will be in classes
with very good stats. Another pro is that there will always be a few djinn
for leftover summoning. With Ninjas and Samurais running about, there should
be plenty of psynergy versatility. The con is an obvious one; the leftover
character has a class that is far inferior, particularly its durability.
You'll have to either spend all your time protecting and healing the lower
tier character, or you can just let him/her die. As is common with triple
elemental classes, the elemental levels are spread so thin that using ranged
elemental attack psynergy effectively is nearly impossible.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Ivan - White Mage (4 water, 3 earth) 150% 180% 130% 130% 150% 130% 9.5
Isaac - Ninja (3 fire, 3 wind) 160% 140% 150% 120% 170% 80% 9.5
Garet - Samurai (4 earth, 3 wind) 190% 130% 150% 140% 140% 90% 9.5
Mia - Ascetic (4 fire) 120% 140% 110% 120% 140% 120% 7
This is a very popular class setup. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan are all in great
classes that play up to their strengths. Ivan has great healing psynergy and
some ranged elemental attack psynergy and stat altering psynergy. Ninja Isaac
is an unusual and powerful adept with good stats but low luck. He has the
powerful ranged elemental attack psynergy Thunderstorm and three great
elemental physical attacks. Samurai Garet is, arguably, the best warrior in
the game with great durability, stat upping psynergy, and the beloved Quick
Strike. Mia as an Ascetic is amazingly fragile, but she has fantastic
psynergy if she is kept alive long enough to cast it. She has Freeze Prism,
Pyroclasm, the Wish series, the Restore series, and Break. There are two main
ways to play this class setup. You can either let Mia die and fight with
three adepts, or focus on keeping Mia alive. When Mia is alive, this is a
very well-rounded, capable team. When Mia is downed, the party loses most of
its ranged elemental psynergy and must rely on Isaac’s and Garet’s elemental
physical attacks.
==(#2)DOUBLE TRIPLE(ACR: 9)==
This class setup has two adepts in double elemental classes and two adepts in
triple elemental classes. Unfortunately, due to djinn arrangement, the triple
elemental classes cannot be White Mages or Samurais. The most pleasing aspect
about this setup is that you can have two great double elemental classes and
also have an exotic Ninja. This setup allows for some of the best classes to
come into play. It also has great versatility while maintaining some
good elemental power. This setup makes handling summons very difficult, if
not impossible. Also, this setup forces either a Ranger or a Medium into
play, something which is better avoided.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Ivan – Sage (1 wind, 6 water) 150% 180% 120% 130% 170% 120% 10
Isaac - Ninja (3 fire, 3 wind) 160% 140% 150% 120% 170% 80% 9.5
Garet – Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth) 180% 110% 160% 130% 150% 70% 9
Mia - Ranger (3 wind, 3 fire) 130% 160% 120% 120% 160% 120% 7.5
These sample classes share a strong similarity with the sample classes for the
triple triple. Ivan gets an upgrade into the beloved Sage class with great
healing and ranged elemental attack psynergy. Isaac is still the quick and
powerful Ninja with great attack psynergy. Garet takes a small step down into
the powerful Berserker class with the decent Planet Dive elemental physical
attack and status inflicting psynergy. Mia is the weakest link of the party
by far. She is a little low on durability and she doesn’t have amazingly
useful psynergy either. She can only use Pyroclasm, Bind, Break, and the Ward
series. This group is dangerously low on both healing and status altering
psynergy to couple its slightly low durability and luck. It does, however,
have fantastic status inflicting psynergy and good damage dealing potential.
==(#1)DOUBLE ELEMENTAL CLASSES(ACR: 9.5)==
Here we are; this is what Golden Sun class strategy all comes down to. The
double elemental classes are elite in Golden Sun. Not only do they have the
best stats, but they also have the perfect balance between psynergy
versatility and power. Therefore, the best class setup has all four adepts in
double elemental classes. There are a tremendous number of class setups that
have all four characters in double elemental classes but however you choose
your classes, you’ll usually end up with two healers and several very powerful
ranged elemental attack psynergy. The only downside that accompanies this
class setup is the difficulty involved in using summons.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Mia - Water Monk (1 water, 6 fire) 150% 160% 130% 140% 160% 120% 9.5
Isaac - Conjurer (1 earth, 6 wind) 170% 160% 140% 130% 160% 90% 9.5
Garet - Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth) 180% 110% 160% 130% 150% 70% 9
Ivan - Sage (1 wind, 6 water) 150% 180% 120% 130% 170% 120% 10
I am of the opinion that this particular class setup places three characters
in their best classes. Mia is in the durable, versatile Water Monk class with
Freeze Prism and some healing psynergy. Conjurer Isaac is a fantastic spell
caster and attacker. He has great stats along with Grand Gaia, Astral Blast,
and a slew of status inflicting psynergy. Ivan is in the best spell casting
class with Spark Plasma and Freeze Prism, and some healing psynergy. Garet is
the only character who isn’t in his best class but the Berserker class is most
definitely good. In addition to Planet Diver, he has Revive, the Impair
series, and the Haunt series. His stats are great except for his low luck.
All in all, this setup is fantastic all around but especially talented at
inflicting negative statuses. It’s a solid setup without weaknesses and I
can’t see any other ultimate class setup.
==COMPARATIVE PSYNERGY BOARD==
1Hl – Single adept healing psynergy (series)
AHl – Whole party healing psynergy (series)
Rst – Restore (and Cure Poison)
Rvv - Revive
Brk - Break
St^ - Statistic boosting psynergy (series)
Stv - Statistic dropping psynergy (series)
Inf - Status inflicting psynergy (1/2 point if psynergy is also an EPA)
EPA - Elemental Physical Attacks (1/2 point if psynergy is also an Inf)
180 – Powerful Ranged Elemental Attack Psynergy (one point per adept) #
200 – Very powerful Ranged Elemental Attack Psynergy (one point per adept) #
# (base damage)*((elemental level – 3)/40 + 1)*(range (max 2.33)/2) - PP
If # is greater than 180 it’s a 180, if # is greater than 200 it’s also a 200
___________________________________________
_________________________|1Hl|AHl|Rst|Rvv|Brk|St^|Stv|Inf|EPA|180|200|
|Single elemental classes | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
|Triple elemental classes | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 |2.5|2.5| 2 | 0 |
|Double double | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
|Triple double | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
|Triple triple | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |3.5|3.5| 3 | 0 |
|Double triple | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
|Double element classes | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
==FINAL COMMENTS==
It is very important to arrange the characters in your party properly. Avoid
putting your least durable characters in the middle of your party or next to
each other. Make it as hard as possible for your two most fragile characters
to be downed at one time. Place your weakest character on the outside next to
your most durable character. Have your second most durable character in the
other middle position next to your second most fragile character on the
outside.
Don’t have your characters try to do too many things or do things that they
can’t execute effectively. Don’t have an adept try to heal, stat alter,
inflict negative statuses, attack, and use ranged elemental attack psynergy.
Let each adept focus on one or two of these things and have their equipment
compliment their purpose. Additionally, don’t try to make Samurai Garet use
ranged elemental attack psynergy or have Sage Ivan attack. Let each character
stick to their strengths. Garet is naturally a better warrior than Ivan, and
Ivan is likewise a better spell caster. Let them do what they do best.
Finally, class setups aren’t all you need to perform well in combat. You need
good equipment choices and you need a battle strategy. Furthermore, you need
to combine classes, equipment, and strategy to perform optimally.
==========================
== LINK BATTLE STRATEGY ==
==========================
This whole section is approached from the viewpoint of playing with all
characters at or near level 54. If you are playing with characters at lower
levels, some of the mentioned psynergy won’t be currently accessible. If you
are playing at higher levels, certain psynergy won’t be as effective as others
and combat strategy will differ. Additionally, I prefer playing link battles
without using djinn or summons so I won’t mention in detail how to either use
djinn and summons or defend against the using of djinn and summons. Suffice
it to say, allowing the use of either Flash without summons, or summons
without Flash, will result in surprisingly long or short battles respectively.
Furthermore, I tend to prohibit the use of items in my link battles because
they needlessly elongate the game and they devalue healing, reviving, and
restoring psynergy.
All of the classes in Golden Sun can be divided into three categories
determined by the type of attack psynergy the adept in that class can
optimally perform. Warrior classes are those that deal damage using elemental
physical attacks. Spell casting classes are those that deal damage using
ranged elemental attack psynergy. Intermediary classes have the ability to
use both of these attacks effectively. I have compiled the best classes in
the game and categorized them below. Combinations of these classes form the
best link battle teams.
==WARRIOR CLASSES==
The warrior classes are categorized by high durability and high attack. Their
psynergy points needn’t be high as elemental physical attacks don’t use too
many psynergy points. Because of Garet’s natural durability and decent
attack, he is the best warrior. There are two exceptional warrior classes
with their pros and cons.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Garet - Samurai (4 earth, 3 wind) 190% 130% 150% 140% 140% 90% 9.5
Samurai Garet is great at soaking up damage. He also has a high attack bonus
and acceptable luck. His psynergy Demon Night and Helm Splitter can inflict
foes with negative statuses. Furthermore, he has psynergy to increase the
party’s attack, defense, and resistance. Samurai Garet has the most powerful
EPA in Golden Sun: Quick Strike. Quick Strike costs quite a lot of psynergy
points but Samurai Garet has a decent amount of them.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Garet – Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth) 180% 110% 160% 130% 150% 70% 9
Berserker Garet has great stat bonuses in all the appropriate areas. He has
the highest attack in the game, and can withstand serious damage. He also has
an unusually high agility rating, which is always good. He has the Impair and
Haunt series to help weaken enemies. Berserker Garet’s greatest asset is the
Revive psynergy. He is hands down the most durable Reviver. His EPA Planet
Diver deals decent fire damage. He does have very low luck so you may have to
restore him often.
==INTERMEDIARY CLASSES==
The intermediary classes should have a great variety of psynergy and well
balanced stats to go with it. An adept in an intermediary class should be
able to deliver strong ranged elemental attack psynergy and elemental physical
attacks. The intermediary classes should be flexible and able to adapt to
change. Isaac is perfect for the two great intermediary classes.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Isaac - Ninja (3 fire, 3 wind) 160% 140% 150% 120% 170% 80% 9.5
Ninja Isaac is exotic and powerful. He has well-rounded attack, durability,
and psynergy points. He has low luck but exceptional agility. Ninja Isaac
has both a powerful ranged elemental attack psynergy (Thunderstorm) and two
great EPAs (Annihilation and Death Plunge). In addition to dealing great
damage, these EPAs have a special infliction they can produce. Ninja Isaac
also has an elemental psynergy attack known as Shuriken that can hit all three
adepts. He also has the psynergy Mist that can wrap the whole enemy's party
in delusion.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Isaac - Conjurer (1 earth, 6 wind) 170% 160% 140% 130% 160% 90% 9.5
Conjurer Isaac has fantastic stats. He has greater durability than Ninja
Isaac and many more psynergy points. He is a little low on attack but he has
good agility and decent luck. He possesses the powerful Grand Gaia along with
the EPA Astral Blast. He also has the Impact and Ward series to increase
attack and resistance. He can use the Weaken series to lower the opponents’
resistance. He can also inflict negative statuses with Delude, Sleep, Haunt,
and Curse.
==SPELL CASTING CLASSES==
The spell casting classes must have loads of psynergy points to enable them to
use ranged elemental attack psynergy as much as possible. Good spell casting
classes also have a lot of the healing psynergy. Therefore, high agility is
useful because you’ll be able to heal your party at the start of each turn.
Ideally, good durability is preferred but the attack stat is unused. Ivan’s
stat distribution makes him naturally a better spell caster than Mia, but Mia
has one great spell casting class that Ivan doesn’t get.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Ivan - Sage (1 wind, 6 water) 150% 180% 120% 130% 170% 120% 10
Sage Ivan is the perfect spell caster with great psynergy points and agility.
He has high elemental power and great ranged elemental attack psynergy (Spark
Plasma and Freeze Prism). He also has the Impact series, Break, and Bind. He
functions as a healer with the Pure Wish psynergy. Unfortunately, he doesn’t
have Cure Poison and Restore. Sage Ivan is an offensive powerhouse and a
capable healer, with enough durability to get the job done.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Ivan - White Mage (4 water, 3 earth) 150% 180% 130% 130% 150% 130% 9.5
White Mage Ivan is very similar to Sage Ivan. His stats are almost as good,
trading agility for a little more luck. He has the same two ranged elemental
attack psynergy as Sage Ivan but his elemental levels aren’t quite as high.
On the upside, White Mage Ivan functions as a complete healer with Pure Wish,
Revive, Cure Poison, and Restore. Additionally, he has both a stat upping and
a stat dropping psynergy series.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Mia - Water Monk (1 water, 6 fire) 150% 160% 130% 140% 160% 120% 9.5
Water Monk Mia has great stats where it counts. She is the most durable spell
caster with decent hit points, and great defense and luck. Her ranged
elemental attack psynergy is great (Pyroclasm and Freeze Prism) and she also
has Break. She functions as a healer with Pure Wish, Restore and Cure Poison.
Water Monk Mia also has good elemental power. She’s the perfect adept to
bring your party back to being fighting fit.
==TOGETHER NOW==
In link battles it is also very important to arrange the characters in your
party properly. The same logic applies in link battles; place your weakest
characters on the flanks. In most link battle setups this simply means
putting your warrior in the middle.
If you are playing without items, it is absolutely essential that you have an
adept with Revive and an adept with Pure Wish. Luckily, all of the good spell
casting classes have Pure Wish. Therefore, you must always have a spell
caster in your party. Only White Mage Ivan and Berserker Garet have Revive,
so one of them must always be in your party. With those restrictions, there
are seven class setups you can make.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Isaac - Ninja (3 fire, 3 wind) 160% 140% 150% 120% 170% 80% 9.5
Garet – Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth) 180% 110% 160% 130% 150% 70% 9
Ivan - Sage (1 wind, 6 water) 150% 180% 120% 130% 170% 120% 10
This party specializes in damage dealing and status infliction and is very
speedy. Unfortunately, this party is very susceptible to status infliction
with low luck and no Cure Poison or Restore.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Isaac - Conjurer (1 earth, 6 wind) 170% 160% 140% 130% 160% 90% 9.5
Garet – Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth) 180% 110% 160% 130% 150% 70% 9
Mia - Water Monk (1 water, 6 fire) 150% 160% 130% 140% 160% 120% 9.5
This party is very durable and can deal pretty good damage to multiple
enemies. It is, however, a little low in stat upping psynergy and powerful
EPAs.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Isaac - Conjurer (1 earth, 6 wind) 170% 160% 140% 130% 160% 90% 9.5
Garet – Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth) 180% 110% 160% 130% 150% 70% 9
Ivan - Sage (1 wind, 6 water) 150% 180% 120% 130% 170% 120% 10
This party has pretty well-rounded stats except it’s a little low in the EPA
department. This party doesn’t have Restore or Cure Poison either.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Mia - Water Monk (1 water, 6 fire) 150% 160% 130% 140% 160% 120% 9.5
Garet – Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth) 180% 110% 160% 130% 150% 70% 9
Ivan - Sage (1 wind, 6 water) 150% 180% 120% 130% 170% 120% 10
This party is very strong in healing and ranged elemental physical attacks but
it doesn’t have good EPAs or many stat upping psynergy.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Isaac - Ninja (3 fire, 3 wind) 160% 140% 150% 120% 170% 80% 9.5
Garet - Samurai (4 earth, 3 wind) 190% 130% 150% 140% 140% 90% 9.5
Ivan - White Mage (4 water, 3 earth) 150% 180% 130% 130% 150% 130% 9.5
This is a great setup with powerful EPAs and good stat boosting and status
inflicting. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have Break or many strong ranged
elemental attack psynergy.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Mia - Water Monk (1 water, 6 fire) 150% 160% 130% 140% 160% 120% 9.5
Garet - Samurai (4 earth, 3 wind) 190% 130% 150% 140% 140% 90% 9.5
Ivan - White Mage (4 water, 3 earth) 150% 180% 130% 130% 150% 130% 9.5
This party has a nice blend of attack styles and plenty of healing. This
party has very low agility but exceptional luck.
| HP | PP | Att| Def| Agi| Lck| ACR|
Mia - Water Monk (1 water, 6 fire) 150% 160% 130% 140% 160% 120% 9.5
Isaac - Conjurer (1 earth, 6 wind) 170% 160% 140% 130% 160% 90% 9.5
Ivan - White Mage (4 water, 3 earth) 150% 180% 130% 130% 150% 130% 9.5
This group isn’t too durable but it has the healing capabilities to make up
for that. Additionally, this party has very high luck. This party is all
about ranged elemental physical attacks.
As you can see, there are plenty of viable options to choose from when you’re
playing in link battles. So pick the setup that’s best for you and start
playing.
=======================
== IMPORTANT BATTLES ==
=======================
Classes aren't only good for maxing out your stats and psynergy at the end of
the game. Changing your classes earlier in the game can prove beneficial if
you know what you’re doing. There are a few difficult battles where you might
want to rearrange your classes to help you win. If a boss battle isn’t
mentioned this means that using base classes will probably be the best way to
defeat that particular boss. I understand that the people who need the most
help with boss battles may not have all the djinn or be at very high levels.
Therefore, I list the required levels lower than what an average player would
be at, and I don’t require all the possible djinn at that particular point.
==TRET==
*Requirements:
1 earth and wind djinn.
All characters at level 6.
*Classes:
Isaac: Apprentice (1 wind)
Strategy: Use Gaia.
Garet: Guard
Strategy: Use Flare Wall.
Ivan: Seer (1 earth)
Strategy: Use Flash Bolt and heal with Cure.
==SATUROUS (atop Mercury Lighthouse)==
*Requirements:
1 fire, earth, and wind djinn. 2 water djinn.
Ivan and Mia at level 10, Isaac and Garet at level 11.
*Classes:
Ivan: Seer (1 earth)
Strategy: Heal with Cure Well and use Flash Bolt.
Garet: Page (1 wind)
Strategy: Use Astral Blast, Ward and Weaken.
Isaac: Defender (2 water)
Strategy: Use Cutting Edge and heal with Ply if needed.
Mia: Pilgrim (1 fire)
Strategy: Use Prism.
==KILLER APE==
*Requirements:
2 of each djinn.
Garet, Ivan, and Mia at level 12. Isaac at level 13.
*Classes:
Mia: Elder (2 wind)
Strategy: Use Impact on Isaac then use Plasma.
Isaac: Illusionist (2 fire)
Strategy: Use Planet Diver.
Garet: Defender (2 water)
Strategy: Use Mad Blast and Guard and heal with Ply.
Ivan: Diviner (2 earth)
Strategy: Heal with Cure Well and use Mad Growth.
==MANTICORE==
*Requirements:
2 of each djinn.
All characters at level 16.
*Classes:
Mia: Diviner (2 earth)
Strategy: Heal with Cure Well or use Froth Sphere.
Isaac: Defender (2 water)
Strategy: Use Cutting Edge or heal with Ply Well.
Garet: Illusionist (2 wind)
Strategy: Use Ward, Weaken, and Astral Blast.
Ivan: Wanderer (2 fire)
Strategy: Use Wind Slash.
==KRAKEN==
*Requirements:
2 fire djinn. 4 earth, wind and water djinn.
Isaac, Garet, and Mia at level 17. Ivan at level 18.
*Classes:
Mia: Cleric (4 water)
Strategy: Heal with Wish every turn.
Isaac: Ruffian (2 fire)
Strategy: Use Planet Diver.
Garet: Savage (4 earth)
Strategy: Use Impair and Planet Diver.
Ivan: Mage (4 wind)
Strategy: Use Impact on Isaac and Garet (alternate) until they're maxed. Then
use Bind, Ward, and Tornado.
==TOADONPA==
*Requirements:
4 of each djinn.
All characters at level 22.
*Classes:
Ivan: Shaman (4 earth)
Strategy: Use Blue Bolt and Revive when necessary.
Isaac: Savage (4 fire)
Strategy: Use Planet Diver and Revive when necessary.
Garet: Cavalier (4 water)
Strategy: Use Protect and attack and heal with Ply Well or Wish.
Mia: Scholar (4 wind)
Strategy: Heal with Wish and use High Impact and Bind.
==STORM LIZARD==
*Requirements:
6 of each djinn.
Isaac, Garet, and Mia at level 25. Ivan at level 26.
*Classes:
Mia: Ranger (3 wind, 3 fire)
Strategy: Use Resist, Bind, and Eruption.
Isaac: Dragoon (3 fire, 3 water)
Strategy: Use Cutting Edge. Use Ply Well and Wish Well when needed.
Garet: Ninja (3 earth, 3 wind)
Strategy: Just attack.
Ivan: Medium (3 water, 3 earth)
Strategy: Heal with Potent Cure and Revive. Otherwise, use Curse.
==DEADBEARD==
*Requirements:
All the djinn.
Garet and Mia at level 28, and Isaac and Ivan at level 29.
*Classes:
Isaac: Berserker (1 earth, 6 fire)
Strategy: Use Wild Growth, Impair and Revive (when needed).
Garet: Luminier (1 fire, 6 water)
Strategy: Use Fiery Blast and heal with Wish Well and Ply Well.
Ivan: Druid (1 wind, 6 earth)
Strategy: Use Bind and Wild Growth and heal with Revive and Potent Cure.
Mia: Sage (1 water, 6 wind)
Strategy: Heal with Wish Well and use Bind and Shine Plasma.
==SATUROUS AND MENARDI AND THE FUSION DRAGON (atop Venus Lighthouse)==
*Requirements:
6 earth and wind djinn. 7 fire and water djinn.
Isaac, Garet, and Mia at level 29. Ivan at level 30.
*Classes:
Isaac: Dragoon (3 fire, 3 water)
Strategy: Use Cutting Edge or heal with Ply Well or Wish Well.
Garet: Berserker (1 fire, 6 earth)
Strategy: Use Wild Growth, Impair, attack or Revive.
Ivan: Ranger (3 water, 3 fire)
Strategy: Use Resist or Deluge.
Mia: Sage (1 wind, 6 water)
Strategy: Heal with Wish Well or use High Impact or Hail Prism.