Romancing SaGa: Re;Universe has been one of the top gacha games in Japan since its release in November 2018, in large part because of its flexibility and frequent events.
The global version of Re;Universe is off to a great start and has launched with a lineup of styles very similar to the original Japanese release. However, the lineup is not exactly the same. Styles such as SS Emerald, Fake Robin, and Awe were introduced well-after launch in Japan, but are already present in global.
With the above in mind, we can assume global will take a completely different release route.
I myself have been playing the Japanese version of Re;Universe on and off since January 2019, and admittedly have no intention of being a global version player since my luck has been so great — but I’m certainly willing to help guide the English-speaking playerbase through global’s infancy as a long time SaGa fan.
I chose not to go the strict tier list route here because the game is unusually flexible in what is viable and what is not. Ultimately, you can do what you want with your parties; though there are events and special bosses that require certain sorts of party compositions for you to be able to clear.
The styles I cover below are simply my picks for the best units and styles currently in Re;Universe, based on how the game is going to grow with my knowledge of the Japanese version, its powercreep, and the current JP style lineup in mind without spoiling too much.
Romancing SaGa: Re;Universe Best Styles at Launch
Sophia (May My Prayers Reach You) (Supporter)
Sophia is the first SS healer most players will get because she’s a freebie, and she ends up being surprisingly relevant for those not lucky enough to get Princess White Rose, Lil (Narwhal’s Daughter), or choose not to give Undine Life Water later on. Healers are hard to come by.
Sophia is able to:
- Heal allies
- Reduce enemy ATK by a small amount
- When Sophia faints in battle, she will heal the rest of her allies.
Sophia has been a relevant character since her release because she’s a well-rounded healer with no real downsides. At the time of writing, there are three alternate Sophia styles in the Japanese version. This means there are a variety of skills you can choose from for this Sophia style to inherit. From Light Ball or Brush Fire for AoE damage to a range of debuffs.
Albert (Legendary Knight) (Defender)
This Albert is one of the very few styles in the entire game to have the Parry ability, which blocks all single-target damage coming to him for one turn at a mere 4 BP when upgraded.
This is a fantastic beginner style when paired with certain formations, because he allows your party to attack in relative safety. The problem is that he doesn’t put out any damage when using Parry, meaning you’ll need higher damage party members to compensate for his own lacking.
Albert is able to:
- Parry to reduce damage coming to himself
- Occasionally heal himself by a large amount at the beginning of a round
- Occasionally increase hate on himself when attacking
- Occasionally purge himself of status effects when attacking
Even now in JP, so long after this style was released, Albert is relevant. Either he suits your playstyle and pulled styles or he doesn’t.
If you want to run a Parry team and the game won’t cough up this Albert, you can use A Bear instead, as he does the job just fine.
Alkaiser (Alkaiser’s on The Scene) (Attacker)
Alkaiser remained incredibly relevant in JP R;U last year, and is easily one of the top Attacker styles in global. If you’ve played SaGa Frontier, then you know Alkaiser is also Red — so he can inherit skills from Red in Re;Universe.
Alkaiser is able to:
- Heal himself by a medium amount at a medium chance when attacking
- Occasionally recovers 1 BP when attacking
- Has a minimum 10 BP skill that deals both blunt and light damage
This style is able to keep itself alive with its chance to self-heal, meanwhile outputting a fair amount of damage. His other SS style is better, but it’s not out yet. An added benefit to putting the effort towards his great Attacker now is, if you do eventually get the other SS after it’s released, is all the Style XP you’ve accumulated on this one will be usable on the other.
Rouge (Nomad Seeking Power) (Attacker)/(Seeking My Other Half) (Jammer)
I’m not going to pretend I’m not biased here. Rouge is my absolute favorite character in Re;Universe, and his styles are the ones I can speak the most about since all of my parties in the Japanese version have had one of his styles since I got (Seeking) back in February 2019.
These two Rouges both have the skill Pain, but they function very differently. (Nomad) Rouge is more damage-focused, while (Seeking) Rouge is more durability and debuff-focused with higher BP costs.
A Rouge (My Name is Rouge) has three skills you’d want to inherit, depending on the situation. In particular, a minimum 2 BP skill that paralyzes, which it does very regularly. However it also has a poison ability and Energy Steal, which (Seeking) Rouge already has but can sometimes be useful on (Nomad) Rouge.
This all comes together to feed into an SS Rouge style that is not in global yet, that is a pure dark damage powerhouse and most welcome to almost all of the skills the other Rouge styles have. I could probably write an entire essay on using this character (not style, as all four are fun in their own ways) throughout the entirety of the game, but I digress. Let’s get to what you want to know.
(Nomad) Rouge S:
- Stun with Pain
- Has great stat growth (INT, WIL, CHA)
- 10 BP minimum S power single target damage
- Increases his own INT via a handful of abilities
- Lower stats than (Seeking)
(Seeking) Rouge SS:
- Stun with Pain
- Heal himself and deal damage with Energy Steal
- AoE blind using Vermillion Sands, with a minimum 12 BP cost
- Decrease hate on himself
- Occasionally heal when attacking
- Not the best stat gains (END, AGI) but higher Style bonus percentages
I cannot recommend the A rank’s paralyze skill enough on either Rouge (it procs incredibly frequently with high INT and CHA), but it’s up to your playstyle.
Azami (Light Armor is Important) (Attacker)
There isn’t much to say about Azami, except “Azami smash.”
Azami has remained relevant in JP because of her particularly large ATK-boosting abilities and the wealth of skill inheritance options that add some much-needed utility to this otherwise face-stomping style. Though, some may switch to Swimsuit Azami once she’s out in the global version, as that style also has immense ATK-boosting abilities while bringing more utility to the table through her whole kit.
Azami is able to:
- Smash (slash?) your parties’ way to victory without breaking a sweat
- Increase her own AGI when attacking
- Has a C power AoE attack with a 9 BP minimum
There is not much to say here, except that she really does deal that much damage and can be viable for some time.
Cat (This Cat Has Claws) (Jammer)
There are two big benefits to this Cat, over the other SS style for her that will eventually hit global. The first is that she has some decent jamming at relatively low BP cost, and the second is that she increases Aurum gains.
Cat doesn’t have particularly great stat growth (the only stat she gets bonus gains in is DEX) and she only does extra damage when her HP is full; but she can find a place on a party already packed with damage dealers.
Cat is able to:
- Increase Aurum rewards from battle
- Decrease enemy AGI by a large amount when attacking at a medium chance
- Has a minimum 3 BP stun with D power damage
- Has a minimum 6 BP skill that reduces enemy ATK
- An SS power minimum 9 BP nuke
Some players swear by this character, whether this style or the other SS that will come to global in time.
Gustave (Onwards, into Battle!) (Attacker)
There are going to be a lot of Gustave styles coming out over the coming months, with the other two SS styles being complete and utter powerhouses.
This one is still very good and has a place in teams that do not have a dedicated tank despite his Attacker label. This is one facet of the game newcomers will get used to as more styles roll out, as it’s not terribly uncommon for a style to break the conventions of its role.
Gustave is an Attacker, who happens to have a built-in taunt ability and self-recovery, along with a perpetual attack-boosting ability. What! What is right.
Gustave is able to:
- Reduce enemy END via attack
- Has an SS single target minimum 9 BP skill
- Increase his own ATK via ability
- Heal himself via ability
- Taunt at the start of a round for four turns
One of the things that eventually causes the other two Gustave styles to overshadow this one later on (aside from their similarly amazing kits) is that their stat increase percentages are much higher pretty much across the board and his taunt is not welcome in many party compositions.
Blue (Fated Mage) (Jammer)
This style taught me what the Japanese community refers to as ‘small fish processing’ — which is basically just wiping out small fry in auto battle.
This Blue style will eventually be a trash pull, but at this moment there is no better ‘small fish processing’ unit than this Blue; and his other SS style that will come later is still a quite powerful unit in the Japanese version.
To run this Blue effectively, you need Light Ball from A Blue (My Name is Blue), which has a high chance to blind enemies at a mere base 5 BP. With it, this Blue becomes the cornerstone of auto grinding teams and it’s likely he will be that way for some time in global.
Blue is able to:
- Increase his own INT when attacking
- Occasionally confuse an enemy at the start of a round
- Clear out swathes of weak enemies with ease
The other SS Blue (This is The End) is a much better lategame unit, and the stat gains you put into this one will go into the other.
Katarina (Leave This to Me!)
Katarina is one character the Japanese version seems determined to make me use, as I have all four Katarina SS styles, including the brand new (Wake Up!) for the 1.5 year anniversary.
This is the least powerful of the four SS Katarina styles, but this one’s stats will carry to the other styles like the others I’ve mentioned here that have more powerful variations.
(Leave This to Me!) Katarina is a mostly straightforward Attacker style, with the added benefit of BP recovery and very minor jamming.
Katarina is able to:
- Occasionally recover 1 BP when attacking
- Attack enemies in a row with a C power minimum 7 BP skill
- Reduce enemy AGI via SS minimum 11 BP skill
She and (Light Armor is Important) Azami are not all that different in terms of skills, BP costs, and skill powers. Azami simply deals damage, while Katarina has a debuff and BP recovery. If you have both, it’s up to whether your parties have jammers to determine which is better used.
—
Romancing SaGa: Re;Universe offers a lot more to players than most gachage. You’ll get frequent stamina-increasing potions and expedition tickets from events, jewels for most activities and frequent pulls, and a surprising amount of flexibility in compositions and progression.
You can follow the above advice if you’d like, but what matters most is that you find styles and compositions that suit your style and have fun following your own path. That is, of course, the SaGa way!
