By endgame, unique characters are your best units. That's because they have lower Recovery Time, this topic will be debated in the next session, and also because some of them have access to unique classes. If you're going to trust the A.I. you'll probably have to accept that some allies will get incapacitated once in a while. If you're on a no-Incapacitation run, this guide is not exactly for you. It's recommended you use an undead party instead.

Recovery Time determines how often a unit can take its turn, and how much faster/slower it will have its turn compared to other units. A unit with lower Total RT will act sooner than a unit with higher Total RT. Total RT is the sum of these components:

• Base RT - This is the recovery time a specific unit will have regardless of class or equipment.
  
  Character

  Base RT

  Ozma

  35

  Ravness, Hobyrim

  38

  Gildas, Folcurt

  40

  Olivya, Sherri, Lindl

  41

  Cistina, Cerya, Jeunan, Lanselot, Iuria

  42

  Denam, Canopus, Mirdyn, Ganpp

  43

  Arycelle, Ocionne

  44

  Vyce, Catiua, Warren, Xapan, Azelstan, Cressida, Deneb

  45

  Voltare, Felicia, Rudlum

  46

  Sara, Oelias

  47

  Donnalto, Bayin, Phaesta, Dievold

  48

  Ehlrig

  49

  Any Generic non-monster, Tamuz

  50

  Chamos

  51

  Berda the Younger, Obda the Younger

  53

  Agrikora, Any generic monster

  55
• Class RT - This is the recovery time a specific class has.
  
  Class

  RT

  Knight Commander, Gryphon

  20

  Cockatrice

  21

  Ninja, Necromancer

  22

  Octopus

  23

  Cleric, Patriarch, Familiar, Cyclops

  24

  Wizard, Lord, Ranger, Princess, Dark Priest, Astromancer,
  Shaman, Wicce, Songstress, Buccaneer

  25

  Archer, Rune Fencer, Swordmaster, Warlock, Priest, Vartan

  26

  Dragoon, Divine Knight, Juggernaut

  28

  Beast Tamer, Lich

  30

  All Dragons, All Golems

  31

  Warrior, Fusiler, Hoplite

  32

  Paladin, Hydra

  33

  Berserker, White Knight

  34

  Knight

  36

  Terror Knight

  38
• Equipment WT - Each piece of equipment has a certain weight (WT). Each point of WT is equal to a point of RT, and the total WT of all equipment a unit is wearing is added to the Total RT.
  
  • Cursed weapons have no weight.
• Weapon RT - Each weapon has an RT cost. It is only added to Total RT if the weapon is used to attack during a unit's turn.
  
• Movement RT - This is the RT cost assigned to each tile a unit moves during its turn, and is only added to Total RT if the unit actually moves.
  RT/move:
  
  • 3/tile - Familiar, Gryphon, Cockatrice
    
  • 4/tile - Warrior, Archer, Rune Fencer, Knight, Terror Knight, Berserker, Swordmaster, Dragoon, Ninja, Fusiler, Beast Tamer, Warlock, Divine Knight, Hoplite, Juggernaut, All Dragons, Hydras, All Golems, Octopus, Cyclops.
    
  • 5/tile - Wizard, Cleric, Necromancer, Lich, Lord, Ranger, Priest, Princess, Dark Priest, Paladin, Astromancer, White Knight, Shaman, Wicce, Songstress, Buccaneer, Knight Commander, Patriarch
    
  • 6/tile - Vartan
• Skill/Spell/Item RT - Each action skill, special attack, spell cast or consumable item has its own RT cost, and is only added to Total RT if the skill/spell/item is used during a unit's turn.

The game has bugs/problems as of 1.0.4 and many things don't work as they should:

• Some stats are now bad: AGI and AVD are quite meaningless now on Reborn, the base values will be enough to almost never miss and be missed, because of that, this guide never take them into consideration when choosing equipment and class growths.
  
  • AGI supposedly affects finisher status ailment application. (needs confirmation)
• The A.I. will NEVER use some buffs or debuffs. Among them are (sadly) Boon of Swiftness, Paradigm Shift, as well as all support Songstress Songs, all of which are immensely useful. Luminant Gauntlets and Snipe Gators ARE GREAT, but i will not put them on item sets normally. If you're controlling them manually, be sure to use them!
  
• Crushing, Slashing and Piercing bonus damage on weapons do work, but to a fraction of what they should;
  
• Crushing, Slashing and Piercing protection on equipment works differently than it should. You will only use the Anti-Type of the offensive type from your right hand weapon. And that works against all the damage types, as in, if you have a Crushing Weapon, any Anti-Crushing on your equipment will work for Slashing, Piercing, Crushing AND MAGIC;
  
  Ogre Ozma [Slashing Sword, Knight Commander, Ice, Attack 1326] using a Normal Attack vs Oelias [Witch, Earth, Defense 398] that has a Crushing Cursed Dagger and...
  • Winged Ring with Anti-Crushing 1 -> Damage : 849
    
  • Winged Ring with Anti-Crushing 10 -> Damage: 790
• Elemental bonus damage on weapons itself doesn't work, there's a same type bonus from using the weapon from affinity, but they don't seem to be adding the extra 8-15% listed on there properly; The extra damage will apply on two exceptions:
  
  • Exception 1: Attacking a weakness: If Ozma with Orácion (Light) attacks a DARK Enemy;
    
  • Exception 2: Attacking a weakness with a spell from a 1H Weapon: If Ozma with Orácion (Light) and a shield uses a LIGHT spell against a DARK enemy.
• Elemental protection equipment won't work. There's also two exceptions:
  
  • Exception 1: Struck by a spell or attack of an element that is strong against their affinity AND the attacker is wielding a weapon with an active elemental damage bonus (1H+Offhand for spells). The elemental resistance on the defender's armor that activates will be the one that is STRONG against the attack or spell's element.
    
    • If Olivya is a Water Shaman, has Malitza's Wand + Shield and takes an LIGHTNING Attack, Earth resistance will activate.
  • Exception 2: When the wearer is struck by an attack or spell that their affinity is STRONG against. The elemental resistance on the defender's armor that activates will be the one that MATCHES their affinity;
    
    • If Olivya is a Water Shaman, has Malitza's Wand + Shield and takes an FIRE Attack, Water resistance will activate.
• Racial bonus damage on weapons work;
  
• Racial protection on equipment will work;
  
  • The racial bonus damage a weapon gives will NOT work for spells. (See more on Magic)
• 2H WEAPONS don't give any of their bonuses offense-wise TO SPELLS. In other words, a mage with 2H Books, 2H Cudgels or a Rune Fencer with 2H Spears won't apply its offensive bonuses;
  
• 1H WEAPONS will only give its offensive bonuses TO SPELLS if there is something else equipped on the Left Hand slot. Also, anything on the Left Hand slot won't give its bonuses unless it's a shield;
  
• Chokers, elemental wands and other elemental items, like Robes and Armors will not improve elemental damage, be it for Spells, Finishers, instilled attacks or weapon attacks;
  
• Earring accessories are weird: The bonus to a weapon skill will only be relevant offense-wise for bomb item users, and the racial defensive bonus seems to be greater than it shows.
  
• Cyclops can use Instill Shadow, but it does nothing for them.
  
• Stat bonuses from weapons won't show up as buffing your character's defenses, they WILL apply, but only if equipped on the Right Hand. Shields will work normally on the Left Hand;
  
  Ogre Ozma [Slashing Sword, Knight Commander, Ice, Attack 1326] using a Normal Attack vs Oelias [Witch, Earth, Defense 398]
  • With Cursed Dagger from the picture -> Damage: 816
    
  • With Sticker+1 -> Damage: 866
    
  • With Sticker+1 (Right Hand) and Cursed Dagger (Left Hand) -> Damage: 866
    
  • With Cursed Dagger + Baldur Shield+1 -> [DEF 418] -> Damage: 783
  
  Did you know?
  • Some descriptions are wrong/incomplete:
    
    • Bridle, Envenom and Benumb Ninjutsus from Ninjas work for ranged weapons, they also have 100% chance to trigger the status on a hit;
      
    • Dragonslayer and Beastslayer skills from Dragoon work for ranged weapons, but Dragonsbane and Beastbane will only work for melee;
      
    • Stinky Feet from Cyclops status is stop, not shackle;
      
    • Paralysis Blade will also have 100% chance to trigger Stun on a hit;
  • 100% accuracy has a hidden benefit: If you activate a skill that grants you 100% accuracy and you are equipped with a weapon/skill that has a chance to trigger a status effect, you'll have 100% chance to trigger that status (unless the enemy is immune to it).
    
    • If an archer attacks with a Cupido Bow after activating Eagle Eye or Tremendous Shot, it will always Charm the enemy;
      
    • If a Flood Dragon activates Dragon's Eye, his Acid Breath will always Breach.
      
    • If a Dark Knight activates Fearful Strike and has a Claymore+1, his next normal attack will always Frighten and Breach the enemy;
    • Do note that you can still be parried! Fusils, Vigorous Attack and Eagle Eye bypass Parry.
      
    • Also note that this will not apply to FInishing Moves.
      
    • Here's a complete list of skills that allow that: Fearful Impact (Melee Attacks), Dragonslayer (vs Dragons), Beastslayer (vs Beasts), Tremendous Shot (Bows and Crossbows), Mighty Impact (Melee Attacks), Falling Blade (2H Katanas), Sharpshoot (Fusils), Eagle Eye (Ranged Attacks), Vigorous Attack (Melee Attacks), Dragon's Eye
  • Different Parry skills stack: (Needs confirmation) If your main hand and off-hand weapons have different levels of Parry, they will stack, giving you even better protection.

My suggestions for equipment have the following pillars:

• Crushing/Slashing/Piercing: Upon making some tests, it was concluded the difference between the three types is marginal at best. Common enemies don't seem to have innate resistances to either.
  Denam (Earth, Lord, Physical Attack 1413, has Axes 40 equipped)
  
  • vs Oelias (No Equips, Witch, Earth) - Defense 395
    
  • vs Agrikora (No Equips, Flood Dragon, Water) - Defense 610
    
  • vs Delphos (No Equips, Dark Dragon, Dark) - Defense 609
    
  • vs Anaxibia (No Equips, Baldur Golem, Earth) - Defense 615
    
  • vs Aiolides (No Equips, Hydra, Lightning) - Defense 545
    
  • vs Linos (No Equips, Cyclops, Lightning) - Defense 553
    
  • vs Berda the Younger (No Equips, Gryphon, Air) - Defense 548
  However, for most characters, Crushing is still the best typing DEFENSE-WISE. Lord Denam, for example, can go up to (without a shield):
  
  • 71 Crushing and 45 Humans;
    
  • 69 Slashing and 45 Humans;
    
  • 68 Piercing and 43 Humans.
  And any White Knight:
  
  • 70 Crushing and 45 Humans;
    
  • 68 Slashing and 45 Humans;
    
  • 62 Piercing and 45 Humans.
    
    
  • Which are the best weapons? Basically it's a combination of best Finishing Moves, Range and minimum Weapon RT.
    
    • Hammers are the best weapons overall. They can be light and have an elemental area FM at 30.
      
    • Spears are great, having reach, being able to hit two enemies at once normally and having and elemental area FM at 30.
      
    • Fists offer some ranged FMs and can also be light.
      
    • 1H Katanas are also nice, having ranged FMs, an area FM and low weapon RT.
      
    • Ranged weapons aren't as strong as they used to be anymore, in particular Bows won't ever be super strong, even with Ji'ygla's set.
  • Prioritize Humans: The final bosses at CODA4 are humans, most of the enemies at late Palace of the Dead are humans. If you're in doubt about which equipment to use, go for the one that gives extra damage/protection against them. If you're fighting Heavenly Generals your defenses mean very little to them and unless you have Phalanx or similar, you will probably die regardless.
    
  • Why [This Equipment]? Based on the two pillars above and the information on Crushing protection (section above), here are the numbers crunched:
    
    • Shields:
      
      • Aegis can go up to 18 Crushing, 17 Slashing, 12 Piercing and 15 Human.
    • Helmets:
      
      • Skull Mask can go up to 14 Crushing, 13 Slashing, 11 Piercing and 15 Human;
        
      • Fruede Helm can go up to 14 Crushing, 13 Slashing and 13 Piercing;
        
      • Holy Crown can go up to 12 Crushing, 12 Slashing and 12 Piercing;
    • Armor:
      
      • Aganista Lightcoat can go up to 15 Crushing, 13 Slashing and 16 Piercing;
        
      • Vikrant Icecoat can go up to 12 Crushing, 15 Slashing and 14 Piercing;
        
      • Ji'ygla's Darkcoat can go up to 16 Crushing, 15 Slashing and 13 Piercing;
        
      • Falcon Mail can go up to 16 Crushing, 11 Slashing, 14 Piercing and 16 Human;
        
      • Vikrant Mail can go up to 11 Crushing, 14 Slashing, 16 Piercing and 14 Human;
        
      • Garb of the Sages can go up to 14 Crushing, 14 Slashing and 14 Piercing (Alluring Dress has 5 Anti-Human and is inferior).
    • Gauntlets:
      
      • Ji'ygla's Bracers can go up to 17 Crushing and 14 Slashing;
        
      • Lightning Gauntlets can go up to 16 Crushing and 15 Slashing;
        
      • Fire Gauntlets can go up to 15 Crushing;
        
      • Luminant Gauntlets can go up to 16 Slashing and 15 Piercing;
        
      • Daedalus Gauntlets has 7 Crushing and 4 Piercing;
        
      • Snipe Bracers can go up to 16 Slashing and 13 Human.
    • Greaves:
      
      • Earthen Greaves can go up to 13 Crushing, 12 Slashing and 14 Human;
        
      • Watery Greaves can go up to 13 Slashing, 12 Piercing and 14 Human;
        
      • Shadowed Greaves can go up to 14 Slashing, 15 Piercing and 14 Human;
    • Accessories:
      
      • Winged Ring and Sidhe Ring can go up to 11 Crushing and 11 Piercing;
        
      • Crest of Fire has 25 Crushing, 25 Slashing, 25 Piercing and 5 Human.
  • Beware Falling Pits: Falling kills your characters. As such, if your character isn't Canopus, Iuria, a Winged generic, Divine Knight, Griffon or a Cockatrice, you WILL want flight.
    
    • Teleport prevents you from falling pits too, but it increases your character's RT by +1/square. Also, when your character teleports with a height difference your RT is improved even more. Teleport can be convenient for short animation times, however. And in very specific scenarios to go across a wall. Teleport IS also blocked by Ramapart Aura, which Flight isn't.
      
    • You can still die! If your character is Petrified/Leadened and/or dies from the hit that pushed him, flight and teleport won't trigger and he will die. Pay attention to your party roster and make sure nobody's missing after every fight. It should be extremely rare.
      
    • Why no Float, Waterwalk, Lavawalk? Cloud Shoes would be great to use together with flight and teleport, but float gets overwritten by them. Flight and teleport also ignore the movement penalties of moving in the water, you only need any equipment with Wade and that's enough. The problem with Lavawalk is that it OVERWRITES Wade/Waterwalk, that means you have to choose between moving on lava or water, and lava is much more uncommon.
  • Everybody should be prepared to deal with stilled undeads: Undead enemies remain stilled once defeated, blocking your path, if your character has nothing to deal with them, the AI may end up attacking it, loosing its turn.
    
    • If your character is not a mage, give him a Grimoire Exorcism, Radiant Orb, Staff of Purification or Oracion.
      
    • If your character is a mage, give him Staff of Purification, Heavenly Judge I or II, Exorcism I or II, Stardust I or II, Banish, Radiant Orb or Grimoire Exorcism.
  • Mages should have a 1H Cudgel and a Shield/Dagger: Because of the bug mentioned above, if your mage is not a Shaman, give him a Cursed Dagger instead, Parry II and no weight is better than the shield, don't sacrifice a unit for that Dagger or the mage may start stabbing enemies on the frontline. Mage Denam and Princess Catiua will have Cursed Swords, since they give Parry III instead.
    
    • Cudgels on the left hand WON'T IMPROVE YOUR RANGE.
    • A Cursed Dagger on the Left Hand will only give a bonus to HP/MP/Phys damage using it.
  • There are no MP Charms: I will eventually suggest to level up the characters with classes that have mid-to-high MP, since every other stat can be fixed with charms. This is not mandatory, having high Max MP will only affect items that heal MP based on percentages.
    
  • Equipment Sets There are certain combinations that when equipped together provide certain bonuses or access to normally unobtainable skills (you still have to equip them now), i will only mention the important one (See Reference Materials for all):
    
    • Reeking Set: Having 3 of the following: Odiferous Waster, Glistening Helm Reeking Armor and Musty Gauntlets makes opponents rarely attack with melee weapons and/or less likely to finish their turn next to the equipped unit
  • Why Malitza's Staff? It's simply the best staff for Charge 100 since it has weight 6 (Ripple's Rod is 7). Offense-wise, Elemental Wands will give you 1 more Magic, but defense-wise Malitza's gives you more VIT and RES. If you don't have enough of them, the elemental wands are almost as good.
  
  [EG+WR] means Earthen Greaves + Winged Ring and will be standard for all most characters.

Since Lord class has access to almost all skills and weapons (not Fusils), here are some Denam Archetypes to be chosen:

His recommended equipment will always be: Skull Mask, Falcon Mail, Ji'ygla's Bracers, Earthen Greaves and Winged Ring.

• MAX 71 Anti-Crushing and MAX 45 Anti-Human.

His recommended progression will be (grab Lord first and Princess later):

• If you're making a Physical Denam, then level him up as Warrior, Swordmaster then Lord/Buccaneer;
  
• If you're making a Mage Denam, then level him up as Rune Fencer, Warlock then Lord;

• The Hybrid
  Denam, Lord, Fire [RT 85]
  Spells: Salamander II, Instill Fire, Starfall II, Supernova II/Paradigm Shift
  Equipment: Cursed Hammer [Fire, Crushing, Anti-Humanoids].
  Skills: Hammers, Meditate IV, Reflection, Speedstar.
  Finishing Moves: Gaia Sunder, Crimson Reach
  Description: Ideal for A.I. controlled Denam, if well positioned he will activate Reflection on the front line with very low RT even without a Crest of Fire. Speedstar will grant him Quicken even when being controlled and Meditate IV should keep him using Crimson Reach and spells.
  
  
• The Double Attacker
  Denam, Lord, Lightning [RT 85]
  Spells: Instill Lightning, Heavenly Judge II, Drain Mind, Paradigm Shift/Gift of Renewal
  Equipment: Cursed Katana [Lightning, Crushing, Anti-Humanoids] x2.
  Skills: 1H Katanas, Mighty Impact, Double Attack, Speedstar/Sanguine.
  Finishing Moves: Thunder Blade
  Description: He doesn't need Meditate IV because Double Attack generates MP quite fast.
  
  • Why Katanas? Because Daggers are better on your mages and Swords have bigger Weapon RT. Do notice that Katanas prioritize DEX more than Swords, so if your Denam is full STR, it's probably better to use Swords.
  
  
• The Berserker
  Denam, Lord, Fire [RT 85]
  Spells: Instill Fire, Heavenly Judge II, Drain Mind, Gift of Renewal/Paradigm Shift
  Equipment: Cursed Hammer [Fire, Crushing, Anti-Humanoids].
  Skills: Hammers, Berserk, Preempt, Lament of the Dead/Fearful Strike.
  Finishing Moves: Crimson Reach
  Description: He doesn't need MP because he doesn't need Finishers. Instead he will just Berserk and go to the front-lines, killing everything (including maybe allies) with Preempt and counterattacks. Weakening their offensive and defensive powers with Frighten.
  
  
• The Tank
  Denam, Lord, Fire [RT 85]
  Spells: Gift of Renewal, Salamander II, Instill Fire, Heavenly Judge II/Paradigm Shift
  Equipment: Cursed Hammer [Fire, Crushing, Anti-Humanoids].
  Skills: Hammers, Lament of the Dead, Meditate IV, Phalanx.
  Finishing Moves: Gaia Sunder, Crimson Reach
  Description: He's a crazy tank with some offensive power. Gift of Renewal (manual only) will keep him alive even on the toughest fights. Salamander II and Heavenly Judge II are there for a little ranged action/undead dealing.
  
  
• The Mage
  Denam, Lord, Ice [RT 91]
  Spells: Wendigo II, Ice Requiem II, Heavenly Judge II, Paradigm Shift
  Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Cursed Sword [Generic].
  Skills: Meditate IV, Conserve MP, Conserve RT, Speedstar/Nature's Touch
  Finishing Moves: None
  Description: He will be fast! With Conserve RT and Speedstar he will nuke everything really quick and clear the map even better than a Shaman. Since Speedstar has a low proc rate, you might want more damage with Nature's Touch.
  
  • Why Ice? Because Olivya is Water, Sherri is Earth, Cistina is Air, Cerya is Fire, Catiua is Light/Dark, Liches are Dark, so for coverage, Denam should be Lightning or Ice, and Iuria/Deneb (if Shamans) the other one.

Those characters are your bread and butter and should be present in most 8~12 parties.

• Catiua, Princess, Light [RT 93]
  Spells: Wisplight II, Heavenly Judge II, Major Heal III, Ease II
  Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Cursed Sword [Generic], Holy Crown, Aganista Lightcoat, Daedalus Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 58 Anti-Crushing and 14 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Meditate IV, Engulf II, Holy Water, Cudgels/Princess's Whim.
  Finishing Moves: Pressure Whirl
  Description: She's your undead destroyer and a secondary damage-dealing unit, but also support unit. Won't be as strong as your shamans offensively.
  
  
  • Stinky Catiua
    Catiua, Dark Priest, Dark [RT 92]
    Spells: Hellhound II, Abyss II, Paradigm Shift, Spellcharge
    Equipment: Biblion Anatomie, [Empty], Glistening Helm, Reeking Armor, Musty Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAXes won't matter]
    Skills: Books, Meditate IV, Iron Maiden IV, Blood Gag IV
    Finishing Moves: Disembrain, Eviscerate, Devastate
    Description: Iron Maiden IV gives curse and poison to enemies around (2 tiles range), Blood Gag IV does the same for sleep and silence. Stinking set will keep her safe, give her a book or cudgel with low range to motivate her into going to the front-line, you can give her a Baldur Shield+1 for a little more firepower, but the faster she is, the more enemies get nasty statuses.
  
  
• Add 2~5 Shamans, priority: Olivya/Sherri -> Iuria/Cistina/Cerya -> Deneb.
  Olivya, Shaman, Water [RT 93]
  Spells: Undine II, Dread Vapor II, Starfall II, [Empty]
  Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Baldur Shield+1, Holy Crown, Garb of the Sages, Mage's Mitts, [EG+WR]. [MAX 53 Anti-Crushing and 17 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Cudgels, Meditate IV, Engulf II, Nature's Touch
  Finishing Moves: Pressure Whirl
  Description: Those are your main damage dealers, their job is to summon II things to death and charge MP until then, doing area damage and dealing with undead as a side job.
  
  • Only Three Spells? Yes! Meditate IV gives your character about 60 extra MP every charge, and if they activate it on round 1, they will use a cheap spell instead of charge 100, that means it will take a while for your shamans to start summoning.
    
  • Instill [Element] isn't worth it, because:
    
    • It has a animation time with a line that normally slows down the A.I.;
      
    • You don't want to motivate your spell casters to go to the front line and attack;
      
    • Elements don't really work well right now. Read the 'More on Magic' section, the element of the attack doesn't matter, only the element of the character attacking. Thus there's little point in covering your weak element with [Element] Attuned.
      
    • Your mage shouldn't be taking attacks on the first place. All my team suggestions include lots of rampart aura users. All mages will have +5 range from cudgels, maybe +2 from Engulf, they're supposed to be in the rear. The only damage to them should be from Cockatrices, Griffons, spells and archers.
  
  
• Add 1~3 White Knights, priority: Ravness -> Guildas -> Mirdyn -> Ozma (better as Intimidator)
  Ravenss, White Knight, Lightning Element [RT 89]
  Spells: Heal III, Awaken
  Equipment: Cursed Spear [Lightning, Crushing, Anti-Humanoids], Fruede Helm, Falcon Mail, Lightning Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 70 Anti-Crushing and 30 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Spears, Rampart Aura II, Velocity Shift, Paralysis Blade
  Finishing Moves: Scythe Wind, Giga Tempest, Spiral Scourge
  Description: These units have one main purpose: Velocity Shift your allies, which is done better with Boon of Swiftness. But they'll also hold the front line and deal decent damage. Spears allow them to attack from the mid-line, staying close to the mages so they can be affected by Velocity Shift too.
  
  
• Add 1~2 Intimidators, priority: Ozma -> Lanselot -> Generic Juggernaut.
  
  • Intimidate is a VERY useful skill for dealing with Phalanx Knights, Dragon Scale Dragons and Golems using Guardian Lock, since those are taken away. Expect some infinite fights otherwise.
• Triple Threat Ozma
  Ozma, Knight Commander, Ice Element [RT 86]
  Spells: Heal III
  Equipment: Oracion, Aegis, Baldur Helm +1, Vikrant Mail, Lightning Gauntlets, Shadowed Greaves, Winged Ring. [MAX 75 Anti-SLASHING and 43 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Swords, Intimidate IV, Ivory Tower II, Mighty Impact.
  Finishing Moves: Cherry Ronde, Vile Wound
  Description: She's a Triple Threat: not only swords are short ranged, forcing her to go to the frontline (and thus activating Intimidate), she also has a Finishing Move that poisons quite frequently, allowing her to kill even faster the Dragons, Golems and Paladins on her path. She too has Exorcism II and will use it with the A.I. frequently, allowing the mages to focus on killing other stuff. She'll be a great tank but an average damage dealer.
  
  • Do not give her offensive spells, the lack of spells is so she won't stay away from the enemies (thus not triggering Intimidate).
  
  
  • Hyper Offense Ozma
    Ozma, Knight Commander, Ice [RT 72]
    Spells: Heal III (do not give her offensive spells)
    Equipment: Cursed Sword x2 [Ice, Crushing, Anti-Humans], Bronze Helm +1, Falcon Mail, Lightning Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 57 Anti-Crushing and 28 Anti-Humans]
    Skills: Swords, Intimidate IV, Mighty Impact, Double Attack.
    Finishing Moves: Cherry Ronde.
    Description: This build is hyper-offensive. I opt for Swords on her, so she'll be closer to the enemy when controlled by the AI.
    
    
  • Tanky Triple Threat Lanselot
    Lanselot, Paladin, Ice [RT 106]
    Spells: Heal III
    Equipment: Oracion, Aegis, Fruede Helm, Vikrant Mail, Lightning Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 85 Anti-SLASHING and 45 Anti-Humans]
    Skills: Swords, Intimidate IV, Rampart Aura II, Phalanx IV
    Finishing Moves: Cherry Ronde, Vile Wound
    Description: A slower version of Triple Threat Ozma with the same capabilities, tankier but slower.

Those characters are circumstantial and should be used whenever convenient, Clerics are only listed for charm rewards that include them, since they're pretty subpar:

• Lobber Fusiler, priority: Hobyrim -> Folcurt -> Lindl -> Jeunan
  Lindl, Fusiler, Air [RT 90]
  Equipment: Cursed Fusil [Air, Piercing, Anti-Humanoids], Damasc Helm +1, Aganista Lightcoat, Snipe Bracers, Shadowed Greaves, Winged Ring. [MAX 46 Anti-PIERCING and 27 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Fusils, Lobber IV, Engulf II, Sharpshoot
  Finishing Moves: Atonement, Scatter Shot
  Description: His job is to be a PRIMARY HEALER, not a damage dealer, though he won't be a bad one. With lobber, your job is to keep your party healthy with items. A RANGER can do this job too, but with worse skills and bigger RT... A Ji'ygla Set Vyce will have 98 RT.
  
  • Why Piercing fusil: It's simply easier to max your defenses with a piercing weapon instead of crushing. Slashing would be perfect for it, but sadly it can't be made;
  
  
• Dragoon, priority: Hobyrim -> Folcurt -> Lindll -> Jeunan
  Jeunan, Dragoon, Lightning [RT 86] (Raised as Dragoon/Swordmaster)
  Equipment: Cursed Spear (Lightning, Crushing, Anti-Beasts), Bronze Helm+1, Falcon Mail, Lightning Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 59 Anti-Crushing and 31 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Spears, Beastslayer, Dragonslayer, Beastbane.
  Finishing Moves: Scythe Wind, Giga Tempest, Spiral Scourge
  Description: His job is to kill beasts and help the party in doing it. Griffons and Cockatrices are much more dangerous than dragons since they are faster, can pierce the frontline and go for the casters (also Petrify) and thus the choice.
  
  
• Songstress, priority: Iuria -> Generic Pumpkinhead
  Iuria, Songstress, Wind [RT 84] (Raised as Songstress/Shaman)
  Spells: Ardent Conga, Poised Arabasque, [ANY], [ANY].
  Equipment: Rabana's Tanbour, Holy Crown, Aganista Lightcoat, Daedalus Gauntlets, Earthen Greaves, Crest of Fire. [MAX 72 Anti-Crushing and 19 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Instruments, Meditate II, Echoing Voice, Resounding Voice.
  Finishing Moves: All
  Description: She is a UBER HEALER, she'll start the fight using Escalating Sanat and giving everybody on the front line Renewal, which is pretty much an auto-win button. The A.I. won't do that, so you have to control her manually on round 1. After that she's a brute unit, dealing damage with Instruments Finishing Moves powered by Meditate II.
  
  
• Terror Knight, priority: Hobyrim -> Folcurt -> Lindll -> Jeunan
  Hobyrim, Terror Knight, Dark [RT 93] (Raised as Swordmaster)
  Spells: Instill Shadow, Drain Heart, Drain Mind, Paralytic Wave/Sleep.
  Equipment: Cursed Hammer (Dark, Crushing, Anti-Humans), Skull Mask, Falcon Armor, Lightning Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 70 Anti-Crushing and 45 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Hammers, Lament of the Dead, Fearful Impact, Rampart Aura II/Concentrate.
  Finishing Moves: All
  Description: Your job is to frighten. Frighten is a VERY STRONG debuff that lowers both offensive and defensive powers on the enemy. With Concentrate you can also Sleep/Stun (A.I. won't do it).
  
  
• Lich, priority: Ozma -> [Non-Shaman sisters] -> Deneb/Canopus (if raised right)/Cressida -> Rudlum -> Oelias
  Cressida, Lich, Dark (raised as Necromancer/Lich) [RT 98]
  Spells: Hellhound II, Life Force, Starfall II, Banish/Paradigm Shift
  Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Cursed Dagger [Generic], Holy Crown, Garb of the Sages, Mage's Mitts, [EG+WR] [MAX 54 Anti-Crushing and 16 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Cudgels, Meditate IV, Engulf II, Salvation.
  Finishing Moves: None!
  Description: She's a 'Shaman' that doesn't have Nature's Touch because it doesn't work for Dark element. She also cannot equip Staff of Purification, but CAN use Starfall. Her main advantage is Salvation and Paradigm Shift (A.I won't use), acting more as a support unit by using Life Force and feeding MP to her allies.
  
  
• Cleric, priority: Hobyrim -> Folcurt -> Lindll -> Jeunan
  Folcurt, Cleric, Light (raised as Knight/Warlock) [RT 92]
  Spells: Heal IV/Boon of Swiftness, Major Heal III, Exorcism II, Ease II
  Equipment: Ripple's Rod, Baldur Shield+1, Glistening Helm, Reeking Armor, Musty Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAXes won't matter]
  Skills: Cudgels, Meditate IV, Mother's Blessing, Mother's Mercy
  Finishing Moves: All
  Description: Clerics only care about HP and MP. MND doesn't do much to help healing spells. It's fine if he goes to the front line to use Cudgel KMs, since the Reeking set will keep him safe. His main job is to Boon of Swiftness (if not on A.I.) and heal, however subpar that is.
  
  
• Archer, priority: Hobyrim -> Folcurt -> Lindll -> Jeunan -> Canopus/Ganpp -> Arycelle
  Arycelle, Archer, Lightning (raised as Swordmaster) [RT 95]
  Equipment: Cupido Bow, Damascus Helm +1, Aganista Lightcoat, Snipe Bracers, Shadowed Greaves, Winged Ring. [MAX 45 Anti-PIERCING and 27 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Bows, Engulf II, Eagle Eye, Tremendous Shot
  Finishing Moves: Slumber Shot, Flaming Blast, Empyreal Shot
  Description: Archers aren't good damage dealers, but they have both Eagle Eye and Tremendous Shot, both of these guarantee that an status will be triggered by the attack, as such, she can charm with Cupido Bow and Flaming Blast, Sleep with Slumber Shot and Stop with Empyreal Shot. All great statuses.
  
  
• Bomber Ranger, priority: Vyce/Azelstan
  Vyce, Ranger, Fire (raised as Ranger/Buccaneer) [RT 92]
  Equipment: Cursed Dagger [Fire, Slashing, Anti-Humans], Yama, Damascus Helm +1, Vikrant Icecoat, Snipe Bracers, Winged Shoes, Wasp's Earrings [MAX 39 Anti-SLASHING and 18 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Daggers, Double Attack, Lobber IV, Pincer Attack II
  Finishing Moves: All
  Description: With a +50 to Daggers skill, the damage of his bombs will be formidable (around 700), and can be improved even further by gathering strengthen buff cards. Two Yamas won't stack.
  
  • Why Slashing/Fire? Because of Snipe Bracers, it's the best combination for maximizing your defenses. Fire is just to add to Yama, which also gives you Firestorm II uses the A.I. might use. Yama can remain in the off-hand still giving its +30 bonus to bombs.
  
  
• Tanky Berserker Hobyrim -> Folcurt -> Lindll -> Jeunan -> Ganpp -> Pumpkinhead Golem
  Ganpp, Berserker, Fire (raised as Warrior) [RT 94]
  Equipment: Cursed Hammer [Fire, Crushing, Anti-Humans], Skull Mask, Falcon Mail, Lightning Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 70 Anti-Crushing and 45 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Hammers, Berserk, Sanguine Attack, Pincer IV
  Finishing Moves: Gaia Sunder, Crimson Reach, Dancing Sprite.
  Description: With maxed equipment and thanks to great equipment availability, his defenses will be as good as a tank, he will pretty much survive anything, go to the front line and kill anything (maybe even his allies).
  
  
• Ogre Fencer Hobyrim -> Folcurt -> Lindll -> Jeunan -> Ganpp/Canopus
  Canopus, Rune Fencer, Ice (raised as Vartan/Lich) [RT 92]
  Spells: Wendigo II, Instill Ice, Ease II, Heal III
  Equipment: Cursed Sword [Ice, Crushing, Anti-Humans], Ogre Shield, Ogre Helm, Ogre Armor, Lightning Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 51 Anti-Crushing and 14 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Swords, Meditate II, Nature's Touch, Conserve MP.
  Finishing Moves: Vile Wound, Cherry Ronde (or None!)
  Description: Built for dealing max damage with spells, since Ogre Set seems to boost it a lot. His defenses will not be extraordinary for a frontliner.

Why should mages use Ardent Mender A.I.? Because it's the A.I. that will most likely trigger Charge 100, and the faster you charge your MP the faster things die;
Why should front-liners use Stalwart Defender A.I.? They will try to stick together. That means that Velocity Shift will trigger more often on them. This A.I. also makes sure they'll use healing items when needed.
Why is Fusiler an Ardent Mender A.I.? Because his main job is to use Lobber IV and heal. Even with a great cursed weapon his damage will not be on the same level as the other front-liners and that's fine, because it'll trigger his healing focus.

Who should use Fierce Attacker A.I.? Funnily enough, any unit Intimidate IV counters, that means Phalanx IV units (Lord, Paladin and Knight), Guardian Lock IV Golems and Dragon's Scale Dragons. Stinky set users can also use this A.I. for good benefit, such as Dark Priest Catiua.
Who should use Distant Striker A.I.? Pure ranged units, like Archers and Blowgun Ninjas.

Back Row: [Empty] -> Olivya -> Cistina -> [Empty]
Mid Row: [Empty] -> Catiua -> Denam -> Sherri
Front Row: Ozma -> Gildas -> Ravness -> [Empty]

A.I.:

• Ozma, Ravness, Gildas and Denam will have Stalwart Defender;
  
• Olivya, Catiua, Cistina and Sherri will have Ardent Mender.

RT Order: Denam 85 -> Ozma 86 -> Ravness 89 -> Gildas 91 -> Olivya/Sherri/Catiua 93/ -> Cistina 94

Battle Flow:

• Denam may start Reflecting the party, hitting everybody but Ozma;
  
• Ravness may then Velocity Shift the party, hitting everybody but Ozma/Denam;
  
• Gildas is there for another Rampart Aura/Velocity Shift user, Lanselot works too.
  
• The frontline should be able to hold the line until the casters finish everybody;
  
• The casters should activate Charge 100 from the staff and Meditate IV in order to start building MP for spells.

Back Row: [Empty] -> Olivya -> Cistina -> [Empty]
Mid Row: [Empty] -> Catiua -> Iuria -> Sherri
Front Row: [Empty] -> Ravness -> Denam -> Lanselot

A.I.:

• Lanselot, Ravness and Denam will have Stalwart Defender;
  
• Iuria will start with Manual then Stalwart Defender after round 1;
  
• Olivya, Catiua, Lindll and Sherri will have Ardent Mender.

RT Order: Iuria 84 -> Denam 85 -> Ravness 89 -> Olivya/Sherri/Catiua 93 -> Cistina 94 -> Lanselot 106

Battle Flow Difference:

• Iuria starts with Escalating Sanat, giving Renewal to the whole party;

Add Fusilier Lindl to the mid row and Dragoon Jeunan to the front row in either one of the 8 member parties.
A.I.:

• Jeunan will have Fierce Attacker;
  
• Lindl will have Ardent Mender;

Back row: Olivya, Catiua, Cistina, Sherri
Mid row: Lindl, Denam, Iuria, Jeunan
Front row: Ozma, Ravness, Gildas, Hobyrim

A.I.:

• Denam, Jeunan, Hobyrim, Ozma Ravness and Gildas will have Stalwart Defender;
  
• Iuria will start with Manual then Stalwart Defender after round 1;
  
• Lindl, Olivya, Catiua, Cistina and Sherri will have Ardent Mender.

For a full A.I. party, replace Songstress Iuria for Shaman Cerya/Iuria;

RT Order: Iuria 84 -> Denam 85 -> Ozma 86 -> Ravness 89 -> Lindll 90 -> Guildas 91 -> Olivya/Sherri/Catiua/Hobyrim 93 -> Cistina 94

Battle Flow:
• Iuria may Renewal most of the party (Targets depend on Resounding Voice activating or not.)
  
• Denam may Reflect most of the party (not Hobyrim and Sherri)
  
• Ravness and Gildas may Velocity Shift the slowest party members, such as the casters and Hobyrim.

Cursed weapons were severely nerfed on Tactics Ogre Reborn, but are still among the best weapons overall. That happens because:

• They have no weight, allowing the user to act faster;
  
• Their weapon RT can be very low, again allowing the user to act faster. Crest of Fire can be equipped with the character as he uses the skill to lower the weapon RT even more (by 4), and IT WILL NOT BE LOST.;
  
  • As a reference, Dagda's Hammer has 12 weight, and weapon RT 46. A Cursed Hammer has 0 weight and can have 34 weapon RT. That's minus 24 RT when attacking!
• You can choose their element to match your character's element and the weapon's Finisher Moves. Some weapons like Fusils can't even have elements without being cursed weapons.
  
• Their statuses are still on par with endgame weapons.

There is a caveat, however: cudgels and books won't have Charge 100 (nor Exorcism), cudgels are also 2H and thus don't work right now (see Particularities and Issues section). That means they aren't recommended at all for mages.

Since only generic units can become weapons, here are some mechanics:
The weapon stats will be:

• ATK = STR + DEX * 0.3 (caps at 255?)
  
• DEF = (Unknown the formula so far, average is 7)
  
• HP bonus (cap of 127) = HP / 10
  
• MP bonus = MP / 10
  
• Damage type = derived from class, i will give suggestions for them.
  
• Damage type modifier (Crushing, Slashing or Piercing) = (Base STR + Base DEX) / 20
  
• Elemental type = derived from units own element.
  
• Elemental affinity modifier = (Base INT + Base MND) / 20
  
• Racial bonus type = derived class, i will give suggestions for them.
  
• Racial bonus modifier = (Base VIT + Base AGI) / 20
  
• Weight on weapon is always set to 0.
  
• RT on weapon = RT of unit (including equipment) / 2
  
• STR/VIT/DEX/AGIL/AVD/INT/MND/RES = Stat / 20.

• Since that's really important, the weapon RT is equal to the unit RT (always 50, since it's a generic) + the Class RT (See the table above) halved. So the lower the class RT, the better;
  
• Some classes have better growths than others, Divine Knight has the best overall growth for a 'human' unit, while Vartan has the best overall growth for a Winged unit, Songstress has the best growth overall, but Pumpkinheads can't be recruited with this class or at low level.
  
  • Divine Knights can only be recruited at San Bronsa third level as an event battle, which unlocks after CODA 1;
    
  • Vartans cannot be found, the best way to recruit them is to grab a few Humans from shop, level them up to 5 (it takes 400 experience), give them Recruit Skill (Rune Fencer, Cleric or Knight) and use them on Phorampa Wildwood at Adventurer's Gap or Snowmelt Stream, where you can easily find three or more Hawkman at the same time at lv5 to recruit, then class change them to Vartan and level up. Remember to retreat with your recruiters or they'll level up. Zombify them on level 5 so they won't level up or recruit them as zombies at that level on Pharompa Wildwood (Feral Shore has 2 Rune Fencers and 2 Knights) if you don't want to retreat.
    
    • Chapter 1 The Arkhaiopolis of Rhime has a Winged Archer at lv6;
      
    • Chapter 1 Lake Bordu has a Winged Archer lv7;
      
    • Chapter 1 Xeod Moors has three Winged units (Archer x2, Beast Tamer) at lv8;
  • Pumpkinhead Golems can be found at Palace of the Dead 10;

Thus, the ideal cursed weapon will have the lowest weapon RT possible, crushing damage, the matching element for a weapon's Finisher Move and a bonus damage versus human units. The unit using it will have a Crest of Fire equipped, the weapon itself and nothing else. The underlined element is my personal recommendation.

• Fists [RT 34]: Use a Vartan and give him either Fire or Dark element. He can only be dark by becoming a Lich.
  
• Daggers [RT 32]: Use a Divine Knight turned to Ninja and give him Wind element.
  
• 1H Swords [RT 34] : Use a Divine Knight turned to Rune Fencer and give him either Ice or Divine element.
  
• 2H Swords [RT 35-37]: Use a Divine Knight turned to Dragoon and give him Wind or Lightning element, but it will be Piercing and Anti-Dragons. Warrior will give Crushing/Anti-Humans for +2 Weapon RT.
  
• Axes [RT 35~37]: Same deal as 2H Swords, but element is now Ice or Earth;
  
• Spears [RT 34]: Use a Divine Knight turned to Rune Fencer and give him Lightning element.
  
• Hammers [RT 34]: Use a Vartan and give him either Fire, Ice or Lightning element;
  
• 1H Katana [RT 32]: Use a Divine Knight turned to Ninja and give him either Lightning or Divine element.
  
• 2H Katana [RT 34]: Use a Divine Knight turned to Swordmaster and give him either Fire or Dark element.
  
• Whip [RT 36-37]: Use a Vartan turned to Beast Tamer and give him Water element (Ice if you're giving it to Ozma). It will be Anti-Beasts, a Warrior can make it Anti-Humans for +1 Weapon RT.
  
• Instruments [RT 34]: Use a Pumpkinhead of Wind or Water element. It will be anti-Beasts.
  
• Blowgun [RT 32]: Use a Divine Knight turned to Ninja and give him either Ice, Lightning or Divine element.
  
• Bow [RT 34]: Use a Divine Knight turned to Archer and give him either Fire or Lightning element.
  
• Crossbow [RT 34]: Use a Vartan and give him Fire element;
  
• Fusils [RT 37]: Use a Divine Knight turned to Fusiler and give him either Divine or Wind element.
  
• Spellbooks: DON'T
  
• Cudgels: DON'T
  

Ogre's Blade has a special ability called Body Snatch. With it, a generic unit can steal the body of another one, retaining his MND, INT and Name. There are some particularities:

• You keep the class abilities of the previous class you had. EVEN IF YOU CLASS CHANGE with the new character. That means you can inherit the class skills from Warrior, Terror Knight, Dragoon and Juggernaut;
  
• If you turn your character into a Lich/Divine Knight before using Body Snatch, by doing that you can have their skills instead of the original class ones;
  
• If you Body Snatch a low level unit, you can level up and raise even more your INT and MAG;
  
• It doesn't work for Monsters and non-recruitable units;

That means that any generic unit can have Meditate IV, Fear Strike, Lament of the Dead, Nature's Touch, Reflect and such. That is great for any unit, since Meditate IV can be used to charge Finisher Moves. Here is the full list of skills you can give to a Body Snatcher:

Support

• Constitution II (Warrior/Terror Knight/Dragoon/Juggernaut/Divine Knight)
  
• Insight II (all)
  
• Pincer Attack II (Warrior/Terror Knight/Dragoon/Divine Knight)
  
• Steadfast (Warrior/Terror Knight/Dragoon/Juggernaut)
  
• Rampart Aura II (Terror Knight/Dragoon/Divine Knight)
  
• Sanctuary II (Divine Knight)
  
• Siege (Warrior/Dragoon/Juggernaut)

Weapon skills not included since class restrictions on equipment still apply

Action

• Seraph's Pact (Divine Knight)
  
• Demon's Pact (Lich)
  
• Absolution (Divine Knight)
  
• Sanctuary Shadow (Divine Knight)
  
• Shadowbreak (Terror Knight)
  
• Dragon's Wound (Dragoon)
  
• Rampart Shadow (Divine Knight)
  
• Double Impact (Warrior)
  
• Fearful Impact (Terror Knight)
  
• Dragonslayer (Dragoon)
  
• Beastslayer (Dragoon)
  
• Mighty Impact (Warrior)

Special

• Silent Song (Divine Knight)
  
• Requiem (Divine Knight)
  
• Day of Reckoning (Divine Knight)
  
• Poignant Melody (Divine Knight)
  
• Celestial Song (Divine Knight)

Auto

• Meditate IV (Lich), also Meditate II from Divine Knights
  
• Threaten IV (Juggernaut)
  
• Check IV (Juggernaut)
  
• Lament of the Dead (Terror Knight)
  
• Intimidate IV (Juggernaut)
  
• Evilsbane (Divine Knight)
  
• Engulf II (Lich)
  
• Salvation (Lich)
  
• Nature's Touch (Lich)
  
• Dragonsbane (Dragoon)
  
• Beastbane (Dragoon)
  
• Vigorous Attack (Warrior)
  
• Reflection (Lich)
  
• Concentration (Terror Knight/Lich)

To grab Ogre's Blade, you must:

• Be at a point in time after killing Nybeth in floor 100 of Palace of the Dead .
  
• Obtain the weapons Zephyros, Boreas, Notos, and Euros from Palace of the Dead and San Bronsa (Look at Reference Materials for information on that).
  
• Find Blackmoor in Floor 100 of Palace of the Dead. The liches in this fight have a high chance of dropping the Ogre Blade.
  
  • CODA2 doesn't block Blackmoor from appearing anymore!

As a UNIQUE ITEM, you may have only 1 Ogre Blade in your inventory at any time.

If you want to make some uber Generics, here are some suggestions (they WILL still have higher RT when compared to uniques):

Uber Lizardfolk Patriarch, Ice [RT 97]
Spells: Wendigo II, Iceblast IV, Avalanche IV, Drain Heart
Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Cursed Dagger [Generic], Holy Crown, Aganista Lightcoat, Mage's Mitts, [WG+WR]. [MAX 55 Anti-Crushing and 16 Anti-Humans]
Skills: Cudgels, Meditate IV, Engulf II, Nature's Touch
Finishing Moves: Pressure Whirl
Description: Almost as good as Shamans for raw damage, probably better if your INT/MND is uber. Won't have any undead-dealing means if not items;

Uber Human Ninja, Lightning [RT 89]
Spells: Chimaera II, Decoy, Bridle, Shadowbind
Equipment: Cursed 1H Katana x2 [Lightning, Slashing, Anti-Humanoids], Damascus Helm+1, Vikrant Icecoat, Snipe Bracers, Shadowed Greaves, Winged Ring. [MAX 60 Anti-Slashing and 27 Anti-Humans]
Skills: 1H Katanas, Meditate IV, Steeldance IV, Double Attack
Finishing Moves: All
Description: With uber INT/MND, your Ninjutsus will probably be very strong, Meditate IV allows you to use them more frequently, as well as your Finisher Moves.

Uber Knight, Fire [RT 104]
Spells: Heal III
Equipment: Cursed Hammer [Fire, Crushing, Anti-Humanoids], Fruede Helm, Falcon Mail, Lightning Gauntlets, [EG+WR]. [MAX 70 Anti-Crushing and 30 Anti-Humans]
Skills: Hammers, Phalanx IV, Intimidate IV and Meditate IV/Rampart Aura II
Finishing Moves: Gaia Sunder, Crimson Reach
Description: With Intimidate and Phalanx he's the best possible Front-Liner. Then it's either being better at holding the enemies or better at killing the enemies with Finishing Moves.

The Uber MP battery:
Uber Necromancer, Dark [RT 95]
Spells: Drain Force, Paradigm Shift, Banish.
Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Cursed Dagger [Generic], Holy Crown, Garb of the Sages, Mage's Mitts, [WG+WR] [MAX 54 Anti-Crushing and 16 Anti-Humans]
Skills: Cudgels, Meditate IV, Engulf II, Salvation
Finishing Moves: [Empty]
Description: With Drain Force and lower class RT than liches, necromancers make much better MP batteries, with uber INT/MND you will probably max MP with a single Drain Force use.

The Winter Lich:
Uber Lich, Ice [RT 103]
Spells: Ice Requiem II, Drain Force, Starfall II, Paradigm Shift.
Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Cursed Dagger [Generic], Holy Crown, Garb of the Sages, Mage's Mitts, [EG+WR] [MAX 54 Anti-Crushing and 16 Anti-Humans]
Skills: Cudgels, Meditate IV, Engulf II, Nature's Touch
Finishing Moves: Pressure Whirl
Description: With max INT/MND, Nature's Touch and Ice Requiem II things will die very quickly to him with a single hit (~2200 damage). Ice Liches can only be found on Pirate's Graveyard 'On Holy Ground'.

If you're willing to let go of the A.I., you'll only need ONE uber mage, like the Winter Lich. Accompany him with the following characters (get multiples of them):

Faerie, Familiar, Lightning [RT 97]
Spells: Lightning Blow IV, Instill Lightning, Heal IV, Boon of Swiftness
Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Cursed Dagger [Generic], Holy Crown, Aganista Lightcoat, Arkhiatros Mitts, [EG+WR] [MAX 54 Anti-Crushing and 14 Anti-Humans]
Skills: Cudgels, Meditate II, Lingering Kiss, Pumpkin Lure.
Finishing Moves: Pressure Whirl
Description: Despite having a lot of utility (heal, decoy, damage), their main job is only one: To use Lingering Kiss on your Uber Mage. That means his RT will go to zero and he'll act again immediately, thus killing more things. They can also use Charge 100 on him, if his MP pool is dry.

• Secret bosses on Palace of the Dead: There are two secret bosses there, they trigger on certain floors that allow 12 allies to be deployed. Retreating and going back will make them disappear:
  
  • Allocer (Floors 33, 53, 72, and 83): An Undead Archer with very large range.
    
  • Aym (Floors 39, 45, 81, and 89): An Undead Swordmaster who has Petrifog spell;
    
  Note: That's not my party. These pictures were sent to me by Darkfragrance.
  
  
• Heavenly Generals: Another kind of secret boss, you need to have a Heaven's Fork (not equipped) to make they appear on certain maps (it is used after the fight), which are made from Secrets of the Master recipe, something Nybeth or the enemy at floor 100 at POTD will drop.
  
  • 01. Vija (Berserker) - PoTD 86, drops Vaisravana (Fist);
    
  • 02. Enja (Rogue) - Pirate's Graveyard Memory of Turquoise, drops Yama (Dagger);
    
  • 03. Maitreya (Knight) - Phorampa Wildwood - Heart of Wildwoods, drops Kumbhira (1H Sword);
    
  • 04. Ijana (Knight) - PoTD 96, drops Ishana (2H Sword);
    
  • 05. Chandra (Dragoon) - PoTD 93, drops Kshuparaka (2H Axe);
    
  • 06. Vayu (Valkyrie) - San Bronsa - Floating Ruins 4, drops Pavana (Spear);
    
  • 07. Indra (Terror Knight) - Phorampa Wildwood - Wonder at the God's Above, drops Vajra (1H Hammer);
    
  • 08. Raksas (Ninja) - San Bronsa - Floating Ruins 8, drops Bakasura (1H Katana);
    
  • 09. Ahurama (Swordmaster) - PoTD 77, drops Asura (2H Katana);
    
  • 10. Asurama (Cleric) - PoTD 89, drops Sagara (1H Cudgel);
    
  • 11. Aditi (Ninja) - San Bronsa - Floating Ruins 16, drops Rahula (Blowgun);
    
  • 12. Saranga (Archer) - San Bronsa - Floating Ruins 14, drops Pajra (Bow);
  Pro Tip: These enemies will be much easier if you use a Zombie Army. Kill the Necromancer(s) first and that's it, you can't die, they can't kill you permanently. Do note that Asurama doesn't have exorcism means.
  
  
  TRIO vs CODA4
  If you fight CODA4 with only Denam, Catiua and Vyce and finish Lanselot last, you'll not only get a title, but you'll also have a chance of making him drop a relic Brynhildr, which is better than the one from the story.
  
  
  • It is recommended that the three characters receive as many charms as possible. More than 300 on a single stat is overkill already. Give MND and INT charms to Catiua, everything else to Denam and Vyce, but prioritize Denam.
    
  • It is also recommended that you give Denam and Vyce your best relics defense-wise, max a few of them if you can, that will make the battle A LOT easier.
  
  
• The Berserker Lord
  Denam, Lord, Fire [RT 78]
  Spells: Instill Fire, Gift of Renewal, Paradigm Shift, Boon of Swiftness
  Equipment: Cursed Hammer [Fire, Crushing, Anti-Humanoids], Skull Mask, Falcon Mail, Ji'ygla's Bracers, Winged Boots, Crest of Fire. [MAX 72 anti-Crushing and 36 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Sanguine, Berserk, Preempt, Lament of the Dead.
  Finishing Moves: None!
  Description: His job is to kill everything and everybody (maybe even allies if you forget). Only three Knight Commanders are immune to fear, so Lament of the Dead will be useful for taming the enemies and making they die faster.
  
  
• The Stinky Princess Catiua
  Denam, Lord, Fire [RT 89]
  Spells: Wisplight II, Boon of Swiftness, Heal IV, Ease II
  Equipment: Malitza's Staff, Cursed Sword [Generic], Glistening Helm, Reeking Armor, Musty Gauntlets, [Empty], Winged Ring. [MAXes won't matter]
  Skills: Meditate IV, Engulf II, Princess's Whim, Lucky Star
  Finishing Moves: Pressure Whirl
  Description: Her job is to use Boon of Swiftness on Denam, grab a few Magic cards and then kill things with Wisplight II. She also has Princess's Whim and Lucky Star and can use both on Denam, so he doesn't need Mother's Mercy and will crit more. Don't bother with Apocrypha spells, the enemies will just heal.
  
  
• The Coward Knight Vyce
  Vyce, Knight, Ice [RT 103]
  Spells: Heal III
  Equipment: Cursed Sword [Ice, Slashing, Anti-Humanoids], Aegis Shield, Fruede Helm, Vikrant Mail, Luminant Gauntlets, Watery Greaves, Winged Ring. [MAX 84 anti-Slashing and 58 Anti-Humans]
  Skills: Swords, Phalanx IV, Pincer Attack, Constitution II.
  Finishing Moves: Cherry Ronde, Venomous Strike.
  Description: His job is to survive and for some reason (unknown to me) all the enemies love attacking him. Really, he should just go grab 2 skill cards and activate Phalanx every turn. After that he can go help Denam on the front-line, poisoning the generic enemies and finishing off the weak ones. With Luminant Gauntles he can also use Boon of Swiftness on Denam when Catiua starts killing things with magic. Also be sure to give him lots of full-heal items, so that he won't need Gift of Renewal.
  
  Keep in Mind:
  
  • All of the Knight Commanders have Deathproof, that means they're immune to: Poison, petrify, sleep, charm, stop, curse and knockbacks;
    
  • Additionally Lanselot, Andoras and Volaq are immune to Fear.
  
  Flowchart:
  
  • Make Denam go right and attract the enemies, he will use Gift of Renewal on himself and keep recharging it whenever it ends; Aim for 1 Skill Card, 2 Power Cards and 1 Critical Card... Then just attack with him.
    
    • Prioritize killing Barbas, who can petrify, Volaq, who has Lament of the Dead IV and Intimidate IV and Oz, who can stop;
      
    • Balxepon also has Intimidate IV and can break your tactics, so he should go next;
      
    • Everybody else should be up to you, except Ozma, leave her to Catiua.
  • Make sure Catiua is always close to Denam, so she can take away any bad statuses the enemies give, aim for at least 2 Magic Cards and 1 Skill Card. Remember to use Boon of Swiftness with her on herself and Denam;
    
    • Only Catiua should try to kill Ozma, since she'll activate Ivory Tower II pretty much always;
  • Make Vyce go left, his job is to stay out of reach, grab two skill cards then join the fray, always activating Phalanx IV.
    
    • Keep him away from Volaq and Balxepon until they're dead, otherwise Intimidate IV might kill him.
  • Martym can poison and IS a nuisance, but he also has Risk Management, be careful not to kill Lanselot attacking him! He probably won't fall easily.
    
  • Avoid Lanselot as much as you can, he will eventually give DEVOLVE, which gives you 10 negative levels, but if you have the right equipment and the right amount of charms you should still be fine. This isn't a status, Princess's Whim and Mother's Mercy won't remove it.

Here's an Explanation on how and why i selected the mage build spells, first i did some testings:
Iuria (Ice Shaman lv50, Magic Attack 668) vs Oelias (Earth Cleric lv50, no equipment, Magic Resist 392)

• Missile Spells:
  Iceblast I -> 267 dmg, Range 3~6, MP 15, Area 1, RT+13
  Iceblast II -> 316 dmg, Range 3~6, MP 25, Area 1, RT+15
  Iceblast III -> 358 dmg, Range 3~6, MP 35, Area 1, RT+17
  Iceblast IV -> 400 dmg, Range 3~6, MP 45, Area 1, RT+19
  
• Indirect Spells:
  Avalanche I -> 232 dmg, Range 5, MP 25, Area 1, RT+15
  Avalanche II -> 274 dmg, Range 5, MP 45, Area 2, RT+19
  Avalanche III -> 253 dmg, Range 5, MP 50, Area 3, RT+20
  Avalanche IV -> 309 dmg, Range 5, MP 70, Area 3, RT+24
  
• Apocrypha Spells:
  Ice Requiem I -> 393 dmg, Range 3, MP 70, Area 2, RT+24
  Ice Requiem II -> 442 dmg, Range 3, MP 90, Area 3, RT+28
  
• Draconic Spells:
  Ice Over I -> 309 dmg, Range 5, MP 60, Area 2, RT+22
  Ice Over II -> 344 dmg, Range 6, MP 80, Area 3, RT+26
  
• Summon Spells:
  Wendigo I -> 390 dmg, Range 3, MP 45, Area 2, RT+19 (2-4 hits)
  Wendigo II -> 390 dmg, Range 4, MP 70, Area 3, RT+24 (5-7 hits)

Which led me to the conclusion that Summon spells are the best spells for damage overall. Apocrypha spells are by far the best area damage.

I've made the following test, knowing that:

• Ice is strong vs Wind and weak vs Fire
  
• Water is strong vs Fire and weak vs Lightning

Iuria (Ice Shaman) vs Oelias (Wind Cleric, no equipment, RES 206)
Iceblast IV -> 478 damage
Aquablast IV -> 430 damage

Iuria (Ice Shaman) vs Oelias (Fire Cleric, no equipment, RES 206)
Iceblast IV -> 374 damage
Aquablast IV -> 326 damage

Conclusion being: The element of the spell doesn't matter, only the element of each character.

Olivya (Water Shaman) [Ripple's Rod with Anti-Human 10 and MAG 725 (Also Baldur Shield+1)]
vs Oelias (Earth Witch) [No Equipment, MDEF 395]
Dread Vapor: 486

Olivya (Water Shaman) [Ripple's Rod with Anti-Human 25 and MAG 725 (Also Baldur Shield+1)]
vs Oelias (Earth Witch) [No Equipment, MDEF 395]
Dread Vapor: 486

Spellcraft increases the spell damage by ~7%. It's questionable if it's worthy building a Songstress focused on using Ardent Conga on the party, not only the MP recovered is very small, but also Spellcraft is not that relevant.

Olivya (Water Shaman) [MAG 721] vs Oelias (Earth Witch) [Magic Resist 392]
1) Equipped with: [Malitza's Staff + Ring of Clouds with Anti-Crushing 1]

• Took 309 dmg from Undine II
  
• Took 462 dmg from Dread Vapor II
  
• Took 372 dmg from Starfall II

2) Equipped with: [Malitza's Staff + Ring of Clouds with Anti-Crushing 11]

• Took 288 dmg from Undine II
  
• Took 432 dmg from Dread Vapor II
  
• Took 342 dmg from Starfall II

Ogre Set: Having 3 of the following: Ogre Blade, Ogre Shield, Ogre Helm and Ogre Armor gives a huge boost to magical defense and large boosts to physical attack, magical attack, and physical defense.

Do notice that if you want to make a TANK character, Ogre Set is bad, here's the math:
Hammer Fire Denam [ATK 1478] vs
Ogre Ozma (Ice) - Knight Commander [RT 77]
Equipment: Crushing Cursed Sword, Ogre Shield [Anti-Crushing 5], Ogre Helm [Anti-Crushing 1], Ogre Armor [Anti-Crushing 5], Lightning Gauntlets [Anti-Crushing 16], Earthen Greaves [Anti-Crushing 6 / Anti-Humans 6], Winged Ring [Anti-Crushing 6]
Total Anti-Crushing: 39
Total Anti-Human: 6
Defense: 1044
Damage Recieved: 606

Hammer Fire Denam [ATK 1478] vs
Non Ogre Ozma (Ice) - Knight Commander [RT 78]
Equipment: Crushing Cursed Sword, Aegis Shield [Anti-Crushing 14 / Anti-Humans 14], Wyrmscale Helm [Anti-Crushing 3], Falcon Mail [Anti-Crushing 16 / Anti-Humans 16], Lightning Gauntlets [Anti-Crushing 16], Earthen Greaves [Anti-Crushing 6 / Anti-Humans 6], Winged Ring [Anti-Crushing 6]
Total Anti-Crushing: 75
Total Anti-Human: 36
Defense: 662
Damage Recieved: 388

...And if you want to do more damage:

Ogre Set Denam (Dark) [ATK 1560, MAG 996] [2H Swords 40]
vs Naked Ozma Knight Commander (Air) [DEF 459, MDEF 417]
Damage with Normal Attack: 1103
Damage with Word of Pain IV: 815

Cursed Hammer Denam (Fire) [ATK 1477, MAG 834] [Hammers 40]
vs Naked Ozma Knight Commander (Air) [DEF 459, MDEF 417]
Damage with Normal Attack: 1086
Damage with Sparksphere IV: 588

• The extra ATK didn't help his physical damage much but added 11 RT to him. Oddly enough, the magic buff was relevant enough to deserve recommendation.
  
• Even if it's great for mages, a Mage Denam will want low RT for Conserve RT + Speedstar abuse, and Ogre Blade will slow him down. On the long run, your DPS will be better without the Ogre Set.
  
• The BEST Ogre set user is, thus, your favorite Rune Knight/Valkyrie.

How Damage is Calculated in Tactics Ogre: Reborn [docs.google.com], thanks to charlesatan
Translated class growth rates sheet [docs.google.com], thanks to Wurmheart at Reddit
Dungeon drop table [docs.google.com], thanks to Katak at Gamefaqs/Steam.
A complete list of data mined drops , thanks to destroyermaker at Reddit
Auto Skill Activation Chances , thanks to Catdemons at Reddit
Item Sets Information [tacticsogre.fandom.com], on Tactics Ogre Wiki.
Quick guide to Reborn Body Snatching, and it's benefits [gamefaqs.gamespot.com], thanks to TalesofLizalfos and Sonasa at Gamefaqs
Body Snatch debate [gamefaqs.gamespot.com], thanks to Louishana at Gamefaqs
Cudgels bug debate [gamefaqs.gamespot.com], thanks to Whitren at Gamefaqs
Cursed weapons debate , special thanks to Wurmheart and ralwn at Reddit
Recovery Time Information [gamefaqs.gamespot.com], thanks to Rucession at Gamefaqs

For those who don't mind a little cheating:
Cheat engine with speed hack (saves you a lot of time using the A.I.) [www.patreon.com], thanks to ColonelRVH

Thanks to Nam Etag, darkflagrance, Coffee Potato and Ryo from the discord servers for lots of tips and feedback;
Thanks to DarkestSamus, Super Ourico, Mirage and Rosy66 here on steam for corrections and feedback;

31/01/2023 - Revised "Beware Falling Pits" section in 'Weapons, Armor and Accessories', removing Sidhe Ring as recommended equipment, it was also removed from all builds (may have missed some); Fixed Falcon Mail maximums and changed anti-Slashing builds to Vikrant Mail instead; Revised Ozma and Dragoon builds taking away Wyrmscale Helm for better defenses and RT;
12/01/2023 - Fixed the minimum RT for some cursed weapons that were wrong; Added 'How Damage is Calculated in Tactics Ogre: Reborn' on Reference Materials; Fixed Fusiler Lindll build (Slashing cursed fusils seem to be impossible); Switched Vyce's build to Slashing on the 'TRIO vs CODA4' section at 'Secret Challenges';
08/01/2023 - Added exceptions on Elemental Attack/Defense at 'Particularities and issues';
05/01/2023 - 'Crushing/Slashing/Piercing' added to 'Weapons, Armor and Accessories', modifying the previous 'Crushing Damage';
02/01/2023 - Added 'Racial Bonuses from weapons won't apply to spells:' on 'More on spells' section; Changed 2H Cudgels to 2H Weapons on 'Particularities and issues' section;
30/12/2022 - Fixed lots of mistakes pointed out; [Why this Equipment] now lists the best equipment for Crushing, Slashing and Piercing; Added 'Why slashing fusil?' on Lobber Fusiler build; Added MAX values on all builds equipments (except Stinky ones); Added 'Why Slashing/Fire?' to Bomber Ranger build; Added new optional builds, the 'Tanky Berserker' and 'Ogre Fencer', removed Dragons (too weak damage/defenses for endgame); Added 'suggested progressions for Denam' on his section; Added 'Winter Lich' and 'Pixies Army' on Body Snatch section.
here [github.com].