The story and world of Astria Ascending revolve around the force of harmony, kept in balance with a three-year cycle of demi-gods ascending to their powers. After their three-year tenure, they will, unfortunately, die. The game follows the eight heroes chosen for the 333rd cycle, led by Ulan.
Each of these eight heroes is distinct in their powers, combat role, strengths, and weaknesses. While a large part of the strategy in the game comes from knowing when best to use each of them, there are some characters who will shine in a more general way.
8 Arpajo
- Default Job: Thief
- Advanced Jobs: Dark Knight, Hunter, Shaman
Arpajo kind of suffers from being an offensive support character in a game where just being brilliant offensively without support is a superior option. He does have the honor of being the only Thief in the party, which allows him to steal items - but they are quite often just attack items only useful if you have an Alchemist.
One of his biggest drawbacks is his inability to hit many weaknesses at all. His weakness can be assuaged by the gimmicky abilities of the Dark Knight job but they're competing with the other, mediocre jobs that alter his role just as well. That is, to say, not much at all.
7 Kaydin
- Default Job: Explorer
- Advanced Jobs: Alchemist, Assassin, Hunter
Kaydin is a funny one when it comes to combat. She is the best darkness mage in the game bar none if you put a little effort into raising her magic stat, but that's about it when it comes to her Explorer abilities. Otherwise, she's just a very agile backup fighter with some utility options.
Being an Alchemist would at least provide Kaydin with more elemental options to make her an FP farmer, but it's a job that requires either significant money investment or time investment to acquire the attack items needed to make it work. She's not fantastic, but there are ways to make her useful when the better options are incapacitated.
6 Alassia
- Default Job: Summoner
- Advanced Jobs: Alchemist, Chronomancer, White Mage
By simply being the game's Summoner, Alassia is already a lot more versatile than many of the game's characters. Once you have collected a nice handful of Astrae to summon, Alassia has access to powerful party stand-ins (Final Fantasy 10-style) and every element possible.
The downside is that this strategy requires a lot of FP to make work and isn't as useful in battles against a lot of enemies with different weaknesses - which are the harder battles where a powerful Astrae would be most useful.
It is possible to make Alassia a lot more exciting and effective, however. Chronomancer abilities seem perfect for some gimmicky strategies that could enable better Summon usage in a pinch, and White Mage would make her a fantastic backup healer after Eko.
5 Alek
- Default Job: Soldier
- Advanced Jobs: Assassin, Warrior, Wushu
There is no doubt that Alek has a niche, and it's quite easy to see that it is physical damage. It's quite possible that you'll make Alek your best physical attacker completely on accident and it's no bad thing. He's even the key to the game's premier SP grinding tactic.
While he suffers in versatility, he can at least get some alternative combat options through his advanced jobs. Wushu, for example, will give him some light-elemental usability, while Assassin grants him darkness instead.
4 Kress
- Default Job: Fencer
- Advanced Jobs: Dark Knight, Guardian, Warrior
Kress seems perfectly built as a physical/magical hybrid. Her default class is stacked with elemental spells that are accompanied by an extra physical strike, making her great for dishing out super-effective damage as long as the enemy doesn't resist physical attacks.
Her advanced jobs are also a great bunch to have. Dark Knight has great options for anyone who can manage their healing and turn-order well, Guardian can help turn Kress into an off-tank, and Warrior is self-explanatory - more smash.
3 Ulan
- Default Job: Captain
- Advanced Jobs: Black Mage, Guardian, Harnesser
Ulan is the quintessential tank of Astria Ascending and will be a mainstay of most party compositions, especially if made a Guardian through a Main Job Crest. She can make enemies target her, defend her allies automatically, and even dish out some decent damage.
If tanking isn't what you want Ulan to do, Harnesser makes for a decent secondary as it boosts her support options. Black Mage is an interesting option but Ulan will likely need a lot of investment into her magic stat and her MP pool to make it work.
2 Eko
- Default Job: Scholar
- Advanced Jobs: Harnesser, White Mage, Wushu
Eko is the game's main healer, and he is very good at it. Not only that, but he is similar to Kaydin in that he's the best light-elemental mage in the game by far - and he's far more likely to be in the party to take advantage of that.
White Mage is the obvious choice when it comes to secondary jobs, but Wushu is available to sort-of turn Eko into a hybrid light warrior, and Harnesser will improve his ability to support the party in general. There's no real way to develop Eko incorrectly.
1 Dagmar
- Default Job: Sorcerer
- Advanced Jobs: Black Mage, Chronomancer, Shaman
In a game where exploiting elemental weaknesses is a surefire pathway to victory, Dagmar absolutely shines as one of the game's best characters - if not the best. He's an elemental mage who can hit huge numbers in every element except light and darkness. He can be used to build FP and finish off entire packs of enemies with ease.
Like Eko, Dagmar's choice of Main Job is barely a choice - it's Black Mage, easily. Making him a magical nuke with every element is almost putting the game on easy mode. As for his other jobs, Chronomancer and Shaman are both a bit too gimmicky to ever compare to the raw power of elemental magic.