S Tier Ice Characters
From the way the game has gone, you’d expect strong Ice characters to be few and far between, but they’ve all simply been hiding in a single realm, Final Fantasy VIII.
Squall (FFVIII)
Ability Schools: Black Magic 2, White Magic 2, Combat 6, Celerity 3, Spellblade 6, Knight 3
Estimated Date Activated: Current, UOSB in March
Record Spheres: Spellblade damage +6%
Legend Spheres: Spellblade damage +9%, Minor Blind Resist, Minor Ice Resist
Legend Motes: Dexterity + Vitality
Legend Materia: LM1“Heart of the Lion”
Spellblade abilities deal 15% more damage, LM2“Legendary SeeD”
35% chance to dualcast Spellblade abilities, LMR“Slavering Fangs”
Grants Attach Ice at the beginning of the battle
Legend Dive Candidacy: Yes, with BSB2 or with LMR and OSB/UOSB.
Notable Abilities: Snowspell Strike
Signature Soul Breaks
BSB2 “Steely Blade”
Eight single Ice/NE attacks (0,83 each, 6.64 max), grants Haste, Attach Ice and Burst Mode to the user
Command 1: Two single Ice/NE attacks (0,40 each)
Command 2: 4/5/6/7 single Ice/NE attacks (0,54/0,89/1,05/1,25 each, 2.16-8.75) scaling with Command 1 uses, +0/5/10/25% critical chance
UOSB “Blasting Drive”
Breaks damage cap
Three single Ice attacks (8,00 each, 24.00 max)
One use per battle
Squall is a bit of a mistake, I would think. Few of the best characters in the game still have their strength stemming from their burst, but here we are. It’s a good thing, too, since Squall’s USB is an embarrassing mess for one of the primary protagonists.
All I’ll do here is simply explain how to make Squall work. Use either Snowspell Strike or Life Siphon to advance to his BSB, then use Command 1 three times. This empowers his Command 2 to maximum power. Seven attacks for an overall multiplier of 8.75 is more powerful than a Soul Break, and that’s without factoring in the +25% critical rate that comes with it.
It does come with the price of needing charging up, but it’s worth it. Where things get out of hand is if you’re able to get that charged up quicker than it would take to do normally, giving you more fully charged hits within the 15 second burst mode. His LM2 accomplishes this admirably, since the command is considered a spellblade attack and the extra cast counts as another charge. It also means that he benefits from cast speed enhancers more than most characters.
It’s a one 5* Soul Break show that’s only enhanced by having Squall’s other pieces, like his LMR, OSB, or UOSB.
Rinoa (FFVIII)
Ability Schools: Black Magic 6, White Magic 3, Support 3, Celerity 2, Summoning 6, Sharpshooter 5, Witch 5
Estimated Date Activated: Current, USB in February
Record Spheres: BLK damage +9%, SUM damage +9%
Legend Spheres: BLK damage +9%, Minor + Moderate Sleep Resist
Legend Motes: Spirit + Wisdom
Legend Materia: LM1“Daring Beauty”
BLK attacks deal 10% more damage, LM2“Breaker of the Circle”
30% chance to grant Quick Cast 3 to the user after using a BLK attack, LMR“Defier of Fate”
MAG +1% for each hit dealt with damaging BLK attacks, up to +20%
Legend Dive Candidacy: Yes, with CSB or USB
Notable Abilities: Chain Blizzaga, Abyssal Shards, Valigarmanda
Signature Soul Breaks
CSB “Shiva”
Activates Ice Chain (max 99, field +20%), eleven single Ice attacks (1,63 each, 17.93 max), minimum damage 543, grants Quick Cast 2 to all allies
USB “Angel Wing Cold Vortex”
Ten single attacks (1,70 each, 17.00 max), grants Attach Ice and EX: Chosen Sorceress“EX: Chosen Sorceress” [ID:50073]
MAG +30%, casts Sub-Zero Calamity after dealing damage with a Black Magic ability for 15 seconds
“Sub-Zero Calamity”
2/3/4/5/6 single attacks (1,42 each, 2.84-8.52 max) at rank 1/2/3/4/5 of the triggering ability the user
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Rinoa is practically a copy of Krile, minus the OSB since it’s Earth/NE rather than Ice/NE. Or the opposite. Whichever you prefer.
Powerful rank based chase USB and a Quick Cast 2 chain are both sufficient avenues to the top.
Hone up that Chain Blizzaga for USB use, but the chain offers you a little more flexibility. The two charges of Quick Cast could be used to fast cast out some Abyssal Shards, but there’s no problem sticking with Chain Blizzaga. Valigarmanda and Sudden Freeze serve as good SB point chargers. Choose the former if you want the extra points or the latter if you want to make sure the SB is fast casted.
Laguna (FFVIII)
Ability Schools: Combat 4, Support 3, Celerity 4, Machinist 6, Sharpshooter 5
Estimated Date Activated: Current
Record Spheres: Sword PHY damage +3%, Gun PHY damage +3%, Machinist damage +9%
Legend Spheres: Gun PHY damage +9%, Minor + Moderate Blind Resist
Legend Motes: Dexterity + Vitality
Legend Materia: LM1“Aspiring Journalist”
Machinist abilities deal 15% more damage, LM2“Tactical Gunner”
35% chance to dualcast Machinist abilities, LMR“Splash of Fun”
20% chance to cause Minor Imperil Ice to the target after using a Machinist ability on an enemy
Legend Dive Candidacy: Yes, with USB
Notable Abilities: Freezing Snipe
Signature Soul Breaks
USB “Ragnarok Buster”
Seven group ranged Ice/NE attacks (0,75 each, 5.25 max), Imperil Ice 20% for 25 seconds, grants ATK and RES +30%, High Quick Cast 1“High Quick Cast 1” [ID:2020]
Cast speed x3,00, lasts for 1 turns and Ice High Quick Cycle“Ice High Quick Cycle” [ID:50023]
Grants High Quick Cast 1 after using a Ice attack for 15 seconds to the user
Boy, this is simple. Use USB, and then keep high quickcasting Freezing Snipes. Legend Dive to the dualcasting LM2 for maximum effect.
Snow (FFXIII)
Ability Schools: Combat 6, Celerity 2, Monk 6, Knight 6
Estimated Date Activated: Current
Record Spheres: Knight damage +6%, Monk damage +6%
Legend Spheres: Ice damage +9%, Minor Confuse Resist, Minor Ice Resist
Legend Motes: Spirit + Bravery
Legend Materia: LM1“Fiery Friend”
Reduces damage taken by Ice attacks by 10%, LM2“Heartening Hero”
Grants High Sentinel at the beginning of the battle
“High Sentinel” [ID:574]
DEF and RES +200%, taunts single-target PHY and BLK attacks for 25 seconds, LMR“Enduring Resolve”
ATK +3% for each hit taken by damaging attacks, up to +35%
Legend Dive Candidacy: No
Notable Abilities: Icicle Rush
Signature Soul Breaks
BSB2 “A Hero Rides”
Grants Haste to all allies, ATK and MAG +30% to all allies for 25 seconds, grants Burst Mode to the user
Command 1: Four single Ice attacks (0,61 each, 2.44-3.05 max), five attacks if exploiting elemental weakness
Command 2: Two group Ice/NE attacks (0,75 each, 1.50 max), DEF +50% to the user for 20 seconds
CSB “Frost Geyser”
Activates Ice Chain (max 99, field +20%), eleven single Ice attacks (0,72 each, 7.92 max), grants HP Stock (2000) to all allies
It’s a chain, and Snow will gain the use of Icicle Rush eventually. Until then, Snow’s actually good BSB2 can serve to help since it has a respectable Command 1 to provide him with Ice damage. It has more attacks and higher multiplier than Icicle Rush, though loses out just barely in overall damage due to the +20% critical rate of the ability.
Ysayle (FFXIV)
Ability Schools: Black Magic 6, Summoning 6, Witch 6
Estimated Date Activated: February 10th
Record Spheres: BLK damage +9%, Ice damage +3%
Legend Spheres: Ice damage +9%, Minor + Moderate Sleep Resist
Legend Motes: Spirit + Wisdom
Legend Materia: LM1“Saint’s Spirit”
Increases Ice damage dealt by 10%, LM2“Aspect of the Goddess”
30% chance to grant Quick Cast 3 to the user after using a Ice attack, LMR“Beyond Feelings”
20% chance to cause Minor Imperil Ice to the target after using a Ice attack on an enemy
Legend Dive Candidacy: Yes, with USB
Notable Abilities: Chain Blizzaga, Abyssal Shards, Valigarmanda
Signature Soul Breaks
USB “Icicle Impact”
Ten single Ice/NE attacks (1,70 each, 17.00 max), MAG and RES +30% to the user for 25 seconds, grants Attach Ice and Ice Brand Follow-Up“Ice Brand Follow-Up” [ID:50062]
Casts Ice Brand after dealing damage with a Ice attack for 15 seconds
“Ice Brand”
2/3/4/5/6 single Ice/NE attacks (1,42 each, 2.84-8.52 max) at rank 1/2/3/4/5 of the triggering ability to the user
A chainless version of Rinoa, Ysayle has a rank based chase and is used in the exact same way. The difference is that Ysayle is allowed to trigger her chase with an Ice attack rather than strictly Black Magic school. Unless you’ve got an R5 Valigarmanda already, this makes them the same as you’ll want to be using Chain Blizzaga. I suppose it does mean you could use Sudden Freeze instead, a 4* Witch ability, if you’re strapped for orbs.
Honorable Mentions
Edea (FFVII)
Another 8 character! Edea fails to make the list because she’s just too damn slow to make that beastly USB of hers work. Her requirement of outside help can be one that keeps her off many teams, but if you’re able to compensate for it, ability doubling Abyssal Shards is going to make you glad you did. Unfortunately, her chance to Quick Cast LMR isn’t gonna cut the mustard by itself.
Serah (FFXIII)
So similar to her sister, Lightning, Serah has the USB but not the Legend Dive to help the character advance to the top. Honestly, it would have been fine if she had anything worth diving her for, but she’ll be held back until the 5* Dive is no longer the pinnacle of character advancement.