I’m someone who has been loving Granblue Fantasy: Relink, to date, it’s probably the game I’ve spent the MOST amount of hours this year playing. It’s honestly shaping up to be my “Game of the Year” for 2024, and I’m incredibly sad that the update which introduces Sandalphon as a playable character is the last planned DLC for the game (which will be update ver. 1.3.0). However, I ran into some issues with my favorite character and main, Id, which was not rectified within the most recent and current update, ver. 1.2.0. Thankfully, Seofon is a character I enjoy both the personality and playstyle, and is, unfortunately, infinitely more rewarding than Id.
I was perfectly fine with Id up until the point I got a program called “GBFR Logs”, which is an application that tracks the damage you and your teammates deal over the course of a mission. I first realized that I was doing mediocre damage right before the most recent patch came out, and I was very upset because I felt my rotation was near perfect with Id (especially against Lucilius). I was always 15-25 million points of damage behind the top two or so teammates, with sometimes me even trailing at the bottom. This is after making sure I stayed in Dragon Form during SBAs since that form dealt the most damage, that Id was in Godmight during Link Time for 3 Godmight Finishers, and not going into Critical to get knocked out of either transformation. Some games I felt I played to perfection, being able to get all those aforementioned things, including using my “Ragnarok Form” skill to instantly replenish my Versailles Gauge and maintain Godmight form for extended periods; yet this did not warrant me top honors nor damage despite my decision making.
Eventually through talking to random members in the official Granblue Fantasy: Relink discord, as well as Yomi, someone who created one of the earliest and renowned damage build guides for the game; I came to the conclusion that Id’s damage was just trash. It was incredibly hard to do a megaton of damage with Id due to him having mediocre damage caps all the way around, and his damage only getting slightly boosted in Godmight due to its natural buff states and his character-specific sigil, “Versailles Ignition“. The problem with him having lackluster damage, is that Id is not a character who excels at helping the team out with great status effects or buffs; such as Yoda’s “Mirror Image” or Katalina’s team-wide invulnerability. As Yomi described within her tier list video, Id is a “Selfish DPS”, as even his slow is remarkably shorter than any crewmate’s paralyze ability, or even Art IV’s slow from Gran/Djeeta. My problem with this is that I felt like I wasn’t helping the team as much as I could, since I chose a character which had subpar damage and no positive benefits in stopping the boss (such as a Paralyze or Glaciate right before Proto Bahamut hits 80% and flies away or once a boss goes into Overdrive to get the gauge down as much as possible, hopefully resulting in a team SBA or Link Time to “Break” them and avoid that phase).
The Granblue Showcase: Relink Part 3 said that all characters would receive buffs and changes, to which I was hoping that Id’s problems would be addressed. While Godmight got infinitely better, this was the main focus of Id’s buffs, and that sucked. It means he’s now even more dependent on Godmight than before, which is terrible considering he still needs to go from Human, to Dragonform, to Godmight. Also, his character specific sigil to make this easier, “Versailles Foundation“, only works in human form. Even then, Versailles Foundation is made so you can be sloppy and still achieve Dragonform with two special moves into finishers, even if it doesn’t fully connect. However, you cannot gain Versailles Gauge while in Godmight and you have to land a 4 Finishes in Dragonform to transform; Versailles Foundation does not speed up the Dragonform to Godmight process nor aid you while in Godmight. Sure, the new buff that reduces skill cooldown whenever Id lands a finisher is nice, but the long cooldown on “Ragnarok Form” means you cannot replenish the Versailles Gauge in Godmight and have it ready to go by the time it drains. This is true even with Quick Cooldown and Cascade at their maximum levels.
Id’s “Versailles Heart” Sigil they added also sucks pretty bad. It gives “Enhanced Damage” to Dragonform and Godmight, which is a 10% overall boost to damage output, ignoring the damage cap like War Elemental does. However, the problem is that you cannot exit Dragonform into Godmight until the gauge completely depletes. This works phenomenally for Godmight, because it means you can spam the specific Godmight ender as if you’ve entered Link Time and do plenty of damage if it arises. However, you lose out on much potential damage due to not being able to enter Godmight as soon as you’ve enough pips in Dragonform.
Dragonform has 4 special moves, allowing you to go right into finishers and transform instantly, wasting no time with pointless DPS since your offensive skills are now used up. Even with the damage boost afforded by Enhanced Damage, it’s not worth staying in Dragonform beyond what you need, especially since all of Id’s current buffs are for Godmight. Even with the Versailles Gauge draining twice as fast due to Versailles Heart, it’s still too much time in Dragonform. However, the timer is also an issue with Godmight, despite the unlimited finishers.
Link Time means you can hit a boss unopposed (unless it’s Luci and his swords are after you, or maybe you’re fighting multiple monsters simultaneously), making it good to spam finishers against a defenseless opponent. However, with an opponent that is constantly moving or swinging, they may hit hard enough to knock you out of Godmight or even run away, resulting in a loss of damage. There’s also the point of managing your gauge ahead of time, since you do not want to be outside of Godmight during Team SBAs (as your Versailles Gauge does not deplete) or Link Time (cause you lose massive potential damage). Not to mention against Lucilius, it’s hard not to waste time during 12 Labors (at least the gauge doesn’t deplete during Final Rebellion).
Overall, Id has more damage than before, but he’s not anywhere near balanced. Aside from Versailles Ignition, I found his other two character-specific sigils to be utterly worthless. This character is fun to play, and I even overlooked how goofy his Dragonform aesthetic is (Since his Dragonform is obviously based off of Devil Trigger, and he himself as Nero-like qualities; both belonging to a church they turned against, and Id having a move called “Dead Weight” while Nero complained about Dante calling him that throughout Devil Cry 5). However, you cannot ignore the glaring weaknesses in his gameplay when you want to adequately help your team. Id’s shortcomings almost made me put the game down to due to pure frustration.
Honestly, I wasn’t interested in Seofon due to the fact that I’m very stubborn when it comes to games; I tend to pick one person I like and am “ride-or-die” with them until my interest in the game itself wanes. However, I love Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and thus was desperate to find a way to continue to enjoy it since my frustration with Id began to bleed into my pleasure of playing the game as a whole. Tweyen was incredibly cute and I loved her Fate Episodes, but I’m a melee player who likes things close and personal, not zoning from a distance. Seofon had a goofy hairstyle, weird looking armor, and looked like he fought with dual Sea Salt Ice Cream bars from Kingdom Hearts. However, at this point I was desperate (sides, not like I cared for Id’s Dragonform’s appearance either).
Seofon’s Fate Episode made me enjoy the character’s personality and background. That he was incredibly strong, and he felt it was his responsibility to use that power to keep everyone safe from current and future threats. More than that, he had the responsibility of a leader to make hard decisions and to do what was right, even if it meant catching flak from those around him. Seofon’s Fate Episode spelled of responsibility despite his often light-hearted nature, and his inner monologue meant he’s often burdened by the decisions which he must make, but trusts himself to move forward despite the errors which may happen. I liked his relationship with Anre and how it spelled out his growth as a character, and how he’s still learning and isn’t so prideful that he’s above admitting his faults.
Considering I liked his character’s persona, I needed to see if I jelled with his playstyle. I found that him and Id were similar, yet very different, with Seofon being infinitely more rewarding with an easier time and less potential damage lost if a slip-up occurred. Like Id he used finishers to fill up his gauge, the first being used for his Avatar which attacks alongside him, similar to Katalina with Ares. Once an Avatar is summoned, landing Finishers (or special attacks if his Spirit Edge’s Rally sigil is equipped) it fills up his “Swordshine Gauge”, a secondary gauge which appears only while an avatar is present. The Swordshine Gauge, once high enough, it affords extra damage to special moves. Also, like Id, he can instantly cash out with an Avatar Finisher by using a specific combo, which depletes the Avatar and Swordshine Gauge to nothing (but the Swordshine Gauge has to be full in order to be able to perform the Avatar Finisher).
The biggest drawback to Seofon’s mechanics is that he loses ALL Swordshine Gauge if he goes into critical state…and that’s it. His Avatar Gauge will stop where it is the second his avatar vanishes, which can be done manually or when Seofon goes Critical. This means you can hold onto your Avatar Gauge and maximize its usage by understanding the flow of battle and knowing the current boss encounter; this is way easier to manage than Id’s Versailles Gauge and transformations. More than that, the penalty for going Critical doesn’t result in a massive amount of potential damage lost. If Id goes Critical in Dragonform or at the beginning of Godmight, he’s missed out on a ton of damage and must work to get back into that position. If Seofon goes Critical as soon as he summons an avatar, he loses nothing. If he does lose it at the halfway point or so, he can always do half the work to refill the gauge and then activate it again. Also, if a boss goes into Overdrive and is notoriously hard to hit, he can simply put away his Avatar and wait for a better opportunity rather than burning the gauge down simply because there are no other options. Oh, and for more salt on the wound, Seofon’s skill which maxes out his Swordshine and Avatar Gauges come back faster than Id’s skill which puts him in Dragonform instantly or refills the Versailles Gauge in Godmight. Insanity.
Oh, and on a side note ALL of Seofon’s character-specific sigils are better, even giving better Enhanced Damage compared to Id’s (Seofon’s 20% to Id’s 10%). While I don’t run Seofon’s Warpath because it doesn’t fit in my build currently, I have the potential to be even more of monster once I figure it out.
While I want Id to be within a better place, right now, he’s pretty bad. At least by my standards. I feel like he doesn’t get enough damage spread equally throughout all of his forms and is dependent upon Godmight. However, he doesn’t have a way to easily maintain that form, loses tons of potential damage if he goes Critical while in either transformation, and must also reserve some special moves to easily get back into Dragonform. The “Versailles Heart” sigil he was given also has conditions too strict for the payoff, which can be nonexistent due to bad timing, or simply an unforeseen critical. Meanwhile Seofon is rewarded immensely for less work, is more forgiving on a critical with less loss on potential damage, better character-specific sigils, and a longer SBA animation for teammates to do additional damage or build up their own Skybound Arts.
While I enjoy Id immensely, someone who I enjoy just as much as entered the fray. Unless he’s buffed alongside Sandalphon’s release with ver. 1.3.0, I doubt I’ll ever revisit him, if I bother to do so now.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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