Summons: What to use?
ah Summonstones. For the longest of time people discussed what to use, and many just use Omega and Magic Pot. But really, are these the best summons in the game?
I just want to say anyone can feel free to continue dropping ideas. This 'guide' is here to find the best ways to use each summon and the best scenarios.
For the convience of the guide, I'm ignoring the Auto version of summons that have manual versions.
Ifrit
Bravery boosted to 150%
The simplest summon. No strings attached. Just a 1.5X boost. While this summon is less risky than it's bigger cousin, Behemoth, it is overall alot worse. Mainly used in builds that gather a tonne of brave and then go for one giant HP attack.
To hit for the full 9999 damage, you need to be on around 6665 brave.
Shiva
Oppoenet's bravery prevented from rising for a short time.
While Ifrit is used for offense, Shiva is the opposite. The exact opposite. Shiva is a very defensive summon. This can protect from Ex-Bursts or stopping the oppoenet from being able to attack for a while. Nasty thing is, after an attack your oppoenet will be stuck at zero. And can still lose brave making this summon very useful for breaking.
Ramuh
Opponent's summons sealed for a short time.
Nothing more to say to this. It stops the opponent from being able to summon. Useful to spring on them if you suspect a Behemoth at the killing blow. Stay away from this one: Asura is much better.
Carbuncle
Matches opponent's bravery to yours.
A useful summon as it is both offensive and defensive. It can be used:
- After you do an HP attack
- When they use Ifrit/Behemoth
- When they use Lich
- When they use Titan, Kraken, Tiamat, etc.
- When you're low on brave, can be used to Break during an attack
This is an extremely powerful summon. One with many uses.
Magic Pot
Copies opponent's bravery
The infamous summon for the ExDeath Trick in the JPN version. Essentially it has only one use: Let the opponent beat the living snot out of you and then using Magic Pot.
Powerful undoubtly. And useful to counter Tiamat and other huge attack boosting summons. Other than that however, Scarmilogone does a much better job as a counter than Magic Pot.
Demon Wall
Bravery shielded for a time.
Defensive summon that will pretty much protect againest break.....
Useful if your opponent gets you in a combo that feels you'll be broken OR after an HP attack so you don't get broken yourself.
However this does not prevent summons or BlackFang (and maybe Heartless Angel) from lowering your brave OR breaking you. Despite being a 'brave shield', all it does is prevent attacks from lowering your brave.
Since it prevents brave from falling in battle, it's best used as an Anti-Squall weapon once you've racked up enough brave. That's the only reason to use this over Phoenix.
Magus Sisters
Opponent's bravery is halved for a short time. Base bravery halved.
A defensive summon that can be used to defend yourself from Behemoth/Ifrit or outright being killed. Also lowers Base Brave to make for an easier time to break an opponent.
Could be used offensively by dropping their brave low enough to break them. But Carbuncle and Cactuar do a better job.
Odin
50% chance of inflicting break.
Another infamous summoned used quite alot. No tricks here, just pure luck. Although not as situational as Deathguise or Cactuar, it pretty much determines your fate by a simple flip of a coin.
If you're lucky and always seem to get Odin or Gilgamesh to work, use them.
Phoenix
Protected from break for a time. BRV is restored to base value.
Phoenix essentially stops you being broken, and does not add to the opponent's brave pool everytime your brave is reduced below 0. However your brave still drops.
You could argue this is worse than Demon Wall, until you realise this stops everything Demon Wall can stop AND more. However, Blackfang will still rape your brave, as will Odin and etc. The only difference is, you'll be back at base value while your opponent will not gain the bravepool.
Choose at your discretion between Demon Wall and Phoenix.
Alexander
Bravery frozen for a short time
Nasty and vicious, as it can allow OHKO builds with the use of Ex-Bursts or multi-hitting HP attacks like Shield Bash and Fusiliade.
One of the nastiest summons in the game, and can only be countered by another summon that causes break (such as Deathguise and Odin.)
It can be used defensively to stop a break, but that's more in Demon's Wall department than Alexander.
Leviathan
Opponent's bravery decreases for a short period of time
There are much better summons for brave dropping than this one. Mainly Lich. Stay away from this, because it is jank. =/
Use Malboro over this.
Bahamut
Bravery rises for a short time
Again, a pretty bad summon. However more useful than Leviathan as you'll continue getting brave even if Lich or Scarmilogne is used upon you.
However Pupu lasts longer and gains more bravery per second than Bahamut does.
Chocobo
Both fighter's bravery value are randomly shuffled.
Luuuuuuuuuuuuuck. This can give you an OHKO build. If you're really lucky that is. You can have anywhere from 1 BRV to 9999 BRV. Same goes for your oppoenet. To risky.
Moogle
Who knows what will happen...
The other very luck based summon. Moogle will randomly shuffle between other summons. It could bite you in the ass, could be used at the wrong moment, etc.
Mandragora
For a short perioud, recover BRV value more quickly.
The description fails to tell how powerful Mandragora really is. If your brave is lower than your base brave, it recovers it. This is very useful for stopping summons such as Scarmilogne, Lich and Iron Giant. It's also useful on characters such as Cloud of Darkness for the absurd amount of HP attacks she has.
Bomb
After a set period of time, opponent takes BRV damage corresponding to your bravery.
An amusing summon at best. Best used right at the beginning of the match where you might have higher BRV than your oppoenet. You'll lose all your Brave when you use this summon.
It also doesn't say that if your Brave is HIGHER than the oppoenets, it BREAKS the oppoenet. (this however does not affect Alexander.)
Essentially all Bomb does is after a set period of time, your brave becomes the same value as the brave in your Brave Pool.
Stay away from Bomb for breaking purposes: Deathguise and Cactuar are much better for that.
Also stay away from Bomb for brave reducing purposes: Again, Cactuar is better.
Asura
Will either seal summons, induce a summon, or destroy opponent's summonstone.
This, is, amazing. Use always right at the beginning of the match. Sealing the summon means it can be used later in the match. Inducing it means they'll waste a perfectly good chance to use the summon AND destroying the stone means not only it has to recharge, but stops it from being used in the match itself.
Much better than Ramuh in it's department. If you don't want surprises, use this.
Seal or Destroy will stop the Elemental Archfiends from activating aswell. Induce will waste Behemoth and Atomos like summons.
Possibilities are endless.
Titan
For a period of time, bravery triples when you take HP damage.
Yeck... a powerful summon. Smart players will only let this activate once. Then they'll use the oppounities to run away and not attack. Good thing?
Best used just before the HP blow has landed. However, it's useless if the opponent can oneshot you, and that's essentially what the oppoenet will do.
Atomos
For a period of time, absorb oppoenet's bravery when you take HP damage.
A very interesting summon, can used in opposition of those who start with high BRV. Time everything right, and you can get enough brave to one shot wonder. Again, same thing as Titan, only this is riskier.
Iron Giant
For a period of time,when you deal HP damage, opponenet's bravery is halved.
A useful summon, as it can be used to counter Atomos, Titan and Rubicante. Also very useful for characters such as Zidane and Onion Knight who hit fast but not that hard.
Cactuar
Opponent's bravery is reduced by 1000.
A highly underrated summon, but one of the more powerful summons. Very useful for both Defense AND Offense.
Offense: Useful for breaking even with some of the more weaker moves.
Defense: Can stop damage from being dealt for one hit.
In equipment battles, base bravery is around 1000. You decide.
Tonberry
After a set period of time, oppoenet loses bravery equal to the HP damage you take.
Vicious AND nasty. Unlike Atomos and Titan, this one is alot harder to counter. And unlike Cactuar, Tonberry can induce break.
very useful after taking alot of damage. However it does not work if the opponent is in break, and you will not gain the brave pool bonus if you're in break.
This can be more harmful than Titan or Atomos. It's only real counters are Ifrit and Behemoth.
Malboro
Constantly reduces foe's bravery. The closer you are, the greater the reduction.
Malboro, possibly named after the Malboro cigerettes. Infinately better than Leviathan... or is it?
The closer you are, the more brave it drops. It can drop an oppoenet's brave by over 60 every second if you stick like glue, and can be used offensively to break during a long combo. (Emperor comes to mind with Thunder Crest.)
The downside is: Your opponent will stay away from you to prevent their brave being decimated. Well... useful for mages then. Like the Emperor.
Ultros
Opponent cannot see bravery for a short period.
Junk AND Useless. Worse summon in the game, which is a shame because Ultros is soooooo cool. It's useless because you can tell when you're on a killing amount of brave by when you start flashing white.
You can also see the thousandth digit just barely.
Typhon
One digit of the opponent's bravery is blown away.
Risky. This can either remove a single, a tenth, a hundredth or a thousandth digit, reducing one of them to zero. So let's take 9999, any one of these four could be the result:
0999
9099
9909
9990
Deathgaze
Inflicts Break if opponent's bravery is a mulitple of 5.
Deathgaze may seem worse than odin. It has a 1/5 chance to break, while Odin has 1/2. However Deathgaze is GARUNTEED, and actually people gain a multiple of 5 very easily.
In some test matches, I ALWAYS pulled off Deathgaze in a battle when I had him equipped.
The best summon in the game when it comes to breaking an oppoenet. And can be used as both a defensive and defensive tactic.
Behemoth
Bravery is doubled, but afterwards, quickly falls.
THE one shot wonder. The one that can kill far sooner than it should.
Never use it except for when you're about to kill. So the Brave Drop is not a problem. However it's also one of the most anticipated summons, with many counters such as Cactuar, Odin, Barbaricca and Scarmilogne.
Useful for those like Squall who don't need to HP attack as early, or Golbez who can break during one combo chain and finish off with Cosmic Rays.
Pupu
Bravery halved, but afterwards, quickly rises
You could see he's the opposite of Behemoth...
While not the brave generator that Behemoth or Ifrit is, Pupu does have some advantages. It lasts longer than Bahamut and gains more brave than Bahamut. It can be used after an attack or a break. And can bypass counters such as Scarmilogne and Barbaricca.
It's not bad. He's actually quite powerful for those who like to get one massive attack in. Best used for characters like Kefka and Kuja who need to run away alot to win.
Lich
Opponent's bravery falls to 0 after a set period of time.
That 'set period of time' is 30 seconds. Lich is vicious and one of the best summons in the game due to the fact it just wipes the oppoenet clean. The only counter is, of course, Alexander.
Very useful for a break, but alot can happen in 30 seconds...
Marilith
Opponent's bravery is frozen after a set period of time.
This is really only useful if you can get an oppoenet onto extremely low Brave, then run until it's frozen, which point they're stuck for a while doing terrible damage.
Also very useful as to them not gaining brave pool in break, or doing TERRIBLE damage in Ex-Bursts. However it's better to use Shiva over Marilith.
Kraken
Opponent's bravery switched with yours after a set period of time.
Better than Lich? Maybe. There's alot of control over this one, as you can choose when to use it and again, run away. Much better than Magic Pot, except it reqires 30 seconds to activate.
Much more amusing if they decided to be smart and equip Scarmigilone.
Tiamat
Bravery tripled after a set period of time
30 seconds to run away and triple your brave. Use this when you know you'll get about 3333 brave, and just continue running until you get maximum brave.
Scarmigilone
When opponent calls a summon, their bravery falls to 0.
THE single best counter summon in the game. Counters Behemoth and other OHKO summons.
Very defensive as it also stops Titan. (Bot not Atomos...)
Cagnazzo
When opponent calls a summon, their bravery is frozen.
Useful? Can be used to counter Atomos, Titan and Pupu. However it's DEATH if they use Behemoth or Ifrit.
Barbariccia
When opponent calls a summon, their bravery swaps with yours
Useful for Ifrit, Behemoth and Cactuar. That's about it really.
Rubicante
When opponent calls a summon, your bravery is tripled.
The least useful of the four elemental archfiends? While bravery is indeed tripled, most the time it'll be Demon Walls or Carbuncles that activate. Rubicante will triple the value of 0.
It won't save you, but it'll be useful if Asura induces him. But it won't save you.
Gilgamesh
A strike with the strongest of swords triples your bravery.
But if you're unlucky...
Essentially the final luck based summon. Braver is either tripled or put down to 1. Useful really only for characters that can build brave quickly, like Squall. (again, 3333.)
Ultima Weapon
Focuses a massive energy beam at the foe, inflicting Break after a set period of time.
The most garunteed break in the game in terms of summons. But it's not as fast as Odin or Deathgaze. It takes quite along time to break though. Not as fast as Cactuar or Deathgaze, but garunteed.
Omega
For a short period, opponent's bravery's sevrely decreases.
The most powerful summon in Dissidia? Maybe. It won't save you straight away, as it needs a second or two to actually start decreasing. It'll continue until the timer stops or when your opponent is on 1 Brave.
To me, there really is no BEST summon. they all have their +'s and -'s but in the end their all useful. though, i haven't had the game all that long so as far as IN BATTLE goes, i wouldn't be too sure as to what summon would be most appropriate with what character
yeah what setsitaru said allllllll of them have their pro's and con's but i tend to use magic pot alot though when im fighting people stronger than me
I'll make some more tags soon.
I never realised that Ultros was such an amazing summon. The ability to hide the oppoenet's brave is so extremely useful that I never imagined. =/Originally Posted by Setsitaru
No, there are some REALLY bad summons. Ultros being one of them as you can TELL when you can kill the oppoenet and you can even see part of the Thousandth Digit anyways, so you know if you're on like 5000 Brave or not.
I agree with most of what Kraid said. There are some USELESS summons, like Ultros, and some amazing summons like Omega.
I don't have all the summons yet (I'm too lazy to get the ones in shade impulse) but I mostly use magic pot and gilgamesh
btw speaking about gilgamesh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVeh_eMaRI4
even with Excalipoor he can still be useful :P
Deathgaze is my favourite.
i prefer fighting summonless which is why when i get asura im always keeping it on
thanks for the sig mizu
"the unexamined life is not worth living" socrates
i never used my summon, usually i just equip them to get 1,5 multiplier from booster..
sometimes i even forget what summon did i equipped
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