Beta Emperor Build

[Lustful Lali-Ho]

Hey there! I'm slightly new to the forums. For the past weeks I've been trying out different builds and equips for Emperor Mateus. Its rather difficult to find something appropriate for him since his gameplay is different from everyone else.

Thanks to a few guys on the forum, I was able to do some combos with the Emperor as well as learn how his gameplay went. I may not be an expert, but I hold my own, or at least I hope I do.

Anyway, I was hoping that some of you guys on the forum who play Emperor can give me some critiques on the build I made for him. This is a beta I made for him. If anyone can give me advice, go ahead. I'm still experimenting with him.


Abilities
Offensive
Bravery Attacks - Land
Landmine
Bombard
Thunder Crest

Bravery Attacks - Air
Mine
Dynamite
Light Crest

HP Attacks - Land
Flare

HP Attacks - Air
Flare
Starfall


Basic
Actions
Ground Evasion
Midair Evasion
Ground Block
Midair Block
Aerial Recovery
Air Dash
Omni Air Dash
Speed Boost ++
Controlled Recovery

Support
EX Core Lock On

Extra
Bravery Regen
Snooze and Lose
Counterattack
Riposte
Disable Sneak Attack
EXP to Bravery
Equip Shields
Equip Helms
Equip Light Armor
Shield Adept
Helm Adept
Light Armor Adept

Equipment
Mateus's Malice
EX Dearth (Shield) -EX Seeker
EX Dearth (Helm) - EX Seeker
Heartsap (Light Armor) - Mastery of Bravery

Accessories
Red Gem
Pearl Necklace
Despair Shock
Gold Hourglass
Dismay Shock
Star Earring
Large Gap in BRV
Large Gap in HP
EX Mode
EX Mode

Summons
Demon Wall, Odin, Atomos, Deathgaze, Pupu (varies, but I usually have Pupu)

But yeah, this here is my experimental Emperor. So far, he's been handling opponents like Squall, Cloud, Tidus, ect. well. Firion...is still his biggest issue though and at times, Terra.

If anyone's got any suggestions on how I can improve my Emperor build, I would greatly appreciate it!

[Kraid]

Well firstly let's start with equipment:

I notice you got Equip Shield/Helm on etc. Also that you have artifacts. It's better to use something like this:

(The Artifact is NOT called Ex Dearth or Heartsap. Look above and you'll see something like Ex-Monger, Ex-Seeker or Master of Bravery. Ex Dearth/Heartsap is a penalty.)

Mateus Malice/Artifact Piggy Stick (Master of Bravery)
Ex Seeker Bangle
Ex Seeker Thornlet
Artifact (Master of Bravery) /Rainbow Robes

With the above setup without Mateus Malice + Hairpin Adept, that's a rough estimate of 1600 Base Brave and a start up of 2400 Initial Brave.

The Mateus Malice is bugged in the American version of the game. If you ever use it online against people online, you may get disconnected. +6M bonus is pretty good however. But it does not give the "Minor Anti-EX" bonus.

For Basic

You seem to have the normal stuff for Emperor except with Speed Boost ++ and Air Dash. Both of these can be removed.

Support

Evasion Time Boost is always a must. Dodging is so so so essential in this game and this makes it much harder for dodge punishers.

(Optional) You may also find Auto EX Defence Omega to be very useful aswell. This ability can change the difference between life and death really easily. I've seen people just barely survive fights and win due to EX Defence Omega.

Extra

Brave Regen is interesting but I doubt it's needed. Emperor is a tanking character and it's better (Even with Blood Magic) to stay with HP Regen.

Go for the following Criticals: Cat Nip, Ex Critical Boost, Anti-EX and Back to the Wall. If using Back to the Wall, use Achy+. Remember that MAteus Malice is BUGGED in American versions of the game so it does NOT give Anti-EX. (You could have the European version, but I doubt it since you're in Texas.)

Disable Counter Attack is better for Emperor than Disable Sneak. Rarely will the Emperor get hit with Sneak unless it's Sephiroth or Squall. Be sure to equip Disable Sneak when going against them, and Disable Counter for everyone else.

Remove all the "Equip" and "Adept." items. The only ones you'd want with this set up is "Hairpin Adept." Criticals should be the main priorty, not "Equip" items.

Finally, EXP to HP > EXP to Brave. You're not using an EXP set, so there's no need for EXP to Brave (You'll won't EVER get higher than Base Brave with EXP to Brave outside of an EXP set.)

Accessories

Remove Gold Hourglass, Dismay Shock, Star Earring and EX Mode accessories. Replace with more 1.5 accessories such as HP = 100%, Summon Unused/Used, Opponent's summon Unused/used and more. In equipment battles, Emperor hits like a truck anyways, so just go with focusing on the Ex-Mode. You may want to remove the Red Gem for a steady supply of Destruction Resin if you have them.

Summons

Here are the summons I like using for Emperor:

Shiva (Good for stopping Ex-Bursts from killing you.)
Demon Wall (General. Stops Ex-Burst Breaks.)
Phoenix (General. Stops Black Fang and Ex-Burst Breaks.)
Cactuar (can be used to break someone in the middle of a Thunder Crest. Not so useful for Emperor but it can also be used defensively.)
Tonberry (General, punishes characters like Terra who usually don't go for a OHKO but also don't 'chip.')
Kraken (Punishes OHKO builds. Use this against Squall and Ultimecia who generally need to get to 9999 Brave to kill. )
Barbariccia (Punishes Behemoth and Ifrit.)
Asura (This often or not gives you 3.3 Boost automatically with Summon Used/Opponent Summon Used. Breaking their summon counts as it being used.)
Ultima Weapon (Emperor is a tanking game. Ultima Weapon may take time but it's a guarantee break and your opponent will be rushing trying to win before it's effect activates.)
Omega (Incase you can't think of the right summon to use for the right character.)

[Lustful Lali-Ho]

Ah, thanks a lot, Kraid. I'll try to fix my Emperor with the build you mentioned and see how that works out. ^.^