With Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier,Final Fantasy has gotten its entry first into the battle royale genre. The mobile game takes place long before the events of the main Final Fantasy 7 game in a Shin-ra Electric Power Company just about to explore the full extent of their SOLDIER Program. As a result, players of FF7: The First Soldier, called Candidates, engage in a simulated fight to the death in order to prove their worth to the company.
In the game, Candidates can change not just their appearance, but their overall playstyle as well. Gameplay-wise, this translates to Styles that players can choose in every match, reflecting Jobs in the mainline Final Fantasy games. In the context of the FF7: The First Soldier battle royale, just how does each Job fare?
What Are Styles?
Like hero shooters, First Soldier gives players the opportunity to choose a particular playstyle in a match, essentially dictating how players should approach battles, from combat to using Materia. However, whereas hero shooters often confine players to a set hero with an appearance and other abilities, Styles in First Soldier act as skillsets that players use in combat. A Style has the following components:
- Experience: Styles act like Jobs do in the main series, where players can earn experience to level them up. Doing so allows them to access the Style’s more powerful abilities.
- Mastery: Styles have a Mastery gauge outside the game, which determines how much players use the Style and their expertise. Ranking up a Style gives players various rewards.
- Trait: Each Style has a special passive ability, which can offer a huge advantage when used appropriately.
- Abilities: Each Style has a set of Abilities that give them buffs for a short duration, and are reusable after a short cooldown.
- Skills: Each Style has a set of Active Skills that they can trigger once they meet their cooldown durations.
6 Monk
Players with a flair for mobility will have a lot of use for the Monk, which is arguably the fastest Style in terms of melee power. Armed with nothing but their fists, the Monk can pulverize opponents with extra strong yet extra fast punches and picks. Its loadout is specifically tied to reigning supreme in the mobile game.
- Pros: Monks rule the speed game, and they’re a force to be reckoned with at close range. Thanks to their Manawall and Chakra Field, they are great as both frontline DPS and support.
- Cons: Their preference towards melee does pose a disadvantage, especially since a lot of their skills rely on staying close to opponents. Unless Monks catch enemies off guard, they might die before getting close enough to them.
Trait: Inner Strength
At 20% HP or less, a Monk will recover HP over time their critical will be boosted to 100%. However, this latter effect will only happen once.
Abilities
- Manawall generates a barrier in front of the Monk that reduces overall damage taken from enemies.
- Chakra Field allows the Monk to create a field that not only recovers HP for allies, but also removes poison.
Skills
- Revitalize: When triggered, this boosts HP recovery from other skills and abilities, but not from consumables taken.
- Chakra Unleashed: Once per level, the Monk can immediately recover HP after taking a certain amount of damage.
- Awakened Strength: Thanks to this skill, the Monk gets boosted recovery when using the Inner Strength Trait.
5 Ninja
Battle royale fans that see the sheer landscapes of maps in the game will know stealth key in defeating enemies as fast and possible, and the Ninja dominates the stealth game. Armed with the shuriken, the Ninja is armed with the tools that allow them to get the drop on enemies, ensuring they don’t get to escape in the game’s most crucial moments.
- Pros: Ninjas dominate the stealth game, and specialize chasing down opponents and killing them when they’re most vulnerable. When used properly, skills like Hide and Blade Shift can change the tide of a fierce firefight.
- Cons: The Ninja's reliance on stealth makes their aggression a bit tricky to master, especially since enemies can predict a Ninja’s patterns once they know they’re in their crosshairs. Ninjas need to be patient enough to catch an opponent when they’re most vulnerable before making a move.
Trait: Acrobat
The Ninja gets an extra jump or a parkour jump as soon as they make a parkour fall.
Abilities
- Hide allows a Ninja to turn invisible, only appearing as a green flame to others. In this state, the Ninja cannot use items nor attack.
- Blade Shift: When triggered, the Ninja throws a knife in a particular direction. Once it hits an object or an enemy, the Ninja instantly teleports to the position of the throwing knife.
Skills
- Retreat: When activated, the Ninja gets a temporary speed boost whenever they take damage.
- Lightfoot: The sound of the Ninja’s footsteps get a drastic reduction.
- Escapist: The Ninja gets a boost in movement speed when they find themselves inside the Hazard zone.
4 Dragoon
The newest Style in the battle royale, the Dragoon is positioning itself to be a dependable mobile DPS class. Armed with the trusty lance, the Dragoon can zigzag around attackers with ease. And thanks to its trademark Jump skill, players of this Style can traverse the battlefield to aid allies and catch up to escaping opponents much faster.
- Pros: The mid-range melee specialization of the Dragoon gives them a lot of advantage in firefights, especially since they can resort to melee as soon as they’re a considerably close to foes. Their High Jump and Aerial Wall guarantees they dominate the skies as well.
- Cons: The directional advantage of the Dragoon can pose a disadvantage to players that don’t know how to maximize them. Not being able to aim properly when in midair or even aiming the diving attack at a wrong angle can make these skills useless.
Trait: Sky Predator
When jumping from great heights, the Dragoon summons a pair of wings that help them glide for a short while. They can also unleash a diving attack whenever they try to engage in melee from a height.
Abilities
- High Jump: The Dragoon prepares to jump and leaps at a greater distance than normal before gliding their way back down.
- Dragon’s Favor: The Dragoon temporarily gets a speed boost. This form also grants manasteal from enemies, HP recovery from killing foes, and inflicts bleed damage.
Skills
- Aerial Wall: The Dragoon receives less damage from bullets that come from enemies attacking below them.
- Dragon’s Ire: Enemies become marked as soon as they deal damage to the Dragoon. When attacked, these marked enemies lose their MP.
- Wide Swing: The Dragoon gets a boost in their melee combo range.
3 Sorcerer
New to the game is the Materia mechanic, allowing players to whip out dangerous magic on top of deadly weapons — and this is something the Sorcerer specializes in. Thanks to its ability to boost the potency of the Materia they encounter in the game, the Sorcerer easily becomes a formidable foe to deal with in the long term.
- Pros: Masters of magic, the Sorcerer rules the Materia game. The reliance of teams on Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder means Sorcerers get an edge when using damaging spells. Not to mention, their constant MP recovery means they can use the game’s deadlier and more helpful spells often.
- Cons: The Sorcerer's spell dependence means they can’t do as much with their other weapons. This is tricky if the Sorcerer doesn’t get the right kind of Materia from the get-go, as this can decrease their effective combat options.
Trait: Magic Boost
This Trait immediately gives the Sorcerer extra 1MP and also boosts the damage done by Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder Materia. Considering that these Materia are considered the primary damage-dealing spells, the damage boost is an undeniable advantage.
Abilities
- Arcane Field creates a field that boosts the recovery speed of MP and the cooldown of spells.
- Trance allows the Sorcerer to temporarily boost their movement speed, get a 1-Level Materia boost, and reduce the MP cost of spells.
Skills
- Concentration: This Skill boosts the MP recovery speed of Sorcerers, making spells more accessible to them.
- Etheric Drain: With this upgrade, the Sorcerer gets a nifty lifesteal and manasteal component whenever they defeat enemy players with Fire, Blizzard, or Thunder Materia.
- Magic Detector: Sorcerers get the ability to “detect” whenever Materia is used in the vicinity, with the general area of effect displayed on the mini-map for their reference.
2 Ranger
Perhaps the Style most suited for a majority of battle royale games, the Ranger Style is a player’s go-to option when looking for a Class that reigns supreme in the distance game. Armed with a specialized shortsword, the Ranger guarantees that players always have something up their sleeve when it comes to combat.
- Pros: Rulers of the ranged game, the Ranger is perfect for playesr who want to enjoy the game from a battle royale perspective. The way Rangers improve the performance of guns through Assess, Sniper Eye, and Acute Sense allows them to dominate firearms. Moreover, the Control skill is a great scouting tool to avoid incursions.
- Cons: The focus of the Ranger on long-ranged combat means they’re not much use in melee. This can get tricky in the long run, considering the Hazard Zone shrinks to small spaces near the end of the match.
Trait: Mark
Enemy players are marked whenever the Ranger either inflicts damage on them, or trains their sights on them for a particular amount of time.
Abilities
- Assess marks not just nearby enemies, but also monsters and interactive spell effects from Blizzard and Gravity.
- Control allows the Ranger to release a slug-ray to go the surrounding area, giving Rangers a scout for the party.
Skills
- Sniper Eye: Rangers can now see enemies much more clearly when viewing them through their scope, allowing them to strike harder and more accurately.
- Silencer: With this Skill Upgrade, all guns have reduced firing sound.
- Acute Sense: The Ranger emits bright light towards enemies who train their scopes towards them, ensuring that enemies don’t get a good view of the Ranger.
1 Warrior
Assigned as the default Style for newcomers to the game, the Warrior Style is easily the most accessible, practical Class in the battle royale. Armed with the broadsword, the Warrior is packed with the right tools to slash through combat with mobile combos and a hardy exterior that makes them great for frontline tanking and DPS duties.
- Pros: The Warrior excels in melee range, and skills like Rush and Punisher allow them to easily transition from long-ranged combat to melee incursions. This allows them to dominate both dimensions of battle without much difficulty.
- Cons: The melee reliance of the Warrior’s skills makes them dependent on close-range combat, adding an unnecessary element of risk.
Trait: Fearless Charge
This ability allows players to boost the distance they can target with melee attacks. It also releases a barrier in front of the player whenever they attack the target via their Rush. This gives players an edge in the frontlines, as the barrier safety net with the speed that boost Rush offers can transform players into a juggernaut.
Abilities
- Rush lets the players move rapidly towards the direction they’re looking at.
- Punisher temporarily boosts movement speed, melee attack range, and melee attack damage.
Skills
- Siphon Slash: Essentially a lifesteal skill, Siphon Slash will heal a bit of the Warrior’s HP whenever they deal damage with their melee weapon.
- Warrior Spirit boosts the barrier created by Fearless Charge and Rush.
- Countershield creates a barrier towards the direction an attack is coming from. However, this can only happen once per level.
Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier is available for iOS and Android.