Best Characters to Use in Tales of Graces f Remastered

In Tales of Graces f Remastered, you have a total of seven characters to pick from when making your party of four every battle. While everyone has their own unique play style and niche to fill, some characters are worth investing in more than others. If you want to only spend time and Gald on a specific group of characters, here are the best ones to focus on.

As a note, Tales of Graces f Remastered has automatic EXP share. Certain titles provide passive skills that’ll increase the amount of EXP that reserve members earn, so even if you never use characters like Hubert or Malik, they won’t be dramatically weaker than your usual team. The only downside is that they might not earn titles like the Adept ones, since they’re not on the field enough to rack up Arte usage. These titles offer stat boosts and Arte buffs, so they’re still worth mastering.

Personally, I recommend the Asbel + Cheria + Sophia golden trio, and then rotate the rest around equally. This is mostly due to how long the story is, as well as how much time you’ll likely spend in the bonus endgame dungeon in Lineage and Legacies. It might get boring only using four specific characters in the game. Characters like Sophie also learn Artes from other party members, so they benefit from fighting on the front line until they earn those titles. Because of that, this guide focuses more on which characters you should prioritize until you’re in the endgame or have more resources.

Asbel

As the protagonist, Asbel boasts solid stats and an aggressive fighting style, making for a strong front-liner. Novices and veterans of the game alike can use him without issue. Most people should have him in their party all the time anyway, since there’s no real reason you should ever remove him. He doesn’t require complicated command inputs or much thinking, and his high defense means he won’t die that easily even if you mess up when blocking or evading. His early access to Nova Artes makes him useful throughout the entire story.

The one thing you want to be mindful of when using Asbel is when you sheathe his sword. You want to sheathe away from the enemy rather than going from a B-Arte to an A-Arte with a combo. Asbel’s attack is so slow that enemies are far more likely to counter him in this state.

Asbel’s play style is the most similar to how you would handle a character in a Tales game that doesn’t employ a full CC system, such as Vesperia or Abyss. In these titles, the common way to play a character is to use basic attacks, then your Artes to maximize the number of hits you can land in a combo. Because Asbel’s Iron Stance doesn’t last too long, it’s better to use a full A-Arte combo, end it with a few B-Artes, and then back away to safely sheathe his sword.

Cheria

As the main healer of the game, people should always have Cheria in their party, anyway. Again, like with Sophie and Asbel, she has early access to Nova Artes, so she’s useful for the entire game when it comes to dealing with Nova shields. Cheria also has access to stat-boosting support spells and powerful offensive magic, so she can pull her weight even when your party’s HP is full.

Graces battles can look chaotic because the concept of a front line and a back line like in older Tales games doesn’t exist. Because of this, AoE healing Artes are a lot more important than single-target heals like what Sophie can do. The crazy thing about Cheria is that AoE healing spells usually recover less HP than single-target ones. However, Cheria’s healing Artes are so powerful that you can generally recover as much HP as a single-target. The downside is how long cast times are. It’s not uncommon on higher difficulties for Cheria to die before she can pull off a healing Arte if you don’t protect her or use an item.

Cheria fills a simple role in battle: cast offensive spells and heal. If enemies get close to her, she can use her A-Artes to keep them at bay. As a note, Cheria is a character you should just leave to the CPU. Her AI is great at supporting and attacking when you want her to. Also, her Accelerate Mode, once you gain access to it, is one of the best in the game. No matter your personal opinion on Cheria, she’s really one of the best characters you will use and she’ll likely never leave your party.

Sophie

As the female lead, Sophie is also a fast melee attacker, though she has shorter reach than Asbel does. She fills the monk role of the party, and so she’s capable of healing others and herself. Though she’s a jack of all trades, that doesn’t make her a master of none. Because she can heal, as well as cure herself of status ailments, she’s one of the easiest party members to use in solo challenges. She has the most amount of Nova Artes in the game, which makes her great at breaking down Nova shields.

Sophie’s kit makes her suitable for lots of different play styles. You can be ultra aggressive with her and leave the healing up to characters like Hubert or Cheria, or you can serve as the healer in a more melee-focused party. Like with Asbel, she’s a great character to control on your own. If you’re bored with Asbel, Sophie’s the easiest one to jump to.

Pascal

Most of the time, you’ll be clearing content in Tales of Graces with Asbel, Cheria, and Sophie. So what about the last character you should focus on? Setting aside what I said about rotating everyone, Pascal is probably the character you would most want to invest in, but with a catch: unless you take control of Pascal yourself, you’ll have a hard time seeing what’s so great about her.

Though Pascal is technically a spellcaster, her A-Artes keep her at a distance while her powerful B-Artes require her to be up close and personal with an enemy. The game gives tips on how to best avoid enemies from punishing Pascal, but it takes a lot of practice. You also have to consider your Artes chain and controls to cut down on her B-Artes casting time. As for why Pascal is the final recommendation, it’s mostly due to her high damage potential and relative lack of faults compared to the other characters in the game.

Pascal is one of the two characters in the game who’s a lot stronger if a human who knows what they’re doing is controlling her. Her most glaring problems come from her low Accuracy. She’s perfectly serviceable as an AI companion, but it’s more rewarding in the long run to learn her.

What about the others?

While they didn’t make it onto this list, the other Tales of Graces f Remastered characters aren’t slouches, either. They just have a few issues that don’t make them stand out as much.

Hubert is, like Sophie, a balanced character who can specialize in attack and support. His melee A-Artes and long-distance B-Artes let him attack from any position and keep up the offense. However, his defense is garbage, even with accessories and titles that help reduce how much damage he takes. He and Pascal are the characters that only shine when a human is controlling them. Don’t get tricked by the AI versions’ poor performances.

Malik is fine as a spellcaster. Like Cheria, he’s someone you want to leave to the AI since he’s good at hitting weaknesses for you to chain combos with. In fact, he’s probably the only character who can hit every weakness in the game, which is reason enough to put him in your party from time to time. His defense is also garbage though, so if no one else is caring for him, you might have to keep an eye out to make sure he didn’t die while your back was turned.

Finally, Richard, former guest party member and f permanent companion, is just alright. The problem with Richard is that he’s mostly a guest party member, so he doesn’t have as many titles as everyone else. That means he doesn’t enjoy as many stat or Arte bonuses as the others. He’s similar to the magic knight occupation in other RPGs, so he’s a pretty balanced attacker. Connecting his A-Artes to his B-Artes can cut down on casting time, too. Richard is still a fun character to use, even if he struggles with Nova shields. Both AI and human players can use him effectively, so you don’t have to bother personally taking control of him to reap his benefits.

Tales of Graces f Remastered is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. You can read our review of it here.