Why Cleo is the most useful mage

[Judgement of Lorelai]

I used them both, they were amazing.. Almost identical stats but I would have chose Rubi over her.. Bow is better than throwing knife.. I wouldn't bother about his def or about the horned helm thingy coz he's in the back row in the first place.. He can equip Earth boots in compensation for the horned helm thingy.. Though Crimson cape is better if you hunt it patiently.. (can it be hunted?) can't remember.. I'll put those Crimson Capes of Goldlet for the frontliners anyway..

But as always in my case, I put them both in party, they really rule..

[KFCrispy]

i do find Rubi and Tengaar to be a bit more useful than Cleo just because of the unites that are available for them. first of all, a 50 point difference in attack value isn't that big of a deal, especially when there are unites that multiply your damage to do more than Cleo can do with her single attack and/or "true beauty" crap unites.

of course, unites depend on having the complementary characters in the party so of course, individually, Cleo might have stats, but the difference isn't noticeable enough. i'd say the options available when you have the unite characters make a stronger case for Rubi/Tengaar to be more "overall" compared to Cleo.. especially Rubi, since his unite with Kirkis is specifically for groups and groups of regular are the ones that actually have a chance of damaging to the party.

[Judgement of Lorelai]

A good unite character for me is Master-Pupil atk, since all can be damaged, don't bother about the true beauty atk since it wud take 3 people (is it?) to do that lest Master Pupil atk only takes 1, because Tir is unremovable.. another thing is that the unite of Kirkis and Rubi makes them unbalance so I just think, Kai and Tir are better unites..

[KFCrispy]

yes, but we were discussing Rubi, Cleo, and similar characters

[Chris_Lightfellow]

Personally, I had Cleo throughout the whole game. She had great atttack and rune power. I had her in my final party.

[LillyXChris]

Same here. Besides, equipping her with a Fire/Rage rune was the way to go for me.

[Wilshire81182]

This is an old post so this may not generate conversation... Let me start by agreeing that Cleo has by far some of the best stats in the game (proven) and was definitely among my favorite characters. However, I was concerned that most of the comments saying Cleo is better than Milich were regarding his personality and thus offered no proof of superior stats. I also wanted to know if someone could tell me how Camille and Cleo compare. I always considered them (in my head, stats aside) to be similar in some regards. I put a Flowing rune on Cleo and a Rage Rune on Camille (Tengaar and Milich too actually) and she did very well with the fire magic, while they both took of a LOT from the back row! I put them in several parties including the final boss and I always thought Camille was so good but on this topic she is not even mentioned ...

[CameoChic444]

Milich has a 04 growth in speed and skill, while Cleo has a 06 growth in both - (around the 120'S compared to the late 150's for speed and 160's/verging on 170 for skill). Milich can equip a shield, but Cleo can equip a heavy helm and he can't and they are similar physically. To compare:

HP:equal
atk:equal
def:equal
armour:Milich
magic:equal
speed:Cleo
skill:Cleo
luck:Cleo

Camille is much underrated - She is in the top 20 mages in the game (of 76 chars) and is the only character with over 200 skill to be able to counter( not a L-ranged weapon) . She has solid, though not great stats all round and has no major weaknesses (take note Viktor). Compared to Cleo:

HP:equal
atk:equal
def:Cleo
armour:Cleo (helm)
Magic:Cleo
Speed:Cleo (by about 10 points)
Skill:Camille
Luck:Camille (potentially by not very much)

Milich is good but lacks the overall flair of characters like Cleo, Flik and Sonya, as his only 06 level stat is magic, he has average skill and speed (probably not even as they are high stats) and awful luck.
Camille and Cleo are more similar when you get them - Camille can have higher speed and Cleo luck but they will develop further apart. Camille is definitely an above average character IMO and can survive better than most (decent physical and mag def) but lacks the overall stats that others have as she only has one stat above the 160's and a cluster in the 140's.

[CameoChic444]

And several more points - The beauty attack prevents about 70 percent of attacks against your' party and does not disable anyone - unlike the elves' attack, which won't kill all things in one go. The unite is super fast with Sonya and is useful early on with Valeria in protecting the team.
50 atk isn't much? It's more than 50 and more than 150 if they (Cleo and Tengaar)critical. Speed is not a crucial stat in this game but is useful, especially for healers and I think it influences evasion rate.
The bow in this game has only 5 more atk points - very little difference. In my opinion daggers require more skill to use, as it's easier to aim a bow (though I've never tried either!). In other games, dart types are better - In the third, you will get more reliable damage as it's a much lighter weapon (even with sharpshoot) and I've never played tactics but the rune for that type of weapon is supposed to be good.

[lucreborn]

in my almost 5 dozens playing through I have used cleo hardly ever....not saying she isnt a good mage just I make room for better characters in my opinion....

[KFCrispy]

i still have to argue that Rubi is far more useful than Cleo.
Rubi has a natural Wind element on his weapon, so he attacks with a damage boost when he hits enemies who are weak vs Wind.
The Wild Arrow Attack (Kirkis with any of the elves) is one of the most useful normal encounters in the game. Great execution time and damage, and especially strong against enemies weak to Wind.

The True and normal Beauty Attack (and i think that's all?) does poor damage and doesn't really have a good chance of making enemies sleep in this game. I don't think I've ever seen it put anyone to sleep, honestly. It leaves enemies well and alive so they can damage your party. The Wild Arrow attack deals a lot more damage per person involved, and it's only 2 characters who are involved in it.. with a decent party, the other 4 can clean house. With Kai, the 2 unites mean death to pretty much all enemies.

[Chaco]

do find Rubi and Tengaar to be a bit more useful than Cleo just because of the unites that are available for them

I always have Rubi with me TO but you can't get Rubi until later in the game and you have Cleo since the start thus making her more "useful" since the topic is who is the most useful mage not who has the best unite attack.

This is an old post so this may not generate conversation... Let me start by agreeing that Cleo has by far some of the best stats in the game (proven) and was definitely among my favorite characters. However, I was concerned that most of the comments saying Cleo is better than Milich were regarding his personality and thus offered no proof of superior stats. I also wanted to know if someone could tell me how Camille and Cleo compare. I always considered them (in my head, stats aside) to be similar in some regards. I put a Flowing rune on Cleo and a Rage Rune on Camille (Tengaar and Milich too actually) and she did very well with the fire magic, while they both took of a LOT from the back row! I put them in several parties including the final boss and I always thought Camille was so good but on this topic she is not even mentioned ...

I agree. I think Camille is very underrated and she is super helpfull later in the game once you level her up some.

Personally, I had Cleo throughout the whole game. She had great atttack and rune power. I had her in my final party.

I to brought her along in the final party because her rage rune kicks ass compared to any other. I wanted one of each magic ability (Flik-Lighting Cleo-Rage Luc-Wind
Tir-Soul Eater Rubi-Earth) so Cleo was a natural choice for the final battle since she is the best fire magic user in the game in my opinon.

Also I know Crowley is beter then Luc but I dislike Crowley. he is boaring and Luc with a Gale Rune still kicks ass.

[Bailzar]

Im not a mage fan, im more of a average all rounder person
fighter/mages like Flik, Alan, Grenseal, Cleo Hero imo they own
heavy hitter viktor ofc

thats usually my party

Cleo is usually my healer as she's fast and has great power in her attacks
others die to fast with no HP and def and loads of magic.
but thats my opnion

[Chaco]

Cleo is usually my healer as she's fast and has great power in her attacks
others die to fast with no HP and def and loads of magic.
but thats my opnion

I never thought of using her as a healer for some reason, good idea.

[KFCrispy]

with a leveling trick (use a 2-man party of McDohl and Kirkis, and if you got the Fortune Rune early game that will make it even easier....), i'm sure we can boost Kirkis to 35 early in the game and pick up Rubi probably after Kwanda.. i'll check it out in the future.

Beauty Attack's sleep status - even if it almost always sends 1 enemy to sleep in a battle, you can't tell so you can end up waking it up when your other characters attack. does it cancel their turn? not sure, but i still prefer to do non-unite attacks if I'm using Cleo, Eileen, and Valeria (spam Falcon).