Nighthound

Class Data
Class line	Ranger ⇢ Archer ⇢ Sidewinder ⇢ Nighthound
Description	Use keen senses combined with tactical ingenuity to intercept and neutralize the enemy.
Style		Specialty
Prerequisites	CP ×2,500 Sharpshooter Distinction ×20 Superior ArcherRewards Crystal ×50
Level BonusesLevel bonuses are earned with levels 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20.	Lvl 1 ATK +600   Total: ATK +1800 Skill DMG +20% Lvl 5 Skill DMG +10% Lvl 10  ATK +600 Lvl 15 Skill DMG +10% Lvl 20 ATK +600
Master Bonuses	Skill DMG +1% and Dodge +1%
Class Weapon	Maverick
Support Skills
Night Hunter	Immunity to BlindedAttacks have a slight chance to miss . 5% boost to ATKUnique modifier against enemies with debuff.
Target	Increases the effectiveness of Bullseye Run and reduces its cooldown by 1 turn.
Base Multiattack Rates
Base DA RateIncluding Support Skills/Level Bonuses	4%	Base TA RateIncluding Support Skills/Level Bonuses	1%
Recommended Extended Mastery Perks
-
Recommended Subskills
-

Skills

Icon	Skill Name	Effect	C/DCooldown in Turns	DurDuration in Turns or Seconds	SubSubskill usable on other classes	LVLClass level required	Notes
	Evasive Maneuvers	Deal 800% damage to one foe and gain 100% ATK UpATK is boosted Strength: 100% Duration: 1 turns , Other SelfTakes no DMG or debuffs while in effect Duration: 1 turns and Bonus Effect on DodgeBlind foes upon dodging Duration: 1 turns Will deal large damage and inflict blind on all foes. .	5T	1T	No	1	The Bonus Effect on Dodge will deal Elemental damage and inflict BlindedAttacks have a slight chance to miss on all foes. Even if you dodge multiple times it only triggers once.

Extended Mastery Skills

Icon	Skill Name	Effect	C/DCooldown	DurDuration	EMPCost in EMP	Notes
	Tactical Relocation	Switch positions of any two allies	20T		30
	Frequency Jam	All allies gain ~35% Dodge Rate BoostedImmune to DMG and debuffs for a fixed amount while in effect Strength: ~35% Duration: 2 turns and 40% / 40% Critical Hit Rate UpDMG is slightly boosted for critical hits Strength: 40% chance of dealing 40% more damage. Duration: 2 turns .	7T	2T	20
	Twilight Zone	Deploy the Twilight ZoneWhen superior element, DMG is boosted for fire, water, earth and wind attacks field effect.	16T	180s	30	When superior element, damage is boosted for fire, water, earth and wind attacks (increases elemental modifier by 30%).
	Judicious Shot	300% Elemental DMG to all foes (Damage cap: ~660,000) and inflict 25% Elemental DEF loweredBase accuracy: 100% .	5T		25

Assessment

Nighthound is a support class which offers some unique utilities, but is generally a very low priority Row IV class due to being outperformed by most other classes in most fights.

• Evasive Maneuvers is a respectable nuke and useful for protecting the main character, but the
  Bonus Effect on DodgeBlind foes upon dodging
  
  can be unreliable. Combined with  
  SubstituteGain

  SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
  (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
  

  ---

  Duration: 1 turns

  .
  , however, it becomes a powerful defensive tool for the entire team, as well as guaranteeing the
  BlindedAttacks have a slight chance to miss
  
  and secondary nuke activation
• Tactical Relocation (and Change) are Nighthound's most unique utilities, allowing the front-line to be changed mid-battle. This can enable some extremely niche and creative strategies, especially when turn-efficiency is important, but is generally not worth the real-time involved compared to playing/racing normally, especially given the prohibitively long cool-down of Tactical Relocation. That said, it does see moderate use for one-turn-kill strategies, especially in conjunction with Zooey (Summer) or 3★ Qilin
• Frequency Jam is moderately powerful, especially against multi-hit attacks or when stacked with other forms of
  Dodge Rate BoostedImmune to DMG and debuffs for a fixed amount while in effect
  
  , but the fairly weak
  Critical Hit Rate UpDMG is slightly boosted for critical hits
  
  and extremely low uptime make it much weaker than the EX skills of most other Row IV classes.
• Twilight Zone is the main reason for taking Nighthound, often providing 30% Elemental ATK to an entire raid for 3 minutes with one button press. Unfortunately, it does not affect Light and Dark or work against Non-Elemental enemies such as Ultimate Bahamut due to requiring elemental advantage.

Fortunately, Nighthound becomes much more competitive when equipped with it's class weapon, Maverick. The passive effect of Maverick applies

SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
(Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)

on Evasive Maneuvers without sacrificing a sub-skill, the

Critical Hit Rate UpDMG is slightly boosted for critical hits

on the charge attack compensate for the lack of an offensive Weapon Skill, and the Emblem of Devilry adds a modest team-wide multi-attack boost to Twilight Zone, something Nighthound previously lacked. Altogether this makes Nighthound much more consistent and allows it to offer value comparable to the more popular Row IVs. That said, 5★ Class Weapon are a significant investment and only improve one element at a time.