Nighthound

About classes | Class list | Skill list | Extended Mastery

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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
Release date	2016-12-20	Other sites	Gamewith
Support Skills
Night Hunter	Immunity to BlindedAttacks have a slight chance to miss . 5% boost to ATKUnique modifier against debuffed enemies.
Target	200% boost to  Bullseye Run(100% + 100% per target's debuff) elemental damage to a foe (Damage cap: ~580,000).'s damage.  Bullseye Run(100% + 100% per target's debuff) elemental damage to a foe (Damage cap: ~580,000).'s cooldown reduced 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
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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	800% elemental damage to a foe. gain 100% ATK UpATK is boosted Strength: 100%Duration: 1 turn , Dodge AllTakes no DMG or debuffs while in effect Duration: 1 turn , and Bonus Effect on DodgeBlind foes upon dodging Duration: 1 turn Will deal large damage and inflict blind on all foes..	5T	1T	No	1	Bonus Effect on DodgeBlind foes upon dodging Duration: 1 turn Will deal large damage and inflict blind on all foes. will deal elemental damage and inflict BlindedAttacks have a slight chance to miss Duration: 180 seconds 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 of your choice.	20T		30
	Frequency Jam	All allies gain ~35% Dodge Rate UpImmune to DMG and debuffs for a fixed amount while in effect Strength: ~35%Duration: 2 turns and 40% / 40% Critical Hit Rate UpAttacks made with elemental superiority have a chance to deal boosted DMG 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 field effect.	16T	180s	30	When superior element: 30% Elem ATK Up for Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind attacks.
	Judicious Shot	300% elemental damage to all foes (Damage cap: ~660,000). Inflict 25% Element DEF DownElement DEF Down debuff based on weapon element Strength: 25%Duration: 180 seconds.	5T	180s	25
	Time On Target	300% elemental DMG to a foe (Damage cap: ~440,000). Inflict a random debuff. (Number of hits and debuffs increased based on number of bow and gun-specialty allies / Max: 6.)	15T	-	50	See Gameplay Notes.

Gameplay Notes

Time On Target

• The amount of hits and debuffs equal the total number of Bow- and Gun-specialty allies in the party, including sub allies (Max: 6).
• The following debuffs can be inflicted:
  • 25% ATK DownATK is lowered
    Strength: 25%Duration: 180 secondsStacking: Single
  • 25% DEF DownDEF is lowered
    Strength: 25%Duration: 180 secondsStacking: Single
  • Burned (10000)HP is lowered on every turn
    Strength: 10,000Duration: 180 seconds
  • Poisoned (10000)HP is lowered on every turn
    Strength: 10,000Duration: 180 seconds
  • Putrefied (10000)HP is lowered on every turn
    Strength: 10,000Duration: 180 seconds
  • BlindedAttacks have a slight chance to miss
    Duration: 3 turnsLocal status effect
  • DA DownDouble attack rate is lowered
    Duration: 3 turnsLocal status effect
  • TA DownTriple attack rate is lowered
    Duration: 3 turnsLocal status effect
  • Accuracy LoweredAttacks and special attacks have a chance to miss
    Duration: 2 turnsLocal status effect
  • ParalyzedCan't attack
    Duration: 2 turnsLocal status effect
  • ParalyzedCan't attack
    Duration: 1 turn Local status effect
• ParalyzedCan't attack
  Duration: 1 turn Local status effect can overwrite ParalyzedCan't attack
  Duration: 2 turnsLocal status effect even though its duration is shorter.

Assessment

Nighthound is a support class which offers moderate power in comparison to other Row IV classes, but provides unique strength for Ultima Gun/Bow or Hollowsky Bow teams, adds significant raid-wide damage against tetra-elemental enemies, and enables several otherwise impossible strategies for One-Turn Kill teams.

Skills

•  Evasive Maneuvers800% elemental damage to a foe.
  gain 100% ATK UpATK is boosted
  Strength: 100%Duration: 1 turn , Dodge AllTakes no DMG or debuffs while in effect
  Duration: 1 turn , and Bonus Effect on DodgeBlind foes upon dodging
  Duration: 1 turn Will deal large damage and inflict blind on all foes.. 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 turn ., 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. Best used against enemies with powerful single-target charge attacks by taking  SubstituteGain SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
  (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
  Duration: 1 turn . or using Maverick.
•  Tactical RelocationSwitch positions of any two allies of your choice. is an upgraded form of  ChangeSwitches position with a sub member., allowing any slot on the front-line to be changed mid-battle. This can enable some extremely niche and creative strategies, especially when turn-efficiency is important, but given the prohibitively long cool-down of Tactical Relocation it is unlikely you will change positions more than 1-2 times in a single fight.  Tactical RelocationSwitch positions of any two allies of your choice. is most used for one-turn-kill strategies, such as Enmity grids in combination with Zooey (Grand). Qilin is also sometimes used to reset the cooldown to move multiple team members quickly for more strategic flexibility.
•  Frequency JamAll allies gain ~35% Dodge Rate UpImmune to DMG and debuffs for a fixed amount while in effect
  Strength: ~35%Duration: 2 turns and 40% / 40% Critical Hit Rate UpAttacks made with elemental superiority have a chance to deal boosted DMG
  Strength: 40% chance of dealing 40% more damage.Duration: 2 turns. is moderately powerful, especially against multi-hit attacks or when stacked with other forms of Dodge Rate UpImmune to DMG and debuffs for a fixed amount while in effect
  , but the fairly weak Critical Hit Rate UpAttacks made with elemental superiority have a chance to deal boosted DMG
  and extremely low uptime make it much weaker than the EX skills of most other Row IV classes.
•  Twilight ZoneDeploy the Twilight ZoneWhen superior element, DMG is boosted for fire, water, earth and wind attacks
  Field effect field effect. 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. Only one Nighthound in a raid should take this skill - any more would be wasteful.
•  Judicious Shot300% elemental damage to all foes (Damage cap: ~660,000).
  Inflict 25% Element DEF DownElement DEF Down debuff based on weapon element
  Strength: 25%Duration: 180 seconds. is useful primarily for the DEF Down, but is also a decent nuke on a relatively short cooldown. Players that do not require the debuff should consider bringing one of Nighthound's unique utility skills instead.
•  Time on Target300% elemental DMG to a foe (Damage cap: ~440,000).
  Inflict a random debuff.
  (Number of hits and debuffs increased based on number of bow and gun-specialty allies / Max: 6.) specifically benefits Gun/Bow parties, providing a very strong nuke and a multiplicity of debuffs. Requires a full gun/bow team (including sub-allies) to be most effective. Using this skill will immediately empower a followup use of  Bullseye Run(100% + 100% per target's debuff) elemental damage to a foe (Damage cap: ~580,000).. Its only major downside is the very long 15 turn cooldown.

Notable Main Weapons

Nighthound can work well with most guns and bows, though if taking subskills with long cooldowns such as  Time on Target300% elemental DMG to a foe (Damage cap: ~440,000).
Inflict a random debuff.
(Number of hits and debuffs increased based on number of bow and gun-specialty allies / Max: 6.) and  Tactical RelocationSwitch positions of any two allies of your choice. a weapon that cuts skill cooldown times on charge attack may be helpful.

• Maverick increases Nighthound's defensive power and flexibility by applying SubstituteReceives foe attack in place of an ally
  (Excludes all-foe all-ally attacks)
  on  Evasive Maneuvers800% elemental damage to a foe.
  gain 100% ATK UpATK is boosted
  Strength: 100%Duration: 1 turn , Dodge AllTakes no DMG or debuffs while in effect
  Duration: 1 turn , and Bonus Effect on DodgeBlind foes upon dodging
  Duration: 1 turn Will deal large damage and inflict blind on all foes.. without sacrificing a sub-skill slot. The charge attack provides mostly reliable but weak crit buffs to the whole party, and will have decent uptime due to the uplift bonus provided when using  Evasive Maneuvers800% elemental damage to a foe.
  gain 100% ATK UpATK is boosted
  Strength: 100%Duration: 1 turn , Dodge AllTakes no DMG or debuffs while in effect
  Duration: 1 turn , and Bonus Effect on DodgeBlind foes upon dodging
  Duration: 1 turn Will deal large damage and inflict blind on all foes...
  • Shadowhound's Humanity - An extra 20% skill cap up is strong in combination with  Time on Target300% elemental DMG to a foe (Damage cap: ~440,000).
    Inflict a random debuff.
    (Number of hits and debuffs increased based on number of bow and gun-specialty allies / Max: 6.) and  Bullseye Run(100% + 100% per target's debuff) elemental damage to a foe (Damage cap: ~580,000).. Keep in mind this boost is for the MC only - other allies are unaffected, unlike some other skill cap raising weapons.
  • Shadowhound's Divinity - Provides a small amount of Bonus Damage to the MC when an enemy is marked by  Steady AimInflict Steady AimTargeted by a skill
    Duration: 180 seconds on a foe.
    Gain Charge Bar +20%Instantly boosts Charge Bar by 20%
    Strength: 20%.. Requires you to commit to taking  Steady AimInflict Steady AimTargeted by a skill
    Duration: 180 seconds on a foe.
    Gain Charge Bar +20%Instantly boosts Charge Bar by 20%
    Strength: 20%. (a skill that does no damage and provides no debuffing effect) and provides very little damage in return for the cost.
  • Shadowhound's Devilry - Improves  Twilight ZoneDeploy the Twilight ZoneWhen superior element, DMG is boosted for fire, water, earth and wind attacks
    Field effect field effect. further by giving a small multiattack boost to your party for the full length of Twilight ZoneWhen superior element, DMG is boosted for fire, water, earth and wind attacks
    Field effect. The best option if you are not bringing damage skills on the MC, and maybe the best option then as well.
• Hercules 🛑🛑This weapon requires many Gold Moons to acquire, and will realistically involve the use of several Damascus Ingots to uncap to its full potential. Think very carefully before making the heavy commitment to acquiring this weapon! - very strong and very expensive (requires 100 Gold Moons), Hercules doubles each skill use by the party when uncapped, cuts skill cooldowns on charge attack, and gives a major boost to skill damage too. Best paired with a friend summon Qilin, a full Bow/Gun team,  Time on Target300% elemental DMG to a foe (Damage cap: ~440,000).
  Inflict a random debuff.
  (Number of hits and debuffs increased based on number of bow and gun-specialty allies / Max: 6.), and many nuke skills.
• Hollowsky Bow - for light gun/bow teams taking  Time on Target300% elemental DMG to a foe (Damage cap: ~440,000).
  Inflict a random debuff.
  (Number of hits and debuffs increased based on number of bow and gun-specialty allies / Max: 6.). Provides supplemental damage on critical hits. It helps with this by providing a small chance of large crits as a skill, and the charge attack gives a large boost to crit chance for the party. Best paired with other sources of crit such as  Frequency JamAll allies gain ~35% Dodge Rate UpImmune to DMG and debuffs for a fixed amount while in effect
  Strength: ~35%Duration: 2 turns and 40% / 40% Critical Hit Rate UpAttacks made with elemental superiority have a chance to deal boosted DMG
  Strength: 40% chance of dealing 40% more damage.Duration: 2 turns., EMP skills and further crit skills in grid, along with multi-hit skills to provide more chances for crits to happen.
• Agonize - Supplements skill damage and also cuts cooldown times with every charge attack. Much cheaper option than Hercules which has the same skill cooldown cut effect.
• Compound Gadget Bow - Increases boost to skill damage cap when wielded as a main weapon and cooldown cut to damage skills on charge attack.
• V.A.R.I.S. - Increases boost to skill damage cap when wielded as a main weapon.
• Indra's Edge - Provides a significant boost to skill power after a charge attack, but only for the MC.

Resources

• Reddit Class Discussion (2019-10-18)
• Reddit Class Discussion (2020-04-18) (post-March 2020 EMP Update)