Team Building
Team Building is a core system in Granblue Fantasy. Your party consists of the main character, 3 front line characters, 2 back line characters, 1 main weapon, 9 sub weapons (known colloquially as the "grid"), 1 main summon, and 4 sub-summons.
Each character, weapon, and summon has its own statistics and abilities to consider. Combining all these factors into a competent party is a very satisfying experience when you are able to take that party and see it slowly progress and improve, allowing you to take on harder and harder content.
※ This article is a general guideline. Specific grid compositions and optimal main character classes and main weapons may vary based on your party composition, main weapon options, and available summons. For a beginner's list of cookie-cutter grids to pursue, see Basic Grids.
Contents
Overview[edit | edit source]
Characters[edit | edit source]
A character's strength largely depends on your weapon grid and their synergy with party members rather than their individual stats. Using lower-rarity characters is perfectly viable; if an SR character has better synergy with the other members of a party, using them would be preferable over using an all-SSR team that has little synergy.
Some key factors to look for in skills while selecting characters:
- Capping DEF Down: Learning how DEF Down Stacking works is extremely useful for progression. To hit the DEF Down cap, many players will set
Miserable MistInflict
25% ATK DownATK is lowered
Strength: 25%Base Accuracy: 80%Duration: 180 secondsStacking: Dual and25% DEF DownDEF is lowered
Strength: 25%Base Accuracy: 80%Duration: 180 secondsStacking: Dual on all enemies. (from the Row III class Dark Fencer) as a subskill on the main character. Because Miserable Mist is a "dual-sided" debuff, it will stack with any "single-sided"DEF DownDEF is lowered
, Elemental DEF Down (such asFire DEF DownDEF is lowered for fire DMG
), andDEF Down (Stackable)DEF is lowered (Stackable)
debuffs until the -50% cap is reached. - Multiattack Buffs: Commonly referred to by players as DATA (Double Attack/Triple Attack), having some source of multiattack buff on your team becomes vital as you progress. Ideally, a party member can bring a party-wide buff, but teams lacking in multiattack buffing options should place characters who can reliably multiattack on their own before characters who don't. Because of the way Charge Attacks work, characters can charge attack and chain burst even if their charge bars are not at 100% at the start of the turn.
- In later-mid grids, grids can also gain multiattack options by slotting in certain weapons. Most notable are the Atma Weapons, which can use a Strife Key to boost DATA for all characters that have a proficiency in its weapon type.
- Synergy with one another: This will strongly vary depending on your characters, but taking note of each character's gimmicks and working around them is key to making team-building more fulfilling. Does someone have a stacking buff that dispels if they take damage? Slot in a tanky character who draws hostility towards themselves so the first character gets targeted less. If one character's kit revolves around constantly charge attacking, pairing them with characters that supply
Charge Bar +Instantly boosts Charge Bar by
orCharge Bar Gain UpCharge bar gain is boosted
will help with that.
Weapons[edit | edit source]
A party's element is decided by the equipped main weapon; the types of main weapons that can be equipped are decided by the main character's Class. The remaining nine sub weapons (the grid) can be freely equipped and are not limited to the main weapon types.
Because Weapon Skills are far more important than an individual weapon's stats, grid progression relies on strengthening single-element grids, then working on other elements' grids as one gets stronger. While building early-game grids, first raise the skill levels on a newly-obtained weapon, then add it to your grid until you have enough (usually 5-6). After you have that base grid down, then you can uncap weapons with copies.
There are a few weapon series that will almost always have a place on your grid; most of these are crafted through Shop > Weapon Series:
- Seraphic Weapons (early game): These weapons have one for each element and bring an extremely important boost to total damage against their effective element: 10% as an SR weapon, 20% as an SSR weapon. They can (and should) be added to the party even as SRs.
- Dark and Light Seraphic weapons have steeper unlock and uncap requirements than the other four Seraphic Weapons, requiring the What Makes the Sky Blue II: Paradise Lost side story to be completed first.
- Unlike most other weapons, Seraphic Weapons are solely uncapped through trading in materials in the Shop. While their levels will be raised by regular upgrading, each ★ cannot be raised through conventional means.
- Bahamut Weapons (mid game): While these weapons are always Dark-element, their skills take effect based on character race rather than element, so they will find a place in every applicable team. Unknown and Primal characters will be buffed by any Bahamut Weapon, so it is encouraged to look at your overall teams to decide which one to craft.
- The side story What Makes the Sky Blue will give players a free SSR Bahamut Weapon of their choice, instead of having to craft one from SR to SSR. It is highly encouraged to make your first Bahamut Weapon selection there, despite its relatively late main story unlock requirement. Most players recommend selecting Dagger of Bahamut Nova because Human is the most common race, with Erunes second (who will also be boosted upon upgrading the dagger to Coda).
- Atma/Ultima Weapons (mid-late game): Like Bahamut Weapons, their skills are not based on element. They instead provide HP and ATK boosts based on a character's weapon proficiencies; a character with two proficiencies will be boosted by either (or both) Atma Weapons. (The main character's weapon proficiencies are based on class and are the same as the main hand weapons.)
- Atma Weapons can gain an additional skill by trading for Gauph Keys. Only one key can be equipped at a time; the most common pick is the Strife Key for its multiattack rate boost.
- Atma Weapons can be upgraded into Ultima Weapons, but this requires being High Level. Upon upgrading to Ultima, it can gain a second additional skill with an Ultima Key.
- Due to the large amounts of Sword proficiency characters, Atma Sword is a common first pick. Other Atma weapon selections will heavily rely on your character composition.
- Dark Opus Weapons (rank 120+): Extremely flexible weapon after its 4★ and 5★ uncaps. Each element has two variations of the weapon for its base skill: one has an Omega modifier while the other has a Normal modifier. Notice that it is possible for an Omega modifier 5★ Dark Opus weapon to be good in a Normal grid; due to the difficulty in obtaining one, players should carefully consider their options before committing to it.
- Like Ultima Weapons, they have slots for two additional skills that can be unlocked using items after their uncaps. Although identical damage cap boosts will not stack (for example, if both Ultima and Dark Opus skills grant a 15% boost to CA DMG Cap, you only gain a 15% boost), the two weapons are not mutually exclusive and can be used to raise different damage caps.
- Beast Weapons from the event Rise of the Beasts will vary in use. Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind all have two weapons with Normal modifiers and one Omega weapon. Light and Dark both have one EX weapon each:
Huanglong Gauntlet and
Qilin Sword, and both have a second skill that reduces damage taken from their advantage element.
- Xeno Weapons: These weapons have the strongest EX modifier in the game, as well as 4★ uncaps that make them even more powerful than regular EX weapons. However, the infrequent appearances and short duration of Xeno Clashes, can make them difficult to acquire for new and even mid-level players.
The Cosmos Weapons are no longer commonly used due to their limited scope. They find use in certain Omega Light setups (specifically using Cosmic Sword BAL) or for some one-turn strategies, but otherwise are not a priority for players.
Summons[edit | edit source]
The main summon will be picked for its aura. For new players, an elemental ATK-boosting summon is ideal, but as players progress, switching their main summon to a weapon skill boosting summon is preferred. For example, in an Omega team, using a 3★ Omega summon will be preferable over a 50% Elemental Attack boost summon.
Sub summons, meanwhile, have much more freedom. The only benefit gained from matching their elements to the main weapon's is a 3-turn initial cooldown cut. Otherwise, unless they have a sub-summon aura, they are mainly being used for their call or for their stats.
For most battles, a Support Summon will be selected before fighting. The Support Summon's aura will affect your party unless otherwise stated, so it is best to choose a summon that complements your team. (For example, teams with an Omega main summon will usually pick an Elemental summon.)
Some notable summons:
- Carbuncles are the only premium draw SR summons (with the sole exception of Peridot Carbuncle, which is tradeable) to see common use. A 3★ SR Carbuncle is much easier to obtain than its SSR equivalent (Epic Series), and have an extremely good call (50% Elemental ATK Up and 50% Elemental DMG Cut of its element). In certain fights, players may equip up to three 3★ SR Carbuncles of the element they're fighting for the damage cut.
- White Rabbit and Black Rabbit are staples for EXP farming in Shiny Slime Search! While both are technically free, White Rabbit requires Rare Monster farming to trade for its treasure trade materials, while Black Rabbit only has one copy obtainable in Arcarum: The World Beyond and needs to be uncapped with Moonlight Stones.
- Belle Sylphid is another commonly-used SR summon, used for Rare Monster farming. She is only obtained through drops.
- Summons that can only be used once per battle (Genesis Series, Freyr, Typhon) often have very strong calls. Uncapping these with duplicates is usually inadvisable unless you have enough copies to 3★ at once. (Even then, depending on the summon, you might not want to do that.)
- Non-ticketable summons almost always have extremely good auras and/or calls.
- The Primarch Series (Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Sariel) all have sub-auras that raise the damage cap against their advantage element. (Note that this is not the same as Seraphic weapons, which boost final damage. However, they are still worthwhile for player progression.)
- Bahamut and Lucifer are highly-regarded for their 4★ and 5★ calls. They are high priority for using Sunlight Stones on to reach 3★, but their uncaps beyond that will require you to gather the materials to uncap them; there is no skipping through it.
- The Optimus Series (Agni, Varuna, Titan, Zephyrus, Zeus, Hades) are the cornerstone of Normal (Primal) teams and should not be reduced even if you have no immediate plans on building a Normal grid. There are weaker free substitutes in the Demi-Primal series obtained through What Makes the Sky Blue II: Paradise Lost, but you can only select one summon and it will still need Sunlight Stones to uncap.
- New players commonly use Kaguya for her autorevive; experienced players commonly use her for her boost to item drop rate. "Double Kaguya" means a person is using Kaguya as both a main summon and a support summon to maximize drop rate chances. Players without their own Kaguya can use an SR Rabbit as their main summon.
- Arcarum Summons take a long time to uncap due to the Arcarum's time-limited nature; however, all the summons have sub-auras that may prove extremely useful. Although many of them have situational calls, The Sun (SR) and The Hanged Man (SR) are notable for being all-around strong summons.
- At the end of the lengthy Arcarum Summon upgrade process are the Arcarum Evokers, so some players may want to pick their summons based on the Evoker of their interest.
For more information on general Summon tiering, see the appropriate links in the Resources section.
Omega Teams[edit | edit source]
The most common and basic team is the Omega (Magna) team, which makes use of all farmable weapons and summons. Most new players are suggested to first build this style of team since there are no specific Premium Draw requirements to it, you simply need to choose an element, usually the one with the best/most characters.
The following are general guidelines for grid building progression. As the grid meta can shift greatly depending on new content and updates, these guidelines cover common advice given to players up to Omega II grids and is not a strict rule to follow.
(Last updated: March 17, 2019)
Early Game (Omega I/M1):
- Early game grids depend on drops from Omega Raids. Every four chapters in the Main Quests up to Chapter 48, players will receive a free level 100 Omega SSR weapon as a completion reward; however, not all of those weapons are good.
- Filler weapons and summons from early Side Stories can be used as placeholders. Most side stories give a level 100 copy of an SSR weapon upon story completion, and a 3★ level 1 copy of the summon. (Side stories with multiple weapons or summons will require you to farm the others.)
- Before obtaining enough copies for a 3★ Omega Summon, using an Elemental summon may provide better damage.
- After obtaining a 3★ Omega Summon, with enough skill leveled Omega weapons in the grid, using an Omega main summon and an Elemental support summon will bring better yields than Elemental x Elemental. See the Damage Formula page for details.
- Start the Seraphic Weapon upgrade process as soon as possible.
- See Basic Grids for more detailed examples.
Late Pre-High Level (M1):
- Any filler (normal skill) side story weapons should be replaced by this point. Xeno Weapons or Proving Grounds weapons should be farmed out whenever possible, preferably uncapped to 4★, to replace story event EX weapons.
- Due to the limited availability and irregular scheduling of Xeno and Proving Grounds events, they should be farmed out regardless of grid progression unless you are absolutely certain you will not need them.
- Accumulated renown pendants should be used towards
Celeste Claw Omega or
Luminiera Sword Omega, which have the lowest drop rates of the Omega weapons.
- Unlike other M1 weapons, which should be skill leveled and placed into the grid before uncapping, Luminiera Swords should not be used until High Level, after its 4★ uncap and raised to level 120 for its second weapon skill.
- Arcarum: The World Beyond should be unlocked at this point. Each Arcarum difficulty has an increasingly high SSR weapon drop rate, and can provide weapons desirable for your grids. Arcarum (Sephira) weapons may be used as grid placeholders if you have difficulty getting the right raid drops.
- Upgrade the Seraphic Weapons whenever possible. The only uncap unavailable to pre-HL players is the SSR uncap, which requires Elemental Centrums from Omega I Impossible raids.
- It is possible, but difficult, to complete an Atma Weapon at this stage by hosting Ultimate Bahamut (Raid).
- Fire and Dark grids may begin including
Ancient Ecke Sachs ×5 and
Ancient Cortana ×1 from Tier 1 Summon Raids. However, the drop rate on these raids is low and the only way to purchase them is with High Level Prestige Pendants. Completing a regular M1 grid is higher priority.
- Fire is the only grid to make a full transition to an Ancient weapon due to the strength of crit and enmity skills found in Ancient Ecke Sachs. A 0★ AES can replace a 3★
Colossus Cane Omega outside of 1-turn teams.
- Some Water grids may include
Ancient Auberon, but it is less common.
Ancient Nalakuvara,
Ancient Artemis, and
Ancient Perseus are usually not used outside of 1-turn teams, where only one copy of the weapon would be used.
- There are two types of T1 Summon weapons: regular (have a glow in surrounding the weapon its artwork) and Ancient (no glow). Ancient versions have Omega skills while regular versions have Normal skills. Make sure to distinguish them!
- Fire is the only grid to make a full transition to an Ancient weapon due to the strength of crit and enmity skills found in Ancient Ecke Sachs. A 0★ AES can replace a 3★
Early High Level (M1):
- Light grids will transition from
Luminiera Bolt Omega to
Luminiera Sword Omega. Some other Omega weapons can be raised to 4★, but they are not high priority due to upgrading costs.
- Finish Seraphic Weapon upgrades.
- Prestige pendant farming in early High Level is difficult, so spending it on Class Distinctions for Row IV and Extra II Classes is higher priority. Spare prestige can be used to purchase
Ancient Ecke Sachs from the pendant shop (1/month, 2500 prestige). You may also choose to save them for an eventual Omega II (M2) weapon.
- Most of early High Level will still be spent farming regular Omega raids. Omega I Impossible raids are farmed for centrums and host crystals for Omega II raids, but are rarely farmed for weapon drops.
High Level (Omega II/M2):
- After reaching rank 120, Impossible Omega II Raids (M2) and Lucilius (Raid) are unlocked. M2 weapons drop from host, MVP, or blue chests, and can also be bought with 4000 prestige pendants. Dark Opus weapons are acquired by trading drops from the Lucilius raid; note that Omega grids will always want the "Renunciation"-name weapons.
- Typical M2 grids wildly differ in their use of M2 raid weapons. Fire barely uses any in favor of AES, while Earth almost completely replaces the original M1 grid. Like the Ancient weapons, M2 weapons usually have a weaker attack skill in exchange for different skills like HP, multi-attack, or Stamina.
- Most M2 weapons will only be added to the grid after reaching 4★. The two common exceptions are your first
Nibelung Horn and
Last Storm Harp, which can both be added in at 0★ and then uncapped like M1 weapons.
- Dark Opus weapons can take various places on a grid; for most grids, it will replace an M1 weapon.
- Picking between 4★ Omega summon, 4★ M2 weapon, or 4★ Dark Opus weapon first is up to personal preference, but the summon is recommended due to affecting all your Omega weapons.
- Completed M2 Earth and Wind grids will sometimes opt for Omega x Omega summons for 100% crit. Almost all other Omega teams will still prefer Omega x Elemental.
General Advice:
- Remember to balance your weapon modifiers for maximum damage. The usual grid setup is 5-6 Omega, 2-3 Normal (this includes Bahamut Weapons, the Normal II Celestial Weapons, and Atma/Ultima Weapons), and 1-2 EX weapons. But due to the respective strengths of their Omega weapons, Wind teams usually contain 6 to 7, while Fire often does with just 5.
- Although the guide earlier suggested using an Omega main summon and an Elemental support summon, they are interchangeable. If you have a strong Elemental main summon, it may be more convenient to use Omega support summons.
- In some cases (particularly for summons that can only be used once per raid or other powerful ones like 4★ Bahamut or Lucifer), you may still want to use your own Omega main summon, use your elemental summon as a sub summon, and bring the same elemental summon as support so you have their call twice.
- Note that in the "Summon combination" part of following paragraphs, summons like
Shiva (Summon) are usually interchangeable with ticketable elemental ATK summons like
Sylph, Flutterspirit of Purity since they have a comparable Main Aura. For the most part, the summon call of the non-ticketable option listed is stronger, but there can be situations where it's not the case.
Omega Team Compositions[edit | edit source]
Fire![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Omega Weapons
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Water![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Omega Weapons
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Earth![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Omega Weapons
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Wind![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Omega Weapons
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Light![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Omega Weapons
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Dark![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Omega Weapons
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Normal Teams[edit | edit source]
Normal teams employ weapons with Optimus-boosted modifiers (e.g. Dark, Hatred and Oblivion for Dark) in their grids, and use Optimus series summons. They are usually considered to be more expensive to build, as the main summons are non-ticketable, and present-day normal grids needs to use high numbers of Vintage/Grand weapons to compete against Omega grids.
However, once finished, they are usually stronger than their Omega counterparts (Wind and Earth might be exceptions). This means that many valuable resources would need to be used in finishing your build, including Sunlight Stones and many Damascus Ingots. Due to this, building normal teams is something players needs to think about early on and dedicate appropriate resources towards.
Normal Team Compositions[edit | edit source]
Fire![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Normal Weapons
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Water![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Normal Weapons
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Earth![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Normal Weapons
Caim Using the Evoker character |
Wind![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Normal Weapons
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Light![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Normal Weapons
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Dark![]() |
Summon Combinations
Notable Normal Weapons
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Resources[edit | edit source]
Parties:
Grids:
Summons: