User:Bamiji/Fire Tier List/Reasons
The following descriptions aim to provide a bit more insight into some of the thought behind the character evaluations for this Zone.
It should be understood that tiers can tend to be defined by the characters within them, rather than defining fixed "tests" they'd need to pass to get in. This is because there is easily a lot of variance and advancement in what kits can provide, but some semblance of general ordering can be achieved with experience and familiarity. Even then, the specific criteria themselves are finnicky and can change easily, even to the same person.
All this is to say you might not find as much "formula" as you might expect when attempting to figure out why characters share a tier or why some might not have qualified for a tier. It could easily be the case that reordering them based on what you notice would be equally valid, which is the recurring message with these things: don't glorify any tier list.
SS "Frequently Very Useful"
Characters whose kits will frequently have something(s) of notable value to provide to various teams.
Dewey (AC)
Dewey gets his high rating by virtue of a number of factors; a very notable one being the "efficiency" of his skills, relative to their impact.
To be able to appreciate this, it's helpful to understand what quality damage support looks like from full teams in endgame. There's 4 main categories of damage buffs you can get from skills in combat:
- Based on your skill's attacking stat (PWR or INT or SPD buffs)
- Based on your skill's element (Type Attack buffs)
- Based on your weapon type (Weapon Damage buffs)
- Based on your skill's damage type (Critical Damage for physical, Mental Focus for magic)
And 2 for debuffs:
- Physical Resistance debuff
- Type Resistance debuff
Generally, proper damage support is going to come down to trying to use as many categories as possible with potent values (~50%+) to maximize multiplication.
If you take a look at Dewey's kit, in as little as 1 use each of 3 skills, he covers PWR/INT, Fire Type Attack, All Weapon Damage and Fire Type Res--all with high values. The seemingly lacking value for PWR/INT is made up for by damage formula interactions (35% PWR is typically more than 35% damage) and getting PWR buffs from allies is still fairly rare than for it to matter much against him. In any case, this level of damage support from one character potentially rivals a full team's worth of support in some cases. And even when it doesn't, that's the benefit of it--you have a lot more flexibility to include whatever stray thing is still lacking in your setup, whereas most other characters would leave you a lot more work left after they'd been slotted.
This is just scratching the surface. If we take a look at the skills involved in providing the listed effects from Dewey, the PWR/INT buff skill will also awaken Fire Zone, increasing it to +100% (2x) instead of +50% (1.5x), a 33% damage increase. And if the enemy is weak to your attacks, his exclusive buff will increase your weakness multiplier, typically resulting in about 40% more damage. Lastly, it activates his lunatic when he awakens zone, saving him an action, and his lunatic enables him to do competent single-target damage.
Taking a look at the Weapon Damage buff skill, it should be understood that the vast majority of the time, your access to weapon damage buffs for a damage dealer of your choice would have to come from another character using the same weapon type: either by using Prayer grasta or having it in their own kit. Additionally, a few characters buff all weapons that match their damage type (slash, pierce or blunt) instead of just their own weapon type. What this means is that a number of times, opting to get a weapon damage buff to match your damage dealer might not be worth the trouble if the characters that match their weapon type don't also provide other valuable things. You can opt to bring someone just to get 1.5x weapon damage and then contribute to Fire Zone AF gain, but it's generally not where you want to be, if you have a choice. Sometimes this can incline towards using non-Fire characters to get a weapon damage buff, while using grasta that will give them a Fire skill so that they can still provide AF gain.
Dewey sidesteps all of this and provides a 50% weapon damage buff that works with all weapons, further increasing flexibility for your comps; and in pre-grasta cases: likely giving you a whole damage buff category you wouldn't have access to otherwise for Fire Zone. Additionally, the same skill comes with a 50% Physical Resistance buff, which is the highest party-wide value so far for that defensive buff. Against elemental physical attacks, that + one of the numerous sources for 50% Type Resistance buffs will give full immunity to damage.
However, of the 3 skills listed, only the zone awakening skill gives AF gain. This largely will not matter since both of the others only need to be used once, then you can spam damaging moves while they last/for the rest of an AF duration. You will want to use them after using his zone awakening skill though, as their max potency depends on the state. Increasing Dewey's value is that he can activate Fire Zone on his own, but if you have access to the Fire Zone grasta, it can be used to save a turn and skip switching him in, in some cases. As a zone setter, he also has access to an end-of-turn effect, like most others. In his case, he provides free healing, which can be pretty rare to get from non-Staff characters, and so is generally very welcome for further allowing flexibility.
His remaining 3 skills are not bad either, they are just generally easier to compete with from a damage support standpoint. Guaranteed pain for 3 turns enables Pain grasta, but anyone can do that with dormant-enhanced Pain grasta, albeit with needing some luck instead. 30% critical damage isn't as small as other 30%s would be since critical damage stacks additively with itself, instead of diminishing, so it's a fair addition if there's access to a 4th skill slot. Lastly, providing guaranteed physical crit to all allies for multiple actions while attacking is pretty high standard, but with high passive crit weapons available now, you may more easily find yourself in cases where you already have that covered. But keep in mind the crit skill is his primary damage skill, with an effective 900% multiplier under Mind's Eye lunatic. For all the support in his kit, it can be easier to forget about, but it's best not to neglect the capability, as you might already have enough damage with him in numerous cases and end up stressing over another damage dealer for little reason. With 3 skill slots, you won't be able to bring one of his other support skills while slotting his damage skill and zone awakening skill, so you can decide which to exclude based on the rest of the team in context.
Lastly, keep in mind that with his Another Zone and Lunatic requirements to have max skill values, you are on a time limit with using him for those. This should generally not be a problem, since you can achieve a lot in the turns allowed, especially with AF, but you should still be careful about planning things, so that they do not end prematurely on you.
Necoco
Nekoko is basically the original "do everything" character. Not even being inherently Fire herself, her skills adapt to elemental zones, letting her synergize with Fire Zone seamlessly. However, adaptation is only worth as much as the skills adapting, and they very much deliver in her case.
Analyzing her damage contribution and support first, she is capable of instantly providing 2 50%s for Fire Type Attack buff and Resistance debuff, respectively, with one non-damaging skill use. Her other damage support skill guarantees physical crits for the party in tandem with giving 50% crit damage, and doubles its own AF combo gain.
While the 50/50 Atk/Res skill may look less impressive now with the advent of Dewey's 75/75, it is still very much worth on its own, and still amounts to about a ~30% damage increase when used alongside Dewey's, assuming no other Type Atk/Res sources.
For her other skill: if there's one thing you can't really get enough of among physical damage buffs, it's crit damage. Additive stacking with no cap makes it useful in many comps. Increased combo gain of it amounts to about 20% combo per use (a regular 4-hit skill would be 10%: 4+2+2+2) squeezing out a bit more damage in some AFs. This skill also has the special quirk of attempting to apply "When Attack:" passive effects on a per-hit basis instead of once per move-use like usual. This can be useful for passively inflicting Pain with dormant-enhanced Pain grasta, or when used with the Luna Ax: more easily fulfill debuff count requirements of debuff punisher skills (e.g. that of Ewan AS).
Support aside, she's also capable of dishing out notable damage herself, with a 960% all-target multiplier. This skill also doubles as a burst heal for 3k, which is particularly rare to get from a non-Staff character, enabling flexibility, and is particularly valuable since she gains AF bar with the same move. Just keep in mind the extra heal animation might slightly delay AF cooldowns.
On the more defensive side of things, she can single-handedly provide 70% total resistance to elemental physical attacks. If augmented with a ~50% phys/type resistance buff from another character, you will take no damage from elemental physical attacks while their durations last.
She is also a source of the rare MP regen, capable of regen'ing 40 MP for 6 turns, with a single skill use. 40 MP is almost a full refund for a lot of skills, so having access to this can enable "lazier" strats that aren't as pressured to deal damage quickly. Keep in mind that it's possible to start battles with the 40 MP variant by spending half of her MP before fights. This skill also doubles as a status cleanse, another rarity outside of non-Staff characters.
Her last skill can inflict persistent pain (can be cleansed, but won't fall off on its own) but it not being guaranteed makes it a hard sell for a skill slot in an already packed kit.
S+ "Really Strong"
Characters with top-end damage as well as significant party support, or just very quality support.
Hozuki (AS)
Hozuki AS is one of the strongest options for Fire physical damage, but this comes with some terms and conditions, as is usually the case.
Her high damage mode is locked behind her exclusive lunatic-like state, lasting only 3 turns and being usable only once. Compounding this is the fact that her max multipliers, which are where she really shines, are actually impossible to use without AF. She requires 5 actions to get max damage on the consecutive all-target skill, a 6th action to use the one-time single-target nuke, but the state only lasts 3 turns.
So for best results in general, you will want to activate her state right before or during AF and then spam the all-target skill to increase its consecutive use count (changing skills will reset it), and then depending on if there's an HP stopper or not, and if there's multiple enemies, you have the options of continuing to use it post-AF or switch to the one-time single-target nuke that will force her out of the state. It can be a lot of work to plan, but it's very much worth the payoff and it should be easier to spot opportunities for it as you get used to using her.
But damage multipliers are not the full story here, a number of other characters have damage multipliers in Fire that get pretty close. Hozuki AS will also buff party PWR and Bow Damage by 30% when activating her state. But even before then, if you can afford the time for setup, she is capable of debuffing up to 50% Fire Res and buffing party Wind Res by 50% simultaneously, while gaining AF bar. The res shifting is a perk she only has while she's not transformed, so you will need to plan additionally if you want to take advantage of it. Overall, the package makes for fairly potent support while also having access to some of the highest damage, most notably on her single-target nuke with a 2300% multiplier.
Her 15% PWR & INT debuff at the cost of her own SPD is fairly modest in terms of defensive aid, but you may occasionally find it useful for the self SPD debuff, because her stacks gained while transformed actually buff her SPD up to 35%, which can make it hard to outspeed her with damage boosts in some situations.
Orleya
Orleya, despite being primarily Thunder-focused, possesses a lot of strong effects, and potentially damage, even within Fire Zone.
Her personal damage output will very rarely take the spotlight, as her high multiplier depends on the enemy being weak to the attack, significantly limiting opportunities. But when it can, an effortless 1620% available as soon as turn 1 allows a lot of convenience and/or flexibility in dispatching targets.
For her offense support capabilities, being able to provide an instant 50% buff for PWR, INT & SPD is something she'll rarely face competition for, and it can nicely complement damage setup or enable longer AFs, easily. Additionally, she also has the option of awakening Fire Zone, providing access to another uncommon damage multiplier, if necessary, and the Zone Awakening skill itself gives 3 stacks of 100% Critical Rate for good measure.
Arguably most notable, her defensive capabilities include access to an instant 50% debuff for PWR & INT of all enemies, which is capable of single-handedly trivializing damage taken from the majority of enemies. The "catch" is that the skill that provides this is reverse priority, forcing her to use it after everyone, including enemies, have already acted, in most cases. However, a lot of enemies will not significantly threaten you on their first turn, making this a non-issue. Additionally, reverse priority only holds outside of Another Force, so a turn 1 AF can be used to set it up in cases where you really want it up before enemies can act. Furthermore, this skill also comes with a fixed 3000 HP heal, because why not.
Lastly, just by starting battles in your frontline, she lets your entire party cheat death once each, by granting Hold Ground automatically. And she also lets any Lunatic characters activate it an additional time from their normal attack slot.
Pizzica
Pizzica is a fairly strong support character for both offense and defense.
The primary thing to note is that her songs themselves are unique multipliers to all kinds of damage (fixed damage, by definition, is excluded). This allows her damage-increase songs to push damage potential to new heights, but this only really applies if you've included proper use of other damage-boosting buff/debuff/equip effects already.
Otherwise, while a "2x to any damage" effect is still strong output from a single party member, it's not too significant on its own. This is especially true if you consider her forced inaction during turns she's singing, since it is possible for a number of other characters to increase team damage by double (or more) as well, through their combined buff/debuff effects, while still maintaining the ability to act, and this can be very relevant in Another Force.
Still, if used properly, she can engineer a very meaningful damage boost. And due to one of her non-song skills, Recitativo, she more easily fits in as a support for Pierce weapon or Physical damage, but she can still perform well even outside of these.
Rhapsody Aria guaranteeing physical crits, and inflicting Break on enemies at turn-start, further boosts her offense support capabilities and can significantly increase her value, depending on the context.
Increasing damage isn't all her songs can do though. Her Oratorio song, in combination with its other effects, can make it incredibly difficult for your party to die. You may still need some extra defensive effects from the rest of your party for harder fights, but it will generally not be too demanding and you will have a lot more flexibility for the team slots as a result.
Her skills do not actually specifically support Fire, it's just one of the places it's easier to use her (when considering mid-AF AF gain in zones) as it's the element of her damage skills.
Radica (AS)
Radica AS has a potent utility toolbox as a Fire character, while also being a source of Fire Zone itself.
With her main Fire skill, she can guarantee both physical and magic crit and give 50% Fire Type Attack to the party, as well as cleanse of any ailments. This is on a skill with typically 800% multiplier that grows with the more LCK you can conveniently put on her. However, it may be held back for damage by its magic status as it will not benefit from any Phys Res debuffs or Critical Damage buffs, and there is no inherent source of Mental Focus in Fire Zone, reducing your options for boosting it. Still, some teams will stand to gain notably from its other effects and her presence overall.
Her end-of-turn effect can give up to 40% healing and 40 MP restore based on Fire moves used, this being one of few sources of free MP regain. This can enable more drawn out strats that have more leeway in how soon they deal enough damage.
Her fixed damage move is not one you're likely to use for its actual damage in boss fights, but its 30% SPD & Phys Res buffs and MP Consumption 30% discount can be valuable.
She is also capable of burst healing with one of her lower board skills, which can be helpful in turns where using multiple Fire moves may not be convenient.
Thillelille (AS)
Thillelille AS is one of the strongest options for Fire physical damage, while possessing a plethora of effects to boost her damage output beyond just her skill's multipliers, as well as some defensive utility.
She is capable of spamming an effective 1530% all-target multiplier as soon as her third action (second action will be 2218.5%), with her first action spent on activating her lunatic. While doing this, damage gradually increases for everyone by virtue of its up to 60% Fire Res debuff. Similar is also achieved if you can afford an action for one of her Shade skills, to instantly debuff Phys Res of one enemy by 50% (as well as their SPD by 50%). With her Shade AS skill, you can sneak in a 30% self PWR buff too. Additionally, she can buff her own Fire Type Attack by 50% with a non-damaging skill. She basically has strong bases for damage while being able to augment it on her own in various ways, and you have enough options for these to choose what else you may need based on the team you're using her in.
Spamming 1530% is great and all, but for purposes of setting up well-timed nukes (for post-AF stopper damage and the like) it is possible to regain 2218.5% as well. In order to use it again after her second action, you simply need to use a damage skill that isn't the Fire AS skill. Her lunatic will provide an extra stack without her skill being able to consume it, allowing you to have the full 3 stacks ready again when you go back to the Fire AS skill. 3 stacks is also the trigger for the skill to debuff PWR & INT of all enemies by 25%, allowing her to notably contribute defensively as well.
All that being said, typical warnings for planning usage with lunatic's turn limit in mind apply as usual. She's not useless without lunatic, but she will very significantly power down.
S "Strong"
Some of the best damage dealers, may also possess notable utility and may perform better in specialized scenarios.
Akane (AS)
Akane AS is one of the strongest options for Fire physical damage, with a maximum multiplier potential of 1840%.
She will mostly excel in fights where most of the damage is expected to happen in AF, as her multiplier average is lower outside of it, but she is still competent even then with a 1040% average and the ability to use the 1840% max as a post-AF stopper nuke. Her other AS skill significantly self buffs her, allowing her damage potential to go beyond what her multipliers imply. This is including a 50% self SPD buff (in addition to the small SPD buff gained from her stacks) which can easily allow her some extra actions in AF.
Ewan (AS)
Ewan AS is one of the strongest options for Fire damage, with a maximum multiplier potential of 1600% to all targets.
Where he shines is in his ability to get access to his maximum multiplier as soon as turn 1, due to not being dependent on any self setup for it. Others can provide the debuffs on enemies, and crit can be guaranteed with weapons or in-battle as well.
Sometimes the first turn can be more meaningful and being able to do high damage immediately even without AF can provide some convenience. It can also naturally lead to a higher damage average to have no downtime for setup and, similarly, no loss of AF gain. His damage skill also grants stacks that slowly increase his Fire Type Attack, which is something, but it also increases his max HP, revoking any max HP passives until he's healed, which can be something to keep in mind if using him with those.
In his case, this strength does come at the cost of basically requiring that others put in the work for him though. He barely has access to debuffs in his own kit, nor does he have any way to guarantee his crits reliably quickly, and so he may be fairly lacking in performance if these aren't accounted for. The advent of Luna and Prismatic weapons can make these much easier to fulfill, however.
He also does possess a notable defensive skill as his other AS skill. 30% for both Phys Res and Type Res is notably significant mitigation against elemental physical attacks, and they are preemptive buffs in his case. But, they will come at the cost of 20% of his current HP. The skill also discounts MP costs by 30%.
Hardy (AS)
Hardy AS is one of the strongest options for Fire physical damage, with a random target max multiplier of 1400%+ and all-target max of 2100%. However, the latter is at the cost of removing the active zone and can't be used without a zone.
His random target multiplier will start fairly modest, but just by spamming it it grows up to its 1400% max, with additional multiplier gained in AF. Unlike some similar skills, it will maintain this max and never consume it. The high hit count allows it to give a bit more AF combo % too. This is a strong skill for consistent damage after minimal setup, but this is naturally mostly limited to single enemy boss fights. Something else to note, however, is that random target skills inherently apply "When Attack:" passives on a per-hit basis, so it may be useful as a more reliable applier of Pain when using their dormant grasta, or similar effects.
His other AS skill will require Flash Zone to maximize its effects, but since this will automatically be present with Hardy AS in the frontline, you can mostly get away with using it as his first action, before the zone may be replaced or expire. The buff and debuff from it will notably increase his damage output in a lot of comps, so it is something else to evaluate when considering him for damage.
His biggest nuke of 2100% after accumulating max stacks will come at the cost of removing the active zone, so generally you may find yourself avoiding it. It can have utility in some cases for removing enemy zones more conveniently however, and sometimes fights can be won off of its very high damage output, making the zone removal a non-issue.
Hozuki
Hozuki is one of the strongest options for Fire physical damage, with an effectively single-target 1480% multiplier available as soon as turn 1.
Yet another debuff-punisher damage dealer, Hozuki has access to amazing damage consistency without needing to work for it on her own. However, she is still capable of enabling it on her own, reducing restraints on your team. Said enabler skill has one of the highest instant SPD debuffs in the game, at 80%. This can work to mitigate Hozuki's own inherently low SPD in situations where you'd strongly prefer acting before enemies with her. The skill being preemptive can allow her to play a supportive role with it too--spending her action to slow very fast enemies, allowing the rest of your party to act first and setup without needing to invest too much into their own SPD.
Also on the topic of SPD: while being slow can limit her action count total in AF, this is mostly not noticeable outside of very long ones, due to how AF speed tiers work. Significant cooldown gaps don't really show up until a lot of moves have happened, which you are unlikely to encounter commonly with like half-bar AFs.
In any case, the enabler skill will also debuff Fire and Pierce resistances, with the Fire portion taking the bigger share. This lets her put in work for increasing damage of the team as a whole, and also lets her increase her own damage capability without requiring others to set up damage boosts for her. Securing a 4th debuff beyond what this skill provides (in order to max her main damage skill's multiplier) is fairly trivial. But if desperate, her PWR & INT debuff skill provides more guaranteed debuffs, while also aiding your defenses in some cases.
Kid
Kid is capable of very high damage output, but this more comes from her larger than usual buff/debuff values she has in her kit, in combination with a 705% or 1000% max multiplier. These also allow her to be exceptional support. However, holding her back in Fire Zone is a reliance on gaining stacks to maximize her effects while not being able to gain much or any AF bar with her stack gaining moves, for multiple turns.
She is still competent even with base values, and the cost of setup will not always be notable relative to the payoff. But she can tend to be a lot less special in scenarios where stacking her power levels isn't convenient, especially in terms of personal damage output.
But when she gets to perform, 80% for Type Atk and Resistance debuffs, all from one character, are much higher potency than you'll usually have access to. Similarly with 50% for PWR/INT/SPD buff & debuff. Notably, the PWR/INT debuff at those levels can serve to make you take virtually no damage from almost any attack.
Further augmenting her kit, like with the other Complex Dream characters, is her access to Elements. These can notably increase her value in some situations, by providing specific skill effects you might not have been able to conveniently get for Fire Zone otherwise.
Miyu (AS)
Miyu AS is one of the strongest options for Fire physical damage, with a maximum single-target multiplier potential of ~1600%. The catch in her case is that about half of that will require having almost no MP left, but this can also work in her favor.
Requiring low MP to reach max damage may be off-putting, but in most cases it does not dictate a forced slow ramp as you will be able to dump MP before a fight and leave just the amount you plan to need/use. Also, this is not required but: access to MP regen effects from other characters can potentially remove the deep planning requirement for staying at low values. They can also naturally enable repeated use of the maximum multiplier for long periods.
Furthermore, the other half of the skill's scaling comes from its buff count requirement. 8 may sound like a lot, but with her other AS skill providing 3, and the fact that equipment passive icons will count as buffs for this, it ends up a lot easier to fulfill than would be expected.
Complementing all this and somewhat reducing her dependence on skill conditions to get high damage: her buff skill grants her significantly high values with 50% PWR and 100% Type Attack. Between those and her skill conditions, she ends up having a lot of range on what she can do for strong damage without needing much support from others, possessing some of the strongest Fire single-target damage if you get everything to line up. The buffs will also be given to other allies (most commonly at halved values) and the rarity of PWR buffs can make a +25% notably valuable in some situations.
Shion
Shion is one of the strongest options for Fire physical damage, with a maximum single-target multiplier of ~1752%. Unlike with most others, you won't have to jump through a ton of hoops for this, as he is able to attain this multiplier just by spamming the same skill.
This simplicity can make him preferred for those that might want to avoid complicated setups in AF, but it also feeds into very high damage consistency from him, as long as you can plan against being forced to switch actions on him. But even if you end up needing to, the ramp till the max multiplier is not long and it already does notably high damage from its second use. The same skill will also increase his SPD up to 60%, potentially allowing more actions from him in AF.
His skills with resistance debuffs may be worth using for initial setup in some cases, but their values are low enough to the point it's unlikely to be the case if you have another source for them present in the party. However, the one that debuffs Phys Res will also buff his PWR significantly, so it's more likely to be used.
Tsukiha (AS)
Tsukiha AS is one of the strongest options for Fire physical damage, but with a more unconventional method due to using SPD-based damage.
The main thing to note with SPD damage is, other than effectively replacing your PWR stat with SPD in the formula, you will also effectively receive squared values when using SPD buffs, as far as damage is concerned. So, 60% SPD isn't equal to 60% PWR. It's about equal to 156% PWR, while dodging the usual 100% cap, because the duplicate buff shows up in a different place in the formula. Additionally, when hitting weakness, SPD-damage is easily capable of a notably higher weakness multiplier than regular physical damage, dealing up to about 40% extra damage.
And so, while Tsukiha AS' max damage multiplier is just 400%, after a 156% increase it's about ~1024%. When you consider her 60% Katana damage buff you'd be unlikely to have from other sources in some situations, it can become an effective ~1600%, potentially dropping to around ~1200% when diminished by other high katana buffs. The multiplier will however still have some consistency issues, so you will need to time it if you plan to save it for well-timed nukes.
Further complicating this is that the stacks that control her damage multipliers are also used by her buff skill. So in some cases you will need to choose which you'd prefer and she might not be able to perform both a damage and support role effectively. However, switching her in for her VC will give her instant max stacks, allowing you to get max values for the buffs and then freeing you to focus on damage afterwards. In AF, only the critical rate will eventually fall off, but things like Prismatic weapons minimize this being an issue.
The buffs excel at enabling her own damage but they may prove to be somewhat niche as team support. SPD can help increase AF thresholds, but keep in mind that a lot of AFs won't be strict enough for it to matter. Critical rate is always welcome, especially when given for multiple moves, but excess doesn't do you any good if you already have a source. Katana damage is as it says and will function as a self buff when not using her alongside other Katana characters.
From her lower board there is a notable 50% Phys Res debuff skill though, which can be very nice to have for pushing damage of the team further, or at the least increasing her own contribution.
S- "Fairly Strong"
Strong damage dealers with lower maximums, and/or may be notably more situational.
Aldo
Aldo without his Light value notably increased is still pretty solid as damage support. 30% Type Attack, 30% Critical Damage and 50% Phys Res debuff can be a lot to get from one character. Guaranteed 20% PWR debuff doesn't hurt either for the defense side of things.
For those who do have him significantly raised/maxed out though, his increased multiplier in combination with things like the extra grasta slot can dramatically change his damage output. The total stat gain, with things like additional PWR stat will also serve to increase his damage tier beyond just his skill multiplier. In these cases, even with stronger multipliers for Fire damage being available, the lack of any setup requirement for it in his case can make him the more convenient/efficient pick for it, especially since it's all-target damage.
Hardy
Hardy's most notable damage multiplier of 1850% all-target comes at the cost of removing the current zone, so it isn't really one fit for frequent use, on top of the ramp required to get stacks for it. Other than this, he's mostly lacking in real personal damage, but can still significantly buff the damage of other physical damage from his up to 80% Critical Damage end-of-turn buff in Fire Zone.
He is able to stack up to 60% Wind Res on allies while attacking, which can be notable survivability in some cases. He can also contribute more to damage support with both kinds of res debuffs, but keep in mind they come from non-Fire skills and also aren't guaranteed to land.
Isuka (ES)
Isuka ES when viewed for her Fire damage may not appear too impressive, but she can be very competent for it, especially in AF.
She can attain an effective 765% single-target multiplier out of AF, or 1530% within it. The skill that does this will also buff her PWR & SPD by 50%, serving to increase her damage output notably, beyond just her skill multiplier. For extra damage provision she also will have a 50% Phys Res debuff on one of her skills when used in AF, this will come at the cost of no AF gain for it, however. She also has a Shade skill that buffs party Critical Damage by 30%. There is also the option for a guaranteed Poison inflict, to enable half of her skill condition and Poison grasta, but this should mostly not be needed due to her battle-start passive doing the same. As there are numerous sources of Pain guarantees, the other half of her skill condition that she cannot inherently provide should not be much of an issue, thankfully.
She also possesses notable defensive utility when using her non-Fire skills. Her Shade 5★ skill can debuff PWR & INT by 30% as well as provide some rage utility in tandem with her unique shield mechanic. Her critical damage buff skill also provides 30% Phys Res to the party. And her in-AF Phys Res debuff skill also buffs party Type Res by 50%, in or out of AF. The issue you may face is not having enough skill slots for them all the time, but it should mostly be easy to exclude skills that will not play a big role or that can be covered by other members of your party more conveniently.
Renri (AS)
Renri AS has a fairly high-end multiplier max with 900%, but it comes on a random-target skill, somewhat limiting her to single-enemy fights as far as personal damage.
On the bright side, the multiplier consistency is pretty good after her initial setup. And as a notable bonus to some teams, she can also guarantee physical crits for the party while attacking with it.
Futhermore, she will naturally debuff both Slash Resistance and Fire Resistance by 30% each over the course of using her moves, which can help to somewhat augment her damage and support the team's a bit as well.
Serge
Serge's damage is somewhat more modest with a 644% all-target max multiplier at base Light. Increasing his Light does not result in much of a radical gain for the skill either, ending up at just ~703% at max.
Still, he can be easy to use for Fire all-target damage, with several upsides, particularly due to his access to Elements for various utilities.
It will take a few actions of spamming his damage skill to get its multiplier maxed, but then it's perpetually maintained, and in the process he will also give up to 40% Critical Damage to the party. As further payoff in his default kit from getting his stacks maxed, he will also be able to contribute long lasting Pain to enable grasta, or high fixed-HP healing that comes with a max HP increase.
Tsukiha
Tsukiha is fairly straightforward as far as all-target damage goes. She is able to use her max multiplier of 630% as soon as turn 1, provided you can enable her to crit. She does also possess a skill to set up her own crits, but having to rely on it will reduce her damage consistency. Still, it can provide valuable setup for well-timed nukes.
She has a fair bit of Fire damage support with her other 5★ skill, with the caveat that the skill is not Fire itself, so you will likely only use it once than being worth to spam for its max value. 30% Fire Type Atk buff and Fire Resistance debuff is still fairly solid for a single use. Additionally, she possesses a 50% Phys Res debuff on her lower board at the cost of some of her HP, but her main damage skill drains health from enemies anyway.
A "Solid"
Good characters overall, may prove key in niche situations.
Harle
Harle excels more at her Shade damage as far as being primary damage output is concerned. For her Fire damage, she will want to use her personal 5* skill to max or near-max stacks and her INT first and then use one of the stronger Fire Elements for their higher 400% multipliers. A lot of setup for somewhat low gain. Brought up by her 100% INT buff and Sacrifice lunatic, brought down by magic damage limitations within this zone, lacking Mental Focus support while being unable to benefit from Physical Resistance debuffs and Critical Damage buffs.
Still, she can provide a source of high Type Res and regen within her own kit and further augment with a variety of options from Elements.
Jade
Jade possesses just a 400% max single-target multiplier on the surface but may find it propped up due to a combination of other factors he has access to. His personal grasta gives him an exclusive 30% pain punisher for that slot, raising it to 520%. Then within Fire Zone and situations where weapon damage buffs aren't convenient to get, he brings one of his own for Lance damage which can effectively make it 780%. The Lance damage skill may also debuff Pierce Resistance, also helping him.
He is also a source of guaranteed Pain and has access to a 30% Fire Res debuff, as options to help damage a bit. His main damage skill will also progressively debuff PWR by up to 30% which can significantly aid defense without a loss in AF gain.
Prai
Prai is mostly notable for his unique guard skill which can let you ignore defensive needs for a single turn, at a high MP cost and the cost of stunning himself for the next turn. Outside of this though, he does have a fair bit to contribute to Fire teams. His main attacking skill won't do much damage but it can debuff Type Res of its target by 25% and also heal the party for 1500 HP in the same action, making it a fairly nice hybrid without sacrificing AF gain.
He also possesses an end-of-turn effect that increases Fire Type Attack of the party up to 50%, based on total Fire attacks, allowing him to further support damage in that way.
Radias
Radias actually has a fairly high single-target multiplier of 800%, but the catch is that its consistency is dependent on the amount of hits she receives from enemies, which can be unreliable in some cases. She is capable of inflicting self-damage to enable it on her own, but this will naturally come at the cost of damage consistency, which can make her hard to use as a primary option, but it can be worth it in some scenarios.
For utility she has access to a 50% Type Res party buff, which can significantly help to mitigate damage from elemental attacks. She also has access to Rage which can allow her to redirect single-target attacks, which may prove useful in situations where it's convenient to have a predictable target. She is also capable of preemptively inflicting Pain for a fixed duration on all enemies, enabling stronger grastas reliably. The Pain inflict skill will also heal her, which can be a nice bonus.
Radica
Radica has access to a fairly useful support kit. She is capable of debuffing Type Res of all enemies by up to 60%, while simultaneously debuffing their SPD by the same amount. She can also heal allies while buffing their PWR & INT by 25% each. The heal will also enable getting all of her card effects when using any of her lower board skills that have them, on the next turn. This will mostly be useful for the 20% PWR & INT debuff skill, but it will require more planning to maintain, due to this prerequisite.
Despite being a Staff character, she has access to a modest 400% Fire physical multiplier too, if you can inflict Poison on enemies.
Rosetta
Rosetta has a strong list of options that can support teams in a number of cases. Most notably, she is one of few sources of party Status Immunity, and the skill that gives this will also come with some small MP regen and damage reduction. She also still has access to regular status cleansing, if needed.
With her other 5* skill she has access to a PWR debuff and Fire Res debuff with very high max values of 45% and 75% respectively. In similar fashion for boosting both offense and defense, one of her skills will buff both Type Res and Fire Type Attack for the party by 30%.
Rosetta (AS)
Rosetta AS naturally has access to most of the same tools as Rosetta, but in exchange for 45/75 PWR and Fire Res single-target debuffs, she gets 50% Type Res all-target debuff and slightly higher damage multiplier. In exchange for multiple stacks of Status Immunity and other small perks that came with the skill, she has 30% SPD and Phys Res buffs for the party.
Suzette (ES)
Suzette ES' damage multiplier potential operates on a factor of the number of Fists/Hammer characters you use in your party. In Fire Zone, this comes at a notable loss of flexibility while the payoff can leave something to be desired. When working on her own or with one other Fists/Hammer, her effective multipliers will range around 600~800%, with factoring in her hit-based buff skill.
Said hit-based buff skill allows her to shine as damage support for notably strong multi-hit damage, with a total damage gain of 75% for evenly divided 5-hit skills, with more of a boost for more than 5 hits. The number of characters that can notably benefit from this is fairly little, however. But in cases where it makes sense, the damage increase can be unparalleled with proper teambuilding.
Additionally, she has access to a 60% Fire Type Attack party buff, and a 25% Blunt Res debuff. She also has a very strong defensive skill, debuffing PWR & INT of all enemies by 30%, while also increasing Physical Resistance of the party by 50% when the skill is used early on in a battle.
B "Budget"
Characters with kits that do not offer that much for a team slot in Fire Zone.
Cetie
Cetie has fairly modest damage, with a constant multiplier of 260% purely augmented by his strong self buffs. In developed teams, his buffs do not do much to set him apart due to diminishing returns on buff stacking and his low base multiplier. He possesses fair utility against magic and elemental attacks with his 30% INT debuff and 30% Type Res party buff.
Cetie (AS)
Cetie AS is capable of a 520% all-target multiplier, but with a ramp on it and does not maintain damage consistency. He can provide a 30% Phys Res buff to the party to help against physical attacks.
Cress
Cress has standard damage multipliers from his Fire skills but is capable of buffing Fire Type Attack of the party by 30% and debuffing Fire Resistance by the same for all enemies. If paired with Sword or Katana characters, he can also provide 40% Weapon Damage.
Ewan
Ewan relies on a 250% multiplier augmented by buffs to get his damage high. This can work fairly well in some cases, one of those buffs is 50% Hammer Damage, which you are unlikely to get from other sources. The hammer damage skill also comes with a 35% PWR buff and those are not always readily available. Further buffs/debuffs are provided as he uses his damage skill. It can make for good damage, but falls off versus higher base multipliers as they will also be augmented by strong buffs in stronger parties.
Gariyu (AS)
Gariyu AS actually has access to a max multiplier of 800% as Fire magic damage, but it comes at the cost of a long ramp and can be held back due to magic damage limitations within Fire Zone: no direct access to Mental Focus and an inability to use Phys Res debuffs and Crit Damage buffs. His end-of-turn effect can buff his Fire Type Attack by up to 80%, for what it's worth, and he is also a source of Fire Zone himself. Additionally, his 50% Wind Res party buff skill may be more useful in some situations.
Guildna
Guildna actually has access to an 800% Fire all-target multiplier, but he's held back in Fire Zone by a reliance on a non-Fire move to gain stacks for it, resulting in a loss of AF gain as well as damage consistency. You may still find some value in using him for well-timed nukes though, especially if you can play towards augmenting his damage with his unique equipment. He can also support the party with access to PWR/INT and Phys/Fire Res debuffs.
Lovely
Lovely can debuff Fire Resistance of an enemy by up to 60%, which can be a nice boost. She also has access to a 50% Wind Res party buff that comes with PWR +15% and status cleanse, a rarity outside of Staff characters usually. She can technically do 400% multiplier damage, but this requires Poison on enemies, which can be done, but might not really be worth the effort.
Thillelille
Thillelille is much stronger at her Shade damage than she is at Fire damage. For Fire damage her all-target multiplier reduces in the presence of multiple enemies, but even with just one enemy it is only 220%. She can somewhat augment this with her lunatic, 50% Phys Res debuff and 50% Fire Type Attack buff.
C "Too Niche"
Characters that barely qualify as Fire due to their kits focusing on other things, and/or kits with not much practical application within the Zone, but can still have their moments.
Bivette
Bivette has access to 340% Fire magic damage and a few tricks, but their impact is minimal to the point it's hard seeing bringing her purely for any of them. She can cleanse status, debuff Phys Res of an enemy by 20%, buff party Phys Res by 35% with HP regen in addition to it.
Cynthia
Cynthia has access to element adaptation on one of her skills, but largely remains Wind damage focused. Said skill can buff party Fire Type Attack by 30% and may debuff PWR of all enemies by 25%, as an all-target standard multiplier skill.
Gariyu
Gariyu has access to 300% all-target Fire magic damage, as well as strong buffs that can augment it in 40% INT and 50% Staff damage. When compared to the more common physical damage and its synergies though, it doesn't actually amount to much with its low base multiplier. Additionally, it would make a good support package for other Staff characters, but boosting the damage of those that exist within Fire Zone isn't worth that much. He has access to a 50% Wind Res party buff that may be useful in some cases.
Renri
Renri is mostly focused on her Non-type damage, and one of those skills can be particular valuable to use for it 25% PWR/INT debuffs and 50% SPD debuff to all enemies, with all being guaranteed. The other 5* skill can also be a source of guaranteed Pain for grasta enabling. When not opting to use these, she has access to Fire skills she can spam for AF gain, including one that may debuff Slash Resistance by 20%.
Shion (AS)
Shion AS is mostly focused on his Non-type damage, but can fairly reliably debuff PWR & SPD of enemies by 25% with his damage skill for it. He also has access to Rage for utility, in tandem with a 70% self Phys Res buff, potentially trivializing single-target physical attacks. When not using these, he can use his lower board Fire skill with a chance of Fire Res -25%.
D "1.0 Kit"
Characters with about a single notable thing for Fire Zone, and even then barely worth much for it.
Joker
Joker's own Fire damage peaks when hitting weaknesses while he's at max HP, getting up to an effective 300% Fire all-target multiplier. This isn't much. His support is limited to an unreliable 35% Type Res debuff from a non-Fire skill, and switching party members in to grant them 50~100% Type Attack for one action.
Miyu
Miyu has access to a standard (L) multiplier single-target attack, for Fire damage, but in addition it gives 30% Wind Resistance to the party. Beyond that, she can debuff INT of a single enemy by 20%, or Type Resistance of all enemies by 25%, but neither is guaranteed and both come from non-Fire skills. When equipping her personal weapon, there is also a small chance she may debuff Slash Resistance by 20% with any attack she does.
