Tales of Legendia is a Tales game that tends to go unnoticed by many fans due to being sandwiched between the more highly successful Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss. Be that as it may, this title features an interesting, if quirky, set of characters who each offer their own diverse fighting styles on the battlefield.
Whether you love controlling a character who chooses to fight at close range with their fists, a spear-throwing warrior, or a bubble-blowing crystal eren (spellcaster), Tales of Legendia offers an array of combatants who will make this game one to remember. However, some party companions perform better on the battlefield than others, and we’ll show you which ones excel the best in their talents to further enhance your adventure.
8 Shirley Fennes
Starting from the top of our list is the shy yet stubborn Shirley Fennes. What’s particularly interesting about Shirley is that in spite of being the game’s main heroine, she is surprisingly the final party member you recruit on your journey. Combat-wise, Shirley is the final crystal eren (mage) you acquire, and she fights using a quill pen to cast her eres (spells). Her magic abilities are similar to the other spellcasters in the group and range from devastating offensives (Ground Dasher) to powerful support techniques (Shelter). The only difference between her and her comrades is that her magic attacks are more robust and hit farther across the 2D battlefield.
What brings her down on our list is the fact that she only becomes playable during the Character Quest portion of the game, which acts as the title’s second story. At this point, you’ll already have the best and strongest mages the game has to offer. It also doesn’t help that she possesses the fewest magic spells compared to the rest of the party.
7 Grune
Grune is pretty unique in that she can operate as both a physical attacker and a spellcaster if you so choose. Using her magic jar as a blunt weapon, Grune can deliver high amounts of damage to her foes on the frontline. If you decide to keep her in the back as your magic user, she can utilize some decent water and dark-type eres, with her strongest being Bloody Howling and Brilliant Lance.
Though her physical attacks are quite strong, her slow physical movements impede her from being the ideal melee combatant in the game. She also lacks the abilities to heal and buff her allies on the battlefield. Similar to Shirley, Grune suffers from having the second least amount of crystal eres in the party. These stark shortcomings place her at number seven on our list, making her neither the best mage nor physical attacker to utilize.
6 Jay
Jay is the last physical attacker to join the party. With his skills with knives and daggers, Jay can utilize various knife-throwing artes like Flame Dagger and Falcon, allowing him to fight from a distance without needing to be too close in the action. This can prove beneficial in many fights since Jay possesses the lowest defense statistics compared to the other physical combatants.
However, his traits can also serve as a double-edged sword. As you progress further into the game, enemies will naturally become more tenacious and aggressive. This means they’ll be tearing through your frontline fighters (Senel and/or Chloe) pretty easily and frequently, leaving Jay to become a sitting duck if you don’t keep mindful of his HP. In this case, his low defense prevents him from scoring just a bit higher on our list.
5 Moses Sander
Moses stands at the ready with his spear in hand at number five. With his javelin, Moses serves as a physical attacker with the longest range, primarily through his Spear-Throwing Eres. With Moses in your lineup, you can have him safely dispose of his foes from a safe distance while evenly dividing the rest of the field with a close-range physical attacker and long-range spellcasters. His Compound Eres — such as Witch Dragon, Bird of Prey, and Phoenix Scramble — also serve well in knocking his enemies down to the ground with adverse status effects.
Unfortunately, Moses’ javelin-throwing skills are all he has. While his attacks do moderate damage, many of his regular attacks and eres suffer from a high chance of missing their mark, especially against the more agile monsters. The low accuracy of his hits means you probably won’t be using him frequently in your main party.
4 Norma Beatty
Serving as the second crystal eren you recruit, Norma Beatty makes her way to fourth place on our list. Despite her unorthodox method of fighting using a bubble straw, Norma still proves she’s a mage not to be taken lightly thanks to her powerful healing, buffs, debuffs, and offensive eres. She is arguably the second-most versatile spellcaster in the game, as she covers a plethora of different fields, compelling you to keep her in your permanent lineup.
Her only drawback is that she’s one of the characters with the lowest intelligence statistic in the game, meaning her offensive spells aren’t going to deal as much damage to her foes as they should. This slight inconvenience is what makes her just shy of surpassing the best magic caster in the game.
3 Will Raynard
Arguably the most potent crystal eren in the game, Will Raynard finishes strong at number three. Will proves to be even more versatile than Norma when it comes to offensive and support spells mixed with his very high intelligence stats. Will’s access to crystal eres like Indignation, Black Hole, Cure, and Shield makes him more than the ideal party member to keep permanently on your team. Even better is that he’s the first party member to join you on your journey, ensuring you will always have the best mage in the game.
With the use of his giant hammer, Will also makes for a semi-decent physical attacker on the frontline. Despite this, he is still outmatched by two of the best melee fighters in the game, which he’ll need to fight in unison with to be more efficient on the battlefield.
2 Senel Coolidge
The main protagonist in Tales of Legendia, Senel Coolidge, comes in at a close second on our list. As a combatant who focuses purely on physical attack moves via martial arts, Senel is a character you’re likely to main through the entirety of the game. Most of Senel’s capabilities and physical strength stem from his emphasis on Throw Eres — moves that enable him to pick up collapsed enemies and hurl them back down to the ground.
As you level him up and regularly execute his throws and normal attacks, Senel can eventually learn his Compound Eres — where he combines two different skills to learn various new throws. The only drawback with Senel being a fighter is that he has to be a lot closer in range to deal damage to his foes, leaving him open to counterattacks. Being a pretty swift martial artist on the team with high defense statistics, Senel easily earns his number two spot. He loses to the game’s only sword fighter by a hair.
1 Chloe Valens
Taking the win on our list is the fierce swordswoman Chloe Valens. What makes this knight eke out the victory is the fact she has quicker attacks and slightly longer reach. She also can hold and string her combo Chain of Sword Eres a lot longer than Senel, especially her Sword Rain, Sword Rain: Alpha, and Sword Rain: Omega.
Even though Chloe has less HP than Senel, she more than makes up for it by having one of the highest defense and attack stats in the game. Her most significant gift is her Compound Eres, which uses skills that allow her to negate the damage from her foes’ attacks while following it up with counterattacks. If Senel isn’t your go-to character to main, Chloe will more than fill that role since the two complement each other on the frontline.
