Emperor

Marksman

The Emperor is an eccentric character, but he can toy with foes by ensnaring them in a maddening labyrinth of traps. Cut off their escape with Starfall, and lead them into the hellish morass you’ve prepared.

Original Appearance: FINAL FANTASY II

Year: 2003

Role: The Emperor of Palamecia is a misanthropic tyrant with a zealous ambition of replacing humanity—whom he sees as inferior—with demons from hell. His efforts in world domination are met with resistance from a rebel army known as the Wild Rose Rebellion.

Other Noteworthy Appearances: DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY (2009), DISSIDIA 012 FINAL FANTASY (2011)

Arsenal

Bravery Attacks

HP Attacks

EX Skill

Bravery Attack Breakdown

Blue Soul

The Emperor sends forth a blue flare that pursues his target relentlessly. The massive orb ignores other projectiles as it tracks the enemy.

The Emperor’s grounded and airborne neutral  attacks differ from most marksmen’s neutral  attacks, as they’re slow-moving tracking projectiles that persist on the battlefield for up to eight seconds. They’re designed for a heavy zone-control playstyle, deterring enemies from approaching you directly while acting as cover for your teammates’ melee aggression.

While you can have up to two Red Souls (airborne ) active at a time, you can complement your Red Soul attacks by touching down and casting Blue Soul. Red Soul and Blue Soul are essentially “sister” attacks with identical properties. However, you can only have one Blue Soul active at a time, so in total, you can have three of these attacks out at any given moment (by casting Red Soul twice while airborne, and Blue Soul once while grounded).

Blue Soul does not interact with enemy projectiles at all (they pass through each other), while Red Soul does. You can use this to your advantage on offense against enemy marksmen, but just be sure to use a different attack to defensively negate enemy projectiles.

Light Crest

The Emperor signs a diamond shape in front of himself with his staff, casting a magical crest near his enemy. The crest stalks his target and fires several light-based projectiles at them.

Light Crest has a relatively long cast time; it takes roughly two seconds for the Emperor to conjure the crest. Once manifested, the crest hovers over its target while shooting short-range projectiles that knock the enemy away.

While its required casting time leaves you vulnerable, successfully conjuring this crest can wreak havoc upon a foe as it stalks them for a long period of time, firing up to 11 light shots in various directions. Expect 3-4 shots to hit a stationary target. It’s best used as a follow-up after a knockdown effect (such as after an HP Attack). Its effectiveness in a skirmish is limited since it’s fairly easy for enemies to avoid with normal movement and dashing.

Stygian Swell

The Emperor conjures a small orb that travels along the ground. On his command, the orb forms a persistent wall of lightning bolts that blasts away any enemy to touch it.

Stygian Swell is a defensive attack with modifiable range. Its hit effect covers a large square-shaped area. Holding  when executing the attack allows you to adjust where the lightning wall is deployed. However, this technique can be difficult to apply properly, as you’re vulnerable during the orb’s travel. Since the lightning wall stays up for a few seconds, Stygian Swell is best used without charge to instantly prop up a cage between you and an approaching enemy. It also provides some vertical reach, which can deter any fliers circling overhead from swooping down. It is also a great barrier to throw up to annul some incoming projectiles. Dash canceling into your own Stygian Swell also provides you with temporary protection from combatants while dash canceling away from Stygian Swell is excellent for creating a healthy amount of safety distance.

Red Soul

From the air, the Emperor casts out a slow-moving red flare that chases the enemy, resulting in an explosive blast when it hits.

Red Soul is the aerial version of Blue Soul, although with a few key differences. The red sphere interacts with enemy projectiles (nullifies weaker ones and can be nullified by stronger HP Attack projectiles), whereas Blue Soul simply ignores all enemy projectiles. Additionally, you can place up to two Red Souls on the battlefield at once. If you cast a third, the first one dissipates.

Red Soul is useful in most scenarios, and you can use it liberally throughout a match. It can be employed to set up an offensive or defensive posture, thanks to its slow-pursuit property (as a preemptive attack to cover your team’s follow-up aggression, for example).

Beckoning Blast

The Emperor’s staff becomes a magic cannon. He aims it at a target and fires off a massive glowing orb. Upon contact with an enemy, the orb explodes and knocks them back a short distance.

Beckoning Blast is an incredibly unique and powerful projectile and trap-type hybrid attack. If the projectile impacts a surface or object before impacting an enemy, it turns into a magical trap with a draw-in effect, pulling in nearby opponents and damaging the first one to make contact with it. The trap sticks to the first obstacle it encounters (such as walls, the ground, and trees, except at the edges of a map, where this trap will only stick to walls.).

Furthermore, Beckoning Blast can be charged by holding  upon execution. While charging, you can manually aim where the Emperor fires the projectile (aim with the left stick). This lets you plant the trap strategically. For instance, you can set up a defensive fortress around an incoming summoning core by aiming Beckoning Blast near the base of a core to deter melee-based enemies. Alternatively, you can quickly aim the blast at your feet near the ground to set up a defensive posture that deters melee attacks from vanguards and assassins.

The projectile for Beckoning Blast travels relatively quickly, so it is important to mix it in with your other projectiles while engaging at mid-range. The trap effect of Beckoning Blast lasts 20 seconds and the player can still fire more projectiles without worrying about the trap disappearing. Even if a Beckoning Blast projectile contacts an enemy, the trap will not disappear.

Thunder Crest

The Emperor generates a disc-like trap that tracks and shocks his foe, stunning them for a short time.

This telegraphed ranged attack places a trap directly on the target. It pursues the enemy briefly as soon as it’s fully manifested. If it doesn’t hit its target, Thunder Crest persists as a trap for 20 seconds. You can only have one Thunder Crest on the battlefield.

Thunder Crest is ideally used as a follow-up attack to Red Soul and Blue Soul in order to keep foes on their feet. It can leave you vulnerable to aggression, so keep an eye on the map before casting it to prevent being flanked by enemies. Thunder Crest is excellent for team combos, as its multi-hit effect locks down foes for a relatively long period of time, allowing your teammates to capitalize on it with their own Bravery and HP Attacks.

Unlike dashing  (Mine), Thunder Crest is cast directly on your target (whereas Mine is placed wherever you are). The trap can travel vertically and also has some vertical reach, but the enemy is safe if they remain underneath the trap. It also functions as a lesser version of his unique EX Skill, Starfall, and can even be used together in a nasty combo that locks down any unlucky opponents caught in the area.

mine

The Emperor surrounds himself with a phalanx of 13 levitating mines, each triggering a small magical blast to foes who run into them.

Mine is a defensive trap that covers a large area for 10 seconds. Only one set of mines can be placed at a time. Mine is one of your best defensive zoning tools, as it can be placed in the air and on the ground, as long as you’re dashing. Each orb counts as a separate object, with each mine triggered individually. So if an enemy runs into a mine, only that one explodes and deals its 80 damage, while the other mines remain. The mines will detonate if they expire, but not if they disappear from successive casts.

Use Mine to fortify an area or to preface your Blue Soul and Red Soul attacks. An excellent situation in which to utilize Mine is when a summoning core is about to emerge. When you see and hear the incoming summoning core announcement, target the core and immediately dash over and place a Mine on top of it. This lets you get an early advantage on the core while setting up a defensive posture in the area where there’s sure to be conflict. Note that the summoning core does not trigger mines; however, when the mines explode after the 10-second duration, the blast effect does damage the core.

HP Attack Breakdown

Dreary cell

The Emperor conjures an arcane circle that tracks his target and traps them for a while with Bravery-damaging hits before dealing HP damage.

Dreary Cell is largely similar to Thunder Crest. Dreary Cell stays on the battlefield for 20 seconds, tracks enemies briefly upon appearing, and entraps enemies caught in it with multiple hits. Although it has less range than Thunder Crest, you can use it to supplement your trap-based playstyle since you can cast one of each on the battlefield.

Accursed Storm

The Emperor casts a sphere of energy that homes in on a target. The sphere periodically emits fireballs at nearby enemies.

Accursed Storm has a unique acceleration and trajectory pattern. It’s released with a high burst of speed, but quickly decelerates while it nears its max range. When it begins decelerating, it pursues and emits fireballs directly at the targeted foe. The sphere stays on the battlefield for up to seven seconds, or until the sphere hits an opponent.

This HP Attack is incredibly powerful for an offense-based playstyle. Its long duration and unique turret-like property make it difficult for enemies to avoid entirely, forcing them to move out of position and potentially luring out mistakes.

Hellish Gale

The Emperor engulfs himself in a roaring vortex and then quickly disperses it into a meandering trio that guard from approaching intruders.

The three Hellish Gale tornadoes fly forward and strike enemies near the Emperor while diverging from each other as they travel. They quickly decelerate to roughly half speed at around 1.0 distance, where they creep forward, remaining on the battlefield for a while.

While the tornadoes offer no vertical tracking, they cover a high vertical space due to the height of the attacks. Hellish Gale offers a unique persistent-type projectile, covering three entirely separate areas, unleashed in a cone-shaped pattern. Although it’s not an attack you can quickly throw out to score HP damage on a distant foe, it provides a distinct advantage in zone control, especially combined with your myriad traps and persistent Bravery Attacks.

Thorns of Repentance

The Emperor swiftly conjures an otherworldly force directly on his enemy, devastating nearby foes as it bursts.

Thorns of Repentance is the fastest HP Attack at your disposal, ideal for quickly dealing HP damage on immobile and unsuspecting foes. It’s a direct, non-projectile attack, particularly effective against preoccupied enemies, as its casting animation is short enough to punish most foes if they’re not already in motion.

You can take enemies by surprise with this attack by charging it to increase its range.

Its main drawback is that—unlike your other HP Attacks—it adds little utility in terms of zone control. If you miss the attack, it leaves no residual effects.

EX Skill Breakdown

Starfall

The Emperor casts the original Meteor spell, Starfall, causing a destructive long-lasting shower of small meteors to rain down on his foe. The meteor shower ends with a massive asteroid crushing and stunning victims caught in the attack.

Starfall is a long-distance direct attack that lasts for seven seconds. Enemies caught entering its large area of effect take constant Bravery damage and are locked in place from the meteors’ hit-stun effect. The final asteroid attack at the end of the spell causes a Starfall debuff that prevents air recovery, leaving victims vulnerable to a follow-up combo.

The Emperor’s unique EX Skill largely mirrors and supplements his zoning-based combat style. While it’s not an attack meant to quickly strike enemies upon release, it covers a huge area, essentially creating a massive no-fly zone. Like Mine, Beckoning Blast, and his crest attacks, Starfall can be used to fortify a defensive position around a summoning core. Additionally, it can be used as a follow-up to a teammate opener attack, or to peel off aggressive enemies ganging up on one of your teammates.

Battle Plan

Generally, your role as a marksman is simply to stay alive while dealing damage from a distance and setting up your teammates with cover fire and lockdown effects. The Emperor’s toolkit fulfills this role in a distinct fashion, as it’s heavily tuned for defense and zone control. His attacks lack speed, so positioning and timing are incredibly important. Before you execute your attack rotations, check your surroundings and stay near your teammates so you can set up cover fire for them in a controlled manner.

The Emperor’s grounded and airborne neutral  attacks (Blue Soul and Red Soul) aren’t your standard rapid-firing projectile-type attacks. These two spells are low-velocity tracking orbs that pursue foes. You can and should use these moves liberally, since they’re excellent for both offense and defense.

Ideally before you begin an assault, you’re in a safe position from which you can set up your various trap attacks that preface your follow-up Blue Soul and Red Soul attacks. For instance: from a low-altitude jump (or from a quick neutral dash release), use a charged +  (Beckoning Blast) aimed at an angle near your feet to plant a trap that draws in enemies. Then, behind the cover of your Beckoning Blast, start throwing out Blue and Red Soul projectiles to pester foes, giving your melee-centric teammates space to attack. Once your teammates initiate an engagement, use your direct-target trap attacks, like grounded +  (Light Crest) and airborne +  (Thunder Crest), to follow-up your allies’ aggression with lockdown effects.

One of your most important duties is controlling the area around the summoning core. The Emperor is well suited for this task, with his plethora of traps, so pay attention to the “incoming summoning core” visual and audible notifications. Aim to be the first one to arrive at a summoning core so you can set up your dashing  (Mine) minefield, along with a well-placed Beckoning Blast to cover additional area. If you have Starfall available, you can cast it near or directly on the summoning core to ensure that you build your summon gauge.

Most of the Emperor’s HP Attacks are consistent with his fighting style. Three of them are long-lasting attacks designed to control a certain area, with each one covering distinct areas. Dreary Cell is a mid-range trap with pursuit properties, similar to Thunder Crest. With good team coordination, you can set up effective stun-lock combos between Thunder Crest, Dreary Cell, and your allies’ melee attacks. Accursed Storm is a long-distance attack that sends out a mobile turret that hunts your target for seven whole seconds. Hellish Gale is a unique attack—each of its tornadoes covers a separate area, limiting your foes’ pathing on the battlefield. Thorns of Repentance is your only non-trap-type attack and is simply a fast direct-target blast that deals HP damage. It’s suitable for a more offensive playstyle.

Try to keep a strong projectile and trap presence on the battlefield at all times, and keep track of which traps and how many of them you can deploy. You can only have one of each projectile/trap out on the battlefield at a time (aside from Red Soul, which has a limit of two).

The Emperor is actually one of the easier marksmen to play, as the best of his abilities are fire-and-forget. Between the slow-moving projectiles and long-lasting traps, you don’t need to keep track of where your opponents are, as just ensuring that your threats are always active on the battlefield already gives your team an advantage. In essence, his projectiles can be thought of as just a different type of trap.

His moves don’t require precision as they either home in toward their target, or they remain on the battlefield long enough for their target to run into. The strategy can be described as forcing your opponents to make mistakes by pressuring them with traps, and then capitalizing upon those mistakes.

An example attack rotation for the Emperor could be:

Thunder Crest > Beckoning Blast > Red Soul x2 > Guard Cancel > Blue Soul

This leads to five different threats on the battlefield at once, with the freedom to cancel as necessary.

Evasion canceled Stygian Swells make it extremely difficult for any enemies to get close to you, and if they do, they risk getting hit by a giant projectile, walking into a trap, or being repelled by a Hellish Gale, assuming they don’t get shocked by the tower of lightning in the first place. Among marksman characters, the Emperor is one of the most defensible ones and his traps make it nearly impossible to walk away unscathed.

He excels at creating initiation opportunities as an enemy is bound to get hit by a projectile or trap eventually, and when they do, they are unable to act for several seconds. His large projectiles and area-of-effect traps force teams to spread out, making it easier to isolate a straggler. If the opposing team groups too close together, you can immediately punish them with any spell in your arsenal.

Mighty Strikes is arguably the single best common EX Skill for the Emperor. It doubles the Bravery damage of all your abilities, turning each of your traps and projectiles into threats that siphon almost 1000 Bravery per hit. Whereas other characters tend to deal damage dispersed over many hits, the Emperor has access to many single-hit nukes capable of dealing explosive amounts of damage.

Just as a comparison, Colossal Shantotto allows for only one 960 Bravery Damage spell every minute. Mighty Strikes allows for the Emperor to cast Blue/Red Soul 6 or 7 times, each dealing almost 900 Bravery Damage.

Furthermore, you can lay out all your traps and fire all your projectiles before activating any buffs, and they will all gain the benefit as long as they strike an enemy before the buff expires—abilities check for buff/debuff modifiers on hit, not on cast.

The buff can also be activated reactively to empower your nearby allies when you have trapped a foe in a Starfall.

Bindga provides an additional method of keeping your opponents in place, allowing for a long immobilization chain using Starfall > Bindga > Thunder Crest or Dreary Cell. The opponent cannot air-recovery out of Starfall, and the Bindga projectile homes, making this a relatively easy feat to pull off.

Ramuh is an excellent summon for the Emperor due to the power of Mighty Strikes. With a cooldown of 15 seconds and a duration of 60 seconds, the buff should have an uptime of around 25%.

The Emperor utterly dominates on wide-open arenas but he suffers a bit more on obstacle-ridden ones that can annul his slow-moving projectiles. He still has tools to operate from behind cover, but his effectiveness is reduced when opponents can use walls to nullify his heaviest-hitting nukes.

He also suffers a bit in high verticality situations because his spells don’t offer as much vertical mobility. Beckoning Blast can be aimed above or below him, but it is very difficult to actually hit a moving target.

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