Bravely Second can be an overwhelming game. You have 30 jobs to choose from, with each one having multiple active and passive skills that can aid a character in battle. Having all of this coming at you at once can be daunting. There’s so much information! All you really need to know is that you should probably have at least two characters as solid attackers, ready to assault any enemy that approaches the party. To help out with that, we’re going to go over some of the most helpful skills and combinations for attackers.

To start, I can’t stress the importance of having one character max out the Charioteer and Ninja jobs. I did that with Tiz in my game, because he’s naturally one of Bravely Second’s powerhouses. Here’s why this combination is so important. The Charioteer allows a character to eventually Triple or Quad Wield weapons. That means he or she could have weapons in the hand, head, and body slots. Normally, this means a drop in power to weapons in the left hand, head, and body spots. However, Dual Wield applies to all three of these extra positions. It means every weapon will be wielded at full power. That build also allows someone the Physical Attack 20% Up support skill, as well as the Frenetic Fighting skill that raises the maximum hit count from 16 to 32.

Personally, I’ve also added the Ranger job set to that version of Tiz and recommend it. He’s a Ninja with the Ranger’s Hunting job command added on. Having Bug, Plant, Beast, Aquatic, and Dragon Slayer on hand helps with almost every standard encounter. Targeting and Berserk come in handy for boss fights too, to make this superpowered force of nature even better. (As another plus, the Ninja version of Tiz looks a lot like Kakashi Hatake.)

The Fencer is a good early-level job for abilities you can continue to make use of throughout the game. I made Edea a Fencer right from the start, because Eye of the Wolf letting her begin in a the Wolf Stance that increases her physical and magical attack by 25% is great. I immediately have her launch into Wolf Fang, which deals 1.3x damage to one enemy and sends her into the Aurochs stance. Muscle Memory means she retained the 25% physical and magical attack boost for 10 turns, while gaining a 25% physical and magical defense boost. Adding on Stampede lets her have a 75% of counterattacking from the Aurochs stance. Combine that with the Ninja’s Dual Wield, and it’s an easy setup that could last a character for most of the game without much effort.

What’s really great for later in the game is a Dark Knight and Pirate combo. Again, I’d recommend Edea for this role. From the Pirate side, you want the Provoke command, to make enemies target that character, the Adrenaline Rush support ability that raises physical attack and defense by 50% for 5 turns when your health is below 20%. Since the Dark Knight deals more damage the less health it has, this works well with Adversity, which raises your physical and magical attack and physical and magical defense by 10% over three turns each time you suffer damage equal to 25% of your health. Add the Dark Knight’s Blaze of Glory as the final support touch, as it’s a support skill that deals 4x damage to all enemies once the character is knocked out. I’d recommend having the Pirate as the primary class, since it has a S-rank in strength.

Finally, let’s look at a possible magic build. I like combining the Red Mage and Wizard, with a hint of the Bishop’s support. The first thing I did was get my Yew to level 10 with the Bishop, so he could learn Brevity. This is one of the most helpful support skills for a mage, as it gives a 50% chance of Good Measure, where a single spell cast has the effect of the same spell cast twice. Then, he was a Red Mage until he learned MP Free in a Pinch at level 9, which makes all magic free once his health is below 20%. Finally, Yew became a Wizard. This allows him to use Spellcraft with the B/W Magic or Holy Magic fixed commands, as well as provided access to Absorb Magic Damage, which lets him recover health equal to 25% of the damage he takes from magical attacks. His spells are occasionally more powerful than usual, and he has the opportunity to constantly restore health and magic points.

Though, if someone wanted, they could also swap in the Red Mage’s Revival for Absorb Magic Damage. That would compensate for the extra Brave Point Spellcraft takes, as it has a 75% chance of raising the character’s BP by two if health goes below 20%. But really, this is about a personal preference. If you think a battle’s going to take a while, go with Revival. If there’ll be quicker scuffles, Absorb Magic Damage is a better pick.

But these are only suggestions. The great thing about Bravely Second is that it gives players plenty of options. You never know what conventional or unconventional combination could be an unprecedented success. And it’s always interesting to hear what is working for others and could be a handy path for someone to pursue.

Bravely Second is immediately available for the Nintendo 3DS.