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Protector
Can equip: Swords, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Shields
How the mighty have fa- wait, this class is still good??? Well of course, just because the enemies don't overwhelm you with level advantage doesn't mean you should shirk on defense! Well you kinda can actually, this game rewards you using busted classes to wipe out strong bosses in a few turns, making support not a great option. Most of the skills from the previous game work as well in this one and some of the wonkier skills actually got better, making a Protector an incredibly useful member. HOWEVER, they are very SP hungry and aren't very useful in offensive teams, and mainly shine later on when enemies become very scary, almost required, even! They barely do anything aside from defend and they are no longer tied for the highest STR in the game, so they don't hit very hard, but when they shine, oh boy do they.
Wait, a good class that actually got buffed in the transition to EO2? Say it ain't so! Well for a given definition of good, as Protectors themselves didn't have too much to offer in 1 while at the same time being mandatory for a few key fights. Here, they're not even a lock for most parties since you have a ton of other defensive tools to facetank the things they were previously used for in this game. And offenses got heavily buffed in this game, allowing players to end fights before they would really need the defenses. Still, if you choose to go with a Protector, they're very capable of performing what's asked of them in their job description.
Oof that STR is a little hard to look at, but they have the second best stat average in the game, and since the best average is a meme class I'm scared to use, I think the Protector wins out overall. They have, of course, the best VIT and low TEC and AGI, but they also have great LUC, even if it only helps against low LUC enemies, as well as great HP. Their TP is middling which can be an issue on longer stints, since they're a bit useless if they can't defend, but they're usually fine in boss fights, where they matter the most. Overall, a very standard spread, but it's for the best.
Okay not everything about them got buffed. Their STR took a very hard hit, so Smite spamming isn't really a great thing to do in their downtime anymore. You could try buffing it up if you really want them to spam Smite again, but you're honestly better off using an actual damage dealer class instead. HP and VIT are fantastic stats to increase for them to make them basically ubertanks. And they'll also appreciate TP increases to be able to spam their defensives more often. TEC doesn't really do much for them aside from increasing their evasion against TEC-based attack slightly, and they're already fairly bulky enough to facetank a bunch of things instead of dodging them. LUC isn't an ideal stat to raise either for the same reason, as the evasion increase is miniscule. AGI is completely and utterly worthless to increase on them, as all of their important defensives have priority, making their low AGI a moot point.
Common Passive Unlocks
HP Up: Lv1: HP Regen; Lv3: Riskwall
TEC Up: Lv1: Refresh; Lv10: Antiall
VIT Up: Lv1: Fortify
A relatively even spread, aside from TEC Up, that is a massive pitfall going for Antiall, probably one of the biggest trap skills in the game. Anyway, it's good the requirements for everything else are pretty low due to how much SP you don't have to spread around, Refresh lets your Protector do something else with their life, depending on team composition, while Fortify isn't too useful but can be comboed with other good skills, so up to you. Don't think about STR Up, I know you want to, but it's too hard to bear, just invest in TP Up instead. And LUC Up will only help you avoid stuff better, not that useful. ...oh, AGI Up? LOL
Shields
Unlocks: Lv1: F. Guard, B. Guard; Lv3: Antifire, Anticold, Antivolt; Lv5: En Guarde; Lv7: 1 Guard; Lv10: Smite, Antiall
Passive
A lack of weapon mastery means the Protector should stick to its lane and it's alright as a passive. You'll want to max it out due to all the amazing skills on here, and 1 Guard, while Smite gives them SOMETHING to do. Overall, 10/10 would max again.
Unlike in EO1, this now covers all damage types, so it's now a very nice overall defensive boost. Unfortunately like EO1, it still doesn't boost Smite's damage, but you still have to max it out to unlock it.
Aegis
Prerequisites: HP Regen Lv5, Riskwall Lv5
Gives the user a chance to be automatically revived at 1HP. Does not activate if killed by Instant Death. Passive.
Oh hey this is back in another suspect scaling, this skill can be absolutely amazing if it works, but if it doesn't you've got dead SP and a dead Protector. If it does work and your Protector is the only one left at 1HP, then it's not very useful either. It has a much heavier investment compared to 1 and HP Regen is a terrible skill to fully invest in for this, so, sure, you'll actually be at 8HP when it works, happy now?! One level can offer results, but this game isn't as brutal that you'll go damn, if only the best defensive class in the game wasn't dying so much!
This skill was a questionable investment in 1, and it was stronger there. Here it's a bit weaker, and there's not much of a reason to take this I'd say. Really doesn't help you have to burn 5 SP on a really crappy skill to get this. Your Protector shouldn't be dying so much when they're a fairly beefy class, and this just provides a safety net for an area they're really unlikely to fail in. If you absolutely insist on picking it up, make sure it's one of the last things they learn.
En Guarde
Prerequisites: Shields Lv5
Chance of reducing incoming damage by 50%. Passive.
Now this is a little better, very easy to unlock, especially compared to last game, and due to Provoke and Fortify shenanigans this is something that you can reasonably activate often. 50% can be a lot later in the game and flipping a three sided coin each attack can add up pretty fast, honestly. It's not a must have skill and maxing it out is painful, but an early point can help massively improve survivability, you know, if you're lucky.
En Garde on the other hand got buffed. Now it provides an effective 20% increase to the Protector's HP. Not a bad pickup for later, especially since its unlock requirements are no longer as strict.
HP Regen
Prerequisites: HP Up Lv1
Unlocks: Lv5: Aegis
Restores the user's HP at the end of the turn. Passive.
?????????????????? If you want Aegis, yes, with gritted teeth. If you don't want Aegis, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
7 HP restored per turn. Not 7%, 7 HP. Well, this skill isn't quite as bad as it looks, as there are some applicaitons for it. It does stack with the War Magus' Regenall, and that 7 HP per turn is fairly strong in the earlygame! That's around 14% HP recovered per turn there, giving them a ton of bulk. And resting is now a viable option since it only takes away 5 levels, and can now be done at any time, so you can have your Protector dump this skill for more useful ones. Unless you really want Aegis I guess. Past the early-game, it's complete crap and the only reason to take this is to unlock Aegis, which isn't an amazing skill.
Riskwall
Prerequisites: HP Up Lv3
Unlocks: Lv5: Aegis
BUGGED: Lv2 of initial threshold is slightly worse, oh no!
Reduces all damage by a certain amount depending on user's HP. Passive.
A bit of levels into HP Up and you've got another great passive that is easy to max and when combined with Shields, gives you an 18% reduction before you've even started! And it gets better as you get deader! Admittedly the last threshold is kinda useless in most cases, but can let your Protector hang on just a little bit longer to receive that juicy Salve. Once you get your initial defenses up and before you spend 15 floors on the Anti skills, this is a good pick.
If you're wondering why that bug is there, that's actually related to a very deep rabbit hole I'll dive into later, as that sort of writeup is really not fit for a class overview.
This stacks multiplicatively with Shields, causing it so that a healthy Protector with max level Shield and Riskwall starts off with a 17.2% damage reduction, effectively increasing their HP by 20%. And as their HP gets lower, it can increase to to a whopping 35.2% damage reduction, effectively giving them a 54% increase to their HP! It's a very nice defensive boon that gives more and more as the Protector loses HP, making them harder to kill. Very easy skill to unlock and invest in, and a very worthwile pickup.
Smite
Prerequisites: Shields Lv10
A single target Shield attack that attempts to inflict Arm Bind. Shield skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.
Ah this juicy skill is back and has some real nice numbers behind it, especially since shields offer more DEF this time around, letting you hit harder than ever! Ah, just kidding. Unfortunately Protectors have 32 less STR at level 70 than before so these numbers try to compensate but fail miserably. Still, your Protector literally has nothing better to do when they don't need to defend, so sure whatever, let me just go drink in the corner. Also the Arm Bind chance is alright with their higher LUC, but don't count on it.
Do not be fooled by that high damage modifier. The Protector's STR got utterly gutted in this game, and STR has a massive effect on damage, so Smite's damage output just tanks to terrible levels. And Shield DEF no longer has an impact on Smite's damage in this game, so that's another hit to its damage Smite got. Not a great investment unless you really have nothing else left for the Protector to take.
F. Guard/B. Guard
Prerequisites: Shields Lv1
Unlocks: Lv5: A. Guard
Reduces physical damage dealt to the front/back lines for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.
My bread and butter is back! Though does that make one bread and the other butter? I'm referring to F. Guard, of course, I don't think I used B. Guard once, since there's barely any situations you might need it. F. Guard is just so easy to spam and it's even better than before as well as activating multiple times! That last part doesn't really matter, either the attack hits your entire party, which will activate this skill 3 times, or it'll hit the party randomly, so your back row could get pasted. In any case, this was amazing then and it's amazing now, you'll use this skill in basically every fight, max it asap! ...alright to give some credit, due to back row damage reduction, 30% in this case, it does make B. Guard pretty good, but you want 3 people up front to spread damage around, making defending 2 members, your Protector usually not one of them, not a compelling concept.
These skills were overshadowed by Defender in the previous game, but Defender is gone now, so these are now the Protector's bread and butter skills. These skills got some very heavy buffs. Not only are the damage multipliers stronger, the skills can now activate multiple times on the same character! However, the buffs in question also include making these skills RNG based. The multiple activations aren't guaranteed to proc, and every time they do proc the chances of them activating again go down. Still, F. Guard is a very powerful defensive, if not the most powerful defensive, and probably one that will be seeing the most use.
As for B. Guard, it's usefulness was shaky in 1, but it can be understood why it existed in that game. The back row wasn't targeted as often, but the defense increase it provided was nearly miniscule, so a skill to protect that row was understandable, even if it doesn't see use thanks to Defender. Here... well um, the back row got changed to reduce damage by 30%, and like in the other EO games, it's not targeted as often, so you really don't need this skill, as it's pretty redundant with the protection the game provides. B. Guard can easily be ignored without too much fuss in this game thanks to the buffs to the back row mechanics.
A. Guard
Prerequisites: F. Guard Lv5, B. Guard Lv5
Reduces physical damage dealt to the entire party for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.
Defender... look at how they massacred my boy. What a great skill in the last game, no wonder it got the smack, A. Guard can be useful, but since it can't protect the entire party, or indeed some of the party if one member gets tagged multiple times, then it's not as effective as just maxing out F. Guard and leaving this and B. Guard to rot away, you are short on SP afterall. I'd say the skill barely justifies the investment, it can be useful, but Defender this is not.
RIP Defender. It got turned into All Guard, and honestly, it's not too great. It requires too much investment to snag, and it's significantly less reliable than F. Guard, and it can't even protect a full party from an AOE physical attack. F. Guard is pretty much their best skill that covers most situations just fine.
1 Guard
Prerequisites: Shields Lv7
Reduces physical damage dealt to a single target for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.
Eh, another wonky skill that has its uses and drawbacks. It's difficult to have a single party member targetted 10 times, after all Protectors have the Provoke skill. Survivalist Baitstep? Snrk, yeah for sure man. It can be very useful in making sure a specific target survives the turn but what about everyone else? Why not use F. Guard? Or hell, A. Guard, they offer better overall protection, but there are situations when this is useful. It's not a big an investment as A. Guard, so maybe go for it, but it's a hard sell regardless.
For those of you that have played the later EO games, no this isn't a redirection skill. It's just damage reduction for one party member. Before you get any ideas, this doesn't work with a Loyalty Beast, as Loyalty has priority over Protector Shield skills for some unfathomable reason. I'd say this is a hard pass, as F. Guard covers more people while only having a tiny bit less damage reduction. And as insult to injury, maxing out F. Guard takes up less SP than maxing out 1 Guard.
Antifire/Anticold/Antivolt
Prerequisites: Shields Lv3
Reduces Fire/Ice/Volt damage dealt to the entire party for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.
It's SP sink time! Compared to last game where you could leave all 3 anti elem skills at level 5 due to a very useful bug, boy you cannot do that this time. Now you can leave these skills at level 8 for most of the game since most elemental attacks you want to block are party wide and that's all good, but there are some attacks you need to max it out so you don't get completely pasted, especially if you want to heal your party as these skills are no longer bugged! You can max them and nullify all aspects of an attack, have it protect you as many times as you want AND you get healed to boot! You will spend half the game levelling these skills up, but they are some of the best skills in the game, so you have to, no further questions.
The Antielemental skills now nullify attacks and their secondary effects when they absorb damage, so feel free to max them out. Actually, you basically have to max them out, as they're very unreliable at protecting the entire party even at levels 8 and 9. However, you won't need these for the maingame too often, as not too many enemies have access to elemental attacks, and throwing down a Mist can be enough to deal with those if you really need the help. By post-game... mists are still really good for dealing with the usual culprits you'd want these skills for, so they're not actually must-haves for those specific portions of the game. Though obviously having these maxed by then is a huge help. For the main game you can focus on leveling F. Guard and max out these skills at your leisure on the way to post-game. Or ignore them entirely if you don't plan on tackling post-game, up to you.
Antiall
Prerequisites: Shields Lv10, TEC Up Lv10
Reduces elemental damage dealt to the entire party for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.
Oh, uh, wow, that was a mighty fall, almost got whiplash. Antiall is an absolutely godawful skill due to two big reasons. Firstly, what the fuck are those prerequisites, WHY WHY WHY would you EVER max out TEC Up on a PROTECTOR????!!!! It does nothing for them, it's only good for Refresh since that has some utility, but you also need to max Shields as well? For a skill that doesn't protect the entire party from an attack. What the fuck were they thinking, there is never a case when you'd want this over using the proper Anti skill, since any enemy that has multiple elementals do so in a nice, standard pattern. Or you just block the scariest one and deal with the others. There is one very very late exception, but this skill will NOT SAVE YOU FROM THE NIGHT OH GOD anyway don't use this garbage, good grief.
Antiall is a terrible skill, skip it entirely. Sure you're saving some SP compared to maxing out the other 3 Antielemental skills which takes 33 SP in total compared to spending 25 SP to max out this skill. So you're basically saving 8 SP for a skill that can't even protect your entire party from an elemental AOE, which is what you'd want it for. You don't encounter too many elemental attacks from random encounters, and most FOEs and bosses in the game have access to only one element, so you're better off using the single Antielemental skills instead of Antiall even in those use cases. There's precisely one boss fight in the game where this skill would be genuinely useful, but said fight is very easy to get past and is not worth wasting a whole 25 SP for. (Note this is different from the one Cross is talking about, and in that fight this skill is abject garbage.)
Fortify
Prerequisites: VIT Up Lv1
Increases the user's physical defense for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.
Oh hey it's this skill again. It's alright, I used it a couple of times in the last game for a few specific, solitary, challenges, but it doesn't really offer much that F. Guard doesn't. It does have some use now that Provoke isn't bugged garbage. That skill also works like Fortify, so I guess if you stacked them you'd be a physical machine, but that works if they solely target you, which isn't always the case. Anyway, it's alright, but again most of these skills sound neat, but of course Protectors do not have SP to spare.
Now that a specific non-existant skill no longer completely and utterly overshadows this skill, is this worth taking? To be honest, not really, for the exact same problem it wasn't worth taking in 1. There are still other skills that make this one redunant. Two of them in fact, and the Protector is already super bulky in this game.
Provoke
Unlocks: Lv3: Parry
Increases the user's physical defense and chance of being targetted for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.
Ah now this is much better! Before, Provoke was only a multiplier to the relatively small chance of being targetted, since we don't know exactly how it all goes down, so it looks like it has barely any effect. Here, the results are obvious, past level 7, every single enemy is drawn to you. That could be good, but also very bad, so pick your battles wisely. This doesn't affect AOE attacks, but any single target attack will land right on your face. And that's fine due to Fortify basically being built into this skill, so it's advisable to max it to combine with Shields and Riskwall, and yes, you can combine this with Fortify and Parry to really make a tank, but of course 5 enemies could just wreck your face before you can do anything, so maybe don't do that. Big investment, but can provide big results.
Now that Provoke isn't bugged garbage, it's a great earlygame skill. To go briefly into how enemy aggro works in this game, most of the time the AI will tell the enemy to use "a standard targeting routine", which makes it so that the enemy has a large chance of targeting the party member with the highest current HP in the front row, a decent chance of targeting the party member with the highest current HP in the back row, and a small chance of going after someone random. The AI can also tell the enemy to go after a specific target, which overrides every aggro effect and completely ignores the effects of Provoke and Baitstep. However "standard targeting" routines will be overridden by Provoke's chances, and since it's a 100% aggro rate at levels 7 and above, it'll always redirect the enemy's fire in those cases. Well, not quite. There's an additional condition required for Provoke to work. The attack in question must be a single target attack. Splash target, random target, and other such attacks are entirely out of the question and ignore this skill. And you'll be seeing more of those as the game goes on, causing this to fall off past earlygame. But in the earlygame, you'll be seeing plenty of single target skills, so this can be a good way for the Protector to defend the rest of their party during that time. Oh and since Fortify is basically built into this skill despite having a weaker defense boost, there's little reason to take Fortify.
Note that targeting routines are decided at the start of the turn, so it'll take until next turn for Provoke's aggro effects to kick in. Comboing it with the Survivalist's 1st Turn is a complete waste since AI routines are decided before that skill activates as well.
Parry
Prerequisites: Provoke Lv3
Nullifies all physical damage for the entire turn or if the user dies. Buff skill, uses the Arms.
Now we're playing with power. In the right circumstances this skill is incredible, you effectively ignore all physical attacking enemies for a turn and let your team clean up, but of course outside of that situation it's not that great. Firstly this practically needs to be paired with Provoke, and of course it only works for physical damage. You also don't need to invest in it that much since, like with 1 Guard, there's no way you'll be attacked physically 20 times in one turn, also it, again, doesn't work for AOE attacks. Well, it will nullify one of the AOE hits I guess, but yeah situational, that's what makes it incredible.
This skill also makes Fortify redundant, since it nullifies physical damage entirely. However since it only protects the Protector, this means that this skill only really helps the party if you combo this with Provoke. And once Provoke starts falling off in usefulness, this skill does as well, since Protectors will likely want to move onto spamming F. Guard by then. If you do end up taking this skill, you don't need to max it out. A few SP or even only 1 point is fine, as even with Provoke active, Protectors shouldn't be targeted that often, and they have a decent amount of bulk to survive a few stray hits in the earlygame.
Refresh
Prerequisites: TEC Up Lv1
Removes ailments from a single target. Cannot dispel Petrify. Heal skill, uses the Head.
Well Protectors can't heal anymore, thank goodness, but they can now remove... most ailments. Since it's single target it's not as useful as it could be and your Protector should be using F. Guard or something instead but it can be something different. Obviously not necessary on a team with a Medic or War Magus, but if you don't feel immediately threatened and don't want to use a Theriaca B for some weird reason, sure why not.
Well, it's only 6 SP to take, but it being single target really makes it not super appealing. If you have a Medic or Gunner, you really don't need this skill. Also, Therica Bs basically do this skill's job better, as they cost no TP, no SP, and can actually cure Petrification. I mean this skill might be nice to have in emergency situations in case you run out or forget to pack Therica Bs, but even then I'd consider it a low priority grab.
Flee
Chance of escaping battle at start of turn. Can warp to previous floor if one was visited during the current trip. Coward skill, uses the Legs.
Huh. Okay. This skill is weird, but hey, guaranteed escape at max level I guess? The most important aspect is the warp part of this skill works even if an FOE corners you, which prevents any kind of escape otherwise. That's, uh, that's about it, it's pretty useless outside of max level since you can never rely on it, but escaping isn't hard to do and also getting cornered by FOEs is only done by casuals and LPers, so whatever, r-right?
This may seem redundant with EO2's naturally high escape rates, especially once you factor in Esc Up. However it does have a use in that it can rescue the party if they get cornered by FOEs, which can happen frequently in this game due to the revised FOE mechanics. Do note that the warp component has to activate for this skill to rescue you from such situations, as the escape rate is disabled there.
Painless
Nullifies all damage, ailments or binds for the rest of the turn. Does not affect buffs, debuffs or dispels. Force Skill, uses the Arms.
Oh hey the only skill without an image because, well, that's everything that it does. Painless is one of the best Force skills, since you can activate it every other turn if you fancy burning loads of Axcela IIs. You might need to to get past certain enemies with terrifying skills that will kill you if you don't PUSH THIS PANIC BUTTON RIGHT THE HELL NOW!!! So yeah, big fan, really easy to rely on and make you complacent.
One of the best Force skills in the entire game by far. Guaranteed invincibility for 1 turn is one of the most powerful effects in the game, especially if you're in the post-game. (And you can activate this more frequently if you stuff Axcelas down their throat.) By post-game, the Antielementals and this skill are the main selling points to take this class, and it makes for a fantastic panic button. Especially since this is one of the few ways to deal with some mechanics at certain post-game bosses.
Thankfully the Protector got through unscathed, might've become better actually, but it was already a great class last game. Sure it's weaker and some of its skills are wonky, but when you're not spending all your SP on the Anti skills, they have some great tools and make my life much less of a headache when you don't vote in a healer AGAIN CUT ME A BREAK ALREADY!
The Protector's overall usefulness thankfully did not get hammered into the ground like with the Landsknecht and the Survivalist, and I'd say they're simultaneously better and yet not really a must-have like in the last game. While the Protectors are overall a better class than they were in 1, they aren't a mandatory pickup like in 1 since you have more options to cover up your party's defensive holes. Though if you do choose to take one along, they can really be a huge boon to the party, increasing their survivability greatly.