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Arcanist

Circle Magic!

A race of casters from unnamed lands. Their circles inflict crippling effects, and can be released to attack or heal.
In-game description, Etrian Odyssey IV


The Arcanist (ミスティック Mystic) excels where not many can: the magic of debilitation. They draw large magic circles from the ground all across the battlefield that both afflict an Arcanist's enemies and rejuvenate their allies. Circles linger for a time and continue their effects, but an Arcanist can release their energy early in a harming or healing spell. Arcanists are ill-suited with weaponry and close-quarters combat, so their magic is best worked at a distance. They fill the same role as Hexers, but with a less sinister tone, like a naturalist druid or earth shaman.

Profile[]

Arcanists cast Circles that inflict specific crippling ailments and binds to all enemies at once, allowing the rest of the party to safely lay into them. Circles make a further attempt at the end of each of the following 3 turns, without needing any further input from the Arcanist. In the meantime, the Arcanist passively heals the party and is free to set down their debuffs or utilize other skills granted by their subclass. When a circle has run its course or fulfilled its purpose, an Arcanist closes the cycle, either passively or with an active Dismissal that can heal the party or deal pure damage to the enemy. Incredible LUC growth powers their ability to cripple enemies, and strong TEC stat drives their damaging and healing ability. Arcanists' durability only barely surpasses the Runemasters, so it is best they remain at the back row during battles.

  • Strengths: Great support capability that affects the whole battlefield with ailments, binds, and flexible healing and ranged magic damage.
  • Weaknesses: Delicate. Spending turns making and dismissing circles dilutes focus, both in ailment/bind infliction and healing/damage.

To Unlock[]

The class is unlocked after defeating the Hollow Queen in the 2nd Maze. Report your successful mission to the Outland Court, after some dialogue, Wufan will give you the Circle Staff, which will now allow you to recruit them. Wufan herself also offers to permanently join the guild.

Stat Progression[]

Main article: Arcanist/Stats#EO4
Level HP TP STR TEC VIT AGI LUC
1 36 37 5 10 5 5 10
35 162 156 24 35 22 22 36
70 292 279 44 61 39 40 62
99 400 352 56 80 54 54 84

Skills[]

Skill Description Type Prerequisites Extra
NOVICE
Proficiency Recover TP when the effects of a circle wear off. Class None Triggers when a Circle fades or is dismissed.
Circle Boon Party recovers some HP at the end of each turn while a circle is active. Passive None
Poison Circle Forms a circle that lasts 3 turns, poisoning all enemies. Circle None Level to also increase poison damage.
Nerve Circle Forms a circle that lasts 3 turns, paralyzing all enemies. Poison Circle Lv2
Chain Circle Forms a circle that lasts 3 turns, binding the arms of all enemies. Circle None
Snare Circle Forms a circle that lasts 3 turns, binding the legs of all enemies. Chain Circle Lv2
Warding Mist Chance of nulling a bind or status ailment on allies in your line. Passive None
Tame Ground Decreases damage taken from damage floors for a certain number of steps. Dungeon None Level to also increase duration.
Bracing Walk Heals the entire party as you walk through dungeons. Passive Tame Ground Lv2
Herbology Greater chance of finding extra plants when gathering. Passive None
VETERAN
Expertise Recover more TP when the effects of a circle wear off. Class Proficiency Triggers when a Circle fades or is dismissed.
Dismiss Heal Dismiss the active Circle to restore some HP to the entire party. Dismissal Circle Boon Lv3
Dismiss Blow Dismiss the active Circle for a ranged untyped attack to 1 enemy. Dismiss Heal Lv3
Sleep Circle Forms a circle that lasts 3 turns, inducing sleep on all enemies. Circle Poison Circle Lv2
Chaos Circle Forms a circle that lasts 3 turns, panicking all enemies. Sleep Circle Lv3
Hood Circle Forms a circle that lasts 3 turns, binding the heads of all enemies. Circle Snare Circle Lv2
Charm Eye For 3 turns, lowers physical and elemental power of all enemy attacks. Support None
Atrophic Eye For 3 turns, lowers physical and elemental defense for all enemies. Charm Eye Lv2
Purist Chef Increases TP gains from cooked food. Sky None
MASTER
Enlightenment Recover more TP when the effects of a Circle wear off. Class Expertise Triggers when a Circle fades or is dismissed.
Dismiss Blast Dismiss the active Circle for a ranged untyped attack to all enemies. Dismissal Dismiss Blow Lv3
Circle Mastery Increases the effect of dismissing Circles. Passive Dismiss Blast Lv3 Effect bonus also scales with level of Circle being dismissed.
TP Return Recover some TP when inflicting ailments or binds. Passive None TP recovery is constant regardless of how many enemies are afflicted in a single move.
Releasal Spell Eliminates 1 enemy's resistances to binds and status ailments. Support None Level to reduce cost.
Ailment Boost Increases chance of inflicting ailments or binds on enemies. Passive None

Skill Breakdown[]

Arcanists fulfill the same role as Hexers from the first two games and accomplish similar things. Their skills that inflict ailments and binds are not dependent on striking a target, bypassing the hit accuracy check and consequences of striking a target, such as counterattacks. However, while Hexers have excellent mystique that some find enthralling, from purely a gameplay perspective, Hexers are not very interesting. They roll dice over and over - usually the same skill - at the rear until they get a success, then fill up the target's debuff slots, but have nothing to do after that. In the worst case, an enemy could resist every curse they had learned up to that point, rendering the Hexer dead weight. Never mind that RNG can have anomalous success or failure results (such as failing multiple likely attempts in a row; 1/100000 is still possible).

A few key features make Arcanists more adaptable and predictable. After casting a circle, the Arcanist can do other things like use items and their Charm and Atrophic Eye debuffs, while the circle continues its end-of-turn attempts, which have reduced success rates. The Arcanist can even cast that circle again to extend it for longer and have a higher success rate for that turn. The Arcanist is free to use Dismiss Heal, Blow, or Blast for a burst of healing or untyped ranged magic damage at any time before the circle expires, but it is best to allow the circle to fulfill its purpose by inflicting its ailment/bind. All the while, Circle Boon had been slowly healing the whole party. Arcanists have something to do while inflicting ailments/binds, and provide something that doesn't require successful ailing/binding, which can be healing or harming depending on the needs of the moment.

Furthermore, Arcanists' Proficiency skill establishes an intuitive gameplay loop. To conserve TP, you'll want to close off each circle by dismissing them before switching to a different circle and before the battle ends. Level 3 Proficiency returns all TP spent on low level circles, but Circle Mastery rewards Arcanists for spending more TP. Consider leaving a circle or two at low level for the sake of efficiency, and power up priority circles with higher success rates, healing, and damage. Successful infliction grants TP Return, further extending an Arcanist's stamina. This can even provide a net gain so they never run out of TP. Also, since creatures build up resistance to ailments and binds over repeated inflictions and recoveries, Arcanists have a trump card to deal with that: Releasal Spell.

There can be only one circle active among the whole party, so Arcanists don't play especially well with one another. Another Arcanist's circle will overwrite whichever is active. This does not trigger their Proficiency. You can make it work between two Arcanists by having one spam Dismissals every turn while the other spams Circles, since dismissals have higher action speed than circles, but their AGI has to match up well enough so the dismissal always goes first.

Subclassing[]

Subclasses for Arcanists[]

The skew in Arcanist stat growth that favours Technique over Strength locks out a lot of synergy with the more physically-oriented subclasses. The heavy skill point demand in the main skill tree for an optimized Arcanist can also make it difficult to spare enough free skill points to best use the subclasses' abilities. However, there are still a few options that can utilize the Arcanist stat distribution:

  • Nightseeker: Throw skills are mainly used to inflict ailments - particularly curse and blind which the Arcanist circles lack - so that the Arcanist can focus more on binding circles. Assassinate can also help the Arcanist eliminate threats after spreading ailments with their circles. Speed Boost gives the Arcanist increased turn speed to efficiently shut down the opposition with circles or debuffs. Alternatively, Blade Flurry used with forged daggers can reliably inflict ailments when bolstered by Ailment Boost, granted with less control over which specific ailment is inflicted.
  • Medic: Subclassing Medic to Arcanist turns Arcanist into the most efficient healer of the game. Heal Mastery and Steady Hands amplifies all healing effects, allowing for Circle Boon to provide great amounts of passive regeneration and also amplifying the effect of Dismiss Heal. Due to how Circles operate, Arcanists will have several free turns to support the party through Revive, Refresh and Recovery. Party Heal allows the Arcanist to heal the team without needing to spend time setting up and using a Circle. TP Boost raises the Arcanist's own battle stamina.
  • Runemaster: Mainly for TP Boost and Free Energy, it will greatly cover their TP and have synergy with their mastery skills. Arcanists have a very good Tec growth, second only to the Runemasters, so the Rune attack spells are good alternate offensive options should the Arcanist have the skill points to spare. As Dismiss Blow and Dismiss Blast classify as untyped, Runic Flare can also vastly improve the damage done.

Arcanist as Subclass[]

Most of the Circle-related skills work best when they have maximal investment - instead, Arcanists are usually chosen for their Ailment Boost passive that raises bind/ailment success, and TP Return once a bind/ailment succeeds. Optionally, Releasal Spell is picked for resetting a boss' ailment/bind resistance to make it easier to shut them down again.

  • Nightseekers and Snipers base their strategy around binds and ailments; Ailment Boost and TP Return are absolutely necessary to make them stronger and last longer.
  • Medics optionally utilize Circle Boon for passive healing over time, leaving their hands free to do other things like cure binds/ailments without needing further input.
  • Dancer's Mist Dance has quite a high chance to activate for an autoattack effect, pushed further by Sword Dance. The regen drip from TP Return is nowhere near a Bushi's Proficiency, but it makes a substantial difference due to a conspicuous lack of TP regen in this game, and the Dancer can use Energy Tango to reduce everyone's costs.

External Links[]

Profile[]

The Arcanists of Tharsis heeded the call to Maginia. Their practice remains focused on ailment and bind-inducing Circles and Dismissing them to heal or attack, with only minor differences. The new Force skills complement their original skill set. Circle Paradise sustains a Circle for repeated Dismissal skills, while the powerful Releasal Spell has become their Force Break, which reduces the player's ability to spam it in a single battle.

  • Strengths: Great support capability that affects the whole battlefield with ailments, binds, and flexible healing and ranged magic damage.
  • Weaknesses: Delicate. Spending turns making and dismissing circles dilutes focus, both in ailment/bind infliction and healing/damage.
  • Force Boost - Circle Paradise: For 3 turns, the user's bind/ailment rate increases, and Circles maintain duration and remain in effect after a dismissal skill.
  • Force Break - Releasal Spell: Removes all enemy buffs and resets any accumulated bind/ailment resistance to default.

Stat Progression[]

Main article: Arcanist/Stats#EON
Level HP TP STR INT VIT WIS AGI LUC
1 44 56 9 19 10 16 11 19
30 85 105 19 41 23 35 24 41
70 172 207 42 86 49 76 50 87
99 256 306 63 130 75 116 76 132
130 370 440 92 190 110 170 111 193

Skills[]

Skill Description Type Requires Extra
Circle Paradise For 3 turns, user's bind/ailment rate rises, and Circles will not be dismissed. Force Boost --
Releasal Spell
V-head
Removes all enemy buffs, and reverts their bind/ailment resistances to default. Force Break
NOVICE
Circle Boon
V-wis
While user's Circle is active, restores HP to party at the end of each turn. Passive None
Dismiss Heal
V-headV-wis
Dismisses the active Circle to restore some HP to the entire party. Dismissal Circle Boon Lv1
Chain Circle
V-headV-luc
Sets a Circle that, for 3 turns, may bind arms of all enemies at end of each turn. Circle None
Snare Circle
V-headV-luc
Sets a Circle that, for 3 turns, may bind legs of all enemies at end of each turn. Chain Circle Lv2
Nerve Circle
V-headV-luc
Sets a Circle that, for 3 turns, may paralyze all enemies at end of each turn. None
Curse Circle
V-headV-luc
Sets a Circle that, for 3 turns, may curse all enemies at end of each turn. Nerve Circle Lv2
Bracing Walk Party recovers HP after walking a set number of steps. Passive None
Proficiency When effects of user's Circle wears off, restores TP. Passive None Triggers when a Circle fades or is dismissed.
Chop Increases material yield from chopping in the labyrinth. Gather None
VETERAN
Dismiss Revive
V-head
Dismisses the active Circle for a chance to revive a line of allies. Dismissal Dismiss Heal Lv2
Dismiss Blow
V-headV-int
Dismisses the active Circle for a ranged untyped attack to 1 enemy. Dismiss Revive Lv3
Hood Circle
V-headV-luc
Sets a Circle that, for 3 turns, may bind head of all enemies at end of each turn. Circle Snare Circle Lv2
Sleep Circle
V-headV-luc
Sets a Circle that, for 3 turns, may put all enemies to sleep at end of each turn. Curse Circle Lv2
Charm Eye
V-head
Lowers physical/elemental ATK of all enemies for 3 turns. Debuff None
Atrophic Eye
V-head
Lowers physical/elemental DEF of all enemies for 3 turns. Charm Eye Lv2
Status ATK Up Increases bind/ailment success rate. Stat Up None
Tame Ground For a set number of steps, muddy floors and hazards are nulled. Field None
Warding Mist Chance of nulling a bind, ailment, or stun on allies in user's line. Passive None
MASTER
Dismiss Blast
V-headV-int
Dismisses the active Circle for a ranged untyped attack to all enemies. Dismissal Dismiss Blow Lv3
Circle Mastery Strengthens the effect of Circle dismissals. Passive Dismiss Blast Lv3
Poison Circle
V-headV-luc
Sets a Circle that, for 3 turns, may poison all enemies at end of each turn. Circle Sleep Circle Lv2
Chaos Circle
V-headV-luc
Sets a Circle that, for 3 turns, may cause all enemies to panic at end of each turn.
Dismiss Quake
V-headV-luc
Dismisses the active Circle for a chance to stun all enemies. Dismissal Poison Circle Lv3
Chaos Circle Lv3
TP Return When a bind/ailment/stun is inflicted by user's attack, restores user's TP. Passive None Restoration does not change with multiple targets.

Skill Breakdown[]

To accommodate the new Circle Paradise, the way circles are cast was adjusted slightly. Previously, casting a circle would immediately attempt to inflict status ailments, and the end-of-turn attempt would be suppressed for that turn. It also has higher infliction chance than end-of-turn attempts. In Nexus, all attempts are made at the ends of turns, and casting a circle just begins the counter. Circle Paradise takes the place of the active cast bonus, but also allows multiple Arcanists to spam dismissals off one of their circles. They play a little better together in pairs now that circles have an action speed reduction to go with dismissals' action speed bonus. Still not ideal.

Curse Circle joins their repertoire at Novice tier, and now that poison damage scales with level, Poison Circle jumped all the way to Master tier alongside Chaos Circle. Circles in general are a little more sparing in TP cost, as are all dismissals at low level, but get very costly at high level. Two new dismissals join their repertoire, Dismiss Revive and Dismiss Quake, to make Arcanists a little more versatile. Last but not least, Charm and Atrophic Eye activate faster as they level up, so that at max level they often go before enemies and allies, functionally granting them a 4th turn of use.

Subclassing[]

Subclass for Arcanist[]

Maxing out multiple circles and all the dismissals consumes a vast number of skill points. To have any left over for subclasses, decide which are less important, like Curse Circle, Snare Circle, or Dismiss Revive. With a priority on TP, INT, WIS, and LUC, all caster and healer classes fit with Arcanist, as do other classes specialized in ailments or binds.

  • Medic provides basic but very effective healing skills, if you want your Arcanist to specialize in healing. Just a few points in skills like Patch Up and Refresh go a long way.
  • War Magus has excellent healing and infliction synergy. With low AGI, Arcanists benefit from the War Heal line ignoring turn speed, and they can cure ailments/binds with Displace and death with War Revive. The many active and passive skills dependent on targets having ailments or binds are great since Arcanists are better at inflicting them than War Magi, and get bonus TP or damage from War Edge Mastery. A lot to choose from, but remember you only have so many skill points.
  • Zodiac is chosen for aggressive purposes, targeting elemental weaknesses for more damage per turn than Arcanists can do themselves. They can regenerate TP over time to fuel Zodiac's hungry skillset, and benefit a lot from TP Up and Free Energy.
  • Nightseeker for Proficiency and Foul Mastery to boost the damage of Dismiss Blow and Blast. Throws add blinding to the lineup, and help afflict individual targets. Shadow Cloak can be used to improve survivability.
  • Pugilist works great with a party specialized on ailments and binds, so Raging Billows gets to full power. All its prerequisites are useful too, and Adrenaline stacks with TP Return.
  • Harbingers are a popular selection for Arcanist due to added debuff support. Wilting and Binding Miasma improve the accuracy of the Arcanist's own Circles, on top of another Status ATK Up. Only get Eroding and Stifling Miasma as prerequisites since the Arcanist's own Eye debuffs will be stronger and faster. Miasma Armor's speed boost is not as helpful since dismissals already have high base speed, but a point each in Black Wave, Black Shroud, and Spirit Absorb help an Arcanist last longer, and Atonement for emergency healing.

Arcanist as Subclass[]

The other classes that are good at inflicting ailments and binds tend to be physically oriented with low INT or WIS, so Dismissals are generally less useful for others than Circles and TP Return. Once again, don't waste skill points where you don't need them.

  • The War Magus can use the Arcanist ailment Circles to inflict ailments on their own so they can unleash their War Edge skills afterwards. Circle Boon adds to a War Magus's penchant for constant drip healing.
  • Ninja's main ailment skills overlap with Arcanist's more advanced Circles, but the basic circles expand their coverage. Ninjas have more INT than STR, so Dismiss Blow and Dismiss Blast are decent options.
  • Farmers can use the Arcanist subclass to make the most of their sky-high Luck stat. The ailment Circles give them another way to disable enemies, the bind Circles add a layer on top of Strange Seeds, and Status ATK Up improves them all.
  • Harbinger with an Arcanist subclass substitutes for Hexers, which cannot be played in Nexus, and is a more engaging debilitation magic caster. Having Harbinger as the main class provides superior melee competency and debuff coverage.

External Links[]


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