Chapter 10 — Ryoma

Hi everyone! Today’s guide is on the High Prince of Hoshido, and the most popular man in Aytolis: Ryoma.

Stats at Level 150 Promoted

Stat Value
HP 999
Str 142
Mag 12
Skl 141
Spe 171
Lck 141
Def 107
Res 92

Ryoma has a really great stat spread, plain and simple. With over 100 points in all 3 of his relevant offensive stats (Strength, Skill, and Luck), a respectable health pool, and middle-of-the-pack bulk, there’s no significant area where you can really say Ryoma is weak. I suppose the only downside is that none of his stats are truly excellent aside from Speed (which is kind of a useless stat anyway), but that’s a small price to pay for a stat spread this good overall.

Staff

Never

Unique Weapon

Raijinto: no 7th slot, True Power in 8th

Unique Skill

Astra: increases speed of regular and strong attacks.

Pair Up Bonuses as Support

Str/Skl/Spe (+5 if A/A+, otherwise +3)

Moveset

C1: Ryoma kicks and stabs foes directly in front. This combo breaks guards. This is a useful tool to have when up against an officer that just won’t stop guarding.

C2: Ryoma stabs foes directly in front and slashes upwards, launching them. This launcher is disgustingly brutal, but aside from that, it’s your typical launcher.

C3: Ryoma conjures a ring of lightning around himself, damaging enemies in the surrounding area. This is a nice short range crowd clearer that comes out relatively quickly. I personally don’t use it a lot, but it’s nice if you just want to hit a small area between objectives.

C4: Ryoma slices the ground with his sword, sending out a large diagonal energy wave that travels over a long distance. All enemies struck by the wave will have their stun gauge revealed if they do not have WTA over Ryoma. This is perhaps one of the simplest looking combos in the game, but it is obscenely effective. It comes out very quickly, travels over a long distance, has a gigantic hitbox, and exposes officer gauges. You can easily just run around the map spamming C4 against literally every enemy and that would be a more than effective strategy.

C5: Ryoma slashes enemies in front in rapid succession, with the final slash dealing more damage over a larger area. This is your standard C5 stun gauge breaker, and it does that job very well.

C6: Ryoma leaps into the air and slashes in rapid succession toward the ground, each slash firing an energy wave. Ryoma can rotate freely in the air while he does this. At the end of the barrage, he slams his sword on the ground in whatever direction he is currently facing, sending lightning forward along the ground over a long distance. This is a pretty fantastic crowd clearer if you want to clear a wide area rather than a long one. Being able to rotate freely means you can even hit enemies behind you too.

Weapon Skills

  • Strong IV
  • Choose one: Strong V, Strong VI
  • Rainstorm
  • Choose one: Plateslayer, Wingslayer, Mountslayer, Antitriangle
  • Choose one: Plateslayer, Wingslayer, Mountslayer, Antitriangle
  • Choose one: Pair Up+, Warrior+, Crit+

Pretty standard stuff here. C4 is easily Ryoma’s best combo, but beyond that choose whichever you prefer between Strong V and Strong VI. I personally run Strong V since C4 can’t break stun gauges as well as C5, but it can crowd clear on the level of C6 (although in terms of raw damage vs officers, C6 has the advantage). Beyond that, choose two of those three slayer skills. I listed them in order of what I think is best, but they’re all good choices. You could also run one slayer and Antitriangle if you so desire, but other swords can do that without giving up a Slayer slot so I don’t personally choose to do that. For your 5k skill, it’s the usual suspects. Pair Up is the best one, but Crit and Warrior are good choices too if you have them on hand.

Boost Skills

Skill Hero PC AI
Astra Ryoma M M
Luna Chrom M M
Trample Camilla M M
Armored Blow Tiki O –
Luck +20 Celica O O
Str + 10 Lissa O O
Skill +10 Takumi O O
Aegis Xander O O
Pavise Frederick O O
Awakening Lucina O –
Potent Potion Rowan O O
Solidarity Robin O O
Dracoshield Corrin O O

Mandatory Skills

Astra (Ryoma), Luna (Chrom), Trample (Camilla)

  • Ryoma won the skill lottery, getting the best one in the game for cheap.
  • At max Luck, Ryoma’s Luna will reduce foes’ Def/Res by roughly 46%.

Vanguard Skills

Armored Blow (Tiki), Luck +20 (Celica), Str +10 (Lissa), Skill +10 (Takumi), Aegis (Xander), Pavise (Frederick), Awakening (Lucina), Potent Potion (Rowan), Solidarity (Robin), Dracoshield (Corrin)

  • If you’re short on Armored Blows for whatever reason and don’t want to use it, Ryoma is an alright character to skip it on. Though he does prefer having it over not, the huge range on C4 gives him safe approach options on most enemies. This also flat out eliminates the need for Pass.
  • At maximum Luck, Aegis and Pavise will reduce damage taken vs the relevant weapons by 35%.
  • With Luck +20, his Luna’s Def/Res reduction increases to roughly 51%, and his Aegis/Pavise damage reduction increases to roughly 42%.
  • Str +10 boosts his flat damage, and Skill +10 is there as always to go with Crit+.
  • Given his high speed, he can use Awakening if you so desire.
  • Potent Potion is a good support option.
  • Solidarity and Dracoshield can be useful if you plan on frequently Pair-Swapping.

Support Skills

Luck +20 (Celica), Str +10 (Lissa), Skill +10 (Takumi), Aegis (Xander), Pavise (Frederick) , Potent Potion (Rowan), Solidarity (Robin), Dracoshield (Corrin)

  • Solidarity and Dracoshield are wonderful skills if he is going to be in a pair up all the time. Otherwise, see above.

Conclusion

Ryoma is pretty easily one of the best characters in the game. His moveset is the perfect blend of speed and power, with tools to handle nearly every situation. He has a statline a lot of units would kill for. He even has cheap access to the literal best skill in the game. He is absolutely a force to be reckoned with and a worthwhile investment (if only to give Astra to everyone else).