Spunky, fiery, and more than a bit tsundere, Careena is a capable melee fighter with some branching-out into more magic-based paths. She's a consistently solid, if seldom full-on spectacular, combatant who can slot into most team compositions with ease. Shဣe's also just a hoot to have around.

More than any of her compatriots, Caree♑na is a bit difficult to provide definitive builds for. Val is a tank; Morley's a crit-fiending DPS; Palamena's an offensive caster; Julei's a healer through and through. Careena's versatile, she's fun, and much like her personality, she never allows herself to be locked into a si💦ngle definition.

What Does Careena Specialise In?

Careena's the first party member to join after Val, and she'll do so in Longren, the fabled Valley of Wind. She's admittedly a bit of an awkward second party member to gain, as she's a more prominent damage-per-second sort than Val, but not so blatantly as Morley; nor is her early magic game strong.

But don't get us wrong. She's very solid. Much of Careena's viability stems from her buffs and especially debuffs, which can t🌠urn the tide of battle just as well🦋 as any physical or magical blow.

Careena's early classes demonstrate this to a tee, while her mid-game and late-game classes are melee powerhouses that make up for earlier stumbles in that regard.

The Best Builds For Careena

You'll likely want to use the limited-availability Strength Serums, Stamina Serums, and Vitality Serums on Careena sometimes. The fact is, Val gets a lot of mileage out of Stamina and Vitality, while Morley (and to a lesser degree) Val gain from Strength.

The good news is, Dudbear shops restock on serums every chapter, and there are♋ ample numbers in treasu⛦re chests as well.

In any case, the overarching point here is that we want to take advantage of Careena's attack viability first and foremost because her best spells don't tend to rely upon magic might; they're debuffs, after all.

Dragon Master - Soften 'Em Up

Dragon Master's main gimmicks include dealing more damage and sustaining less against Wyvern and Reptilian enemies, as well as weakening foes, and lastly, increasing Ramcoh's own power.

We'll be frank: the Wyvern and Reptilian stuff is not useful. OK, sure. It is occasionally useful. But seriously, a ten-percent uptick is not going to matter much against a select few species of foe.

It boils down to the rest o🧜f what's on tap here, and thankfully, it's pretty good.

• Weaken reduces an enemy's ATK power. Eventually, you'll gain Weaken+, which fantastically applies to all enemies.
• Breath of the Dragon supplements this by lowering an enemy's ATK by a further ten percent the first time Ramcoh hits an enemy. This, too, is powered-up by Breath of the Dragon+, which increases effectiveness to 20 percent once learned.
• Royal Anger increases Ramcoh's strength by 25 percent. Remember, Ramcoh follows up on all of Careena's normal attacks. This adds up!
• Dragon Wings is a late unlock, but it allows Ramcoh's attacks to circumvent 30 percent of an enemy's DEF.

All told, then, Dragon Slayer's true strength rests in curbing an enemy party's offensive output while ramping up Careena's pal's own.

Divine Fist - Fire Fighter

Not too far apart, you'll gain the Earth Vessel's Warrior Monk and the Fire Vessel's Divine Fist. Both classes, ostensibly, have the same modus operandi: punch enemies into submission.

While we think Warrior Monk is pretty good, we prefer Divine Fist by a hair. Why? Well, Warrior Monk centers more on amping up defense, while Divine Fist amps up power. We'll typically take the latter.

• Strengthen raises the target's ATK. Good. Strengthen+ raises the entire party's ATK; very, very good.
• Phoenix fills the CS gauge by 20 percent after using a Class Strike. Helps get the show back on the road with another one. Soul Smite raises the CS gauge by two percent every five seconds, and Morale Boost adds four more percent with every enemy killed.
• Fighting Spirit makes those frequent Class Strikes all the more savvy by ignoring 40 percent of a foe's DEF when using a Class Strike.

Divine Fist, then, is clearly an incredible class for those who seek rapid deployment of Class Strikes. And, since C𒈔lass Strikes are excellent, why not?

Maverick - Dragon Fist? Divine Master?

First of all, points for style. Careena gets the whole goth getup with Maverick, a class that takes Dragon Slayer's enemy-weakening and combines it with Divine Fist's ally-strengthening to forge one heck of a class.

• Hermetic gives Careena a headstart with a 20 percent boost to damage for the first 30 seconds of a battle. Excellent for regular encounters, and a big initial advantage against Nemeses and bosses.
• Soul Stealer gives Careena 20 percent of her HP back for every enemy defeated. A great salve since Maverick's DEF and MDEF aren't the greatest.
• Enfeeble and Enfeeble+ reduce one enemy and all enemies' MGC ATK and MGC DEF when cast, respectively. Golden against hordes of magic-casting enemies.

Again, we want to emphasize, you may find other classes more suited to your play style. But for our money, the only reason not to use Maverick once it's unlocked is because you desperately need the Dark Vessel attached to someone else.

Best Party Compositions For Careena

Careena's predisposition toward weakening enemies and strengthening allies makes her a great pairing with equally offensively-oriented party members.

But she can also work well with Julei, who will benefit from taking less of a beating when enemies are Weakened or Enfeebled. And Divine Fist's CS-boosting means everyone benefits from that particular aspect, in any case.

Some of our favorite lineups include Enfeebling enemies in order to make Palamena's high MGC spellcasting even better, while similarly using Enfeeble and Weaken to reduce the damage taken for Morley, whose DEF isn't spectacular, but whose ATK and crits are amazing.

The party member who, perhaps, synergizes the least with the specific classes we prefer for Careena would be Val, who gains less from her stat alterations, as he's a tank capablꦜe of taking serious blows as-is.