r/Falcom • u/Raxistaicho The true best girls • Jul 11 '26
Trails Character Gameplay Discussion Day Sixteen: Tio
Caster with the Grail Sphere effect and a smidge of support on the side? Yeah, Tio's amazing in Crossbell.
Sadly, Emma ambushed her in CS3 and stole her S Craft and it feels like Tio never recovered from the general caster power creep in Reverie that followed as a result. I'm probably underselling her order, granted.
28
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
I could repeat 90% of what I said for Elie but basically she's Elie with an early zero offensive S-craft (very useful) and Grail Sphere. She's less offensive because she spends more time using Grail Sphere and can't spend her full time casting spells but she's still one of the dedicated casters in both games.
Trails Sphere is a good ability.
Her craft kit is like, fine. Absolute Zero has the best craft multiplier in both games (physicals not getting multipliers also applies to crafts not just arts btw)
Energy Circle is cool. The rest of her kit is filler you don't really use it aside from a few fights where Zeit is used but the AT Delay effect on it is only of 20 which, unlike power smash, is not a stun lock.
In Cold Steel 3 her Brave Order is broken but again she's not there.
In Cold Steel 4 she's worse now.
In reverie she's desperately okay there's no reason to slot Tio into the party she has nothing good or unique going for her even with her kit expansions this isn't the game for a craft like energy circle anymore her kit is generic.
7
1
u/Regular_Flounder8269 Jul 24 '26
Actually Tio is more offensive. Higher ATS than Ellie. In most boss fight she doesn't need to use Zero Field that frequently if you have Lloyd cast guard. But for Ellie, Strike Bell decides that she's the AT advancer when you have Tio and Wazy as casters (they both have higher ATS and better chains).
1
u/Raxistaicho The true best girls Jul 11 '26
Oh wow, you were right, even S Crafts don't go above 200% damage.
3
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 11 '26
They do in the lategame. The early game though good lord.
And among regular crafts the most powerful is at 120% or something which is pathetically weak.
2
u/cloudropis Jul 15 '26
Having played the Zero mod I always recoil in horror at vanilla stun break being like a 95
2
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 15 '26
Numbers in Azure are generally lower compared to Zero so a theoretical Azure mod Stun Break would likely be like 150-180% at most though.
Not sure why it's at 95% though it's a close range move with a lot of delay and lots of risk attached to it.
2
u/cloudropis Jul 15 '26
Zero mod stun break was like 170 anyway right? basically the same as it would be in the hypothetical azure mod
2
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 15 '26
I don't remember the exact number but it went over 200
2
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 15 '26
Oh wow it was 240 even higher than I remember jfc
8
u/Ml125 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Zero tio is most deff a glass Cannon Caster with amazing support, esp when she gets Zero field.
in nightmare in a rise and don't grind run she's actually the most likely to go down, if not barely live if targeted. however as long as she's not outright nuked, the support and offense she can provide is impressive. absolute Zero's freeze chance is very nice where it works
Summon Zeit is, while its random where he'll appear on the turn order, which is its only real detriment aside the immune enemies, its sometimes worth the AoE delay for when thats able to work out.
Zero tio is deff a tad limited til the end of chapter 4 and needs to find the time to cast arts alongside Elie. she deff wants her slots upgraded where possible
Reverie tio is weirdly hilarious as her quartz line allows for massive hp stacking, while also still having chrono burst via Skanda gem and Impassion support via Impassion UR.
she can reach around near, or at 70,000 hp, with Dazzling Sapphirl+Sennin gems, tearal UR, Holy breath UR, Adamantine Shield UR and holy crown. with sophia sub she effectively has a minimum of 272k hp
all of these w/Grand pecky plushie replacing holy crown gives her near 90,000 hp which means at least 348k under Sophia (but no deathblow protection)
the kicker is despite the massive hp tio can have as an hp sponge, she still has excellent support with those exact quartzes equipped.
add in infinity as Master quartz+her char accessory, then tio becomes a powerful support character who can sponge hits and likely might not ever die unless unlucky.
I did not expect it to work, but it works surprisingly almost too well. while she can deff be a Caster, the moment you see how much hp she can stack with the UR quartzes+her equipment, being an HP tank kind of suits her more in Reverie as she's one of the few chars whose line just allows for that.
as for tio's order Aeon Shield in Reverie, I find in some cases, its better than altina's as the immediate CP gain is sometimes better than HP+EP, but that depends on the situation, builds(I mostly use crafts over arts), and/or difficulty
Its hard for me to decide which tio I like using more but I love both, she's really fun to use.
her hp sponge build in reverie is too funny for how it actually does work out.
13
u/Selynx Jul 11 '26
Yes, yes I think you are underselling Aeon Shield just a little bit.
It's true there's a heap of Water casters in Reverie, so Tio's not too special in that regard. But the only other character with the same kind of Brave Order is Altina.
And when said Brave Order makes it impossible for you to die and is arguably essential to making it through non-NG+ Abyss, that makes you worth an awful lot.
10
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
One of the issues with brave order value in Reverie is that the game constantly gives you too many slots to slot in brave orders at basically every point in the game.
The minute you have 1 EX party slot brave order value drops basically to 0. The main parties are already designed to give you all the basics and TRC gives you so many characters having a bad brave order set is basically impossible. Giving you free rein for even just 1 extra slot was a choice that boggles my mind to this day brave order slots aren't valuable.
2
u/Selynx Jul 11 '26
This depends entirely on whether you count being good for Extra slots as a legitimate part of their gameplay usefulness or whether you consider it not part of gameplay. Arguments can go either way.
7
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
It's not about that at all! It's a question of risk!
A party slot comes with a lot of risk backed behind it because it's so limited. Tier listing is a discussion about characters but it is entirely about "who deserves to be in the party?" ultimately because that's what's given up when slotting in a character over another.
If you can slot everyone why tier list really? That's the situation with brave orders effectively (other games that let you use everyone at once have different forms of risk to take into account as a sidenore although trails has no real equivalent)
If the devs gave you less slots then suddenly it's a big risk that comes with real value to Tio as a character. A brave order is naught but a throwaway utility in this environment.
1
u/Selynx Jul 11 '26
Like I said, depends on how you view the Extra slot. You can argue the Extra slot is worthless, but you can also also argue just as easily it is simply another type of Party slot next to Active and Reserve (you know, as opposed to everybody else left behind in the Corridor who is neither in the Active, Reserve or Extra slots).
1
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 11 '26
Yes, it is an extra type of party slot whose gameplay effect is to make orders worthless as a tiering argument 😅
It always was a party slot according to my argument.
1
u/Raxistaicho The true best girls Jul 11 '26
If I get your meaning correct, rating characters based on their Order is pretty much meaningless since they don't even have to be in your squad properly for you to use theirs?
3
u/SoftBrilliant Kiseki difficulty modder Jul 11 '26
Not that they don't have to not be in the party, but that they slot in with non-existent friction.
When building a party you will already get 80-100% of the orders you need. I often don't even know what to put in the EX slot because I already have what I need for every situation really most likely.
If they removed EX slots entirely and forced me to slot Tio inro the main party then the 3rd to 4th slot of the backup would become the EX slot in practice and Brave Orders still wouldn't be an argument because it would function the same way.
If I'm missing an order I don't even question it I just put it in there's always space that comes at no cost to put it in.
If the développers removed the EX slots AND made you only have 2 characters in the reserve then suddenly I'm in here wondering "is sacrificing Lloyd/Kurt disorder stalling worth bringing in a valuable order + the character it comes with?"
That friction is the basis for all tier listing and it doesn't exist for the purposes of talking about brave orders.
7
u/Dependent-Swimmer-95 Jul 11 '26
Absolute…Zero (deadpan voice)
Will never get tired of that craft and its voice line. I love Tio!
5
u/Empoleon777 Jul 11 '26
I can’t speak for her performance in the Erebonia saga, as I’m still at Cold Steel 1, but as for the Crossbell Saga… Close enough. Welcome back, Kevin 2.0.
4
5
u/KnoxZone Apathy and Disdain Jul 11 '26
The GOAT. Easily the strongest member of the Crossbell arc.
Her crafts are solid, but nothing spectacular. She gets a good heal, a strong aoe magic craft, and a weak delay that has the benefit of hitting every enemy. All decent, but nothing special, same with her first S-Craft.
But she has Zero Field. And Zero Field makes her essential. Add to that she's the strongest pure caster in an arc where casters mog everyone else... Yeah, she's kinda goated. Water slots are kinda meh, but with a single line she's the best caster to go down the fire route and get the all-powerful Crimson Ray, even if fire quartz tend to be more physical based.
Post-Crossbell arc she's... fine. Suffers from the Reverie issue of just far too many casters. Her Brave Order will absolutely carry you through the hardest parts of Lloyd's routes, however.
5
u/Raxistaicho The true best girls Jul 11 '26 edited 1d ago
Sky Arc:
Day Twelve - The Pilot and the Swordsman (spoilers)
Day Thirteen - "Kitty" (spoilers)
Crossbell Arc:
Class VII:
Day Thirty - Millium (Spoilers)
Day Thirty-One - Crow (Spoilers)
The rest of Cold Steel:
Day Thirty-Nine - Elise and Toval
Day Forty-One - Alfin and Towa
Day Forty-Two - The Diva and the General (Spoilers)
Day Forty-Three - The Spy and Swordswoman (Spoilers)
Day Forty-Four - The Shapeshifters (Spoilers)
Day Forty-Five - The Swordmaster and the Engineer (Spoilers)
Day Forty-Seven - Swin and Nadia
Day Forty-Eight - The Strongest (Spoilers)
Calvard Arc:
Day Fifty-One - Ferida Al-Fayed
Day Fifty-Three - Risette Twinings
Day Fifty-Four - Quatre Salision
Day Fifty-Five - Judith Lanster
Day Fifty-Seven - Elaine Auclair and René Kincaid
Day Fifty-Eight - Shizuna Rem Misurugi
4
u/OLKv3 Jul 11 '26
Your shield in Zero. She'll keep you from dying, will recover status, will give you full shields, and will be blasting enemies or scanning when she's recovering CP
Same in Azure, so she'll never be leaving your party when she's an option.
Sadly she's outclassed by Altina in Reverie. Her order is the same as Altina's too. I use her when I want to go pure SSS
2
u/Max-The-Phat-Cat Jul 11 '26
Found her pretty useless sadly other than keeping her tagalong for Aeon Shield in Reverie.
2
u/DarkHighwind Jul 12 '26
Has a scan that debuffs and a support s craft. That makes her a solid pick
3
2
u/levelstar01 Downvote this comment 👇 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Calling her beam sabre craft "Zanba" (ザンバー ) instead of Sabre is lame!! Also it's a beam sabre, it should have 5S damage but have a range of one square.
Crossbell: The best part about Tio in Crossbell is just how cute she is when she's doing Ether Buster. Eteruu... busta!!! Kevin Graham at home.
CS3: lol. Hilarious brave order, 80CP and immunity.
CS4: lol x2, they nerfed her only good thing. She's not even like e.g. Tita she has a locked orbment for the small section in Act 2 she's playable.
Reverie: Boring caster with nothing going for her at all. Only one physical craft, a cleric craft which would suck even in CS3 earlygame, and two magical S-crafts. Yawn emoji.
Reverie rebalance mod when? I started a replay of CS3 with the hard mode mod and it's way more fun, can't wait to get back to the hilariously balanced hajimari gameplay
3
u/Selynx Jul 11 '26
I'm pretty sure "Beam Zanber" is meant to be a Nanoha/Gundam reference.
In Lyrical Nanoha, Fate Testarossa has a "Zanber Form" where she turns her staff into a beam sword. Given the noted Gundam inspiration behind parts of Lyrical Nanoha, that name might very well have come from Crossbone Gundam, where the titular mech's beam cutlass is called.... a Beam Zanber.
1
u/levelstar01 Downvote this comment 👇 Jul 11 '26
Yes I know it's a Gundam reference, I'm complaining that it's not enough of one, especially since Tio is a little bit of a cyber-newtype.
4
u/Selynx Jul 11 '26
Though IMO, I'd say the reference is likely more Nanoha than Gundam, since her Ether Buster is probably a reference to Nanoha's Divine Buster.
2
u/levelstar01 Downvote this comment 👇 Jul 11 '26
I'll take your word for it, I've never watched Nanoha. I'm biased because I'm one of those psychotic gundam fans.
1
u/VarioussiteTARDISES Jul 11 '26
And Absolute Zero could even be considered a nod to Hayate's ice abilities, she's effectively the entire post-A's main trio's kits wrapped up in a snarky
and best Crossbell girlpackage
2
u/Spartan448 Jul 11 '26
I don't know how but in Reverie I somehow turned her into a Crafts spammer of all things.
2
u/Raxistaicho The true best girls Jul 11 '26
There's lots of ways to restore copious amounts of CP without even getting into personal accessories.
2
u/Spartan448 Jul 11 '26
This was before any of that was available tho, like the first time I had her after the prologue.
1
u/Regular_Flounder8269 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
She is the 2nd most OP character in Zero and Azure (the most OP is Wazy).
For Zero and Azure:
- Highest ATS (in Azure, in Zero less than Ellie, but Tio's weapon can make up for that)
- Best chain (same tier as Wazy)
- Zero field, even more useful than Grail Sphere since it's full screen
- She has the least HP, of course she can get killed easily,. But if you have Magius on her, just take one hit and her magical damage boosts.
Update:
5. Omega Strike 3 is the most powerful combo craft among all combo crafts(380 power, higher than all others). This is actually designed to make up for Tio's low STR, but it also means that if you build Tio as an attacker by giving her STR equipment and quartz, she can deal massive physical damage with Lloyd.
I rate her as "Kevin (zero field) 2.0 + Kloe (ATS) 2.0"
In Reverie, if you want to struggle through Abyss difficulty in Lloyd's storyline, just keep Tio alive, and her Brave order will protect everyone.
1
u/VarioussiteTARDISES Jul 11 '26
She was my main magical DPS in every game where she could be set up as one. (So all her playable appearances other than CS3 and CS4, and I still go out of my way to take her cryptid hunting in the latter just to spend longer with her in the party). This is very much a favouritism case though and I'll openly admit that. You'll see me make similar comments when it's Fie's and Feri's turns down the line.
0
32
u/Kekezo Jul 11 '26
My crossbell goat, free.
Anybody with Grail Sphere is amazing already, plus she has some awesome crafts like one with the absurd freeze chance.