⚠️ Spoiler warning ⚠️
Numerous story characters, classes, and mechanics all appear in this guide.
These may be more satisfying to discover naturally while exploring the game.

With 300+ class abilities and countless equipment items from which to choose, Eden's Last Sunrise can feel daunting to navigate on a new playthrough. Story missions on Normal difficulty are pretty straightforward and can be won with most any team, though it never hurts to playfully experiment and optimize our troops to prepare for what lies ahead. The optional Expert and Challenge modes will leave less room for low-impact or mismatched choices.

A few basic tips for the leveling process:

• a character's 1 Reaction and 4 Bonus abilities could potentially emerge from 5 different classes, some of which may be later unlocks (requiring skill rating 6+), so any "perfect" build will take some patience to implement.

• To spend Mastery efficiently, consider only the end picture. For example, if we're grabbing only the Agile Armor trait of a Steelmage, just skip over the active and innate abilities and move on.

• To spend craft materials efficiently, consider the higher-impact choices first., i.e. offense character's main weapon, then defense character's armor, then finally support character's gear, backup weapons, etc. The Ore and Mineral material is consistently the bottleneck, so pause before using them carelessly. That said, most items can be upgraded to at least +2 without dipping into serious funds or materials.

Below is the particular team that got me through all 8 Challenge missions smoothly.
Feel free to share yours as well~

Build advantages:
• Exposing Strike -> Fire Strike combo deals massive damage with this weapon (🔥Heat synergy).
• Potent healing, plus solid Cold and Energy spells as backup.
• Can spam the entire stock of consumables when necessary (Fast Swap + Pack a Lunch)

Damage types:
🔥Heat , ❄️Cold , ⚡Energy

Build advantages:
• Plasma Storm can often wipe entire groups outright (enhanced by Flame Pierce)
• Radiation Burst completes a four-element arsenal, and supports allies using physical damage.
• Gravity Shift helps to reach elevated positions with their associated advantages.

Damage types:
🔥Heat , ❄️Cold , ⚡Energy, 🤢Bio

Build advantages:
• Enhanced Nature can self-buff / self-heal before engaging, or when separated from allies.
• Nervous Breakdown is a situational finishing move against high-tension targets.
• Highly lethal unit overall -- can pursue and eliminate any target with a physical vulnerability.

Damage types:
🔨Impact , 🔪Slash

Build advantages:
• Emphasis on maximum mobility to reach and heal allies.
• Astral Ally can distract/absorb numerous enemy attacks.
• Ascetic attacks can Stun or Blind to help control enemies.

Damage types:
🔥Heat , ❄️Cold , ⚡Energy, 🤢Bio

Build advantages:
• Two overlapping Lure abilities to hold enemy attention.
• Can freely spend HP on Blood attacks while Swear an Oath is active.
• Handles elemental attackers well once Bravado + Adaptive Armor kick in.

Damage types:
🔪Slash

Build advantages:
• Can suppress all enemy reactions as needed.
• Tranquilize with this dart is very efficient in case of slash-resistant targets (🤢Bio synergy).
• Lashing Blade weapon offers exceptional vertical reach to apply Hidden Shiv.

Damage types:
🔪Slash , 🤢 Bio

Build advantages:
• Can leverage Aftershock tension gain into more and faster Constructs.
• Stardraw Effect causes First Strike to apply more frequently.
• Emphasizes elemental weapon match to compensate for modest combat skills.

Damage types:
🔥Heat , ⚡ Energy , 🤢 Bio

Build advantages:
• Extreme mobility to lock down any priority target.
• Subdued melee enemies will frequently miss frontal attack + trigger counter.
• All Bodyguard actions offer helpful tools when serving as defense.

Damage types:
🔨 Impact

Build advantages:
• Dark Gust (with no downside) plus Lie in Wait for safe mobility.
• True Shot leverages the high Throw skill well in case of Bio-resistant targets.
• Opportunistic melee kills can help economize the scarce ammunition.

Damage types:
🔪Slash , 🤢 Bio

Build advantages:
• Gathers Lured enemies together before blasting with Particle Storm or Black Hole.
• Specializes in defending against physical attacks (Condensing Armor + blind debuffs).
• May require SP assistance to help maintain Lure if enemies deal SP damage.

Damage types:
🔨Impact , ⚡Energy

Build advantages:
• Can serve as secondary defense -- Lure near weaker enemies for faster Tension.
• Kinetic Strike is an effective fallback against cold-resistant targets (applies Power Grip)
• Mana-Injected Emitter launches Glass Cannon using Magic skill.

Damage types:
🔨Impact , ❄️Cold

Build advantages:
• Infiltrate mobility stacks with Artillery Mode for optimal positioning.
• Handgun option to deal with single targets in cases where havoc is unwelcome.
• ⚡Energy synergy on Concussive Charge, can be restocked using tension.

Damage types:
🔥Heat , ❄️Cold , ⚡Energy

Build advantages:
• Dark Gust (with no downside) for self-haste.
• Fetid Blast is the primary attack from this weapon. Triggers Skilled Marksman.
• Can use Black Fog even after moving for easy Defense Breaks.

Damage types:
🤢Bio

Build advantages:
• Can use infinite-ammo(!) Melee-skill(!!) Intense Chill with this weapon before engaging.
• Suffer Quietly is always in effect once Throbbing Pain is learned.
• Cold Steel is a solid fallback in case of slash-resistant targets.

Damage types:
🔪Slash , ❄️Cold

Build advantages:
• Effectively uses all six damage types (Create Explosion for slashing).
• Ample SP to recast Knowledge's Power nearly every turn.
• Strongest assault is Exposing Strike -> Spirit Crush using the flask (no penalties).

Damage types:
🔨Impact , 🔪Slash , 🔥Heat , ❄️Cold , ⚡Energy , 🤢Bio

Build advantages:
• Subdue from long range(!) using this weapon to neutralize any melee enemy.
• Enhanced Nature can reimburse 2 AP at once (Skilled Marskman + Prized Specimen)
• Breaks down tougher foes by stacking evasion and defense debuffs together.

Damage types:
🔨Impact , ⚡Energy

Build advantages:
• Trivializes enemy cover by combining Curve Gravity -> Pin Down.
• Life Pierce + Long Barrel launches highly accurate AoE using this weapon.
• Exceptional evasion + blind debuffs can serve an effective distraction role.

Damage types:
🔨Impact , ⚡Energy