Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is a mobile (iOS and Android) based RPG set in the world of Lapis. It features original characters, story, and locations while also featuring familiar elements such as heroes and villains from main-line Final Fantasy titles that can be summoned ("Visions") to battle, each with their own unique skillsets and talents. It is a mobage, meaning that to get characters you must gamble for them with in-game or real life currency. More on this later.


The Characters: Exvius features characters from across the Final Fantasy series as well as a suite of new, original characters. Each character comes with its own set of abilities, spells, traits, equipment affinities, and "Trust" gift (more on that later). Characters are rated between ☆ and ☆☆☆☆☆☆ (currently, only characters up to ☆☆☆☆☆ are available in Global). This ☆ level generally depicts a character's maximum level and general power compared to other characters (with some exceptions).


Evolution: Characters each have their own cap on what ☆ level they can reach, however a ☆☆☆ character that has the potential to reach ☆☆☆☆☆ (for example) can be upgraded to that point with no loss in stats or abilities. For example, Cecil can reach up to ☆☆☆☆☆ in Global, however you can draw him as low as ☆☆☆. Using the Evolution system, you can increase his ☆ rank all the way up to ☆☆☆☆☆ (and later, ☆☆☆☆☆☆) and he will have the same stats as if you had drawn him naturally at ☆☆☆☆☆. Characters gain different abilities, spells, and Trust gifts depending on their ☆ rank, generally getting better with the upgrade. The only time that you would ever want to keep a character at a lower level is if you want to min/max your Limit Break evolution. More on this below.


Trust System: Each character has a Trust level. Upon reaching 100% Trust with that character, you will unlock a special weapon, armor, accessory, ability, spell, or trait to use on any character in your team that meets the equip criteria. To increase trust, you either need to fuse identical characters (i.e., Cecil + Cecil) or get a 10% chance proc of +0.1% Trust at the end of a battle. The Trust process takes a very long time to complete, it is generally an endgame goal unless you get lucky draws. It is worth noting that accumulated Trust on each character being fused carries over, i.e. 25% Trust Cecil + 25% Trust Cecil = 55% Trust Cecil (25 + 25 + 5). There will be additional ways to gain Trust in the future.


Limit Breaks: Among each character's ability set is a unique Limit Break. These are normally quite straightforward, however what isn't mentioned very plainly in-game is that these "level up" along with their use. The level/potency of a Limit Break will increase at a 1:1 ratio with use, i.e. 1 use of that Limit Break = 1 Limit Break EXP, and the amount of EXP required to master the Limit Break is based on rarity. This means that a ☆☆☆ character will level their Limit Break up far faster than a ☆☆☆☆☆ character, so some players opt to leave their strongest Limit Break bearers at ☆☆☆ to maximize the Limit Break's level before Awakening them. (Usually, it goes ☆☆☆ = 100 uses, ☆☆☆☆ = 200 uses, ☆☆☆☆☆ = 300 uses, etc.)


Espers: There are currently four Espers available in Global: Siren, Ifrit, Golem, and Shiva. Espers serve as effectively another piece of equipment for your character in addition to another set of abilities. Your Espers can be leveled up and upgraded using Magicite. As they gain levels, you will be granted SP which can be spent on skill trees for your Espers. Skill trees grant that Esper higher stats and new abilities: these abilities and 1% of the Esper's stats being passed on to the character equipping it. Please note that there is currently no way to respec an Esper and you do not get enough SP to buy every node, so be careful when allocating your points. After an Esper reaches level cap for ☆ (Level 30), you can rechallenge the Esper in the dungeon that you originally recruited it. If you defeat the Esper in battle once again, you unlock its stronger ☆☆ form which grants 40 more levels (resets to 1 during the upgrade), each giving more SP on top of what you got during the first 30 ☆ levels in addition to an expanded upgrade grid with more abilities. It is always advised to unlock an Esper's "Killer" (i.e. Stone Killer, Beast Killer, etc.) abilities and then grab the best/most usseful abilities after that, getting whatever stat nodes are directly on the path to those abilities and ignoring the rest.


Vortex Dungeons: Every day you may unlock one Vortex for free (additional unlocks cost 100 Lapis, it is unwise to spend Lapis on these). The Vortex will remain open until the next daily reset and you may use it an unlimited number of times (as energy permits) during that span. Vortex dungeons offer unparalleled amounts of EXP (outside of certain events) and evolution/crafting materials and are well worth the energy investment if you need the things that they offer.


The Farplane: The Farplane houses unique and advanced challenges. Boss fights located here cost no energy to attempt, and victory generally entails a very sizeable reward. Defeating the White Dragon, for example, proffers the player a unique weapon: Murasame.


Events: Now that the game has launched, we will be seeing two types of events: Special Events and Story Events. Special Events entail things such as Cactuar Dunes (very high EXP payout via Cactuar units that drop from the event battles), Gil Snapper Caves (moderate Gil gain via the Gil Snappers that drop from event battles), Crystal Caverns (very high Magicite drop rates), Lands of Plenty (Low to mid tier crafting materials in droves), and Friend Point Summon Boosts (these come in the form of either a 5 times multiplier on Friend Points gained from bringing Friend List Companion Units to battle or bonus units being drawable from Friend Point summons such as EXP cactuars and Gil snappers; generally these two events happen simultaneously). Story Events involve a set of dungeons with unique rewards and usually come along with special Rare Unit Draw banners that introduce new characters in the theme of the event, i.e. a Final Fantasy Tactics event will add new Final Fantasy Tactics characters. Events are almost always worth doing, and they are always worth clearing at least once since completing all three tiers of any event rewards you with Lapis and occasionally other items or recipes.


Currently Available Characters: Currently the following characters are available to draw in Global: Cyan, Shadow, Shantotto, Vivi, Fran, Edgar, Rydia, Sabin, Kain, Maria, Penelo, Galuf, Krile, Exdeath, Cecil, Firion, Bartz, Cloud of Darkness, Kuja, Vaan, Zidane, Garland, Terra, Celes, Leo, Luna, Russell, Anzelm, Clyne, Bedile, Rakshasa, Roselia, Klein, Cerius, Duane, Xiao, Gilbert, and Miyuki. Generally, these are the ones you want to aim for as the best possible if you want to min/max:

Best: Vaan, Exdeath, Bartz, Cecil, Cloud of Darkness

Noteworthy: Firion, Garland, Terra, Roselia

Useful: Cyan, Miyuki, Edgar, Shantotto, Krile, Vivi

Here is a list of characters that will be receiving a ☆ cap boost in the future:

5☆ -> 6☆: Exdeath, Bartz, Cecil, Cloud of Darkness
4☆ -> 5☆: Krile, Kain, Rydia, Galuf