Cross-posting from Reddit, this is way longer than I had planned but I'm stuck with a cat on my lap so I just kept going, please disregard unless you're bored
Okay, with recent pulls I've gotten I'm trying to decide on a very general all-around a-team of sorts. Obviously I'll change things around for Ultimates, Nightmares, specific scenarios etc, but I like to have one of my party slots saved for an overall team that I can send in when I don't have a specific situation I need to worry about like exploiting specific weaknesses, mage-only teams etc. Up until recently my a-team was:
Lv 99 Lightning with r3 PC/FC using a Kaiser Shield with her SSB (Lightning Crush)
Lv 99 Beatrix with r3 Banishing Strike, r3 Saint's Cross using Apocalypse Shield (Holy+ with her BSB
Lv 99 Vaan with r4 Life Siphon, whatever and his BSB
Lv 99 Tyro with r2 Multi-Break, whatever and SG
Lv 99 Rosa with r3 Shellga or Proctega, r4 Curaja and her SSB (Medica + Magic Blink)
Now with some recent pulls I'm wondering if I should make any changes. I have both Walls but Tyro being able to use everything to hit Target Scores trumps Stoneskin IMO, especially since that ties up a SB bar that would prevent her from healing. I also have several Medicas, but no native Hastegas except for Kefka, Lenna and Echo, and all 3 of those are situational at best IMO.
My other notable contenders based on relics (I have everyone level capped MC3's permitting and all RM's available):
Lv 80 Minfilia - I just pulled her BSB AND SSB, and this is what prompted me to even post this. This one is kinda weird because she's going to be stuck at 80 for about 3 months, her SSB is ATK up AND Last Stand (my only one) but I'd still have to RW a Hastega so it doesn't replace Shout, and her BSB is good with the ATK/MAG debuffs but half overlaps with Vaan's BSB and otherwise is just a Holy BSB which I already have in both Beatrix and Ramza. So I'm really not sure how I feel about this one.
Lv 99 Ramza - Sadly no Shout for me, but I have his BSB (and Throw Stone) and he can use Full Break. Him using Full Break can sometimes alleviate Tyro's ability slots if I need both of his for something else (say Protectga and something to hit an unusual Target weakness), but he can't use Saint's/Gaia Cross for DPS like Beatrix/Gilgamesh can.
Lv 80 Basch - I have his Apocalypse Shield and was using him until I got Beatrix's BSB. AS is really good but typically in most fights by the time he gets the SB charge for it's a moot point one way or the other; nice to have but not a gamechanger IMO. This might change when we get his MC3 maybe?
Lv 99 Onion Knight - Sadly I didn't get his BSB but I do have his SSB. The other problem here though is I'm both behind on Mote dungeons and for some events I wasn't able to get the mote rewards so I don't have his record sphere maxed out.
Lv 99 Lenna - I just got her BSB and I also have her Flames of War SB (ATK/Hastega). FoW isn't as good as Shout and is also a bit of a waste per se on a healer but is an option, and her BSB isn't amazing but it's something albeit more attack oriented. So good, but maybe too situational? I also feel like Rosa's medica being a Curaga combined with Magic Blink overshadows it overall, magic blink is pretty great. I also have Vanille's SSB medica that also restores an ability use, but I think that also falls under the situational category and not for an overall a-team.
Lv 80 Gilgamesh - I'm not going to lie, until I went to do the FFV Ultimates this morning I legitimately forgot I had his BSB LOL. It's really good, but it's a bit situational in terms of the draw phys/magic attacks. It's good enough situationally depending on the fight that I'll pop a MC3 on him once his unlocks for us in global, and once that occurs I'm thinking that might give him the edge over Betrix maybe? Especially since they can both use Life Siphon, Saints Cross and Gaia's Cross which is mostly what I'm using Beatrix for right now anyway; Beatrix being able to use Shellga/Protectga has been useful in some battles, but not a dealbreaker usually and that gets into situations where I'd need to build a specific team anyway.
Lv 99 Terra - Terra is waifu status for me but only having Maduin's Horn I couldn't really justify using her on my main team since I don't have much in the way of mage stuff and usually run phys/Shout teams, but I pulled her en-fire SSB and OSB this OSBfest. So I'm wondering if her OSB is strong enough to justify RW'ing OK's BSB instead of Shout and using Wrath and popping her SSB then OSB. Like, would the physical attack loss for other party members from using OK's BSB versus Shout be more than made up for what she'd be doing with the 30% MAG bonus on her SSB then OSB? I also have Quistis, Ashe and Garnet's BSB's but I don't think those are as viable in a mixed party team as Terra would be just because of the OSB?
I think Vaan, Tyro and Rosa are more or less locks (Vaan's BSB is too good, Tyro for utility/SG), but my first two slots probably have some leeway. My initial gut reaction here at a glance is once we get Gilgamesh's MC3 I get him to 99 and swap him in for either Lightning or Beatrix, then once we get Minfilia's MC3 (assuming nothing changes in the meantime for me) I swap her out for the other one. Lightning is great and PC/FC is a great combination, but I'm wondering if the BSB entrance + follow-up actions on either Greg or Minfilia's would overall trump her, especially since Lightning Crush is good damage but only 5 hits and not for a lot more than FC hits for.
