Slot 2 'Lord of Knights Insignia': - Empower 'X' - Dampen 'X' (Depending on the element you defeat, Empower/Dampen Earth from Earth-weak) Slots 39 are blank and can only be filled with the other 7 'Lord of Knights Insignia' passives. You cannot inherit 2 of the same passive. Slots 10 & 11 are free and can be filled with any other non-unique. 3☆ & 4☆ Magicites have an extra Passive slot that can only be filled through Inheritance. 5☆ & 6☆ Magicites have 2 Passive slots. Feed a fodder Magicite to the base Magicite to transfer its. A page for describing YMMV: Final Fantasy Record Keeper. Anticlimax Boss: Reno at the end of Countdown to Destruction FFVII event. He pales in comparison to. FFRK Official Strategy Site Support This Customer Support only provides the support for FINAL FANTASY Record Keeper Official Strategy Site. If you have any questions about the game itself, please visit 'Support' page which is located inside the FINAL FANTASY Record Keeper game.

There is no such thing as a perfect deck. A perfect deck is the one that works for you and helps you clear the hardest content. At the end of the day, every player has different Soul Breaks, abilities and resources overall. The aim of this page is to give you insight and example decks so you can build your own. If you feel lost with the terms, check the Magicite Effects page out.

Offensively, what do I need to care about?

In terms of Ultra Moves:

1. Lower Elemental Resistance entries (Imperil) are the best at increasing your damage. In Magicite scenarios (where the bosses have 50% weaknesses), using this entry provides you with a 13% damage increase.
2. Increase Elemental Damage entries (Minor Buff Element) are an alternative to the previous ones. The main issue with these (leaving aside the fact that the buff is weaker and lasts less) is that their effectiveness is diminished by additivity by very common buffs like EnElement, Gear and Chain Field bonuses.

The only scenario where the second would be better than the first is if the boss has a full weakness or it is about to.

In terms of passives:

1. Empower Element. This passive is the most important of all (since it multiplies your damage by a considerably high amount). You want at least 2 of these in your deck (but 3 would be optimal).
2. Hand of Vigor. This one is a really close second. Even though having 3 would be great, as this passive is not inheritable, it might not be a good idea (unless you are so invested in the inheritance system that you can afford to bring three of these). Having 2 copies of Evrae in your deck, however, will do the job perfectly well.
3. Precise/Deadly Strikes. If you have a Crit Chance modifier, these two will be quite useful.
4. Attack/Magic/Mind Boons. These are always nice to have, specially if you are using 30% Stat Buffs instead of 50% ones. However, in the 4★ Magicite era, every Magicite with Empower Element has a Stat Boon attached to it, so you do not need to actively look for the effect.
5. Fast Act. Its effect is barely noticeable and the four above are way better options.

Hand of Vengeance and Damage Drive are as good as Hand of Vigor, but personally I do not like them since you have to give up something (HP in the case of Hand of Vengeance, Soul Break Generation for Damage Drive).

And defensively?

In terms of Ultra Moves:

1. Raise Elemental Resistance entries (Medium Resist Element) are the most effective at keeping you safe as long as you are not getting Imperil’d to death. If that is the case, the next one would be the most fit.
2. Reduce Elemental Damage entries (Medium Debuff Element).

In terms of passives:

1. Dampen Element. Since you will most likely have Elemental Resist on your accessories, having these is not needed. However, if you bring one of the Ultra Moves quoted above, you will most likely get one of these. If you want to have an extra layer of defense, having 2 is a good choice.
2. Blade/Spell Ward. This passive is not as good as the previous one, but since they are usually together, it is a good addition to the pack.
3. Defense/Resistance/Health Boon. If you bring your own defensive buffs (Wall + Protect/Shell), you will not be needing these ones too much.

So, how do I build a balanced deck?

You do not need to build a perfectly balanced deck for every type of content, you just have to make sure that it covers your actual needs. In my opinion, a generally balanced deck for Magicite content would be formed by 3 offensive Magicites and 2 defensive ones. The one to use as the Main Magicite would depend on you.

Offensive Magicite Decks

Once you have gotten a general idea of what is good to use, the following list of decks shows how far you can go offensively. However, there are some things to take into account:

• When it comes to saying how much Attack/Magic/Mind you would receive with the respective Attack/Magic/Mind boons, these calculations take into account level 99 Magicites with fully augmented stats. This means that 3* Magicites receive +59 extra stat points, while 4* Magicites receive +69 extra stat points. If you want to know more about stat inheritance, check Enlir’s guide out.
• In the Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive decks, the amount of Attack/Magic displayed is the one that belongs to Evrae (Hand of Vigor). If you choose Zombie Dragon (Damage Drive), the Attack bonus would be lower (since Zombie Dragon has a lower Attack stat than Evrae) but the Magic one would be higher (since Zombie Dragon has a higher Magic stat than Evrae).
• When Marilith is used outside of Fire decks, you can also use Catastrophe instead. Also, when Isgebind is used outside of Ice decks, you can also use Silver Dragon instead.

Fire Decks

Damage wise, Mom Bomb, Marilith and Bomb King are the Fire Magicites we have to consider. Mom Bomb is still key due to the Fire Imperil on entry, while the other two are great stat and element boosters.

Are you interested in the Inheritance system? Some extra slot suggestions:

• Mom Bomb: Level 15 Empower Fire (from a level 99 Marilith or Bomb King).

Since Mom Bomb is going to be our Main Magicite in every Fire deck (physical and magical), Empower Fire is the best passive we could inherit (so both metas get a bonus). By doing it, the Fire boost from the decks below would increase up to a 28% (extra 3%). If you are not going to be using both metas, inherit a passive of your choice.

• Marilith: Level 8 Precise/Deadly Strikes (from a level 99 Isgebind/Silver Dragon/Mimic Queen or Marilith/Catastrophe/Ixion).

Marilith/Catastrophe are magicites used in every elemental deck as Crit Damage boosters, so you have got a choice to make. You could either boost your Crit Damage buff even further (from 8% to 12%) or inherit a Crit Chance buff (8% as well). If you boost your Crit Damage buff for both copies, the Crit Damage buff from the decks below would increase up to a 15% (3% extra). If you give them the Crit Chance buffs, you would get an extra 12% (except for the Crit Chance Bonus deck, where it would increase up to a 15%).

• Bomb King: Level 15 Magic Boon/Level 8 Fast Act (from any level 80 4-star Magicite with Magic Boon or Sylph/Midgardsormr/Garuda).

If you have problems getting to the Magic softcap (or want to bring less Magic buffs), give Bomb King a level 15 Magic Boon. By doing it, the Magic boost from the Magical Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive deck would increase up to 233 (from 198). If you do the same with another Bomb King, the Magic boost would increase up to 250. It is not worth it to inherit that passive if you are going to bring Garuda. If you do not need as much Magic, you could get Fast Act.

PHYSICAL – CRIT CHANCE BONUS

• Bonuses: 25% Fire Boost, 29% Attack Boost (262 Attack), 12% Crit Damage, 12% Crit Chance.
• Other bonuses: 23% Ice/Wind Boost.

PHYSICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 25% Fire Boost, 29% Attack Boost (262 Attack), 12% Crit Damage, 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost.

MAGICAL – FAST ACT

• Bonuses: 25% Fire Boost, 29% Magic Boost (253 Magic), 12% Cast Time Reduction.
• Other bonuses: 23% Lightning Boost, 10% Attack Boost, 8% Health Boon.

MAGICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 25% Fire Boost, 23% Magic Boost (198 Magic), 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 23% Attack Boost, 8% Health Boon.

Ice Decks

Damage wise, Wendigo, Isgebind and Dullahan are the Ice Magicites we have to consider. Wendigo is still key due to the Ice Imperil on entry, while the other two are great stat and element boosters.

Are you interested in the Inheritance system? Some extra slot suggestions:

• Wendigo: Level 15 Empower Ice (from a level 99 Isgebind or Dullahan).

Since Wendigo is going to be our Main Magicite in every Ice deck (physical and magical), Empower Ice is the best passive we could inherit (so both metas get a bonus). By doing it, the Ice boost from the decks below would increase up to a 28% (extra 3%). If you are not going to be using both metas, inherit a passive of your choice.

• Isgebind: Level 8 Deadly/Precise Strikes (from a level 99 Marilith/Catastrophe/Ixion or Isgebind/Silver Dragon/Mimic Queen).

Isgebind/Silver Dragon are magicites used in every elemental deck as Crit Chance boosters, so you have got a choice to make. You could either boost your Crit Chance buff even further (from 8% to 12%) or inherit a Crit Damage buff (8% as well). If you boost your Crit Chance buff for both copies, the Crit Chance buff from the decks below would increase up to a 15% (3% extra). If you give them the Crit Damage buffs, you would get an extra 12% (except for the Crit Damage Bonus deck, where it would increase up to a 15%).

• Dullahan: Level 15 Magic Boon/Level 8 Fast Act (from any level 80 4-star Magicite with Magic Boon or Sylph/Midgardsormr/Garuda).

If you have problems getting to the Magic softcap (or want to bring less Magic buffs), give Dullahan a level 15 Magic Boon. By doing it, the Magic boost from the Magical Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive deck would increase up to 219 (from 203). If you do the same with another Dullahan, the Magic boost would increase up to 235. It is not worth it to inherit that passive if you are going to bring Garuda. If you do not need as much Magic, you could get Fast Act.

PHYSICAL – CRIT DAMAGE BONUS

• Bonuses: 25% Ice Boost, 29% Attack Boost (282 Attack), 12% Crit Chance, 12% Crit Damage.
• Other bonuses: 23% Fire/Earth Boost, 10% Magic Boost.

PHYSICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 25% Ice Boost, 29% Attack Boost (291 Attack), 12% Crit Chance, 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 10% Magic Boost.

MAGICAL – FAST ACT

• Bonuses: 25% Ice Boost, 29% Magic Boost (238 Magic), 12% Cast Time Reduction.
• Other bonuses: 23% Lightning Boost, 8% Magic Damage Reduction.

MAGICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 25% Ice Boost, 25% Magic Boost (203 Magic), 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 23% Attack Boost, 8% Magic Damage Reduction.

Wind Decks

Damage wise, Silver Dragon and Tiamat are the Wind Magicites we have to consider. As there is no Imperil Wind yet, Tiamat is the best option for damage dealing (Minor Wind Buff). The effect lasts less time and it is worse than an Imperil in most cases, but it is the best offensive Wind ultra we can take with us.

Are you interested in the Inheritance system? Some extra slot suggestions:

• Silver Dragon: Level 8 Deadly/Precise Strikes (from a level 99 Marilith/Catastrophe/Ixion or Isgebind/Silver Dragon/Mimic Queen).

Silver Dragon/Isgebind are magicites used in every elemental deck as Crit Chance boosters, so you have got a choice to make. You could either boost your Crit Chance buff even further (from 8% to 12%) or inherit a Crit Damage buff (8% as well). If you boost your Crit Chance buff for both copies, the Crit Chance buff from the decks below would increase up to a 15% (3% extra). If you give them the Crit Damage buffs, you would get an extra 12% (except for the Crit Damage Bonus deck, where it would increase up to a 15%).

• Tiamat: Level 15 Empower Wind (from a level 99 Silver Dragon or Tiamat).

Since Tiamat is going to be our Main Magicite in every Wind deck (physical and magical), Empower Wind is the best passive we could inherit (so both metas get a bonus). By doing it, the Wind boost from the decks below would increase up to a 29% (extra 2%). If you are not going to be using both metas, inherit a passive of your choice.

PHYSICAL – CRIT DAMAGE BONUS

• Bonuses: 27% Wind Boost, 29% Attack Boost (291 Attack), 12% Crit Chance, 12% Crit Damage.
• Other bonuses: 23% Fire/Earth Boost, 15% Magic Boost, 5% Physical Damage Reduction.

PHYSICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 27% Wind Boost, 29% Attack Boost (301 Attack), 12% Crit Chance, 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 15% Magic Boost, 5% Physical Damage Reduction.

MAGICAL – FAST ACT

• Bonuses: 27% Wind Boost, 30% Magic Boost (252 Magic), 12% Casting Time Reduction.
• Other bonuses: 23% Lightning Boost, 9% Physical Damage Reduction.

MAGICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 27% Wind Boost, 27% Magic Boost (223 Magic), 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 23% Attack Boost, 9% Physical Damage Reduction.

Earth Decks

Damage wise, Shell Dragon, Catastrophe (Catastr.) and Midgardsormr (Midgard.) are the Earth Magicites we have to consider. Shell Dragon is still key due to the Earth Imperil on entry, while the other two are great stat and element boosters.

Are you interested in the Inheritance system? Some extra slot suggestions:

• Shell Dragon: Level 15 Empower Earth (from a level 99 Catastrophe or Midgardsormr).

Since Shell Dragon is going to be our Main Magicite in every Earth deck (physical and magical), Empower Earth is the best passive we could inherit (so both metas get a bonus). By doing it, the Earth boost from the decks below would increase up to a 28% (extra 3%). If you are not going to be using both metas, inherit a passive of your choice.

• Catastrophe: Level 8 Precise/Deadly Strikes (from a level 99 Isgebind/Silver Dragon/Mimic Queen or Marilith/Catastrophe/Ixion).

Catastrophe/Marilith are magicites used in every elemental deck as Crit Damage boosters, so you have got a choice to make. You could either boost your Crit Damage buff even further (from 8% to 12%) or inherit a Crit Chance buff (8% as well). If you boost your Crit Damage buff for both copies, the Crit Damage buff from the decks below would increase up to a 15% (3% extra). If you give them the Crit Chance buffs, you would get an extra 12% (except for the Crit Chance Bonus deck, where it would increase up to a 15%).

• Midgardsormr: Level 15 Magic Boon (from any level 80 4-star Magicite with Magic Boon).

If you have problems getting to the Magic softcap (or want to bring less Magic buffs), give Midgardsormr a level 15 Magic Boon. By doing it, the Magic boost from the deck below would increase up to 210 (from 178). If you do the same with another Midgardsormr, the Magic boost would increase up to 225.

PHYSICAL – CRIT CHANCE BONUS

• Bonuses: 25% Earth Boost, 29% Attack Boost (282 Attack), 12% Crit Damage, 12% Crit Chance.
• Other bonuses: 23% Ice/Wind Boost, 10% Defense Boost.

PHYSICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 25% Earth Boost, 29% Attack Boost (282 Attack), 12% Crit Damage, 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 10% Defense Boost.

MAGICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 25% Earth Boost, 23% Magic Boost (178 Magic), 12% Cast Time Reduction, 15% Hand of Vigor.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 23% Attack Boost, 10% Defense Boost.

Lightning Decks

Damage wise, Hydra, Mimic Queen and Garuda are the Lightning Magicites we have to consider. Hydra is still key due to the Lightning Imperil on entry, while the other two are great stat and element boosters.

Are you interested in the Inheritance system? Some extra slot suggestions:

• Hydra: Level 15 Empower Lightning (from a level 99 Mimic Queen or Garuda).

Since Hydra is going to be our Main Magicite in every Lightning deck (physical and magical), Empower Lightning is the best passive we could inherit (so both metas get a bonus). By doing it, the Lightning boost from the decks below would increase up to a 27% (extra 4%). If you are not going to be using both metas, inherit a passive of your choice.

• Mimic Queen: Level 8 Deadly/Precise Strikes (from a level 99 Marilith/Catastrophe/Ixion or Isgebind/Silver Dragon/Mimic Queen).

Mimic Queen could be used in every elemental deck as a Crit Chance booster, so you have got a choice to make. You could either boost your Crit Chance buff even further (from 8% to 12%) or inherit a Crit Damage buff (8% as well). If you boost your Crit Chance buff for both copies, the Crit Chance buff from the decks below would increase up to a 15% (3% extra). If you give them the Crit Damage buffs, you would get an extra 12% (except for the Crit Damage Bonus deck, where it would increase up to a 15%).

• Garuda: Level 15 Magic Boon (from any level 80 4-star Magicite with Magic Boon).

If you have problems getting to the Magic softcap (or want to bring less Magic buffs), give Garuda a level 15 Magic Boon. By doing it, the Magic boost from the deck below would increase up to 220 (from 187). If you do the same with another Garuda, the Magic boost would increase up to 236.

PHYSICAL – CRIT DAMAGE BONUS

• Bonuses: 23% Lightning Boost, 29% Attack Boost (269 Attack), 12% Crit Chance, 12% Crit Damage.
• Other bonuses: 23% Fire/Earth Boost, 10% Resistance Boost, 6% Lightning Resistance.

PHYSICAL – HAND OF VIGOR

• Bonuses: 23% Lightning Boost, 29% Attack Boost (278 Attack), 12% Crit Chance, 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 10% Resistance Boost, 6% Lightning Resistance.

MAGICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 23% Lightning Boost, 23% Magic Boost (187 Magic), 12% Cast Time Reduction, 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 23% Attack Boost, 10% Resistance Boost, 6% Lightning Resistance.

Water Decks

Damage wise, Kraken and Octomammoth (Octomam.) are the Water Magicites we have to consider. Kraken is the only 4* Magicite with an Imperil on entry.

Are you interested in the Inheritance system? Some extra slot suggestions:

• Kraken: Level 15 Empower Water (from a level 99 Kraken or Octomammoth).

Since Kraken is going to be our Main Magicite in every Water deck (physical and magical), Empower Water is the best passive we could inherit (so both metas get a bonus). By doing it, the Water boost from the decks below would increase up to a 29% (extra 2%). If you are not going to be using both metas, inherit a passive of your choice. As for the other two copies, you could give them either Precise or Deadly Strikes.

• Octomammoth: Level 15 Magic Boon/Level 8 Fast Act (from any level 80 4-star Magicite with Magic Boon or Sylph/Midgardsormr/Garuda).

If you have problems getting to the Magic softcap (or want to bring less Magic buffs), give Octomammoth a level 15 Magic Boon. By doing it, the Magic boost from the Magical Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive deck would increase up to 225 (from 192). If you do the same with another Octomammoth, the Magic boost would increase up to 242. It is not worth it to inherit that passive if you are going to bring Garuda. If you do not need as much Magic, you could get Fast Act.

PHYSICAL – CRIT CHANCE BONUS

• Bonuses: 27% Water Boost, 30% Attack Boost (291 Attack), 12% Crit Chance.
• Other bonuses: 23% Ice/Wind Boost, 15% Magic Boost, 9% Physical Damage Reduction.

PHYSICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 27% Water Boost, 30% Attack Boost (291 Attack), 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 9% Physical Damage Reduction.

MAGICAL – FAST ACT

• Bonuses: 27% Water Boost, 29% Magic Boost (245 Magic), 15% Hand of Vigor.
• Other bonuses: 23% Lightning Boost, 27% Attack Boost, 8% Health Boost, 5% Physical Damage Reduction.

MAGICAL – HAND OF VIGOR/DAMAGE DRIVE

• Bonuses: 27% Water Boost, 23% Magic Boost (192 Magic), 15% Hand of Vigor/Damage Drive.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy/Dark Boost, 27% Attack Boost, 8% Health Boost, 5% Physical Damage Reduction.

Holy Decks

Damage wise, Evrae and Siren are the Holy Magicites we have to consider. As there is no Imperil Holy yet, Siren is the best option for damage dealing (Minor Holy Buff). The effect lasts less time and it is worse than an Imperil in most cases, but it is the best offensive Holy ultra we can take with us.

Also, as there is no Magic Boon in the Holy Magicites set, we will use Bomb King or Dullahan as Magic Boosters (as they are the highest Magic stat wielders out of the Magic Boon holders).

Are you interested in the Inheritance system? Some extra slot suggestions:

• Evrae: Your choice.

Evrae is used in every single element (and for both metas). His stats and passives make it more of a physical-inclined Magicite, so you could go with the Deadly or Precise Strikes passives. But it is totally up to you.

• Siren: Level 15 Magic Boon (from any level 80 4-star Magicite with Magic Boon).

It is in our best interest to give Siren Magic Boons. If you inherit three level 15 Magic Boons, you would have a 27% Magic and Mind boost, which works amazingly well for this element (mix of holy mages like Raines, Hope, Yuna and White Mages like Minwu, Arc or Rem). However, I will not take this into account and will use Bomb King/Dullahan as Magic Boosters.

PHYSICAL – CRIT CHANCE BONUS

• Bonuses: 27% Holy Boost, 29% Attack Boost (275 Attack), 12% Crit Chance.
• Other bonuses: 23% Ice/Wind Boost, 15% Mind Boost, 10% Healing Boon.

PHYSICAL – CRIT DAMAGE BONUS

• Bonuses: 27% Holy Boost, 29% Attack Boost (265 Attack), 15% Hand of Vigor, 12% Crit Damage.
• Other bonuses: 23% Fire/Earth Boost, 15% Mind Boost, 10% Healing Boon.

MAGICAL

• Bonuses: 27% Holy Boost, 23% Magic Boost (206 Magic), 15% Hand of Vigor.
• Other bonuses: 23% Fire/Ice Boost, 23% Attack Boost, 15% Mind Boost, 10% Healing Boon, 5% Health Boost/5% Magic Damage Reduction.

WHITE MAGE

• Bonuses: 30% Holy Boost, 27% Mind Boost (241 Mind), 15% Hand of Vigor.
• Other bonuses: 23% Attack Boost, 18% Healing Boon.

Dark Decks

Damage wise, Shadow Dragon and Phantom are the Dark Magicites we have to consider. Why do I use 3* Magicites instead of the 4* Empower Dark ones, you might ask. Dragon Zombie and Hades (the 4* Magicites with Empower Dark) have two passives that could be bad for your team. Dragon Zombie has Damage Drive, which lowers your SB gain by 25%; Hades has Healing Damper, which reduces your team’s healing capabilities. I will not impose those drawbacks on you, but you do you.

Also, as there is no Magic Boon in the Dark Magicites set, we will use Bomb King or Dullahan as Magic Boosters (as they are the highest Magic stat wielders out of the Magic Boon holders).

Are you interested in the Inheritance system? Some extra slot suggestions:

• Shadow Dragon: Level 15 Empower Dark (from a level 99 Zombie Dragon/Hades).

Shadow Dragon will be the Main Magicite in every deck (both physical and magical), so this one is a no brainer.

• Phantom: Level 15 Empower Dark (from a level 99 Zombie Dragon/Hades).

Inheriting one Empower Dark passive with each Magicite (one with Shadow Dragon and one with Phantom) will increase your Dark damage Boost from 15 to 25%. If you wanted to give one Empower Dark passive to the second Phantom as well, it would increase up to a 28% Dark Boost. However, I will not take this into account for the decks below.

PHYSICAL – CRIT CHANCE BONUS

• Bonuses: 15% Dark Boost, 27% Attack Boost (245 Attack), 12% Crit Chance.
• Other bonuses: 23% Ice/Wind Boost, 10% Defense Boost, 6% Dark Damage Reduction.

PHYSICAL – CRIT DAMAGE BONUS

• Bonuses: 15% Dark Boost, 27% Attack Boost (237 Attack), 12% Crit Damage.
• Other bonuses: 23% Fire/Earth Boost, 10% Defense Boost, 6% Dark Damage Reduction.

PHYSICAL – HAND OF VIGOR

• Bonuses: 15% Dark Boost, 27% Attack Boost (245 Attack), 15% Hand of Vigor.
• Other bonuses: 23% Holy Boost, 10% Defense Boost, 6% Dark Damage Reduction.

MAGICAL

• Bonuses: 15% Dark Boost, 23% Magic Boost (197 Magic).
• Other bonuses: 23% Fire/Ice Boost, 15% Attack Boost, 10% Defense Boost, 6% Dark Damage Reduction, 5% Health Boost/5% Magic Damage Reduction.

1. Magicite List
2. Explanation
3. Empower and Dampen Magicites
4. Defensive Magicites
5. Offensive Magicites
6. Examples

Magicite List

HIGH Priority
MEDIUM Priority
LOW Priority

Empowers

Behemoth King: Empower Lightning x3, Precise Strikes
Geosgaeno: Empower Water x3, Blade Ward
Belias: Empower Fire x3, Deadly Strikes
Manticore: Empower Ice x3, Precise Strikes
Typhon: Empower Wind x3, Attack Boon
Adamantoise: Empower Earth x3, Defense Boon
Ark: Empower Dark x3, Mind Boon

Dampens

Quetzalcoatl: Dampen Water x2, Health Boon, Fast Act
Famfrit: Dampen Fire x2, Health Boon, Spell Ward
Mateus: Dampen Wind x2, Health Boon, Blade Ward
Syldra: Dampen Earth x2, Health Boon, Magic Boon
Hectatoncheir: Dampen Lightning x2, Health Boon, Resistance Boon
Deathgaze: Dampen Holy x2, Health Boon, Hand of Vengeance

Defensive

Phoenix: Dampen Ice, Health Boon, Blade Ward x2
Phoenix: Dampen Ice, Health Boon, Spell Ward x2
Phoenix: Dampen Ice, Health Boon, Blade Ward, Spell Ward
Phoenix: Dampen Ice, Health Boon, Blade Ward, Defense Boon
Phoenix: Dampen Ice, Health Boon, Spell Ward, Resistance Boon

Offensive

Madeen: Empower Holy, Surging Power, Attack Boon x2
Madeen: Empower Holy, Surging Power, Magic Boon x2
Madeen: Empower Holy, Surging Power, Fast Act, Precise Strikes
Madeen: Empower Holy, Surging Power, Fast Act, Healing Boon
Madeen: Empower Holy, Surging Power, Spell Ward, Blade Ward
Madeen: Empower Holy, Surging Power, Deadly Strikes x2
Madeen: Empower Holy, Surging Power, Mind Boon x2 (Higher priority if Holy mage team is all White Mages)

Ffrk Inheritance Slot Rules

Astra

Lakshmi: Dampen Dark, Healing Boon, Health Boon, Blade Ward
Lakshmi: Dampen Dark, Healing Boon, Health Boon, Spell Ward

Explanation

Magicite decks aren’t as complicated as they pretend to be. The whole process of assembling them seems really intimidating but it’s really just a matter of having the right passives for the job, and with how little those jobs vary in FFRK it narrows down the amount of magicites you need to keep around to make sure you’re well equipped.

The only magicite that truly matters in a deck is the Main, since their active use abilities can vary wildly in how they affect a fight. Beyond that, your deck is merely a collection of passives. Yeah, different magicites have different stats but that doesn’t end up mattering enough due to you being forced to use specific magicites for certain tasks.

So when I put together a deck for a team, what I’m really thinking is “What Empowers/Dampens/Wards/Boons do I need?” and then just take the five magicites that I’ve got that best fulfill those conditions. This is why there are so many ways to go about this and you’ve likely come across other such guides, who are probably all “right” and “correct” as I believe my way is, because theirs are just a different way to assemble a collection of passives. It’s also why 4star magicites, with the same four passive slots, work almost as well or sometimes just as well as 5star in decks and people shouldn’t be discouraged from using them if that’s the best they’ve got.

So what passives do I want when making a team? Usually it’s clear cut and simple, like when fighting magicites. Some torment fights can make you think a little on what you can afford to miss out on. Here’s a list of what I’ll typically want:
Empowers of the element most in need
Dampens of the element most in need
Two Health Boons
At least one Surging Power, preferably two
Two Attack or Magic Boons depending on team type
Balanced use of Blade Wards(Max 2)/Spell Wards(Max 2) and Defense Boons(Max 1)/Resistance Boons(Max 1) against the boss’s strengths

I’ll go into a couple examples of how I’d use these guidelines to put a team together.

Example of Use

The base team that I’ll use for the most typical of situations(single damage type team, single element boss) is set in stone:
Empower Magicite
Dampen Magicite
Defensive Magicite
Two Offensive Magicites

5* Water Magicite Famfrit

For a more specific example, out of my magicites above, let’s compile a team to face what is widely considered to be the easiest 5star magicite, Famfrit.

What passives do I want? I’m going to be using a physical lightning team, so that gets two magicites out of the way immediately:
Behemoth King, with Empower Lightning, Precise Strikes, and Two Inherited Empower Lightnings
Madeen, with Empower Holy, Surging Power, and Two Inherited Attack Boons

We know Famfrit uses water damage, so that picks another spot for me:
Quetzalcoatl, with Dampen Water, Fast Act, Inherited Dampen Water, and Inherited Health Boon

That’s the base three that get taken care of pretty easily in many fights. The remaining two slots is where the customization happens.

Looking at Famfrit’s AI Script, I see a clear and obvious leaning toward Piercing Magic Damage. This makes choosing my defensive magicite easy:
Phoenix, with Dampen Ice, Health Boon, and Two Inherited Spell Wards

Spell Wards reduce all magical damage as well as gravity damage(which Famfrit also has from Graviga), while Resistance Boons are strong but only reduce the damage from Non-Piercing attacks. This makes the double Spell Ward defensive magicite the clear choice.

Lastly, since defenses have been taken care of we can use a second Madeen. Having Fast Act from Quetzalcoatl makes this a fairly easy call. Two more Fast Acts on top of that would be a terrible idea due to diminishing returns in passives, so we have a choice between Fast Act+Precise Strikes and Deadly Strikes+Deadly Strikes. Because of how undesirable spiky damage is thanks to damage caps, I dislike forcing Deadly Strikes onto a team that has less than an 80% chance to crit. Even with Onion Knight pUSB and the Precise Strikes on Behemoth King that only brings the team to 60%. The value of Deadly Strikes on this team would not be very high in that scenario, so the most common physical Madeen(besides Attack Boons) is the best choice here:
Madeen, with Empower Holy, Surging Power, Inherited Fast Act, and Inherited Precise Strikes

Five magicites chosen. Let’s see how the passives align with what I outlined above as my ideal:
3x Empower Lightnings
2x Dampen Waters
2x Attack Boons
2x Fast Acts
2x Precise Strikes
2x Health Boons
2x Spell Wards
2x Surging Powers
3x Dead Passives(Dampen Ice, 2x Empower Holy)

After the three expected dead passives, that’s the perfect team. The Famfrit fight benefits from having the two forced passives, Fast Act and Precise Strikes, being very valuable for the fight. For example, the other water magicite, Geosgaeno, is also forced to bring along Behemoth King, but the Precise Strikes on that magicite is useless for a magical team. The stars just happen to align for poor old Famfrit, the 5star punching bag.

Magicite fights are, by and large, simple and easy to build for. So for the second example let’s try something with more flair.

FFIII Torment Ahriman

That’s more fun. Also more advanced so you may want to skip this section for fear of being overwhelmed before you get a hang of using magicites. You’ve been warned.

Because of the variance in damage types and elements on our torment teams, I won’t be able to be as specific as I was for Famfrit, who I’d obviously be assaulting with a physical lightning team. So to start, I’m going to focus on the most constant between players which is defending against Ahriman’s damage. Working on a variable team like this means it’s probably better to decide which passives I want before choosing the magicites to represent them.

Looking at the AI, I see… A whole lot of Non-Piercing magic damage! Which is pretty fortunate, because it would be hard to defend against specific elements here given how many of them there are(6 in all. Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Wind, Dark). Being mostly non-piercing means two passives will blanket reduce all of the damage. Spell Ward and Resistance Boon. So I’m gonna ask for two Spell Wards and a Resistance Boon from my team to help deal with this.

With primary defenses taken care of, I’m going to switch to offense for a second and hope we have enough room afterward to sneak a dampen or two onto the team for the most problematic of Ahriman’s elements.

When I did this fight, I used Luneth, Cloud of Darkness, Arc, Onion Knight, and Aria. Offensively, this is a mess. ATK, MAG, and MND are all used and there’s no elemental consistency. Thankfully, Onion Knight is extremely flexible so I aligned his element with Luneth(since OK’s Holy and Dark are pitiful if I were to match him with CoD or Arc). This gave me a physical Wind character, a magical Wind character, a magical Dark character, and a magical Holy character. This lines up well! Having two Wind characters makes me inclined to bring Typhon along for the ride, who serves many purposes here. In my opinion, Ahriman’s most dangerous element is Earth, so not only is Typhon providing Empower Winds for my two wind characters and give an Attack Boon to Luneth, but he also makes for a strong choice for Main Magicite since he reduces the boss’s earth damage once activated. I’m sold.

With some offense and defense established, let’s inject what passives I’ve decided I want and see where that leaves us:
Typhon, with Empower Wind, Attack Boon, and two Inherited Empower Winds
Phoenix, Dampen Ice, Health Boon, Inherited Spell Ward, and Inherited Resistance Boon

That piercing dark attack that nails the third slot is scary. I use Cloud of Darkness to mitigate it with EnDark, but it still hurts. With the way I’ve built them, Lakshmi makes a great addition to any team anyway, so benefitting from all four passives makes this a strong inclusion:
Lakshmi, Dampen Dark, Healing Boon, Inherited Health Boon, and Inherited Spell Ward

Having such a varied team means it’s best to go with the generic/magical Madeen for everyone’s benefit, who also helps out Arc’s damage with an Empower:
Madeen, Empower Holy, Surging Power, and two Inherited Fast Acts

So, despite having such a messy team, I’ve managed to Empower 3/4 of the damage dealers, Dampen the two most dangerous elements, have two Health Boons, two Spell Wards, and a Resistance Boon. Finally, I somehow have one magicite slot left after all of that. So what to do? Places I could bolster would be: One more Surging Power, Dampen Wind for that powerful piercing Wind attack at the start of the fourth phase, and Magic Boons to assist my two mages. Given that I can slay two of those with a single magicite makes it a fairly easy call of the Magic Boon Madeen, especially since I already have two Health Boons and Mateus’s Blade Ward helps not a lick in this fight:
Madeen, Empower Holy, Surging Power, and two Inherited Magic Boons

I sacrificed many letters to it, but once you look at the process and understand why the decisions were made, most decks fill themselves.

Typhon, to Empower Luneth and OK while reducing the boss’s Earth damage
Phoenix, to defend against magic damage, add a Health Boon, and even get benefit out of its Dampen Ice
Lakshmi, to defend against Dark damage while adding the second Spell Ward and the always welcome Healing Boon
Madeen, with two Fast Acts to speed up our Hybrid team
Madeen, with a second Surging Power and two Magic Boons to help the two black mages in much the same way that Typhon helped the two Wind characters

Frequently Asked Questions

Why three empowers? And on the same magicite?
It’s true, the drop-off in effectiveness on your third empower is quite large, but a third Empower Lvl15 is still worth an extra 4% of elemental damage, which is about as high as other passives as well as being equally as good for physical and magical teams, regardless of the situation or other magicite it’s paired up with. I can’t say the same for any of the other passive options.

I purposefully stack all three Empowers on a single magicite for the sake of keeping them modular. Magicites aren’t the only fights we use these things in, which means we can encounter fights where we deal and/or take damage of more than one element. Spreading out my Empowers(or Dampens) over multiple magicites makes me weaker when I have more than one thing to cover.

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Why all the Phoenixes?
I originally settled on using Deathgaze as my “wild card” magicite because I felt their Hand of Vengeance was the most offensively focused thing I could use after Madeen’s Surging Power. After some thought I decided there wasn’t a single team I would not want two Health Boons on and including a Phoenix on every team just makes inheriting other passives easier. Given how it works, Hand of Vengeance doesn’t do enough for me anyway, so using Phoenix as a defensive flex just made more sense.

Why two Madeens per deck instead of one?
It’s true that a second Evrae doesn’t help much and being stuck with Empower Holy and a weak Surging Power makes it a lesser option, but that’s only if you look at them from the very end game of 4* magicites where you’ve got a perfect team for everything, which I never reached. I purposefully never reached it because The Global Advantage told me that I’d be wasting a whole lot of Arcana for nothing since those 4* would be superseded by 5* anyway. So I built my 4* decks around using four Evraes that I rotated across every team that I made, saving a ton of Arcana for when 5* eventually launched as the number of leveled magicite my decks required dropped considerably for only a slight loss of strength.

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Madeen is a super-powered version of Evrae, with a 23% Surging Power to Evrae’s 15% after inclusion of two in a deck. Add in that Madeens don’t waste inherit slots with Attack Boons like Evraes do, so I can better custom tailor each Madeen for the team I’m fielding. Less Arcana spent on these two magicite slots means I can spend more souping up the other magicites.

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And the rest? These teams will take a long time to assemble, even with so much overlap in Madeens and Phoenixes.
This is something that’ll be more personal depending on how your 4* experience was, if it existed at all. If you already have a decent spread of leveled 4* magicite like me, it becomes easy to get started on every team. Empowers and Dampens are the same strength from 4* to 5* so all of those passives can be inherited to the new breed. That’s almost all of the work done right there. It’s also worth noting that you can inherit more than one passive from one magicite to a 5*. This makes it easier to fill up those slots.