List topic 2019: Light. Light never changes.

[superaielman]

Light:

Maya (DQ4)
Kamil (7th Saga)
Raijin (FF8)
Ox (BoF1)
Lufia (Lufia 1)
Rude (FF7)
Rei (Saga)
Rico (XG)
Jeff (EB)
Anri (SF1)
Ryudo (G2)
Adray (SO3)        
Jessica (Lunar:SSSC)
Tricia (SN)
Irenes (CC)
Setzer (FF6)

[DragonKnight Zero]

I have thoughts that I feel inclined to put down.  Even if my ranking doesn't count since I'm only rating 6 characters.  I'm rating based on overall usefulness in a variety of situations, not just 1 on 1 duels.

1. Jessica (Lunar1)
2. Ryudo (Grandia2)
3. Rude (FF7)
4. Setzer (FF6)
5. Raijin (FF8)
6. Rico (XG)

Jessica is top of this shortlist due to doing more than hit stuff.  She also has some status options in her weapons as well as some maces with itemcast spells to get around physical walls and counters.  Fear Litany is usually thrown out for duels but is a quirky tool.  Also packs 100% resurrection.

Rest of this group are just variants of hit stuff until it dies.  Ryudo has resource issues if he can't finish things quick but has the best MT damage out of the remainder.  His cancelling options put him at my #2 spot.  Rude 3 actually is decently good at punching things hard, better than the others below him who aren't particularly damaging.  Setzer isn't hurting things much (without an Offering anyways) but has some MT damage and Lagomorph can cure some status for teammates so he's more useful than the last two who are only ST beatsticks.  Rico hits harder per hit but low speed gimps him badly and Raijin gets status immunities that Rico lacks so Raijin places higher.

[Dhyerwolf]

Tiering the middle group was very difficult here and I feel like I could completely flip the order and still not feel that it's off.

1. Anri (SF1)- 98%! Ice magic that she can use 5 times, 80% HP, 66% PDur. Little above average speed on turn 1 for tie breaking speed. Durability is not bad enough to keep in her Light with that damage (maybe if she was slow). For all that she only technically out-inches average, she eats many of the slow, the damage anemic and the magically frail and considering it's Light, most duellers will be one of these.
2. Jessica (Lunar:SSSC)- Definitely not a Light! Above average speed + damage isn't completely anemic + durability is fine + a fair amount of full healing + auto regen. Beats average
3. Ryudo (G2)- 37.6% Phys Damage w/ 15% Delay Effect (Usable 6 Times). Basically 110% Speed. Shitty weapon status if he wants to attempt to healer bust. Beats average (with few qualifications!)
4. Irenes (CC)- 91% HP, 106% from physicals (so 43% Phys 2HKOs), OPB Full healing (does 14% PHys Damage at same time), Turn 1 is likely 43% Damage that inflicts 30% Slow, L1 tech is 29% Damage (and she can hit that a few more times with elements) (So can 3HKO if not using healing), Tad fast. Beats average. If she's 2HKOed, she can do 86% Damage before dying and if she doubles (she probably will after slowing down enemies 30%), that's more like 115% speed. This feels good enough to get her this high.
5. Adray (SO3)- 33% (Revised) Fatal Status, so low turn 2. Only wins off this and like nothing else though. Slightly slow off this strategy. 93% HP and -15% Evade. Does beat average (loses to 46% Damage though)

6. Maya (DQ4)- 59% Fire Magic, 103% Speed, 58% HP, likely around 51% PDUr. So in Light, she's normally not being OHKOed and will normally 2HKO more quickly, but elemental defense, Silence, or just being faster will generally beat her. Average doesn't beat her, but 105% speed does beat her.
7. Ox (BoF1)- ~110% Durability, around 2 shots of full healing, 48% Phys Damage and 78% Speed. Average beats him on turn 3, but he comes close himself on turn 2.
8. Tricia (SN)- 95% HP and speed, cuts magic 40%, 35% Phys Damage that can be used as a counter against short range (Although then she's doing somewhere between 25% to 50% less damage, so it kind of washes there), 50% damage boost against mages, 25% damage boost against healers, DAmage Triples turn 4 (or turn 3 with 2 counters), ATK/CRIT boost to get an extra counter in against attackers she normally wouldn't, 23% Evade, but about either 30% or 60% weak to most SR physicals to (75% or 60% Pdur). Crushes mages, loses to average short range fighters (on turn 2). There are legit Heavies that she beats, but that doesn't help her in Light.
9. Rei (Saga)- ~0.4 Durability, 105% Speed, Glass Shield. Not thinking about the concept of the turn 1 status her. Average magic beats her, but she beats average SR physicals. Loses to 106% speed physicals though.
10. Jeff (EB)- 75% HP, 82% Speed, 71.8% "Phys" Damage that checks enemy speed and evade. 1 SD above average cuts the damage by about 50%, but 1 SD below average increases damage by about 50%! (And that about where this caps out). Loses to average, but if they have 37% damage, he wins.


11. Rico (XG)- 119% HP, 38% Phys Damage that can be boosted 30%, 75% Speed, Cuts Physicals 33%, about 16% weak to magic. Average magic beats him, he beats average physicals (he's 5HKOed). That speed though
12. Setzer (FF6)- 30% ITD damage with wild variance for healer busting. Basically likely about dead average otherwise minus helping enemies with accuracy issues. Doesn't beat average (loses on turn 3 versus his turn 4 kill)
13. Lufia (Lufia 1)- 77% HP, 70% Silence, Average DAmage (Elemental) and hair below average speed. Average beats her on turn 2 and her being faster doesn't help (alternately, average losing a little damage doesn't help either).
14. Rude (FF 7)- Okay, so, 1. back row. 2. You use HP Plus. He consistently 5HKOs in every form!

[Tide]

1. Ryudo (G2) - I suspect its either him or Adray leading the top of list. Ryudo's okay in most statistical areas. His big problem (along with the rest of the G2 cast, not Elena or Millenia) is that all his damage comes from a very limited resources pool. Past that, he has really bad status hit odds. But the few rounds where he can sustain his damage is decent and he can opt for using lesser damage techs if needed. They also ignore evade too, although how much you want to respect that is another story.
2. Adray (SO3) - Has fatal status, MP damage and generally using a better damage type (magic). However, he's sluggish and doesn't really have much else in general. 
3. Setzer (FF6) - Eeeh I dunno. Trump exists as an option, and I never really see Fixed Dice Damage as bad damage as some, for all that it doesn't let him win quickly. But this is Light, where really bad duellers exist. I suspect Fixed Dice wins him more matches than not and his equip options IIRC weren't complete garbo. Could be wrong on that tho.
4. Irenes (CC) - No elements. But Irenes is at worst a CC scrub and she's not even the worst of those. Rest of what I can vote on are all vaguely worse.
5. Jeff (EB) - The problem for Jeff is that MBRs check speed and compared to in-game, a lot of the DL doesn't have complete crap for it. His damage ends up being pretty meh which just leaves him with his meh durability. In case it wasn't clear, Jeff is pretty "Meh" in Light.
6. Rico (XG) - Kind of approaching failure tier. Rico has a lot working against him: questionable accuracy, low speed, Tidus tier MDef...but at least he's physically durable so he'll scrape up some other poor Lights that don't hit his worse defenses.
7. Raijin (FF8) - FF8 scaling is nebulous but I tend to be harsher on bosses overall. Raijin's durability isn't that special, he's vulnerable to several debilitating statii (BLIND) and in order to get to his "good" damage, he has to either be at low HP or waste a turn casting Aura on himself.
8. Rude (FF7) - Uh yeah. Unlike cases that can see Raijin as being better, Rude's kinda SOL here. There's no reason not to run HP Pluses (perhaps even several), go back row for any mages in the team (or Yuffie/Barret/Vincent/Person with Long range materia), and his durability is kind of bad regardless of form. If you allow Midgar form, he can crit punch you for something relevant, but that's a completely optional fight (like Gelinka) and it doesn't happen often enough to really be of consideration.

[superaielman]

1. Ryudo- I think he's a light due to SP issues on top of being average across the board, but he's a good one.
2. Irenes- That shot of full healing goes a long way in light. CC is also good at busting healers as well, so she has a lot of options.
3. Adray- Would be higher except that freeze defense isn't totally unheard of.
4. Jessica- She's half average damage with  no chipping or alternate sources of damage. She slugs down the Aguro types easily but can't handle anyone with a limit or status ever. Good light but very spoilable.
5. Setzer- Kneejerk respect for fixed dice.
6. Ox- Healing and good offense is nice, the speed less so.
7. Kamil- 60% accuracy completely bones him both in game and DL. ID and healing are great, but that stat package outside of physical defense is ffs/10.
8. Rico- Painfully slow but at least durable and has a little damage.
9. Rei- Glass Shield goes a long way in light and she has status for those with bad magic defense.
10. Raijin- Can bust limit fighters and has good defense at least. Light is fighter heavy which helps him.
11. Tricia- Hates how many scrub swordsmen there are in light. She runs screaming from Kain level fighters and beats Heavy mages, as Dhyer noted. Oh well.
12. Maya- I'm inclined to be harsh on her; fire magic is very commonly resisted (as much as status at least in game) and any sort of fire defense makes her cry. She also tends to auto lose against anyone faster.
13. Anri- SF1r. Freeze 4 got nerfed for some insane reason and they still have the same durability woes. Ice is a common resistance to boot.
14. Lufia- I may well slap a level penalty on her; she rejoins the final fight with the same equipment/levels she left with. Even if I don't, those stats are awful and she can't use Zirco equipment.
15. Rude- The Turks outside Reno 1 are hopeless outside of low light.

[Cmdr_King]

1. Jessica (Lunar:SSSC)
2. Ryudo (G2)
3. Jeff (EB)
4. Irenes (CC)
5. Rude (FF7)
6. Adray (SO3)
7. Maya (DQ4)
8. Tricia (SN)
9. Rei (Saga)
10. Rico (XG)
11. Setzer (FF6)
12. Raijin (FF8)
13. Ox (BoF1)