I just had to do a build for Cloud and Sephiroth with this week being the 25th Anniversary of Final Fantasy VII this game and the remake were amazing, and these builds are something I would love to try out in a campaign soon.
Hmm, not quite how I would do Sephy, honestly... I'm imagining him more along the lines of: Race: Fallen Aasimar (y'know, because, thematically speaking, Sephiroth is a fallen angel... and also scary). Haunted One: Arcana and Investigation proficiency -- your connection to Jenova/your Aasimar ancestor has given you an instinctual grasp for the way the Lifestream/Weave flows, and you're going to need to make some research in the Shinra Manor basement. Str: 12 (you are more strong than you are weak) Dex: 14+1 (you are a skilled swordsman and pretty hard to hit as well) Con: 13 (you can take a hit, but you're honestly better off not taking it) Int: 15+2 (you've got that eldritch knowledge) Wis: 8 (you are completely out of your mind) Cha: 10 (you may be scary, but you're not a very good talker) Lv.1: Fighter Lv.1... Now, I know what you're thinking: Setting your spell progression back a level is going to hurt. Especially so at the start of your journey... but you're going to thank me for the Constitution proficiency allowing you to maintain that One-Winged Angel form later; nothing sucks worse than an actually balanced comeback mechanic when you're final boss material. Skill Proficiencies: Intimidation and Perception, you are scary and have almost inhuman senses. Weapon of Choice: Rapier... I know Sephy has a long sword, but the Rapier is actually longer than the Longsword, he is more well-known for his skill rather than his strength and then there was that time when he did some pretty heavy Piercing damage to someone... that said, Longsword is still a solid pick for a Sephiroth build: Just remember that you cannot two-hand it and bladesing at the same time. Fighting Style: Duelling, because the strongest cantrip in your arsenal is going to be your sword. Lv.2-10: Bladesinging Wizard Lv.9... Well, you didn't think I _wouldn't_ go down this lane, right? For the first ASI, put one point into Dex, getting it up to 16, and another into Int, putting it at 18; for the second one, go instead for the Metamagic Adept feat as well as the Extended Spell and Quickened Spell Metamagic Options. Lv.11: Fighter Lv.2... Do you know what we'll be able to do at this level? Quickened Spell: Steel Wind Strike > Booming Blade > Action Surge > Attack > Extra Attack Cantrip: Booming Blade. That is 5+1+1+1 melee attacks. Ergo, a legitimate Octaslash! And on the next level you're going to be able to upgrade that into Steel Wind Strike > Action Surge > Steel Wind Strike for a Decaslash if you feel like it. Lv.12-20: Bladesinging Wizard Lv.18... Invest your ASI as you see fit (Int and Dex are an obvious priority) aaand that caps us off. Cantrips: Light (cuz we Aasimar), Firebolt or Create Bonfire (we need to be able to torch Nibelheim down somehow), Green-Flame Blade or Booming Blade (or rather Singing Sword, as demonstrated in FF:AC Complete), Sword Burst, Mind Sliver, Toll the Dead. Lv.1: Shield, Cause Fear, Silvery Barbs, Silent Image, Magic Missile (colour 'em black and call 'em Shadow Flare). Lv.2: Shadow Blade, Misty Step, Tasha's Mind Whip, Mind Spike, Mirror Image (a hallucination or a Sephiroth Clone works well). Lv.3: Fireball (honestly closer to Firaga than Flare), Enemies Abound (better than Crown of Madness), Haste (Seph is quick af and it's another step towards the Octaslash), Bestow Curse (flavour it as another case of Sephiroth's oppressive fear), Counterspell (flavour it as a vision of the targeted caster getting impaled from above while they're trying to cast their spell), Melf's Minute Meteors -- some of these you can probably pick up from other people's spell books. Lv.4: Divination (ask Mother for help), Evard's Black Tentacles (Mother is giving you a helping limb), Wall of Fire (and now you can pull off the iconic scene, too), Phantasmal Killer (would be a great name for a symphonic metal band), Dimension Door. Lv.5: Steel Wind Strike (important for Octaslash), Negative Energy Flood (better Shadow Flare + turn victims into your Reunion people), Dominate Person/Geas (take an opportunity to put this on Cloud and command him to find the Black Materia for you). Lv.6: Disintegrate (now you can kill someone permanently), Eyebite. Lv.7: Tasha's Otherworldly Guise or Draconic Transformation (both of them better fits for Sephiroth than Tenser's Transformation tbh), Delayed Blast Fireball (now THIS is a proper Flare). Lv.8: Sunburst (why, oh, why do people keep forgetting about Sephiroth's signature Supernova attack). Lv.9: ...okay... hear me out... and don't judge me too hard before I'm done talking... and I am aware of the fact that that's a tall order what with the dip into Fighter I did there at the start... Foresight... go all-in on the Blademaster image. It's going to make the most out of your Extended Spell Metamagic Option as well... Yes, I know, Sephiroth is well-known for dropping a Meteor on the world. In a way you can say that Meteor Swarm actually really is your end goal here... but consider the amount of work Sephiroth put into obtaining that spell over the course of the game. It wasn't just handed to him... Well, uh, actually it kinda literally was, but, you know, he still spent a significant part of the game trying to get his hands on that spell. The point is: Find it yourself. Find the Temple of the Ancients. Kill whatever Lich you may find in there. Take his spell book before the place collapses in on itself. And _then_ learn Meteor Swarm. It was a little bit of a bumpy ride, sure, but now I've gotten us to where we wanted to go. (Incidentally, this is a pretty solid base build for a Red Mage, too.)
Sephiroth needs dominate monster... especially as some of the encounters with "Sephiroth" are actually just other creatures with Jenova cells, disguised as him.
For Omnislash the 5th level wizard/ranger spell "Steel Wind Strike" is also fitting. So doing something like Fighter 11 / Wizard 9 (bladesinger is a good choice here, but would need 13+ Intelligence and restrictive to light armor unless one doesn't care about the bladesong ability). I'm doing a build like this right now actually in a Wuxia campaign (the Steel Wind Strike spell was more of a Vergil - DMC - character in mind though, not Cloud) But still a fun thought.
If you watch Cloud fight in FF7R, he attacks very similarly to Dante in DMC. So comparing Cloud=Dante and Sephiroth=Vergil kind of works entirely too well...
Very solid builds, but my take on Cloud would have been to give him an Eldritch Knight build because of an arcane charge ability gained in the 15th level (which would fit him suddenly teleporting around and doing action surge as a form of Omnislash). But also spells and spell synergy with using magic would had suited the material use. I agreed completely with Sephiroth build and below is just a more detailed take on Cloud's; Stats: Str 15>16 (20 eventually, +2 ability increase, +1 slasher feat, +1 ability increase) Dex 14 Con 12 Int 13>14 (16 eventually) Wis 10 (eventually 12, +1 ability increase, +1 resilient) Cha 8 Feats; Great Weapon Master, Resilient (Wisdom), Slasher, Tough, and Warcaster A bit less Con in the start but it was meant to offset it with a tough feat taken, slasher combines well with great weapon master when crits happen to cripple foe's chance to hit as well. Albeit Int is not maxed, if you hit a foe with a melee attack they have a disadvantage vs your spells, meaning the spells are more likely to land even with an Int score of 16. Having a proficiency bonus to wisdom saves Cloud is mentally and physically tough. Overall spells wise; Sword Burst covers one ultimate as mentioned (taken at 10th level), and Omnislash is an arcane charge with action surge with multiple attacks basically. Two other cantrips are Frostbite (mimic Ice1 material) and Booming Blade or Lightning Lure (for Bolt1, I consider thunder dmg spells as lightning material related). But if want to optimize; could take truestrike (cause Eldricth Knight can cast truestrike and do melee swing in the same turn on 7th level and ensure great weapon mastery penalty is a less big deal in regards to hitting chances). Then spells over the course career; 1: Shield, Absorb Elements, Burning Hands (fire1 materia), Disguise Self (pass as lady, more joke pick but fits, optimization wise would pick Find Familiar, also Detect Magic can make lore sense) 2: Warding Wind (wind materia), Enhance Ability (soldiers supernatural fitness), Rime's Binding Ice (ice2 spell), Shatter (bolt2) 3: Intellect Fortress (anti-mind fuckery from Sephiroth), Haste (haste materia), Pulse Wave (to create a 'wave slash' attack) 4: Icestorm/Sickening Radiance/Storm Sphere/Vitriolic Sphere/Wall of Fire present tier 3 of any elemental materia, Gravity Sinkhole could be demi3 spell alternatively, but story reasons banishment can fit very well (just need to hit foe first and then banish while they have a disadvantage; could banish Sephiroth back to where he came from as he is no longer 'native' entity), the final spell can be anything but would suggest a summon like Spirit of Death or summon spell present the summoning materia. Stoneskin can be a solid defense spell pick. Overall I stuck to spells with saves cause attack roll ones would use Int besides melee attack spells (like booming blade or green flaming blade). Shield and Absord Elements create solid tough base to survive until get tough feat (and work even late-game sturdy nature). Burning Hands is a spell that you could trade later for a more impressive spell like a fireball if want to get some big AoE or lightning bolt. Besides this; mostly buff spells and imagine haste once it kicks online can turn Cloud crazy windwill of destruction as he can melee swing/cantrip cast, cast a spell/melee swing as bonus action, then hasted action be anything you want and top that with action surge which can be a number of melee attacks or a spell cast (like pulse wave). True, Int 20 could have +2 more save DC or chance hit with spells, but a disadvantage caused by the melee attack alone would balance it out on your favor still as EK. Warcaster helps keep concentration spells going and also allows cast spells while carrying hulk of steel + replaces opportunity attack with a spell (lightning lure or booming blade would either one be nasty combo to go).
I’ve let my players modify weapons mechanically (changing a longsword to a finesse weapon so long as they don’t have Sneak Attack). Combine that with Sephiroth’s Masamune being obviously unique and I think it fits.
imo Sephiroth is a Fallen Aasimar Soldier, Warlock/Paladin multiclass with a 'glaive' (for reach and slashing mechanics, but aesthetics a loooong ass Katana). His patron is a GOO (Jenova), his thralls are his clones and his mission is Vengeance against those blobs of ameoba called mortals who dared to stand against his mother. Meteor is cast from a magic item not himself.
Cloud's Sword Burst / Omnislash sounds like it would be underpowered. Also what about meteo slash? It's one of his more exotic as launches firey meteorites from sword (maybe consider swapping champion for eldritch knight?)
I definitely considered going that route, but then I feel like I would just go down the path of trying to recreate almost all the materia, and I didn't want to do that so I just focused on some of the more notable moves, especially the ones that showed up in smash
I know I am pretty late to this but are there any feats for Sephy that I missed? I didn't think so but just wanted to be on the safe side! Love the videos and the effort you put into these videos! Thank you for the effort and idea!
Oh man, I'm surprised no one has made a squall build with that sickass gunblade that he literally can't miss with(even when blinded in game by magic, Squall and Seifer both have maximum accuracy, meaning they'll literally never miss a melee attack) part of the system is that he steals magic from enemies, so maybe arcane trickster, and he has summons as well, so either use the various summon spells or items that turn into monsters ect...
The Final Fantasy franchise is my favorite & Terra Bradford is my favorite character from them all. I'd love to see your ideas on how to handle her trance ability.
I do plan to hammer through a lot more Final Fantasy characters, despite the fact that the videos haven't gotten as many views (probably just because I don't promote them properly), I love the FF series so much I will just inevitably make more of them anyway. I will see if there's some way I can pull off Terra though.
@@dndbuilds Thank you! I’ve always been drawn to support characters, and would love to see her build. She’s got the whole ancient race lineage to the planet, so I imagine it could be pretty ethereal.
I would stick him with medium armor, the shoulder guards and stuff we see him wear are pretty solid metal, so with that mixed in I would say medium armor for sure.
Apparently he did do a combo build video for them as well, but I'm not sure how he actually did the build... Apparently when I thought I was clever doing a combo video, but I was not nearly as clever as I thought I was lol
@@stanleyteriaca2184 That's definitely what happened but he definitely beat me to making it by a long shot, his channel has been around a lot longer than mine.
@@dndbuilds Humm... It is possible that you could do a Sailor Senshi series of builds without having Toei breathing on your neck. Then again, pigs can also fly...for a quick second before falling.
@@stanleyteriaca2184 I was actually pretty nervous about doing my Goku build as well as my Luffy build for that exact reason, but so far no major issues, keeping my fingers crossed
Avocado - 1 hp, randomly has either 16 AC or 8 AC depending on Ripeness. But it's impossible to tell whether or not it's ripe until an attack roll has been made on it.
You took champion and I will love you forever for that. I might have taken defense over GWF myself but this is good. *edit* ok, I meant defense at first level.
@@jonathanhaynes9914 I just try to go with what feels right for the character. Honestly I like the Defense Fighting Style more than GWF too, but I just wanted to make sure I emphasized the buster sword as much as possible.