Talisman Soul Ascetic Luxury Sub-Guide by Sophie/Joan: Difference between revisions

= Introduction =

<page under construction>

This guide is merely what I do on my talisman SA and is not optimized (dm me on discord/In-game if you can improve upon it). I just tried to write it out, because I think other SA main guide writers are inactive (retirement/hiatus), while the guide/discussion demands from new players are as high as ever (as of 2/Sep/2025) and I saw many new faces playing SA within the last 1-2 months. Also I have to state that: there's not really a different playstyle or skill/stat allocation between Talisman of Blue Dragon Build ('''Single Target Talisman Build''') vs Talisman of White Tiger Build ('''Area Talisman Build'''), so you should definitely have both at the same time as your general to go build. The exception might be if you want to maximize Single Target Talisman Build on skills while also grabbing {{#skill:5432}}, which you will probably do in instances like HoL in situations where there is no other SA available. Between both builds, most of it is simply the matter of gear swapping (most significantly between the weapons), so I would advice you readers to familiarize yourself with gear swapping (even easier now that there's a custom skill created for that very purpose).

= Gears and Min-Max Technicalities =

The general aim of the min-maxing process (as of Date: 2/Sep/2025) is to equalize these damage modifiers while maximizing their overall multiplicative result. You should be aware of diminishing returns as you add up a single damage modifier. The contextual reason of the importance on this matter is because of the aforementioned '''DPS''' and '''One Hit''' (OH) Objectives, that we want each hit of our talisman skills damage to be as high as possible (the DPS for '''blue dragon''' and the single burst instance of skill for '''white tiger''').

* '''Ele%''': You will easily have around 300-500% or more. Main Sources: {{#item:27362}}-like MVP cards on garment, various equipments. Used to be less on previous meta (around 100-250% top), that is why additional damage boost from {{#item:27362}}-like MVP cards on garment felt bigger, because the 100% ele is of bigger ratio.

Recommended gears (as of Date: 29/Dec/2025):

**Couple it with {{#item:24988}}, {{#item:24987}}, {{#item:1270043}}, {{#item:1270044}} combo as needed (likely new BiS).

*Currently not-haves list: {{#item:300377}}.

=== Miscellaneous and Hot Tips (for SA in general) ===

=== Preparation Phase ===

Not going to be your typical leveling guide, because this approach will prioritize:

* Monotonous, but will be predictable. Important because this leveling is a not chill routine, but more like 30 minutes of triathlons  

* Not cost conscious, though time and stress speaking it is worth it if you plan to make more than, say, 10-15 characters of various jobs (just switch out the core item) each reaching lvl 250. I will explicitly say it here that basically you are investing in multiples of low level gears, which cumulatively in total may worth up to hundreds of millions zeny just to save time around 30 minutes to 2h per character creation and leveling up to lvl 250. Only do this when you're theoretically losing more potential value from that  farming hours loss.

** [[Equipment_Crafting#Pirate_Mayne_-_Pirate_Captain's_Coat,_Moan_of_Corruption,_Crown_of_Beelzebub,_Fish_Head_Hat|MVP equips]] (e.g. +9[C] or +11[C] PCC is nice, don't over invest for leveling item)/[[Good_and_Evil_Headgears|Good and Evil]] set starting at level 200/205.

** [[Varmundt_Equipment_Reform#Varmundt_Equipment_Reform|Varmundts]] pieces (e.g. +9[C] or +11[C] Death Rune Manteau is nice)/Glacier set starting at level 230.

Non-core Equipment and Secondary Skills (passives, buffs, debuffs) will not be specifically named on the phases below (this is not a newbie guide), you will just have to do the best with what you currently possess. Though result may vary if your non-core equipment are far too weaker compared to the original assumption.

=== Phase 1: lvl 1 to post-Rebirth lvl 100 ===

Core item:  

Estimated Time (Consumed On Battle Manual, re-gearing and resupplying time is not counted): 5-10 minutes

Steps:

=== Phase 2: lvl 100 Job 3 to lvl 200 ===

   

Core item:  

Favorite items (optional):

Primary Skill: {{#skill:5429}}

Estimated Time (Consumed On Battle Manual, re-gearing and resupplying time is not counted): 10-20 minutes

4. You are at maximum power at lvl 250 able to wield any equipment (e.g. your main character's best equipment). D1 or D2 runs would be great at this point provided you are in a good company. Otherwise solo is only recommended if you know what you are doing.

= Glossary=

*BiS: Best in Slot, refers to items/cards that are considered the best according to the ongoing meta. May be subject to change, that is why I put emphasize on dates whenever the term BiS is mentioned on that part.