Which partners are strongest in Echoes Of Aincrad?

While you'll be doing the bulk of the heavy fighting with your sword skills and optional weapons, Echoes of Aincrad lets you choose a partner for each time you venture out of a capital city, each with unique abilities and perks to enhance your battle strategies.

However, not all partners in Echoes of Aincrad are created equal, and depending on your playstyle and goals, you may need to switch quite often between missions. Keep everyone geared up and ready to accompany you as a partner in Echoes of Aincrad when you need them!

Wyzeman

Best for: Status ailments and early crowd control

It's early on in Echoes of Aincrad that you learn to use items to inflict status ailments on enemies, and while you'll eventually find weapons that deal stacks of ailments even when used in regular combat, the Wyzeman is a great way to experiment with status ailments early on.

He and his combination of a strong Mace and his own shield mean serious things when you bring him to the battlefield, easily inflicting the Dazed status on enemies to keep them confused and stunned at a potentially decisive moment. He can follow up inflicting the Dazed status with his Combo Skill, which deals more damage to any enemies suffering from it. He's a great crowd control partner if you keep his SP high!

Zash

Best for: Tank builds with high vitality

You're locked into choosing between Iori, Wyzeman and Argo for the first floor, but Zash is the first partner you unlock once you enter Urbano on the second floor, and he's well worth exploring with, especially if you've got your character built for Vitality, which is perfect for any tank player.

His Combo Skill costs you both a large chunk of your HP when you use it, but it deals impressive damage to all enemies around him, so Zash is a good one to use for crowd control as well. He gives a pretty impressive boost with Exhilaration, giving both of you a staggering boost to your attack stat that can easily end the most challenging boss fights.

Asuna

Best for: SP refill

Once you reach the second floor, Asuna can be the first of the Echoes of Aincrad partners you unlock through an involved series of side quests trying to help her join the party, and she's worth the effort to bring her along, as you'll see when she accompanies you on the three side quests you have to do to unlock her.

Her Combo Skill can be a little risky to use if you don't have a good way to top up your SP, but her support ability does just that for you, so bringing Asuna is a good way to make sure your character gets the most out of their powerful Sword Skills. Thankfully, Spirit Shot does more damage the more SP it consumes, so it's best to use when you're full anyway, as she'll be able to deal impressive damage to single enemies, like in boss fights.

Agile

Best for: Keeping enemies away from you in mob battles

You'll meet Agil early on in the story that takes place in the main quest on the second floor of Echoes of Aincrad, and after you unlock him as a partner by completing his series of side quests, he's one of the better partners in the game when it comes to overall crowd control on the battlefield.

Not only does Agil's Combo Skill deal an extra percentage of damage for each additional enemy he hits with it, but his Support Skill is one of the best ways to catch his breath in battle. Do you need to heal up, or will it be a moment before your best abilities have run down their cooldown timers? Have Agil use Taunt and watch the enemies flock to him and lead to the slaughter of his battleaxe.

Klein

Best for: late gamers and bosses

Another partner that comes fairly late into the game, Klein is an excellent partner in Echoes of Aincrad, especially if you play the game on one of the higher difficulty settings. Another character that requires you to complete some side quests before he will join you, Klein is a good choice to bring with you in boss fights.

Being able to go invincible for a few all-too-important moments during boss fights when your HP reaches a critical level can easily give you the edge you need to finish the fight strong, making Bolstering Bellow one of the better partner Support Skills in Echoes of Aincrad. It not only gives you time to attack, but perhaps more critically, to heal. Riot Fangs are a nice bonus and can deal a powerful finishing blow during this time, so give Klein a great sword and bring him into your late game fights.

Kirito

Best for: Overall DPS

If you're looking for a no-bells-and-whistles partner that offers great direct damage when you bring them into battle with you, series protagonist Kirito is your guy. He unlocks the second floor and will easily decimate many of the tougher battles you'll face up there.

Stream Edge, his Combo Skill, replenishes some SP, but we doubt you'll use it primarily for that purpose, as Kirito is a powerful DPS partner, especially in boss fights once you get him a good sword. The attacker also makes him invaluable to mobs, as he can easily one-shot the group for you if you've chipped away at their HP. It's great for exploration, but it's even better for the bosses who just won't stop calling for reinforcements.

Argo

Best for: Exploration and analysis

While we would definitely recommend placing it for the safe area of ​​each map section in Echoes of Aincrad to reveal the entire map, Argo is a great solution for the need to do this, being able to scan the area as you go to provide important information before you go.

She can find and outline tons of things, like enemies you can either target and fight to gain experience or carefully move around if you're low on HP, treasure chests waiting to be opened and looted for loot, and much more. You'll still want the map to find paths and other rewards or battles she doesn't cover (like Arks and their rewards, for example), but Argo is perfect for exploring new areas.

Iori

Best for: Consistent HP replenishment

She's the very first partner you get during the long prologue in Echoes of Aincrad, but Iori is an excellent partner throughout the game, and we found ourselves using her quite a bit, both for regular play and for Death Game Mode, where she's more than capable of keeping you healthy for the long haul.

Her Healing Circle ability is one of the more valuable partner skills in the game, and it's available to you almost as soon as you start playing, giving you consistent access to a potent green circle that she casts that will heal you for every second you stand in its glow. It's a good way to conserve potions and healing crystals between fights, but she can also throw it during battle, so you can lure enemies your way and heal yourself while you fight!