Best Party?

[PaulLuigi]

I like these lineups. 

Crono/Robo/Ayla or Crono/Frog/Marle

Crono with Dreamseeker/MCrown/RPlate/Prism Specs
Robo with Apoc Arm/MCrown/RPlate/Dragon's Tear
Ayla with Fist/Angel's Tiara/RGown/Valor Crest
Marle with Venus Bow/Angel's Tiara/RGown/Golden Stud
Frog with Masamune(Complete)/MCrown/RPlate/Champ's Badge

1st party for sheer power, 2nd for control

For this party: Crono/Frog/Marle

Frog+Marle have double cure, which is really nice when you are fighting things that can disable status immunity and do a lot of damage.  There are only 2 abilities that restore status in the game (besides the item), but this tech does it for everyone and heals them fully.  Combine this with the fact that Marle and Crono can both bring dead characters back to life, and you've got an extremely survivable party.  I usually use this party on the first playthrough because it is so hard to take down, and Chrono+Frog still have good offence (esp. with haste from Marle).

For this party: Crono/Robo/Ayla

There's just one thing I've gotta change about the items--Robo should have a haste helm and nova armor instead.  He doesn't benefit at all from the master crown's damage+ because he either crits and does 9999 or doesn't crit and does pitiful damage.  Haste helm makes him attack twice as often, which means twice as many 9999 hits.  But of course you still need status immunity if you're going to lose the master's crown, which is why you go for the best status immune armor, which is Nova armor.  And by the time you've got all of these items, Robo's magic defence and stamina are **, so all you lose from dropping Regal Plate is just a tiny armor value.

Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist > Apocalypse Arm/Dragon Earring. PERIOD.

Crisis arm... so you have to heal every time you get hit, or do terrible damage?  That rapid fire fist better be pretty dang good to warrant this, I'll have to try it.  I also have to agree with the people that say the crit % for Ayla and Robo seems higher than 30%.  I've got them both level** strength** speed** etc. and they seem to crit about half the time.

Equip Robo and Lucca properly, and the Fire Tackle takes 9,999 as well.

Gotta try this one too.  9999 against who?  lavos core/pods are the standard in my book.

[V_Translanka]

Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist > Apocalypse Arm/Dragon Earring. PERIOD.

Crisis arm... so you have to heal every time you get hit, or do terrible damage?  That rapid fire fist better be pretty dang good to warrant this, I'll have to try it.

I think Shock would do more damage than that though...or, if you were going to go that route then you could just do Dragon Arm & Prism Specs to do more damage (consistently).

I also have to agree with the people that say the crit % for Ayla and Robo seems higher than 30%.  I've got them both level** strength** speed** etc. and they seem to crit about half the time.

I think by "the people" you mean Fireseal...That seemed to be the only other person who thought the laws of probability were bending for them...Perhaps your Ayla seems like she's getting more criticals because that's how you're used to her, but once she gets the Bronze Fist, her crit hit % goes down from a respectable 35% (which, with the Dragon Tear would be quite good) to 10%...

[Fireseal]

Aha, but the laws of probability WERE indeed bending for me, even after obtaining the Bronze Fist.   To not have Ayla in my party would've just been plain... retarded.

If you want a challenge even at lvl 99, pick Marle, Frog, and Magus. Frog's Masamune kind of fails after awhile, Water II does decent damage after having ** on magic stat and it's risky to have him on low HP for Frog Squash.  Marle, well... even at ** Ice II still sucks lol..  Magus, eh... *cries for saying this* ..sucks at lvl 99.

[The Black Wind]

Magus is a fucking beast in CTDS with his new ultimate equipment and a Gold Stud. I just wish there was something that would make him deal critical hits a lot more frequently in situations where magic is useless (i.e. Dream Devourer's second phase), because the Dreamreaper easily makes his attacks stronger than Crono's when dealing critical damage, even without any damage boosts.

[deviant_ambition]

Best party includes a red mage/jack-of-all-trades, a mage, and a tank.

Crono
Magus
Ayla (charm ftw)

[V_Translanka]

Crono's basically a Paladin...Robo is the real Jack-of-All-Trades.

[kingpingu30]

I am relatively new to the whole Chrono scene, so I do not know everything about everything yet.

My preferred team is usually Crono, Magus and Robo. But, Lucca and the Spellslinger weapon+ Prism Specs is actually quite awesome. And, theres Ayla...

[pyro_dragun]

As far as I don't want to admit it, Magus fails after awhile, heck Lucca outdamages him on physical attacks, you know you're pathetic when..? I didn't even bother grabbing him when I finally got to face the Dream Devourer.

I know, why did square make dark matter suck so much and give him some of the worst weapons in the game Magus is one of my favorite characters to use too.

I never use his physical attacks but when he has the gold stud he only needs to use spells.

The thing is, with endgame Magus, his spells suck compares to everyone else. Dark Matter is the worst ultimate, it only has a 15.5 multiplier. Take in comparison, Robo's shock is 16.5, Lucca's Flare is 17.25, and Crono has the best single cast spell in the game in Luminaire with a multiplier of 20.5. Plus at this point, speed doesn't matter since everyone will have been maxed out. Even ayla's tail spin (16.5) does more then magus' dark matter.

[ZaichikArky]

People like to argue about the best team all the time. I don't think there is such a thing as "best team" in the game, or any rpg for that matter. It's all a matter of preference. I like using Crono, Ayla, Marle the best probably, but that's just me because I found that this combination worked best against Lavos when I beat him over and over to get the endings in the DS version.

[V_Translanka]

It sorta depends on your definition of "best", but I usually see it as fastest way to take down Lavos, myself. So to me, using Marle is a waste of time.

[GenesisOne]

My approach to boss fights would be defense first.  If I can assure myself that I have best possible defense for my characters against a formidable boss, then my offensive power will follow more naturally than finding out during battle that I have sub par defense stats.

That being said, I believe the best armor for the men would most likely be:

OzziePants, Moon Armor, and Power Seal.

Or if you're playing the DS version, it would be:

Ozzie Pants, Saurian Leathers/Regal Plate/Shadowplume Robe (Magus only), and Power Seal.  

I believe the best armor for the women (either version) would most likely be:

OzziePants, Prism Dress, and Power Seal.

[kingpingu30]

Well, I reckon there will never be a time where max defense is needed, not even for ocean palace lavos, who I beat today using a haste helm/nova armour combo on the guys, and Angels tiara/elemental aegis on Lucca. Oh, and Ozzie Pants cause auto-confusion, so if you wanted to use them, you would need to use an accesory that stops confusion, because I heard that even armour that gives status immunity cant stop its auto-confuse.

[pyro_dragun]

My approach to boss fights would be defense first.  If I can assure myself that I have best possible defense for my characters against a formidable boss, then my offensive power will follow more naturally than finding out during battle that I have sub par defense stats.

That being said, I believe the best armor for the men would most likely be:

OzziePants, Moon Armor, and Power Seal.

Or if you're playing the DS version, it would be:

Ozzie Pants, Saurian Leathers/Regal Plate/Shadowplume Robe (Magus only), and Power Seal.  

I believe the best armor for the women (either version) would most likely be:

OzziePants, Prism Dress, and Power Seal.

No, sorry defense is not THAT important. Status protection is much more important for the final battles. Plus ozziepants have autoconfuse on them.

In the SNES/PS1 version, best gear is as follows:
Males: Haste Helm, Nova Armor, PrismSpecs
Females: PrismHelm, PrismDress, PrismSpecs

Weapons:
Crono - Rainbow; Marle - Valkyrie; Lucca - Wondershot; Ayla - Bronze Fist; Frog - Masamune; Robo - Crisis Arm; Magus - Doom Sickle

In the DS Version:
Males: Master's Crown; Regal Armor, Prism Specs
(All Males except secret character and Robo's alternate setup)

Females except Lucca: Angel's Tiara, Regal Gown, PrismSpecs
Lucca replace the Regal Gown with Elemental Aegis

Weapons: Crono - Dreamseeker; Marle - Venus Bow; Lucca - Spellslinger; Ayla - Bronze Fist; Frog - Masamune  ; Robo - Crisis or Apoc Arm*; Magus - Dreamreaper

Robo's Alternate Best Setup: Apoc Arm, Haste Helm, Nova Armor, Dragon's Tear (This setup is broken and way too abusable)
This damage does 9999 on critical but crap other wise, so imo it would be best to have autohaste on him so he can attack as frequently as possible, and dragon's tear to up the critical rate

On my first playthrough, no NG+ here's how all of my characters are set up:
I only have 2 prism specs, 1 dragon's tear, 2 master crowns, 1 regal gown, and 1 angel's tiara so I gear swap a lot depending on who I have in my party. I have 3 Prism Dresses and 6 Prism Helms though from doing the Black omen in the present, then 600 ad, then finally antiquity and charming them off of zeal. That nets 3 helms and 3 dresses, and for the rainbow shell reward, I chose to get 3 prism helms.

Crono - Dreamseeker, Master's Crown, Regal Armor, PrismSpecs (Magic is at 70ish, so I think I can do about 3k of damage with Luminaire to the new boss, 6k on normal monsters)
Marle - Venus Bow, Prism Helm, PrismDress, GoldStud (I don't really use her that much...)
Lucca - Spellslinger, Prism Helm/Angel's Tiara, Elemental Aegis, GoldStud/PrismSpecs
Ayla - Iron Fist, Angel's Tiara/Prism Helm, Regal Gown, Valor Crest/Prism Specs
Frog - Masamune, PrismHelm, Saurian Armor, Champion's Badge
Robo - Apoc Arm, Haste Helm, Nova Armor, Dragon's Tear
Magus - Dreamreaper, Master's Crown, Shadowplume Robe, Gold Stud/Dragon's Tear/PrismSpecs

Imo, PrismSpecs payoff more then dragon's tear on Magus, cause then you have higher damage overall overtime, and criticals hurt a hell of a lot more.

Robo is just broken with that setup. I don't use Regal Armor + Master Crown on him because doubling his crap damage still makes him do crap damage. His critical is the only thing you want from him with the apoc arm, so you absolutely NEED dragon's tear to make it worthwhile. Otherwise just use PrismSpecs + Crisis arm with the Mastercrown and regal armor. I try not to use robo too much though, cause he just makes the game too easy. He has the best single tech heal in the game (Heal Beam), can dish out the most damage with either the apoc arm OR crisis arm setup, and has both a good physical tech and spell.

The team I like to use for most battles is : Crono, Ayla, Magus. It's not even that great of a team since it doesn't have a good healer, but I like Magus a lot

The absolute best team in the game is: Crono, Ayla, Robo. If you lose with this team to ANY boss, you suck. If you have robo's apoc arm setup, you can probably beat the dream devourer without even healing once.

Worst team at deal damage is probably Frog, Magus, Marle. At least if you use Lucca, you can team up with Marle for Antipode Bomb III. This team has got nuthin, LOL



Although Magus is my favorite character, sadly he becomes much less useful overtime. No dual techs and dark matter is the weakest ultimate in the game. I wish Square would've given it a multiplier that could compete with Luminaire, cause then Magus would a lot more amazing. Hell, I'd even venture to say they they should've given dark matter a multiplier of 22, since magus is *Supposed* to be the strongest magician in the game. But my rantings about Magus' shortcomings won't change a thing. 

[GenesisOne]

Darn...

I seriously thought I had it all worked out.

Next time I play, I'm gonna take these strategies into consideration.

[Kirlia]

The party I used to clear the game had Lucca, Frog, and Ayla in it (all were around level 65). Frog had Heal and could use Slurp Kiss with Ayla if I needed extra healing. Lucca, before a New Game +, was one of my best magic users. I put the Golden Stud on her (and I almost always seemed to do decent damage with the Wondershot....I was lucky most of the time). Ayla was my favorite physical attacker; her Triple Kick was incredibly useful against magic-resistant enemies. By the time I used New Game +, I used the other characters a lot more, especially Robo.

Marle is probably the least useful character by the endgame, as she lacks a strong ultimate attack (and considering how powerful characters are when they're in the 90s, Arise doesn't need to be used much, if at all) AND a Single Tech move that can heal all allies (unless you use a Double Tech like Cure Whirl), but I still like her. Haste is useful until Haste Helms and Angel's Tiaras are obtained.

Robo is the best healer in the game. His Heal Beam heals my characters fully every time (even if everyone is at 1 hitpoint!). I almost always have Robo equipped with the Crisis Arm, but I had a Dragon's Tear and the Apocalypse Arm equipped when I beat the Dream Devourer.

Lucca is an awesome character; Spellslinger is a great weapon as long as you keep an eye on your MP. With me, she always has a Golden Stub equipped, so casting Flare twice will still mean that the Spellslinger deals 1200+ damage or so. She also has the Aegis, too.

Frog is another great character, but his Heal only restores 600-700+ HP to all allies at a maxed out magic stat (as opposed to Heal Beam's 900+ with Robo's magic stat maxed out).  Frog Squash was useful in the few times I used it.

Crono is a bad-ass. Luminaire is the best magic attack in the game. It usually does 5000+ damage (add or subtract 2000 depending on the enemy's magic resistance, though) at a high magic level. Thank you, Dimentional Vortex in 100 A.D. where I can repeatedly charm for Magic Capsules!

Ayla is also a bad-ass. Her Charm ability can get unlimited capsules (even in the original CT for the SNES, you could get unlimited Strength Capsules at the Black Omen) and Golden Studs. Yes, I love Golden Stubs. Ayla often has a Valor Crest equipped, though. She gets Criticals about 30-50% of the time.

Magus is (naturally) is a bad-ass. I use him a lot, partially to hear what he has to say in the side-quests (especially at the Lost Sanctum). Too bad that he has no Double Techs and only two Triple Techs to his name. If he had a few more Double and Triple Teches, he might've been the best character in the entire game (well, he is to some, I suppose, but it would have been way harder to dispute). Dark Matter is still a useful technique (but still weaker than the awesome Luminaire), and I like that he can use the other elements (Lightning II, Ice II, Fire II).

With my New Game + and everyone at Level 99/**, I use a party of Crono, Robo, and Magus, or a party of Lucca, Frog, and Ayla (Lucca for Magus, Frog for Robo, and Ayla for Crono). When I use Marle, she is usually with Frog/Robo and Crono. 

This is my first post, by the way. I've lurked here for a while, but I finally made an account. Yay.