Summary
The brave Ys series is beginning to hook more players with each marvelously polished title.Ys X: Nordicstakes you straight into another one of Adol’s journals. After becoming bound to the Norman Princess, Karja, they both must work together to defeat the immortal creatures known as the Griegr and free Obelia Gulf from their torment.
You have access to many skills throughout the adventure to engage these enemies in complex, deep combat. By combing both Adol and Karja’s united strength, you can unleash brutal Duo Skills in Duo Mode. These skills are your most devastating tools for obliterating any foes that stand in your way. Knowing which are the best to equip in your three slots is important.
60
170
1.3
Break
0.8
Admas Saber is one of the early Duo Skills you unlock that focuses on defense. It shields you both from attacks when activated and then Adol will slash back at the opponent, knocking them back, giving you some space to either attack back or reposition yourself.
Unfortunately, this just ends up being quite weak as you would be better off equipping a skill that does more damage, since you can guard almost every attack while in Duo Mode. The perks of it being a counter-attack are nullified when almost every enemy or boss has lenient attack patterns that give you more than enough time to strike them back after guarding.
80
285
2.6
3.6
The first Duo Skill you can unlock is Cross Edge. This attack is a straightforward move that has the two heroes vertically slash up in a cross shape to launch foes. It has a decent Power of 285, but with little other effects outside the damage, it feels more like a Solo Skill than a Duo one. As you unlock more skills later in the game, it becomes outclassed fast.
Other early-game skills have good effects or strong Power stats, but Cross Edge only has a decent Strength stat and the Launch effect, which is very common in the Duo Skills. The only positive it has over other skills is the cheaper SP cost with it only using 80 SP, which could make you want to use it if you dislike how much other options use.
90
2.0
0.4
With the power of water and fire at your disposal, some of the Duo Skills unleash lethal attacks, mixing the two elements for damage like no other. The Dueluces Burst skill has a fire and water ball spinning together as projectiles until they collide together where they will shortly vacuum up nearby enemies to then explode and launch them in a spectacular bang.
While being quite easy to spam from afar alongside decent damage, this skill just doesn’t do enough to warrant equipping over the other ones. If this skill perhaps gave the enemies Burn or Frostbite, or maybe was just a bit stronger in the Power stat, then you would see it being a must-use, but as it is, it is only a good disruption tool, which is not great for 90 SP.
100
310
Double Smash is the very first Duo Skill you obtain, but do not assume that this means it is weak. This skill is a high power skill that has both Karja and Adol leap up and then slam back down, causing the smash effect on any enemies caught in the attack.
With the second-highest Break stat of all the Duo Skills and a decent Power of 310, this is a skill that can be great for any Break build. You may want tofocus Karja around Break skills, but if you have this Duo Skill, you won’t have to dedicate all her skills to Break-focused effects.
140
260
2.3
0.3
One of the most deadly looking Duo Skills has to be the Twin Vortex. In this attack, both Adol and Karja become a giant Beyblade tornado, spinning everything around them and launching it all up. This can rip through and control the battle in your favor by displacing the enemies all around you while getting some nice damage.
Now this all sounds like it would make a great skill, and it is with its decent attack and giant AoE hit box. However, then you look at how much SP it costs; 140! This is way too much for an attack that really does not do much at all, only launching foes to briefly stun them. If the cost was only 100 -110 SP, it would be fine, but as it stands, it doesn’t make wasting 140 SP worth it.
110
380
2.8
Blazal Cross is a tricky skill with a huge payoff of damage. This involves Adol and Karja dashing diagonally past one another and then finishing with a slash each to send a giant V-shaped beam ahead of where they stopped. Issues start to form with this once you try to use it, however, as it requires you to be lined up perfectly, which makes itfeel quite awkward in combat.
If you can master how it works and get the right spacing to use this skill, it is very strong with its Power stat of 380, but we recommend practicing using it on smaller enemies before equipping it for any story or boss fights. The last thing you want to do is waste 110 SP and leave yourself vulnerable right in the face of your enemy.
120
350
3.3
1.0
Combust your foes away with Adol’s Duo Skill that puts hisblazing powers at the forefront. Alongside Karja, they strike the ground together to charge up an eruption of flames in a line that causes Burn debuffs, alongside slamming and then launching all foes caught in the mini volcanoes.
Many Duo Skills often have a small range, but this one shows the destructive power of Adol with a massive 350 Power stat and a large damaging area. Only costing 120 SP, it is cheap for such a destructive skill.
325
2.5
The shackle that binds both Adol and Karja is not always a restriction for the two, and they both find creative ways to use it to their advantage. Xena Striker has them swinging the other using the Mana shackle right into your foes, causing either a massive explosion of flames or a sharp crash of ice.
The attack not only looks powerful but is also able to tear through enemies, causing the respective Burn or Frostbite effect depending on who you swing. Alongside a strong stat for Strength, Break and Power, this skill is a secret powerhouse that can deal with whatever is in your path, all while applying helpful debuffs.
410
2.2
3.8
This skill focuses on Karja’s powers, in which she will freeze the enemies in front of her and then Adol jumps up to smash the ice, causing the launch effect. This also gives the enemy the Frostbite effect and has the highest Break stat of any Duo Skill at 3.8. This means that you may easily shred through an enemy’s Break Bar with a simple skill use.
The Frostbite debuff really takes this skill to another level. It grants the effect of doubling any damage dealt by your attacks while it is active, which is incredible when stacked with a broken Break Bar. Surprisingly, it is one of the cheaper Duo Skills at 100 SP, which means you can fully capitalize off the enemy’s state with a strong Solo Skill after.
190
440
3.7
1.4
Combining both of our heroes' strengths once more, this skill sees them rushing forward and rapidly slashing many times to annihilate everything. The best part of this skill is it has the vacuum effect, which causes nearby enemies to be sucked into the attack, meaning it is one of the best skills for dealing a ton of AoE damage.
This skill is costly to use with it taking 190 SP, but can be well worth it if you just need to quickly get rid of a large group, as the vacuum and launch effects will guarantee you will be able to completely wipe out any number of foes. The flashy anime-looking attack really does a great job portraying just how strong it is.
