Apprentice class series

From Golden Sun Universe

The Apprentice class series is a dual-elemental class series available to the Venus Adepts, and to a lesser extent, the Jupiter Adepts. Both kinds of Adepts require Jupiter and Venus Djinn to achieve this class series; the Venus Adepts requiring more Jupiter Djinn and the Jupiter Adepts requiring more Venus Djinn.

This class series is very similar to the Page class series, with which it shares the classes of Illusionist, Enchanter, Conjurer, and War Adept, as well as the statistical shifts. The only difference between the two class series is slightly different Psynergy.

Noteworthy Psynergy from an endgame perspective includes Thunder Mine, Impact/High Impact, and Ward/Resist, and the heaviest area-of-effect Psynergy it has is Grand Gaia (contrast with the Page series' Pyroclasm). Average stats from an endgame perspective are 152% (164% if you don't factor in Luck).

In all games, an Adept in this class series is especially likely to be affected by Psynergy Seal-inflicting effects.

Statistical Influence

Apprentice class series
Class Name Djinn HP PP ATK DEF AGI LCK
Venus Adepts Jupiter Adepts
Apprentice 1 Star jupiter.gif unavailable 100% 120% 110% 100% 120% 90%
Illusionist 2-3 Star jupiter.gif unavailable 120% 130% 120% 110% 130% 90%
Enchanter 4-5 Star jupiter.gif 6 Star venus.gif 140% 140% 130% 120% 140% 90%
Conjurer 6 Star jupiter.gif, 1 Star venus.gif 7 Star venus.gif, 1 Star jupiter.gif 170% 160% 140% 130% 160% 90%
War Adept 7 Star jupiter.gif, 2 Star venus.gif unavailable 190% 170% 150% 140% 170% 90%

Notes on Class Names

  • Hover your cursor over class names for alt-text of series' Japanese names.
  • The "Energy" in the Energy Knight class (equivalent to the War Adept class) is the Japanese term for Psynergy.

Psynergy Setup

Psynergy
Lvl Psynergy PP Range Power
1 Star jupiter.gif Delude 4 Range 3.gif
5 Star jupiter.gif Impact 7 Range 1.gif
Class must be Enchanter or higher.
6 Star venus.gif Gaia 7 Range 3.gif 40
6 Star jupiter.gif Ward 3 Range 1.gif
Class must be Enchanter or higher.
9 Star jupiter.gif Weaken 4 Range 1.gif
11 Star jupiter.gif Astral Blast 5 Range 1.gif ATK+32
→Thunder Mine at Conjurer class 16 Range 1 gr.gif ATK+85
14 Star jupiter.gif Sleep 5 Range 3.gif
17 Star venus.gif Haunt 5 Range 3.gif
20 Star venus.gif Curse 6 Range 1.gif
21 Star jupiter.gif High Impact 12 Range all.gif
Class must be Enchanter or higher.
22 Star jupiter.gif Resist 5 Range all.gif
Class must be Enchanter or higher.
24 Star venus.gif Mother Gaia 17 Range 5.gif 100
25 Star jupiter.gif Enfeeble 6 Range 3.gif
31 Star jupiter.gif Drain 3 Range 1.gif 50
39 Star jupiter.gif Psy Drain 0 Range 1.gif
54 Star venus.gif Grand Gaia 32 Range 5.gif 200

Analysis

The Apprentice class is an extremely useful class. The class features the highest PP multiplier available to Isaac, Felix, and Matthew, tied with the with Seer (Mercury) class series and Medium class series. The Apprentice's agility stat is the second highest available, with only the Ninja class giving them higher agility stats. It has Attack, HP, and Defense stats that are on par with other dual-elemental classes.

The Apprentice's class's strengths lies in its ability to give higher Jupiter Power to Venus Adepts. Some of the strongest unleashes in the game are Jupiter-elemental, such as Legend, Centurion, and Emerald Blitz, which means that the War Adept has an edge over other classes with similar Attack stats when using those weapons. The Psynergy lineup is also useful. The wide support pool, which includes Impact and High Impact, is invaluable. The Apprentice class is one of the few options to Venus Adepts to allow them such a wide range of supportive Psynergies. Thunder Mine is a reliable attack, while the Gaia series provides a powerful ranged attack.

The class's main drawback is that it is overshadowed by the Ninja class series and Samurai class series. The Ninja class is better suited for direct attacks. While the Apprentice's Attack stat is above average, Thunder Mine is weaker in comparison to other elemental physical attacks like Odyssey. In most endgame situations, the Ninja's higher attack will be more useful than the Apprentice's higher Jupiter Power. Meanwhile, the Samurai has more rounded statistics, along with a stronger Jupiter-based elemental physical attack in Quick Strike. Additionally, this class has only one multi-target Psynergy series that actually deals damage, with large level gaps between the individual Psynergies (18 levels between Gaia and Mother Gaia; 30 levels between Mother Gaia and Grand Gaia).

However, this class series can be useful early on, before getting access to Tri-Elemental classes. In Golden Sun, the class can be useful during the early-game for Isaac to make use of the Bandit's Sword or the Elven Rapier, and their Jupiter-aligned unleashes, while also giving him early access to Gaia, which is more powerful than his other possible ranged psynergies at the time. In Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Felix can make use of the class during the Eastern Sea segment to increase his damage with the strong Jupiter-based weapons that you can get, given the Jupiter adept of the team, Sheba, can't use them.

Lastly, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is a special case. Himi, who does not get access to the Samurai Class series, could make use of the Apprentice class line if you want to make use of the powerful Gaia psynergy line and the stat-increasing spells, while also increasing her Jupiter power to make use of the Verdant Sword or Phaeton's Blade available to her. If you plan to not give her Jupiter-aligned weapons and you don't worry about the class's fragility, maybe her base class line, Miko, might be better, given she can use Weapon Grace and the powerful Roaring Dragon psynergy line.

When compared with the similar Page class series, available to Mars Adepts, the Page comes out slightly ahead. Guard and Protect tend to fit in better with the class's supportive pool, compared to Haunt and Curse. However, the difference is small enough that Venus Adepts make good War Adepts, too. Overall, the Apprentice class is a good option should tri-element classes like the Ninja and Samurai be unavailable.

Class series in the Golden Sun series
Mono-Elemental (GS/TLA): Flame UserGuardMarinerSquireWater SeerWind Seer
Mono-Elemental (DD): Aqua SquireBeastlingGuardMikoPirateSquireWater SeerWind Seer
Dual-Elemental: ApprenticeBruteCurse MageHermitPagePilgrim (Jupiter)Pilgrim (Mercury)ScrapperSeer (Jupiter)Seer (Mercury)Swordsman (Mars)Swordsman (Venus)/Crusader
Tri-Elemental: DragoonMediumNinjaRangerSamuraiWhite Mage
Item-Dependent: Dark MagePierrotTamer
Psynergy-Dependent: Wild Animal