The Duelist may be one of your starting jobs along with the Swordsman, but that doesn’t mean it’s a slouch. Of the eight basic jobs, the Duelist is the best option for fans of fast-paced combat. The Pugilist comes in at a close second, but the Duelist’s greater focus on evasion makes it a great fit for those that love getting in and out. Our guide will help you gain a greater understanding of how to effectively utilize the job.
Keep in mind that this information is based on the existing demo, which carries save data over to the final release. While the demo locks the final nine jobs, it’s possible that more abilities or levels exist for current jobs in the official release. We will update this guide accordingly if anything changes with the Duelist.
Understanding the Duelist
Screenshot by Gamepur
The Duelist’s core job ability is Weak Spot. It inflicts guaranteed critical damage regardless of your position in relation to the enemy. This is important to remember because all critical hits deal extra damage to the break gauge.
Why is wittling down the break gauge so important? Once an enemy’s gauge has been depleted, you can instantly kill them with a Soul Burst. This process also refills magic, in addition to increasing your max magic. This allows you to continue using combo abilities, which are the key to extending combos.
Stranger of Paradise has a mechanic called the chain cancel, allowing you to switch jobs more quickly than usual. This occurs when switching jobs either during a combo ability or right at the end of it. Beyond increasing your combo potential, chain cancels are also effective for closing the gap. Many abilities knock enemies back, with the chain cancel being the best way to follow up such actions.
We recommend setting Weak Spot to the combo in which you attack while holding the left stick right or left. This allows you to seamlessly follow up slipping beside enemies with guaranteed critical hits. Weak Spot is also the default job ability that’ll initiate if you’re not performing a combo.
On a final note, don’t be afraid to abuse evasion. Unlike other jobs, the Duelist is invincible while evading. There are even two nodes you can unlock from the job tree which increase the invincibility window during evasion. There is no stamina meter tied to evasion, so don’t be afraid to utilize it if you’re not completely confident.
Recommended job pairings
Screenshot by Gamepur
For those that are less comfortable with Stranger of Paradise’s combat mechanics, we recommend using one of the mage classes in combination with the Duelist. Whether it’s the regular mage or black mage, being able to cast spells at a distance is helpful during precarious enemy compositions since many foes are weak to various types of magic.
Casting the highest level spell of the associated element at a distance will make quick work of an entire group of enemies. Of course, this does require some trial and error. You need to make sure you have enough magic to cast the spells, and you’ll also have to take guesses as to which elements certain enemies might be weak to. Once you find those weaknesses, however, magic-focused jobs are a great complement for the Duelist.
If you consider yourself an action game conossieur, we’d recommend pairing the Duelist with a high damage job such as the Marauder or Berserker. Both jobs make use of the axe, however the Berserker is also capable of using greatswords.
The axe is an excellent complement to the Duelist’s frenetic combat with its insane stopping power. Both regular attacks and combo abilities are able to be charged for extra damage, leaving the player less susceptible to being staggered. These charged attacks also deal extra damage to the break gauge, which combined with the Duelist’s critical hits, can make quick work of enemies assuming you don’t let your magic run too low.
