What is the best melee weapon Style in Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier?

Does this scenario sound familiar? You’ve landed face first in Midgar, rounded a corner looking for a gun or Materia, and got comboed to death by a backflipping enemy player. While not totally uncommon, it is possible that you simply got outmatched, as some Styles in Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier are simply better at melee fighting than others. If you’re trying to figure out which style has the strongest melee weapons, we’ve got you covered below.

Melee weapon types are assigned based on your Style choice — Warriors get a heavy blade, Sorcerers get a staff, Ninjas get a fuma shuriken, Monks get their trusty fists, and Rangers get a dagger. Here’s how they rank, according to our own internal testing:

1. Warriors — Surprising nobody, Warriors enjoy the strongest melee weapon advantage in the game. Solid combo animations combined with adequate weapon reach, and bundled together with an on-demand rush attack ensure that Warriors will always hit their mark.
2. Ninjas — Ninjas get to enjoy the longest range of all the melee weapons, allowing them to hit enemies with very odd hitboxes at times. In addition, they have access to a double-jump, allowing them to maneuver around in a fight much more easily.
3. Monks — Monks are the definition of a “feast-or-famine” character when it comes to melee weapon proficiency. While they have the shortest range and their animations are average at best, they heal on-hit with every connected strike. They also enjoy a Second Wind mechanic — healing some damage when they fall to critical health automatically.
4. Rangers — Knives do not have a lot of range, only barely beating out the Monk’s dash punch combo string. In addition, Rangers abilities are more supportive towards gunplay over everything else. The combo animation, however, is quite fast, and can catch players unaware.
5. Sorcerers — Poor Black Mages. While their weapon has arguably more reach than Rangers and Monks, the animations are unfortunately a little slow, and also feature some weird hitbox interactions. Furthermore, their ability empowers their Materia usage, and does nothing for their melee capabilities.