by Jabbo » Thu Jun 23, 2005 10:06 am
Dirk can definitely be a lifesaver, but most of the time he's just superfluous. I consider the wind spell to be his only good skill (even Valentine rarely seems necessary; Dirk falls long before the girls do). And even the wind spell is only halfway good. First off, he starts out with Dust Devil, which causes level 2 blinding. The problem with level 2 blinding is that it only reduces enemies' hit rate to 60% of normal. Sure it's a nice bonus, but it isn't the most failsafe thing ever. And then, when you hit the Asyra stretch, it upgrades to Tornado. Tornado rules. Level 3 blindness cuts enemies' hit rates to 30% of normal and lasts on average 20 turns (the entire battle, one would hope). Level 3 blindness is nearly as good as prone because it lasts so long.
The problem with Tornado is that it's really only necessary for one enemy: the Lapizua. The Lapizua's immune to prone, as I'm sure nearly everyone's noticed, so killing it without blinding it is significantly more difficult. If you take into account its stunning abilities, a group of three Lapizuas could easily knock you out. Enter Tornado. Lapizuas can't do anything under level 3 blind (what can?).
The other enemies Dirk can Tornado are vulnerable to Prone and Tornado is generally unnecessary. And the bosses Dirk fights with Tornado are immune to all blinding, except for the Flist which is just extremely strong to it.
So the only practical uses I've found for Dirk are blinding the Lapizuas and the Carsavoran and the occasional Valentine. Plus he's dependent on his skills, and I don't feel like using absorb every turn with him just to make up for his 1 XL gain unless it's necessary.