Auguste

Edit (2/20/25): Added this to the Old Scrolls of Garbelius series of guides! Otherwise unchanged from the previous iteration.

Edit: Since this was the first character guide I ever made, I felt it would be good to go back and make some edits (since I’m an Auguste main I’ve had a LOT of time to play with him) to my suggested build, as well as completely revamp the Notes section of the guide.

Overview / Trait

Auguste is essentially the premier physical DPS character in the game, and is capable of taking multiple actions per turn. His trait allows him to stack up to 6 stacks of [Rage], each of which increases his ATK by 3% (also, these cannot be immunized or dispelled). Once at 6 stacks, he consumes them all to enter his Rage Outburst state for 2 turns, in which he adds a percentage of his M.ATK stat to his P.ATK stat. He is also capable of stacking more [Rage] stacks while in this state. He gains stacks by using attacks, entering [Standby], or using his [Hassle] skill. Also, if he enters Rage Outburst, he gets another action immediately, which means it’s always a good idea to check how many stacks of [Rage] he currently has. Once you get him to 4-star, he starts off the fight with four stacks of [Rage], meaning he can enter his Rage Outburst state easily from the beginning. As such, Auguste plays very differently out-of-the-box and at 4-star, particularly early in a battle, or in short content.

Basic Attack

While it’s always tempting to choose the skills that visually match a character’s unique skills, Auguste is the bane of those who cringe at the sight of non-matching icons! His non-unique basic attack, [Charged Attack], is the better choice, as it increases the DMG of his next attack by 15%, meaning his already devastating attacks become that much more powerful. Since he can attack multiple times in a turn, you can see the benefits of this immediately, in some cases. His unique basic attack, [Extermination], only removes 1NRG from the target, but doesn’t add it to his own pool, meaning it’s largely pointless, as most things getting attacked by Auguste should be dead by the end of the turn anyway.

Reaction Skill

The choice of reaction skill is a little bit less clear-cut, as both are good skills. I generally run [Strength Activation], so he can get the DMG buff from being healed (usually by Cocoa or his own passive, which will be discussed further down), but if you have a reliable source of a DMG buff from another character (like Edda or Cocoa), it’s probably better to bring [Contempt], both for the DMG reduction and the extra [Rage] stacks it can provide. The only real issue with this is that Auguste really isn’t designed with taking hits in mind, so in most cases it’s not really desirable for him to be taking hits anyway. As such, I would say it’s overall better to run [Strength Activation] on him, and swap to [Contempt] for certain niche situations.

Skill 1

Auguste’s bread-and-butter is his [Wrath] skill, which actually cycles between three different skills. The first skill, [Wrath - Swift], is an [Instant] skill that allows him to charge up to two spaces at an enemy and knock them back one tile. This doesn’t necessarily do a lot of damage, but the potential for pushing enemies off ledges, as well as the extra [Rage] stack, and mobility makes it very useful. It then becomes [Wrath - Snap], which is a small 3x2 AoE attack that does a decent amount of damage, as well as inflicts all those hit with [▼ P.DEF II]. This attack actually has some decent killing potential, especially against mobs. After being used, the skill becomes [Wrath - Scorch], which is Auguste’s nuke. This attack his hard, and also does splash damage to the enemies in the tiles adjacent to the target, as well as pushes those adjacent enemies back one tile from the epicenter. The NRG cost of the skills are 2, 1, and 1, meaning that this is a very NRG-efficient skill, overall.

Skill 2

[Hassle] is a great skill to use in those moments when your Auguste is at 4 stacks of [Rage] and you want to get that extra action this turn (since it gives him 2 stacks of [Rage] when used), or where he needs a shield up. Bear in mind that this also gives him [DMG Reduction II], and can even provide a DMG buff if he’s [Injured] at the time of use. This skill should pretty much always live on Auguste. You won’t necessarily be using it every turn, but when you need it, you’ll be very glad you have it on him.

Skill 3

For his final skill slot, you have a couple of options, such as [Wrath - Devastation] for a large AoE, [Overlord’s Roar] for a powerful single-target nuke, or [Knightly Spirit] for fighting large bosses and the like, but my favorite choice is [Warm Touch], since it provides extra Piercing DMG and a small bit of healing, as well (which is great for activating [Strength Activation]). If you can manage to use this with [Wrath - Snap] or [Wrath - Scorch], he can get a pretty nice chunk of healing out of it. Just bear in mind this skill only procs on the first attack he uses on any given turn.

Equipment

For a weapon, you have a few options, depending on your taste/playstyle. I personally run Tuning Hammer on him, as I find the buff removal of it (particularly at 3-star and above) is very useful for removing shields and other defensive buffs from enemies, allowing them to be eliminated that much more easily. However, the damage potential of Feast Axe is definitely higher than that of the Tuning Hammer, since it boosts both his P.ATK and M.ATK, both of which he uses in his Rage Outburst state. Just be aware that if he isn’t at a higher HP percentage than his target, he gets no bonus from it at all. The healing from it is also very nice, and obviously helps to keep its own effect active. For a trinket, Auguste desperately wants the Flying Blade Armguard—the other options are okay, but the Armguard really helps him with building extra [Rage] stacks (and getting extra assist attacks from Baloor!). Again, Auguste with an Armguard and Auguste without an Armguard feel like two different characters. For a tarot, I recommend Magician, since a number of his attacks his multiple foes, but Devil also works very well on him, especially on content with multiple mobs. If you’re interested in running a more crit-centered build on him, then you can opt for Justice, in which case you will probably want to use Gale Sword as his weapon. For engravings, I recommend sword + wand, though sword + cup can also work well, especially if you want the heals. When rolling for stats, I suggest aiming for P.ATK and, if you can manage it with equipment rolls, also some M.ATK, but definitely prioritize P.ATK.

Additional Notes

To get the most out of him, I suggest you pair him with Homa, as she provides him with the mobility he desperately needs to do what he does best—killing things efficiently. Her [Hovering Support] skill gives him two extra tiles of movement, as well as a powerful attack buff, and the benefit of Baloor’s follow-up attacks, ensuring that your enemies are extra super dead. It also provides him with the ability to [Jump]. Seriously, Auguste with Baloor and Auguste without Baloor feel like two completely different characters.