Since its global launch 4 months ago, Superprism Technology’s Illusion Connect continues to attract strategy RPG players and anime fans alike, maintaining its near perfect average user review ratings on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Despite the plethora of loosely similar games in the mobile gaming market, Illusion Connect expands the roster of its fans and followers with its continuously growing world and the endless supply of events for old and new players alike.
If you have just started diving into the Dream World within Illusion Connect, and want to jumpstart your adventure, we recommend that you read our detailed beginner’s guide. Our guide provides all the tools you need to secure a firm grasp of the game’s mechanics and features as well as contains useful tips and strategies to expedite eliminating nightmares that stand on your way.
Whether or not you will choose to reroll for the best Radiants to accompany you as partners in your journey, our Illusion Connect tier list can provide you a solid idea about our picks for the best partners in the game. As always, our tier list is subjective and will certainly differ from other tier lists but at the very least, should still be a good source of points for consideration especially for players who are just starting out in their adventure.
With well over 60 radiants to collect and upgrade, relative to the max number of 10 partners in a team, Illusion Connect sets players up for near-infinite possibilities as far as team composition goes. With each character having different sets of skills and classes, it can be an overwhelming experience to choose from among your growing number of recruits which ones to consider as members of your team. If you are having some difficulties choosing from among some of the radiants in your collection, then our Illusion Connect team guide can give you some ideas on how to come up with a balanced and synergistic team roster for various game modes in the Dream World.
Investing in the right partners as well as having the right ones mix well enough in a team are steps towards the right direction. As effective as your roster of radiants can be with both tiers and team builds in mind, it can still be of some distance from the perfect setup as gears you can equip on each partner contributes a lot to their performance in combat.
As such, our focus for this guide centers around gears or equipment for each partner you may have. For starters, it can be a challenge to have excellent gears for each radiant you use in your team. Eventually, however, you will secure better gears to choose from. Like the partners themselves, gears are covered by a rarity system. While SSR grade items are naturally expected to have superior stats and effects, SR grade counterparts will often do the job well. For the R grade gears, though, they will certainly be replaced soon enough and will not be worth investing into.
To make it simpler, we will be providing our recommendations for gears on units by class. Although we will naturally be eyeing on specific radiants in the discussion, be sure to keep an open mind on how each recommended piece of equipment will be likewise suitable for other radiants not mentioned in the guide.
Attackers – Raw Damage
[Weapon – Butterfly Hunter, Armor – Butterfly Rattan Shirt, Boots – Falling Butterfly, Accessory – Fiery Shawl]
Attackers have a vital role in Illusion Connect considering that most of them are relied on to be the boss killers. Attackers generally specialize in dealing heavy damage to a single target, which is why they are typically deployed to strike important targets. As attackers do not have a lot of defense as well, timing their deployment can be essential to their utilization although there are various ways to keep them on the field as well.
Basically, what you would want out of your designated attacker or attackers is to pump their offense as much as you can. Gears that provide a direct boost to attack ought to be the priority. As simple and as straightforward as it seems, ensuring that your attacker unleashes the maximum damage he or she can is the main priority.
Butterfly Hunter is the perfect weapon for attackers built for pure damage. It comes with the usual attack bonus of 1 to 8% plus an extra damage to the enemy leader of 1 to 8%, depending on upgrade level. Though Sakura Yukata and Scarlet Cuirass are equally suitable, we prefer the Butterfly Rattan Shirt that increases damage resistance when in full health. Sakura Rain and Scarlet Warboots are both superb boots for attackers although at higher gear level, we choose to go with Flying Butterfly and its 5 to 35% chance of restoring 100 rage. Finally, Fiery Shawl’s attack boost and crit damage boost after killing an enemy is our top pick for the accessory. Sincere Prayer and Swaying Wine Glass are viable options as well.
Kasumi, Maki, Hersey, Saya, and Gigi are the most suitable attackers for this build.
Attackers – Critical Rate
[Weapon – Dragonhowl, Armor – Sakura Yukata, Boots – Victory Cornerstone, Accessory – Fiery Shawl]
While some radiants in Illusion Connect possess more raw attack power than others within their class, some have intrinsic skills or abilities that make them shine brighter the higher their critical rate and critical damage goes. While capitalizing on critical rates and damages naturally still fall on probabilities and chance, there are plenty of gears to boost a partner’s critical rate and effectively increase the chances of a critical hit.
There are numerous ways to build an attacker to excel in landing critical hits and you can mix and match different gears depending on the total critical hit rate your radiant has amassed. Our top pick for the weapon is Dragon Howl as it provides an attack boost and 2 to 15% crit rate boost in battle. Bloodsucker is a secondary option while Reversed Blade increases crit damage. This means that you can go for the latter if your crit rate is high enough.
Sakura Yukata is a boosts defense and reduces damage from AoE attacks. We prefer going with Victory Cornerstone for the boots with its 75% chance of increasing crit rate with every action. Again, if the partner has a high enough crit rate, then Sakura Rain will be the better option as it increases crit power. We prefer going with Fiery Shawl for the accessory for the attack boost and 2 to 15% crit rate increase after downing an enemy. If the accessory slot is your means of increasing crit rate to opt for alternative gears in other slots, then Sincere Prayer is the viable choice.
Edward, Pan, Kasumi, and Mei can each be built to have high crit rates.
Attackers – Lifesteal
[Weapon – Nightmare Hunter, Armor – Uniform of Justice, Boots – Rythmic March, Accessory – Swaying Wine Glass]
Given that attackers generally do not exhibit high defense stats, the importance of deploying them only to take out valuable targets is because doing so a little early may set them up to perish before they can even scratch their intended targets. Although you will naturally have defenders and healers, a self-sustaining attacker can still be a decent play for extra defense. With this in mind, a life-stealing attacker can be eyed as a suitable build.
Nightmare Hunter is the top pick for a Life-stealer’s weapon, with its attack boost and a 1 to 8% lifesteal in battle. For armor, we opted for the Uniform of Justice, which boosts defense by 2 to 15% whenever the partner’s HP is more than 50% and shifts the bonus on attack if HP goes below the 50% mark. Rhytmic March works the same way granting a defense boost if HP is more than half and shifts to increase crit damage when it goes lower than 50%. Swaying Wine Glass is the only accessory that grants 1 to 8% lifesteal in battle and that comes on top of the attack boost.
Gemmy and Yume are most suitable for the life-stealing attacker build.
Guardians – Tank
[Weapon – Rosa, Armor – Knight’s Oath Armor, Boots – Knight’s Dress Boots, Accessory – Jeweled Crown]
Having a solid defender in any team composition is vital not only to extend the survivability of the entire team but most especially to keep the leader alive. For the most part, defenders are deployed at the front row and take most of the damage from enemy attacks. This basic strategy will often have the defender protect most, if not all, teammates so long as he or she is on the field.
In this sense, it is also basic to consider banking on higher defense and HP and at the same time capitalizing on block chances. While Sandstorm Shirt is also a viable armor for tanks in that it leaves them a chance to stun whoever attacks them, considering Knight’s Oath Armor for a 50% chance to boost damage resistance is a simpler and more effective approach in general.
As a full tank, defenders cannot rely entirely on enhanced defense stats. Being capable of damage reduction and not heavily relying on healers is an important trait for any tank to have, and for this build, block becomes an important ability.
Rosa comes with a 1 to 8% defense boost and 2 to 15% block in battle. We prefer Knight’s Oath Armor for the tank with its 50% chance to increase damage resistance by 2 to 15% for 2 rounds after being attacked. Sandstorm Shirt and Azure armor are decent considerations for armor as well, if you prefer defense plus stun chance or HP plus defense boost when attacked, respectively.
Knight’s Dress Boots boosts max HP by 1 to 8% and grants block rate of 2 to 15%. Pharaoh’s Boots is a viable alternative as well with its 75% chance of increasing block rate by a stackable 2 to 15% with each action. Jeweled Crown grants the same amount of block rate and gives the tank HP restoration from 1 to 8% of max HP whenever blocks are triggered.
Angela, Selena, Annie, Kiraya, and Victoria can be groomed to become highly effective tanks.
Guardians – Damage Reflect
[Weapon – Emerald Heart, Armor – Gentleman’s Poise, Boots – Go, Accessory – Ghost Lamp]
If your team is built more sturdily and can afford to have a defender contribute more towards dealing damage to opponents, then going for a defender that is built to reflect damage to opponents is a feasible option for you.
Expectedly, your defender in this case will not be as tough as one built to be a pure tank, but even the small amounts of reflected damage can still have its advantages in combat. Emerald Heart provides a 1 to 8% damage reflect on top of the max HP boost. Gentleman’s Poise works exactly the same.
Go provides an HP boost as well as a 0.5 to 4% HP regen. Alternatively, you can opt for Divine Boots, which restores HP twice as much whenever the guardian’s HP goes below the 50% mark. Ghost Lamp completes the reflect gear set with 1 to 8% damage reflect. Royal Cloak and Holy Crown each provide an HP shield, which works okay as substitutes.
Camille, Selena, Kiraya, Angela, and Victoria can be considered for this build.
Healers – Pure Heal
[Weapon – Coffin of Protection, Armor – Holy Rose, Boots – Boots of Praise, Accessory – Silver Necklace]
The most efficient builds on each class in Illusion Connect, much like in numerous other strategy RPGs is sticking with the basics. Letting attackers have as much boost to their attacks stats and having guardians build up their defense are solid examples. In the case of healers, you should primarily consider boosting the effects of their healing abilities.
Healers should likewise be deployed in combat strategically and often towards the latter end of the round. In a lot of cases, their initial healing skill should suffice as a testament of their utility but if you manage to keep them around longer, then the extra health replenishment is appreciated as well. While you can build healers differently enough to either increase their offensive or defensive strength, banking on their main role should be the basic way to do so.
While Wonder Pocket Watch, White Vow, and Angel Song are viable choices as well for a pure healer build, we prefer equipping Coffin of Protection. Coffin of Protection grants a 1 to 10% heal rate increase and also boost healing effects by 1 to 8% on allies with the lowest HP with every healing skill used. For armor, Holy Rose comes with a defense boost and gives a 50% chance to increase heal rate by 1 to 10% following incoming attacks.
Boots of Praise provides a 75% chance of self-healing worth 0.5 to 4% of the healer’s max HP. Silver Necklace, again, boost heal rate by 1 to 10%. Alternatively, you can opt for the Angel’s Rose Ring for an accessory as it restores 1 to 8% of attack as HP to the leader with every action.
Anna, Ming, and Polly are the most effective healers for this build.
Healers – Heal and Damage
[Weapon – Myoo’s Wings, Armor – Bloody Shirt, Boots – Boots of Praise, Accessory – Phoenix Eyeglasses]
While the benefits of having a healer on your team can be felt by everyone on the field, the most important units to keep alive are the guardians and the leader. At the same time, some healers do not necessarily benefit a lot or at all from higher heal rates, in which case, having them contribute to offense becomes a viable option.
Myoo’s Wings grant a 1 to 8% attack boost and also reduces the target’s attack by the same percentage for 2 rounds. You can also opt for Holy Banner as a weapon as it increases damage dealt on enemies with HP lower than 30%. For armor, Bloody Shirt provides defense and leaves a 50% chance off incoming attacks to restore 20 to 140 rage. Bone Cloth can be a more defensive alternative with a damage resistance boost worth 2 to 15% whenever health is higher than 70%.
The Boots of Praise leaves every action done a 75% chance to replenish 0.5 to 4% health. Alternatively, Witch’s Dance Boots increases max HP by 1 to 8%, enabling every action to have a 5 to 35% chance of silencing a random enemy. Phoenix Eyeglasses provide a max HP boost and increase casting chance of special skills by 1 to 8%. Sapphire Hairpin comes with an HP boost as well and whenever a special skill is used, it increases the casting rate of the subsequent one by 1 to 8%.
Both Jasmine and Diana can be built to heal and at the same time deal damage. They naturally will still not deal as much damage as other units but can still contribute on top of providing heals to allies.
Light Types – Damage
[Weapon – Myoo’s Wings, Armor – Phoenix Petticoat, Boots – Go, Accessory – Phoenix Eyeglasses]
Light type units are a unique class in Illusion Connect, often providing support skills to allies but can also contribute to dealing damage. Going with either one is a plausible choice and should be dependent on your team’s composition and the challenge at hand.
As Light type units do not typically enjoy top priority when it comes to gears in your collection, making use of the remaining equipment after you have chosen the best ones for your top units is expected. There is a lot of flexibility when it comes to choosing gears for your Light type units, but be sure to look into how each one will synergize with the build you have in mind.
Although Tyrfing seems a lot more fun to have on a light type partner, with its ability to block a fatal damage once and restore 3 to 22% HP, our preferred weapon is still Myoo’s Wings. Phoenix Petticoat boosts defense and also increases damage resistance rate by 2 to 15% when HP drops below the 50% mark. Key Protector is an equally effective armor as well with its 1 to 10% recovery rate boost on top of the added defense.
We prefer to go with Go for boots for the HP boost and added HP regen per action. Pharaoh’s Boots can also be considered for its 75% chance to increase block rate by 2 to 15% after each action. Phoenix Eyeglasses remain as our choice of accessory although Dark Tale can be a suitable alternative with its 75% chance to increase damage rate by 2 to 15% before an action.
Phoebe and Brooke are light type units you can build for pure damage.
Light Types – Support
[Weapon – White Queen, Armor – Knight’s Oath Armor, Boots – Pharaoh’s Boots, Accessory – Holy Cross]
With the choices on building your Light type unit sitting across going for more offensive strength or higher defensive capability, going for the latter is becomes the obvious choice for a Light type unit that is kept in your team for utility or support skills. If the chosen unit does not really contribute much in terms of dealing damage or his or her skills greatly outweigh her damage outputs, then ensuring they stay as long as possible on the field is your best course of action.
For a support build light unit, White Queen stands as the best weapon, granting the partner a 2 to 15% block rate in combat. Knight’s Oath armor is the armor of choice for the 50% chance of boosting damage resistance. Pharaoh’s Boots ups block rate with a 75% chance. For the accessory, Holy Cross is our preferred one for the max HP boost and the 5 to 35% chance of restoring energy to allies.
Alice and Amon can be decent light type units that can be built to be support types.
Sorcerers – AoE Damage
[Weapon – Staff of Hope, Armor – Bloody Shirt, Boots – Victory Cornerstone, Accessory – Phoenix Eyeglasses]
While attackers are the top units for dealing damage to individual targets, sorcerers are the top DPS units in terms of overall damage given that they have AoE damage. Just like attackers and defenders in your roster, prioritizing sorcerers in terms of gears is important regardless of how you build them.
While sorcerers can exhibit control and support skills in addition to or in exchange for dealing more damage, you would typically want a more straightforward build and focus on damage. It can be a common feature of many teams to have more than 1 sorcerer, but the primary type is commonly built around dealing damage over other builds.
Staff of Hope is a straightforward weapon that grants a 1 to 8% attack boost as well as a 2 to 15% AoE damage boost. Staff of Ceres is a cheaper alternative that only provides the AoE damage boost. Cursed Sword works well too with an attack boost and a 20 to 140 rage reduction on enemies with more than 800 rage. Defense and a 50% chance to gain 20 to 140 rage can come sync well with the weapon and you can gain it from Bloody Shirt as an armor. You can go for Bone Cloth or Nightmare Robe for extra defense as well.
For the boots, Victory Cornerstone provides you with a 75% chance to increase crit rate by 2 to 15% following every action. Phoenix Eyeglasses come with a max HP boost and increases the casting rate for special skills by 1 to 8%.For a more defensive alternative for accessory, you can go for Swaying Wine Glass that grants 1 to 8% lifesteal on top of the added attack.
Yuffie, Nicola, Nina, Rotania, Rie, and Fenebeth can suit this build well.
Sorcerers – Crowd Control
[Weapon – Now or Never, Armor – Lava Suit, Boots – Witch’s Dance Boots, Accessory – Phoenix Eyeglasses]
While most sorcerers in Illusion Connect specialize in dealing damage to groups of enemies, some of them naturally lag a bit behind in terms of damage output. Instead of equipping them with gears to increase their attack and damage outputs, another way of putting them to good use is to utilize them for crowd control instead.
Arming them with gears that inflict negative status effects on enemies will not diminish their value as damage-dealers. Instead, their AoE skills will be put to greater use with its damage along with the added effects.
Now or Never comes with a 5 to 35% chance of silencing a target for 1 round. Alternatively, you can choose to equip Lance of Ascalon for the recovery rate reduction worth 2 to 15% on top of the added attack. Our armor of choice is the Lava Suit, which boosts defense by 1 to 8% and effect resistance by 2 to 15% in battle. Bloody Shirt and Bone Cloth can serve as decent alternatives.
Witch’s Dance Boots provides a 5 to 35% chance of silencing a random enemy with each action, perfectly complementing Now or Never. Phoenix Eyeglasses stand as the choice of accessory again.
Fenebeth stands as the best choice for the crowd control sorcerer build although Chiyo, Rotania, Mary, and Yuffie are decent considerations as well.
Spell Types – Damage
[Weapon – Staff of Hope, Armor – Lava Suit, Boots – Crimson Longboots, Accessory – Phoenix Eyeglasses]
Spell type units work very much like sorcerers but typically have added effects to their attacks. While some spell type partners do have high damage outputs as well, their attacks are generally lower than that of sorcerers.
Investing in increasing the attack and AoE damage of spell types work well if they have high damage outputs to begin with. In contrast, spell type units whose skill effects are far more valuable than the damage they impose are more suitable for crowd control builds.
For a spell type partner with more damage outputs, our weapon of choice is the Staff of Hope, boosting both attack and AoE damage. Another excellent weapon to consider is the Ama no Murakumo, which can boost attack by 0.5 to 4% per enemy partner on the opposing team. This can stack up to 5 times as well. Lava Suit is again considered as the armor of choice with its added defense and effect resistance.
Crimson Longboots is the boots of choice for max HP and damage reduction boost. Again, Phoenix Eyeglasses are our top pick for accessory.
Miyuki, Rikia, and Beatrice can be built as spell type units that focus on damage.
Spell Types – Crowd Control
[Weapon – Fortune Caller, Armor – Bone Cloth, Boots – Boots of Praise, Accessory – Smart Hairband]
With the usual prioritization of gears on sorcerers over spell type partners in the team, there are potentially a wide variety of suitable gears that you can equip on spell type radiants but are used by other characters. In this sense, what matters is for you to be able to utilize other gears for them in such a way that they can still have value in the team with damage boost being out of the question.
As some spell type partners do have skills built more for crowd control, or simply not up to par when it comes to competing with others as far as damage outputs are concerned, the most viable way to better utilize them is with gears that contribute to debilitating foes in groups at a time.
For crowd control builds, Fortune Caller stands as the best weapon to consider with its 10 to 80 rage reduction on top of the attack boost. Going with Bone Cloth can give the partner increased damage resistance worth 2 to 15% if HP is above 70%. Boots of Praise increases survivability with a 75% chance of replenishing 0.4 to 4% health with each action. Smart Hairband increases effect hit rate by 2 to 15%.
Although Miyuki can work as a controller as well, it is best to consider Rikia and Beatrice for the role as Miyuki is the best damage-dealing spell type radiant in Illusion Connect.
Summoners – Attack
[Weapon – Dream Chaser, Armor – Scarlet Cuirass, Boots – Falling Butterly, Accessory – Bagua Belt]
Summoners in Illusion Connect are intrinsically a unique class in that each one plays differently from others. If you have read through our Illusion Connect Tier List, you would notice that we could not consider a Summon type unit for the S tier while there are representatives from all other classes. As far as prioritization of gears go, summon type units are, more often than not, among the least priority.
Summon type radiants may primarily provide cannon-fodders or fillers on an empty field but each one offers different skill effects as well. As some might swerve more towards dealing damage to enemies, you can capitalize on that and build your summoner to be an offensive type.
Our weapon of choice for an offense-driven summoner is the Dream Chaser, boosting attack by 1 to 8% and reducing the target’s speed by 2 to 15% for 2 rounds with its attacks. Lance of Ascalon can be considered as well for its recovery reduction effect on its targets. Scarlet Cuirass is the best armor for this build for its boost on attack following an incoming attack.
Our choice for boots is the Fallen Butterfly for the 5 to 35% chance of each action replenishing 100 rage. Bagua Belt is best for the attack boost and the 5 to 35% chance of restoring 1 energy to each ally at the start of battle. You can also opt for a cheaper Party Mask for an attack boost.
Ashwaya, Gagaku, Flora, and Frantiva are decent candidates to consider for this build type.
Summoners – Defense
[Weapon – Fairy Tale Doll, Armor – Distant Memories, Boots – Falling Butterfly, Accessory – Holy Cross]
If your summon type partner provides more value with the beneficial effect he or she provides, then increasing survivability ought to be the tactic of choice. It goes down to basically grooming your summoner to contribute to damage or stay as long as possible in the field so if you choose the latter, then equip gears that contribute to boosting defense.
Fairy Tale Doll grants an attack boost and also provides a 1 to 8% HP boost to summoned creatures. Distant Memories provides a 1 to 8% defense boost and also increases block rate by 2 to 15%. For boots, Falling Butterfly can grant the partner more HP and a 5 to 35% chance for each action to generate 100 rage. Holy Cross is our preferred accessory, granting the user a 1 to 8% HP boost and a 5 to 35% chance of restoring energy to allies upon death. In select situations, Divine Crystal can be the better option for the 1 to 8% HP shield it can cast on the leader upon the user’s death. Ann, the Enforcers, Frantiva, and Flora can be considered for this build.
And this wraps up our equipment guide for Illusion Connect. We hope that you picked up a lot of ideas form the sample builds we shared and, more importantly, picked up hints on how to gear up the rest of the radiants we did not cite as an example. Illusion Connect will most likely introduce more content in future updates, which may involve having new radiants as well as more gears. If you have a gear set for your favorite partners or class builds you want to share, we are very much interested to hear from you so don’t shy away and leave a comment down below!
Pers
Monday 15th of March 2021
This is a helpful guide. Thanks a lot.