Raphael, The Inquisitor

This page may contain spoilers regarding Broken Aether.

Raphael is an optional late-game character who serves as a magic-oriented tank, specializing in reducing incoming magical damage and providing defensive support to the party. His kit is built around protective abilities, resistance manipulation, and mitigation tools tailored to encounters that rely heavily on spell-based threats.

Compared to more physically focused tanks, Raphael generates less direct threat through aggro-drawing abilities, but compensates with a broader range of defensive utility and offensive spell interactions. His skill set allows him to reinforce the party’s resilience against magical attacks while still contributing damage through magic-scaling abilities.

Raphael’s design complements team compositions that require a durable frontline presence in encounters where enemies rely on elemental or magical pressure rather than pure physical output, offering an alternative defensive approach to traditional tank roles.

Strengths

• Second highest HP and DEF.

• Third highest ATK.

• Third highest DEF.

• Second highest MND, which makes him useful as a secondary healer.

• Ultra Move makes party immune to magical damage.

Weaknesses

• Not very effective on fights where enemies don't use magic.

• Only has one taunt skill.

Baseline

• Holy / Devilish Spirit: very similar to the Summoner's Spirits. The Holy spirit replenishes TP to a random character on Raphael's turn, while the Devilish Spirit will deal damage (based on Raphael's ATK).

• High Cross: gives 100% taunt for 1 turn. Useful when everyone is low on health.

• Exorcise: negates all magic damage until Raphael's next turn. Given he has below average AGI this actually plays in his favor.

• Soul Eater: taking damage gives allies TP.

• HP Drain: deal damage, recover health. The beauty of this passive is that it works with multi-hit moves and also area-of-effect, meaning you'll gain HP per hit and/or enemy hit. This even works with Ultra Moves.

Class Abilities

• Ether Sucker: from Vampire.

• Heal All: from Cleric. Given Raphael's very high MND, he works surprisingly well as a healer, further reinforcing his paladin-inspired archetype.

Crystals

• HP / DEF / MND Up

Raphael joins late in the game with access to high-tier abilities, allowing him to assume his role immediately without requiring extensive early progression. Development at this stage typically focuses on selecting abilities that reinforce his mitigation role and investing in defensive passive upgrades to increase durability against magic-focused encounters.

His progression can be tailored depending on how he is positioned within the party. Strengthening his defensive attributes allows him to function as a dedicated frontline tank, while investment in utility-based skills supports hybrid roles that blend protection with magical support.

Advanced Class Emblems available at this stage offer different paths for refinement. Some improve overall resilience and frontline performance, while others support hybrid configurations that incorporate healing or supportive spellcasting. These options allow Raphael to adapt to party compositions that require either specialized magical tanking or broader support functions.

End-game equipment choices can enhance his performance by increasing defensive attributes, improving magical resistance, or supporting ability scaling. These items enable flexibility in how he contributes to late-game encounters, whether serving as a primary defensive unit or a hybrid support option.