Raptin (FF1)

## Overview

In a metagame where 2/3rds of a viable team composition likely possess +600LP, Raptins consistent Poison is a constant form of offensive pressure that is about as damaging or even greater than properly spaced Long Range attacks while remaining cheaper. With the combination of Poison's efficiency from any position in battle and Raptin's consistent Poison options, Raptin is the only form of offensive pressure that can function at any point of the battle. Preserving Raptins LP for as long as possible in the SZ can be the decisive factor in victories as Poison, needless to say, takes time to inflict damage. This condition is not hard to meet as Poison is no less threatening from either the AZ or SZ while Raptin's support effects can help ward against particularly threatening attacks whenever possible. At the same time, optimal use of Raptin involves waiting patientiy until an opportune moment arises to inflict Gold Poison repeatedly. The repeated application of Gold Poison forces the opposition to play catch up with the LP advantage Raptin naturally generates by setting up traps with Zone Swaps against more defenseless Vivosaurs or to retreat to the EZ in an attempt to preserve LP into the Endgame: with the correct teammates, Raptin often dictates the pace of battles. See here for stats and moveset.

## General Gameplan (Earlygame)

While it may seem tempting to immediately begin firing off Reaper's Wrath to either force a retreat or to start gaining a LP advantage, this is only a good option if the greatest threat happened to begin the battle exposed in the AZ. Even then, if the opponent is forced to retreat into an unfavorable position from Poison, then the opponent has avoided 1 turn of Poison while you've wasted FP, limiting your teams options for a turn. The goal of favorable positioning and the opponent losing 30% of their LP can be met in one turn with Zone Swap, provided you have the FP to pull off such a maneuver. For the turns that you will be short on FP, Raptin can still provide debuffs for another teammate to chip the AZ before Zone Swaps shuffle out support effects (on turn 1 initiative or after a Zone Swap). There will likely be turns where Raptin remains idle. Avoid using Reaper's Ire as while the likelihood to inflict Poison is high at 80%, missing the infliction will limit your options next turn for what is essentially zero gain on the current turn. From wasting FP Raptin will fail in continuous application of Gold Poison and zero out any contributions your team may provide.

## Midgame/Endgame

Now Raptin can begin using Reaper's Wrath more freely, as there will be less actions for your team to spend FP on and a larger FP pool will be avaliable. The opposition will also have a harder time preventing or positioning around Raptin. Going into the Midgame, try to keep a teammate alive that either has enough remaining bulk to buffer Raptin from the AZ or is able to buy time for Raptins Poison to cause damage (Confusion users, Sleep users, or a threat about as or even more threatening than what Raptin may have been chipped down to). Unless Raptin has been severly weakened, he should be the remaining Vivosaur to enter Endgame: a properly spaced Reaper's Wrath + Poison will outperform any 1v1 scenario Raptin finds himself against, with the exception of a lucky Duna. If you have to choose between offensive pressure in the Midgame or preserving LP for the Endgame, the latter is usually the superior option.

## Teammates/Strategies

Raptin needs additional secondary effects to allow Poison to set in: the best options being Zone Swap, Sleep, or Confusion. All of which prevent the opposition from competing with Raptins damage output while securing that the Poison damage registers. The Vivosaurs with acccess to Sleep or Confusion are not bulky enough to buffer Raptin against all damage during the Midgame. Sleep itself can somewhat reliably prevent damage from any stage of the game while Confusion can waste FP in the Midgame. Sopteryx deserves a special mention for being able to force switches out through Confusion and provides FP+ to more easily chain Reaper's Wrath while your team contributes early on. Guhlith's incredible bulk can protect Raptin for many turns into battle while providing Zone Swaps. Brachio fulfills a similar role to Guhlith but is less passive by providing damage from any position after the team is re-organized from Zone Swap. What should be noted is that it will be difficult for Brachio to damage anything until your FP pool widens up in the Midgame. Vivosaurs with access to secondary effects that prevent retreats once the opposition is shuffled into a desirable position, such as Guera or Guhlith, will allow Raptin to rely less on constant shuffling to be menacing. Dynal in particular is a redundant teammate as both provide the same Anti-Offense role from their support effects which, in this case, add negligible bonuses that don't benefit the team as much as other VIvosaurs could.

## Winning/Losing Matchups

It is difficult to prevent Raptins Poison from wreaking havoc. Raptin cannot be Slept or Confused provided the player sticks to the gameplan and remains in the SZ. Zone Swap can force him out, but unless this happens very early, Raptin will have inflicted so much damage to the point that the LP advantage will be too wide to easily recover from. Raptin struggles against Dinomaton without aid or support as it is immune to Poison.