Max: the Craymel Gun commander
Max joins later than the rest of the cast and his Craymel Gun gives him several elements at once, so he is the easiest character to bring to an unfamiliar boss.
Max is the game's optional heavy: a thirty-eight-year-old revolutionary with a Craymel Gun, an army and a plan to rule Celestia himself. He is not a hero, and the game never pretends otherwise.
What he is for
Max's weapon is a Craymel Gun that has been rebuilt to hold Craymels of several types at once. Normal Celestian guns are limited to a single element because a cage only focuses one; his can switch between several, which gives him elemental attacks, physical attacks and support effects in one character.
In practical terms he is the boss specialist. If you are walking into a Greater Craymel fight you have not prepared for, Max is the character who can cover whatever element you are missing.
How to recruit him
Max is the leader of the Shileska Freedom Army, a resistance movement founded to remove Celestia's tyrant and install Max in his place. The party meets him during the Celestian half of the story, along with his sub-commander Ayla, and he joins as an optional playable character rather than as a required party member.
His personal story is unusually melancholy for a comic-relief design: a marriage that ended before it started, and a pet he keeps because it is the only link he has to the woman who left.
How to use him
- Bring him to unfamiliar bosses. His multi-element gun means you do not need to shop for a specific weapon before the fight.
- He is a ranged character in a melee party. Keep the physical fighters between him and the enemy.
- Treat his support options as part of the kit. He is not only damage; his gun carries effects the other characters cannot produce at range.
Equipment priorities
- Gun upgrades, current and cheap. Like Farah, he has only one weapon class, so his weapon slot is a straight ladder.
- Anything that boosts multiple parameters. His stats are spread across the board rather than concentrated, so percentage boosts matter more to him than to a specialist.
- A resistance ring for whatever lair you are entering — the same advice as everyone else, and it applies doubly to a character with no self-healing.
Should you use him?
Yes, if you are playing for coverage rather than damage ceilings. Reid and Farah out-damage him in a straight fight, Keele and Meredy out-cast him, and Chat is more flexible — but nobody else lets you walk into an unknown element and be useful immediately.
