Sylvando is a character that has an extremely useful side to him for a decent chunk of the game, but that usefulness will fade some as the game progresses. He has access to three different weapons, which are Knives, Swords, and Whips. He isn’t particularly outstanding with any of the three, so it can actually be up to you which one he uses. With Knives and Swords, he can use a shield, making him more defensive. The upside of using Whips is that he can hit an entire group of enemies (not all enemies) in a battle, but they tend to be weaker than other weapons and he will have ways to hit all enemies.

Spells¶

The spells that Sylvando learns upon leveling up are not going to change the game at all. The Re-Heal line of spells will regenerate HP for a single character, and while they might be decent towards the beginning of the game, they will trickle off into obscurity not that far into your adventure. Accelerate and Decelerate are not as useful as you think, since the game won’t allow you to skip over an enemy’s turn. The two biggest takeaways from Sylvando’s list of spells are Cock-a-Doodle-Doo, allowing you to wake up sleeping party members, and Oomph/Oomphle, which increases the attack of others. In fact, you will probably be spending a lot of time using Oomph/Oomphle more than anything else. He also learns two offensive spells, in Whoosh and Swoosh, but they aren’t going to deal a lot of damage and he has better skills for doing that.

Swords¶

Looking at the list of skills and passives, you can see that Swords isn’t going to be much of use to Sylvando. However, despite this, it is a viable choice, simply for the fact that it’s highly likely none of your other sword users are going to be using them. Of course, choosing a weapon should be more about its skills and what it brings to the table, so it’s entirely up to you what you want to do. All of the skills that Sylvando can use via the sword tree are available to all of the other characters, so he doesn’t get anything exclusive.

Knives¶

If you plan on using Erik, who should be using Knives, then this is a great weapon choice for Sylvando, since it synergizes with Erik. The reason for that is because a large amount of damage that Erik can do requires some setting up and Sylvando can help with that. For example, you can inflict poison with Cobra Strike, letting Erik do Victimiser right after, instead of having to waste a turn having to inflict poison himself. Once you unlock Naster Knives, then the chance to inflict those ailments becomes greater. The only difference between Sylvando’s tree and Erik’s is Sudden Death, which also has a chance to deal instant death, but it does some good damage outside of that. Also, Sylvando cannot learn Sudden Death until much later in the game.

Whips¶

Whips can be a decent choice for Sylvando, as they offer him the ability to hit more than one foe at a time, although you are limited to a group and not all enemies. That being said, he does make a better whip user than Veronica, despite learning pretty much all of the same skills as her. Most of the skills have something extra to them, with them mostly having a chance to inflict some kind of ailment, even if the chance is a bit on the low side. The one locked panel in the center grants access to Wyrm Whip, which does almost twice as much damage as a normal attack, but only to one enemy. Also, this skill can dispel enemy buffs, including a pepped up state, which can be nice in some boss fights. The only skill exclusive to Sylvando is Lash Batter, dealing more damage than usual to the group of enemies, while also having a chance to Beguile them.

Litheness¶

This is where you start getting into some of the better stuff for Sylvando, although it’s definitely not the best. The best ability, especially when you first get him, is Sobering Slap, which allows you to remove sleep, confusion, beguilement, and paralysis from a single ally. Since it is one of the only skills that can actually cure Beguilement, it is extremely useful and you should always have it. The only other skill that is particularly good, despite requiring obtaining dipping into the Knives tree, is Have A Ball. This hits six times to random enemies, with each hit dealing around 50% of normal damage. Use this against a boss and you are going to be doing some nice damage.

Showmanship¶

This is definitely Sylvando’s best tree in the game, as you will find some great skills here. In fact, you should make a beeline towards Hustle Dance as soon as you get him in your party. This is a party-wide heal that is affected by Charm, so if you want to make it last a lot longer, then increase Sylvando’s Charm (not hard to do). Getting this skill as early as possible with make some of the more difficult boss fights in the first/middle portion of the game a little easier. Outside of Hustle Dance, you also have That’s Amore, a great single-target skill that is also affected by Charm.

On of the two locked skills in this tree are Pink Pirouette, a skill that damages all enemies, although it is wind elemental, so some enemies might resist it. The other locked skill is called Gold Rush, which is another attack that is a bit different than others. It costs no MP, but instead uses your gold in order to use it. Each casting of Gold Rush costs 1,000 gold to use, but the attack does hit all enemies and does deal around 300 damage to them. Note that you will have to go through either some of the Litheness tree or Whips tree in order to get to Showmanship.

Chivalry¶

The Chivalry skill tree is unlocked upon completing an optional sidequest in the last portion of the game, with it starting from Don Rodrigo in Puerto Valor. The biggest thing in this tree is a skill called Ladies First, which allows Sylvando to pass his turn to one of the females in the active party. Note that while you can cast it on male party members, it does nothing when you do such a thing. The other standout skill in this tree is Finger of Justice, which is Sylvando’s strongest skill by far. Whipping Boy might sound like a great skill, but there is no guarantee that the enemies will be targeting Sylvando. Do note that it’s best to get the other Whipping passives to go with Whipping Boy.

Character Build¶

When you first get Sylvando in your party, you will want to make a beeline right to Hustle Dance, as this will likely be your first party-wide heal in the game. The best way to get there is via the Litheness tree, where you will also get Sobering Slap. You could make a detour to get the Charm +40 node in the Showmanship tree to get the free 10SP, then respec to work towards Hustle Dance. Once you get Hustle Dance, get the other two important skills in that area, which are Pink Pirouette and That’s Amore. The weapon you’re planning to use on Sylvando determines the tree you will heading down there.

Knives might be the best option, once you do the above, since it does connect with Have A Ball and the Chivalry tree when you unlock that. If you do go Knives, then it complements Erik, since you can set up some things to make it easier for Erik to do a lot of damage. If you go whips, then you know which skills to get, as you can read them above. While Sylvando may be extremely versatile/useful in the beginning portions of the game, he starts to lose his effectiveness later on. Once you unlock the Chivalry tree, his usefulness pretty much resorts to either giving the female characters extra turns or using buffs.