Trials of Mana/Duran's classes

Duran is a slow but powerful physical attacker. Depending on which classes you choose for him, he may learn healing magic or various Saber spells that cause your characters' weapons to do elemental damage.

Starting Class: Fighter

Tech: Cross Slash

Spells

• None

Has the most powerful attack out of all the starting characters, but attacks slower than Kevin or Hawk. He learns no spells until after his first class change.

First Class Change

Light: Knight

Tech: Three Step Cut - Single Target

Spells

• Learns
  • Heal Light - Single Target

The Knight class is more defense oriented. As a Knight, Duran can equip shields and learn basic healing magic. The downside is that his attacks are less powerful than the Gladiator's and his tech can only hit a single target.

Dark: Gladiator

Tech: Whirlwind Sword - Multi Target

Spells

• Learns
  • Diamond Saber - Single Target
  • Thunder Saber - Single Target
  • Flame Saber - Single Target
  • Ice Saber - Single Target

The Gladiator class is more offense oriented. Duran can not equip shields as a Gladiator (nor can he equip shields as either of the classes a Gladiator can become). However, he makes up for this with great offense including a powerful tech that hits all enemies on the screen. His Saber spells can be quite damaging when used against opponents of the opposite element, especially if you have at least one other powerful melee character in your group.

Second Class Change

Light/Light: Paladin

Requires Item: Paladin's Proof/Knight's Tag

Tech: Light Flash Blade - Multi Target

Spells

• Starts with
  • Heal Light - Single Target
• Learns
  • Saint Saber - Single Target

The Paladin is a good mix of offense and defense. He can use shields and cast Heal Light and he also learns Saint Saber and has a powerful multi-target tech. Saint Saber is extremely effective on Dark aligned monsters which makes it very useful at the end of the game.

Light/Dark: Lord

Requires Item: Lord's Proof/Prince's Tag

Tech: Magic Circle - Single Target

Spells

• Upgrades
  • Heal Light - Single/Multi Target
• Learns
  • Tinkle Rain - Single Target

The Lord can cast Heal Light on all allies simultaneously which makes him a very effective healer. If you have Duran in your group, but you don't have Carlie, it is a good idea to turn him into a Lord. Besides that, he doesn't have anything else that sets him apart, so if you do have Carlie in your group, you should probably avoid this class.

Dark/Light: Swordmaster

Requires Item: Master's Proof

Tech: Vacuum Sword - Multi Target

Spells

• Upgrades
  • Diamond Saber - Single/Multi Target
  • Thunder Saber - Single/Multi Target
  • Flame Saber - Single/Multi Target
  • Ice Saber - Single/Multi Target
• Learns
  • Moon Saber - Single Target
  • Leaf Saber - Single Target

The Swordmaster can use every Saber spell in the game except for Saint Saber and Dark Saber. Moon Saber can help you do fights without needing as much healing and Leaf Saber can help keep your characters' MP high without the use of expensive items. His attack power is not as high as the Duelist's (but it is still very high), but his spells are more useful.

Dark/Dark: Duelist

Requires Item: Duelist's Proof

Tech: Eruption Sword - Multi Target

Spells

• Starts with
  • Diamond Saber - Single Target
  • Thunder Saber - Single Target
  • Flame Saber - Single Target
  • Ice Saber - Single Target
• Learns
  • Dark Saber - Single Target

The Duelist has the highest attack power out of all Duran's classes. He also has Eruption Sword - quite possibly the most powerful tech in the game. His main drawback is that the only spell he learns (Dark Saber) does not really have any use by the time you get him.

Summary table

L I G H T	Fighter				D A R K
	Tech: cross slash
	Spell: (none)
	Knight		Gladiator
	Tech: Three step cut (S)		Tech: Whirlwind sword (M)
	Spell: Heal light (S)		Spells: Diamond saber (S) Thunder saber (S) Flame saber (S) Ice saber (S)
	Paladin	Lord	Swordmaster	Duelist
	Tech: Light flash blade (M)	Tech: Magic circle (S)	Tech: Vacuum sword (M)	Tech: Eruption sword (M)
	Spell: Saint saber (S)	Spells: Tinkle rain (S)	Spells: Moon saber (S) Leaf saber (S)	Spell: Dark saber (S)
	-	Upgraded: Heal light (M)	Upgraded: Ice saber (M) Thunder saber (M) Flame saber (M) Diamond saber (M)	-