Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Guide: How to Play as Machina

Before we start, it’s not just me, right? I mean, I can’t be the only one who thinks Machina’s cape looks absolutely ridiculous. He and Rem are the outsiders in Class Zero and he takes on the vomit-inducing role of wanting to be her white knight in shining armor. Seriously though, what’s he trying to do with that cape? Does he think he’s a vampire? He might as well be, since some of his most effective skills center around draining his enemies’ HP.

I make a lot of jokes about Machina but his fighting prowess is nothing to scoff at. In fact, he’s one of the most powerful short ranged attackers in Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. He’s a decent magic user too, and his versatility allows players to build his character as they see fit. Machina can pretty much survive on his own without needing much aid from other cadets, but more on that later.

A couple of skills to get you started with Machina include Cyclone Drive and Awakening. Cyclone Drive uses up your AG and allows you to attack continuously. This is a ridiculously fast attack that hits really hard, allowing Machina to take down multiple troops at once. You just have to remember to direct his attacks. Awakening is more of a last resort tactic that you can fall back on when you’re nearly out of HP. This ability restores all of Machina’s HP and turns his regular attacks into Furious Blades until he takes damage.

Awakening gets really useful when you upgrade it with Flinchproof Awakening, which allows him to continue attacking even after taking damage, as well as the AG cost reduction. The only drawback of this ability is that it costs a massive amount of AG so make sure you save up enough for it in case you’re ever in a jam.

However, Machina only truly becomes a really powerful tank after you’ve unlocked his vampiric skills. Siphon Sword is a decent attack that allows him to drain enemies’ HP while attacking. When you’ve leveled him up enough, feel free to swap out Siphon Sword for the vastly superior Darkside. This ability has Machina pierce multiple enemies in rapid succession and possibly inflict Stun on them while draining their HP. A decent build for Machina is to fill his command slots with Darkside and Cyclone Drive. One attack allows him to deal massive damage to enemies, while the other helps to restore any lost HP in a pinch. For his defensive magic, consider Block. Cure isn’t really necessary for Machina since he can pretty much heal himself with his own abilities.

Machina’s only shortfall is his attack speed, which is just a tad slower than Queen’s. As such, you might want to take him out to the arena and have him go a few rounds in the combat simulation to get a good feel for his attacks. His Combo Bonus is also worth getting during his early levels so that he can execute a larger number of hits in his regular attacks.

With Machina’s decent HP pool, high defense stat, and his insanely useful life-draining abilities, he’s got the potential to be an effective melee tank in your party. With some practice, Machina could easily be one of the most powerful cadets on your roster. I just wish he’d get rid of that silly cape.

Find out how to play as the other Class Zero cadets here, and you can check out our review of the game here.