Fairy Tail offers players a chance to pick their favorite guys and gals in the anime. As you follow the guild’s journey, you’ll also be treated to personal character stories and, in turn, you’ll get to increase character ranks. Here’s our guide to help you out.
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Note: For more information, check out our Fairy Tail guides and features hub.
Fairy Tail: Character ranks guide
First, let’s get one thing clear: Fairy Tail‘s “character levels” are vastly different from the “character rank” mechanic. The former, “character levels” or “level-ups,” are obtained via conventional means (killing mobs and gaining EXP). They also offer rudimentary progression increases such as HP, MP, and new spells.
Meanwhile, the latter, “character ranks” or “rank-ups,” are obtained via the guild ledger, the book in each guild hub which also shows your guild’s rank and facilities (seen below):
Likewise, each rank-up in Fairy Tail requires a specific number of Fairy Points (which are obtained when you complete guild requests). The character ranks system also follows a few similarities among all the peeps you recruit in-game:
- Rank 0: N/A
- Rank 1: Magic Chain Enhance – Adds a new command to the Magic Chain during battles; increases damage of finishers.
- Rank 3: Heavy Armor – Additional Lacrima slot.
- Rank 4: Alternative Costume – Grants an extra costume for that character. This can be changed in Lucy’s house when you access the wardrobe.
- Rank 5: Follow-up Enhance – Increases the damage of follow-up attacks.
- Rank 7: Rapid Refresh – Increases MP restored at the end of a battle.
- Rank 8: Magic Enhance II – Adds a new command to the Magic Chain during battles; increases damage of finishers.
As you can see, only a select few ranks will provide unique boosts tailor-fit for that character (ie. ranks 2, 6, and 10); the tenth rank actually provides a special skill or ability. Here are some examples early on in Fairy Tail:
| Character | Rank 2 | Rank 6 | Rank 10 |
| Natsu | Fire Dragon’s Zenith – +30% crit rate while Awakened | Fire Dragon’s Essence – Guarantees critical hits while Awakened | Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade |
| Lucy | Celestial Protection – HP cannot be reduced below 1 when you take damage (HP has to be 30% or higher) | Captivating Pose – When this procs, the “Chance” status is given to allies; allies can also gain an extra turn in battle | Summon Aries |
| Gray | Master’s Teachings: Speed – 5% chance that Gray’s clothes will come off and his speed is raised by 10% for the duration of the battle | Master’s Teachings: Attack – The same trigger as the previous one, but this raises attack instead | Ice Make: Floor Unlimited |
| Erza | Titania’s Zenith – +10% attack and defense when HP is 30% or lower | Titania’s Defense – +10% attack and defense when HP is 50% or lower | Crimson-Black Twin Blades |
| Wendy | Sky Dragon’s Zenith – Increases the buffs Wendy gives by a turn. | Sky Sister’s Dance – When this procs, the “Chance” status is given to allies; allies can also gain an extra turn in battle | Deus Eques |
| Juvia | Rain’s Blessing: Defense – Doubles defense percentage when regeneration is active; tripled when Gray is part of the team | Rain’s Blessing: Attack – Provides a similar effect but for attack this time. | Water Jigsaw |
| Gajeel | Iron Dragon’s Zenith – +30% crit rate when attacking an enemy inflicted with a status ailment | Iron Dragon’s Essence – Guaranteed critical hit on a target afflicted by a status ailment | Iron |
Character stories
Okay, so far so good, right? Well, just to be clear, there will be times when you might hit a brick wall even if you have the requisite Fairy Points. That’s when the game might require you to complete a character’s story first.
Anyway, in Fairy Tail, a character that can have his or her story tackled will have an icon over their model. Mind you, these are usually quick, short romps — technically they’re sidequests too — that require you to complete a task for a specific person. For instance, Erza’s early character story would just have you buy some sweets in Magnolia:
Completing this will unlock possible rank-ups from rank 4 to rank 6:
Character stories don’t even need you to reach a certain rank already — ie. reach rank 6 with Juvia first before her next character story becomes available. It just requires you to have completed a previous story for that character. Try to pay attention to some guild requests that would require you to bring certain folks just in case these would lead to new stories too.
Fairy Tail is available on Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.
