Leader (Devil Survivor)
Leaders are a gameplay mechanic in the Devil Survivor series.
Overview
Battles in the Devil Survivor series, referred to as "Skirmishes", take place between teams consisting of one leader and up to two minions. The leader is always the middle combatant, and takes reduced damage so long as there is at least one minion alive. A team is defeated when the leader dies, regardless of whether there are any living minions left. When fighting an enemy team, defeating the enemy leader before their teammates will grant half the EXP and Macca from the undefeated minions.
Some skills, such as Leader Soul, can only be used by a team's leader. Other skills cannot be used by leaders and are instead restricted to minions; that being the Knight Soul series of skills, where the minion takes a lethal hit for the leader.
Leader stats
There are two stats unique to leaders; Move and Speed. A leader's move stat determines how far their team can move in one turn. Move can be affected by different skills, such as Racial Skills like Animal Leg that increases move temporarily, or skills that inflict the Bind ailment and reduces a team's move to 1. Speed is part of determining Turn Order, with a higher speed stat on the leader allowing a team to act sooner after ending their turn.
Ally leaders
The player controls up to 4 teams, and a team cannot be deployed if it does not have a leader. Once per turn, the leader can summon a demon in the stock to an empty space in their team.
The protagonist is always the leader of the first team, but the availability of other allied leaders is based on different circumstances—such as if a specific event has been seen or depending on which route the player is on.
Unlike ally demons, allied leaders do not gain skills through level-up or auction ranks. Instead, ally leaders' skills are fully customizable and are set from the available list of cracked skills. Leaders need to meet the stat requirements of a skill to be able to set it. When cracking skills, the chosen skill is assigned to the team's leader—although any member of the team can defeat the foe to crack it.
Mechanics by Game
Devil Survivor
With the exception of the Protagonist, Atsuro, and Yuzu, who all always start at level 1, the starting level an ally leader has when they join the party is variable and uses an unknown formula, but is likely either based on the Protagonist's level or the average level of all ally leaders.
| Name |
|---|
| Protagonist |
| Atsuro |
| Yuzu |
| Keisuke |
| Midori |
| Mari |
| Izuna |
| Amane |
| Kaido |
| Naoya |
| Gin |
| Black Frost |
Devil Survivor 2
Unlike Devil Survivor, Devil Survivor 2 has set base levels for the ally leaders.
| Name | Level |
|---|---|
| Protagonist | 1 |
| Daichi | 1 |
| Io | 1 |
| Joe | 5 |
| Hinako | 12 |
| Keita | 13 |
| Airi | 18 |
| Jungo | 21 |
| Fumi | 22 |
| Makoto | 25 |
| Otome | 26 |
| Ronaldo | 30 |
| Yamato | 52 |
| Al Saiduq | 55 |
Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker
Record Breaker introduces one new ally leader, only available in the Triangulum story.
| Name | Level |
|---|---|
| Miyako | 55 |
Nomenclature
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 English
|
Leader | |
 Japanese
|
リーダー Rīdā | Leader |
References
- General
- "システム/SYSTEM", Megami Ibunroku Devil Survivor Official Perfect Guide (2011), Compiled by Weekly Famitsu Editorial Department and Famitsu Books Editorial Department. Published by Enterbrain. Japanese. (1 ed.) p. 30-31. ISBN-13: 978-4047276048.