Etheria Restart Team Building 101: Roles, Elements, and Faction Synergy Basics​

Etheria Restart teams work best when you think in roles first, then layer in element coverage and faction bonuses on top. A solid starter core is 1–2 DPS, 1 support/rotator, and 1 sustain/control, with flex picks based on content.

Core roles in every team

HellHades’ early‑game team‑building guide splits Etheria units into four key roles: DPS, support, turn meter control, and sustain (healer/shields).​

• DPS handle most of your damage; early examples include Lian, Massiah, and Xiada, with Lian highlighted as a must‑build due to her free mission rewards.​
• Supports like Gray, Lily, and Beyontin bring crit, attack, or damage buffs and defense breaks; Gray specifically gives teamwide Crit Rate+ and DEF‑, while gaining extra turns to cycle his skills.​
• Turn meter (TM) controllers such as Chiaki the Echo and Kloss push your team’s action bar or slow enemies, enabling “buff → DEF‑ → nuke” rotations before foes can move.​
• Sustain units like Dorothy, Lingluo, Helkid, and Valerian keep your team alive with heals, shields, or damage reduction; most beginner comps run at least one dedicated sustain to stabilise story and dungeon clears.​

This is why many starter lineups recommended by Prydwen and HellHades look like “Lian (DPS) + Gray (support) + Dorothy (heal) + Chiaki/Cachi (TM).”​

Elements and attribute matchups

Etheria uses attributes (elements) with advantage/disadvantage matchups, and both Prydwen and HellHades note that hitting advantage noticeably improves clear speed and consistency.​

• Prydwen’s tier list and character pages group units by element, and their team database shows that high‑end PvE comps usually cover at least two advantageous attributes for the boss they’re tackling.​
• The beginner synergy guides advise that you avoid stacking only one element early on; instead, you bring 1–2 on‑element DPS plus off‑element supports/healers who are safe even when neutral.​

Practical rule: match your main DPS’s element to the stage weakness when possible, but don’t bench your best supports just to force full mono‑element early.​

Faction and synergy basics

Units also belong to factions, and several guides point out that faction synergies and tags (e.g., Shell type, class) start to matter more in bosses, Union Front, and later content.​​

• HellHades’ synergy article highlights “Free‑to‑Play core” and “Control” teams built around recurring synergies: Gray + Lian for crit/DEF‑ into nukes, Kraken/Obol/Kazuyo for control‑based mechanics, and Freya/Chiaki/Kloss as rotators who push the whole team forward.​
• A YouTube “Team Building 101” video explains that many top setups are essentially “engines”: a buffer (Gray/Beyontin), a DEF‑ applier, a TM rotator (Chiaki/Freya/Kloss), and 1–2 DPS that share buffs or tags, which stack faction‑style passives and make rotations smooth.​

Union Front content adds node buffs that enhance specific factions or roles, encouraging you to group units who share traits (e.g., all Control or all specific faction) to get the most from map‑wide modifiers.​

Example basic teams

Both HellHades and Prydwen showcase simple blueprints you can copy and adapt.​

• General PvE 4‑man: Lian (DPS), Gray (support/DEF‑), Dorothy or Lingluo (healer), Chiaki/Cachi (TM).​
• Control‑heavy team: Lian (DPS), Kraken/Obol/Kazuyo (CC), Freya/Chiaki/Kloss (rotator), plus a healer or second DPS depending on stage difficulty.​
• Early boss template (Terrormaton/DokiDoki): 2 DPS, 1 rotator, 1 control unit to strip defensive buffs via CC, and 1 sustain or extra support; guides emphasise that control is “non‑negotiable” here.​

These examples all follow the same pattern: hit required roles first, then tune element and faction choices to the content you’re running.

Simple rules to follow

Reddit team‑building help threads and beginner guides converge on a few basic rules for building and investing.​

• Always cover: at least one main DPS, one support/DEF‑, one healer/shield, and one TM/control piece; treat other picks as flex.​
• Build around your best free core (Lian + Gray + healer) and slot your selector SSR into whatever your team is missing (more damage, support, or sustain).​
• For tough bosses, prioritise control and rotation over raw DPS; turn control plus DEF‑ plus on‑element damage clears content more reliably than stacking three random damage dealers.​​

Following these basics, roles first, then elements, then faction/tags, gives you a flexible foundation that stays strong even as balance changes and as new units enter the meta.