What does the auto-build feature consider when rebuilding your character?

Question

In the early parts of the game, I found myself using auto-build a lot so I wouldn't have to worry too much about which arts or accessories to equip while still learning the mechanics of the game. Now that I'm progressing further into the game, and acquiring more powerful (and preferred) accessories and arts, I've found myself using auto-build less and less as the AI seems to be a bit flaky.

What exactly does the auto build feature consider when rebuilding your character?

From what I can tell, auto build will change up your accessories, gems, and secondary arts (I forgot what these are call, the ones controlled by the D-Pad), but not primary arts (the ones controlled by Y, B, X).

For accessories, does it consider stat changes rather than passive abilities? For example, equipping the Memory Locket (which allows non-healer roles to revive) is much more useful than +6 physical defense point.

For secondary arts, does the system considered how the arts would fuse together? It always seems to pick an art that reflects the primary art I have equipped.

For gems, I'm assuming it's considering the best passive boosts for that role.

Answer 1

I experimented with auto-build to see what I could find. I tested with a level 50 party during Chapter 5. It's hard to tell exactly what the game considers, but I did notice the following trends:

Auto-build did change:

• Combat Arts (Right Side)
• Master Arts (Left side)
• Skills
• Gems
• Accessories

Auto-build did not change

• Class
• Talent Arts (Large art on right recharged by Role Actions)
• Interlink Arts
• Clothing

General observations:

• Each class seems to have it's own preferred order for equipping arts, skills, gems, and accessories. These are selected in order based on what the character has unlocked & equippable.
  • For example: If a character with the Swordfighter class has the Fighting Prowess master skill unlocked, it will always be equipped before Ultimate Qigong, Critical Strike, or Split Second Counter. (In that order)
• Class arts almost always equipped the first three available choices from the arts list.
  • The Swordfighter class was an exception, skipping Ground Beat and equipping the next 3 options instead.
• At least 2 of the 3 selected master arts were from a class with the same role as the character's class. IE: A Heavy Guard would have 2 or 3 Defender arts.
• Since gems can be equipped by multiple characters, characters with the same class were equipped with identical gems.
• If you have multiple versions of an accessory with different rarities, autobuild will prefer a lower rarity of that accessory over equipping an different accessory lower that is lower in it's priority list.

Note this is based on my own limited experimentation with a save that has not completed the game yet, so do not take these observations as definitive fact.