The exciting new JRPG Granblue Fantasy Relink will introduce a number of combat systems, one of which is called Masteries. In this guide we’ll be talking about what they do, how to utilize Mastery Nodes and how to get the best out of them.

Granblue Fantasy Relink Masteries: What They Do and How They Work

Granblue Fantasy Relink’s release day is just around the corner and at this point, we’re all ready to dive in and experience this new game! Our team was able to secure a copy ahead of time and we want to share one of the characters’ upgrade mechanics in the game, the Masteries (don’t worry, this is spoiler-free!) I will be discussing here everything you need to know about Masteries from the early game and up to how this mechanic evolves in the end game!

What are Granblue Fantasy Relink Masteries?

Masteries is a cool feature in the game that allows you to personalize your character’s abilities. By unlocking different nodes, you can enhance your skills, stats, and passive abilities as your character levels up. It’s important to note that each character’s mastery progress is unique and not shared with other characters.

As you progress through the main campaign, you’ll have the opportunity to explore three different mastery categories: Offense, Defense, and Collection. These categories offer a variety of options to further customize your character’s build.

How to Unlock Masteries in Granblue Fantasy Relink?

Masteries will become available a little after you arrive at Folca Town in Chapter 1. This is the early part of the game where you will talk to different NPCs and you will look for Katalina, one of the OG characters, who is also known as Lyria’s bodyguard and sister.

All you need to do is talk to her and she will tell you about Mastery Points (MSP) and how to spend them. When you go to your Main Menu, you will see a new tab dedicated to Masteries.

You will begin with access to 2 Categories, which are Offense and Defense. They follow the same mechanic where you spend Mastery Points to unlock the Mastery node. The nodes will vary depending on which character you’re viewing. Collection, which is the 3rd category becomes available later on (I’ll talk more about this).

Spend MSP wisely! You can’t Respec Mastery Points

Before buying a node, make sure that you are committed to this because there are currently no respec options available! This means that Mastery nodes are permanent and can’t be reverted if you ever change your mind! A good practice to manage your Mastery Points is to view the skill effects, description, and MSP cost. You can see all of this on the right side of your screen before you unlock nodes. You can even scroll down to see all the other nodes available (for the meantime) as more nodes will unlock as you progress in Granblue Fantasy Relink Masteries.

How to Acquire Mastery Points?

Mastery Points (MSP) is the special currency used to unlock Mastery nodes for all playable characters. MSP is shared across characters and you can see your current Mastery Points by going to the Mastery Menu and looking at the top right side of your screen. MSP is a limited resource and it’s important to allocate them between your favorite characters. There are a few ways to earn Mastery Points:

• Mastery Points are earned as characters level up
• Can be recovered from Treasure Chests
• Normal Story Progression
• Completing Side Quests from the Quest Counter and NPCs

Unlock More Mastery Nodes: Collection and Over Mastery

The Collection Mastery is a unique node progression that grants a mix of Offensive and Defensive stats tied up to Weapon Levels. You can unlock the third Mastery after uncapping the Max Level of any Weapon of your choice. To begin, you’ll need a fully upgraded weapon so you can uncap it. Then, the second item you’ll need is a Refinium to uncap the Max Level of the weapon. Once you have the materials, take it to the Blacksmith in Town (or you can also visit the Hallowed Ground to do upgrades if you’re in the middle of completing a Chapter).

From the Blacksmith or Hallowed Ground, select the Upgrade Weapons menu, and choose the Weapon that you want to uncap. I used a Level 10/10 Sword of Eos and uncapped it using the Refinium. This process raised the level cap from Level 10 to Level 30. After doing this, Weapon Collection Bonuses will now be unlocked in the Mastery.

Go to the Main Menu this time, and view Masteries. You will see a third tab showing: Collection. Just like the other nodes, you will need Mastery Points (MSP) to purchase a node under this category. The difference between the other two categories is that the Collection Mastery doesn’t have the branch system the Offense and Defense have, but instead, it features a linear progression locked behind Weapon levels.

The Weapon Collection Bonuses are available at Weapon Levels 20, 50, 75, 100, 125, and 150. Another thing that’s worth mentioning about these bonuses is that the character will keep the stat boosts even if they are no longer using that weapon. There are no Mastery Points wasted here.

Masteries Progression and How It Works in the End Game

During the Main Campaign, you will have Offense, Defense, and Collection. These categories work similarly and they have progression limits on them. Collection is based on individual Weapon Levels, while Offense and Defense are based on Chapter progression.

These limits allow proper scaling of characters and also encourage players to finish the Main Campaign. This system also ensures that characters will be able to keep up in the end game as quests become more difficult. After clearing the Final Chapter, more progression nodes will become available and a new objective will guide players in Mastery Progression.

To unlock more nodes under Offense and Defense, players will now aim to unlock Side Quests of higher difficulty. The Side Quests difficulty are the following:

• Hard
• Very Hard
• Extreme
• Maniac
• Proud

Side Quest difficulty is increased as you complete quests with a unique orange diamond marker found in the Quest Counter. Whenever you complete these challenging quests you will have access to higher difficulty which will also unlock nodes in both Offense and Defense Mastery Progression.

Unlock Over Mastery for Level 80+ Characters in End Game

Over Mastery is a new type of Masteries Progression that unlocks after a Character reaches Level 80. An Over Mastery node provides 4 random stat boosts to that character and requires Mastery Points (MSP) to unlock. One node of Over Mastery can be unlocked at Character Levels 80, 90, and 100.

Possible Bonuses

The list of possible bonuses is obtained at random. Stars will represent the Strength of each Over Mastery Effect and you can find the list of Possible Bonus Effects below:

• Attack Power Up
• Critical Hit Rate Up
• Skill Damage UIp
• Chain Burst Damage Up
• Skill Damage Cap Up
• Healing Cap Up
• Health Up
• Stun Power Up
• Skybound Art Damage Up
• Normal Attack Damage Cap Up
• Skyboard Art Damage Cap Up

Final Thoughts

Overall, Masteries is a straightforward mechanic that will let you customize your character’s build. You can have a healer, melee tank, and spellcaster characters that will balance out your party’s composition. 

On that note, I do wish that there’s a respec or node refund system in the future. It came as a surprise when I found out that we are stuck with the nodes that we have unlocked. Most RPG games feature a respec system, and so for now, we need to manage Mastery Points and spend them wisely so our characters will scale well in the end game!

That’s all for the Masteries in Granblue Fantasy Relink! I’m excited to see how this mechanic will turn out for everyone and the types of builds that we will come up with in the future! From the early game to the end game, there’s a ton to explore and more Masteries Progression to be unlocked.

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If you’re looking for more Granblue Fantasy Relink don’t miss our coverage on its extensive end-game and which characters to play. You can also drop by our wiki for all the latest info on Weapons, Armor, Skybound Arts, Sigils and more.