Ashton Anchors is a playable character in Star Ocean: The Second Story, its enhanced port Star Ocean: Second Evolution, the sequel Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, and Star Ocean: Anamnesis.
Star Ocean: The Second Story / Second Evolution[]
Ashton equips twin swords and some post-game swords. He can equip heavy armor and all fighter armor. He has two exclusive accessories: the Salamander Helmet and Sacknoth's Helmet.
Ashton is one of the most powerful, purely physical attackers. His normal attack is the fastest in the game, with minimal lag and great range. However, his fatal flaws are his low Agility (his running speed being one of the slowest) and lowest Luck in the game, permanently at 18, which can only be increased by accessories. His other stats, however, are very balanced and above average as he reaches higher levels.
The vast majority of his Special Arts are very potent but also slow and situational, requiring timing and proper assistance from party members in order to unleash their full potential. Among his notable arts are Vanishing Swords, which will cause Ashton to teleport to his opponent no matter how far he is; Hurricane Slash, which can easily set up combos with other characters, as well connecting perfectly with his Sword Dance; Dragon Breath, which can be massively powerful if it traps opponents at the edges of the battlefield; and Tri-Ace, a full-screen attack that will stop time, similarly to Symbology spells.
In Second Evolution, Ashton is, without question, the best character to kill the two superbosses, Iselia Queen and Gabriel Unlimited, once the player has the the Archangel Bracelet and sufficient HIT (through sufficient level, the Foot Insignia, or Angel Feather); the Demon Sword Levantine is optional. With his fast normal attacks, he can keep the bosses permanently stun-locked, and can keep his own HP at 1 to bring out the full power of the Levantine. The stun-locking is even easier if Rena or Celine continuously cast quick, but weak spells, in order to keep the bosses staggered.
Ashton is required for Precis to learn her Super Hologram technique in a PA in Fun City. Ashton needs to have learned Sword Dance and to have 8+ FP towards Precis and vice versa. If Ashton is recruited, Opera (and by extension Ernest) will not join the party.
The Second Story R[]
Ashton received fewer improvements than other characters, and even some nerfs to his normal attack that hurt his ability to stun-lock enemies, (although it remains among the better ones in the cast). While a lot of his Arts now boast much higher hit count and range, many of them are still very slow and difficult to use. Hurricane Slash now shoots a much larger tornado that deals many hits, but they push enemies forward, which makes connecting with Sword Dance significantly harder.
Ashton's new ultimate weapon is the Souen & Guren (received by scoring a total of 100,000 points in Cooking Master), which has a Fire elemental attack and doubles the amounts of Bonus Spheres dropped from enemies. While its ATK stat is strong compared to his normal weapons, it compares negatively to both existing post-game swords (Farwell and Levantine) whose effects give them much more power and comparable or superior defensive stats as well. Moreover, the Fire element can actually reduce damage to challenging bosses such as Michael. These deficiencies are likely intentional, as the weapon is much easier to obtain than all of the other characters'. When upgraded into its Sever form, all of its stats are greatly improved, surpassing the other swords defensively. In addition, it now always inflicts weakness damage (doubling damage on all targets) rather than being Fire element.
Parameters[]
| LV | HP | MP | STR | CON | DEX | AGL | INT | LUC | STM | GUTS | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gain | -- | -- | 3-6 | 1-3 | 2-3 | -- | 1-2 | -- | 0-1 | 0-1 | -- |
| 17 | 1000 | 120 | 83 | 32 | 50 | 5 | 25 | 18 | 18 | 32 | 100 |
| 100 | 9389 | 951 | 711 | 214 | 345 | 96 | 269 | 18 | 99 | 100 | ? |
| 255 | 9999 | 999 | 1390 | 517 | 727 | 96 | 492 | 18 | 179 | 174 | ? |
Special Arts[]
| Name | Details | Learned |
|---|---|---|
| Twin Thrust | Deliver two deadly blows in succession. | Default |
| Cross Slash | Deliver a vertical slash followed by a horizontal slash. | Default |
| Vanishing Swords | Hide under a camouflage of leaves and emerge suddenly to decimate the enemy. | Default |
| Northern Cross | Produce a giant cluster of ice to strike at enemies. | Default |
| Piercing Blades | Rapidly hurl both swords like throwing knives. | Level 22 |
| Hurricane Slash | Rapidly spin around and use the momentum to lift the enemy into the air. | Level 45 |
| Deadly Triangle | Surround an enemy with two doppelgangers and trap it within a triangle of energy. | Level 53 |
| Dragon Breath | Creepy and Weepy expand in size and breathe fire. | Level 64 |
| Sword Dance | Deliver a rapid succession of blows in a beautifully choreographed sequence. | Level 70 |
| Tri-Ace | A mysterious fighting technique, the details of which are unknown. | Item |
His Tri-Ace skill must be found at the Maze of Tribulations.
Talents[]
| Talent | Initial | Bloom | Learned via |
|---|---|---|---|
| Originality | 10% | 40% | Crafting, Customize |
| Taste | 80% | 2% | Cooking |
| Nimble Fingers | 50% | 5% | Crafting, Machinist |
| Design Sense | 0% | 0% | Art, Machinist |
| Composition | 40% | 2% | Writing |
| Rhythm Sense | 10% | 10% | Music |
| Listening | 10% | 10% | Music |
| Love of Animals | 50% | 1% | Familiar |
| Animal Instinct | 30% | 2% | Scout |
| Blessing Of Mana | 0% | 0% | Alchemy |
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere[]
Star Ocean: Anamnesis[]
Ashton[]
- Awakening
| AwakeningLevel | Details (See Awakening for materials.) |
|---|---|
| 1 | New talent: High-Speed Slash (高速の斬撃?) - AP cost -30%, -50% at 150, 300 hits, respectively |
| 2 | Piercing Blades LV 2 - ATK x 150% → 170% |
| 3 | Sincere Efforts II LV 2 - All element damage dealt +40% (party) and AP cost -10% (self) |
| 4 | Northern Cross LV 2 - ATK x 400% → 440% |
| 5 | High-Speed Slash LV 2 - AP cost -30%, -50% at 150, 300 hits, respectively, and critical hit chance +50% at 400 hits or more |
| 6 | Heir of Symbological Arts LV 2 - Rush Mode damage +20%, +40% at 100, 200 hits, respectively |
| 7 | Creepy's Aid LV 2 - AP slightly recovers and ATK +25% when using fire skills (10 seconds) Twin Thrust LV 2 - ATK x 200% → 220% Sword Dance LV 2 - ATK x 920 → 1020% |
| 8 | New skill:  Flame Dextral Edge (デクストラル・エッジ・炎?) LV 2 ~ ATK x 170% -  /  - 14 AP - 2Hits - Take a step to the right and slash at your foe. (Recovers 3 AP)
|
| 9 | tri-Ace LV 2 - ATK x 3500% → 4500% |
| 10 | New talent: Swordsman of Ice & Flame (氷炎の剣士?) - Additional hit that deals 5% of damage during skills |
Blazing Ashton[]
- Awakening
| AwakeningLevel | Details (See Awakening for materials.) |
|---|---|
| 1 | New talent: Roar of Enchanted Flames (魔炎の咆哮?) - AP recovery speed +100%, no flinching during Charge Assault, and Cancel Bonus 200% start while charging skills |
| 2 | Cold Cannon LV 2 - ATK x 230% → 260% |
| 3 | Ancient Demonic Flame Dragon LV 2 - ATK +30% when using fire skills (10 seconds), and fire damage dealt +20% when using ice skills (10 seconds) |
| 4 | Frigid Cross Slash - ATK x 490% → 540% |
| 5 | Well-Done Preference LV 2 - HP +30%, and no flinching when taking damage of 20% HP or less (party) |
| 6 | Heat Zapper LV 2 - ATK x 390% → 430% |
| 7 | Species-Transcending Bonds LV 2 - Single-target damage dealt +20%, and single-target damage dealt +50% at short range (party) |
| 8 | New skill:  Frigid Back-Knuckle (スピニング・バックナックル・凛?) LV 2 ~ ATK x 180% -  /  - 14 AP - 1Hits - Pummel your foe with a flurry of gauntleted backhanded blows.
|
| 9 | Lava Flow Dragon LV 2 - ATK x 4500% → 5000% |
| 10 | New talent: Flame Symbological Fencing (紋章剣・炎?) - Taunt +3, and absorbs 1% of damage dealt by Burning Sword Dance when targeted Burning Sword Dance LV 2 - ATK x 810% → 900% |
Holiday Ashton[]
Divine Ashton[]