Combat Guide

Combat is an integral feature of the game and you’ll be fighting various enemies most of the time. Simply knowing how to issue attack commands is just half the battle; in our dedicated combat guide, we will cover various combat-related topics such as Fairy Gauge, Awakening, Mode Change, Follow-up Attacks, and more.

Combat Encounters

While on the field, you’ll encounter wandering monsters or enemies. Getting in contact with them will automatically start the battle. To start the battle with an advantage, get to the right distance then press the attack button to attack the monster. This can be done regardless of the character you’re controlling. Thankfully, there’s no disadvantage that will befall your team if ever a monster gets the first move on you. Monsters will chase you but they can be quite easy to avoid or escape from.

Combat Screen

The game has a standard, turn-based combat system, with the combatants’ turns determined by their SPD stat. In the combat screen, you’ll see various commands as described below.

Additional Combat Options

* Help: Opens the help topics/ tutorials

* Details: Displays the resistances and weaknesses of your allies and enemies.

* Next: Displays which combatant will act next.

* Autobattle: Enables automatic combat, which will take effect next turn.

* Action Sequence: Toggle the action sequences on/off

Defeat

As with other games, a character will get knocked out if his/her HP reaches 0. However, in Fairy Tail, characters can also become incapacitated if their MP reaches 0. If all characters are knocked out, you will lose the battle. From there, you have the option to retry the same battle or return to your base to change your setup and regroup.

HP and MP Recovery

As discussed above, you have to keep an eye out to your party’s HP and MP levels. During battle, keep your HP up by using healing consumables or healing spells. For MP, you can use Ethernano Bottles. Defeated enemies also drop Ethernano Particles that will be absorbed by your allies and replenish some of their MP. Like Magic, these particles have elemental types; allies will absorb the particles that match their element. You’ll also automatically replenish some MP after every battle.

You can fully replenish your party’s HP and MP whenever you return to your base so save your healing items only in dire situations when you need them.

Magic Area of Effect

Each magic spell has their individual range or area of effect which will affect all units within their range. These area of effect blocks can’t be rotated so you’ll have to try out different spells to hit your intended targets. Even if you can’t change the direction of the spell’s AoE, you can still move the actual AoE spaces to maximize the affected targets. Even if the spells power up eventually, their range or AoE will not increase.

Fairy Gauge

This gauge fills up as your character attacks and deals damage. Once filled, you can perform a Magic Chain that will also allow you to utilize Extreme Magic or powerful Finishers to deal devastating damage to all enemies. While there are no consumables that will allow you to fill up this gauge instantly, you can further increase the rate this gauge fills up by remodeling your guild’s Library.

Awakening

This ability is not unlocked by default; you have to continue through the story to be able to unlock this feature through a tutorial. As the character takes damage, the Awakening Gauge under their portraits will fill up. Once filled, press and hold the down DPAD to Awaken. This is a temporary state where the character will get the following buffs:

* HP is recovered while Awakened

* All stats will be raised for a set amount of turns.

* HP and MP will be automatically restored at the start of each turn.

* Access to use special magic

When your Awakening Gauge is maxed out and you get attacked, you can trigger the Awakening as a counter or response to that attack. Just press the Up keypad to Awaken and become immune to enemies attack for the duration of the Awakening. However, triggering Awakening using this method will cause this special status to become 2 turns shorter.

Dragon Force and Mode Change

While awakened some characters may have a Mode Change. Characters in Mode Change will not replenish HP and MP each turn but will have a significant boost to all stats for a certain number of turns. HP is still instantly recovered upon activation and they may be able to use special magic as well.

For Dragon Slayers like Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, etc, can have their Dragon Force ability activated. This ability allows Dragon Slayer characters to have the Awakening buffs on top of getting enhanced elemental compatibilities.

Follow-up Attack

Whenever a character attacks, you have the option to perform a follow-up attack by using a fixed amount of your Awakening gauge. The characters who can do the follow-up attack will be displayed during the attacking ally’s attack action sequence. Press their designated button to perform the follow-up attack before the timer runs out.

Break

Whenever you deal over a certain amount of damage to an enemy with a single hit, the target may get staggered or inflicted with Break status. Enemies with Break will be unable to act on their next turn and all incoming damage they’ll receive will be critical. This special status is most likely to happen when using magic that aligns with the target's weakness.

Counterattack

Some magic spells like Natsu’s Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon Fist or Erza’s Pentagram Sword will allow your characters to assume a counter stance. When attacked, you’ll get a brief window to react with a counterattack; just press the button prompt to trigger. If you’re too slow to press, the Counter stance will expire and you won’t be able to counterattack for that turn. This stance only lasts for a turn so you’ll have to use the skill to enable this counter again to use further. Counterattacking is perfect for 1v1 duels, fights against other enemies in the Grand Magic Games or bosses.

Link Hunt

Once you've reached Chapter 7, you’ll eventually be able to participate in Link Hunts. This system allows you to fight several enemies on the field at once. Hold down the button to adjust the enemies' strength and wipe out the enemies you've drawn in according to their level. Link Hunted enemies are more powerful and will form packs so be careful when dealing with them. However, successfully defeating them will yield a lot of EXP and materials.

After winning a Link Hunt battle, the immediate area where the enemies are supposed to spawn will be cleared as well, making it easier to walk around and explore. Take note that even there are no more enemies in the area, you can still use Link Hunt and trigger battles. Also, if there are enemies that you are required to kill in Requests, they won't count towards the quest if you kill them via Link Hunt; you have to defeat them individually.

You can upgrade the Pool facility to increase the maximum number of enemies that can be drawn in a Link Hunt. Just make sure not to upgrade it too much since the more monsters you can connect via Link Hunt, the more powerful they become and even wipe out your party in the first few turns.