Battle Basics

Battle Basics

Press circle to approach an enemy and attack. If you continue to press the button, you'll perform an attack combo. You can dash and move using L-analog.

Guarding
You can Guard against enemy attacks by holding square. Guarding is a great way to decrease the amount of damage you take from an attack, and it also helps prevent yourself from being staggered. Once you've guarded, look for an opening in your enemy's defenses and such launch a counterattack.

Blue Aura
If you continue to hold the guard button, a blue light will surround your body. When in this blue aura state, your critical gauge will increase. Restore CC by guarding and then use the blue aura to your advantage.

Greed Aura
If you continue to guard while in the blue aura state, a green light will surround your body. If you attack while  is this green aura state, enemy attack wont's stagger you when you begin to launch an arte, This effect is known as the  Iron stance.

Red Aura
If you continue to guard while in the green aura state, a red light will surround your body. This red aura allows you to break through an enemy's guard and prevent it from evading. This is the last of the three guard auras.

Maintaining Balance
If you spend too much time guarding and not enough time attacking, the enemy will eventually break your guard. Once you achieve red aura status, go on the offensive!

The Battle Menu
Press triangle to open the Battle menu, Where you can use items and change your artes. Battles are paused while this menu is open, so take your time and consider the best strategy.

Changing Targets
If you want to change your current target, you can pause the battle by holding R1 and then use L-analog to select a new target alternatively, if you simply tap R1, you will automatically targets the enemy closest to you.

Changing Characters
Use Arrow To change characters in battle. Your current character is represented by Arrow-Up, while the other party members occupy the other position Press Arrow-Up to pull up the menu and survey everyone's position. En use Arrow to switch to your preferred character. Once you've memorize their positions, jump to them at any time with press Arrow

Changing Artes
Some B-Artes require time to change. If you hold X and use L-analog while casting, you can change the arte's target. If you continue to hold X after casting is complete, you'll activate a blue charge, which lets you choose when the arte is unleashed. And with a certain skill, you can activate a red charge, which adds additional  attributes to the arte!

Quick-Steps
Hold square and use L-analog to quick-step, which allows you to quickly dodge in a circular direction around your enemy. You can also quick-Step by lightly Tapping L-analog Quick-Stepping is an elegant and effective way to dodging and counterattacking, and can even be used  in the middle of your own attacks.

Vertical Strikes
Enemy attack involving large downward swings are known as Vertical strikes. If you evade such an attack, you won't be staggered even if you're hit. You might even recover some CC or have something else good happen.

Back-Steps
While standard quick-Step are a good way to avoid vertical attacks, back-Steps are a fine way to avoid horizontal ones. You can attack immediately after a back-Steps, making it the perfect chance to turn trouble into an opportunity.

Forward-Steps
Small enemy projectiles can be quite annoying, if not dangerous. If a foe is pelting you perform a  forward-steps to knock their projectiles away! Not all projectile can be deflected by this method, so you'll have to experiment.

Guard Breaks
An attack that can't be guarded against is known as a guard break. You'll see the “!” symbol appear before such an attack, so be on the lookout. Note that while guard-breaker attacks can't be blocked,they can be avoided by simply quick-stepping in any direction.

Chain Capacity
The shinning number to the lower-right of a character's battle portrait indicate his or her Chain Capacity (CC) points. All actions require CC to be performed, and as long as you have some left, you can chain actions together continuously. CC recovers quite quickly, so don't be shy about performing lots of different actions!

Increasing CC
You can recover CC by waiting, moving, or guarding. You can also increase the amount of CC you can use by striking enemies; the more hits you land, the more CC you'll be able to use in the current battle,

Critical Hits
Critical hits are particularly damaging strikes that aren't based on fixed percentages, but rather on when your CC increase ( in other word, when your critical gauge hoes up) but be careful, if you get hit, the gauge will go down.

CC Techniques
The best way to increase your CC is by landing consecutive hits in battle. Successfully guarding and evading attacks, however, will also increase your CC.

The Critical Gauge
You may have noticed a blue gauge to the left of the CC number. Did you also notice hits when this is full? So perhaps letting if fall is not the best idea.

CC Range
Minimum and maximum CC values are determined by your equipped weapon. However, they can be increased with skills and/or equipment with certain effects. Keep en eye out for such gear whenever you visit shops.

Battle Start CC Bonus
Want to go into battle with extra CC? Then you should approach enemies from behind while on the field. This will add 1 to your minimum CC at the start of a battle. Some think is a cowardly way to fight, but better a living coward than a dead hero.

A-Artes 101
Assault Artes, or A-Artes, are your basic attack artes, If you press Circle continually, the A-Artes that you use will increase in both class and CC cost, starting from 1CC and increasing to 2 CC, 3CC, and finally 4CC.

Advanced A-Artes
A-Artes that cost 2 CC or more are learned though skills connected to titles. You can view your newly-learned artes in the Artes Menu. The order in which A-Artes are unleashed in battle is determined by the arte tree shown there; continue attacking with Circle and use L-analog to determine which artes will come next according to the tree.

B-Artes 101
Burst Artes or B-Artes, are now available in battle. At the cost 1CC, Asbel can draw his sword at any time and gain access to a whole new sword and unleash B-Artes, and use Circle when you want to sheathe the weapon.

Linked Artes
You may have noticed that certain artes are grayed out in the artes list. To activate these linked artes, you must hold Circle while moving through the A-Artes paths in battle, It can be tricky when  you need to make split-second decisions on whether or not to use a certain arte, but once you master it, you'll be fighting with style!

Titles 101
You can equip one title on the character at a time. After each battle, you'll earn skill points (SP), which are put toward learning the skills associated with that title. These skills remain even when you unquip th title, so it's a good idea to earn as many titles and learn as many skills as you can!

New Title tips
When you earn a new title, pull up the Title menu to take a look at it. Once you equip it, you might just discover a whole new you!

Title Effects
Every title has special Effects that are active only while the title is equipped. If you're unsure which title is best for a certain situation, you can always just pick the one that gives you the best combat boost.

Learning Skills
Each title has five ranks of skills associated with it. The lower the skill's rank, the easier it is to learn, If you;re just looking to amass as many skills as possible, you can always learn the first three skill of a title quickly, then switch to the next one and start again. However, you might miss some useful skills this way.

Learning Artes via Skills
Some arte can be learned from skills. Multiple skills may offer the same arte, and it doesn't matter which you choose. However, if you learn the same arte from more than one skill, its effects will stack, making is more powerful. You may also be able to earn new title by using the same artes repeatedly.

Seeking New Titles
If you fight with great skill, you may be able to acquire even more titles. So always give it your all in battle, even against weaker opponents.

Mastering Titles
Each title has five skills associated with it. However if you keep using a title after learning all of its skills, you'll eventually Master the title, which provides a boost to its effects. However, it's usually a better idea to switch to a new title once you learn all of a title's skills so as not ti waste SP.

Costume Title
Some titles can be used to earn new costumes. First, you must learn the associated title's Costume skill, then open the Status menu and navigate to the Costume screen. There you can select your new outfit.

All About Attributes
Attributes are the attack associated with particular artes. The “Beast” attributes, for example, increases damage to beast-type monster, while the “Slash” attribute is effective against enemies weak to slash attacks.

Know Thy Enemy
If you hold R1 during battle, your current target's info will be displayed, including the attributes it's weak against, otherwise known as its “Weak points,” from there, you can press Circle to bring up even more detailed info.

Effective Attribute Use
Different artes have different attributes. If your enemy is weak against an arte of a certain attribute, be sure to include it in your combos. If you strike an enemy with such an attribute, you attacks will be extra damage   and  it will temporarily unable to evade.

Exploiting Weak Points
Once you find an attribute that your enemy is weak against, don't get lazy. Many enemies have multiple weak points, and the more of them you hit, the more damage you can do. If you manage to strike every weak point of an enemy, your CC will completely restored. You'll Even restore eleth to the mixer  Why, you ask? Ah, that's a secret.....

Utilizing Effects
Some weapons and gems have effects that add attributes to your attacks. Take advantage of the dualize system to ensure your party has attributes for any given situation.

Weak point Timing
If you want to be a true combat master, hit all of an enemy's weak points as quickly as possible. Once you strike one of them, you'll need to strike the next within a limited amount of time in order to keep to keep the combo going.

Tech Bonuses
if you defeat enemies with well-executed techniques, you may earn technical (tech) bonuses. Those include such perks as extra experience and gald.

Tech Bonus Challengers
once you obtain a tech bonus, the next battle will often up a tech bonus challenger with even tougher conditions that before. Each challenge you clear yields better rewards than the one that preceded it.

The Eleth Gauge
During battle, the gauge on the left side of the screen shows the eleth being produce. The blue portion is for your party, and increases when you attack, are attacked, guard, or evade an attack. The red portion so for the enemies, and works in similar manner.

Eleth Burst
Once the blue portion of the Eleth Gauge fills, eleth is released and the battlefield enter the Eleth Burst state, which fills your CC and keeps it there, allowing you to attack with impunity. Some skills grant additional effects during this state, so be sure to use them to gain the upper hand.

Eleth Gauge Tips
if you want to give a boost to your portion of the Eleth gauge, try attacking enemies from behind on the field. Doing so will provide you with extra eleth when the fight begins. However, the same applies to enemies, so stay on your guard when traveling.

Mystics Artes
mystics artes are special artes that can be learned during your journey. If you learn one, a Mystics Arte Gauge will appear on the left side of the screen during an Eleth Burst. If the gauge is at level 1 or higher, you can activate the Mystic arte in the middle of a combo by pressing L1.

The Mystics Artes Gauge
Attack combos are the key to filling ate mystic Arte Gauge. It's best to use a variety of artes, though the gauge will fill faster when you use artes you've used many times in the past. Also, the more you use Mystic Artes over time, the faster the gauge will fill.

Mystics Artes Levels
If you know more than one Mystic Arte, the Mystics Arte Gauge's level will determine which one you can use. Also note that you cab activate a Mystic Arte either by pressing L1, or by pressing Circle and X  simutaneously.

Eleth Break
If the enemy's red portion of Eleth Gauge fills, the battlefield will enter an Eleth Break state. This dangerous situation makes you unable to stagger enemies with your attacks, and also grants foes access to certain powerful special attacks.

Dualizing Shards
Sometimes enemies will drop items known as shards. If you dualize these shards with weapons or armor, you can add effects such as added defense or HP restoration to your gear. If you come into possession of such a shard, make for the nearest shop posthaste!

Tempering Gear
If you use equipment that has been dualize with shards it will eventually become tempered. If it's a weapon, its attack power will be increased, but if it's armor , its defense power will rise. The amount of the boost defend on the quality of the gear. Such equipment is displayed in yellow.

Extracting Effects
If you dualize two pieces to tempered equipment, you can extract their effects and produce a gem that anyone in your party can equip. Of course, the dualized gear will no longer carry said effects. But if you decide to dualize them again with new shards....

Dualizing Gems
It's also possible to dualize two gems. This causes them to fuse, leaving behind a very powerful gem. If you have gems with the same effect and rank, dualize them ti raise their rank!

Improving Equipment
When you dualize equipment with a shard, it raise the base stats of the gear in addition to adding the effects from the shard. You can them battle with the equipment until it tempers, dualize again to extract a gem, and then start the process all over again. Continually doing so is a great way to raise the base stats of your gear.

Shards and Qualities
When dualizing equipment with shards, statistical improvement is based on the qualities of the gear. Rarer qualities tend to have higher stat increases, although you can sometimes find qualities with other benefits, such as ones that allow you to sell the dualized piece for a high price.

Quality Control
A keep eye for qualities is essential if you want to produce good gear. But don't get too hung up trying to  find the strongest ones possible. There are no qualities that actually weaken gear, so dualize away un til you find something that suits you.

Quality Methodology
looking for specifics on qualities? First, you must learn how to raise the rank of a quality by dualizing. One thing you might  notice is that if you dualize two five-letter qualities, for example it usually leads to a six-letterb quality... This is the first hint toward producing better qualitites.


Quality Pairing
When pairing up qualities to dualize, always keep an eye out for effects that are highlighted in yellow. When you see that, it means the effect's rank will go up. Some rare qualities might even influence more than one effect!

Dualize to Raise CC
You can increase a weapon's CC though dualizing, but it will take a number of steps to make it happen, Increases to the maximum CC of a weapon are related to the quality's Tempering Boost %. This rate can be found in the Qualities section of the User's Guide.

Phys. Ailments: Poison
Your HP will diminish rapidly when you're poisoned. You can use a Panacea bottle to cure what ails you, or equip a Poison Charm to prevent infection in the first place.

Phys. Ailments: Paralysis
paralysis is an annoying ailment that has a chance of stunning you each time you perform an action. You can still use items when paralysis, however, so whip out a Panacea bottle to cure yourself, then consider equipping a Paralysis Charm to prevent infection in the first place.

Phys. Ailments: Freeze
the freeze ailment does what it claims: it freezes you in place and renders you unable to perform actions. The ailment will vanish as soon as you're hit, but the strike will be especially painful. You can prevent the condition with a freeze Charms.

Phys. Ailments: Burn
The Burn ailment increases the length of time you are staggered when you take damage, and also prevent your HP from recovering. It's a particularly nasty condition, so consider preventing it wing a Burn Charm.

Phys. Ailments: Petrify
Petrification renders you temporarily unable to move, and unlike freeze, it doesn't end upon an enemy attack. You can keep yourself safe by equipping a Stone Charm.

Phys. Ailments: Slow
The Slow ailment slows both your movement and your CC recovery rate. Stop it from infecting you by equipping a Slow Charm.

Phys. Ailments: Arteseal
Arteseal prevents you from using either A-Artes or B- Artes, essentially making you dead weight for the rest of your team. If you're going into an area where enemies can inflict this status equip a Seal Charm to prevent yourself.

Phys. Ailments: Curse
The Curse ailment seems begins at first, but when you least expect it, you'll be walloped even KO you. Stay by equipping a Curse Charm.

Phys. Ailments: Weak
The Weak ailment decreases all of your stats across the board. It's tempting to ignore the status because it''s not as out-and-out annoying as some of the others, but you should really take care of it as soon as possible. Better yet, equip a Weak Charm and stop the infection before is starts.

Inflicting Ailments
Not every enemy is vulnerable to physical ailment. Poison, for example, will only work on foe weak against that attribute. In other words, try to hit enemies with attributes they're weak against for extra damage. Also keep in mind that weapon-based physical ailments can only be inflicted by the lowest-ranked A-Artes.

Soul Orbs
They say Soul Orbs can be obtained by killing a large number of the same foe. But once you get one, you'll never get receiving an enemy's Soul orb, a star will appear near  its name in the Enemy book.

The Nova Barrier
Enemies with the Nova attribute have the ability to create a Nova Barrier that reduces all damage to 1. in such cases, you'll need to respond by using an arte with the Nova attribute to shatter the barrier. Later in the game, you'll be able to obtain a title for everybody which will enable any arte to break Nova barriers.

HP (Hit Points)
HP, or Hit Points represent your health. If you're attacked by an enemy. These will decrease, at which point they can be restored with a recovery arte or an item. If they fall to zero, however, you will be knocked out. In such a case, you must rest at an inn, use a Life Bottle, eat food or touch a save point to recover your HP.

CC (Chain Capacity)
CC, or Chain Capacity points, are what allow you to perform actions. They have minimum and maximum value, and always start at the minimum at the beginning

Skill
Skill are abilities which are learned by equipping a title and then winning battles. Each title has five ranks of skills, and once you learn a skill, it'll remain active even if the title is unequipped. Also note that identical effects from skills will stack, so use that knowledge to create a powerful fighting team.

Gald
Gald is the currency used at equipment and item shops around the world. It can be acquired by defeating enemies, and also by selling items.

Exp (Experience Point)
Exp. Or experience points, are acquired by winning battles. If you earn enough of them, your level will increase.

Lv (Level)
Your Lv. Or level, is raised by earning experience points in battle. Each time you go up a level, your parameters will increase as well. If you're having trouble with enemies. Try raising your party's level by grinding against slightly weaker foes for a while.

SP ( Skill Points)
SP, or Skill Points, are acquired by winning battles. If you earn enough of them, you'll learn a skill associated with your currently- equipped titles.

Staggered
The “staggered” condition prevents you from performing most actions. It's caused by getting hit during an attack, and can be shortened or prolonged via various effects.

Irons Stance
The “Iron Stance” state prevent you from being staggered during. Many strong enemies begins fights with this effect in place, in which case you should focus on dodging their attacks and counterattacking when possible. If you keep hitting an enemy while it's casting s spell, you might be able to breaks it out of its Irons Stance.

Critical Stance
Characters enter the critical state when they have 25%or less of their HP remaining. Certain skills and equipment effects only come into play while this condition is active, making it a high-risk, high-reward way to battle.

Changing the difficulty
You can change the game's difficulty level in the Options menu. Enemies are mush stronger on higher difficulty levels, but they also drop more shards. You'll also get larger SP bonuses for big combos at
harder levels. But, of course, if you die, it's all for naught, so choose your difficulty carefully.