"Hey dudes! We're having a totally awesome party over here. Come on over and join in!" ~ Arilum the dragon

Battle Strategy Guide

This guide should provide everything you need to know to emerge victorious over those nasty monsters. While there are a few spoilers here, I'll be mostly focusing on winning strategies for tough battle situations.



Elements

The first thing we need to know is how the combat works. Most of the characters here have strengths and weaknesses. As each new situation presents itself, take a moment and examine who you're up against. The "Quick Identify" feature provides on-the-spot info about the opposition's elemental affinities. Take full advantage of your strengths while exploiting the opposition's weaknesses.

Each character has an elemental affinity. The elements interact with each other in the following ways...

Water characters easily defeat Fire characters.
Fire characters easily defeat Wind characters.
Wind characters easily defeat Water characters.
Earth characters are evenly matched with all.

Our heroes are...

Krystana - Earth
Glaysa - Water (best vs Fire, weak vs Wind)
Fhibbs - Fire (best vs Wind, weak vs Water)
Jareth - Wind (best vs Water, weak vs Fire)

Glaysa is in danger from opposing Wind characters.
Fhibbs is in danger from opposing Water characters.
Jareth is in danger from opposing Fire characters.

These are your party's weaknesses. The opposition will try their best to inflict maximum damage by pairing themselves off with your guys, strength to weakness. For example: Goblin, a Water character, knows that his attack is most effective against Fhibbs. On the same token, Goblin's attack is very weak against Jareth. Goblin knows his strengths and limitations. He'll almost always try to take Fhibbs down. He's very unlikely to attack Jareth. You can use this knowledge to your advantage. Jareth is unlikely to be at risk from any Water characters you're going up against. The only time a Water character may decide to attack Jareth is if he (Jareth) is close to defeat. While the Water character's attack inflicts minimum damage, it may be just enough to put Jareth down. If you keep Jareth healthy, he won't be in any danger from Water characters.

In similar fashion, Orc, a Fire character, knows that his attack is most effective against Jareth and very weak against Glaysa. He will usually focus his efforts on taking down Jareth. The opposing party works as a team, with each guy trying his best to inflict optimal damage.

Big Bat, a Wind character, is most effective against Glaysa, who is behind your party's front line. Big Bat and other like-minded melee combatants will attack either Jareth or Krystana. They're unlikely to attack Fhibbs because Wind is weak against Fire.



Optimize Your Strategy

Conventional wisdom says that we should focus our efforts on taking down one enemy at a time so as to minimize the damage we're suffering. In this gaming environment, that's not the best idea. If you do that, you'll have one guy inflicting maximum damage, two guys doing normal damage, and one guy doing minimum damage. Let's say we want to get rid of Goblin first. Jareth will do optimal damage (Wind versus Water, a best case scenario). Krystana and Glaysa will do normal damage (Earth versus Water, and Water versus Water, respectively). And poor Fhibbs will be doing minimum damage (Fire versus Water, a worst case scenario).

Instead, pay attention to what the enemy is doing. They're working as a team, with each guy doing his best to inflict optimal damage. That's what we should be doing as well. Pair off your guys with the enemy, strength to weakness. I know, it doesn't look like we're making progress, but we really are. We're spreading maximum damage across the board, as opposed to inflicting an average of normal damage on one guy.

Jareth should go after Goblin (Wind versus Water). Glaysa should go after Orc (Water versus Fire). Fhibbs should attack Big Bat (Fire versus Wind). Krystana can attack anyone. She doesn't have an elemental bias.

By doing this, we are taking full advantage of our strengths. The less effective conventional strategy mentioned above only takes advantage of one strength.

Earth characters are a bit more difficult to take down because they don't have an exploitable weakness. Treant, Colubra, and other Earth characters are fair game for anyone in your party to attack.



Elemental Strengths And Weaknesses

In addition to the elemental bias, each element has inherent properties. Some are helpful. Others not so helpful.

Wind characters are very fast. Jareth and Big Bat invariably get the first turn. Because they're so fast, they take an Hp penalty (they have 5 less Hp than everyone else). Wind characters also have a slight advantage in melee (physical) damage. Jareth's melee attacks are slightly more damaging than everyone else's.

Fire characters are the slowest. Fhibbs and Orc struggle to keep up with the pace, always getting the last move (unless someone else used a speed-enhancing spell). Because they're so slow, they get an Hp bonus (they have 5 more Hp than everyone else). Fire characters also have a small advantage in melee (physical) defense. They're just a bit tougher than everyone else.

Water characters are reasonably fast. Glaysa and Goblin are in the middle as far as turn order is concerned. Water characters have a slight edge in magic power. Water spells are a bit more damaging than Fire and Wind spells.

Earth characters are slow. Krystana, Treant, and Colubra often have difficulty keeping up with the faster Wind and Water characters. Earth characters have a small edge in magic defense, which absorbs some of the damage they take from spells. Add to that the Earth's character's lack of an elemental weakness, and these guys can be some of the toughest opponents to defeat.



Use Your Magic!

Your party starts out with some spells already at their disposal. Use 'em! Magic spells play an important role in effective battle strategy. You should also be on the lookout for magic books. They can be found in dungeons, usually guarded by monsters. Almost every spell in the game is useful to your monster fighting efforts. Many of Fhibbs' enhancing spells make life much easier, and Jareth gets some of the best spells in the game. Use it or lose it.

Magic attacks are far more damaging than melee attacks. By end-game, you should be swathing a path of destruction with powerful magic.

Some of the best spells are non-damaging enhancers that boost your fighting potential. Glaysa gets the most powerful spell late in the game.



Defeat Terroth's Party Without Losing Anyone

At the Training Tent in Lekunder, Terroth and his friends provide an in-game tutorial and offer to spar with you. There's no penalty for losing, but it's a tough fight that shows us what we can expect from the monsters later on. Here's how to ace the spar...

Pair off your guys, strength to weakness. Jareth should do his best to take down Raine. Fhibbs' Light Omen spell is very useful. Have him cast it on Jareth. Glaysa should go after Sethe. Krystana has an Ice Dagger spell. Use it on Sethe.

Brells will attack either Jareth or Krystana. Raine will be trying her best to take down Fhibbs. Sethe will be going after Jareth.

From here, your strategy will vary depending on what Terroth does. He has Splash, Light Omen, and Wings. If he casts Wings on someone, don't sweat it. Wings isn't a very useful spell. It just speeds up a character by a little. If he casts Light Omen on someone, start worrying (especially if he casts it on Sethe). You'll be taking more damage than usual, but you can still beat this. If he casts Splash on someone, that's a best case scenario. He just healed someone, but that's better than if he'd enhanced someone's damage, increased someone's speed, or attacked. If he attacks, that's okay. An Earth character's attacks aren't as damaging as other characters' are.

Jareth's melee attack has been enhanced by the Light Omen spell. Have him go after Raine until she's down. Fhibbs should hit himself with Light Omen. That'll make it easier to get rid of Brells. Krystana should pound Sethe with Ice Daggers until she runs out of Mp, at which point she should use melee attacks on him. Glaysa will have to pause and heal Jareth to keep him in the game. Raine has probably done some damage to Fhibbs. Don't worry about it until later.

After Raine has been defeated, focus on taking down Brells and Sethe while keeping Jareth healthy. With Brells and Sethe defeated, all we have to do is take down Terroth while keeping everyone healthy.



What If One Of My Guys Gets Defeated?

If one or more of our heroes does get defeated during a battle, they'll get auto-revived with 1 Hp after you win the battle.

There is no penalty for losing the tutorial spar. Everyone gets fully restored afterward.



What If One Of My Guys Gets Killed By A Trap?

That's the only situation where one of our heroes can get killed outright. He'll get auto-revived with 1 Hp after the next battle. Or, you can use a Phoenix Feather to get him back.

Keep everyone healthy in the two trapped areas, and you won't have any problems.



Magic Spells

Water Spells

Splash - 2 Mp - Heals 10 Hp
Soft Rain - 4 Mp - Heals 25 Hp
Oasis - 6 Mp - Heals 50 Hp
Reservoir - 4 Mp - Recover 24 Mp
Ice Dagger - 4 Mp - 8 Damage
Glacier - 7 Mp - 16 Damage
Blizzard - 10 Mp - 24 Damage

Fire Spells

Light Omen - 5 Mp - Adds 5 to melee (physical) attack
Vibrant - 6 Mp - Adds 5 to magic attack
Shelter - 8 Mp - Adds 5 to melee (physical) defense
Aura - 10 Mp - Adds 5 to magic defense
Fireball - 4 Mp - 8 Damage
Blaze - 7 Mp - 16 Damage
Firestorm - 10 Mp - 24 Damage

Wind Spells

Wings - 5 Mp - Speed up a bit (not very useful)
Flash - 7 Mp - Very fast! (use this often)
Syphon - 10 Mp - Syphon away 20 Mp from enemy
Mirage - 10 Mp - Fool traps into thinking you're not there
Gale Force - 4 Mp - 8 Damage
Lightning - 7 Mp - 16 Damage
Tempest - 10 Mp - 24 Damage

Keep in mind that damaging spells get a multiplier tagged on when properly matched up with a weakness. Ice Dagger, for example, does more than 8 damage on Orc. It does normal damage on Goblin, and very weak damage on Big Bat.

Light Omen and other such spells don't look like much, but the bonus you get turns out to be more than 5 because of the elemental damage multiplier. Cast Light Omen on Jareth, and he'll do almost twice his normal damage on a Goblin.

Flash and Reservoir are the best spells in the game. Use 'em often.



Monsters

There are three archetypes of monsters here. Melee fighters, magic casters, and healers. Melee fighters don't have any magic. Magic casters will pound on your guys with damaging spells. Healers are kind of unpredictable, possessing both healing and enhancing spells.

Here's a list of the monsters in the game.

Melee Fighters

Goblin - Water - Hp 30
Orc - Fire - Hp 35
Big Bat - Wind - Hp 25

Ooze - Water - Hp 40
Trogg - Fire - Hp 45
Buzzer - Wind - Hp 35

Troll - Water - Hp 100
Ogre - Fire - Hp 105
Giant - Wind - Hp 95

Zombie - Water - Hp 70
Skeleton - Fire - Hp 75
Wraith - Wind - Hp 65

Troll (Dragon Cave) - Water - Hp 150
Ogre (Dragon Cave) - Fire - Hp 155
Giant (Dragon Cave) - Wind - Hp 145

Magic Casters

Mantis - Water - Hp 40 - Ice Dagger
Wisp - Fire - Hp 45 - Fireball
Vulture - Wind - Hp 35 - Gale Force

Mantis (Ralba Mines and onward) - Water - Hp 60 - Glacier
Wisp (Ralba Mines and onward) - Fire - Hp 65 - Blaze
Vulture (Ralba Mines and onward) - Wind - Hp 55 - Lightning

Kraken - Water - Hp 150 - Blizzard
Viper - Fire - Hp 155 - Firestorm
Centaur - Wind - Hp 145 - Tempest

Healers

Treant - Earth - Hp 45 - Splash, Light Omen, Wings
Colubra - Earth - Hp 55 - Splash, Shelter
Shadow - Earth - Hp 65 - Soft Rain, Reservoir, Aura
Siren - Earth - Hp 100 - Oasis, Reservoir, Aura, Flash