By now, you should have played Tales Of Arise for a little while and mastered the combat system basics of Tales Of Arise (if you are a beginner and you’ve just started the game, find the Tales Of Arise Beginner Guide HERE) and you may be seeking more techniques to level up your fights and build your own fighting style, as you will be fighting against stronger monsters.
This Intermediate Guide contains some tips and advices for players who want to explore the combat mechanics and learn more about the tricks and synergies you still might not know and which can definitely be useful as you progress in the game.
Intro
Extending Attack Strings
When you exhaust your AG and run out of normal attacks, throw in a Boost Attack. Not only will this maintain your attack string, it’ll restore AG, letting you use more artes. If you run out of AG again, use another character’s Boost Attack.
Increasing Boost Strike Chances
As your hit counter grows, Boost Strikes become easier to trigger. Thus, if you can down an enemy with a Boost Attack, your chances of finishing them off in one fell swoop increase.
1. Moving to the Ground and Air
The [arrow up] icon indicates ground attacks that send the user into the air. The [arrow down] icon indicates air attacks that send the user to the ground. Don’t be shy about jumping between the ground and the air in your offensive.
2. Fighting Styles
Each playable character in Tales Of Arise has its own fighting style:
- Alphen is a swordfighter who specializes in close-quarters combat. He sports an array of fast artes that chain well together, as well as long-distance and aerial artes
- Shionne specializes in gun-based long range strikes and bomb attacks.
- Rinwell is a long-distance fighter who primarily relies on astral artes. Though her artes are strong and have a wide reach, casting them takes time, so make sure to get some distance between her and the enemy before attempting any artes.
- Law specializes in fighting up close and personal with his fists and feet. He can fell enemies left and right with powerful blows, but his low defense mean he has to do a lot of evading.
- Kisara is a close-quarters fighter who uses a hammer and shield. Her artes have a wide range, and she can guard instead of evading.
- Dohalim is a master of rod-based artes and astral artes. His style is a flexible one that lets him attack with flurries of wide-reaching blows up close, or use artes to attack and heal from afar.
3. Boost Attacks (per character)
Each playable character in Tales Of Arise has its own Boost Attack:
Alphen’s Boost Attacks
- Burning Wave: initiates a searing swing attack using the Blazing Sword that burns Alphen’s own body. Able to down almost any enemy, it has a wide range and gains additional strength as more HP is sacrificed.
Shionne’s Boost Attack
- Wing Clip: Fires numerous beams of light from the muzzle of Shionne’s rifle. Effective on aerial enemies, it temporarily restricts their flight abilities and downs them.
Rinwell’s Boost Attack
- Magic Cancel: Attacks an enemy with a special arte that disturbs astral energy. If the enemy is hit with it while casting an arte, they’ll be downed and Rinwell will steal the spell and charge it, leaving them unable to use it again for a while.
Law’s Boost Attack
- Breaker Fist: Unleashes a forceful blow. Effective on armored enemies equipped with such protection as shells and shields, it breaks through their defenses and downs them.
Kisara’s Boost Attack
- Fierce Guardian: Kisara sticks her giant shield into the earth to attack the enemy and protect allies. If it hits and enemy it’ll down them and weaken any subsequent charge attacks. This move also boosts all allies’ Defense and Elemental Defense
Dohalim’s Boost Attack
- Prehendere: Grows vines from the ground to ensnare enemies and strike them. Effective on fleet-footed enemies, this nullifies their evasive abilities and downs them.
4. Special Boost Strikes
When fighting powerful foes, upon fulfilling certain conditions, a [directional pad] icon may appear on-screen above an enemy. When this happens quickly press it to activate a character’s Boost Attack and turn the tables on an opponent.
It will trigger a special cinematic attack move.
5. Counter Edge
After successfully executing a perfect evasion, you can trigger a Counter Edge, which will make your character perform an immediate counterattack. In addition, you will fill up your Boost Gauge faster.
6. Weak points
Some large enemies have orange-glowing spirit cores that can be destroyed after taking a set amount of damage. Doing so will break the core and down them. These weak points can also be directly targeted.
7. Elements
Some enemies and artes possess an elemental affinity. Attacking an enemy with the same element as their affinity will reduce the amount of damage dealt, while dealing the opposite element will, conversely, increase it.
There are three pairs of opposing elements for a total of six elements, which are as follows:
- Fire and Water
- Wind and Earth
- Light and Dark
And this is it for this Intermediate Guide! With these advices, you should now be able to level up your combat mechanics and fighting style, practicing and enjoying the different combos and synergies you’ve just learned.
If you are willing to up your game even more, you can find HERE the Tales Of Arise Expert Guide. You will learn more about Arte proficiency, Additional Arte Panels, Characters’ perks and so on!
