Tales of Zestiria combat tips explaining Artes, Combos, Defense Techniques, Combo System, Spirit Chain and other battle mechanics.
For more help on Tales of Zestiria, read our Normin Locations, Crucibles of Malevolence and Discovery Points Locations.
Tales of Zestiria Combat Tips
Every character in the game has unique stats which are based on character level – some characters are able to level them higher than others. Furthermore, these stats can further be boosted using various pieces of equipment, herbs, among other things.
This guide covers everything you need to know about Tales of Zestiria battle system.
HP
HP or Hit Points represent a character’s total health which is scaled according to character level. Once reached zero, the character knocks out. Knocked out character can be revived automatically after the battle is won or using Life Bottles or Seraphic Artes.
Human characters that are capable of armatization can be revived by armatization, but you should consider initiating before a character is knocked out. In non-armatized state, damage-receiving character will have a chunk of HP stored as blue which can either represent the amount of HP which will be recovered over time or will instantly be transformed into HP.
Spirit Chain
Spirit Chain is basically the energy characters have to create combos in battle. A character’s SC after a battle is over is called initial SC which can be replenished using snacks. You can check your characters’ initial SC anytime outside the battle.
SC is consumed by performing different actions and can be saved up by hitting enemy weak areas, not attacking the guarding enemies, using artes frequently, and using items which grant focus.
However, do note that your character deal high damage while they are low on SC. On the other hand, having a higher SC can enhance your multiplier effect. Therefore, it is a good idea to play around a bit and change your battle strategies on the get-go.
Blast Gauge
Each character can have up to 3 Blast Gauges which determine a character’s ability to use special powers. Since the recovery rate of BG is very high, you should use it more often. You can also use techniques such as evading enemies and sidestepping to build your BG faster.
There is another linked concept known as Chain Blast which lets your character exceed the 4-hit combo limit at the expense of a Blast Gauge and recovers 50 SC.
Partner Blast
Partner Blast is almost identical to Chain Blast, but lets you deal damage to enemies while assisting your allies at the same time. Similar to Chain Blast, Partner Blast consumes 1 BG and restores 50 SC.
Movement System
There are two types of movement in the game. In the Manual Mode, you are free to move your character forward or backwards towards the enemies. But in Semi-Auto Mode, your characters will automatically move towards the enemy. In Semi-Auto Mode, you will also be able to free run, but your Spirit Chain will not replenish.
Artes
Artes are specialized actions that your characters can perform in order to deal damage to enemies. There are a total 3 types of artes in the game: Martial, Hidden, and Seraphic.
Martial Artes
These let your characters create up to a 4-hit combo and cannot be modified. If you manage to hit a stunned enemy with Martial Artes, you will get a one-time increase to your Blast Gauge.
Hidden Artes
Hidden Artes can be combined with Martial Artes for increased effect. You can either use a Hidden Arte to reveal enemy weaknesses before using Martial Artes or use Hidden Artes after using Martial Artes. You can have 5 Hidden Artes at any given time in the game.
In addition to this, most of the Hidden Artes in the game have a higher arte which you can use during a battle after learning it. As for enemies’ Hidden Artes, those are recognized by their charging time.
Seraphic Artes
These are stronger than Martial Artes and Hidden Artes, but take a long time to be casted. While you are charging a Seraphic Arte, enemies will not be able to stagger you using Hidden Artes and will reduce your charging time by doing so. This is what makes the Seraphic Artes a counter of Hidden Artes.
Similar to Hidden Artes, most of the Seraphic Artes also have higher artes which you can utilize in the battle. Lastly, after casting a Seraphic Arte, you gain increased defense against enemies’ Seraphic Artes.
Mystic Artes
These are essentially really powerful attacks which are activated if your BG is 3 or higher in normal state. Moreover, your character needs to deal some damage to enemies for the arte to be activated.
One of the best reasons to use Mystic Artes to finish off an enemy is higher grade and the drop rate of rare items. You should always keep an eye out on the HP of enemies and use Mystic Artes at the right time to earn yourself a better grade and reward.
Advantages of Using Artes in Combos
It is a good idea to mix all types of artes in your combos as it will allow you to have reduced SC consumption, increased damage output, and increase the duration of enemy stagger. In addition to this, note that Seraphic Artes in combos have reduced casting time which keeps on decreasing after each Seraphic Arte used.
Targeting Enemies
After targeting an enemy, you will see detailed stats related to that particular enemy. At times, more information is added to the section after you have defeated that particular enemy. It is a good idea to keep tabs on the details section as you will be able to dish out damage to enemies based on their weaknesses.
Elements and Status Ailments
Each arte in the game is tied to one of five elements which include Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, and non-elemental. These elements not only provide your characters with different stat boosts and inflict status ailments on enemies.
As for status ailments, there are a total of 5 which should be inflicted upon enemies and removed from your characters as soon as possible. In order to remove a status ailment, you can use Panacea Bottles, armatization, or specialized Seraphic Artes.
Here is a minor description of each status ailment in the game:
Paralysis: Actions are regularly interrupted
Burn: Stagger duration increased
Poison: HP decreases, can lead to being KO’d
Fatigue: SC recovery rate greatly decreased, casting time doubled
Understanding Effect Potential
Aside from elements and status ailments, all attack-type artes in the game has effect potential such as stun, stats boost, enemy stats decrease, lifesteal, and many more.
There are many different ways to trigger these effects which include having a higher SC, combos including Banish Blast, antagonistic attacks, by reducing enemy stats using an element, and by using artes chained off quickstep.
It is not recommended to use all your effect potential at the start of a battle and use them wisely as the battle can turn at any instant during the course of the game.
Understanding Weaknesses and Resistances
Using an arte with an element which enemies are weak against will increase your damage and lower the SC cost while using the one enemies are resistant to, will decrease your damage and increase the SC cost.
In addition to this, you can also start off a combo an enemy weakness is called a Weakness Combo. As long as the combo is chained up, all element damage dealt by you and your allies will increase stagger time and count as weakness damage – even if the enemy is resistance to element used by one of your allies.
One important thing to keep in mind is to utilize different artes having same element in case you wish to armatize your combos.
Coming to resistances, there are a total 4 types of enemy resistances in the game:
Resist: Damage halved, enemy defends more easily
Restrain: Damage can be inflicted, but the enemy cannot be staggered
Ineffective: Damage reduced by 90%
Reflect: Damage reflected back at you
Seraphim and Characters Switch
It is a good idea to switch Seraphim – which can be done using the directional pads – to give them some time to recover. Other than this, you can also bring a Seraphim out from battle and avoid damage altogether.
In addition to this, you can also switch characters as per your convenience. The character you switch to will be triggered in Manual Mode and the other ones will triggered in Auto-Mode.
Defense Techniques
How to Block
Blocking basically not only reduces the amount of damage you receive from enemies’ attacks, but also reduce your chances of a stagger. In addition to this, you also recover some amount of SC for each successful block.
Also note that your SC recovery is halved when you attack a guarding opponent which also holds true for enemies. Using this simple tactic, you can reduce your enemies’ SC recovery and complete the battle without worrying about it.
How to Quickstep and Quickevade
While you are standing close to a target, you can use quickstep and get either behind the enemy or right next to him. However, do note that this mechanic requires a bit of SC which you can earn by quick-stepping just before an enemy attacks.
In this way, you will not only be able to replenish your lost SC at a faster rate, but will also open up more opportunities to attack an opponent.
Quick-stepping at the precise moment when an enemy is about is attack is called Quickevade. This mechanic not only opens up more windows to attack your enemies, recover some lost SC, but also decreases enemies’ attack frequency so that you can attack without worrying about retaliation.
Understanding Enemy Power Links
There are instances when a small group of weaker enemies join in their strength in numbers, increase their power, boost their stats, and become invulnerable to status ailments.
This mechanic is called Power Linking and must be broken before the linking is complete by killing the enemies involved in linking.
This is pretty much all we have on Battle System in Tales of Zestiria. In case you found anything missing or confusing, let us know in the comments section below!
