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Tales of Symphonia Remasteredallows fans of the series to dive back into its unique combat and mess around with its many systems and mechanics again on modern platforms with slight enhancements to the visuals and many needed quality-of-life fixes.
RELATED:Tales Of Symphonia Remastered: Beginner Tips
However, there will undoubtedly be players coming in hot after just recently playing recent titles in the series, such as Tales of Arise, who may be thrown off by how vastly different this game’s combat system is in comparison. Luckily, there are many ways to make Tales of Symphonia’s combat more manageable and understandable, allowing you to tackle any challenge thrown your way.
Interrupt Casting Enemies
One of the most crucial aspects of Tales of Symphonia’s combat isthe duration it takes to cast Spells for both your party members and the enemies.Just like youcan get interrupted mid-cast,you’re able to do the exact same to your enemies, which can save you the headache of getting annihilated from out of nowhere during your combo. You willknow when an enemy has begun casting, as one or more of your party members will exclaim itduring combat, allowing you tostop what you’re doing and single them out.
Unfortunately,not all enemies are created equally,and thevast majority of bosses cannot be interruptedduring their casting period. At least, not easily. So,for these situations,we suggest utilizing your party tocast extra protections for everyone and mitigate the damagethrown your way.
Remember To Guard
Speaking of mitigating damage, do not forget toGuardduring combat, especially after landing a combo. The general rule of thumb for Tales of Symphonia is toperform a combo, Guard through the enemy’s attack string, then combo again, repeating until the enemy is dead.Failing to Guard or respect your opponent can, and likely will, result in tremendous amounts of frustration and party wipes.
As our Beginner Tips Guide touched on, you should also be implementing theBackstepmethod into your combat strategy, which involves youmoving backward while Guarding.While a seemingly simple move, it is one of the game’s most crucial and mastering it will save your life in more ways than one. Guarding, in general, is something that should not be neglected in this game.
Understand The Status Effects
While it is crucial to learn what everyStatus Effectis in Tales of Symphonia, the ones that really matter outright are theDebuffs or Ailmentsthat canmake your life difficult if inflicted upon yourself or your party members.Theseall have counters,but theycan wreak havocon you if you areunprepared for themorhave no clue how to purge their effects.You can find all Status Ailments and Debuffs, along with how to get rid of them, by following our Guide on Status Effects here.
One last thing of note regarding Status Effects, particularly the Ailments, is that you want toget rid of them as soon as possible,as some can throw a wrench into your overall strategy if you let them linger on for too long. For example, if an enemy can inflictPetrifyandturns you into Stone.You mustdeal with this immediatelyorrisk the rest of your party getting hitwith this Effect. If that were to happen, you would get aninstant Game Overand have to reload your last save.
Keep Track Of Your Party
On the subject of your party, you never want to assume they will make poor decisions during combat, but the unfortunate truth is theirAI isn’t always the smartest.This means thatthey will often get overwhelmed by the enemy,and asyou’re hard-focusing a targetand dishing out powerful combos,yourteammates might be cowering in the corner and on the brink of death.Alwayskeep an eye on them,andmanage their actionsvia theCombat Menuwhen things get a bit hairy.
Nothing is worse than realizing that your party members are dead after you land a sick combo, but it can happen more than you might think, especially in the later portions of the game.Always keep their health topped upif you see it dip below roughly halfway, andbe sure to utilize their Support Techto ensure everyone is protected and taking as less damage as possible.
Auto, Semi-Auto, And Manual Battle Types
Keeping on the subject of maintaining your party members, if you ever wanted tocontrol a different character during combat,you mustmake sure you have them set in the first slot of the partyand set to the “Manual” battle type. If they are onAuto or Semi-Auto, you will not have complete control of them.Additionally,always be mindful of switching party membersaround, assome may be set to Manual,meaningthey will not attackduring encounters unless you switch to them.
In general, you want thefirst slot of the partyto beset to Manual(or Semi-Auto if you prefer that) andthe remainder of your partyto beset to Auto.This way,they will attack and block on their own,andyou can periodically cast Spells, Tech, Artes, and morevia theBattle Menu.Absolutelydo not,under any circumstances,set your additional party members to Manual,or they will just idly stand there during encounters and will get smoked by the enemy.
Though it may seem obvious to veterans of the series, this is never really explained in the game and can bite you if you assume the game will automatically switch them to Manual when you jump to them in combat. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and they should always be set to Auto.
Strike And Technical Gauge
You may have noticed thelarge barwith the letter ‘S’ on one end and a ‘T’ on the other. This is yourStrike/Technical Meter,whichdetermines what kind of Tech your character learnsbyperforming actions in combat and leveling up.While this may seem daunting initially, please note thatwhatever side you are on is not permanent,andyou can earn Tech from both sides.It will just take a bit of effort to learn everything from both ‘Tech Trees.’
Furthermore, you caninfluence which side of the Strike/Technical Meteryou are learning moves from byequipping specific EX Gems,which you canobtain by defeating bosses, looting chests, and even stealing from some enemies.TheseEX Gemswilleither be Strike or Technical focused,and having anoverwhelming majority of onetype equipped over the otherwill influence the meter,having you earn Tech from that Tech Tree.
Lastly, the aforementioned “Tech Tree” refers to whatTech you can learn and equip.There are many ‘Neutral’Tech that then branches offinto either theStrike or Technical Tree,whichdictate what you can and cannot useat any given moment. For example,you can mix and match Tech from both Treesbutcannot use Tech from opposing branches of the same Tree.So,Demon Fangcan either becomeDouble Demon Fang(T) orDemonic Circle(S) and while you can learn both moves, youcannot equip or use them together.
But, if you were to learnAcuteness(T) andPermaguard(S), youcould equip and use both simultaneously,as theyboth branch off different Tech Trees.Essentially, if thebase Tech is the same for the Strike and Technical abilityyou have learned, youcannot use them in unisonwith one another. Theymust originate from a different Tech.Again, it seems far more daunting than it actually is, and this isone of the best ways to obtain powerful Tech,so we suggest at least giving it a fair shake before outright ignoring it!
