Combat fundamentals
Battles play out on a 3D grid with height. Units act in an order set by Speed; on a turn you typically Move and take one Action (attack, ability, or item), in either order.
- Height and facing. Higher ground boosts physical hit and damage and extends some ranges. Hitting from the side or back raises hit chance and crit; being hit from behind is dangerous. Position constantly.
- Charge times. Many spells and ranged abilities have a cast delay (see CT), so they land on a later tick. Lead the target.
- Turn order is a resource. Faster units act more often. Slowing the enemy or speeding yourself is as strong as raw damage.
- Permadeath rule. A downed unit becomes a Crystal/Treasure after a countdown; if it expires, the unit is gone for good (generics). Revive or retreat before the count runs out.
The turn system (CT & Speed)
- Every tick, each unit's CT (Charge Time) rises by its Speed. At CT 100 the unit acts, then CT resets.
- Higher Speed = more frequent turns. This is why Speed is the most valuable stat in the game.
- Spells and charged abilities have their own cast CT: select target, the ability charges, and it resolves on a future tick. Fast units can move, get hit, or die before a slow spell lands — account for the delay and for enemies leaving an AoE.
Because turn frequency compounds, small Speed advantages snowball over a long battle. Builds that stack Speed (or haste themselves) act dramatically more often than the enemy.
Stats explained
| Stat | What it does |
|---|---|
| HP / MP | Health and magic pool. |
| Speed | How fast CT fills = turn frequency. The premium stat. |
| PA (Physical Attack) | Scales physical/weapon damage. |
| MA (Magick Attack) | Scales spell and magickal-ability damage. |
| Bravery | Affects some physical abilities/reaction triggers; very high/low Bravery has side effects. |
| Faith | Scales magick (yours and damage taken from magick). High Faith = stronger but more vulnerable; very low Faith resists magick but can't cast well. |
| Move / Jump | Tiles you can move and vertical height you can clear. |
Two big build levers: Faith governs the whole magick economy (a low-Faith unit is a poor caster but a magick-resistant tank), and Bravery interacts with physical reaction abilities and a few class mechanics.
Zodiac Compatibility
Each unit has a zodiac sign, and a hidden compatibility multiplier between attacker and target modifies damage, healing, and accuracy. In the Enhanced version you can now view a unit's sign and compatibility directly from the status screen (a v1.5.0 addition), so you no longer have to guess.
- Good compatibility boosts damage/recovery/accuracy (to ~125% in the favorable cases shown in-game).
- Bad compatibility reduces it (to ~75%).
- Special compatibility (e.g. certain opposite-sign pairings) can swing dramatically high (~150%) or low; non-human units shift the modifier too.
Pair healers and buffers with allies they're compatible with, and aim your hardest hitters at enemies they match well against. It's a quiet multiplier that adds up across a battle.