Sinister Stairs
11-11-2016, 10:52 PM
Much of these tactics don't matter if your party is so powerful you can kill enemies in a single turn and you don't need power/fury to do so. But for those who are newcomers or have humbler teams:
First Strike
The order your teammates attack can have a significant effect on battle, and in general, you want your characters with attacks that can trigger buffs/debuffs to go first. For examples:
If your Allied Soldier magus attacks first and his attack/magic buff triggers, your teammate's subsequent attacks will do more damage. Likewise, a Corrupt General's MR debuff benefits magical teammates that attack after him.
If you have characters that can stun/freeze your enemies, it essentially gives you a free turn so it may change what skills you use with the remainder of your turn.
This is a general rule, of course. Here's a fun situation that illustrates why you might violate it: Normally, I have characters who can Mark attack before the last character, so another character can benefit from the damage bonus. However, when fighting the Lords of Light, I'll have the marker attack last. Why? Imagine: You've got a Reflect Shield on your party and end your turn with Marks on the Lord of Light. When he attacks with a massive AoE power attack, hilarity ensues! (I've had Lords of Light X kill themselves from 50% health -- yes, post-October tune.)
Resetting Abilities
As another a general rule, have characters whose attacks can Reset go last. (Or, more specifically, when they're guaranteed to kill at least one enemy. Examples: Soldier Eddie, the Children of the Damned warrior and assassin.) You unlock their full potential when they're finishing off weakened enemies; conversely, you're limiting their potential when their Resetting attack doesn't kill at least one enemy.
The Angel of Fear warrior ("red bat") is an interesting example. When using that character, I'll use different skills (including those that don't do any damage) to ensure each character gets a turn; only the last character gets a kill which triggers the angel's passive. Like freezing/stunning opponents, the angel's passive gives you a free round, so I use that to maximize fury generation and/or buff.
Power Stealing/Generating
If you have characters that can steal/generate power, it's important when they use their ability. If you have another teammate who doesn't have enough power to use their ability (let's say, a heal), you'll want your power stealer/generator to go before them, in hopes they can get the power your healer needs. Conversely, if you're stockpiling power, use your power abilities first, then have the power stealer/generator go after them so you can replenish power and not waste it hitting the cap.
Healing
Just like stealing/generating power, in general, you want to do your healing at the end of a turn. This is because effects such as Reflect Shields, Revenge and Possessed Mines' explosions can damage your party in the middle of your turn. As long as your teammates won't die from those effects, you don't want to waste a heal early in a round, only to have your teammate's injured by those effects later in your turn.
Feel free to add on to this list...
First Strike
The order your teammates attack can have a significant effect on battle, and in general, you want your characters with attacks that can trigger buffs/debuffs to go first. For examples:
If your Allied Soldier magus attacks first and his attack/magic buff triggers, your teammate's subsequent attacks will do more damage. Likewise, a Corrupt General's MR debuff benefits magical teammates that attack after him.
If you have characters that can stun/freeze your enemies, it essentially gives you a free turn so it may change what skills you use with the remainder of your turn.
This is a general rule, of course. Here's a fun situation that illustrates why you might violate it: Normally, I have characters who can Mark attack before the last character, so another character can benefit from the damage bonus. However, when fighting the Lords of Light, I'll have the marker attack last. Why? Imagine: You've got a Reflect Shield on your party and end your turn with Marks on the Lord of Light. When he attacks with a massive AoE power attack, hilarity ensues! (I've had Lords of Light X kill themselves from 50% health -- yes, post-October tune.)
Resetting Abilities
As another a general rule, have characters whose attacks can Reset go last. (Or, more specifically, when they're guaranteed to kill at least one enemy. Examples: Soldier Eddie, the Children of the Damned warrior and assassin.) You unlock their full potential when they're finishing off weakened enemies; conversely, you're limiting their potential when their Resetting attack doesn't kill at least one enemy.
The Angel of Fear warrior ("red bat") is an interesting example. When using that character, I'll use different skills (including those that don't do any damage) to ensure each character gets a turn; only the last character gets a kill which triggers the angel's passive. Like freezing/stunning opponents, the angel's passive gives you a free round, so I use that to maximize fury generation and/or buff.
Power Stealing/Generating
If you have characters that can steal/generate power, it's important when they use their ability. If you have another teammate who doesn't have enough power to use their ability (let's say, a heal), you'll want your power stealer/generator to go before them, in hopes they can get the power your healer needs. Conversely, if you're stockpiling power, use your power abilities first, then have the power stealer/generator go after them so you can replenish power and not waste it hitting the cap.
Healing
Just like stealing/generating power, in general, you want to do your healing at the end of a turn. This is because effects such as Reflect Shields, Revenge and Possessed Mines' explosions can damage your party in the middle of your turn. As long as your teammates won't die from those effects, you don't want to waste a heal early in a round, only to have your teammate's injured by those effects later in your turn.
Feel free to add on to this list...