Live to fight another day with these tips!
In SaGa Emerald Beyond, the turn-based combat can be confusing at first. There's a lot to take in all at once, and it's easy to get overwhelmed or confused. Thankfully, we have tips to help you get the most out of combat and power through each narrative successfully!
From preparations to how to adapt if things go wrong, we've got you covered. There are several things you can do in the various stages of combat to ensure things go smoothly. Here's everything you need to know about combat strategies in SaGa Emerald Beyond and how to emerge victorious from every encounter.
Save Before Battle
Before marching in to fight fiends, save your game. You won't regret it. Once you enter the combat menu, your only options are to engage with the enemy or go over your preparations.
If your retinue dies in combat, you'll only have the choice to return to the title screen or reattempt the battle. Reattempting will increase your initial combo rate, but you may still find that you're not equipped for the battle.
If you save before battle, you can reload and have more freedom before attempting the challenge again.
Check Your Formation
While preparing for combat, you can change your retinue and formation. Each formation has different benefits to it that can help you in combat, from defending specific members of the party to increasing your starting BP.
Formations can be acquired when new members join the retinue, and they can be changed before engaging fiends. Different worlds and battles will require different strategies. Make sure to alternate formations to find what works best for you!
Diversify The Party
You'll gain new party members as you progress, and they may be swapped with characters already in your retinue. New characters have new abilities, which can help you tackle powerful opponents and difficult battles.
Since there's no traditional leveling up system, it's important to diversify your party and choose members of the retinue carefully for important battles.
Go For The Combo
When selecting what actions to take in battle, keep your retinue together. You'll want to go for combos as much as you can, as they will create the most devastating attack.
Keep in mind that spells take additional turns to cast and won't count towards the combo until the turn they are cast!
You won't always be able to group everyone together, but it's better to have smaller groups that work together than each party member attacking on their own.
Break Enemy Combos
As each turn passes, you'll notice that the fiends can group up like you do. Take the opportunity to get between them and go first. You'll want to break them up so they can't unleash combos on your and your retinue.
If you see an enemy's attack labeled as ???, you can use a Quell attack to trigger the enemy, so they won't affect any of your combos.
You can use skills that delay an enemy's action, knocking them out of the combo as well. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense, and preventing powerful attacks is a great way to stay alive.
Defend Your Retinue
You don't need to have every member act each turn. If you run out of BP or if you want to protect a specific character, you can have all characters without a specific action defend themselves.
Defending during a turn is a perfectly acceptable tactic. Characters who are low on HP or who are being targeted can be protected to keep them around for the next turn.
Focus On One Enemy At A Time
Sometimes you'll have to face multiple enemies. It can be tempting to send one person after each enemy, but it's better to fixate on one at a time. Teamwork enables you to remove an enemy almost every other turn, whittling down incoming damage and attacks.
Some enemies will consume other enemies to replenish their HP. Focus on these little guys first to save yourself some time and energy in combat.
However, you can still attack multiple enemies if you need to break formations and combos. Overall, protect your party and work together to take down one enemy at a time.
Play Conservatively
You can almost always get to the next turn, but you can't undo turns that went poorly. Stay on the cautious side and plan your moves out. The worst-case scenario means starting the battle over and losing LP, but it's easier to avoid that with careful planning.
It's tempting to rush into battle and spend all your BP, but remember to defend and cast spells to protect your retinue and deal more damage over time.
