The Combo System

[Winterknell]

I already played through ToS2, but I've been reluctant to give it another go, even though part of me kind of wants to. I liked the characters, and story, but something's kind of bothering me.

My favorite part of any Tales game is being able to pull off lengthy combos by the end. I was able to pull it off in all the ones I've played except ToS2. Even without other party members attacking, my targets seem to stagger off to the left or right, and the rest of my attacks miss because Emil's no longer hitting his target.

Now, you might be thinking "it's probably because you're not using artes that properly chain together", but I've tried several combinations, and they all seem to miss at the very end. For me, it takes a lot of the fun out of it. Of course, this DOES make the game more challenging, but I feel it's making it challenging for the wrong reasons. It's not like my button combinations are off, or I'm screwing up. Or... maybe I am.

I've been able to pull off combos just fine in the other Tales games... why am I failing here? Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Does this even happen to anyone else? What's going on?

(As a side question, how does boss staggering work in this game? For me it was always completely random as to whether they stagger or not upon attack.)

[Zacewing]

One of Emil's shortcomings is that a lot of his Base Artes don't chain together well with Arcane Artes.

If you want combos...you could always try Marta's infinite combo. xD
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[Kureejii Lea]

Try focusing on more aerial attacks with Emil? Or maybe timing some magic shortcuts to give you time to realign...

I have noticed attacks occasionally sliding off to the side of an enemy, but that problem hasn't been unique to this game...

Of course, as mentioned there's always "Hit it! Photon!" ad nauseam.
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Over fifty arranged tracks from ToP and ToS!

[radiantroar]

Well, almost all of the methods have been listed. There is one missing. Trying equipping the Accelerate Sp/Weapon/Armor skill on Emil/Marta/Lloyd/Sheena/Regal. It will basically allow you to pull off infinite combos with MOST of these characters (this is most effective with Emil/Lloyd. Marta is a little iffy with timing and her Accelerate armor is in Gladshiem; its best to stick with her spell combo. Sheena = to weak to pull much off except Cyclone Seal spam. If memory serves, Regal doesn't even have enough SP points to equip it.)

Most of the combos is timing really. Accelerate helps a lot since it cancels out the delay time out of the attacks. I think the MOST hindering aspect for those that don't know the brokenness of accelerate is the amount of artes that hit in one direction, which is probably the main reason why Emil misses his aerials. Like if you tried go Demon's Rage to Aerial Regular ^A x13 hits, then link it to something like Ravaging Tiger, it will miss if you are in a corner. Or Demon's Rage with Alice, last hit will never hit because you go behind her (of course, there are times when it does hit). Try Demon Fang (Tenebrae) to get back to a direction.

If you're still stuck, link all arcane artes from Blade Fury (Glacius). Linking from all of the other base artes are pretty much combo breakers. Or try the aforementioned Blah Blah Blah Photon with Marta. If you want variety combos, its best to stick with Lloyd and Emil, they are the easiest to pull off. Just to keep in mind, with Acceleration on, Emil should end with Blade Fury (Glacius) or Demon's Rage to continue the combo. Lloyd should end with Double Demon Fang. After executing the attack, move forward a bit and mash A or your arte buttons to continue the assault (Lloyd needs to continue with artes, not regular attacks. Emil can do either with regular or arte, assuming the arte does not propel the enemy forward, such as Light Spear Cannon). As for group combos, wish for the best and use Genis/Marta's Gravity Well/Photon respectively.

The Accelerate SP skill is default on Lloyd/Sheena/Regal (the last two acquire it in final chapter). Emil acquires it from two specific weapons, either the Echo Tracer or the Nether Traitor. Echo Tracer is synthesized from the Longsword. Nether Traitor is from the Twilight Palace Katz side quest. Marta's black cloak armor w/ Accelerate is from Gladshiem. Emil/Marta also have Technical 3 equipment, pick them up from the Twilight Palace to get a true infinite combo. Emil and Marta will need to equip the equipment to have these skills.

As for staggering, it was an attempt to make this game hard. Only thing I could say is to spam attacks with 4+ hits (Sword Rains, Blade Furies, Photons). Or keep dodging until you get an opportunity to hit your opponent. Getting hit while free running does causes a temporary stun in some cases. I find that higher levels will increase your chances of staggering them.

Accelerate/Speed Cast (1+2+3+2) = Semi Over limit from Vesperia.
Accelerate/Speed Cast (1+2+3+2) + Technical 3 = Semi Over limit 3 from Vesperia

[Winterknell]

Thank you for your replies. Especially you, radiantroar, I appreciate you going into detail.

I never seemed to encounter any problems like this in any of the other 3D Tales, or at least, never this often anyway. I can't really tell if any of this was intentional on the developers side. I thought at first that it might have been a problem with the engine, until I heard they might have recycled the Symphonia 1 engine.

Either way, I'll give the game another shot with the advice you guys gave me, and see how things turn out. Of course, I'll keep experimenting.

I just hope the next Wii title is more akin to that of Abyss or Vesperia. To each their own, though.

[Drake]

They recycled the Abyss engine, not the Symphonia one.
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