Get the most out of your first Tales of Berseria playthrough with these tips and tricks. In this beginner’s guide, we cover everything from optimal equipment and arte usage to understanding the intricacies combat.
Lost? Don’t know what to do?
Whether you’re returning from a long break or simply lost, figuring out what your quest is couldn’t be simpler. Holding R1 in the overworld displays your main objective. If you’re not sure where to find it, open up the world map by first going through the Local Map (Square) and then pressing Triangle. There is a star over the zone that the main objective is found in.
Explore Every Nook and Cranny
Tales of Berseria reimburses the player who spends their time checking around every corner. You never know when the next corner is hiding that sweet new piece of equipment or Katz Box. Even when there’s not a chest, you can be certain to find some sellable treasures or Katz Spirits for your trouble.
Regularly Swap Out Your Equipment
Trust me, this isn’t a reminder to always wear the best equipment you own. Rather, this is a reminder to constantly equip your characters with equipment that they haven’t worn before. After a certain amount of battles with a piece of equipment on, the character masters it’s main passive skill so that they benefit from it even without it equipped. Keep a constant eye on the mastery of your equipment and swap it out whenever applicable.
Regularly Rotate Your Artes
For the uninitiated, artes are the combat abilities assigned to the four face buttons on your controller. Much like equipment, Tales of Berseria rewards the player for the regular use of all of their artes. The more artes a character regularly uses, the more Blast Gauge (BG) they get at the end of every encounter. The more BG you get, the more often you can use powerful Mystic Artes.
Take the Time to Fight
This is the equivalent of saying “Don’t run from Wild Pokemon battles.” I shouldn’t have to say it, but running from and avoiding encounters that aren’t required is a sure way to dig yourself a shallow, underleveled grave. Now, you don’t have to go out and destroy every enemy in a zone — just remember to cut through your paths so you don’t end up in a nasty situation later on.
Combat Tips
Enemy Weakness
Chances are, you already know all about exploiting enemy weaknesses. For example, if you start a combo out with an attack that an enemy is weak to and continue the combo with martial artes, the entire combo will hit the enemy’s weakness. The only issue is figuring out enemy weaknesses in the first place.
Luckily, this isn’t too much of a hassle. While in combat, hold R1 to pause the encounter and view an opponent’s stats. From here you can see some basic information on weaknesses and resistances. For more information on the enemy, press the Circle button while holding R1.
Break Soul
I wouldn’t blame you if you’re hesitant to use Break Soul at all. After all, it reduces your Soul Gauge by one soul and passes it out amongst the enemy’s team. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it drains your health while active. However, if you take the time to learn how to use it, it can be a powerful tool in combat.
For starters, Velvet does more damage in Break Soul the lower her health is. If you’re confident enough to not get hit, you can run around, smashing in faces with 1 HP. No matter what, the effects of Break Soul will never kill you. Alternatively, Break Soul can also be used for a quick heal. On activation, Break Soul heals about 10% of Velvet’s health. If you deactivate Break Soul quickly with a Break Arte to keep the health drain from setting in, then it essentially acts as a quick and dirty heal.
Take the time to carefully explore the new Break Soul mechanic. In the right hands, Break Soul is nothing short of devastating.
And that wraps up our Tales of Berseria beginner’s guide. Be on the lookout for our upcoming guides on Katz Boxes and Code Red Daemons. Have any more tips and tricks for Tales of newcomers? Leave them in the comments below!
