Immortal Tactics

The turn-based combat of Lost Odyssey™ is prime pickings for those hoping to win with tactics rather than twitch reflexes. Every skill, useable item, and piece of equipment adds another layer of strategic depth to the proceedings. You'll no doubt produce a wealth of your own favorite tactics, but here are a few tips to get you started.

Hope you've got some anti-paralysis goodies.

Dedicated Roles

It's important throughout the game to bring a balanced team to every battle sequence. Your first group exemplifies this as Kaim carries the bulk of the melee damage duties, Jansen plays a supporting role with both white and black magic, and Seth operates as a hybrid of the two. Keep this melee-casting-hybrid combination in mind whenever you shake up the character rotation.

Level Up for Boss

If you find yourself struggling during a boss encounter, chances are your characters simply aren't at a high enough level. Do yourself a favor and back away from the boss fight if it proves overly difficult. Take the time to travel back through the surrounding areas and pick up a few random battles to increase your level and power.

Also, keep an eye out for each boss's special attacks and abilities. For example, a few failed attempts to best the worm bosses at the base of Grand Staff will teach you to head back to town to gather anti-paralysis items. Likewise, focus on battling water-based creatures to collect components to craft a water ring for greater effect against the fire-based worms.

Might want to level up a time or two for this guy.

Immortal's Revive

The use of Angel's Plumes for reviving characters should be restricted almost exclusively to the mortal characters in your party. Should an immortal such as Kaim fall in combat, they will revive automatically on their own after a couple of turns. Consider then whether your party can survive the required two rounds, and, if they can, you can certainly find a more productive skill, action, or item to use rather than wasting an Angel's Plume on an immortal.

Ring Swapping

The ring crafting system of Lost Odyssey exists not to create an all powerful item, but to allow you a wide variety of tactical options for tackling all manner of different creatures and enemies. Don't forget to consider the enemy types you're encountering, and swap out your rings accordingly. At the very least, if you're using element-based rings, be certain to equip the ring in direct opposition to the enemies you're facing, water for fire creatures, earth for water creatures, and so on.

Ring Timing

The timing required for ring attacks is so precise that you can't hope to score a Perfect every time. Stack the odds in your favor by waiting half a second before pressing the right trigger, rather than holding it down right away. It's easier to time a delay at the beginning than timing a release of the right trigger at the end.

All Defend

The Defend ability is vastly underused in most turn-based role-playing games, but in Lost Odyssey, it's a must-use skill in many fights. This is particularly true when dealing with a catastrophic boss attack, such as the worm boss's Para Flare, where choosing Defend for the whole group can save you a good deal of health.

Don't worry, you can take them.

Shield the Front Line

The use of the Shield spell is always advisable, but particularly as a tool to further boost your Guard Condition for the front line. Cast Shield on the characters up front and your casters/support characters in the back row will enjoy even more protection against enemy attacks as your Guard Condition meter depletes much more slowly courtesy of the bonus damage reduction.

Kick, Probe, and Push

Every corner of Lost Odyssey is littered with useful items. Taking the time to track down chests, kick open containers and even pick through garbage cans will make a difference in combat as you pull from freshly stocked stores of items at all times. Keep your eyes peeled for alternate routes and side paths too as they almost always reward you with useful items.

Not all of Kaim's A Thousand Years of Dreams stories are related directly to the core storyline, so take the time to explore every new environment, including talking to any and all nearby characters. You might be surprised what memories you unlock.

Always Skill Link

Our immortal heroes may not unlock new skills and abilities as they level, but they can learn any newly acquired skills from their mortal comrades using Skill Link. Make sure to make constant use of Skill Link, always adding a new ability immediately after the previous skill is learned. Don't worry about learning skills you may not use either. While you only have a set number of Skill Slots, you can learn as many as you'd like.

Those tips and tactics should help you on your journey through the vast world of Lost Odyssey. Steady on!

Article by Ryan Treit