You may want to learn some beginner's tips for Final Fantasy Resonance, even though the game might feel familiar because of its 2D-HD visuals and old-school, turn-based combat. Sure, it's a Final Fantasy game, so Ultima is still a pretty strong magic attack, you ride a chocobo, and the story is all about crystals.
However, from handling the multiple Visions available in the game and knowing which items you should always have in your bag to chasing nomad sellers to acquire rare materials, there's much to discover and understand about this game. Below, we've listed 15 Final Fantasy Resonance beginner's tips to help you out.
Trust in Rain's protagonist nature
Rain is one of the most important characters in the game, but it's not his blonde hair, large sword, and red outfit that make him that important. He is by far the best character to serve as the party's tank and protect others from dangerous attacks while also having the potential to deal significant damage. He has the protagonist sauce, so prepare to use him as a party member throughout the entire game.
And don't ignore Lid's Mechabo
At first glance, Lid might not look like a strong character. Offering no support skills for the rest of the party and only a few earth-based attacks, she seems just the kind of character you replace as soon as a new party member appears — at least that's what I thought until I learned about Lid's Mechabo's potential to stagger enemies. After you have upgraded her artificial chocobo to its final form, Lid will have a permanent spot in your party.
Look for loot on every map
Now, as you enter a new city, dungeon, or region, be sure to take some minutes to explore the place, open all the chests, and interact with all the glowing spots on the ground that you find. While you will encounter regular consumables like potions, you will also obtain great pieces of equipment that would cost you lots of gil if you bought them from shops. Early in the game, earning enough money to equip all characters with their best-in-slot gear is too expensive, so any treasure you find will be useful.
If you don't find any, visit a shop asap!
If you need better equipment for your character but haven't found one while exploring, I suggest stopping what you're doing and heading to the nearest shop. Gear in Final Fantasy Resonance is quite important, and trying to beat bosses undergeared will only increase the chances of seeing your party wiped out for lacking the stats to face the encounter. Buying armor and weapons is not cheap, but having one or two characters well-equipped for fights is better than having none.
Use the map's destination list
Whether you're looking for a shop you've previously visited to buy a new sword for Rain or you want to revisit one of the major cities in the game to complete a side quest, navigating the world map can feel frustratingly slow. Moving the cursor from one side to the other takes ages, and since you can't see exactly where you are on the map, it can feel disorienting. That's why you should use the "destination list," which you can open while on the world map screen. It will help you to quickly navigate from one location to another.
Check a side quest's rewards
There are many side quests in Final Fantasy Resonance. Just when you think you're done with them, a new blue icon appears over one of the main cities. Although completing these secondary missions is a great way to level up and to enjoy more stories about the characters you meet and places you visit, you don't need to rush to complete them all. Whenever you accept a side quest, you can see the rewards you will receive, allowing you to decide whether to prioritize it.
Rotate visions
Some Visions will fit specific characters so well, like the Warrior of Light for Rain, that you won't want to replace them after reaching max rank. However, you should. You see, by increasing a character's rank with more visions, you gain more options when building them. Besides, all characters can benefit from certain mastery bonuses, like Tronn's "Half MP Cost" and Terra's "Break the Limit." So be sure to always equip a new vision to a character to unlock more skills.
Double-action skills rule
If you're wondering which Visions you should focus on, I'd say that your best bet is to rank up the ones that grant double-action skills with as many characters as you can. Firion's "Arms Akimbo" lets you use two actions per turn, while Squall's "Double Action" allows a character to use two consecutive attack skills (but it doesn't work with black and white magic). With all your four characters having these abilities, it means that you can not only deal more damage, but can also stagger enemies faster and keep your party's HP full all the time.
Understand each character's role to set their passive skills
Some characters are great at breaking enemies' defenses and staggering them, while others, like Rain, will mostly focus on taking damage. Among the mastery bonus skills, you will find some that synergize with these specific situations. By understanding what each character does best, you can select the perfect passive skill for them. You can give Rain virtually infinite MP and keep his Limit Break ready all the time by running the "Restore MP when Taking Damage" and "Fill LB when Taking Damage" passive skills.
Don't underestimate status ailments
I know that sometimes, we just want to either attack or heal in battle, but don't forget that you can always try to poison or slow enemies, for example. If possible, always cast "Libra" first to check an enemy's weaknesses, and take advantage of the status ailments that will be effective against them. You can easily win a fight as poison ticks every turn, or you can act before the enemy.
Don't be afraid to reload your saves
Like in the old Final Fantasy games, you can't know the best strategy for a boss fight before you start it. Having the chance to prepare the best party composition and equip the right Visions makes your life easier, since hitting an enemy's weaknesses is an important mechanic in Final Fantasy Resonance. If you start a fight and realize you are lacking the right skills, just pause the game and reload your last save. You will have a better experience by entering the encounter with a solid strategy instead of trying to stagger enemies using elemental magic scrolls when none of your characters have the right skills.
Focus on sweeping staggering enemies early in the turn
While staggering enemies is extremely useful during a fight, regardless of when you do it, you should prioritize performing a sweeping stagger early in the turn. Staggered enemies take more damage, so you want to attack them as many times as you can. If you're close to breaking their defenses, wait until the next turn, and land the final blow as soon as one of your characters can act. All characters can act a second time when a sweeping stagger happens, but by staggering enemies early, you ensure that even during the regular turns, you're attacking a debuffed enemy.
Regular magic attacks are for damage only
In Final Fantasy Resonance, many enemies are weak to elemental damage, like fire or ice. Trying to break their defenses by casting regular elemental magic is not the best option, since they don't reduce the stagger gauge as much as other abilities do. For example, instead of using Stone, consider using Stone Blade, which is an elemental physical attack.Once you stagger an enemy, it's time to unleash all your magic attacks.
Look for the merchant ship
Later in the game, as you fly with your airship on the world map, you might see a ship sailing in the middle of the ocean. Unlike the ones waiting in some docks, this is a merchant ship. If you hover above it, you can interact with the ship and buy rare items, like the rare ore adamantite or pieces of ancient equipment. Since this is not a regular shop, you can't select what you're buying. Use this opportunity to get your hands on something rare!
Keep a stock of tents
After years of playing JRPGs where you can recover characters' HP and MP simply by interacting with the save point inside a dungeon, I forgot that keeping plenty of tents in my inventory was necessary to survive. In Resonance, you want to have as many of these healing items as possible. Since you can't teleport to an inn while inside a dungeon, you need to use tents to recover health and keep exploring. You can always teleport from one save point to another, and then leave to teleport to an inn, but doing so will cost you time.