In this guide, I have explained the details that will help you unlock the classes, technique types and roles for training that will confuse you in the game.
Alternate Tutorial
Most of the techniques you use in combat can be described as weapon techniques, spell techniques, or relic techniques.
More rarely, there are mech techniques, ephemeral techniques, blood techniques, and soul techniques.
The power of techniques can be affected by up to three stats: a general stat like Strength, a category stat like One-handed Melee Weapons, and a stat for how skilled you are with that individual technique.
If there’s a crown over the stat for your skill with a technique, that means you can never improve it. Some techniques, usually buffs, are crowned at 1 and have no general or category stat. What you see is what you get.
A general rule: if you forget a technique by any means, then relearn it, it will be at the same level as it was when you forgot it.
Roles
Roles are passive abilities that can be equipped.
Most characters unlock new roles by raising their proficiency with specific techniques. (Not technique types, the individual techniques themselves.)
You can unlock more slots to equip roles to, but I have no idea how. It just happens.
If you forget a technique by removing equipment that grants it, you keep any roles you unlocked.
There’s already a very good guide to what techniques are needed for which roles.
As a Tales player, I’m having a very hard time not calling these titles.
Weapon Techniques
Dual-Wield Techniques / Kugutsu Part 1
Humanoids, meaning every class except Monster and Mech, learn weapon techniques. They can be subdivided into one-handed melee, two-handed melee, one-handed ranged, two-handed ranged, and martial arts, each of which has a different stat for how good you are at using them.
Yes, I’m counting martial arts as a weapon technique. Shut up.
Characters start with at least one technique for each weapon. Using direct offensive techniques teaches you more of them, e.g. repeatedly punching teaches you to kick. Conditionals are learned situationally, e.g. if you repeatedly get attacked while holding a weapon that can parry, you’ll eventually learn to parry.
A rare few weapon techniques are temporarily learned when equipping a specific weapon, and lost when the weapon is removed. I don’t know if these techniques can be learned permanently.
For all melee weapons and two-handed ranged weapons, the weapon techniques you learn later on can be sub-subdivided. E.g. an axe is a one-handed melee weapon, but using one can teach you moves that can only be used with an axe, not a sword. Thankfully, there’s no specific axe substat–you just use the one-handed melee stat for damage.
A little quirk for martial artists: after you use any attack with “Punch” in the name, you’re treated as defending for the rest of the turn.
There’s a class called Kugutsu, which I think is exclusive to Mido, that can’t learn weapon techniques just by using the weapon. He has to watch other characters use the weapon in order to mimic them. I haven’t played him yet, so I don’t know exactly how this works.
Many roles can be unlocked by learning specific weapon techniques and raising your proficiency with them to level 2. None of these roles require more than two techniques. None of them require techniques from different subtypes, but they can require techniques from different sub-subtypes. (E.g. an axe technique and a longsword technique.)
There’s a role for using two one-handed melee weapons in a single technique, a role for using two one-handed ranged weapons in a single technique, and a role for using one one-handed melee weapon and one one-handed ranged weapon in a single technique. Each of them requires raising two specific techniques to level 3. I don’t know exactly how these “dual-wield” techniques work.
Spell Techniques
Every class except Mech and Squire can learn spells.
(Squires aren’t mentioned elsewhere in the tutorials, so I’m not sure what their deal is.)
Spell techniques can be temporarily learned from equipment, and lost when the equipment is removed. Most characters don’t start with spells, so they need an item to get them started.
Although there’s a stat that affects all spells, there are also five stats for specific elements.
Repeatedly casting a spell permanently teaches you other spells of the same element. You learn these spells faster if your element stat is high.
So long as you have a spell equipped via item, you will be unable to learn that spell permanently.
When your main character is Ameya, she has a different way of learning spells, but overusing it may have consequences.
Some roles unlock from raising a specific spell to level 2.
Relic Techniques
Monsters
Monster and Mech classes use relic techniques. Some of the humanoid classes can use them too–it’s pretty random.
Relics are equipment. They start out empty, but each can be filled with a relic technique if their user gets the killing blow on a monster-type enemy that uses that technique, or is part of a United Attack with someone who gets the killing blow.
Each monster-type enemy has multiple techniques, and it seems to be random which one you learn.
If you’re full up, you can “unleash” a relic technique in combat to remove it from the relic and make room for a new one.
Monsters have a permanent, unremovable relic technique to get them started. Other than that, you can’t permanently learn relic techniques.
No relic techniques grant roles. This means monsters can only earn roles from spells.
Monsters can’t equip weapons, armor, hats, gloves, or boots, only relics or miscellaneous accessories. This means only humanoids can learn to spellcast from weapons and armor that have spells in them. Accessories with spells in them are well worth trading or upgrading for.
Mech Techniques
Mechs
Mech is the only class that uses these.
Every equippable item has a technique attached to it. Equipping it to a Mech temporarily teaches the technique.
Mech techniques cannot be learned permanently, except for one permanent technique they start with.
If Diva is your main character, then every time you recruit a character who’s a Mech, you get the ability to change her chassis to match it. This changes her stats and her “permanent” technique. Chassis can be changed anytime out of combat.
Mech techniques that can attack are divided into melee and ranged, which have separate stats for your skill at using them. Mechs don’t care about the one-handed or two-handed distinction.
Armor and accessories have techniques that give temporary buffs. These techniques have no associated stat.
Mechs can never permanently improve stats like Strength or Dexterity, only stats associated with techniques. However, they get additional stat bonuses from equipment.
Mechs can put any equipment in any equipment slot. There’s nothing stopping you from giving them six weapons at once.
As Mechs improve their permanent technique, they keep unlocking new roles up to level 5. These are the only roles they unlock. This means Diva has a lot of roles she can only unlock when you play as her and can change her “permanent” technique.
Ephemeral Techniques
Ephemerals
Each Ephemeral is either an Ephemeral Humanoid or an Ephemeral Monster, with all relevant traits.
Ephemerals get temporary bonuses to stats like Strength and Dexterity as they survive more battles. These bonuses are accompanied by changes to a permanently equipped role, starting at juvenile and ending at elder.
However, role changes temporarily reduce Endurance and max Life Points. (Not HP, but the stat that goes down by 1 whenever your HP hits 0.)
When an Ephemeral’s life points hit 0, they drop down to juvenile again, but get small permanent stat boosts and permanently learn some Ephemeral techniques. The higher their title was, the better the gains. Gains stack as they repeatedly fall in battle, so make sure to endanger your elders!
If you lose and retry a battle, and your Ephemeral’s life points hit 0, they don’t drop down to juvenile until after the battle, meaning you won’t be able to use them again in this fight. Be very cautious when your plan for beating a nasty boss requires having an Ephemeral in your party.
Ephemeral techniques have no associated stat and don’t unlock roles.
Blood Techniques
Vampire / Thralls / Knights / Wastrels (incomplete)
Siugnas the Vampire is a humanoid. Everything I know about him is from the in-game tutorial, which I’ll try to summarize here.
By defeating humanoid enemies, he improves his blood techniques. I’m not sure if this means he gets more techniques, or the techniques get stronger.
Defeated humanoid enemies become new party members called Thralls.
There’s special equipment you can give to Thralls to turn them into Knights, which can use blood techniques. I think Knights lose their previously learned techniques, though.
I’m not sure whether or how Knights improve their blood techniques.
If you remove a Knight’s special equipment, they permanently turn into a Wastrel, which has 1 max life point and can never learn any new techniques of any kind.
Yes, this all sounds pretty evil.
There are roles associated with blood techniques, but I don’t know how they unlock.
Soul Techniques
Kugutsu part 2 (incomplete)
Kugutsu, which I think means the humanoid Mido, learn something called soul techniques. I don’t know anything about them.
Mido gets quite a lot of roles.
Seriously, the guide to roles has six sections just for Mido.
