Tips for quartz setups

[Niras]

It's 4th game from trails series I'm currently playing and I still feel like I don't get the quartz system. In Trails in the Sky (FC) I mostly shuffled quartz around till I got good spells. I only learned what lanes in orbnaments do thx to random guide after finishing FC. In SC I actually tried making setups which got me through the end on normal diff but still I felt like I was shuffling around till something good came out without much thought. TC I mostly replaced default setups with better version of quartz. Sometime between finishing SC and TC I learned quartz aren't going away, at least till Coldsteel 1 based on trailers (so no spoiler how they work plz).

Since I just started playing Zero I figured I should finally learn this system so this system won't be thorn in my enjoyment with combat in later entries.

So I ask for tips in making the best quartz setups
Should I aim for getting spell from character's "main element" ?
e.g Lloyd earth, Randy fire, Tio water etc.

or prioritize stats over arts ?
e.g Lloyd defense, Randy dmg etc.

I know certain quartz are universally good like Action X
I know some characters have element specific slots
I'm aware of better versions of quartzs like Action 1, Action 2, X gems etc.

I would appreciate more general tips but specific setups for characters are fine too

For reference my current setup at the end of chapter 1:

- Lloyd: EP Cut 1, Septium Vein, Poison, HP 1, Detection, Action 1 , empty
- Randy: Attack 2, Shield 1, Hit 1 , Evade 2, HP 1, Mute, Action 1
- Elie: Blind, HP 1, Eagle Eye, Attack 1, Evade 1, Hit 2, Action 1
- Tio: HP 1, Impede 1, Evade 1, Mute, EP Cut 1, Information

Lloyd's slot is indead empty cuz I ran out of sepith and I kinda forgot about it hehe

[Stabbey]

In Sky 2 &3 and the Crossbell games, Defense quartz decrease STR. Defense doesn't reduce damage by enough to matter, so I usually avoid using Defense quartz on physical attackers.

Lloyd makes a decent Evasion tank in Zero and a phenomenal one in Azure.

[Lapetirubern]

Contrary to what his initial quartz suggests, Lloyd has no associated element - in fact, his orbment is basically the same as Estelle's - two lines of equal length, no element locked slot. The lines are visually flipped and that's about it. And as the other reply says, people tend to run him as a dodgetank because he can actually hit 100% evasion rate in Azure.

[Niras]

Originally posted by Stabbey:

Lloyd makes a decent Evasion tank in Zero and a phenomenal one in Azure.

Originally posted by Lapetirubern:

And as the other reply says, people tend to run him as a dodgetank because he can actually hit 100% evasion rate in Azure.

How do you make Lloyd a evasion tank exacly ?
Do you give him Evasion 3 quratz and couple wind/green gems + equip items with +exasion ?
or do you have to buff him regularly too during combat ?

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

In Zero you can't get Lloyd (or anyone) to 100% evasion without Arts, meaning someone has to keep casting it. This is rarely worth it. In Azure, Lloyd can reach 100% Evasion, and it's very useful during certain fights.