4 Characters but only 3 can be used at a time?

[Djsstorm]

This seems like a bit of a cruel joke, they gave us 4 characters to pick, yet can only use 3 at a time in a party. Don't get me wrong, I love this game so far. I know the 4th does get xp too at a much lower rate, but what I was wondering, without giving any of the story away, is there a part in the game where they force you to use certain characters?

Only checking so if I end up not using one of them, there is no danger from that 1 being underleveled when they are needed later on.

[Ratsplat]

So far there is only one place where only 1 is played at a time outside of merchant duels and such. But, enemies are always avoidable and if it ever seems like you're 'stuck' you can just grind until you're strong enough.

[chaos915]

In my game Sciel is 2 levels lower than Verso and Lune, and 4 levels lower than Maelle. At one point I was soloing the hidden arena with Maelle, and ended up with her being overleveled.
I did quite a few solo arena battles with Sciel and caught her up to the rest of my party.
i progressed the story quite a bit with Sciel benched, and she ended up 2 levels lower than lune/verso. Seems like the benched characters only get roughly half the exp.

I had to bench Maelle for a bit, even if it hurts my dps, because I needed to catch everyone up.

[Abelfei]

Sounds like you've never played an rpg before. Most rpgs have 8-10 characters and only 3-4 usable, this goes back to the SNES.

[shadowsfm]

Character 5 hasn't been unlocked yet?

[Djsstorm]

Originally posted by Abelfei:

Sounds like you've never played an rpg before. Most rpgs have 8-10 characters and only 3-4 usable, this goes back to the SNES.

Not all RPG's have a mission later in the game that requires you to use certain characters. off the top of my head, FFVII anf FFIX both did this. I never used Cait Sith, then they force you to use him later. In FFIX, I never used Quina my first time playing, then later they force you to use her to fight a boss. I wanted to know if they do that in this game too.

[Djsstorm]

Originally posted by shadowsfm:

Character 5 hasn't been unlocked yet?

I would answer this, but I don't know how far you have gotten. Check this spoiler if you want to.
Character 5 replaces another character who dies, so still only 4 characters in play

[chaos915]

I my game I'm on my way to the 5th memberMonaco. The Secret Gestral Arena vs tiny head is the most efficient way to catch up lower level characters(gives exp on par with the snowy area for less effort with all the solo buffs). He can actually drop resplendant upgrade materials sometimes.

[AbsolutScrub]

I just did the act 1 last boss 3 tries. My Frontline used up all the resources and ended up wiping at 50%. My reserve unit a solo Gustave juiced with vitality cleaned up the rest. Was a 10/10 moment for me. Works well imo and I imagine it pays off by the end.

[Roarke]

So I’m coming across quite a few monsters that are weak to dark etc so sciel would a great choice however I can’t get her in my party? I’ve tried taking gustave out and putting sciel in however when I enter battle sciel still isn’t there and I only have Maelle and the other woman. Am I doing something wrong?

[Agahnim01]

I keep swapping them to make sure they're all at the same level... when one gets 2 levels higher than my lowest leveled character, i swap em up.

[Memori]

I get how you feel because I'm the kind of person that sticks to just using my favorite characters. I hate when games force you to use a character you haven't been using the entire time cuz I usually only buy equipment for certain characters too. There is one game. I forgot the name of it. Worst RPG I've ever played in my life. The day I got my mom to buy it for me from GameStop. I beat it that same day and there's a part in the game. I think it was called lunar dragon song on the DS but there's a part of the game where you get this new, powerful character on your party. I fully equipped him, gave him all kinds of cool stuff and then he immediately dies or leaves your party with all of your stuff. I was so mad not only was I mad because I wasted stuff on a character that wasn't even going to stay at the party but the game I was able to complete it in one day. I asked my mom for that game because it was an RPG thinking I was going to be able to have something to play for a while but I beat it the day I got it and I was so mad

[Platapoop]

That last person is your carry. You slap all the last stand on them and watch them clutch the fight.

[Suntorias]

They won't be that far behind. If your team wipes you get a chance to use the remaining member as backup.

[Shin Happens]

There is one section in the story where the team gets split up and you play each smaller team individually, everyone is used here. But other than that you have your team of 3. Rarely are you forced to be one character only, but it happens.

The characters not on your team WILL however become playable as soon as your team dies in combat. The game then asks you if you want to send in the reserve. If you do the benched characters take over and you fight with them. (in the game the characters not on your team are still considered to be in your company while you explore etc, which is why you can always hear everyone talk in free roam).

Also, there are five characters in total in the game you can play as. You meet the 5th one in Act 2 early on.

[NewYears1978]

Originally posted by Djsstorm:

This seems like a bit of a cruel joke, they gave us 4 characters to pick, yet can only use 3 at a time in a party. Don't get me wrong, I love this game so far. I know the 4th does get xp too at a much lower rate, but what I was wondering, without giving any of the story away, is there a part in the game where they force you to use certain characters?

Only checking so if I end up not using one of them, there is no danger from that 1 being underleveled when they are needed later on.

First JRPG style game? You should try Suikoen.

You actually end up with 5, and the other two gain XP when not in battle and can come in as backup if the main party falls.