So, how does the game ... work?

[WarWeeny]

I read a few things on the forum and there seem to be a lot of systems in place.

Biggest worry i have are the time skips.
Let's take the demo as an example, if i play the Gerard stuff and finish his arc, a time-skip should occur, correct? if so, what happens to all my party members i had at the time? Do i lose everyone, all my progress and need to start anew every time a time skip is occurring or does something akin to let's say, levels, carry over?

I also read enemies level with you, so it is pointless to even level? since they level with you, why bother, you get stronger, but so are they, so the progress is negated in a way/ Does this have a big impact? (let's say for "fun" i grind all my characters to 99, before even starting a chapter/arc proper, does every enemy be level 99 and i get a new type of "challenge" due to the enemies being high level as well?

Are there any other obscure mechanics that i should look out for?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[CaptainLagbeard]

After your first time skip, your party is removed and you have to put together a new one.

You do keep all their gear, and the new characters will roughly be at the level of where you left off at the skip.

You do get the options to relearn any skills and spells your previous party knew.

[WarWeeny]

Originally posted by CaptainLagbeard:

After your first time skip, your party is removed and you have to put together a new one.

You do keep all their gear, and the new characters will roughly be at the level of where you left off at the skip.

You do get the options to relearn any skills and spells your previous party knew.

Ok, let's say i finish an arc with the second party, does my 3rd party look the same in terms of characters or are they completely different? I can understand the main guy/girl i play with for the story is different, but what about the rest of the previous party?

[FreshMint]

Timeskips happen based on a mix of quest completion and the amount of battles you do, and usually occur at somewhat specific points.

When one occurs, you technically lose your party, but gain a new generation of the characters you recruited.
Their skill levels on the overall levels displayed in the imperial standings screen, and generally speaking will be stronger than the characters you lost.
Your new emperor will also be a mix of their and the previous emperor's levels, whichever is higher of each. This also happens when your emperor dies or abdicates.

Whenever a timeskip happens all newly learned techs and spells will also show up at facilities that allow you to then teach those skills/spells to anyone you want (provided they have the levels).

The enemies generally get stronger as you do quests and win battles, but this is to support the way the world is open and progression is linear.
Essentially, the point is that you want to outscale the enemies.

[Talesin]

Short answer.

Every time you get a timeskip, you keep all the inventory and all new techs are now available to everyone in the training hall.
All the classes can be hired at the tavern. The only difference is that each class has 8 different characters who it roatates between, which has some slight differences in what tech they can spark and what weapon they are good at.

Most importantly, you got imperial tech level and all the new characters skills are now based upon that.
Which obviously means they are more powerfull than the characters you didn't use before the timeskip.

Secondly, you don't level characters, you level skills.
And its honestly no point grinding it. Getting better gear and unlocking tech is more important.

[NikDanger]

So, first question: yes, after a time-skip you need to create a new party, but they don't start from scratch. Every weapon technique and spell you've learned is carried over after a skip and can be reassigned to the new characters, and their stats will be raised according to the training you've done with previous parties, ie: if you spent time raising your Axe and Fire Magic skills to, say, level 10, then the next character you hire that has any proficiency with Axe and Fire will automatically be around that level, usually even higher. It's actually pretty common for new hires to have better stats than your old party.

Second question, more complicated: enemies increase in strength due to two factors: number of battles won, and event completion, though areas generally have a limit as to how strong enemies can get. The reason people say not to grind is because the enemy scaling system exists not to punish you for fighting too much, but to ensure a fair and manageable challenge to each player no matter where they go and what order they decide to do things because the game has a largely non-linear structure and semi-open world.

Grinding is also just not the quickest way to gain power. Sure, grinding can raise your stats, but you'd raise stats quicker if you just fought the strongest enemies possible, since they give way more experience. Also, fighting strong enemies GREATLY increases your chance of learning new weapon techniques (and possibly spells?), which are insanely powerful and really the key to success. You don't need super high stats to beat strong enemies and tough bosses, you need techs that do 10x your normal attack damage and stun/sleep/paralyze/debuff bosses while buffing you with resistance or invulnerability to their attacks, while having frontline units draw aggro and tank and/or counterattack them!

Also, of course, gear. Great gear makes a huge difference in damage. I have a character who has level 15 skill in Axes and Greatswords, but his Axe is from the start of the game and his Greatsword is a powerful item I found by progressing the game. He hits for 5x as much damage with the Greatsword. Finding powerful gear will help you get ahead of the curve, but you won't find any running around in the first dungeon for 20 hours.

But don't think the game is strictly anti-grind; if you enjoy grinding there is a time and place for it, it's just that the time and place is late/endgame. Once you've got all the gear/techs/spells, grind away.

If you end up playing the game, and you really want to understand why the game is designed the way it is, I highly recommend picking the Classic difficulty (Hard) and trying to learn how to win fights not with big stats, but with smart party composition, a tactically advantageous formation, and clever and effective use of weapon techniques and spells. The difference between this game and so many other JRPGs where you feel you have to just grind big numbers is that here you're actually given useful tools, and a big part of the fun is using those tools to win fights that at a glance seem statistically impossible.

[WarWeeny]

Originally posted by NikDanger:

If you end up playing the game, and you really want to understand why the game is designed the way it is, I highly recommend picking the Classic difficulty (Hard) and trying to learn how to win fights not with big stats, but with smart party composition, a tactically advantageous formation, and clever and effective use of weapon techniques and spells. The difference between this game and so many other JRPGs where you feel you have to just grind big numbers is that here you're actually given useful tools, and a big part of the fun is using those tools to win fights that at a glance seem statistically impossible.

Biggest reason i avoid the hard difficulty is because enemies tend to become damage sponges, i do not mind that the enemies hit harder, but i do mind if they get an f-ton of health for the sake of being "harder"