So is Lydie just supposed to be crap at combat or what?

[Vazzaroth]

Everytime we level up, Lydie gets like a total of 3 boosts and Suelle over here is getting +1's or +2's in every stat. I figured Lydie would eventually get some kind of MP recovery or spell to make up for it... but now we're level 11 and she's pretty much just dead weight aside from throwing or using an item. Does it continue like this or does Lydie ever get a boost? Am I just unlucky with stat rolls?

The game isn't hard, I just feel bad for Lydie since I like her a lot more than Suelle but comparing them is not favorable.

[Gin-chan]

Yeah the main alchemists in each title is usually the weakest party member in the game from what i've seen in the Mysterious trilogy and since Lydie is usually treated as the one more keen on learning she's got that spot XD. The only advantage they have is being able to use any alchemy items at their disposal.

[Gin-chan]

I mean heck. There's even a few cutscene at her expense where she's revealed to be weaker than a puni XD.

[D's Journal]

yeah sue can't use certain item like simple cookie or the bandages it seems.
lydie is the full support alchemists

[Jackkel Dragon]

In most Atelier games (at least Arland onward), the main character is the weakest when it comes to basic stats and skills. They're entirely reliant on items to be effective. The Mysterious series actually makes the alchemists a bit weaker in the early game by allowing every party member to use basic items, but the main character usually still is the only one to get the "best" items. (Like Sophie's "Flame of the End" and Firis's "N/A".)

This game sort of follows the Escha&Logy model, where there is one standard Atelier protagonist (Escha/Lydie) and one standard JRPG protagonst (Logy/Suelle). The latter gets much better stats and skills, but has weaker endgame item potential.

[zachillios]

Lydie shines in the support role, especially when you pair her with Sophie. Never have her front lines.

[Sashimi Kimochi]

put lydie into support slot for mathias then you get an immortal character

[Okamiroy]

Try EX N/A. This is the most powerful bomb, and for Lydie only.

[San-Kyu]

Lydie's a support girl, you can spec her up with bombs only she can use, but economically it can be difficult to maintain and/or setup (although difficulty in the infinite-time Atelier games simply means more grinding/gathering).

Her support-skills when placed in the back-row are pretty useful for keeping anyone she's partnered to fresh and ready to keep going. Mathias is near-unkillable with her healing.

[phenir]

In early game Lydie is definitely better off backing someone up. Her mp regen support helps a lot with some characters until they get a decent mp pool or skill cost reduction. Her healing support will also prevent that character from ever being stunned since any healing removes stun. Unfortunately, I didn't find battlemix that useful. The damage felt low compared to the damage the skill based characters were doing and Lydie's battlemix is somewhat annoying to trigger compared to Sue who is better off just doing regular follow ups to build lots of combo guage.
Near the end of the game I had Lydie in front spamming items with Sophie in back proccing lots of follow ups. Plus having a twin(or both of them) in front makes managing health incredibly easy with stand in defense and some auto activate items.
One nice trick I found is using the revival dew with maxed purple effect to get 3 time cards effect and having Lydie use it on herself. Each time the time card came around it'd heal her and possibly proc Sophie's Law attack since it counts as an elixir.

[Setsuna]

... Well, there's a little joke concerning Lydie. She's simutaenously the weakest character in the game, and at the same time, she's the one person you need the most to steamroll the game.

Examples of things only Lydie can do - she can reduce any enemy's defense to some stupidly negative number (allowing some characters to literally deal the damage cap in one shot), and turn Sophie into a quite nearly literally impossible to kill supertank that combination attacks every other turn (and sometimes as an interrupt).

You'd be expected to master the alchemy system to be able to do so, but basically, Lydie is the lynchpin of a successful party. There's other configurations (and the cast all do have their broken configurations), but you'll need to figure out how to turn their speciality by selecting cores, making the right support items and picking the right accessories.

An example of turning Sophie into a nearly unkillable supertank (that has surprisingly good DPS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eLcZPFypQI

This is from the PS4 JP, which I also own, on Very Hard. It's the second hardest (non DLC) fight in the game, and this was an early prototype. I'm hoping to make even more absurd tricks now I can actually read the fine print. I'm hoping to do some of the more hilarious things you can do in the English version.