Tales of Vesperia - Reference Guide - 360 UK - PS3 JP Fan EN Compare - PC JP EN



Story / Sidequests / Skits

Movement 1
Use to move during battles.

Use and to move forward
or backward.

In Manual mode, use to jump.
In Semi-Auto mode, tap
while holding down to jump.

The speed at which the character
moves depends on how strongly
you push or .

Movement 2
In addition to moving forward
and backward, you can also
move the character freely to
any part of the battlefield
by holding down while
using to move.

This is known as Free Run.

This move can be used to
evade enemy attacks or
approach enemies from behind.

Regular Attack
Perform a regular attack with the
button. You can also perform
various other attacks by pressing
the button while using any of
at the same time.

In Semi-Auto mode, the character
will automatically approach the
targeted enemy when they attack.

Press the button while holding
to perform a Free Run attack.

Artes
Press the button to use Artes.

Artes can be assigned to
combinations of and
in the Artes menu.

You can also assign Artes to any
of , or use them as
shortcuts for commanding other
party members to use Artes.

Try out different combinations!

Guard
Guard against attacks with
the button.

If you continue to guard many
attacks in a row, your guard
will eventually be broken.
This is called a Guard Break.

When your guard has been
broken once, it will take less
attacks to be broken again
for a while.

Using Items
Use items by opening the
Battle Menu with .

Select Items, then select the
item you want to use and
the target you wish to use
it on.

Note that you cannot use
items in quick succession.

Escape
Run from a battle by opening
the Battle Menu with and
selecting Escape.

An Escape gauge will appear
and fill over time. You'll run
away from the battle once
the gauge is full.

Selecting Escape again before
you've escaped will cancel the
action.

Changing Targets
Tap the button to target
the closest enemy.

Hold down and use
to manually select which enemy
to target.

Additionally, your target will
automatically switch to any
enemy you hit during Free Run.

Combo 1
Press the button multiple
times in a row to attack
several times without
interruption.

This is known as a Combo.

Try a number of possible
combos by pushing in
different directions while
attacking.

Combo 2
Follow up a series of regular
attacks with an Arte by pushing
the button at the end.

Use combos to your advantage
by combining regular attacks
and Arte attacks.

Consider the nature of each
combo to find one that works
best for you!

Combo 3
You can follow a Base Arte
with an Arcane Arte to
further extend your combo.

Regular attack
→ Base Arte
→ Arcane Arte

This type of combo allows for
stronger attacks and increases
the variety of possible combos.

Manual Cancel
When in Manual mode, it is
possible to cancel attacks by
using Free Run. Near the end
of an attack, move forward
in Free Run to cancel it.

Mastering Manual Cancel will
let you cancel Artes with long
recovery times and in some
cases chain more attacks
together.
Make sure to experiment!

Encounters
Touching an enemy in a
dungeon or on the Field Map
will cause a battle to begin.

These enemies are referred to
as enemy symbols.

The enemy symbol will
disappear after winning the
battle. However, it remains
if the party escapes.

Surprise Encounters
If an enemy symbol touches
you from behind, the
characters that take part in
the battle will be chosen
at random.

The enemies will also be
positioned behind your party.

Be careful not to get caught
by enemy symbols from
behind!

Advantage Encounters
Using to shoot an enemy
symbol with the Sorcerer's Ring
will occasionally stun the enemy.

If you touch the enemy symbol
in this state, the enemy will be
stunned and unable to act at the
beginning of battle.

Try this often, as it gives you
a great advantage in battle.

Encounter Links
Other enemies that are part
of enemy symbols close to
the enemy symbol you come
into contact with may also
appear in the battle.
Beware, because you could be
faced with a large number of
enemies at once.

Just like with Surprise
Encounters, the position of
enemy symbols is important.

Skills 1
Weapons possess various skills
for characters to use and learn.

Once equipped, the character
gains the effects of the skills
on that weapon.

The character will eventually
learn the skills on the weapon,
so they can be used without
having the weapon equipped.

Skills 2
Once a skill is learned, it can
be set to the character without
having to equip the weapon
at the cost of some SP.

Skills are divided into four
categories:

Attack
Defense
Movement
Support

Skills 3
Depending on how many skills
from each category are set to
a character, a symbol may
appear in the Skill menu.

This is known as a Skill Symbol.

These symbols grant various
extra effects while a character
is in Over Limit.

Try using different combinations!

Status Effects
Characters can receive Status
Effects as a result of spells
or attacks during battle.

Physical Ailments will stay
even after a battle has ended.
They are all harmful.

Magical effects are cleared
after a battle. Some of them
are harmful and others are
helpful.

Recovering from Status Effects
Failing to cure Physical or
Magical Ailments can be fatal.
Be sure to cure ill Status Effects
with items or spells.

Items or spells necessary to cure
a Physical or Magical Ailment
may differ depending on the
type of Status Effect.

Check the item or spell
description before using it.

Physical Ailments 1
Poison
HP is lost as time passes.

Contamination
TP is lost as time passes.

Paralysis
Randomly prevents attacking.

Weak
Maximum HP is halved.

Physical Ailments 2
Sealed Artes
Cannot use Artes.

Sealed Skills
Cannot use Skills and their
effects are canceled.

Petrification
No actions are possible.

Magical Ailments 1
Physical Attack Changes
Physical attack power is
increased or decreased.
Physical Defense Changes
Physical defense power is
increased or decreased.
Magic Attack Changes
Magic attack power is
increased or decreased.
Magic Defense Changes
Magic defense power is
increased or decreased.

Magical Ailments 2
Sleep
No actions are possible.
You can recover from Sleep
if attacked by an enemy.

Auto-recover
Automatically recover from KO.

Magical Ailments 3
Charm
Effects differ depending on
control mode.

For Semi-Auto and Manual:
Your button configuration
will be shuffled.

For Auto:
The character will attack
randomly, regardless of
strategy.

Strategy Settings
Specify a character's actions in
battle with the Strategy Menu.

To do so, select Strategy from
the Battle Menu. There, you can
select or modify strategy sets,
assign a set to be used by
default, as well as two other
ones to quickly switch to.
You can also change each
character's position on the
battlefield with Formation.

Changing Strategies During Battle
Open the Battle Menu with ,
then hold down and push
to change strategy sets.

Hold down and push
to return to the default
strategy set you had at the
start of the battle.

The strategy will always be
reset to the default set at
the start of a battle.

Personal Call
Open the Battle Menu with ,
then hold down and push
to give specific instructions
to the rest of your party.

This is known as Personal Call.

The command given depends
on the character you control,
so try different ones!

Attributes
Some Artes and pieces of
equipment have elemental
attributes. Attacks that have
an attribute will do far more
damage to characters and
enemies that have a weakness
to the associated element.

Knowing your enemies' weakness
and resistances will allow you
to use Artes and equipment to
your advantage.

Types of Attributes
There are six attributes:

Fire
Earth
Wind
Water
Light
Darkness

You can check an enemy's
resistances and weaknesses
by using a Magic Lens.

Opposing Attributes
Each of the six elemental attributes
has an opposing attribute.

Fire opposes Water.
Earth opposes Wind.
Light opposes Darkness.

In many cases, enemies weak
against fire are resistant to
water and vice versa.
Take opposing elemental
attributes into consideration!

Fatal Strikes 1
A magic formula glowing
red, blue or green will appear
when you continuously attack
an enemy during battle.

If timed correctly, you can
execute a Fatal Strike when
they appear by pressing .

This will defeat regular
enemies instantly.

Fatal Strikes 2
You can receive a bonus at the
end of a battle when you finish
an enemy off with a Fatal Strike.

There are 3 types of bonuses:
・ EXP bonus
・ LP bonus
・ Item drop rate bonus

The type of bonus depends on
the color of the formula and
the enemy type.

Fatal Strikes 3
The color of the formula
depends on the Artes used
to trigger it.

The color each Arte
corresponds to is represented
by an icon in the Artes menu.

Red Fatal Strike
Blue Fatal Strike
Green Fatal Strike

Fatal Strike Chain
Triggering Fatal Strike formulas
over and over without actually
executing the Fatal Strike is known
as a Fatal Strike Chain. By then
executing the Fatal Strike, you can
gain various effects.

Effects differ depending on the color
of the formula at the time the chain
ends. The strength of the effect also
increases with the length of the
Fatal Strike Chain.

Fatal Strikes on Bosses
Unlike regular enemies, boss
enemies cannot be defeated
in a single blow by using a
Fatal Strike. It will inflict a
large amount of damage
instead.

Consider using Fatal Strike
Chains in boss battles instead.

FS and Enemy Types
The difficulty of triggering
certain colors of formulas
and the bonuses received
from them change depending
on the enemy type.

Use a Magic Lens or the
Monster Book to confirm
each enemy's type.

FS: Human Enemies
Against Human type
enemies, all three types of
Fatal Strike formulas are
equally easy to trigger.


Fatal Strike bonuses:
Blue: Increased EXP
Red: Increased LP
Green: Increased drop rate

FS: Beast and Magic Types
Against Beast type and
Magic type enemies, it's
easier to trigger Green
formulas, and harder to
trigger Red formulas.

Fatal Strike bonuses:
Blue: Increased EXP
Red: Increased LP
Green: Increased drop rate

FS: Bird and Insect Types
Against Insect type and
Bird type enemies, it's
easier to trigger Red
formulas and harder to
trigger Blue formulas.

Fatal Strike bonuses:
Blue: Increased LP
Red: Increased drop rate
Green: Increased EXP

FS: Plant and Aquatic Types
Against Plant type and
Aquatic type enemies, it's
easier to trigger Blue
formulas and harder to
trigger Green formulas.

Fatal Strike bonuses:
Blue: Increased drop rate
Red: Increased EXP
Green: Increased LP

FS: Inorganic and Scale Types
Against Inorganic type and
Scale type enemies, all
types of formulas are hard
to trigger. However, Fatal
Strike bonuses are higher.

Fatal Strike bonuses:
Blue: Increased EXP
Red: Increased LP
Green: Increased drop rate

Over Limit
Over Limit can be activated
with when the gauge on
the left side of the screen
is filled up.

Once a character is in Over
Limit, they will be able to use
attacks and Artes continuously.

Combos can be executed easily
during this time, so use this
to your advantage.

Over Limit Lv. 2
You can trigger a Over Limit
Lv. 2 when the Over Limit
gauge has two filled bars.

Press to use one bar.
Press any of to use
two bars of the gauge at once.

In addition to Lv. 1 effects,
attacks from characters in Lv. 2
cause enemies that have been
knocked down to stand back up.

Over Limit and Skill Symbols
When multiple characters go
into Over Limit at the same
time, all characters gain the
effects of the others' Skill
Symbols on top of their own.

For instance, if one has the
Skill Symbol Fleck and the
other Strihm, both characters'
attack power and speed will
increase when they go into
Over Limit at the same time.

Over Limit Lv. 3
You can trigger a Over Limit
Lv. 3 when the Over Limit
gauge has three filled bars.

Press to use one bar.
Press to use two bars.
Press or to use
three bars at once.

In addition to Lv. 2 effects,
characters in Over Limit Lv. 3
can use Artes without using TP.

Over Limit Lv. 4 (1)
You can trigger a Over Limit
Lv. 4 when the Over Limit
gauge has four filled bars.

Press to use one bar.
Press to use two bars.
Press to use three bars.
Press to use four bars.

Over Limit Lv. 4 (2)
In addition to all previous
Over Limit effects, characters
in Over Limit Lv. 4 become
completely invulnerable to
enemy attacks.

It takes time to stock four
bars in the Over Limit gauge,
but the outcome can be
rewarding.

Burst Artes
Right after using an Arcane
Arte or Altered Arte during
Over Limit, hold down to
use a powerful type of Arte
known as a Burst Arte.

The higher the Over Limit
level, the stronger the Burst
Arte.

Altered Artes 1
Some skills will cause certain
Artes to change.
For instance, Yuri's Base Arte
“Azure Edge” changes into
“Azure Storm” when the skill
“Chain” is set.

This is called an Altered Arte.

Some Artes will only change
when multiple skills are set.
Try various combinations.

Altered Artes 2
The scope of an Altered Arte
is further increased when
the skills “Super Chain 4”
and “Super Chain 5” are set.

With both of those, it is
possible extend your combos
by linking Artes like this:

Base Arte
→ Altered Arte
→ Arcane Arte

Altered Artes 3
You can learn an Altered Arte
by using it repeatedly.

Once learned, it can be set
just like other Artes.

Patty's Combat Style 1
Whenever Patty enters battle
or uses the “Form Change” Arte,
she will randomly switch between
four different battle styles.

Each form has its own unique
characteristics, so by adapting
to each form you can use a
variety of battle styles.

Patty's Combat Style 2
When Patty is staggered and
knocked down, she will revert
to Normal Form.

To keep your current Form,
make sure she doesn't get
knocked down.

In some cases, the “Recover”
Skill can prevent her from
getting knocked down.

Patty's Combat Style 3
Normal Form
A form of average ability.
You can fight safely, but it
has no specialization like
the other forms.

Advance Form
A form specialized for
close-range combat.
The attack speed and
number of hits of Artes
will be increased.

Patty's Combat Style 4
Brainiac Form
A form adept at fighting
enemies from a distance.
Attack range will be increased,
and you can heal with Artes
like “Risky Spell”.

Critical Form
A special form that is adept
in all areas.
There is a low probability
of this form activating.

Patty's Combat Style 5
When you use “Form Change”,
you will perform a characteristic
action for each battle form.

This action can be used as part of
a combo or canceled. However,
each action has its own additional
effect. Canceling the action will
cancel the effect.

Changing to Normal Form, for example,
fills the Over Limit gauge slightly.

Patty's Combat Style 6
When Patty changes forms, her
regular attacks will change.

In Critical Form, you can press
to use the same basic attacks
as in Advance Form, or hold
and press to use the same
basic attacks as in Brainiac Form.

You can fight more effectively
using each type of regular attack
depending on the situation.

Battle Camera
Open the Battle Menu via ,
then hold the button to
adjust the camera.
Change the angle with ,
Zoom with .

Holding the button and
pressing will return the
camera to default.

Secret Mission
In some boss battles, you can
perform specific actions to
gain a bonus.

This is known as a Secret Mission.

You can obtain rare items after
a battle by completing a Secret
Mission.

Look out for these missions during
a boss battle next time.

Giganto Monsters
Sometimes you may find monsters
that are a lot bigger in size than
the regular monsters roaming in
the world.

These monsters are called Giganto
Monsters. They are much stronger
than regular monsters and are
very dangerous.

Beware!
They cannot be defeated easily!

Artes Sphere
The Artes Sphere increases the
number of Artes you can set
in the Artes menu.

All regular Arte slots gain an
additional one that can be
accessed by holding while
doing the regular input.

The Artes Sphere thus widens
the range of options available
to you during battle.

Cooking 1
With recipes and ingredients,
you can cook various dishes.
Ingredients will be used up
when they're used for cooking.

Cooking can have a variety of
effects, such as healing HP or
increasing attack power.

After cooking, your party will
be full and can't cook again
until after the next battle.

Cooking 2
If a character is not successful
at making the selected recipe,
you won't gain its effects.

You can also select the
character who will be cooking.

Different characters are better
or worse at cooking different
recipes.

Cooking Level and New Recipes
A character's cooking level
increases as they cook the
same recipe repeatedly.

The higher a character's
cooking level, the more likely
they are to succeed cooking
that recipe. They can also
sometimes invent new recipes.

Experiment with characters
to discover new recipes!

Cooking Shortcuts
If you have cooking shortcuts
set to any of
before a battle, you can cook
immediately after a battle by
holding a direction and
pressing on the results
screen.

This helps to quickly recover
after a battle.

Icon Test
Poison
Paralysis
Petrify
Weak
Sealed Artes
Sealed Skills
Contamination
P. ATKP. DEFM. ATKM. DEF
SleepAuto-recoverCharm
FireEarthWindWater
LightDarknessPhysical

Button Test
Attack
Artes
Guard
Menu
Taunt
Free Run
Select Target
Fatal Strike
FS1FS2FS3