Tales of Arise Skills 101: Building Your Skills From Scratch | Backlog Battle

[@BacklogBattle]

Hi all! I’m reserving this spot to post any corrections to the video! Each additional KO Prevention adds an additional chance that you won’t get knocked out!

[@RicochetForce]

Rinwell's Air Thrust > Arrow Squall -> Holy Lance is accurate, locks an enemy down, and hammers them with hits to build the combo meter up.

[@Dxwill10]

I just platinum'd the game a few hours ago, wanted to offer some personal, somewhat random insight to supplement this very informative video on skill purchases. - like the video says, can't stress enough: K.O. prevention is always your #1 priority first purchase as soon as you can (especially on higher difficulties) -Note on Artes casting mobility: Super useful if you like playing casters like Rinwell or Shionne, but the A.I. rarely, if ever, moves while casting. This skill loses value immensely if you find yourself mainly playing as Alphen, so this has much lower priority purchase in that case. -I didn't see this skill (forget what it's called exactly) mentioned in the video: The skill that lessens/prevents interrupt chance on spell casts has MUCH higher value on A.I. ally casters; if you're mostly playing as Rinwell etc, you can save this for later, as you should dodge the attack even though it cancels the cast (making this skill less useful than mobility while casting). The A.I. however, rarely does this, and will face tank the damage which also cancels the cast without this skill purchase. I would prioritize this skill if you find yourself playing mostly Alphen. -Law: Prioritize awakening and easier overlimit skills for damage. By end game he pops Mystic Artes left and right as he's consistently in overlimit. He was too fragile to spend the time to micromanage for my tastes, but w/ effort he's a beast. - Kisara: She has aggro holding skills true, but this never happened in reality. You should assume whomever you're controlling will have the default aggro. To test, I'd do nothing but run around for a while, and eventually the boss would move on to Kisara, but ultimately I'd say you can safely ignore any skills or items in that regard. Maybe this will get patched, but aggro seems kind of broken atm. This makes Kisara situational. Though like Law, she can easily enter Overlimit, and consequently, pops out Mystic Artes quite frequently entirely on her own by late game. -Shionne: I'd prioritize healing skills before damage personally. Dohalim is a great off healer, but he's probably better off as your melee caster damage hybrid to start off with, and let Shionne focus on healing for boss fights. Haven't done a Chaos difficulty run yet, but late game, casters reigned supreme for me, typically running Shionne heals, Dohalim DPS/Off heals, Rinwell, and playing as Alphen. Rinwell casts so fast all she has time to say is "Blah blah blah, MAGIC" by the time you get her skilled up lol. That said, I definitely felt she was pretty weak for a while. Don't worry if the casters feel undertuned, they're definitely late game power houses. That's all that comes to mind at the moment.

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks for sharing your tips! I hope others find it useful!

[@isopodshuffle]

Probably worth mentioning not to bother with aerial artes on Shionne (unless you plan to control her directly). The AI never ever _ever_ jumps, and as far as i know she doesn't have any attacks that bring her from the ground into the air, so those are just wasted SP

[@Babasgaming28]

No floating enemy’s count

[@fanbois542]

Thank you for all the quality Arise contents!

[@BacklogBattle]

You're welcome! Off to play other games and maybe make guides for those too! 😉

[@aguinaldoferrer6491]

Perfect timing! I finally got my copy today. Really excited to get started :D Thank you for a great series of great videos. I feel ten times more preoared as a result. Excellent work!

[@aguinaldoferrer6491]

By the way I really enjoy these kinds of videos where we get to see a little bit of how you play games which complements the review nicely!

[@BacklogBattle]

@@aguinaldoferrer6491 that’s good insight! Thank you for this and I hope you enjoy your experience!

[@drew2191]

Nice explanation of things..(this is my first tales game) You did a good job helping me out with what exactly I need to focus on. New sub here!

[@IamYasha10]

Perfect timing. I just started playing this game today. This skills guide is super helpful. Thank you.

[@BacklogBattle]

You’re very welcome!

[@MrDarksol]

Got it and I will definitely try these tips since I got the game yesterday and.........WOOOOO THE FIRST FOUR HOURS WERE INSANE!!!!! I could not put the game down after my four hours but I had to. Overall again nice showcase on what to focus on when building your characters and thanks Alex!

[@BacklogBattle]

You're welcome! Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

[@MrDarksol]

@@BacklogBattle Granted I did came across some minor audio hiccups but the entire game played super smooth on my base PS4.

[@Aliens1337]

It gets better once you have a full party and gets more skills. Im at 30 hrs mark and them game is addicting. You can do a lot of advance juggles to extend your combos with characters switch and arte boost.

[@MrDarksol]

@@Aliens1337 Oh believe me for what I played in the demo, I could feel that difference.

[@inlife5015]

Fantastic video. You’ve helped answer all the questions I had and more. Im excited to check out all your other guides and reviews. Thank you!

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank you so much! I’m so happy to see that I’ve helped you with Arise!

[@morgana4525]

bro you seriously are the goat. your videos have helped me so much.

[@BacklogBattle]

This makes me really happy! Thank you!

[@kishanbenasrie8577]

Unlocking all skills would be ideal coming later to the endgame. I'm like 34 hours in rn so most of mine are unlocked. You should unlock according to how you want each party member to function early on and late game when you farm enough you can unlock all for everyone. Just grind!

[@HybridAngelZero]

Great work on all these guides, Alex!

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank you so much!

[@Plathismo]

Another excellent guide, well done. Your channel should grow quickly.

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks! I want to meet more excellent people like yourself!

[@jck4482]

Hey, I'm a newcomer to your channel but I just wanted to say that your videos are a great help! Hoping you make some character-specific guides in the future, like specific tips and tricks for each of the characters. Regardless, gonna keep an eye out for your future videos, I like your informative style, reminds me of Boomstick Gaming who is one of my favorite youtubers. Cheers!

[@BacklogBattle]

I just recently started watching Boomstick Gaming recently! Am a new fan! As much as I’d love to make a character specific guide, I’ve taken on a few games that need a bit of attention! As the channel’s name goes, it’s a Backlog Battle, and I don’t want to lose the war! 😂

[@jck4482]

@@BacklogBattle Hahaha understandable! Will be here for the new content, whether Tales of Arise related or not!

[@BacklogBattle]

@@jck4482 thank you for your support! 🙏

[@agnichannel1466]

if you main rinwell, i suggest to buy anything related to boost asap. you can spam spell by using boost (since it restore AG) and if you have casting reduction combo skill it would make your spell almost instant.

[@BacklogBattle]

Great tip! I might do this when I replay the game on Moderate!

[@highradicals]

Dude thanks for this, it’s very beneficial

[@SuperMegaDave_]

I've just been unlocking everything I can, heh, thanks for the vid!

[@BacklogBattle]

You’re welcome!

[@Makuro_XIII]

Great guide there, thanks for the video :-). It will be quite helpful for my playthrough!

[@pulsetone]

Crystal clear and great presentation! Thanks!

[@BacklogBattle]

You’re welcome! Hope you found it helpful!

[@dawgyqq3264]

Awesome video bro!

[@anthonyguerrero4612]

Thanks alot for this video it's everything I hoped! I also prefer high mobility and burst damage for my fighting style.

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank goodness! Glad to have helped!

[@fan8706]

what the hell. this channel only has 16.5k subs but the quality of the video is like there's a whole team behind it. times have changed and entering the youtube game feels impossible. i remember when windows movie maker and a linkin park song was the standard of quality

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank you so much! All I'll say is if you want to help, share my videos with your friends, post comments like these, like my videos, and subscribe to the channel! Every little bit helps! And yea, doing this solo is crazy insane given the quality I put out! But I don't see this as a failure, only the beginning!

[@JagerLionhunter]

In terms of survivability, I agree on the KO prevention. Resurrection takes up quite a bigger CP requirement from heals. Also not unless a boss enemy is downed, I don't use the blazing sword that much, especially when I'm just exploring, healing Alphen all the time can be annoying for CP management.

[@BacklogBattle]

Someone actually recommended to disable Resurrection in Strategy and rely mostly on Life Bottles. I actually think this isn't too bad of an idea, especially after fishing's unlocked!

[@Phyllion-]

Considering charged blazing sword increases his boost gauge quite a bit, it does have a major pay off to all that lost HP. Especially considering how difficult it is for other characters to down monsters and there's not much ways, early on, to hasten your boost gauge's charge rate to make use of Alphen's boost that 100% downs ANY enemy. Especially Explosive Ring and the stab one I forgot the name of

[@jms1318]

This was VERY helpful!

[@BacklogBattle]

Glad to hear!

[@gakkieNL]

Would like to see a video on what members to have in your active party and who as support. For me It is Alpen, Kisara, Shionne and Rinwell as main and the other two as support.

[@BacklogBattle]

My wife uses Law and has Alphen, Shionne, and Rinwell for her main party. For my party, substitute Law with Kisara! I sometimes play as Alphen, Kisara, or Rinwell, so you can tell who’s playing who in the video 😉

[@TheNerd]

i personally just sub in / out if i encouter a enemy. depending on what type he is i switch my party as needed. but i found it can be helpful to get kisara the "get more aggro" item (forgot the name) so the enemy focuses more on her while she tanks.

[@Martin-vm7oq]

Thanks for the video, very informative. I just finished the game yesterday. I mainly use Rinwell Ariel Combo spam. Its so OP, ice block and lightning ray deal tons of aoe damage for each button press. In late game, her AG regen is soo fast that it regen to full after 1 sec. Besides, Law is a good sub dps auto as he constantly use mystic artes. Shione and Dohalim is good supporter. Alphen and Kisara I dont use them at all. Alphen mechanic cost HP to increase damage is not worth it and Kisara is too slow, no need for defense when your damage is already too high lol

[@BacklogBattle]

That’s an interesting setup you got there! I definitely can see how Alphen’s Flaming Edge can be a liability given that he uses his HP to beef up his damage, so your build makes sense!

[@Tragedyval]

with kisara you can build her acces with aggro and aggro passive and your opponents will focus on her and ignore everyone else. As for alphen he does the highest burst in the game with the right build and utilizing the hp cost

[@Martin-vm7oq]

@@Tragedyval Alphen only strong when he use his burst so I save him in support position, when the boss about to down, I switch to alphen main DPS and burst use all of his HP, deal like 50k damage then swap him out right away. Kisara ability is to block, not that good in taunting, which character have the most DPS boss will attack that, Law is the decoy in my team as my range attacker play hit and run with boss.

[@Martin-vm7oq]

boss character too slow to attack character on air, so that why aerial Attack is OP. fast and immune to ground attack, stay on air while attacking at the cost of lower DPS overall. But this game not even have timed mode soooo....

[@romanw5055]

hi, I'm new to the series and overwhelmed with the skill / build system. How should I know (without using external guides) how effective the skills / attacks are? I have no idea which attacks to slot, neither which skills I should choose for the other characters. Should I lock fire attacks for Shionne so that she uses other attacks more often? How much more damage does a 2 star skill do compared to a 1 star skill? Whoa

[@BacklogBattle]

Lots of questions, so I’ll try to answer them! Artes effectiveness is based on elemental affinities and really, it’s up to you how to build them based on how you combo and play. If you like poking at enemies, Artes that close gaps are good for instance. There aren’t any severe penalties for experimentation for both skills you buy and Artes to use, so you’re not messing things up! Also stars do enhance damage for Artes but you shouldn’t concern yourself too much with these as a beginner. Mix and match Artes and see what works for you!

[@SpydersByte]

this is what annoys me about the game, the skill descriptions are lacking and give no info on how much damage they do or any other stat info youd want to know, just gives a basic description of what it does and then 3-4 confusing different names for it lol

[@Ultra_Kuma]

Do you know how to increase Boost Strike gauge quickly and consistently? I know it’s about raking high combo (presumably using different artes attacks) and avoiding enemy attacks, but just want to be sure :)

[@BacklogBattle]

I think you're doing everything you need to do to boost them!

[@7Singularity]

Does AI benefit from "reduced casting time during combos"? also, I have never seen Dohalim AI do a perfect dodge to extend his polearm, and some AI doesn't even use ultimate skill before ending overdrive. Ps. Is there a way to turn off Boost attack randomness? I hate when Alphen+Law boost attack, it sends the enemy flying. I always click Alphen for combos but just from time to time Law came in to do the combo instead.

[@BacklogBattle]

Yes, the AI does. Sometimes when the AI isn’t doing certain things it’s usually because they’re interrupted a lot of the time. I’ve seen Dohalim extend his pole arm and I’ve also seen all my party members do their Mystic Artes at the end of overlimit. Also, you’re not talking about Boost attack, but rather, Boost Strikes, which does reset your and the enemy’s position regardless of who does it.

[@Road_to_Dawn]

So, I had been having trouble getting Rinwell to Overlimit so I could see her Mystic Arte, so I did some research. Turns out, the game greatly favors melee fighters over casters in charging OL, since melee fighters are typically the ones who are doing the most dodging and taking the most damage, usually being more up close and personal with enemies. If, like me, you like using Rinwell and want to consistently get better odds of being able to use her Overlimit and Mystic Arte, she fortunately has some spells that work with a slightly more melee-centric kind of build to help better charge her OL. In particular, while ground abilities like Lightning Orb and Thunder Field are usually recommended for defensive crowd-control for occasions the enemy decides to aggro her, they can also be used to complement a more short range build as they are instant-cast and work best within a melee range. Razor Cyclone, an aerial arte, can also help with this, since it sends Rinwell diving directly towards an enemy to deal damage. Since I started using those more, I’ve managed to trigger her Overlimit on four separate occasions within just a couple hours while grinding. I’m sure Shionne has similar options, but I’ve not tried looking for them myself just yet.

[@BacklogBattle]

Great tips! Admittedly I need to play more Rinwell. I don’t recall what boss it was but I managed to save one boss fight just with her and two reserves! Good stuff!

[@jeremyjoyner9796]

Somehow my Shionne triggers overlimit all the time when she’s set as an AI. I’m still not sure how it works myself.

[@Road_to_Dawn]

@@jeremyjoyner9796 Interesting! I've yet to see my AI Shionne trigger Overlimit so far.

[@tanukikamii]

@@Road_to_Dawn ye my Shionne triggers OL too here and there and Rinwell as well sometimes, they’re both set as AI too

[@BacklogBattle]

@@ruukinenI didn’t want to put the reserves in on purpose to shield them from extra damage

[@xavvvorg4653]

Ok just 1 more question so for accessory skill transfer can I transfer like all lvl 5 skills onto 1 accessory? What are the limits like they can't possibly allow that?

[@quickpawmaud]

I have just been buying every skill lol. Was going for the stat boosts. Not sure if there is a way to reset your skills. Could you make a video about artes and which ones are really useful and how to unlock them? There are so many but you can only equip a few. Although I think when the AI is controlling them they use every arte.

[@BacklogBattle]

I don’t think I’ve found a way to reset skills, but I’m certain you didn’t waste your SP! The game is forgiving when it comes to this system!

[@jeremyjoyner9796]

You can go into the artes menu and toggle on/off the artes your AI will use. I do it all the time when I’m fighting something of a specific element. You don’t want you characters using skills that are resisted and do half damage all the time. Also you can change the skills they use during combat as well, just pause and go to artes. I’ve noticed my AI learns new artes constantly, I think buying those “novice” artes with skill points can lead to them learning stronger artes by them constantly using every arte that isn’t toggled off.

[@Wanderingsage7]

Law's defense is not great. About the same as a wet Elk really. Any tips?

[@NADAREGaming]

thank you for this, you got sub :)

[@maverick5169]

I have a question, is there a way to make melee characters truly viable? I did two runs and in both of them, I felt that Rinwell was far beyond everyone else. Alphen is fine but Kisara and Dohalim feel really weak, and it sucks since they are actually my favorites Edit: both of my run stopped after beating Vholan due to massive burnout so idk if they gain op skills later on

[@BacklogBattle]

Kisara is meant to be a tank that occasionally deals elemental damage, so you can’t really do much to make her more powerful than she is. That’s her role. For Dohalim, perfect dodging is key, so you can take advantage of all the unlockable damage buffs related to rod extension. I should also point out that in order to fully take advantage of Dohalim, you will have to pay attention to his magic skills as well. Compared to Alphen, he’s a fairly high skill character in that you’ll need to use every single piece of his kit to be effective. As a last tip, in order to truly master this combat system, you will have to master everyone’s gameplay and switch constantly. That’s not to say that sticking to one character isn’t valid, but the game really shines when you tag your characters in and switch to that character to continue your barrage. Hope this helps!

[@b0xxkn1gh79]

Great vid! You have any advice on how to center the camera properly when an enemy is targeted? I mean to explain, when using regular attacks and artes in a combo sometimes the character misses and keeps hitting the air lol. I tried to use the left analog stick to always point at the direction of the enemy while executing artes but it just looks like the character is going berserk the the other way.

[@BacklogBattle]

Honestly I just wrestled with the camera 😂 Also press R3 to auto center the camera

[@b0xxkn1gh79]

@@BacklogBattle lmao, okay so I'm not the only one. Thanks Alex.

[@gilney.mathias]

Man, i just started playing the game today and the camera is already pissing me off ¬¬

[@b0xxkn1gh79]

@@gilney.mathias Idk if you're playing the pc or console version of the game, I played on pc and I recommend maxing out the Battle Camera: Correction during attack and Battle Camera: Correction during movement in the settings to mitigate the camera problem. It did help me but my characters still sometime hits the air but not as often now.

[@gilney.mathias]

@@b0xxkn1gh79 I'm playing on PC, but with a controller, and yeah, that helped a little, but its still very annoying ;p

[@TerryBogurt]

wait just clarafication am i able to max out the skill tree still and this is just general as you play along stuff to help improve earlier on or is there a limit to the nodes i can acquire

[@BacklogBattle]

No limit! You can keep grinding for SP as much as you'd like!

[@TerryBogurt]

@@BacklogBattle OO ok thank you just got a little confused

[@johnmedeiros3763]

Just got the game ya today

[@NemoPropaganda]

Thank you for this video, this is my second tales game and both times no matter what I do I just find myself feeling like I never fully understand what I'm supposed to be doing in combat. What's worse in Arise is it's often hard to know which magic attacks are coming from friend of foe. Maybe FF7 Remakie just spoiled me on what a great intuitive battle system shoudl be, either way the game is fun and enjoyable.

[@BacklogBattle]

If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend checking out my Combat video! Arise plays differently than other Tales games in some ways and I outline some good tips and things to look out for in that one! Good luck!

[@NemoPropaganda]

@@BacklogBattle I watched it bro, I got a lot better and I'm 50 hours in now and having a great time. Thank you so much for making these videos bro!

[@cappachino20]

Do the DLC titles lock away anything that can't be achieved naturally? Or are the DLC titles meant more for early game jump in stats and is otherwise obtainable later?

[@BacklogBattle]

They do not! All of those things are available elsewhere in the game!

[@cappachino20]

@@BacklogBattle Awesome! So definitely more of a jump start deal. Thanks!

[@76golong73]

Is there a way to re-spec your team at some point? I've been buying skills that sound good at the time based on how I'm playing, but might not be the best choices long term. I absolutely suck at this game, and I really don't like the combat, so anything I can do with the skills to help myself out is a good thing. But, I'm enjoying everything else about the game, especially the characters and the story!

[@BacklogBattle]

I wouldn’t worry about that! The skill system is very forgiving and you can recover easily by just farming SP! Keep at it with the combat and just take it one step at a time!

[@jeremyjoyner9796]

Play a character that fights at range, Rinwell and Shionne especially seems super easy to play, if you’re playing Shionne you are forced to be the party healer though, until you get the sixth member at least.

[@caravaneerkhed]

I can’t settle into a flow with alphen, I constantly find myself changing up his artes trying to find the best flow possible, I can’t break away from sonic thrust because it’s so good for getting in the action, and one of the air artes that I don’t like throws the enemies too far that even chase down moves can’t catch them, it feels like a combo ender, if the games lock on system worked better I think this would be fine cause then I could follow up the throw with a chase down on a nearby enemy but it usually just ends up missing and costing me my combo. I like stardust and the air wind slash thing a lot, and Luna rhondo cause it’s quick and low cost, I like mirage more than the dive kick move because I find the dive kick missing a lot too. Other than that I tend to use dragon swarm, eternal devestation, and reign slash on the ground, but I feel like I could be better it’s just hard to experiment sometimes, oh and I started using double demon slash recently cause it’s a good range attack and a decent mid range gap closer if I find the enemy slightly too far away

[@BacklogBattle]

If there's one thing I'd like them to improve in the next Tales games, is to find better ways for us to create fun combos with the Artes system. I think that's one of the few things missing from the series that I'd love to see.

[@113Kyote]

Do you plan on making a guide covering party member A.I. and the strategy settings? I'm finding it difficult to figure out what the best settings for my tactics are, and often times end up confused on why my characters aren't healing properly or using items the way I intend for them to. Would love to see you cover this section of the game if you have plans to/the time to do so! Very good guides so far!

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank you so much! Unfortunately this is the last guide I'm making for the game as I'm playing other games at the moment!

[@113Kyote]

@@BacklogBattle No worries! Thank you for the swift response.

[@SpydersByte]

is it possible to respec your character?

[@BacklogBattle]

You can’t, but there really isn’t a way to spec your character incorrectly imo

[@gakkieNL]

I play as Rinwell and have the mobilty option, but as soon as I start casting any art, she stands still?

[@BacklogBattle]

Have you tried moving after casting?

[@gakkieNL]

@@BacklogBattle yes, doesn’t seem to work?

[@celestielsigh]

She stands still then starts to move after a second or two I noticed

[@takaharamaragara1392]

You got KO prevention wrong it’s only activated once per battle and twice if you get the 2nd one

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks for the clarification!

[@xavvvorg4653]

What is kisara's guard ignition?

[@BacklogBattle]

It’s the damage buff that any Artes gets when you activate them while guarding!

[@Taco_God]

I know im late to this but I just started playing Arise for the first time. I have gotten to the point of getting dohalim to join my party and I haven't had to actually fight anything. I have the game set on auto fight and I just manage there health and resurrection with items as needed. I know I'm doing it wrong, but so far I haven't wiped on a single fight and the game basically plays itself.

[@BacklogBattle]

The option is there so that’s a legit way of playing it! It’s almost like a turn based RPG!

[@lukaszkrolikowski5342]

here is my best build for rinwell: bla bla bla shooting staaaarrrr!!!!!

[@Vertocal]

Since you didn't mention anything about ailments, are they basically useless and theres no point in investing into them? Should I restart my game if thats the case or will I be able to earn enough SP to max everything anyway

[@BacklogBattle]

I wouldn’t restart! The game is forgiving when making your builds. I will say that ailments are Shionne’s thing, so I’d invest in hers. Alphen gets some of that later but I focused more on Boost as I said in the video

[@mkulchar]

Didn't even know there is guarding in this game.. just dodging but even dodging I can't even do

[@knight_flyer1199]

Funny enough I only learnt dodging from Elden Ring. It's about watching your opponent and to dodge right before they strike.

[@GamingWithAce85]

I hate that each character only gets THREE ground artes and THREE air artes. Tales games usually allows you to have way more that can be equipped!

[@BacklogBattle]

You get 6 each, not 3

[@GamingWithAce85]

@@BacklogBattle is it not 3 artes for GROUND, and 3 artes for AIR? I’m about to fight the third lord, maybe I’m too early in the game)

[@BacklogBattle]

@@GamingWithAce85 it’s 6 ground 6 air. And you get this shortly AFTER you defeat the third boss

[@GamingWithAce85]

@@BacklogBattle NIICE!! Good. Thanks. for confirming.

[@BarthalamueJamiesonTheThird]

Incineration wave. That's all I need to say.