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Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris is an action RPG with a unique and complex combat system you can experiment with. The game offers exciting exploration in finding Treasure Chests for weapons and gear and discovering Statues for skills and abilities.
As you go through the game you will be able to develop a character with the right weapons and passives to fit your play style. This title also has a complex combat system that favors timing and rhythm. Let's go over some useful tips for your first time with Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris.
Always Save The Game
This game only auto-saves when you complete a quest or enter a new area. Death can happen quickly in this game, even to monsters levels below you, if yo❀u do not have a handle on the combat system.
There is a lot to explore in this game, and losing progress in parts of it where enemies and exploration becomes difficult can be brutal. Even in Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris's first location, you can walk into enemies with levels of around 30.
Sub Quest Are Important
The Sub Quest in this game can be pretty mundane, with most of them killing enemies or delivering materials. Some require you to craft or fish, so alw🐽ays take the time to perform those tasks whenever you get a chance.
Pay attention to the dialogue of the NPC as many Sub Quest tells you to go to vague locat�𓄧�ions in the area, and the Request Tab Menu provides you with no details on location.
These Sub Quest are important because as you complete them, you raise the Trust Level of the area. The more you increase, the Trust Level more icon🌄s♔ you find on your map for you to explore.
Check the level of Requests that ask you to kill enemies. The more you raise your Renown, the higher level quest you can accept. Even in the first area, you get a quest to kill a level 3ꦓ0 monster.
Do Not Forget About Warrior Statues
When exploring, Warrior Statues should be your top priority. On your minimap, they always appear active 𝄹even if completed, but if you check your map, you can see which ones are active.
These statues will have unique challenges assigned to them that you have to complete. Usually, "kill X amount of enemies" or something like that. Specific statues unlock skills to help further develop your characters into specialized roles: Scout, Berserk, Tank, Healer, SP Buffer, and Debuffer.
Further along in the game, you will discover that some Warrior Statues develop your Scared Arts and give EX Skill not shown on your skill tree.
Sacred Arts Have Many Uses
Sacred Arts are your magical abilities that any of your party members can use. Sacred Arts can be charged on the field or before and during a battle and will not unleash until you press the꧅ button again.
These abilities are vital in combat and exploration. In combat, your Sacred Arts can be used in a combo to provide extra damage after a Skill Connect. Some Sacred Arts are more designed for exploration, like Metal Level 1, which creates a solid block you can use as a platform to help access more hidden Treasure Chests.
Bond With You Allies
You can bond with your teammates by increasing their Affinity. Once you complete chapter one, you can bond with your teammates in towns. You can boost Affinity by having your teammate in your party, doing the Heart Mini Game, and completing Special Quest.
The Heart Mini Game is a simple game with dialogue choices and a heart icon. You choose whatever dialogue option you prefer, once the beating heart icon is at its largest. Once you get the percent to 100, you can change the character's Persona and Anima to useful ones that give more exp or item drops.
Picking the same dialogue option repeatedly will lower the affinityꦰ gain.
Raise Your Weapon Proficiency
Weapon Proficiency is essential for unlocking Sword Skills for your weapons. Most Sword Skills in the skill tree require having the required amount of We🦂apon Proficiency. The more you use a weapon, the more your weapon Proficiency increases.
Weapon Proficiency increases your attack and accuracy with your desired weapon. In the beginning, accuracy is not the most important stat, but once you start coming across harder fights, if you lack it, you will be missing out on a lot of damage. You should experiment and discover your favorite tꩵhat fits your playstyle.
Your party members are also valuable for raising your weapon proficiency as long as you control that character. Your allies have their own Weapon Proficiency level but raising their level also increases your main character.
Remember, Kirito is the only character that can use Dual Swords.
Develop Your Team To Your Style
As you begin your journey throughout the game, you will quickly notice that your teammates do not do anything. As you play the game and do battle, the game records how you command your party members and will set actions for them to perform. Setting your allies in the roles that the game offers will help with recording actions in combat. For example, if you set a character in the Healer role with healing skills, they will be recorded to heal.
You can edit this program in the Record Tab in the menu, and it can be unclear to use. If you experiment, you can get your party members to react to a situation without commands. There is a lot𒈔 to this system, although yꦰou can complete the game without ever using the system as well.
If you find yourself never using this edit A.I. behavior, at the least it is recommended to have one character take the role of Tank and aggro the enemy. This can be achieved simply by just having a ꧟character in the Tank role.
Master Your Sword Skills
Sword Skills are the basics of combat, and Normal Attacks increase your SP but deal little to no damage to more challenging enemies. At the end of a Normal Attack Combo, you perform a Sword Skill that you can set free of SP cost.
Reading your Sword Skills descriptions is crucial because many have special conditions or effects when used correctly. Some can cause status effects, break guards, or deal extra damage when the enemy is in the air.
Some Sword Skills have branching attacks as they level up. You can press the button again at the right time to continue the Sword Skill. Timing is essential for branching attacking as the indicator for when to press skill again is a blue flash on the weapon. For some Sword Skills, you can mash the button, but for o𝔉thers, you must waiﷺt for the right moment.
A branching Sword Skill is not a Skill Connect until you use another skill.
Learn To Increase Your Arts Gauge
Your Arts Gauge is one of the other ways to deal massive damage to your opponent, but it requires the gauge to be filled. You can fill the meter by Chain Bursting, Parrying attacks, or Perfect Dodges. Once filled, you get the option to perform three powerful attacks.
|
Attack |
Effect |
|
Finish Arts |
This powerful cinematic attack can change depending on your weapon. These attacks deal significant damage and are great for increasing the enemies' Hazard Gauge. |
|
Ally Skill |
This is an option you learn later in the game once you have options for more party members. It is a chain attack that is good for putting the enemy i♐n a downed state. |
|
Super Art |
🤪This option ღslows down time for your controlled character, and all Sword Arts cost no SP. |
Master Chain Burst For Damage
Chain Burst is the number one way to deal damage, especially to enemies with large amounts of health. A Chain Burst will always do way more damage than any damage you can perform by yourself even with proper Skill Connect. Chain Burst is simply a Skill Connect with an ally instead of yourself, and it gives a damage multiplier that deals e💜normous damage at the end. This damage multiplier is ess♕ential for difficult fights.
The timing of commanding your allies is vital to raise the level of a Chain Burst because the same character cannot use two Sword Skills in a row to further the effect. Swapping characters and/or commanding characters to attack is a major way to constantly pull off power Chain Burst. You should practice performing Chain Burst early on in the game, the game has a difficulty spike꧑ in the later chapters that will require a mastery of this mechanic.