Welcome students, Professor RPG here! Need help understanding the Equipment Fusion system in Tales of Zestiria? Perhaps you would like a more deep dive into the history of Ivalice? What in the world does the Intelligence stat do in that game you like? Stick around and let Professor RPG clear up the mysteries and help you on your quest.
Feel free to skip this if you read the Cold Steel 1 or 2 Primers ——————————–
“ People may be surprised but the Legend of Heroes series has been around since the late 80s and early 90s here in the West. Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, was the first entry in the series, released on the TurboGrafX in 1992 in North America. While the series would continue on through the 90s in Japan, the West wouldn’t see another Legend of Heroes title until 2005 with the PSP title, The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion. Two other titles, Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch and Song of the Ocean which make up the Gagharv Trilogy also received localizations in 2006 and 2007 respectively. These titles a bit rough around the edges and received mixed reactions from RPG fans.
It wasn’t until the Trails in the Sky trilogy began coming over to North America back in 2011 that the Legend of Heroes series reputation began to grow. “
Prof RPG , Cold Steel 1 Primer
OK you can stop skipping now —————————————————————
From a mechanics standpoint, this game, as well as this guide, shares similar information from the prior primers. That isn’t to say that you won’t find anything new though! For newcomers though, this Primer will help get your adventure off on the right foot, and help spell out some of the new systems introduced within Cold Steel 3.
NOTE: As this game is a direct sequel to the first two titles, taking place a year and a half after the previous title. It is HIGHLY advised that you finish the first and second games prior to reading through this primer, as it does contain a number of story spoilers from them.
PLATFORMS:
- PlayStation 4
LORE:
A year and a half has passed since the Civil War that engulfed Erebonia was quelled, thanks to Rean Schwarzer and the rest of Class VII from Thors Military Academy. Duke Cayenne has been imprisoned and the Nobel Alliance disbanded.Four Great Noble Houses are trying to hold on to any and all influence and power they can, as the government works to weaken their influence and centralize all of its political powerin Goliath Osborne’s hand.
The mysterious organization, Ouroboros, has been quiet as of late after their plans were thwarted and the Phantasmal Blaze Plan stolen from them. The events at the Infernal Castle and the appearance of the Azure Tree still weigh heavy on the minds of all those involved. The pain of those lost in the war still linger in the hearts of those that lived through it.
While the rest of Class VII graduated long ago, Rean has just recently graduated from Thors, and has decided to become an instructor in the newly established Thors Branch Campus in the town of Leeves. It’s here that this latest tale begins, as Rean is introduced to his students, the new members of Class VII.
IMPORTANT TERMS:
Ouroboros:
Their aliases include “The Society” and “The Snake”. This mysterious group has involved itself with the Noble Alliance Faction and working towards their own goal. What that goal is still a mystery.
Enforcers:
Elite fighters of the Ouroboros, each are assigned a number. The number isn’t indicative of their strength however.
- Currently known Enforcers:
- Sharon Kreuger : No. 9 , “The Severing Chains”
- McBurn: No. 1, “The Almighty Conflagration”
- BleuBlanc: No. 10, “Phantom Thief B”
- The Fool : No. 0
Anguis:
Commanders of Ouroboros under the Grandmaster.
- Currently known Anguists:
- Vita Clotilde
Divine Knights:
These mechanical knights are the stuff of legends. Having appeared at numerous points in history, as bringing both salvation and devastation to Erebonia. Each Knight puts a chosen individual through a number of trials to determine whether or not they are worthy to be its Awakener (the pilot). Incredibly durable and strong, a single one of these can easily turn the tide of a battle or even whole wars.
- Currently known Divine Knights:
- Valimar, The Ashen Knight
- Odine, The Azure Knight
- Testa-Rosa, The Vermilion Knight
Panzar Soldats:
Designed based around studies conducted of Odine, The Azure Knight, these mass-produced mechanical units are used heavily by the Noble Alliance Faction in their assaults around Erebonia. While not as strong or durable as the Divine Knights themselves, their superior mobility and adaptability have proved to be a great boon against the tanks and soldiers of the Imperial Faction
Cryptids:
Incredibly strong and giant beasts that can warp the nature and elements in a given area.
Magic Knights:
Ancient Mechanical giants that boast incredible offensive and defensive stats that hail from the Dark Ages.
The Gnomes:
A mysterious organization that created advanced technology, including the Divine Knights. They have not been seen or heard from in hundreds of years after their war with the Hexen Clan witches.
Hexen Clan:
A clan of witches that lives in the shadows of society, rarely venturing out and exposing themselves. Their duty is to help those who have the potential to be Awakeners, allowing them to fulfil their responsibility, and providing support. Both Emma of Class VII and Vita are members of this clan.
The Black Workshop:
A mysterious organization of advanced engineers and scientists that is able to create highly advanced pieces of technology. They created Millium and Altina Orion as well as their attack shells. Even high ranking members of the Railway Military Police and Empire aren’t privy to information on this group. The only individual who knows for sure, is Gilitah Osborne.
Iron Bloods:
The handpicked special taskforce of Giliath Osborne, the Blood and Iron Chancellor. Reporting directly to him, this team has hand in numerous shady and far reaching operations. Their ranks include Major Claire from the RMP and Millium Orion of Class VII, among others.
Bracers:
A guild of adventurers that are hired to complete various tasks. From rescuing individuals, defending targets, and being all around helpful people. In recent years, the Erebonia Bracer guild has been disbanded, with only a few select Bracers still going taking on jobs in the region. The guild is still relatively active however in other countries on the continent.
Thors Military Academy:
Founded by Dreichels the Lion Heart, this prestigious military has had numerous powerful and important figures graduate from their ranks. Included in academy are the members of the original Class VII. Found in the city of Trista, the academy has seen major renovation and change to its curriculum this year
Thors Branch Campus:
A newly formed campus in the town of Leeves that bares the Lion crest of Thors, but with an azure background. Composed of “rejects” of Thors’ main campus, this new school and it’s students will need to prove themselves in the trials ahead. It’s principle is the former general of the Nobel Alliance from the Civil War, Aurelia Le Quin.
Railway Military Police (RPM):
A special operations group of highly trained soldiers and commanders that handle any incidents involving the railway system or the areas immediately surrounding them.
Special Support Section (SSS):
A division of the Crossbell Police Department, founded by Sergie Lou and comprised of Lloyd Bannings, Tio Plato, Randy Orlando, Elie MacDowell, Noel Seeker and Wazy Hemisphere. These are the heroes from the previous titles, Trails of Zero and Trails to Azure, currently with no official localization.
THE MEMBERS OF CLASS VII:
Rean Schwarzer – The protagonist – Age: 20
A young man who was once part of Thors Military Academy’s original Class VII. More famously known as the “Ashen Chevalier,” he is the awakener of the Ashen Knight, Valimar.
He fought as part of a third faction in the civil war. Afterward, he assisted the Imperial Army with the annexation of Crossbell and North Ambria, cementing his heroic status and making him famous across the empire.
After he graduated from Thors, the government invited him to join the military, but he refused for fear they would abuse Valimar’s power. In order to continue upholding the spirit of Thors, he applied to be an instructor at its newly-opened branch campus.
New Class VII*
Juna Crawford: Age – 17
An energetic girl with a strong sense of justice. She was raised in the formerly independent Crossbell State.
She idolizes the Special Support Section—the heroes who saved Crossbell—and enrolled in Crossbell’s police academy to follow in their footsteps. However, her dreams were shattered when the Erebonian Empire annexed her homeland.
In all this, a trusted instructor of hers recommended she transfer to Thors. Deciding to see the empire for herself and show them her Crossbell pride, Juna begins packing her bags.
Kurt Vander: Age – 17
A handsome young man from the Vander family—a prestigious line of sword masters. His thin build and light blue hair sets him apart from the other men in his family. A natural-born prodigy with dual blades, he quickly advanced to intermediate level.
For years, the Vanders had the duty of acting as bodyguards to the members of the Imperial Family. Kurt eagerly awaited his chance to take up his family’s mantle and serve at the crown prince’s side. However, after the civil war, Chancellor Giliath Osborne dismissed the Vanders from this role, leaving Kurt without direction or purpose.
Distraught, he withdrew his enrollment from Thors Military Academy’s main campus—the school the prince would be attending. However, his brother Mueller recommended he enroll at the branch campus instead, claiming it might help him find his path in life.
Altina Orion: Age – Appears to be 14
A small, seemingly emotionless girl formerly affiliated with the Intelligence Agency. Her code name is “Black Rabbit.”
She controls a state-of-the-art combat shell named Claiomh Solais. During the civil war, she appeared to be serving the Noble Alliance, but was actually under orders to perform covert operations to undermine them.
After the civil war, she joined the Intelligence Division. Part of her duties involved keeping tabs on the Ashen Chevalier, Rean Schwarzer. As such, she was assigned to support him on his missions.
When Rean became an instructor, Altina enrolled at the branch campus as a student, but her real motives remain unclear.
Ash Carbide: Age – 17
A troublemaking punk originally in Class VIII: Combat Tactics. He grew up in the slums of an entertainment city in the west half of the empire. He generally acts like nothing fazes him, but it seems he has a dark shadow looming over his past.
During the civil war, he was part of a group of ruffians who fought off thieves attempting to pillage his town. His feats drew the attention of both the Imperial Army and the Bracer Guild.
He declined invitations from both those organizations, instead enrolling at the branch campus with the recommendation of someone who knew his complicated past.
Though he’s tall, he’s remarkably agile, and doesn’t shy away from cheap shots and dirty tactics in a fight. For whatever reason, he seems to have something against Rean…
Musse Eggret: Age – 15
A delicate-looking, flirtatious girl from the prestigious Egret family. She was originally a student of Class IX: Military Finance.
Her ladylike attitude and outstanding grades give her an aura of nobility, but something about her never seems entirely genuine. She often flirts with and hangs on Rean, much to his chagrin.
Before attending the branch campus, she previously went to a different school, but had to withdraw suddenly, due to mysterious circumstances.
Six months later, she enrolled at Thors Military Academy’s branch campus. However…
Old Class VII*
Alisa Reinford: Age – 20
The daughter of the Reinford family, owners of Erebonia’s largest heavy industry manufacturer.
Like Rean, she was a member of the original Class VII. As a student, she fought alongside her classmates, deepening her bonds with them and resolving issues all over the empire.
After graduating from Thors, she returned home to help run her family’s company. Supported by her grandfather, Gwyn, and her family’s maid, Sharon, Alisa worked hard and eventually became the General Manager of the company’s Development Division. There, she was put in charge of developing new orbal staffs and the next generation of ARCUS units, the ARCUS II.
Though her new job keeps her busy, she often finds herself thinking about her classmates and their promise to reunite one day.
Elliot Craig: Age – 19
The son of the famous military general, Craig the Red. Elliot is a bright young man with a tremendous talent for music.
Though he originally wanted to study music at an academy in Heimdallr, his father objected, forcing him to enroll at Thors instead. There, he was placed in Class VII, met Rean, and the rest is history.
Growing over the course of his time spent with Class VII, Elliot graduated early and got his father’s blessing to study music. He enrolled in a music academy, took intensive lessons and graduated a year later.
Now a professional musician, Elliot travels the empire on tour, searching for a way he can lead his nation to peace with the healing power of music.
Laura S. Arseid: Age – 20
The daughter of Viscount Arseid, the head of a famous military family in Erebonia.
Laura has been studying her family’s sword style from an early age. During her time in Class VII, she bonded with Rean over their shared interest in the way of the sword.
After graduating from Thors, she trained further in the Arseid style with her father, Victor, eventually becoming qualified as acting master of the school. With this, she began traveling to the various Arseid training halls around the country to further hone her skills.
In her travels, she keeps close watch on the buildup of military forces and searches for signs of Ouroboros’ movements in Erebonia.
Jusis Albarea: Age – 20
The second son of House Albarea—one of the Four Great Houses—and the younger brother of Rufus Albarea—the current governor general of Crossbell.
Burdened by the fact that he was an illegitimate heir, he remained aloof toward both the nobles and commoners of Thors after he first arrived. However, he eventually opened up to his fellow members of Class VII.
As his father had since been incarcerated and his brother named governor general, Jusis took over his family’s lands after he graduated, filling in as acting duke of the Kreuzen province. He devoted himself to helping the province’s capital, Bareahard, recover from the civil war.
As he does, however, he begins to worry about the actions the government has been taking against the nobility. The new tax laws and the treatment of the Vander family being of particular concern. He resolves to keep a close eye on the situation and stay in touch with the other heads of the Four Great Houses.
Machias Regnitz: Age – 20
The son of the governor of Heimdallr. Bright and hard-working, Machias is as strict toward himself as he is toward others.
Though tragic events in his past led him to have a deep hatred for the nobility, his time spent with nobles such as Rean and Jusis in Class VII let him forge bonds of trust with them that went beyond social classes.
Determined to take a different path from his father and Chancellor Osborne, Machias went to a political academy in Heimdallr once he had graduated from Thors. There, he worked hard and earned enough credits to graduate in a single year.
Now a member of the Government Accountability Inspectorate, he is one of the youngest to join the organization. While performing inspections of various branches of the government, he begins to notice a certain pattern to the Chancellor’s actions…
Fie Claussell: Age – 17
A girl who was raised in a jaeger corps and who went by the name “Sylphid.” After her corps (known as Zephyr) lost its leader and disbanded, she ended up being scouted by Sara and dragged off to Thors, where she was put in Class VII. It was thanks to this that she found a new family and a new place to belong in Class VII.
During the civil war, she happened to reunite with two members of Zephyr, but in the end, they disappeared, only telling her they were going to “bring back the boss.”
In order to investigate what they meant by this and help Class VII out, she decided to join the Bracer Guild after graduating from Thors.
Though the sanctions against bracers in Erebonia had only grown more strict recently, she passed the bracer exam under Sara and Toval’s guidance and became one of the youngest senior bracers at 16. Now, she works alongside Sara, doing bracer work all over the country while trying to track down her former corps members.
Emma Millstein: Age – 20
A sweet, studious girl who served as the old Class VII’s class president. In reality, she was a member of the Hexen Clan, a group of witches that stood behind the scenes throughout Erebonia’s history. She guided Rean to finding Valimar and becoming his awakener.
During the civil war, she briefly reunited with her adopted sister, Vita Clotilde. However, after being outplayed by Chancellor Osborne at the very end, Vita vanished once more.
After graduating from Thors, Emma resolved to search the country for her prodigal sister and bring her back to their hometown.
After studying under her clan’s Elder to improve her magic skills, Emma finally embarked on her journey to find her sister. Along the way, she planned to visit shrines and important locations built long ago by the Hexen Clan and their counterparts, the Gnomes.
Gaius Worzel: Age – 20
A member of the nomadic people of the Nord Highlands, located northeast of Erebonia. Gaius is a level-headed young man who loves both the wind and the Goddess.
In order to expand his horizons and find ways to protect his homeland, he enrolled in Thors and was placed in Class VII. In his time there, he gained a second homeland and a number of irreplaceable friends.
After the civil war, Gaius returned to the Nord Highlands, promising to reunite with his classmates before long. However, it was there that the horrors of war resurfaced. With the constant skirmishes between Erebonia and Calvard still breaking out across their shared border, it became more difficult to devote forces to protecting the people of Nord.
For some reason, the other members of Class VII have been unable to contact Gaius for quite some time…
Millium Orion: Age – Appears to be 15
A carefree young girl who is able to control a combat shell named “Airgetlam.” She serves the Imperial Army’s Intelligence Division as one of its agents. She’s also a member of the Ironbloods—Chancellor Osborne’s personal assistants—and uses the code name “White Rabbit” on her missions.
Before the civil war, she was sent to infiltrate Thors Military Academy and was transferred into Class VII. Despite her mission, she made friends there and spent her days making wonderful memories with her classmates.
After graduation, she returned to her position as an agent of the Intelligence Division and was sent on a number of missions with Altina. Despite this, she continued to stay in touch with the other members of Class VII, especially Jusis, much to his annoyance.
Sara Valestein: Age – 27
Formerly a member of the Northern Jaegers and known by her title, “Purple Lightning,” Sara is currently an A-Rank bracer. She’s both beautiful and a skilled combatant, though she can be a bit crass and slovenly at times.
She spent some time serving as an instructor at Thors Military Academy, both to Towa and Crow’s group of ARCUS test members, and as the homeroom teacher to Class VII.
After the war, she retired from her brief teaching career and returned to her work as a bracer.
Currently, she’s partnered up with the rookie bracer, Fie. Together with Toval and the other bracers left in Erebonia, they’re investigating the unrest bubbling behind the scenes in the empire.
Celine: Age – ??
A black cat who has beautiful fur, and far more puzzlingly, the ability to speak human language. In actuality, she is Emma’s familiar and helper, given to her by the Elder of the Hexen Clan.
At first, her only role was to evaluate Rean’s worthiness as Valimar’s Awakener, but after the civil war broke out, she served as Rean’s partner in piloting Valimar and finding his scattered friends.
After the civil war, she returned to her and Emma’s home town. Now, they travel across the empire, searching for Vita Clotilde and visiting the various spirit shrines built by the ancient Gnomes and Hexen Clan.
Other Notable Characters:
Tita Russell:
An engineer from Liberl who has decided to transfer to the Thors Branch Campus in order to study under the renowned Professor Schmidt. She was featured prominently in the Trails in the Sky titles.
Randy Orlando:
One of the heroes from Crossbell and the SSS. He now is the instructor at the Thors Branch Campus for Combat Tactics, and homeroom teacher for Class IX. What factors led him to be separated from his friends in Crossbell, resulting in him being at Thors?
Principle Le Quin:
Former General of the Noble Alliance forces during the Civil War. Master of both the Arseid and Vander styles of swordsmanship. Known as “The Golden Rakshasa” is one of the most formidable individuals in all of the Empire that can single-handedly take out Panzar Soldat’s or Cryptids in a single blow. After the Civil War and the loss of her side, she stripped of her position in the military, she now serves as principal of the Thors Branch Campus.
MECHANICS:
New to COLD STEEL 3
Brave Orders:
During combat, by utilizing Battle points accumulated through scoring critical hits, you are able to take advantage of special abilities called Brave Orders. Each character has access to various orders, each with varying BP costs depending on how powerful they are. These will boost specific stats of your entire party for a set number of terms in addition to providing additional benefits that can quickly turn the tide of a difficult battle.
- Examples:
- All arts can be cast instantly
- Increase Break damage by 300%
- Reflect all physical attacks
Breaking Enemies:
An important new mechanic that will be crucial to surviving more difficult fights is the Break mechanic on enemies. By doing enough damage, you will send an enemy into a break state. When this happens they will drop any item they are holding, their turn is delayed, and any buffs they have on them will be removed.
Attacking an enemy will also have benefits, as all physical hits will be critical, on top of their defense being lowered.
“Enhanced” Enemies:
Particularly strong foes, usually bosses, will be able to enter an enhanced state. When this occurs, their strength and defense will rise and any debuffs or status effects they were suffering from will be removed. When this happens, unleash every power attack you can to knock them into a break state, removing the enhanced status. Luckily, foes are easier to break when they are enhanced.
Sub-Master Quartz:
One of the enhancements found in the ARCUS II units is the addition of the Sub-Master Quartz slot. Whichever Master Quartz is assigned to this slot, will give the user access to the first level abilities that the quartz bestows, the stat boosts to a lesser extent, and whatever passive ability that it has associated with it.
Returning from COLD STEEL 1 + 2
Arts, Quartz and Lines:
For newcomers to the series, parts of the magic system in Cold Steel can be a bit difficult to fully understand. So let’s break things down and make it more digestible.
Master Quartz
- Each character has a single Master Quartz equipped at a time, each providing certain buffs, abilities, and Arts. As you fight, much like the characters themselves, they will gain experience and eventually leveling up. This will enhance the bonuses and unlock new abilities and Arts.
- The levels gained by each Master Quartz are not character specific and will retain its level should you swap it to another character.
- Example: You have leveled up the FORCE Master Quartz to level 2 on Rean and decide that you’d rather have the bonus CP restoration from killing enemies that come from it with Laura. Laura has never had FORCE equipped but when you equip it to her, FORCE is still level 2.
- Each MQ provides a set bonus to each of the main stats (HP, EP, STR, DEF, ATS, ADF and SPD)
- The levels gained by each Master Quartz are not character specific and will retain its level should you swap it to another character.
Quartz
By equipping a Quartz into your ARCUS II unit, characters will be able to cast the spells and receive the stat buffs of that specific Quartz. In Cold Steel these behave very similarly to the materia system in Final Fantasy VII. The name of each quartz will tell you what spell that character will have access to when they equip it in a slot, with additional information found in its description.
Quartz can be either found or made at engineering shops by synthesizing Septith, a crystallized element used for most devices in this world. Septith is most commonly gathered from battles, as enemies you fight will drop a certain combination of Septith types.
Quartz Slots and Lines
Each party member is able to equip the same maximum number of Quartz at 8 apiece, and how each utilizes a particular Quartz though, is different.
Some Slots will have a colored symbol inside of them and off to the right. For these specific Slots, you will be able to place them in with Quartz that shares the same color as the mark.
Lines play an important factor in what Quartz combinations a character can utilize. You can have only a single STATUS (burn, petrify, or freeze) and a single DEBUFF Quartz can be set per Line (1 of each). For each additional Line, a character has access to that many additional statuses or debuff arts.
- The more lines, the less EP a character will have, but a wider range of possible options they will have available to them.
Battle Evaluation Bonuses:
By meeting certain criteria during a battle, you can be rewarded with a number of different experience point modifiers through the Battle Evaluation system. Completing things such as winning the battle without being hit or defeating multiple enemies at once, you will gain bonuses to your experience points, awarded at the end of the battle.
AT Bonuses:
On the left side of the combat screen, where the turn order is displayed, you will occasionally see small icons to the right of some portraits. These are bonuses that will take effect once that enemy or ally has taken their turn. These can range from healing a character (this can be especially troublesome should a difficult boss be lucky enough to wind up with a HP Heal 50% bonus) to guaranteeing that a combatant’s next attack will be a critical hit.
Unbalancing Enemies:
On the topic of causing an enemy to become unbalanced, there are two primary ways of doing so.
- Each enemy is susceptible in varying degrees to the four attack types. (Slash, Thrust, Pierce, and Strike) This is displayed by the 4 symbols below the enemy’s life total with the stars to the right of them. The more stars that are next to the symbol, the more likely they are to being left unbalanced by an attack of that type.
- You can find what attack types each member of Class VII is associated with by going into the Status screen and looking in the bottom middle area in the “Attack Rank” box.
- S > A > B > C > D > None
- You can find what attack types each member of Class VII is associated with by going into the Status screen and looking in the bottom middle area in the “Attack Rank” box.
- Enemies will become unbalanced when struck with a critical hit. This includes when being hit with a guaranteed critical from an AT Bonus.
Crafts:
These are the unique special attacks that each character will learn throughout the course of the story as they level up. The effects of these Crafts vary wildly, from dealing damage to groups of enemies, healing and buffing allies, or debuffing and causing status effects to foes. To use these attacks, you use your CP resource, which can be replenished by using your normal attacks and by eating some types of food.
Some Master Quartzes, such as FORCE, will reward additional CP by fulfilling certain conditions, such as landing a killing hit on an enemy.
S-Crafts & S-Breaks :
S-Crafts are incredibly powerful attacks that consume all of a character’s CP and are available to them once they have accumulated at least 100 CP. When used, they will deal a large amount of damage over a good-sized area of the battlefield, lending themselves best in dire situations when you need to turn the tide or end things as soon as you can.
Each character can store a max of 200 CP, and S-Crafts will become even more powerful should you use them when a character is at their max CP. What makes these attacks even more of a boon in difficult fights is that once a character is able to use their S-Craft, they can do so at any time, even when it isn’t their turn. Doing so is what is called an S-Break.
Characters will start with the S-Crafts that they had at the end of the first game and throughout the course of this game, gain a second!. Be cautious though, as should a character fall in combat, they will lose ALL of their stored CP and have to fill their gauge again. This can be done by attacking normally and eating some food. Some revival items will also restore a small amount when used.
EX ORBS:
After a certain point, you will gain the ability to create EX Orbs which serves as the equipment for Valimar, Rean’s Divine Knight. Crafting these involves using U-Materials and a corresponding Quartz, up to level 3. These include:
- Speed Orb
- Attack Orb
- Shield Orb
- HP Orb
STATS EXPLANATIONS:
Health Points (HP)
- Your life. When it hits zero, your character is knocked out and must be revived. You will lose all the CP that character currently has, and will also break the Tactical Link with the other character, which will have to be reset.
Craft Points (CP)
- Your resource used to cast characters Craft and S-Craft attacks.
Energy Points (EP)
- Your resource used to cast character’s magical Art attacks.
STRENGTH (STR)
- Strength affects how much damage your physical attacks, physical Crafts, and S-Crafts do. The higher the value, the more damage done.
DEFENSE (DEF)
- Defense affects how much damage a character takes from enemy physical attacks. The higher the value, the less damage you will take.
ARTS STRENGTH (ATS)
- This affects how much damage a character does with their Arts and magical-based Crafts. The higher the value, the more damage they will do. This also affects how much healing is done with Arts, as a higher value will cause a character to heal for more.
ARTS DEFENSE (ADF)
- This affects how much damage a character takes from enemy magical attacks. The higher the value, the less damage you will take.
SPEED (SPD)
- Speed affects how long between turns a character takes. The higher the value, the shorter the time it takes until they can act again.
DEXTERITY (DEX)
- Dexterity affects how likely a character is to land a hit on an enemy. The higher the value, the more likely their attacks are to land.
ACCURACY (ACC)
- Accuracy is an added value that improves the chance of landing a hit on an enemy. The higher this percentage, the bigger the bonus to hit is.
AGILITY (AGI)
- Agility affects how likely a character is to dodge an enemy’s PHYSICAL attack. The higher the value, the more likely an enemy attack will miss.
EVASION (EVA)
- Evasion is an Added value that improves the chance of dodging an enemy’s PHYSICAL attack. The higher this percentage, the bigger the bonus of dodging an attack is.
MOVEMENT (MOV)
- Movement affects the distance that a character can move around the battlefield during their turn. The higher the value, the more distance they will be able to travel.
RANGE (RNG)
- Range affects the distance of how far a character’s attacks can reach. The higher the value, the further an attack can hit.
AILMENTS:
TIPS:
- You can fast forward through cutscenes by hitting the L1 button, which will speed up the dialogue. You could also just hit the Options button and skip the cutscene completely that way too.
- Equip Quartz that gives your attacks status effects! The more the better. There are also Master Quartz that will give all your attacks and crafts, and arts the chance of inflicting effects. This can be a huge boon against foes. Especially mobs of enemies when you want to do some grinding.
- You can’t use duplicate Quartz in an Orbment, so don’t waste Sepith on stat-increasing quartzes expecting to be able to set them.
- For stat increasing Quartz though, you can have one of each strength of Quartz
- EX: you can have Attack 1, Attack 2, and Attack 3 all equipped.
- By using Crafts, your character will be slightly delayed when they can attack again. On the left side of the screen in the turn order, you will see “Delay” followed by a number, indicating how much they will be delayed.
- Use the Turbo mode to speed up walking. Just be aware that in combat, it will speed up your cursor speed too.
- Invest in better fishing gear when you can, as it’s a great way to get some east Sepith! Most fish will net you some when you catch them. Having better gear will make farming this easy Sepith a quick endeavor that can net you a good amount rather quickly! Combining this with the fast forward feature, and you’ll really be flying!
At this point, I have spent close to 200 hours with my friends in Class VII this year, with the Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series. In that time I have fallen in love with the lore and lands of this world they call home. I’ve bonded with these characters, each complete with their own flaws and quirks, witnessing them overcome all manner of adversity and hardship. With this third title, I’ve met and bonded with even more friends, and fallen deeper in love with this story. This game was made to be both a continuation for returning fans of the series in addition as being jumping in point for new players, with a formula and set up very similar to the first CS game.
Hopefully, this guide will help players returning to the series and Erebonia, jump back into all the systems and mechanics found in Cold Steel 3. There is a lot of hidden depth to the systems that, when taken advantage of, can help you easily snatch victory from your foes. So go forth, young lion, and save the day!
*Descriptions courtesy of the official Trails of Cold Steel 3 Website, from NIS America
