Final Fantasy Explorers – Combat Guide

Final Fantasy Explorers is about as close as you’re going to get to a Monster Hunter game with a Final Fantasy theme. With this knowledge alone it should be clear that the combat system in Final Fantasy Explorers is quite a bit different compared to the various combat systems in other Final Fantasy titles. While some players have had no issues adjusting to the unique combat system, others don’t fully understand everything the new combat system has to offer.

This mini-guide is designed to help new players understand everything the combat system offers, as well as how best to use the combat system to your advantage. Don’t forget to check out our beginner tips for Final Fantasy Explorers as well if you’re still having difficulty getting a foothold on the general gameplay aspects of the new title.

Combat Basics

Final Fantasy Explorers is a action-RPG that allows players to attack and defend in real-time. You are free to move around the environment, engage any monsters you see and essentially battle enemies like you would in an action game. This isn’t a turn-based system that requires you to wait between actions, everything is done on the fly with only your reflexes (and a few cooldowns) to slow you down.

The main goal of Final Fantasy Explorers is to slay as many monsters as you can. As you defeat enemies you may find an orb in their place. These orbs contain item drops from the enemy and one of the main reasons you’re doing all of this monster slaying. There are three different colors for these orbs: blue, purple and gold. Blue means the items are common, purple items are a bit harder to come by and gold items are rare.

Monster Malice and Enemy Aggro

You may notice that some abilities and items have increased Monster Malice. Monster Malice is essentially the Final Fantasy Explorers version of aggro, which is a standard RPG term that indicates the level of aggression an enemy has toward you. The higher your aggro the more likely it is that the enemy in question will be attacking you instead of another member in your party.

In addition to the items and abilities that increase Monster Malice, simply attacking enemies or healing allies will also generate Monster Malice. If you’re in a party you should have a designated tank (probably a Paladin or similar job). If the monster is attacking you instead of the designated tank, stop attacking or healing until the tank can get the monster’s attention again.

Abilities

When attacking an enemy, the Y button causes your character to use a normal attack. Using normal attacks allows you to gain Ability Points (AP). AP is consumed when you use an ability or sprint instead of walk. It’s important to have a good mix of normal attacks and abilities so you don’t run out of AP in the midst of combat.

It’s possible to assign as many as eight abilities to your job. Each ability costs a certain amount of Crystal Points (CP). The CP cost is determined by the job and the ability you’re pairing together. For example, the CP cost of a Cure spell for a White Mage will be significantly lower than the CP cost of a Cure spell for a Dragoon.

Generally speaking, the more powerful the ability, the higher the CP cost. If you opt for many powerful abilities you won’t be able to equip eight abilities because you will reach the maximum amount of CP for your character. Keep this in mind when your determining which abilities to assign to each of your classes.

For more on Final Fantasy Explorers be sure to check out our beginner’s tips and job guides. We’ll have more on the game in the coming days and weeks so stay tuned to Prima Games!

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