When a battle begins, you will notice a window open up on the left side of the screen. Early on in the game, you will only see 7 commands listed in the column. These are the characters Individual Actions. After you meet the Swordsman on B1 and learn how to do the Allied Actions, more commands become available for you to use. They are: "Allied Actions", "Invert Rows", "Flee Together", and the characters "Individual Action".
Allied Actions
Once you have mastered on how to do the Allied Actions from the Swordsman on B1, you will be able to select from the different types of Allied Actions to use: "Offensive", "Defensive", "Spell", and "Assisted". As you progress in Rank, more AA's will become available for you to use. You can also go to the Guild in Town and purchase AA's. You must maintain a Party Rank of 2 in order to use this command.
Invert Rows
This command allows you to switch the front row of the party with the back row. These becomes useful encase you become attacked from behind and you need to switch your members back. This also saves you the trouble of having to individually swap each member. Must have a Party Rank of 2 in order to use this command.
Flee Together
This command allows your entire party the chance to flee the battle at once. This command can fail at times, which will result in the whole party losing a turn. Cannot flee from certain battles with monsters, especially boss fights. Must have a Party Rank of 2 in order to use this command.
Individual Action
When you choose not to use an Allied Action or if you have already selected 2 AA's to use and have some characters left over, you will be able to select a character's Individual Actions. These commands must be entered for each character using it.
Attack -- Attacks an enemy target with equipped weapon. If targeted monster is already defeated, their attack will be redirected to another monster. Unarmed characters, and characters with long range weapons in the front row using AA's, will attack barehanded.
Defend -- Character defends against an enemy attack, and damage is decreased. Paralyzed, Stoned, Sleep & Unconscious characters cannot Defend.
Spell -- A character chooses to cast spell, if they have MP to use it. Can select from Sorceror, which is for offense and Priest, which is for healing.
Item -- A character chooses to use an item from his/her inventory. Select an item, then choose a target to use it on.
Dispel -- Character uses a divine chant to destroy a type of Undead (Undead Kobold, Zombie, Shade, etc) or cause them to flee; can fail at times. Can only be used by Priests, Knights & Bishops. Does not require MP to use.
Swap -- A character switches position with another member in the party lineup. The other character choosen for this cannot enter a command at this time.
Flee -- A character attempts to flee from the battle. If successful, the entire party flees and the battle ends. This command has a lower success rate than "Flee Together".
Enemy Battles
Enemy battles can be fought in several different ways:
Normal Attack
Party members enter their command and go in order according to their Agility in comparision to the enemy's Agility. The higher the number, the quicker you go.
Surprise Attack
You catch the enemy off guard and get a whole round to attack them, without having them attack you in return.
Sudden Attack
The enemy catches you off guard and gets a whole free round to attack you. But unlike a Back Attack, your rows do not switch.
Back Attack
The enemy catches you from behind. The front row and back row members switch and they get an entire round to attack you.
*Note ~ Back Attacks usually occur when an enemy hits you from behind. Not always the case. I've had several occassions where I've encountered enemies head on and it was still a Back Attack. Other times when I was caught from behind it wasn't a back attack. It's all randomized, although, there is a higher chance of it being a Back Attack being hit from behind.
Attacking Enemies
While attacking enemies, several different things may appear during the actual attack or spell casting. Please note that enemies can perform these moves as well, so don't freak out when an enemy does something that you don't like (like instantly killing one of your members).
MELEE
MAGIC
Miss
Character misses the targeted monster and no damage is done.
Fumble
A spell's power is decreased and damage done to the monster is halved.
Critical
Character scores a critical hit and damage done to the monster is doubled.
Critical
A spell's power is increased and damage done to the monster is doubled.
X Kill
Target monster is instantly killed, regardless of HP or Defense rating. The screen will flash & a large 'X' will appear across targeted enemy.
Can only be performed by: Ninjas, a Samurai using a Katana or other weapons that say that it can instantly kill (Queen's Guard Sword, Neck Breaker, etc.)
Monsters that can perform an X-Kill: Samurai, Ninja, Greater Demon, Maelific Elder Demon, Reaper, Raver Lord, Deathbringer
Resist
Enemies with special abilities are resistant to the spell cast on them, and only recieve half damage (I.E. Fire Giants are strong against fire magic).
Barrier
Enemies with special abilities are protected against the spell cast on them, and recieve no damage.