Tactic hints?

[Sandman25]

What tactics/army do you use? I feel like I really lack something. Here is what I do:
1) When fighting a group of monsters with fire attacks, I retreat around a corner, summon my demon with corresponding resistance and 2 healers out of sight. So eventually enemies run out of SP trying to kill my resistant demon and then I can fight them normally
2) When I have many demons with Pounce and Yellow/Pink Whisper, I can fight without much help from healers. Especially good in corridors, both front demons can be panicked/charmed. If my demons get wounded, I replace them with other demons who have Yellow/Pink Whisper too.
Well, that's basically all. Everything else does not work for me in hard fights. Lately I started to activate pursue link with intention to make demon run away instead of attacking me. And I still almost never use runes.

[geminimax]

Well, i'm not really that great of a player, and while i do think these are great tactics, i don't think you can boil all of the fights in the game to this.

For example, some times you'll be better off sniping an strong demon from your weak element than trying to outsustain it. Taking advantages of capture mechanics definitely makes the difference. For hard long fights, i prioritize the use of debuffs such as guilt and pariah, these can really win a fight. Buffs and debuffs in general are tools that are often underrated, but they can be really strong with the right synergies.

[Sandman25]

For example, some times you'll be better off sniping an strong demon from your weak element than trying to outsustain it.

Sorry, I don't understand it. Could you please elaborate?

[geminimax]

I'll give you an example: Imagine you're fighting a group of enemies which includes but is not limited to monster with fire attacks(also consider that those are the most dangerous to your character). Sometimes you will not be able to exhaust their sp without losing too much resources, so it would be better to eliminate them as fast as possible. You could do that by using ranged artillery and runes to destroy them as fast as possible(That was what i meant by sniping).

[Shadowdweller]

Two healers sounds maybe a bit excessive to me personally, at least if they're both out at the same time. I should note - I retreat around corners not to keep my healers out of sight, but because it requires the enemy to close; frequently breaking up enemy formations and forcing them to come closer to my front ranks than they otherwise would. In some situations it is possible to snipe back at the enemy with ranged allies. Also, don't neglect defenses - Juggernaut, for example, reduces damage that advancing allies take while simultaneously allowing them to close distance faster upon taking damage. Debuffs to enemy offense, buffs to ally defense, abilities like Oppressor that increase defense (where you can maintain it), block abilities are often functionally equivalent - and combine. If you can close distances quickly yourself, you can also summon your allies right next to the enemy,

Depending on the number and position of ranged enemies, you can often take cover while following behind an approaching ally. And then swap out that ally if they've taken too much damage during the approach. Or heal them yourself if you have healing abilities.

[Sandman25]

I'll give you an example: Imagine you're fighting a group of enemies which includes but is not limited to monster with fire attacks(also consider that those are the most dangerous to your character). Sometimes you will not be able to exhaust their sp without losing too much resources, so it would be better to eliminate them as fast as possible. You could do that by using ranged artillery and runes to destroy them as fast as possible(That was what i meant by sniping).

I see, thank you! This is very good advice for me as I underestimate ranged artillery (ranged abilities mistakenly seem too expensive to me but it does not matter when my demons die with almost full SP) and forget about runes (even vs Ludoc or those electro/fire monsters I usually have problems with).

[Sandman25]

Two healers sounds maybe a bit excessive to me personally, at least if they're both out at the same time. I should note - I retreat around corners not to keep my healers out of sight, but because it requires the enemy to close; frequently breaking up enemy formations and forcing them to come closer to my front ranks than they otherwise would. In some situations it is possible to snipe back at the enemy with ranged allies. Also, don't neglect defenses - Juggernaut, for example, reduces damage that advancing allies take while simultaneously allowing them to close distance faster upon taking damage. Debuffs to enemy offense, buffs to ally defense, abilities like Oppressor that increase defense (where you can maintain it), block abilities are often functionally equivalent - and combine. If you can close distances quickly yourself, you can also summon your allies right next to the enemy,

Depending on the number and position of ranged enemies, you can often take cover while following behind an approaching ally. And then swap out that ally if they've taken too much damage during the approach. Or heal them yourself if you have healing abilities.

Well, I usually have 3-4 healers... I guess this is why I have problems, my firepower is not high enough and I cannot kill demons who have AoE attacks because they kill my healers first (who are often vulnerable to fire and always have low max HP). Also I underestimate buffs and especially debuffs (they require cunning), double underestimation for ones with "brief" duration. I will try different approaches then, thank you!

[Shadowdweller]

By the way....it should be noted that there are some late game enemies that you do NOT want to pull the retreat/corner trick on. For example: Demas/Jinn. They have short range area attacks that will destroy your team if you are not resistant and let them get too close. There are also a number of charging enemies that you need to be careful not to give an opening to - Raiju, for example. Or Chachapuma if you don't have good melee defenses. Standing directly behind an ally will -generally- keep you safe.

[Sandman25]

Well, I cannot say that I completely understand you as I don't remember any of those monsters, probably I have never seen them yet.
Currently optimal approach is manual exploration with an adjacent mind-resistant/immune demon like Zar or Headless (charm, panic are the worst things that can happen IMHO) so you can swap position immediately after meeting and identifying an enemy. It would not be as annoying/time-consuming if you could also identify enemies which are seen by your demons but not by you yet.

As for enemy with pounce, I still prefer to lure them as I don't know any way to prevent them from pouncing except by pouncing myself and I don't like pouncing into black area as it can be crowded with ranged attackers and/or status dealers.

[Shadowdweller]

As for enemy with pounce, I still prefer to lure them as I don't know any way to prevent them from pouncing except by pouncing myself and I don't like pouncing into black area as it can be crowded with ranged attackers and/or status dealers.

I'm sorry if this was unclear, but I said not to give charging enemies an opening. Not that you shouldn't lure them. Luring them from behind a good meat shield with some ranged support is actually my usual method of attack. An opening in this context would be defined as having an open space in front of you. Or having an open space in the middle of your ranks between your front-liners and healers/artillery.

Chachapuma are midgame brutes that start appearing around level 9 or so. They have high damage, stunning strikes, and bull rush (IIRC). Charging the enemy yourself can be either a wise or foolish idea depending on your defenses and the enemy positioning. If the enemy is clumped up so that there aren't any open spaces, then charging isn't necessarily a terrible idea. Though you want to watch Chachapuma anyway because, once again, they can randomly stun you even while NOT charging. If a group of charging/pouncing enemies is staggered so that there would be open spaces in front of you even if YOU were to charge forward, then you don't want to charge forward yourself - because the others will then do so and stun you.

Raiju are high-speed, electrical bats that normally start appearing around maybe level 11 or so; though I've encountered them in the Anomaly once. Raiju have a charge attack and Electrpulse - an AoE electrical ability that targets everything immediately adjacent to them. So if you have two meatshields standing side by side in front or leave a space in the middle of your forces they WILL charge up and start wreaking havoc. Wizzzargh seems not to like them very much.

Demas/Jinn don't appear until somewhere around level 13+.