Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore: Battling guide

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE has a lot of battling in it. It's a JRPG, after all, which inevitably means you'll be grinding out a lot of battles to gain new skills, obtain new ranks, and defeat the next boss standing in your way. The game is, fortunately, a bit light on system and mechanics so it's not terribly inaccessible, but you still may struggle a bit if you're not used to either Shin Megami Tensei or Fire Emblem.

But don't worry about it. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE has plenty of friendly catch-up mechanics and ways to make your life easier as you're working your way through the game. Before you step offstage in frustration, here are some tips we've found to improve your battles and push through the next performance:

Experiment with weaknesses

When you first enounter an enemy, you won't know what they are weak against, and will need to experiment with different moves to find out. Once you've tried a type of move (or defeated that enemy in battle once), you'll see their weaknesses appear as green "!" symbols when you hover over a Skill your character knows.

In regular battles, this isn't too big of a deal, as you'll usually be strong enough to beat enemies without Session attacks until you know what they're weak against. But in boss battles and some of the tougher fights within Idolospheres, you'll only have that one encounter to figure out what the weaknesses are. Don't be afraid to try a lot of different Session attacks on bosses to see what their weaknesses are. Then, exploit them.

Use Sessions as often as possible

Don't sweat your EP. You should always, always, always be using Session attacks to damage enemies. There's just no reason not to, as you'll not only be using a stronger skill and targeting a weakness, but you'll also get multiple attacks in when your other party members jump forward. It's the easiest way to defeat enemies, and if you defeat one mid-sessions, the remainder of your allies will target another enemy until they are gone.

The only time you should be using regular attacks is if you're going back to a previously-visited, easy area where you can one-shot everything, or if the last enemy remaining is very low on health.

Heal with items, restore EP when you need it

Sure, Session Attacks might be great, you say, but EP doesn't grow on trees. True, but largely, you don't need to worry about it. EP restoring items can help (and use HP restoring items instead of Dia to heal your party), but also, you don't ever have to keep pushing through battles when you're out of EP if you don't want to.

If you ever run out of EP or just need a break, don't sweat returning to Tokyo outside the Idolosphere and eating up, resting up, and healing before you go back in. With Warps throughout dungeons, the teleport spell Traport, and the ease with which you can avoid enemies on return visits, there's no reason not to take any opportunity you need to heal so that you can always be using Session Attacks, and be fully ready for eventual boss battles.

Keep an eye on enemy levels

If you're playing through the game on Normal difficulty at a relatively steady pace, fighting monsters but not going out of your way to grind, you'll probably notice you're a bit lower in numerical level than some of the Mirages you face. That's fine. Don't sweat it.

But if you start getting more than 6-7 levels behind, if the battles seem to be getting tough, or if your Session Attacks don't seem to be phasing enemies, it may be time to go train. The training facility in Fortuna Entertainment's Idolosphere is perfect for this, and you can gain several levels very quickly by battling and using the Tomes you get from those battles inside.

All that said, you may still run into special Mirages (they're purple) or other, out-of-the-way fights you can't handle. If something on the normal story path is tripping you up, go heal, train, do what you need to do. But if you're somewhere you probably don't need to be yet (the back rooms of the training grounds come to mind) and monsters are kicking you in the teeth, relax. You'll be strong enough to tackle them eventually.

Train often; don't skip battles

That said, don't relax too much. It's not recommended to skip battles or dodge Mirage enemies too much in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. If you do that, you'll likely fall behind in levels and struggle when you do finally enter a fight.

I recommend fighting every Mirage that naturally appears as you're progressing through a dungeon, collecting treasure, and doing quests. If you decide to backtrack for some reason and want to quickly reach where you left off, it's not a big deal to skip some fights, but make sure if you feel yourself starting to struggle you start battling again. Using the training Idolosphere in Fortuna Entertainment and collecting Tomes can alleviate things if you get too far behind, but ideally, you never do.

Get those Carnage Unities

It's extremely important to make sure you're leveling up a new Carnage Unity as often as you possibly can. Do not leave Mastered Carnage Unities equipped if you have new ones to learn, as you'll be missing out on important skills that could turn the tide of battle.

Because Carnage Unities help you learn new skills, and you only have a limited number of slots, you will eventually have to swap skills in and out and be selective about what you're using at a given time. Pay attention in battle to which Skills and Session Skills compliment one another, and try to add Skills to your active slots that both balance the other party members (you want a balance of fire, ice, light, wind, and thunder skills, for example) but that also will make for powerful Session Skills.

There's lots of room to experiment with as many Carnage Unities as you can find.

Swap your team when you need to

If you're struggling with a particular boss fight or a certain type of enemy, swap your party around. Beginning in the Intermission between Chapters 1 and 2, you'll get a fourth party member and be able to swap at will in or out of battle. This is advantageous as a way to try out new Session Skills and see what different party members can do to different types of enemies, but it can also be used mid-battle to get a weakened party member out of a difficult situation. Don't be afraid to use this power when you need it!

Need more battle advice?

Are you still losing battles in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE? Let us know what's tripping you up in the comments and we'll help you out.