Basic Gameplay Principles
Contents
Introduction
Party Movement
Dialogue
Character states
Organising your party through the menus
Combat

Introduction
The mighty nation of United Lereftain has enjoyed a decade of peace and prosperity since the end of the Amaran uprising. All is not well though. A murderous cult is running unchecked within the country, there are rumours of military preparations by the old enemy Yaegara across the heavily fortified western border and many citizens are haunted by a nagging feeling that something isn't quite right in the state of Lereftain.

Things are about to fall apart in a disasterous way but before they do, three strangers are brought together on a cold autumn night by a mission of mercy. Their union will bring with it a heavy burden of responsibility, as they find themselves entangled in a plot to bring down the state in the most destructive manner possible.
It is your task to aid them as they travel from one end of the country to the other in search of justice, peace and eventually salvation.

Along the way you will need to:

Move your party members around the world.
Listen to them speak their mind.
Organise your party's skills and equipment.
And of course fight a whole load of monsters!

Party Movement
Hold the left mouse button to make your party walk towards the cursor. Alternatively, hold down the LEFT or RIGHT keys ( default )
In a hurry? Move your cursor to the edge of the screen or hold down the CTRL key ( default ) whilst moving to make your party run.
Not sure where to go next? Open up the menu and switch to the Journal section for some pointers.
If you walk far enough left or right, you will reach an area exit, usually denoted by an arrow sign. Keep walking to leave the area. Leaving an area will usually take you to the chapter map, from where you can choose another area to enter.

Dialogue

Sometimes your party members will start a conversation, either at your request or as the result of an encounter.
Less talk, more action? Click on the 'Skip' button to fastforward through dialogue.
A flashing character portrait in the bottom-left corner of the screen indicates that they have something to say. Click on the portrait to hear it.
Most friendly outposts will have a trader or two. Speak with them to buy or sell equipment.

Character states

The emotional state of your characters is indicated by the three portraits in the bottom-left of the screen.
Move your mouse cursor over a portrait to read details of how a character's emotional state will affect their performance in combat.

Organising your party through the menus

You will need to use the menus to organize your party and prepare them for future encounters. Amongst other things, you will need to :

Spend and reassign skill points for skills used in combat.
Set up skill chains to use in combat.
Replace old equipment.

See the In-game Menus Reference section for more information.

Skills - Invest in a wide range of skills as your characters will encounter a variety of different challenges in combat
Skill Chains - Set up sequences of skills to use in combat. This is especially useful for skills that work best in combination, need to target a specific character or have a long duration of effect.
Inventory - Sell ( via dialogue ) or drop ( right click ) old and unused items to make space in your inventory.
Journal - If you needs hints on where to go next, look up your currently active goals here.
Party Chains - Use the Party Chain menu to set up coordinated skill chains for your whole party. Party Chains will not affect individual party members if you leave their skill line blank.

Combat

Combat is initiated by approaching a group of enemy creatures or by the end of a dialogue sequence.
Your characters will fight by themselves, but they need you to tell them which skills to use and when and where to use them.
You win a fight when all enemy creatures are knocked out ( KOed ), and lose when all your party members are knocked out.

See the Combat Reference section for more information and an explanation of all the combat controls available.
See the Skills Reference for additional information on character skills.
Rotate your party members by Left or Middle clicking on them or pressing the SPACE key ( default ) to keep them from being knocked out.
Assign and select Skill Chains by Right clicking on the three Skill Chain buttons below each character. Left Click to re-select an assigned chain.
Quick select single skills by pressing and holding the Right mouse button over a character to bring up a circular menu, then releasing the cursor over the desired skill.
Hit an enemy creature multiple times in quick succession to score bonus damage.
Use skills in combination to overwhelm heavy armour and resistances.
Don't be afraid to use skills you have invested few skill points in if the situation favours them.

After winning a fight, your party will be awarded with experience points. When you accumulate enough experience points your party gains a level. Their skills improve and each character gains one skill point to spend to further improve a skill.
You gain less experience points for fighting creatures who are far beneath your party's level.
Winning fights also gains you skill refund points.