Tactics Ogre is, for the uninitiated, an isometric psuedo 3D strategy RPG about an island kingdom plunged in ethnic conflict, civil war, and general chaos. Our dear protagonists ostensibly try to fight for the survival of their own ethnicity at first, but things get complicated and weird fast.
Gripping storyline aside, this is a game that gives you lots of fun tools, letting you mock almost anything and everything, up to the final boss himself! Let me demonstrate...
Before we begin
Give everyone a bow and a herb, recruit one extra chaotic male and lawful female human, and two gryphons, both chaotic. The humans can be any element, but the gryphons should only be air based. All of the above can be purchased from the starting shops, just keep walking back and forth and checking the shops if they don't show up.
Fight it Out!
So, we're going to ignore the training session for as long as possible. Training is boring and we're trying to have fun.
To do this, we'll intentionally bring low level units to every fight, and make the guests do as much fighting as possible.
Of course, we still need to get XP somehow. Well, those guests are more than happy to oblige. They'll take 1 damage from our bows, as they're too high level, and reward us with oodles of XP. Yeah!
Eventually the game will take these guests away from us, but by them we will have the levels to take in Canopus and other cool people. Also, sometimes it's worth getting them anyway, like while trying to assassinate a powerful yet overtly aggressive boss who actively abandons the safety of their entourage. Discretion is the better part of strategizing!
To do this, we'll intentionally bring low level units to every fight, and make the guests do as much fighting as possible.
Of course, we still need to get XP somehow. Well, those guests are more than happy to oblige. They'll take 1 damage from our bows, as they're too high level, and reward us with oodles of XP. Yeah!
Eventually the game will take these guests away from us, but by them we will have the levels to take in Canopus and other cool people. Also, sometimes it's worth getting them anyway, like while trying to assassinate a powerful yet overtly aggressive boss who actively abandons the safety of their entourage. Discretion is the better part of strategizing!
Orb-a-thon
You should strive to collect as many Orbs of Power as possible following the treasure guides here. Orbs are awesome for lots of things:
1. They speed up your units greatly. Most useful for duels, where you can stack four of these on Denim to make him extremely fast.
2. They have a powerful tactical nuke attached to them, which can be set off by "using" them. These do gobs of damage to the enemy, but can miss if your characters are too low in level, and can also be resisted depending on element. Thus this tends to be more of a secondary use than anything, but is still quite handy for bullshit fights. Remember to preserve at least four of them afterwards though!
1. They speed up your units greatly. Most useful for duels, where you can stack four of these on Denim to make him extremely fast.
2. They have a powerful tactical nuke attached to them, which can be set off by "using" them. These do gobs of damage to the enemy, but can miss if your characters are too low in level, and can also be resisted depending on element. Thus this tends to be more of a secondary use than anything, but is still quite handy for bullshit fights. Remember to preserve at least four of them afterwards though!
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3. They're better than most items, which often just add some physical resistance, a stat that gets less and less relevant as the game goes on.
The game lets you pick these up from as early as the first three maps themselves. You should totally pick them up as soon as possible, and save some spaces for picking later with a 57+ Luck character to maximize your orb count. Reload if you pick up a non-orb object from them, only orbs are worth keeping.
Later on, you'll get to buy orbs from Deneb's special shop, so feel free to orb to your heart's content!
The game lets you pick these up from as early as the first three maps themselves. You should totally pick them up as soon as possible, and save some spaces for picking later with a 57+ Luck character to maximize your orb count. Reload if you pick up a non-orb object from them, only orbs are worth keeping.
Later on, you'll get to buy orbs from Deneb's special shop, so feel free to orb to your heart's content!
City of Skeletons
You can make your game much easier by picking up some undead. "Normally" you create them either by recruiting Kachua, or getting a Lich, both of which are very late game endeavors. However, you can get them quite early through persuasion, picking them up from either Krizar or Kadoriga. The latter is preferable as there are no goddamn AI exorcists to ruin your day, but either location works fine. Try to get the ghosts, they cast spells and warp around, making them ideal for pranking the AI. Skeletons are also cool, but not as cool as ghosts.
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The great thing about undead is that they never die. They just keep getting knocked out and coming back to life. Further, the AI has a bizarre hatred for them and will almost always hurl its attacks at them instead of your living units, making them the perfect decoy or meatshield. Just try not to bring them when there are spellcasters equipped with Exorcism, they can permanently banish them to the afterlife. Nasty!
Say No to Random Encounters
Are you tired of randomly getting jumped by lizardmen, dragons, and other fauna? Well, look no further! Denim can easily skip over any and all encounters. Just follow these easy steps:
1. Save the game.
2. Reset the game.
3. Walk over the encounter location.
Viola! You skipped over any annoying and potentially dangerous encounters! Of course, this trick is time consuming and can get tedious when you have to traverse multiple encounter locations, but it's still preferable to actually fighting these encounters, especially since they rarely have much of worth in them.
1. Save the game.
2. Reset the game.
3. Walk over the encounter location.
Viola! You skipped over any annoying and potentially dangerous encounters! Of course, this trick is time consuming and can get tedious when you have to traverse multiple encounter locations, but it's still preferable to actually fighting these encounters, especially since they rarely have much of worth in them.
Party Composing
So there's lots of cool classes out there. But what classes should your intrepid crew take up?
Broadly speaking, chaotic men are the best generic units you can have around. They can transform into either brutish tanks or powerful wizards. For the most part, wizards kinda suck until the late game so I just turn them into tanks, in the form of either berserkers or beast tamers.
Lawful women are the second best generic units around, and mostly serve as clerics. Only women can become proper clerics, and lawful units get a significant boost to holy healing, which is in fact most of the healing available.
Broadly speaking, chaotic men are the best generic units you can have around. They can transform into either brutish tanks or powerful wizards. For the most part, wizards kinda suck until the late game so I just turn them into tanks, in the form of either berserkers or beast tamers.
Lawful women are the second best generic units around, and mostly serve as clerics. Only women can become proper clerics, and lawful units get a significant boost to holy healing, which is in fact most of the healing available.
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Neutral women take the third spot, mainly as archers and archer-witches. They're quite powerful and sturdy in the early and mid game, but fall off later.
Last but not least, lawful men take fourth place. Early on, they struggle, being clearly inferior to archers and archer-witches. However, come the late game, warlocks become superior witches, especially when used as MP batteries. Swordmasters created from ninjas are amazing status casters, and even ninjas themselves become quite potent with Pain. Just don't make the mistake of raising them as knights. :)
Last but not least, lawful men take fourth place. Early on, they struggle, being clearly inferior to archers and archer-witches. However, come the late game, warlocks become superior witches, especially when used as MP batteries. Swordmasters created from ninjas are amazing status casters, and even ninjas themselves become quite potent with Pain. Just don't make the mistake of raising them as knights. :)
Unique People
Of course, the main stars of your party aren't going to be generics, but rather amazing badasses you recruit throughout the story. Everybody knows about Canopus and how awesome he is, but there's a whole bunch of studs you can and should pick up throughout the story.
First off, Denim himself is special. He starts with a considerable stat lead over his generics, and will consistently outdo them as long as he's on the same level. Further, in chapter 4 he always gets the stats of his unique class regardless of his current class, which makes him very well rounded, and better suited for most male classes than his peers. I usually make him a Warlock to fuel my status casters, though the class is very flexible in his hands and can do lots of cool things.
Zapan is another great pickup, being a tough as nails Berserker. As a bonus, he also comes with high Luck, which is great for treasure hunting.
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First off, Denim himself is special. He starts with a considerable stat lead over his generics, and will consistently outdo them as long as he's on the same level. Further, in chapter 4 he always gets the stats of his unique class regardless of his current class, which makes him very well rounded, and better suited for most male classes than his peers. I usually make him a Warlock to fuel my status casters, though the class is very flexible in his hands and can do lots of cool things.
Zapan is another great pickup, being a tough as nails Berserker. As a bonus, he also comes with high Luck, which is great for treasure hunting.
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Orias is...not exactly great, but notable as an early Priestess, if you failed to raise one of your own for whatever reason. Debordes is cool as the one unique Terror Knight you get, though his shabby Luck does get in the way.
Haborym is pretty badass, and I bet you knew that already. He's a bit of a pain to recruit on the Chaos and Law routes, but hey, that's what your orbs are for. ;)
Haborym is pretty badass, and I bet you knew that already. He's a bit of a pain to recruit on the Chaos and Law routes, but hey, that's what your orbs are for. ;)
Olivia and Shelley are quite strong and can make for powerful magicians, though I tend to make them into healers. Sisteena is not as strong, but still fairly cool. Selye is also cool, though a goddamn pain to recruit on Neutral.
Jenounes is not as great as he could be, but Dragoons are the hardest hitting class for humans by far, and if you can compensate for his low hit rate he works wonders. Vice is an amazing fighter, and pretty much the only player controlled fighter who makes dual wielding look good. Lastly, Kachua can cast literally everything and thus is great as a "super Lich", come the end of the game. XD
Jenounes is not as great as he could be, but Dragoons are the hardest hitting class for humans by far, and if you can compensate for his low hit rate he works wonders. Vice is an amazing fighter, and pretty much the only player controlled fighter who makes dual wielding look good. Lastly, Kachua can cast literally everything and thus is great as a "super Lich", come the end of the game. XD
Armament
Almost everyone should equip bows at all times. The exceptions are when you've trained clerics and priestesses hard enough in their respective classes, when you're using Vice, and when you find rods that inflict status effects when used as an item. For every other unit, bows will outdo what they could do with other weapons.
It's also worth nothing that both accuracy and evasion depend heavily on unit weight, and thus, anyone trying to be accurate or evasive should try and reduce their weight as much as possible. Of course, some stuff is too good to pass up on, despite their weight, and units aiming to tank damage probably want more physical resistance, regardless of the weight gained.
It's also worth nothing that both accuracy and evasion depend heavily on unit weight, and thus, anyone trying to be accurate or evasive should try and reduce their weight as much as possible. Of course, some stuff is too good to pass up on, despite their weight, and units aiming to tank damage probably want more physical resistance, regardless of the weight gained.
Keep a restorative consumable in everyone's hand until Revivify is found and can be cast by a Priestess. You never know when they'll need the healing!
Spells
Ah, now here's the good stuff.
Incubus: Implants bad dreams in the target's mind, causing damage and potentially making them sleep. The sleep infliction chance is rather low, 10%, but it's better than nothing, and is a good weapon in the hands of not-quite-spellcasters, like ninjas pre-Pain and dragoons.
Stun: Stops the afflicted target(s) from taking any action. Pretty much the best status spell before Petrify comes along. Can hit multiple targets, and gains bigger aoes with higher caster intellect.
Charm: A risky but fun alternative to Stun. Makes its targets turn on their party. Be warned though that it doesn't tend to last for long, and often breaks when they take damage. Still, it has its fair share of uses.
Charm: A risky but fun alternative to Stun. Makes its targets turn on their party. Be warned though that it doesn't tend to last for long, and often breaks when they take damage. Still, it has its fair share of uses.
Petrify: The best status spell, hands down. It stones its targets PERMANENTLY, meaning they're non factors until someone uses a stone or status cure on them. But those are single target and this is multi target so...yeah. Awesome stuff.
Quick: Makes characters move twice as fast. A Very Good buff, and worth putting on your strongest - or fastest - fighters. Also goes well with the next spell.
Slow: Makes its target move twice as slow. Very Good. As a bonus, also works with perfect accuracy on every single boss, unlike the status spells.
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Teleport: This is a honest to god teleport spell that lets its target travel to literally any part of the map it can stand in. It's limited by its high MP cost and the caster being only able to select targets near them, but is well worth the trouble.
Pain: Does damage equal to the HP lost by the caster. Ignores any and all defense, making it an amazing unit buster. Sadly is single target, and doesn't work on bosses...but is still immensely powerful!
Heal+: An aoe heal, whose aoe grows bigger with intellect. Good for patching up wounds from annoying aoe spells.
Quick: Makes characters move twice as fast. A Very Good buff, and worth putting on your strongest - or fastest - fighters. Also goes well with the next spell.
Slow: Makes its target move twice as slow. Very Good. As a bonus, also works with perfect accuracy on every single boss, unlike the status spells.
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Teleport: This is a honest to god teleport spell that lets its target travel to literally any part of the map it can stand in. It's limited by its high MP cost and the caster being only able to select targets near them, but is well worth the trouble.
Pain: Does damage equal to the HP lost by the caster. Ignores any and all defense, making it an amazing unit buster. Sadly is single target, and doesn't work on bosses...but is still immensely powerful!
Heal+: An aoe heal, whose aoe grows bigger with intellect. Good for patching up wounds from annoying aoe spells.
Revivify: Revives dead units near the caster at half HP. Essential for hard battles later on.
Heal All: Restores a unit to full HP at long range. Arguably even more important than Revivify for hard battles.
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Summons: Hits all enemy targets within range with 8-10 medium damage bolts. These add up to a lot of damage on a single target, and make wizards capable of assassinating units singlehandedly in the late game. Keep in mind though that they can miss, and that ninjas can also use them with considerably higher accuracy, albeit with lower damage overall. Cool stuff!
Tactical nukes: You read that right, this game has these. They require a somewhat lengthy sidequest and are "balanced" out by hitting everything except their caster, but they're pretty powerful, and you can do some very sneaky shit with them. Keep them in mind!
Necro: How you raise your own undead. Only usable by Kachua and Liches. Essential for keeping generics relevant once you get your uniques going.
Necro: How you raise your own undead. Only usable by Kachua and Liches. Essential for keeping generics relevant once you get your uniques going.
Birds
So you may have noticed me recommending training up two gryphons, which might have surprised you, as large beasts tend not to be great in this game. Further, gryphons are rather unspectacular when you do get them, having no real ability to do anything besides throw weak pecks with their beaks and deliver healing items.
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The thing is, they are secretly the best beasts in the game. They're the only player controllable beasts that fly, and further, at level 10 they unlock a powerful ranged shot that can travel far and hit for considerable damage! Even better, said damage can be boosted with both a beast tamer and some ailerons, and both of those stack! Enjoy doing 130+ damage casually at range come the end game!
Liches
Liches are cool, and let you transform your old, boring generics into cool masters of the dead. However, you need rings of the dead to make them, and those are only in the post game dungeon...or are they?
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In fact, you can pick two such rings relatively early. One can be found from a stoning bird while revisiting Kadoriga, and another can be picked up while en route to Fiduc on the Law route. While one ring being route exclusive is a bit of a bummer, I find that there's barely space for more than one Lich, come the endgame, so it's not exactly a major loss.
Anti Magic Baubles
Are you sick and tired of mages constantly annoying you with either damage or status spells come the late game? Read no further!
Two guards, one for each side of Brigantes' forces, have accessories that completely block all magic sent their way. The guard on the western curtain wall has an anti magic shield, while the guard on the southern gate has an anti magic necklace. The necklace is generally preferable, but both work really well. You can nab them by choosing to deploy your army against the Filhala Order. This lowers your reputation with all of the ethnicities of the island, but really, reputation doesn't matter for much besides the ending, and you can easily get a good ending while ignoring it, so go ahead and nab dat loot!
Be warned, though, that characters with it on can't be affected by beneficial magic either. This is most noticeable when trying to buff them with Quick, healing them with Heal All, and most important of all, reviving them with Revivify. So do be careful with this!
Two guards, one for each side of Brigantes' forces, have accessories that completely block all magic sent their way. The guard on the western curtain wall has an anti magic shield, while the guard on the southern gate has an anti magic necklace. The necklace is generally preferable, but both work really well. You can nab them by choosing to deploy your army against the Filhala Order. This lowers your reputation with all of the ethnicities of the island, but really, reputation doesn't matter for much besides the ending, and you can easily get a good ending while ignoring it, so go ahead and nab dat loot!
Be warned, though, that characters with it on can't be affected by beneficial magic either. This is most noticeable when trying to buff them with Quick, healing them with Heal All, and most important of all, reviving them with Revivify. So do be careful with this!
Dolgare
So you've fought your way past legions of enemies. You've stoned many Lodisian templars, and have humiliated many a commanding knight. But now you're stuck at the very last fight, and he's being a bastard. What do you do?
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Well, for starters don't use any "regular" elemental spells, skills or weapons against him. This pisses him off greatly and makes him pull out his own nuclear spells. Instead, stick either to holy, dark or physical attacks. Also, there's a nice little convenient "roof" over the entrance you can use to avoid all of his nasty creepy crawlies and only engage him.
Dolgare relies heavily on the "evil" debuff auras around both himself and his minions, but guess who aren't affected by those? That's right, chaotic units! A bunch of chaotic fighters can easily make a mockery out of him and his posse, to say nothing of chaotic wizards with well placed summons... :sly:
Dolgare relies heavily on the "evil" debuff auras around both himself and his minions, but guess who aren't affected by those? That's right, chaotic units! A bunch of chaotic fighters can easily make a mockery out of him and his posse, to say nothing of chaotic wizards with well placed summons... :sly:
End
That's all. Hopefully this helps you enjoy and appreciate this somewhat overlooked yet awesome classic of a game!
Any and all feedback is welcome, either here or elsewhere. Feel free to drop an email to dev221117@gmail.com if you wish to suggest additions or alterations to this guide.
Oh, and before you go, make sure to check this awesome guide too: https://luct.tacticsogre.com
Any and all feedback is welcome, either here or elsewhere. Feel free to drop an email to dev221117@gmail.com if you wish to suggest additions or alterations to this guide.
Oh, and before you go, make sure to check this awesome guide too: https://luct.tacticsogre.com
Seeya!
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