Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA/Gameplay

Select controller:

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox

Party

Up to three characters can form a party and only one can be controlled at a time. Press to switch characters. The other two characters will either be offensive or defensive. Press to toggle their behavior. The party formation can be changed by pressing . Standby party members will still earn EXP. There are two possible effects for active party members depending on their attack type.

• Same damage type - damage dealt increases by ×1.1
• Different damage types - rare item drop rate increases

Equipment

Each party member can equip one armor, one armlet, and two accessories. In addition, a costume and two attachments can be equipped. They only change the appearance, not stats. Weapons are automatically equipped and can only be enhanced or reforged into a new weapon.

Battle

Jump attack

Attack while ascending

Dive attack

Attack while descending

Damage Types

There are three damage types: slash, pierce, and strike. Each party member has a fixed damage type and some monsters are weak to specific types. In general, slash is effective against soft enemies, pierce is effective against aerial enemies, and strike is effective against armored enemies. Attacking with the wrong type will lower the damage. If you keep attacking monsters with the type they are weak to, you may break them. Breaking them will drop an item, increase the rare drop rate, and increase the damage from all damage types.

Skills

Each party member has skills that cost SP to use. The SP gauge is the blue circular bar. Each skill gains EXP when used and can level up to a maximum of 3. Skills need to be equipped. When a skill is used, the other party members will also use a skill.

EXTRA skills are powerful attacks that require a full EXTRA gauge to use. The EXTRA gauge is a the yellow circle that fills slowly over time and when skills hit. Hold and press to unleash the attack.

Advanced Tactics

Flash Move

Evade an attack at the right moment by pressing . Gain temporary invincibility and increased mobility.

Flash Guard

Block an attack at the right moment by pressing . Gain temporary invincibility, SP and EXTRA gauge will fill, and all attacks will be critical hits for a short time.

Status Effects

Status effects appear when their gauge is full from certain attacks. They will slowly go away after some time has elapsed or they can be treated with medicine. Some accessories resist status effects by slowing the gauge or outright nullify the effect. Paralysis and Burn can be healed quicker by constantly moving.

Poison

Lose HP over a short duration

Paralysis

Attack & jump disabled, lowers speed

Darkness

Blurs vision

Freeze

Disables all actions

Burn

Lose HP rapidly

Bleeding

Suffer high damage, dash disabled, lowers defense and speed