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For most newcomers jumping intoUnicorn Overlord, the initial dive into Tactics may leave you blankly staring at the screen, scratching your head at the overwhelming pit of information. Conditions, priorities, and many other game-specific terms can be dizzying for those trying to get a handle on the game mechanics, especially if you don’t have experience with strategy-based RPGs.
But rest assured, understanding Tactics is not nearly as difficult as it may seem. While it may look scary at first, understanding how the Tactics system works is simply a matter of breaking it down into three concise pieces. Once you understand each piece’s nuances, you’ll be a strategic master in no time.
The Tactics Menu
The Tactics menu can be broken intothree distinct sectionsthat affect each otherin this order: Priority, Action, and Conditions.
Next to these sections, you will see several options for how you may interact with your Tactics:
Unicorn Overlord’s combat boils down to a series ofautomatic checksthat determine which Skills your characters will use in combat.
These checks are affected by all three sections of Tactics, so it is important to understand each section’s niche to improve your gameplay.
Description
Priority Tactics
Priority refers tothe order in which the game’s AI will check all of your Actionswhen initiating combat.
This is demonstrated by the numbers under the Priority tab for each new Tactic;number one will be the first move checked and if it cannot be played, the game moves down the list.
Action Tactics
In the Action section, you will choose what attacks and abilities your character will use during the fight.
Two types of actionsexist within the Tactics menu:Active and Passive skills.
Condition Tactics
Conditions arespecial details and requirements that you set for your Actionswhen they are being checked.
If the Action in Priority One doesn’t meet the Conditions,it will move on to the next available Action.
The Priority section is simplistic to understand, but messing up the order can be detrimental to the effectiveness of your characters.
Always refer to your Priority list when designing new Actions.
Actions Tactics
The Action section can be considered the meat of the Tactics menu, as it’s where you will comprise your Skills.
Active Skills are colored redand areactivated during your character’s turn.Passive Skills are blueand only activatedonce their requirements are met.
Passive Skills are always located under Active Skills, and they have a separate Priority list from them that you must also manage.
When selecting an Action, you will see another menu pop up at the bottom that listsall the details regarding the selected skill and its effects, if it has any.
If Actions are the meat of Tactics, then Conditions are the spices that make the dish whole.
Having anAction with no Conditionsmeans that your character willattack whatever enemy they can, regardless of the situation.
However,if the Conditions of all your Active Skills cannot be met in battle, then that character’s turn will be skipped, so always be mindful when placing your Conditions.
There’s a Condition that applies to pretty much any situation you may encounter in the game, so properly utilizing and switching them based on the enemy will make your battles successful.
Understanding this and utilizing the plethora of available conditions with your fighters will make your team morewell-rounded.This will help you to be more prepared for a wide variety of future encounters.
Tips For Using Tactics In Unicorn Overlord
Now that you have a solid grasp of the Tactics menu and its basic functions, you can start experimenting with the more advanced parts of each section.
You should make use of the Tactics Template so that you may test and switch between different types of sets.
A good thing to be wary of is always making sure that attacks withstricter conditions aren’t placedlow on the priority list, or else they will never be used in combat.
Let’s say your top priority Action has a condition to hit whatever enemy has the lowest health, while your second Action is set to hit armored enemies:
1
2
Armored
None
The issue with this is thatyour second attack will never be used because the top priority requirements will always be met- there will always be an enemy with the lowest health.
Lowest HP
*None
Switching the order of these two will make it so thatboth of your Actions have a good chance of being used in the battle.
A good rule of thumbis tokeep Actions with two Conditions at the top of your list, as they are most likely the hardest requirements to meet. Thus, your other Actions have a chance to hit.
With Conditions, you must pay attention to thetext-specific tagsthat go with some of them, as they can greatly change the meaning.
3
Back Row
There is something wrong with this set of Tactics that makes it way less effective than it could be, and it all comes down to the wording of the conditions.
Let’s look at the Condition “Back Row.” On its own, this Condition means thatthe Action will only take place against enemies in the back row of combat.
With the current setup of these Tactics, if the first check misses and there are no enemies in the back row, no enemies will be targeted, and your turn will be skipped.
However, if the Condition selected says “Prioritize Back Row,” theAction will still be used even if no enemies are present in the back row.
PrioritizeBack Row
By using this wording,the Action is no longer restricted to only attacking the back rowand will be used regardless.
If Conditions like this are set above other Actions on the Priority list, thenthey will never be used in battle, so be careful when applying them to your Tactics.
A useful way to avoid missing a turn is by havingone Actionat the bottom of your Priority list that has no Conditions set, as something will always be targeted.
Optimizing your Tactics ultimately comes down to what characters you have on your team and how their Skills can be best utilized.
Understanding the effects and abilities of each Skill allows you to manipulate your Conditions to the best outcome, giving you the best edge in the battles to come.
