Having trouble on FF Tactics War of the Lions

[Jeremy]

I just got this game today and i'm having some trouble early on winning battles without my characters dying (or even winning at all, I lose a lot of battles). Do you guys have any hints or advice for me?

[Fate]

The thing that helped me most when I was at the beginning was leveling up. The quickest way would be if you have a Squire or Ramza use Focus, I believe (it was Accumulate in the original), to give them ten experience points each time. Just keep running away and using it, and you should be gaining levels rapidly. To make things quicker, you can also use Ramza's attack that increases speed by one (it was Yell in the original, I forgot the remake's name; something "Wind," I think). After that, just kill all but one enemy and have the units that aren't Squires or don't know Focus attack your high-leveled ones to gain lots of experience.

Basically, I died a lot, too, without the proper levels. Though, abilities could help, but they take some time to learn. That's probably the only advice I can offer now, seeing as how I haven't played the game in a long while.

[Jeremy]

Is it true that the game levels with you? So, basically, if I level, will the enemies only get stronger?

[Fate]

Yes, but only random encounters and a couple fights in the story. All other fights have pre-set levels. Still, it gives you more power and more abilities to defeat enemies faster. You can think of it this way: You level up using that method; go on with a story battle, where the enemies are much weaker than you; and repeat that method. But really, those random battles aren't hard; my Ramza was level 99 after Mandalia Plains.

[T.G. Oskar]

I just got this game today and i'm having some trouble early on winning battles without my characters dying (or even winning at all, I lose a lot of battles). Do you guys have any hints or advice for me?

Mostly, keep the Chemists as Chemists until Chapter 2. While they will be weak magic-wise, they'll be stronger physical-wise, and their Item Toss ability is a godsend. Potions at that level heal more, heal faster, and heal safer than spells (and it'll keep as such even to the end of the game). Get as many Potions as you can for that purpose.

Your Chemists should eventually get their earned points for either White Magic or Black Magic, in order to guide their eventual development. Try getting Protect and Shell for White Mages before Cure (as I said before, Chemists work better at first than any Mage), and get Blizzard before Fire and Thunder (Fire-weakness monsters come very late in game, while Goblins are weak to Ice magic almost from the beginning). I'd recommend Blizzard first, Thunder second, Fire third; afterwards, keep Thunder as last.

Melee-wise, try to get a Knight and an Archer ASAP. Don't build a Knight before getting to Eagrose, since you'll be without their armor and with a weak weapon; same for Archers. Once you get both, keep them and if you get one or two more soldiers, attempt to get a Monk pretty early: they are pretty good.

Equipment-wise: while the first robe you get is pretty good, Clothes usually work better than Robes. At first, equip your magic-using Chemists with Robes (if possible, usually you can't), but once you get the first Clothing that provides MP, keep it and don't change it. Same for MP-granting Hats (Wizard Hat being the first, IIRC) If you have a Knight with magic spells, make sure they get Robes: they have the defense and the Helmets to ensure having a decent HP and MP for what they need.

For terms of level-up, nothing beats Accumulate/Focus for melee characters. Keep them on the Squire skill set as secondary until they have a decent level and make sure you get Focus first, then Stone. Salve will become effective later on, but by that you'll already have the Chemist with either the right medicine or Esuna. Chemists will level slower because of this, but they can work right using Items and protective spells (if White Magic as a secondary skill). If possible, and you have something to do, never let a character waste their turn only moving or doing nothing: each moment you are far from the enemy and have Focus is a moment you should take advantage of by using Focus.

For Ramza (and answering the second question): enemies in map (not in story-based battles) level usually according to Ramza's level (not sure if this changed on WotL, but in the original enemies' level range = Ramza's level). So, make sure your characters level before Ramza does, and keep them one or two levels higher. Furthermore, make sure to measure your story enemies' level, and keep yourself about two-three levels higher. For example, not sure how far you've been on the game, but when you reach Dorter, you should be around levels 6-8, quite possibly 9 to make it less hard. Ramza shouldn't use Focus at any moment, even if you learn it: Ramza is better using Tailwind (or as Fate said, Cheer on the original release) since it grants you extra Speed, which means extra turns for those whom need it, and also allows Ramza to take advantage of characters of larger level. Make sure at least one of the Chemists gets its speed improved first, then perhaps your Archer, and then you might move to Knight or the other Chemist; that way, you'll be capable of healing and attacking when you best need it.

Finally, try to have an idea of what you want the rest of the party to do. If you're going to make someone a Monk permanently, make sure they only spend limited time on the prerequisite jobs and not learning much of the Action Abilities unless necessary (for example, you might learn as a Chemist skills such as Potion, Antidote and Phoenix Down, but don't go too far or else you'll have a weaker Mage). Once you get to the right job, remain there until you finish it (get all skills, or at least the worthwhile ones). In the case of future Mages, make sure you get to change them into Mages ONLY when you're 2-3 levels higher than the story characters, or at field battles. Whenever there's a story battle, make sure they're changed into Chemists.

I guess that's about all the advice I can give.

[Jeremy]

Mostly, keep the Chemists as Chemists until Chapter 2. While they will be weak magic-wise, they'll be stronger physical-wise, and their Item Toss ability is a godsend. Potions at that level heal more, heal faster, and heal safer than spells (and it'll keep as such even to the end of the game). Get as many Potions as you can for that purpose.

Your Chemists should eventually get their earned points for either White Magic or Black Magic, in order to guide their eventual development. Try getting Protect and Shell for White Mages before Cure (as I said before, Chemists work better at first than any Mage), and get Blizzard before Fire and Thunder (Fire-weakness monsters come very late in game, while Goblins are weak to Ice magic almost from the beginning). I'd recommend Blizzard first, Thunder second, Fire third; afterwards, keep Thunder as last.

Melee-wise, try to get a Knight and an Archer ASAP. Don't build a Knight before getting to Eagrose, since you'll be without their armor and with a weak weapon; same for Archers. Once you get both, keep them and if you get one or two more soldiers, attempt to get a Monk pretty early: they are pretty good.

Equipment-wise: while the first robe you get is pretty good, Clothes usually work better than Robes. At first, equip your magic-using Chemists with Robes (if possible, usually you can't), but once you get the first Clothing that provides MP, keep it and don't change it. Same for MP-granting Hats (Wizard Hat being the first, IIRC) If you have a Knight with magic spells, make sure they get Robes: they have the defense and the Helmets to ensure having a decent HP and MP for what they need.

For terms of level-up, nothing beats Accumulate/Focus for melee characters. Keep them on the Squire skill set as secondary until they have a decent level and make sure you get Focus first, then Stone. Salve will become effective later on, but by that you'll already have the Chemist with either the right medicine or Esuna. Chemists will level slower because of this, but they can work right using Items and protective spells (if White Magic as a secondary skill). If possible, and you have something to do, never let a character waste their turn only moving or doing nothing: each moment you are far from the enemy and have Focus is a moment you should take advantage of by using Focus.

For Ramza (and answering the second question): enemies in map (not in story-based battles) level usually according to Ramza's level (not sure if this changed on WotL, but in the original enemies' level range = Ramza's level). So, make sure your characters level before Ramza does, and keep them one or two levels higher. Furthermore, make sure to measure your story enemies' level, and keep yourself about two-three levels higher. For example, not sure how far you've been on the game, but when you reach Dorter, you should be around levels 6-8, quite possibly 9 to make it less hard. Ramza shouldn't use Focus at any moment, even if you learn it: Ramza is better using Tailwind (or as Fate said, Cheer on the original release) since it grants you extra Speed, which means extra turns for those whom need it, and also allows Ramza to take advantage of characters of larger level. Make sure at least one of the Chemists gets its speed improved first, then perhaps your Archer, and then you might move to Knight or the other Chemist; that way, you'll be capable of healing and attacking when you best need it.

Finally, try to have an idea of what you want the rest of the party to do. If you're going to make someone a Monk permanently, make sure they only spend limited time on the prerequisite jobs and not learning much of the Action Abilities unless necessary (for example, you might learn as a Chemist skills such as Potion, Antidote and Phoenix Down, but don't go too far or else you'll have a weaker Mage). Once you get to the right job, remain there until you finish it (get all skills, or at least the worthwhile ones). In the case of future Mages, make sure you get to change them into Mages ONLY when you're 2-3 levels higher than the story characters, or at field battles. Whenever there's a story battle, make sure they're changed into Chemists.

I guess that's about all the advice I can give.

Thanks a lot. I've made the mistake of using mages early, although right now my Black Mage is doing pretty well for me with the black magic. I should probably move him back over to alchemist and use the magic as a secondary skilll.