_____ _ __ __ __ _ |_ _|_ _| | ___ ___ ___ / _| \ \ / /__ ___ _ __ ___ _ __(_) __ _ | |/ _` | |/ _ \/ __| / _ \| |_ \ \ / / _ \/ __| '_ \ / _ \ '__| |/ _` | | | (_| | | __/\__ \ | (_) | _| \ V / __/\__ \ |_) | __/ | | | (_| | |_|\__,_|_|\___||___/ \___/|_| \_/ \___||___/ .__/ \___|_| |_|\__,_| |_| __ __ _ ___ _ ___ \ \ / / _ _ _(_) | __/_\ / _ \ \ V / || | '_| | | _/ _ \ (_) | |_| \_,_|_| |_| |_/_/ \_\__\_\ "Well, let's go save them from the idiots!" - Yuri Lowell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1: TABLE OF CONTENTS [Table] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1: Table of Contents.........................[Table] 2: Introduction..............................[Intro] 2.1: Contact Information.................[Conta] 3: Version History...........................[Versi] 4: Yuri FAQ..................................[Faq00] 4.1: Character Information...............[Faq01] 4.2: How to Control Yuri.................[Faq02] 4.3: Yuri's Strengths and Weaknesses.....[Faq03] 4.4: Yuri's Artes and Recommended Artes..[Faq04] 4.5: Recommended Skills..................[Faq05] 4.6: How to Effectively Control Yuri.....[Faq06] 4.7: Questions and Answers...............[Faq07] 4.8: Recommended Arte Button Layouts.....[FAq08] 5: Legal Stuff...............................[Legal] 6: Conclusion................................[Concl] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2: INTRODUCTION [Intro] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This FAQ will help you on your journey/quest/chore to effectively use Yuri in battle. This version won't include a comprehensive list of Yuri's equipment, and his titles. Those aren't needed. Why? GameFAQs already host excellent FAQs of those subjects, so I don't need to show it. I will include an artes list, but only for Yuri, and I only go into detail about the artes that I personally recommend. I have played Tales of Vesperia for a long time, there have only been a few games that I have played this much. They include Tales of Symphonia, Skies of Arcadia, Grandia, Castlevania Symphony of the Night... lots. This is probably because I find it so fun. Tales of Vesperia is great, that's all there is to it. This was made because the "Tales of" battle systems take skill to use, and play akin to some fighting games. Many people striving to get good with Yuri can find some, even if it's only a little help here. And don't ask for a Judith FAQ... I'm a horrible Judith player. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2.1: CONTACT INFORMATION [Conta] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you find anything wrong with this FAQ, or you would like to suggest I add something to the FAQ that you would find helpful, please, just contact me via e-mail. But, there are rules. What you may do: + Suggest helpful things for this FAQ + Constructively criticize my FAQ in order to make it better + Give me pointers for other FAQs + Recommend an arte for me to go in detail over + Suggestions for other sections to the FAQ + Report any errors in the FAQ What you may NOT do: - E-mail me to tell me that I suck and I fail at life or anything like that - Tell me that my FAQ sucks with or without reasoning - Spam e-mails to me, wastes my time and yours - Request that you put this on your site, this FAQ was made for GameFAQs ONLY Anything that is not listed I might think about. Now that all the rules are out of the way, my e-mail is... bradboomerang78 [at] live [dot] com This is to stop bots from sending me spam mail constantly. Eliminate the spaces and put the "@" and "." symbols where stated. Feel free to contact me about the above mentioned that I said is ok. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3: VERSION HISTORY [Versi] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version 1.0 : The FAQ is finished. All original features are included, FAQ is subject to change. Version 1.5 : I changed some things, namely the altered artes chart, and added some sections. Nothing TOO big, but big enough to warrant a .5 update rather than a .1 update. Version 1.6 : I changed my email address, because bots have been attacking the Yahoo! one... and, it seems that Tales of Vesperia is going to be released for the PS3! Well, I'll update my FAQ when I learn (or play) the PS3 version because it seems that Yuri is going to get a new Mystic Arte, and possibly new equipment, skills, and other stuff. I won't ignore the PS3 users. :) Version 1.7 : The video example has been replaced by a nice, spoiler-free video. I fixed a few mistakes on my part, and stuff. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4: YURI FAQ [Faq00] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So how about we get started on the FAQ, shall we? I'll tell you what I would recommend you have in order to effectively use Yuri in battle. But, don't let this get to your head. The most important thing to use Yuri effectively in the heat of battle is nothing that this FAQ will help you with. The most important thing is skill. That you will have to develop over time. You can check out some videos on YouTube to see others, maybe to shoot for. But, let's get on with the FAQ, shall we? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.1: CHARACTER INFORMATION [Faq01] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name : Yuri Lowell Sex : Male Hair : Black Eyes : Black Age : 21 Height : 180 cm (5 feet 9 inches) Yuri Lowell was raised in the Lower Quarter of Zaphias, the Imperial Capital his entire life. He used to be in the Imperial Knights, but he hated the ways of the Knights, restricted by the law and cannot punish those that use their position to evade just punishment. He quit the Knights, and is currently living in the Lower Quarter helping the people living there out. In the beginning, the Lower Quarter's Aque Blastia is stolen by a noble that goes by the name of Mordio. Yuri sets off in a quest to regain the Aque Blastia back, but Mordio gets away due to the interference of the Imperial Knights, namely the Schwann and Cumore Brigade. He is thrown into jail, but escapes to catch Mordio, assisted by a man later known as Raven. As Yuri makes his escape, Yuri meets up with a noble later known as Estelle. Estelle has ties to Yuri's childhood friend, Flynn Scifo, claiming that Flynn is in terrible danger. Yuri helps Estelle try to warn Flynn about the impending danger, and to reclaim the Aque Blastia. And that's the story behind Yuri's start to a quest that will ultimately decide the fate of the world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.2: CONTROLLING YURI [Faq02] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I will list the things you will need to know. I will explain how Yuri attacks, not the other controls like the Y button, since the Instruction Manual explains that nicely enough. B (Normal) 3 hits - 9 hits "Normal Attack" This makes Yuri attack normally. He attacks directly in front of him for good damage. This is pretty plain, but still useful. B (Forward, Back) 3 hits - 9 hits "Forward Attack" This makes Yuri attack slower than his normal attack, but Yuri goes farther during his attack. He will travel a greater distance than a normal attack, but is slower. B (Up) 3 hits - 9 hits "Anti-Air Attack" This makes Yuri attack higher in the air. This is generally useless, since it is even slower than his forward attack, and Yuri's normal attack takes down aerial enemies nicely enough. B (Down) 6 hits - 12 hits "Sweeping Attack" This makes Yuri attack in a low, sweeping motion. This is a great form of attack, since it is fast, and it hits the most out of Yuri's normal combos. Another thing is that some hits in the attack knock the enemy to the ground. Some people would view that as a bad thing, but Yuri has another move that picks the enemy right back up so knocking the enemy to the ground isn't much of a problem. This move also can keep a combo going after Divine Wolf Blaze for certain types of enemies. In other words, a recommended form of attack. Left Trigger + B - 1 hit "Free-Run Attack" This is crucial to combos for Yuri. This attack is a sweeping attack, but it has one special attribute: it can pick up knocked down enemies. I will explain later just how crucial it is. Down + B While in the air - 1 hit "Dragon Buster" This attack makes Yuri (while in the air) strike down to the earth in one slash. While this is pretty much useless as a beginning for a combo, it is important if you wish to chain the Arte "Severing Fang" into your combo. Since Severing Fang pushed Yuri high into the air and slams the foe into the ground, Dragon Buster solves this issue by sending Yuri back to the ground, chaining the combo and making Severing Fang a better arte altogether! NOTE: THIS ONLY WORKS IN OVERLIMIT!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.3: YURI'S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES [Faq03] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Strengths Yuri handles well against single enemies, since he can do infinite combos, and he's fast. He has a high defense, so he's great against opponents that have high strength. So, make sure Yuri is far away from groups of enemies, and he'll be fine. + Yuri has a high damage output, depending on how you use him, maybe the highest + Yuri has a high defense, only beaten by Estelle, and tied for Karol. + Yuri has an infinite combo + Yuri has a Mystic Arte damage adding skill + Yuri can heal himself and allies + Yuri is quite fast, only beaten by Repede, and tied for Judith. + Easy to handle, like most Tales main characters. + Is present for 99% of the game (the coliseum is the only place he's not) + Yuri has great skills, such as Glory, and his Tension skills + Yuri has Glory, one of the best skills + Yuri doesn't need support from allies to use effectively + Yuri even works well in a team + Yuri has a long range attack, large, slow moving enemies don't have a chance Weaknesses Yuri doesn't handle well against large groups of enemies, he only has about 3 Artes that work well against groups. They are: Crushing Eagle, Guardian Field, and Dhaos Blast. Dhaos Blast is one of the best, but isn't available until you have completed the game, finished the EX Dungeon, and won the 200 Man-Melee. So, for pre-endgame Artes, Guardian Field is the best. It heals Yuri depending on how much HP Yuri has, and it deals Light Damage instead of Earth damage. Yuri doesn't fare well against good magic users either, but Magic Guard takes care of that, and there aren't many good mage enemies in the game, either. - Yuri can get mauled by groups of enemies -- Glory comes late in the game, too - Magic users can take a good chunk of damage - Yuri doesn't have many wide-range artes, Dhaos Blast is his best, comes late - Unable to use Magic, limits Yuri to being a frontline fighter. As you can see, Yuri doesn't have that much weak points. The most deadly is being attacked by groups of enemies. But, your team mates can take care of those and there are very few boss battles with two enemies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.4: YURI'S ARTES AND RECOMMENDED ARTES [Faq04] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here I will go over a basic list of Yuri's artes. All the artes that have a star beside them I will * = Recommended Arte BASE ARTES Arte Name Level FS Element Altered Arte ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ *Azure Edge | 01 | > | Wind | Azure Storm, Azure Blast ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Cerberus Strike | 07 | > | None | Cerberus Blast ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Fang Strike | 09 | ^ | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Wolf Strike | 11 | > | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ *Destruction Field | 14 | v | Fire | Dhaos Blast ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ *Shining Fang | 26 | ^ | None | Shining Fang Drop ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ *Ghost Wolf | 34 | > | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Tiger Blade | None | v | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ ARCANE ARTES Arte Name Level FS Element Altered Arte ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Azure Wolf Strike | 15 | v | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Crushing Eagle | 18 | > | Earth | Guardian Field ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ *Dragon Swarm | 22 | > | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Severing Fang | 32 | v | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ *Shining Dragon Swarm | 36 | ^ | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Raging Blast | 38 | v | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ *Brutal Fang | 41 | > | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Wailing Havoc | 44 | > | None | Pyre Havoc ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Lone Wolf Charge | 48 | v | None | Lone Wolf Storm ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Wailing Blast | 52 | > | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Rending Wolf Charge | 56 | v | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ Shining Eagle | None | ^ | None | None ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ *Final Gale | None | > | Wind | Frigid Blast ------------------------+------+---+-------+------------------------------------ ALTERED ARTES Arte Name FS Element Learned With Skill ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- *Azure Storm | > | Wind | Chain ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- Azure Blast | v | None | Crucible ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- Cerberus Blast | > | None | Alembic ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- *Shining Fang Drop | v | None | Athenor ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- *Guardian Field | ^ | Light | Bastion ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- Pyre Havoc | v | Fire | Hell Fire ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- Lone Wolf Storm | > | Wind | Gale ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- *Frigid Blast | > | Water, Wind | Great Deluge ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- *Dhaos Blast | > | None | None, Dhaos' Cape must be equipped ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- BURST/MYSTIC ARTES Arte Name FS Element Use with Skills ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- Divine Wolf | > | None | None ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- *Divine Wolf - Blaze | > | Fire | Chain, Hell Fire ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- *Divine Wolf - Flood | ^ | Water | Dispersion, Great Deluge ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- Divine Wolf - Storm | > | Wind | Alembic, Gale ------------------------+-----------------+------------------------------------- Divine Wolf - Crush | ^ | Earth | Crucible, Athenor ------------------------+-----------------+------------------------------------- *Savage Wolf Fury | ? | None | Special ------------------------+---+-------------+------------------------------------- RECOMMENDED ARTES The best Artes are really depend on opinions, but these are the ones that most people like most. I've seen people who like Severing Fang + Dragon Buster, but these are the ones I like, and work great. Try different combinations! These are merely pointers and such. Name: Azure Edge TP Cost: 5 Element: Wind Hits 1 FS Symbol: Green Why?: This is a fast, long range attack. This can be used if you need to deal some damage without risk of Yuri getting hit as often. Works best against slow moving enemies. The TP Cost is low, so spamming can be ever so useful. Name: Destruction Field TP Cost: 12 Element: Fire Hits 1 FS Symbol: Red Why?: This is a very powerful elemental attack. One of the toughest bosses in the game is weak to fire, as well. But, the main draw is when you have access to Overlimit. That grants you the power to chain all forms of artes together. Destruction Field over and over again will do TONS of damage. Simply because it's so powerful, and fast, it's recommended. Name: Shining Fang TP Cost: 15 Element: None Hits 5-6 FS Symbol: Blue Why?: This is a fast, powerful, and high-combo attack. For the same reasons as Destruction Field, this arte is DEADLY in Overlimit. Basically, this arte can net you tons of hits in a single overlimit. But, when paired with Yuri's Tension skills does this arte get powerful. This, without fail, will get you 28-52-72 hits and bring Yuri up to his Level 3 Overlimit when spammed during Overlimit. Plus, this arte chains well with almost all other artes. (Except for ones like Azure Blast and Crushing Eagle). Name: Dragon Swarm TP Cost: 16 Element: None Hits 7 FS Symbol: Green Why?: This is a powerful arcane arte which does good damage, but also has a high hit ratio. Yuri also pushes the enemy during the attack animation, so he has less chance of getting hit during his combo. Plus, the animation is just plain awesome. But most important is the hit ratio, of which I will explain later in the FAQ. Name: Shining Dragon Swarm TP Cost: 25 Element: Blue Hits 8 FS Symbol: Green Why?: This arte is useful for Yuri's infinite combo, on certain conditions that are usually the case. See, during Yuri's combo, when the enemy isn't pinned against the wall, some artes can push the enemy farther back than how far Yuri can reach. This arte remedies that, and bring Yuri back to the enemy, up close. Plus, the hit ratio is high, so this can be a great substitute for some arcane artes, if not for the high TP cost. But, this is also remedied by a Faerie Ring. Name: Brutal Fang TP Cost: 23 Element: None Hits 7-107 FS Symbol: Green Why?: Yes, you are reading that Hit number right. Brutal Fang can do up to 107 hits. It gets more hits with use, but there's one condition, you must be able to press the Attack button in unison with each punch. This will cause Yuri to keep attacking. You can't just mash it either and expect results, too. This will not do as much as pressing in unison. Brutal Fang has a high hit ratio, which is important, and also explained later. This arte has only one weakness, and it is the TP cost. This is remedied by, guess what, a Faerie Ring. Name: Final Gale TP Cost: 30 Element: Wind Hits 4 FS Symbol: Green Why?: For the same reasons as Azure Edge, a ranged attack. But, this arte also is very powerful. Despite being costly, this arte can rip away chunks of HP from enemies no problem. Equip a Faerie Ring and bosses like Poseidon are a breeze. Name: Azure Storm TP Cost: 7 Element: Wind Hits 2 FS Symbol: Green Why?: For the same reasons as Azure Edge. But, it has two attacks, so fire away. Name: Shining Fang Drop TP Cost: 14 Element: Wind Hits 7-8 FS Symbol: Red Why?: This is a high hit ratio altered arte, a rarity. This arte is just like Shining Fang, but adds another hit to the combo and draws the enemy in. Not too useful against lighter enemies since the attack draws them in too high and far. But against human type enemies this arte is perfect. The most important part of the arte is the hit ratio. I'll explain later. Name: Guardian Field TP Cost: 26 Element: Light Hits 4 FS Symbol: Blue Why?: This is Yuri only healing arte. That should be reason enough, but this arte also deals Light damage, an element that Yuri is limited in. If Yuri is in a sticky situation, use Guardian Field a lot and raise his HP up again. But equip a Faerie Ring, this arte is costly. Name: Frigid Blast TP Cost: 35 Element: Water, Wind Hits 4-9? FS Symbol: Green Why?: It's a long range attack, which is nice. Plus, this is Yuri's single non Burst Arte water Arte, so that's a nice plus. This attack can vary on hits depending where you are. I've seen Frigid Blast get lots of hits one time when the enemy was pinned up against the wall, but others when in the middle of the battlefield. There's one catch. This is Yuri's most expensive arte. So Faerie Rings do lots of good here. Name: Dhaos Blast TP Cost: 12 Element: None Hits 1 FS Symbol: Green? Why?: It's a huge range explosion-like attack. Perfect for getting Yuri out from inside a crowd of monsters. It sends the enemies far back, that's good, too. Not only that, but it's pretty low in TP cost and high in power. The closer the enemy is to Yuri, the more damage Dhaos Blast does. Too bad Yuri didn't get DHAOS RAYZAR as a Burst Arte... ah... a man can dream... Name: Divine Wolf - Blaze TP Cost: 0 Element: Fire Hits 8+ FS Symbol: Green Why?: This is a high power, high hit ratio burst arte. This, at Overlimit Level 3 and up, knocks the enemy down. This is very important, for reasons I shall explain later. This works best against human-size goes. Name: Divine Wolf - Flood TP Cost: 0 Element: Water Hits 4 FS Symbol: Blue Why?: For nearly the same reasons as Divine Wolf - Blaze, but the nature is different. Some of the heavier foes in the game don't get affected by Divine Wolf - Blaze that much, so Divine Wolf - Flood is a worthy substitute. This arte also knocks the enemy down--which is also important. Name: Savage Wolf Fury TP Cost: 0 Element: None Hits 15+ FS Symbol: Unknown Why?: This is a Mystic Arte, nuff said. This is an extremely powerful attack, and can get even more powerful with the Hit Plus skill. Not only is this attack just plan AWESOME, but it is a great finisher. "SAVAGE WOLF FURY!" MAN. I love that. Same with Karol's Overlord Reign Impact, and Rita's Ancient Catastrophe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.5: RECOMMENDED SKILLS [Faq05] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I shall go over the skills that are essential to combos, skills that are great for most situations as well. Most of the information for skills can be found in the wonderful skill FAQs on GameFAQs. As this FAQ was being written, a skill FAQ by Rena Chan was posted. Be sure to check them out if you want a full, comprehensive list of skills in Tales of Vesperia. ATTACK TYPE SKILLS Name : Strength 1-4 Effect : Increases Yuri's strength by a set amount (up to +50% for all) Why : This makes Yuri deal more damage! This should be easy to understand! Name : Combo Plus 1-3 Effect : Adds 1, 2, or 3 more hits to Yuri's normal combo depending on skill Why : Another hit to Yuri's normal combo is great, this will save TP, and may sometimes be crucial to continue a combo. Name : BA Force Effect : Increases effectiveness of Burste Artes Why : You will be using Burste Artes a lot with combos, this makes them do more damage Name : Special Effect : Ability to trigger a Mystic Arte is available Why : Mystic Artes deal loads of damage, and can possibly turn the tide of battle. Plus, they're awesome. AWESOME, I SAY! Name : Chain and Hellfire Effect : Changes an Arte, and Changes Divine Wolf to Divine Wolf - Blaze Why : Divine Wolf - Blaze is crucial to getting huge combos with Yuri. Which will be explained later. Name : Hit Plus Effect : Tap the attack button to add hits to Savage Wolf Fury Why : Adds hits to an already powerful attack. Easy... Name : Assassin Effect : Increases attacks and decreases damage received from humanoids Why : Most of the enemies in the game are humanoids. This increases the damage dealt to them, and decreases the amount dealt to you. You do the math. Name : Dragon Buster Effect : Performs the before mentioned Dragon Buster Attack Why : If you like Severing Fang and plan to use it in a combo, this is essential to continue a combo on a regular basis. But this only works in overlimit, so be warned. Name : High Tension, Hyper Tension, Ultimate Tension Effect : Automatically puts Yuri into overlimit depending on the amount of hits Yuri has done in a combo Why : THIS IS EXTREMELY CRUCIAL TO A YURI INFINITE COMBO. THIS DEFINES YURI. These are the skills that you WANT. This makes Yuri capable of doing an infinite combo. DEFEND TYPE SKILLS Name : Defend 1-3 Effect : Increases defense by a set amount depending on skill (up to +30%) Why : Any damage reduced is A-okay in my book. Name : Resist 1-3 Effect : Increases magic defense by a set amount depending on skill (up to +30%) Why : Any magical damage reduced is A-okay in my book. Name : TP Condition 1-4 Effect : Increases defense or magic defense depending on skill and TP amount. Why : Reduces damage. Most of the time. Plain simple. Name : Defend Artes Effect : Avoid staggering when hit during a Base Arte Why : For the same reason as Step Away, but for a Base Arte. Also rendered obsolete when Yuri gains Glory. Name : Glory Effect : Avoid staggering for any kind of attack (while on the ground) Why : AVOID STAGGERING. 'nuff said. Renders most other "non stagger" skills obsolete. MOVE TYPE SKILLS Name : Evade 1-3 Effect : Increases agility by a set amount depending on skill (up to +30%) Why : It makes Yuri go faster. This is ALWAYS a plus in a game like this. Name : Item Thrower Effect : Yuri can use items on party members. Why : This should be on everyone... just for an occasion where you get rocked by a Mystic Arte (Brilliant Cataclysm is an example) so you can heal. Name : O.L. Boost Effect : Increase the duration of Overlimit Why : Yuri's whole game depends on Overlimit, this makes his combos last longer until he needs to use Divine Wolf - Blaze. Name : Item Pro Effect : Decreases the amount of time you are unable to use items after using an item. Why : For the same reason as Item Thrower. Just in case. Name : Super Chain 1-5 Effect : Able to link different artes together, depending on which skill. Why : This will help start up an infinite combo with Yuri. VERY recommended. Name : Ability Plus, High Ability Plus, Hyper Ability Plus Effect : Able to link a second arte of the same type per combo depending on skill. Why : This will also help start up an infinite combo with Yuri. This is also very recommended. SUPPORT TYPE SKILLS Name : Vitality 1-3 Effect : Increases HP by either 200, 400, or 800, depending on skill. Why : This is useful until you reach 9999 HP without skill augments. This will make it tougher for enemies to kill Yuri. Name : Spirits 1-3 Effect : Increases TP by either 20, 50, or 100 depending on skill. Why : This will make Yuri able to use more artes. Use this until you reach 999 TP without augments. Name : Dispersion, Great Deluge Effect : Changes artes, most notably Divine Wolf to Divine Wolf - Flood Why : This allows Yuri to use one of the two essential Burst Artes to do an infinite combo. More explained later. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.6: HOW TO EFFECTIVELY CONTROL YURI [Faq06] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now that all the boring stuff is out of the way, let's get to the main draw of this FAQ--how to use his abilities well in a battle. First off, you're going to need to know how to do an INFINITE COMBO. In order to infinite combo, you will essentially need these skills: High Tension Hyper Tension Ultimate Tension Super Chain 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 Ability Plus, High Ability Plus, or Hyper Ability Plus Hellfire and Chain, or Dispersion and Great Deluge The reason for this is that Yuri goes automatically goes into Tension without using the Overlimit bar up with the Tension skills. Going into overlimit allows any character to chain any arte to any arte. Karol can chain artes together well in overlimit! All you need to do is get a 28 hit combo. Now, this is possible with the above mentioned Super Chain and Ability Plus skills. You can use one or the other. Or, my recommendation, all of them! This will allow Yuri to chain different artes together once per combo. For example, you can chain two Base artes together with the Ability Plus skill. To do an infinite combo, follow these steps 1: Equip the skills needed. 2: Head into Battle 3: Attack and chain artes together to get a 28 hit combo 4: Chain together all the artes you want, make sure you get a 50 hit combo before your first overlimit gauge empties, and make sure you get a 72 hit combo before your second overlimit gauge empties 5: Near the end of overlimit level 3's gauge, activate either Divine Wolf Blaze or Divine Wolf Flood. 6: The enemy will be knocked to the ground. Use a Free-Run Attack on it quickly so you can get it back up 7: Chain artes together to get another 28 hit combo 8: Repeat Step 4 9: Rinse and Repeat And that's all there is to it to execute an infinite combo! Hopefully this helps you, but if you need a video example, there's one right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmC7jgAAQW4 You see how I do it? Well, that's how you do it. It's as easy as it looks when you get all the necessary skills. Happy combos! Here is one combo that will get you 28 hits always (unless the enemy somehow falls out of the combo) and requires a minimal amount of skills. Shining Fang + Dragon Swarm + Brutal Fang + Shining Fang Drop That only requires two skills. You could replace Dragon Swarm with Shining Dragon Swarm, whetever you want. Just make sure if you don't have many skills that allow to chain different artes, you use high hitting artes like Shining Fang and not ones like Azure Edge. If you have lots of skills, go crazy on which ones you want. And that's all you're going to need to know in a guide. You'll need to develop skills in which to use Yuri most effectively in situations. Good lucK! NOTE: Do not use any artes that knock down enemies, push them far away, or just plain do not make combos easy to do. Artes such as Lone Wolf Charge. There are other artes that aren't recommended, such as Ghost Wolf. It's hard to combo with, and the motion is awkard, which could lead to broken combos. Please, help yourself on this one. Please! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.7: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS [Faq07] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q: The combo counter resets on some bosses... how do I stop this so I can go into overlimit? A: You can't really stop it... but, when the counter resets, the combo tension counter doesn't until Yuri stops attacking, so you can go into Tension if the combo counter is a 7 or something. The deal with the bosses attacking while getting hit is another story. Q: What's Yuri's best title? A: Titles don't have any affect in this game, save for the costumes. I like Dark Enforcer the best, but others like different ones. Q: What's Yuri's best weapon? A: Blazor Edge: Abyssion is his best weapon. You get it after you beat the Radiant Winged One (Secret Final Boss) Q: Awww I don't want to use Fell Arms. What's his other best weapon? A: His Last Fencer is the other one. You can get it two ways: accomplishing Secret Mission 23 (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) or synthesizing 5 of each Star Gem, which takes forever. So don't use the Star Gem method. Q: Why use the Fell Arms? A: They have tons of potential. For every kill you get in the game with the corresponding character, the power increases by 1. So, they can have a power of 9999, compared to the most powerful non-fell arm weapon in the game, Infinity, which has only 888 attack. Q: But I don't want to kill that many enemies! A: The kill count starts at the very beginning of the game. If you played the game through as Yuri, his Fell Arm will have TONS of power already. Around 1500-3000 power, probably on a normal playthrough. Q: What about Low-Level games and the Speedrun challenges? A: That's another story, you won't be killing enough enemies to get the Fell Arms strong enough to do much. So the normal weapons are recommended for those. Q: Agh, they have elements... what's Yuri's best non-elemental weapon? A: I know, sometimes the elements can be a pain. Blazor Edge: Abyssion has a fire element and the Last Fencer has a light element. Which could sometimes mean 1 damage. The Claiomh Solais is Yuri's best non-elemental weapon. Q: Raven has SEXUALITYYYAH! Why use Yuri? A: Yuri has "Remember? Prepare to die, Eggbear!". Q: How do I use Este-- A: This is a Yuri FAQ, go somewhere else. Kthnxbai ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4.8: RECOMMENDED ARTE BUTTON LAYOUTS [Faq08] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here, I will recommend arte button layouts. But, in a different sense. There is not any "best" combination, but there are combinations that you should go by, just to make your life easier. First off, assign artes depending on how you remember them most. For example, Severing Fang. I would recommend either ^A or Left Stick (Up) for that, since Yuri jumps high in the air, basically, he goes up. Or Dragon Swarm, >B. The motions of artes are easier to remember if you have some kind of reminder, kind of like acronyms for remembering lists. So, in Tales of Vesperia, you may do the same sort of thing. For example, here's my arte setup. A : Tiger Blade ^A : Shining Fang vA : Dragon Swarm >A : Brutal Fang ^ : Shining Fang Drop > : Dhaos Blast (Destruction Field) v : Shining Dragon Swarm < : Azure Edge / Frigid Blast Now, some artes don't follow the formula I have above. I simply made that suggestion so it would be easier to remember your arte setup. You don't have to follow my example, you can make your own, or you could just do whatever you want. For example, my Dragon Swarm is like that because I like it that way, and from the previous game, Tales of the Abyss, my favorite Luke combo was Rending Thrust followed by Light Spear Cannon. Rending Thrust was placed there due to it's upwards attack motion, and Light Spear Cannon because I didn't want to replace Havoc Strike and Fang Blade Havoc. My favorite combo in Tales of the Abyss was transferred into Tales of Vesperia, Shining Fang followed by Dragon Swarm. In other words, do what you want, as I said before. Just make sure you don't do any dramatic changes before a big fight, there's nothing that will screw your game up more than a screwed up Arte button layout. Here's a list of recommended motions to assign artes. Note that you do not have to follow my examples. You will probably want to use multiple artes that I recommended a forward motion in your setup, so just keep that in mind. But before I list the artes, here's a legend so you don't get confused. Legend: Up : Up + A, Up with the Right Stick Down : Down + A, Down with the Right Stick Forward : Right + A, Left + A, Left and Right on the Right Stick No Direction : Only A Now with that over with, Arte Name Recommended Stick Motion ------------------------+-----------------------+ Azure Edge | Forward, No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Cerberus Strike | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Fang Strike | Up | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Wolf Strike | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Destruction Field | Down, No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Shining Fang | Up, No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Ghost Wolf | Forward, No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Tiger Blade | Up, No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ ARCANE ARTES Arte Name Recommended Stick Motion ------------------------+-----------------------+ Azure Wolf Strike | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Crushing Eagle | Down, No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Dragon Swarm | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Severing Fang | Up | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Shining Dragon Swarm | Up, Down | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Raging Blast | Down | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Brutal Fang | Forward, No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Wailing Havoc | Up | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Lone Wolf Charge | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Wailing Blast | Up | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Rending Wolf Charge | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Shining Eagle | Up | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Final Gale | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ ALTERED ARTES Arte Name Recommended Stick Motion ------------------------+-----------------------+ Azure Storm | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Azure Blast | Down | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Cerberus Blast | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Shining Fang Drop | Up, Down | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Guardian Field | Up, No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Pyre Havoc | Up | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Lone Wolf Storm | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Frigid Blast | Forward | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Dhaos Blast | No Direction | ------------------------+-----------------------+ Hope that helps you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5: LEGAL STUFF [Legal] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All characters belong to their respective owners. I do not own them, I do not claim to own them either. This FAQ belongs to me. You MAY NOT steal it and claim it as your own. I worked on this, I don't want my work disregarded like that. You can print it off, but it is for private viewing. Any distributing done with this FAQ is allowed ONLY IF NO MONEY IS MADE OUT OF IT. And I am still to credit for the FAQ. Don't ask me to put this on your site. The answer is no. Do not e-mail me about it, the answer is still no. It's ALWAYS no. Didn't get an e-mail back from me? That's me, still saying no. This is for GameFAQs ONLY, this was made to properly display there, and let me go over this again... the answer is still no. Thank you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6: CONCLUSION [Concl] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And that about sums it up for this FAQ. I hope this helped you! Thanks goes to: GameFAQs, for hosting this FAQ on the site CJayC, for creating GameFAQs SBAllen, for keeping GameFAQs running after CJayC left Namco Bandai for making Tales of Vesperia, a wonderful game KaoAtlas, for the Combo Video Yandy Kusanagi, because I needed to use your Skills FAQ Rootsecure.net, for the ASCII Generator EdgeMaster, for FAQ recommendations You, for reading this FAQ! So yeah... I guess this is the end. (b^_^)b