Combat
From Lost Odyssey Wiki
Combat is turn-based, similar to Final Fantasy, and uses a ring system, which allows you to equip Kaim and his allies with rings that add powers to their attack or defense. As your character charges forward to perform a physical attack, hold down the right trigger. A circle (ring) appears in front of your target, and a larger circle will collapse towards it. When the collapsing circle reaches the small circle, release the trigger. Your timing will determine the strength of the attack. Timing the attack just right will deliver a perfect hit for extra damage.
As you progress through the game, you can assemble and wear new rings, as long as you have the correct components, which you will obtain as you play. New rings bring new powers, such as adding elemental damage to your attacks.
Rings play a very big part in strategy and you can also change rings and equipment on the fly and will not use up your turn, unlike other turn-based RPGs before. Battles are challenging and requires a lot of strategy as far as Ring usage is concerned.
There are eight self-explanatory combat commands to choose from: Attack, Skill, Spell, Item, Defend, Equip, Flee, and Formation.
Located in the upper corner of the screen is a meter that display your party's front line strength, which is the total hit points of the characters set in the front row. This front row of characters acts as a shield for those in the back. The higher the meter, the less damage your back line characters will suffer. So, as your front line loses hit points, the back line becomes more vulnerable.
As expected, when immortals lose all their hit points, they do not die, but become unconscious for a short time. However, if all mortals in your party are killed, and all the immortals reach zero hit points, the current game ends, and you will have to reload a previously saved game.
