How do you heal during combat?

After hours of gameplay, I'm finally starting to get a grasp of the battle system. Rather than wailing away, I'm trying to take my time and actually react to enemy movements. I'm bad at it, but I'm learning.

However, one thing I can't figure out is how to heal in battle without using items or taking control of Mikleo to cast the healing spell (he doesn't seem to like using it on his own).

Is there some built-in way for characters to heal? I know that light blue health can be healed by Armatizing, which comes in handy, but has a few issues. First, I don't actually know what specific actions generate light blue health, and second, it seems only Sorey can actually make use of this. How would I, for example, prevent Alisha from dying if she gets low? I can take control of her and run away and cower, but that doesn't actually restore health.

What actions restore health in combat?

1 Answer

There are many ways to heal during combat.

First, use items and seraphic artes to heal.
Gels will heal a set percentage (as noted in the description of the item). Healing seraphic artes will heal based on the casters Arte Attack and the receivers Arte Defense. You can force an AI character to use a healing seraphic arte by selecting it from the Arte menu during combat.

Second, heal when armatizing.
This is one of the most efficient ways to heal. When you armatize it combines both characters HP into one large pool, healing both characters for their entire "blue bar". You can then split to distribute the HP back to the original characters. Correctly timed armatization will fully heal both the human and seraph. The blue bar is filled by "overflowing" your SC. So if you already have 100 SC and you use an action that recovers SC it will overflow into your health, but not actually heal you until you armatize.

Third use blast gauge abilities.
While armatized press R2 while not in a combo to consume a blast gauge and cast a huge heal. This is called a Rejuvenation Arte. Its exact effects vary based on which seraph you are armatized with. Additionally you can unlock Battle Actions that allow you to use blast gauges to heal when not armatized. These should unlock naturally as you use blasts more often. Check your Battle Actions menu to see what you can equip.

Forth, make use of of skills.
The entire third column of skills revolves around managing HP.
Blunde gives you HP recovery for successful stuns.
Plezur for large combos.
Primor for blocking.
Gaine for defeating an enemy.
Releeph for using Blast Gauges.
If you are having issues keeping your team alive try to infuse some gear with these skills and remember to make use of them.

Fifth, rest at Inns
Inns take a more important role in this Tales game than in past ones. Not only to inns fully heal all your characters and fully restore base SC they allow you to prepare a meal. Meal effects can range from simply resisting certain status ailments to preventing a KO. Specifically for your question several meals restore HP when a character drops below a certain percentage. Check meal descriptions for more exact info. Resting at inns is also the best way to learn new Support Actions on your characters.

Lastly, some artes have innate healing
Make sure to read the descriptions of all your artes. Many have additional effects that will give you an edge in battle when used correctly. For life gain specifically look for effects such ash "HP Drain" which heals you for some of the damage done, or "SC Drain" which can help you overflow your SC and thus have a larger blue hp bar.

As for you question about Alisha, do not stress too much about her. This Tales game is significantly easier than past ones, even when playing on Hard. Just try to eat a snack between fights if you notice the AI controlled party members taking too much damage. If you do find yourself struggling to keep her alive try setting her Strategy to be more defensive. For example, the default is to defend after at 50% hp. If that is not working for you bump it up to 75% or even 100%. If you are still having problems you can read below. However, know it is a minor spoiler.

Alisha is quite bad, even by horrible Tales AI standards. She luckily does not stay on your team for long. When eventually replaced the new character will be able to amratize, and thus take advantage of the overflow healing.

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