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Fallen Legion: Rise To Glory has Cecille and Laendur battling all kinds of monsters and gribblies in order to push their agenda. Rise To Glory is a tale told in two halves and was once two separate games, Flames Of Rebellion and Sins Of An Empire. Acting as a merger of the two, there is a lot to see, and even more to do.

Related: Fallen Legion: Rise To Glory - Beginner Tips

By which we mean to kill. Combat is a huge part of what makes Rise To Glory so interesting. Mixing action combat with party management, timing-based attacks and defence, and a swanky 2D viewpoint, and you have yourself a recipe for success. Oh, and confusion, don’t forget about that last part.

Timing Is Everything

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory fighting goblins

You can’t talk about Fallen Legion: Rise To Glory without first talking about the most important aspect of the game’s combat system - defence. This game has a massive focus on defence, and if you can’t grasp it quick enough, you will very quickly hit a difficulty wall. The main way you will be defending yourself is with the Parry system.

Just about every attack in Rise To Glory can be Parried, but the timing for each attack is different. This makes Rise To Glory a mixture of reflexes and game knowledge. Parrying attacks not only negates all damage but also debuffs enemies and allows you to deal more damage when attacking. Not only that, but it also reflects ranged attacks for even more damage.

Know Your Attacks

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory party fighting a medley of enemies

Blocking is really important, but a close second is attacking. After all, you’ll struggle to kill anything if you spend the entire time being a pacifist. Each warrior in Rise To Glory has a unique style of attack. One might use a spear and rapidly thrust for quick bursts of damage. Another could swing a two-handed sword, dealing high damage with long delays. Another still could fire a bow at range. Not only that, but each warrior also has its own combo progression.

Knowing when it is safe to attack, and how many attacks each warrior can make based on their unique combo, is key to your success. You don’t want to have your damage dealers dying because you didn’t know there was a substantial delay between attacks two and three. On the flip side, you also don’t want to miss out on potential damage by not realising attacks one and two are almost instant.

Magic Is Your Friend

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory Laendur casting Dafydd's Spear on a Manticore

Your warriors are your main form of damage in Rise To Glory, however, Cecille and Laendur are not passive during combat. Both characters can use magic, and their magic is incredibly useful. Not using this system, or simply forgetting about it, will often lead to you struggling in combat - especially early on.

Laendur, for example, has access to a very powerful damaging spell, a revive, and a heal-over-time spell. These spells are independent of each other and do not share the same resource. Therefore, there is no reason not to cast his damaging nuke at every opportunity, or heal whenever your warriors take major damage.

Related: Fallen Legion Revenants - Beginner Tips

Mana Is Separate But Slow

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory Laendur healing allies

The catch to magic is the Mana system. Mana for each spell is independent of any other spell, however, Mana is gained very slowly. Casting spells is incredibly important, but there is a cost to being overzealous, and sometimes, saving your spells makes more sense.

Mana is generated whenever you attack. This gives the combat in Rise To Glory a very offensive-focused feel, even though the game rewards a solid defence. Your party will also determine how effective you are at generating Mana. Having a party that hits hard but slow, leads to slower Mana gain. Warriors who attack rapidly (and hit multiple times per button press) on the other hand may deal less damage but restore Mana more effectively.

Interrupt Casters

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory Dardenelle blasting an enemy caster

Enemies will be attacking you almost constantly in Rise To Glory. These are usually some sort of basic ranged or melee attack. Sometimes, however, enemies will begin to charge up a spell that will often be far more dangerous or disruptive. This is represented by a circular bar filling up near the enemy in question.

Enemies who are charging spells can be interrupted, and they should be interrupted at all costs. All it takes is an attack to land on a vulnerable enemy, and their casting will end, and you will do a bit of bonus damage to boot. Ranged attacks, and attacks with AOE are ideal for this, as casting enemies tend to hide behind the frontline, making them tricky to hit.

Get To Grips With The Combo Bar And Deathblows

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory Zulfiqar parrying Manticore

One of the most interesting aspects of Rise To Glory’s combat system is the Combo Bar that is located at the bottom of the screen. This bar tracks your warrior's attacks, and when it is full, the next warrior to attack will unleash a uniquely powerful Deathblow.

Each warrior has a Deathblow, with new ones unlocking over time. Each Deathblow affects the battle in one way or another - dealing bonus damage, applying a debuff, buffing the party, etc. Planning your attacks so your party's combo ends with the correct Deathblow for any given situation, pushes Rise To Glory away from being a mindless button masher - it requires a degree of finesse.

Related: Fallen Legion Revenants - Complete Combat Guide

The Power Of Gemstones And Combo Bar Alterations

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory decision making

Gemstones tie into the aforementioned Combo Bar in an interesting way. The Combo Bar, at base, is just a tool to unlock Deathblows during combat. However, Gemstones change that up drastically. Gemstones will add new panels to your combo bar, which will enhance any warrior who attacks during that part of the combo progression path.

These can be substantial upgrades, for example, doubling your damage. This is simply another layer to Rise To Glory’s combat, and once again, forces you to pay attention to who is attacking, when they are attacking, and what effects you want to activate. What’s more, certain events and rewards will also add temporary effects to your combo bar - often being even more powerful than your standard Gemstones.

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory Link attack

You better believe there is more to Rise To Glory’s combat system. Link Attacks are yet another mechanic that rewards careful play and considered button presses. Each warrior in your party has a unique Link Attack that, similar to a Deathblow, deals increased damage or applies some sort of buff/debuff.

These don’t have anything to do with the Combo Bar, however. Link Attacks are triggered when you attack immediately after landing a Perfect Parry - however, the attacker has to be a warrior who didn’t Parry the attack. The window for this is tight, so you have to be on the ball if you want to pull one off. You can also trigger them manually by spending three AP.

Button Mashing Is Sometimes The Best Way

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory hydra boss fight

Bosses in Rise To Glory can suffer from a unique status effect known as Break. If a boss suffers too much damage, their Break Gauge will empty, and they become vulnerable to a Rushdown Attack. This is the main way you will deal with bosses in Rise To Glory, as it is the best way to deal damage.

During a Rushdown attack, all of your warriors gain infinite AP, allowing them to attack relentlessly until it wears off. Every other system remains in play, so considered button mashing can be used to deliver devastating combos and Deathblows, but just hitting buttons also works (it's also fun). Just be aware that bosses will nearly always have a “wake up” attack that will punish you heavily for being overzealous with your Rushdown.

Use Your Relics

Fallen Legion Rise To Glory decision to execute mutineers

Over the course of any given mission, you may stumble across powerful consumables known as Relics. These items can only be used in the missions they are found in and are destroyed when used. That being said, these items are incredibly powerful and can make a difficult combat scenario much more palatable.

These can do just about anything, and are always worth using. One of the first Relics you will find gives you 10 seconds of infinite AP. This allows you to initiate an off-brand Rushdown Attack at will, heck, it could even allow you to quickly burst a boss’ BP down, so you can instantly trigger an actual Rushdown. You can’t hoard them, so use them or lose them.

Next: Fallen Legion Revenants - Archeus Guide