A Guide to Team Building

Team building is a fundamental part of Tales of Link, and learning to build your team well is key to tackling some of the harder challenges in the game.

Picking a Leader Skill
The first part of team building is picking the leader as this would determine the types of heroes that will fill up your team. This is determined by the units you have and the type of challenge you are facing. Below are the 3 main types of leaders players use.

1.8x/2.0x ATK boost at 50+% HP leaders
For easier content, 1.8x/2.0x ATK boost at 50+% HP leaders are preferred as they are able to kill the enemies before they can attack. This team also allow the player to put units of all types in the team. Generally, players would prioritize putting Slash units for their high ATK to kill enemies faster and Bash units for their HP as a safety margin, though all other units can be added to this team. Many players run 4.0x boost, which means their own 2.0x boost leader and a friend's 2.0x boost leader, allowing them to blitz through stages.

The weakness of having this leader skill is that the moment the player's HP falls below 50%, the whole party's ATK stat suffers. Players often bring arte healers or active healers to help with this issue. Also, the HP of this party would be around 20k to 30k, which isn't much. This team is bad for bosses that require tanking.

1.8x ATK boost to 2 type leaders
1.8x ATK boost to 2 type leaders are more restrictive than the 50+% HP leaders as they only boost two types of units. However, they do not have the weakness of reduced ATK when their HP falls below 50+% HP. This is often viewed as the safer version of the 2.0x ATK boost at 50% HP as these leaders can be paired with friends that run 1.5x HP/ATK leaders that boost the same types to increase the player's HP total without suffering too much of an ATK decrease.

This leader skill is the middle ground, providing decent HP and ATK. Some players are able to use a 1.8x ATK paired with a 1.5x HP/ATK lead to clear Ares Realm, the most difficult content in the game currently. However, such leaders are limited behind gachas.

1.5x HP/ATK leaders
1.5x HP/ATK leaders are viewed as the most beginner friendly as they provide more HP at the expense of ATK. Generally, leaders for this kind of boost only boost 2 unit types, so the player's team will be restricted to those two types. There are a few exceptions to the rule and if you have a leader that provides a 1.5x HP/ATK boost to all unit types, it would allow for a more diverse team composition.

This leader skill is best for bosses that require multiple Mystic Artes to defeat as the HP it provides gives the player more time to build up LC needed. It gives players a larger safety margin as well. 1.5 HP/ATK spell slash leaders, (Sword of Swords) Luke and (Seeker of Heroes) Reala, are the most common leads due to both of them being in the common summoning pool.

Picking the Sub-leaders
Sub-leaders are picked mainly for their active skills. There are multiple types of active skills, each with their own uses. Below are some of the active skills players often use.

Tile change
Players almost always carry a tile changer as using it would allow one to create longer chains, and even use their Mystic Artes. The two main tile changers used are the 2 to 1 tile changers and the all changers (all tiles changed to 1 type). All changers are preferred for their versatility and ease of use but 2 to 1 tile changers are sometimes preferred for their lower LC cost. 2 to 1 tile changers are also more common than all tile changers.

Tile boost
A tile booster is often used in conjunction with a tile changer so as to maximise damage. They are often brought into battles with bosses to further increase the Mystic Arte damage. Tile boosters should always match the tile changer, and the higher the boost the better it is.

Type boost
A type booster can be more useful than a tile boost due to the fact that it can be used any time, so long as the type boost matches your team set-up (as it should). It does not require a tile changer to go with it, thus is more versatile. It is used mainly for doing more damage to bosses.

Active heals
Units with active skills that heal are highly prized by beginners as they allow them to simply outlast earlier bosses by constantly healing. The best heals give the most HP at the least LC cost. Veteran players rely less on active heals as for truly difficult battles, LC has to be conserved for tile changing and boosts. However, active heals still have a place in 2.0x ATK boost at 50+% HP and helping beginners do Key of Weapon runs.

Active attackers
Units with active skills that do damage are sometimes used during Soul Arena events to combat Mana Eaters. Mana Eaters have high defense, but active skills bypass this defense, or hit enough times to empty the Mana Eaters meager HP bar, and allows players to one-shot them quickly.

Picking the 6 other team members
The last part of team building would be to pick the other six members of the team. Generally, players will fill their team with the best 5 stars or 4 star units that are boosted under the leader skill. However, some players may bring in off-types as they may need more LC or more HP. Below are some units that should almost always go into your team.

Arte healers
The best type of units in the game, these units allows the player to recover HP upon the use of their arte. General consensus is to run as many of these units as your team can allow and ensure that they are boosted by the leader skill.

Delayers
Delayers are units that can inflict delay on the enemy when their arte activates. This delays the enemies' attack for a turn, allowing the player to do more damage or heal up. Delayers are more versatile as their arte works equally well whether they are boosted or not, so players can run them as off-types in their team.

Units with Lucky Healing
Units with Lucky Healing give a small chance of reviving upon death with some HP. This is the ONLY way to revive from death, short of using Hero Stones. Free revival is a good enough reason to run a few Lucky Healing members. Further more, each proc of Lucky Healing gives you a little more HP, which is free HP just for having a team member on the board.