Trails Into Reverie: Best Party Compositions

Like the greatest games of its respective genre, Trails Into Reverie designed an endgame-heavy approach to this entry into the long-running Trails franchise. After an approximately 55 hour trek through the main story and first three stratums of the Reverie Corridor, the game opens up to an expansive epilogue of post-game content. This allows for complete freedom in choosing party setup and exploring the depths of the Reverie Corridor while discovering some impactful story related content that should be viewed.

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While unlocking the depths allows players to adjust enemy levels during the epilogue and future new game plus runs, the key question is which party compositions work best for the ever-increasing difficulty of the depths? With over 50 playable characters, the options are numerous, but a few are certainly better than the others.

Rean, Lloyd, Elie, & Estelle + Joshua

This particular party is built with some of the most usable characters in the game.

Elie is easily the crux of this party, serving as the power healer of the group. With her S-Craft, Aura Rain (or the upgraded Celestial Rain the player will likely have by the endgame), Elie can fully heal the entire party (including KO’d members), remove any negative status effects, and supply 100-200 CP depending on her own CP amount. She is an integral part of the battle to clear the fourth stratum of the Reverie Corridor, as the guardian can kill any character with one attack.

Rean, Estelle, and Lloyd round out this squad by supplying massive damage output and some of the best S-Crafts. Rean and Lloyd will sweep up just about any group of smaller enemies with their S-Crafts, while Estelle will pummel single enemies with hers (making her super effective against boss enemies).

Power Team Strategies

• Against weaker enemies, use R2 to engage battle with a surprise attack that stuns the enemies for three turns and wipes out half their break gauge.
• Use either Rean or Lloyd’s S-Craft to break or kill the entire group of foes. Make sure at least Rean is equipped with the Force master quartz and/or an accessory that replenishes CP per turn and per kill. This will keep Rean ready to use his S-Craft in most regular combat scenarios.
  • If the S-Craft breaks but does not kill the enemies, take this opportunity to store BP through critical strikes. BP will be extremely useful in bigger battles, so farming it from weaker enemies is a bonus.
  • Remember to spend Reverie shard to upgrade the BP bar.
• Against boss enemies, use Rean, Estelle, and Lloyd to attack. Estelle should be able to regain similar amounts of CP per turn like Rean. Save Rean and Lloyd’s S-Crafts in case the enemy turn falls upon a health boost or critical attack guarantee (steal those for the party to ensure everyone’s safety and to end battles quicker). Using an S-Craft forces the character into the next action, so use these wisely in a boss battle. Estelle, however, should use her S-Craft, Wheel of Time, whenever she has 100-200 CP to deal 30-50,000 damage per attack. Since she should also regain solid CP per turn (this is per turn in the battle for every character, not just for Estelle or Rean), she should be ready to launch her attack every few turns.
• Keep Elie healed and full of CP, as her S-Attack, Aura Rain, is the crux of this strategy if things go south (as they often do in the Trails games). Mix in Union Heals to keep up health in between her S-Attacks to make sure the party is healed through the bigger battles.
• This strategy will work against every formidable foe or big boss in the game and is highly recommended for endgame content.

Related: Trails Into Reverie: Tips & Tricks For Beginners

Rean, Musse/Elliot, Randy, & Kurt + LP

This party is actually pretty useful for the majority of the game, though Randy will need to be replaced with someone else who travels with Rean for the majority of the game (maybe Ash, since they have similar strength outputs). Musse should be kept in the rear of the battle arena, as far away from damage as possible. She has range to attack with her orbal rifle, but she can be designated as a power healer.

If or when Elliot is available to join the party, he can offer a full health S-Craft for the party. It is not nearly as effective as Elie’s, but it will save the party in a pinch — as long as they are still alive. Randy and Rean will serve as the big damage dealers, both with strong physical strikes and S-Crafts. Kurt’s agility and evasion will serve the party greatly by dodging a chunk of incoming attacks and countering in kind.

Round out the team with LP’s 4 BP order that heals the party and provides solid defense against incoming attacks, and the team will be able to push through a lot of enemies.

Balanced Team Strategy

• For weaker enemies, use Rean and Randy like Rean and Lloyd from the first team. S-Crafts will break or wipe most small enemy teams, especially if engaged with R2 before the battle begins. Rean should continue to gain CP from defeating enemies and after each turn in battle, so he should be able to rinse and repeat this strategy often.
• Equip Kurt with evasion raising accessories, and he should be able to reach an evasion rate of 50% or more. Every time Kurt dodges an incoming attack, he will counter, essentially giving the party free damage.
  • His critical hit chance can also be improved, and this will allow the party to farm more BP than usual.
• Musse/Elliot will work as the primary healer for this group while doubling as magic damage dealers if needed. Elliot’s S-Craft will heal the party while Musse’s deals a line AoE magical damage, but her speed and spell casting time make her an efficient healer with healing arts.

Lloyd’s route shifts too many characters in and out of the active group to compose a party team made of choice decisions. With that said, any party that adds Tita to the group will benefit from her innate ability to use items on the entire party. While in her EXO suit, Tita can use items on multiple allies, meaning if the entire party gets wiped, Tita can take one revival item and use it on the entire team in one turn. She also packs a decent punch with her EXO suit, and she has a strong bond with Agate, who works as a second tier damage heavy character (like Laura or Ash).

Completing Trails Into Reverie’s endgame content should be a goal of every player interested in a challenge and the future of the story. Utilizing one of these teams will help reach the epilogue with little challenge, but they will also provide an incredible start (if not the entire journey if needed) to the exploration of the depths.

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