Ys 8 -Lacrimosa of Dana- Website Updated – 3/4/2016 – Skills, Flash Guard, and Flash Move Revealed

Quick Correction: Dana’s skill is actually called Ice Age. Thanks to @SemyonRa for the catch!

Attack Attributes

The three attack types that have been in the series since Ys Seven are making their return to Ys VIII. Slash, Pierce, and Blunt will be, like in Celceta, locked down to specific characters.

When you manage a break, like in the other recent Ys titles, the enemy is stunned and vulnerable to all attack types. It will also likely drop rare items during this phase, as well.

Adol is a slash type character. He fights with an orthodox, one-handed sword style. His speed, strength, and attack range are all standard.

Dana is also a slash type character with her half-moon blades.

Laxia is a pierce type character. She is capable of directed, long distance attacks, and good against flying type enemies. As her attacks are straight line, she has a large ‘blind spot’ for attacks, and can easily get into a pinch if she’s surrounded.

Sahad is a blunt type character. His attacks with his anchor will be useful against enemies with hard shells. With one swing, he hits very hard and has a very large range of attack, but agile and flying enemies can easily avoid him with his slow speed.

Skills

Each character is capable of a variety of skills. Skills are activated with the skill button (the ‘R’ button) and pressing the ?, ×, ?, or ? along with it. Using skills will expend skill points, which can be earned through combat.

In the skills menu, you can assign a specific skill to which key you want it to be associated with.

Falcom has revealed the following skills as samples of what you may see in-game.

Adol – Force Edge
Adol can strike a number of enemies around him with an aura of force from his blade. It is a high range skill that can be used quickly.

Dana – Ice Age
Dana jumps into the air, and blades of ice strike the enemies below her. This is a powerful skill with a large range and high damage.

Laxia – Sylpheed Kiss
Laxia fires a tornado upwards at her target, directed by her rapier. This is an exceptionally useful skill for flying enemies, and deals consecutive hits of damage.

Sahad – Beach Seine
Sahad throws a fishing net out in front of him. This will deal large damage to enemies caught in it.

Defensive and Evasive Actions

Flash Guard (which has been in the series since Ys Seven) and Flash Move (which arrived in Memories of Celceta) have both returned in the latest installment to the series.

Flash Guard

Flash Guard is a perfect guard that will allow you guaranteed critical hits in the attacks immediately following its use. You must time the use of the skill button to when the enemy’s attack would land, in order for Flash Guard to go off.

Additionally, all attack types will be able to do significant damage to an enemy after Flash Guard has been used, and to do even more damage you can use a series of skills in the period following up to land criticals on them.

Flash Move

Flash Move is a high speed evasion ability that allows you to move around the field quickly as the enemy is slowed down.

This is activated by hitting the dash button just before the enemy attack lands. The enemy will remain in slow motion for a short period of time after the successful activation of Flash Move. This allows you to evade quick attacks precisely, or to move around and attack the enemy from behind.