Building a party that survives Emberfall Chronicle's late dungeons

Emberfall Chronicle starts gently and then, around the third act, suddenly expects you to actually understand its combat. By then a lot of players have been coasting on auto-battle. Here's how to avoid getting wrecked.

First, don't neglect your healer's secondary skills. The pure heal is fine early, but the cleanse and the shield become essential once enemies start stacking status effects on you.

Second, learn the elemental chart. Hitting a weakness grants an extra action in this game, and chaining those extra turns is the difference between a tense fight and a flawless one. We kept a screenshot of the chart handy for the first few hours.

Third, spread your ultimate gauges. If all four characters charge the same way, you'll dump them at once and then sit defenseless. Stagger your heavy hitters so there's always something in reserve.

Finally, do a couple of optional dungeons before each story boss. You don't need to grind for hours, but a few extra levels smooths out the worst spikes without trivializing the fights.