Quick Links
They wouldn’t have called itThe Hundred Line: Last Defense Academyif there wasn’t going to be some ardent defending happening, so hopefully you’re prepared to help Takumi and friends stave off the alien invaders via tactical turn-based combat! The invaders are on their way, so you’ll always need to be prepared.
Whether you’re out defending the school and the secrets it keeps on the battle field or using the VR machine in the Training Room to level up, there’s plenty to know about combat in The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy that will help you win all your battles.
Combat Overview
Choose The Right Teammates For A Tactical Battle
Anytime you hear the invader alarm going offat the Academy, or you’re out on an expedition with your teammates and stumble into a fight even without choosing a Battle Space on the board, you’d better get ready to take command with Takumi and help your teammatesdefend the school from the colorful alien invaders. Sirei tells you they want what’s hidden inside the school, and clearly, they’re willing to fight with their lives to get.
That’s where you and the other recruits at the Last Defense Academy come in - you’ll put life and limb on the line tofight through waves of enemies in a top-down tactical combat system, using careful teammate combinations and making smart choices when it comes time to decide when to use your special boosts. You’ll see how many waves a battle will be in the top-right corner of the battle screen, and before each fight, you’ll see thewin and lose conditionsthat will end the battle.
With Takumi’s passive skill, you’re able to redo waves of fights as needed throughout the game. If you didn’t end in a good position after the last wave, or you mistimed using a special attack, you may access this ability on the menu screen.
Any teammates who have accepted the call to battle and have gained access to their hemoanema powers will be eligble for a fight when one breaks out, so it’s always good tounderstand how each of your teammates fightsboth on their own and as a group. Some of them will have support skills with their outright offensive moves, so keep an eye out for who can do what to grant the upper hand.
Even when more teammates are on the board, youdon’t have to use each teammate on every turn. If it’s smarter for a teammate with a better range of attack to hit plenty of enemies a few times, or if a powerful teammate can finish off an enemy with an extra move, you can go whole turns without using certain teammates. Just be sure to keep them safe from harm in the meantime!
As you unlock new teammates and continue into tougher fights later in the game, be sure to routinely upgrade your teammates up in the Training Room to keep them fit and in fighting shape!
Protect The School And Stay Alive
The goal of the game is toprotect the Academyand the secrets it keeps, and you’ll do that in plenty oftough tactical battles.You go firstin battle, thankfully, so make your first turn count and deal as much damage as you set up the team’s formations. With so many attacks limited in range, you’ll want tothink ahead to where you want characters to end their turnswhen you move them, since the enemy will advance on their turn immediately after your own.
The battles happen on agrid system, and every character has a limited range to their movement as well as the shape and size of their offensive attacks. When youselect a characteryou want to use to attack, you’llselect the attack you want to useon this turn. This displays a colored range for your character’s movement and their attack’s area of effect.Greenmeansyou can move there, whileredis a tile that can be impacted on that turn. When highlighting an attackattack range is highlighted in yellow, and any invader inside the yellow squares will be hit.
Attacks do not hit teammates if they’re on one of the yellow squares. You might see them hit in the visual, but they won’t lose health. That said,some enemies hit back after you hit themwithout taking their own turn, and this often deals attack damage in a range around said enemy, so be mindful of where your characters are ending their turns.
On the enemy’s turn, the invaders will advance toward where you started the fight, and they’ll begin attacking back in kind. You canhighlight an invader to see their movement and attack rangewhen you’re taking your own turn, so it never hurts to be ready for when it’s the enemy’s time to strike. That said,most invaders don’t hit diagonally, leaving your teammates vulnerable to attack from spaces that share a border with the tile on which they ended their turn.
When you’re fighting at the Academy, you’ll need toprotect the pillar near the doorthat keeps the shields active. Keep an eye on the pillar’s hit points andstop invaders from advancing toward it, since they’ll prioritize attacking it over you if they’re in range. If the pillar falls, you’ll need to do the battle over again from the beginning.
If you’re fighting as part of an expedition, though, your goals might be a bit different: since there’s no shield to protect out in the ruins, these battles are outright slug-fests, so use your heaviest attacks here, since the invaders are coming right for your extremely limited health. You can avoid fights in the wild if you want by not selecting Battle Spaces to land on, but beware that certain choices on material chance cards may require you to fight for your loot.
How Do Attack Points And Ailments Work?
Attack Points (AP) Tracks How Many Moves You Have
You’ll notice in the upper-right corner of the screen that your team has alimited number of attack points per turn, which correlates to how many attacks or skills you can use before it’s the enemy’s turn to strike. You’ll be prompted to move on automatically when this number hits zero, but youdon’t have to use all your AP each turnin battle, since any AP left over after your turn isrolled over into your next turn, potentially setting you up for a powerful series of combos!
When selecting a teammate and their move, you’ll see thateach move consumes a set number of AP. After attacking, that number of AP is deducted from your current total for the turn and the teammate will befatigued, but you can heal this status ailment with theMove Againspecial. Additionally, using the Move Again specialadds one APto the current total, even if you’re not completely out when you use the special.
Heal Ailments On Your Team Quickly, And Use Them To Your Advantage
While your teammates can often inflict status ailments onto enemies, you’ll need to watch out, sinceinvaders will inflict different ailmentsthat will often reduce your teammates' effectiveness in battle.
These ailments have unique effects when inflicted in battle, both on youandthe enemy team, so keep any eye on your teammates and take status ailments into account when choosing who to have attack.
Nice! Kills Offer More Voltage At The Cost Of A Teammate
When teammates are at low health, given the revival mechanic in the game, you’re able to (and often should)sacrifice low health teammates to receive an immediate boost. Doing so is registered as a Nice! Kill and adds100 percent Voltageto your current meter, automatically allowing you to empower someone else on the team at that teammate’s expense on the same turn.
Additionally, these final moves will often have a large range, with the teammate seeking to take as many invaders with them when they go out as possible. Additionally, sincean invader is powered up after killing one of your teammates, it’s best to rob them of this opportunity to grow stronger at the same time as assisting your teammates in the fight directly even with your absence.
Sacrificed teammates are revived between waves, if there’s more than one wave to be won, with the exception of Nozomi.
