• You'll start the game with 3 characters, they are the permanent members, while the 4th character changes over time as the game progresses until the very end where got your final member Leon.
• So you shouldn't bother leveling up the 4th member until you have Leon joined the party.

• All characters have similar stats providing flexibility. Basically, you can make anyone as a fighter, white mage, or black mage.
• The most balanced roles would be "Fighter", "White Mage", and "Black Mage". Then, you can transition them to "Red Mage" over time. Again, don't bother with the 4th character until you have Leon. He can be any be class you like.
• Another line up would be 3 "Red Mage", which I personally prefer. "Red Mage" is a combination of fighter and spell caster. However, this line up requires a lot of grinding to make them powerful. If you are planning to max out the stats, this is what you should go with.

Weapons refer to skill levels is how proficiency you are on a specific weapon. There are 8 types of weapons, each has their skill level and cap at 16. You can distinguish them by the irons even if they may be different types of weapons but kind of similar. Equip these weapons to raise each skill level (or barehanded in the case of Unarmed):

• Unarmed: when you fight barehanded or when equip both hands with shields.
• Knife: knives or claws
• Sword: swords or blades or brands
• Lance: lances or tridents or spears
• Staff: staves or maces
• Bow: bows
• Axe: axes
• Shield: shields

• You learn magic by giving a magic tome to a character.
• You can level up the magic you learned by using it in the battle.
• You can also use magic by using a magic tome as an item (during the battle, select "Item -> Fire Tome" for example). This is the quickest way to use high-level magic. When you learn magic, it starts at level 1, however, if you use a magic tome as an item, its effectiveness is at level 8. So, instead of leveling up your magic, you can buy many magic tomes to use them as items.
• Most of the buff spells can stack, which means that you can cast multiple on the same target to increase their potency. Such as Berserk, Protect, Shell, Blink, Barrier, etc...

Here is how leveling in this game works:

• You gain HP by losing HP during the battle, either you receive damage from enemies or your party members.
• You gain MP by losing MP during the battle, either using black or white magic.
• You gain Strength and Stamina by attacking, either the enemies or your party.
• You gain Intelligence and Spirit by using black and white magic.
• You gain Agility and Evasion by getting hit and dodge attacks.
• You gain a specific Skill Level by using a specific weapon type. For example, Sword skill can only be raised by using swords.
• You gain Magic Defense by receiving magic attacks, either from enemies or your party members.
• Defense can only be raised by wearing equipment.

Note:

• I recommend you stick to a specific weapon type for each character because it takes so much time to level up other weapon skills. For example, if Firion uses swords, then stick with swords until late game.
• The only exception is "Unarmed". I did not see anyone mention this, but when you raise the "Unarmed" skill level, it also increases your base "Attack" stats. which means that if your Unarmed level is 10 and sword level 10, they stack which means they deal more damage than having Unarmed level 1 and sword level 10.
• Raising Evasion first is more important than Defense stats.

• Attack:
  • this is the base attack power, the higher, the more damage you deal.
  • The "Attack" stats increase permanently by raising Strength and "Unarmed" Skill Level.
  • It can also increase by wearing equipment.
• Defense:
  • This stat is zero by default, you can only raise the Defense by wearing armor.
• Magic Interference:
  • This stat is zero by default.
  • You will want to keep this stat as low as possible, especially magic users.
  • This stat reduces magic potency. For example, you will deal less damage with magic, you heal less HP using "Cure" etc.
  • Most equipment has this stat added, especially those heavy equipment. This stat exists to discourage magic users from wearing high stats weapons and armor.

There are 2 positions you can set for each character, front row and back row.

• Front Row: you deal more physical damage, you also receive more physical damage. Ideal for fighters.
• Bow is an exception, it deals the same amount of damage regardless of position.
• Back Row: you deal less physical damage, you also receive less physical damage. Ideal for magic users.

• How you learn about the storyline in this game is almost optional. Most of the time, you can just skip the storyline and proceed to the next events without knowing why.
• For this reason, I'll put a quick note "Optional Story" for your information. You can follow the note to read the actual dialogues.

• Always watch out how your stats change when wearing equipment. Some equipment will lower your Accuracy, Evasion, or significantly increase your Magic Interference.
• Inn's price varies depending on your HP and MP. The higher HP and MP you need to heal, the higher price the Inn is.
• There are 2 types of status ailments, temporary and permanent. Temporary ailments wear off after the battle while permanent stick. You have to either cure using "Esuna" or item. Resting at an Inn doesn't cure the ailment.
• The majority of magic spells can be cast on multiple targets by moving arrow right if cast on your team, or moving arrow left if cast on enemies. However, the potency of the magic drops significantly by 1/4. It is not recommended on multiple targets.

• Viewing Bestiary: There are 2 ways you can view the bestiary:
  (1) From the main menu, "Main Menu" -> "Extra" -> "Bestiary".
  (2) During gameplay, "Menu" -> "Configuration" -> "Bestiary".
  While on bestiary page, you can press Y button (or Tab on keyboard to view monster locations on the map). It provides a nice visual on the map.
  Unknown monsters will be displayed as question marks so you cannot rely on the in-game bestiary list. You can view a full list of bestiary here to complete your achievement.
• Turn on/off "Encounters": this is an invaluable feature. I normally turn it on when I want to go through dungeon quickly.
• Boost: The new update includes a feature "Boost", it allows you to "EXP" and "Money" earn from battle. Just in case you don't want to spend time on grinding, this is your to-go setting.
• Quick Save: Use "Quick Save" frequently, especially before a boss fight.

• ALWAYS SAVE YOUR GAME WITH QUICK-SAVE
• Always level up your characters when you feel you cannot go any further.