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The Tales Of series is an interesting facet of the JRPG genre, withTales Of Symphoniaoften being credited with introducing many people to both. Aside from having an interesting story and an active flashy battle system, there’s also the unusual Grade mechanic in play. It has become a staple of the series by allowing you to earn rewards for skilled playing.
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Essentially, you may earn a special kind of currency called Grade by performing well in battle. This can be spent at a special Grade shop where you can get high-quality items. As such, it’s worth it to spend time battling and earning Grade where you can.
The Grade System
Grade is an optional currency that can be earned throughout Tales Of Symphonia, and while it’s never necessary to progress, itcan be used at certain shops to buy special items. Many of these items are for customization, though there are also EX Gems for sale,which will allow your characters to equip new skills.
You canearn Grade points by battling both regular enemies and bosses, so make sure you save before any potential boss encounter as you won’t have the opportunity to retry the fight if your performance goes poorly.To earn a positive Grade, you need to battle efficiently yet carefullyand there are several notable ways to rack up points.
The first way is throughachieving combo attacks in battle, either by individual characters or by different characters stacking attacks on top of a target. The second way isby using powerful skills and magicthat do heavy damage to one enemy or hit multiple enemies, and the final way isby exploiting enemy weaknesseswhich is where the Monster Book comes in handy.
Be cautious though, asyou can also lose Grade points by performing badly, and if your characters drop into critical health frequently or get KO’d, this will count against your score.
You’ll also earn fewer pointsif you hit enemies with attacks that they can resist or absorb,so don’t just spam your strongest moves.
Grade Shop Inventory
Upon beating the game,you’ll receive 1,000 Grade Points and get access to Grade Shopwhich will allow you to spend the Grade points you earned throughout your playthrough. The items sold here are meant to modify your New Game+ run.
They can make things easier or more difficult for you, buttheir main offer is allowing you to transfer your current game stats.
1/2 EXP
1000
2X EXP
10X EXP
3000
500
10
Current values for encounters and maximum combos carry over.
Combos
50
Sets base EXP earned to one while boosting the Combo Bonus.
600
400
100
250
20
Current Artes and Magic carry over.
25
Current usage data for Artes and Magic carry over.
How To Farm Grade
Best Farm Location
Tales Of Symphonia has two worlds to explore, Sylvarant and Tethe’alla, which both have reliable and safe locations to farm Grade. In the southeast corner of the Sylvarant map is an unnamed but distinct peninsula jutting toward the bottom of the screen, and Tethe’alla has its own beach peninsula towards the center of the map, although most coastal regions have similar encounters.
The coasts are pretty nondescript, with a lot of open space. You canrun or ride around for a fairly decent encounter rate,with monster avatars showing up every few seconds.
The monsters are mostly aquatic in nature with jellyfish and starfish being prime examples. They typically attack in groups of two to three andcan be quickly wiped out with powerful physical skills.
Using an attacker like Lloyd or Zelos will allow you to engage the enemy fastso that you’re able to strike first and end the battle within moments.
You’ll be able to sweep through battles easily earning on averageone to two points of Grade.
Best Farm Characters
To earn the most Grade points, your party needs to be balanced in a way that allows youto maximize combos, damage, and elemental weaknesses.
Both Lloyd and Zelos are good choices for physical attackers that can build up combos quicklybut should use hit-and-run tactics when necessary. The latter can also pull double duty as a support unit that can buff the other attackers.
Now, while Raine is necessary for healing, the final slot needs to be filled by an elemental specialist. Genis is the obvious choice,being able to cast a range of devastating spells from a distance, but is also highly vulnerable.
Sheena is a balanced ranged fighter, but her strength comes frombeing able to summon spirits that can do heavy elemental damageand distract enemy focus.
Lastly, there’s Colette, who is a Light-based elemental attacker. This doesn’t give her much range, but not many enemies are resistant to the Light element, andshe learns some of the most devastating spells in the game.
