Quick Answer

Use basic attacks when they end a safe fight without changing the outcome, and spend mana when an ability prevents more damage, removes a dangerous support enemy, or secures a boss phase. Current launch-window guidance treats mana as a route resource rather than something that automatically refills after every encounter. Spending it early has an opportunity cost later.

For target priority, remove enemies that make the rest of the group stronger or your party weaker before attacking a durable unit that mainly absorbs damage. The exact order changes by encounter, but the decision should always ask which enemy causes the largest additional cost if allowed to take another turn.

  • Kill buffers or dangerous debuff sources before passive tanks.
  • Use mana when it changes turns-to-kill or prevents meaningful incoming damage.
  • Enter elite and Guardian fights with a deliberate reserve.

Treat Mana as Part of the Route

A spell used in an easy encounter can make a later elite harder even if the first fight ends faster. Compare the mana cost with the health, armor, or companion stability the ability saves. If a basic attack finishes the same target before it acts again, spending mana adds little. If an ability removes a buffer before it strengthens the group, the saved damage can justify the cost immediately.

Route context changes the answer. When a recovery node is available before the boss, you can spend more aggressively. When the map offers no reliable restoration, preserve enough for the encounter your current build handles poorly. Use the route planner alongside this guide instead of evaluating each battle as an isolated puzzle.

A Practical Target Priority Framework

Start by identifying support effects. Buffers can turn ordinary enemies into a damage race, while debuff specialists can reduce your party's effectiveness for multiple turns. Current guide coverage therefore places those roles above raw damage dealers in many fights. After support threats are controlled, remove high-damage enemies before spending turns on defensive bodies that are not protecting someone more dangerous.

This is not a fixed tier list. An exposed attacker that can kill a companion next turn may outrank a buffer, and an enemy with thorns or reflection may require a different damage plan. Read icons, tooltips, turn order, and current health. Priority is the consequence of the next enemy action, not a label copied from another encounter.

  • First: effects that multiply the danger of the whole enemy group.
  • Second: enemies that threaten a kill or lasting resource loss now.
  • Last: targets whose main contribution is durability, unless they guard another unit.

Coordinate With Automated Companions

Official information says you directly control only the main hero, while companions act on their own. Your target and mana decisions should therefore create simple opportunities the party can exploit. Use the hero to remove the timing-sensitive threat, break armor, or finish a target that automated allies may leave alive. Build companions for stable roles that remain useful even when their target choice is imperfect.

If an ally repeatedly spends resources inefficiently or attacks the wrong unit, do not assume you can solve every problem through manual commands that the game does not provide. Adjust equipment, survivability, or role coverage so the companion's automatic action is less fragile. Recheck behavior after patches because official posts have indicated ongoing AI improvements.

Boss and Elite Resource Planning

Before an elite or Guardian, estimate what your basic attack can accomplish and which ability must be available for the dangerous turn. Save mana for a purpose: deleting a support add, surviving a damage spike, exploiting a broken defense, or preventing a companion loss. A reserve without a plan can be as wasteful as spending everything early.

Guardian preparation begins before the final fight because you choose boss parts after biomes. Use that knowledge to predict whether the completed boss will punish long fights, repeated attacks, weak sustain, or another aspect of the build. Then preserve the resource that answers the chosen threat. The boss-parts guide covers that construction decision in detail.

  • Name the boss action your saved ability is meant to answer.
  • Do not enter the final route segment relying on an uncertain recovery node.
  • Protect companions whose role is necessary for the planned boss sequence.

Common Combat Mistakes

One mistake is using the most expensive ability whenever it is available. Another is spreading damage across several enemies and allowing all of them to act. A third is attacking a reflected-damage or thorns target without checking whether the hit will cost more health than it saves. Community reports show that these interactions can end otherwise strong runs, so inspect status icons before committing repeated attacks.

After a loss, separate build failure from execution failure. If the party lacked enough damage even with efficient targeting, revisit equipment and auras. If the build was strong but mana disappeared in trivial fights, change the spending rule. If companions died before contributing, revisit party roles. Diagnosing the category prevents random rebuilds that solve the wrong problem.

Current-Build Combat Checklist

At the start of each encounter, inspect enemy effects and turn order, identify the unit whose next action creates the most danger, and decide whether mana changes that threat before it acts. At the end, note the resource cost and whether a safer sequence existed. This small routine turns vague difficulty into information you can use on the next route.

Follow with the enemy-intel guide for encounter notes, the damage-stats guide for physical, elemental, armor, resistance, and status interactions, and the companions guide for automated roles. Exact balance values may change, but disciplined resource and target decisions remain useful across patches.