Valkyria Chronicles 4: Tips & Tricks For Beginners

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Tips & Tricks For Beginners

Deploy Units That Like Each Other, For Multiple Reasons

Every unit in Valkyria Chronicles 4 has certain others that they “like.” You can check these likes by going into the Command Center in Headquarters and selecting your squad setup. It’s important to deploy units together that like each other, as it can lead to various benefits. Units that like each other can perform better in battle, and many are more likely to activate their potentials when together, such as Raz and Kai for example.

There is another reason to do this, however, as deploying units that like each other can sometimes lead to Squad Stories. These are small, self-contained chapters that flesh out your squad members, and each one has a unique battle to play through. On top of that, each Squad Story you complete will unlock powerful Potentials for the three units it involves. The Squad Stories are charming little additions to the main narrative, so on top of all the other reasons, it’s another purpose for pairing units together.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Tips & Tricks For Beginners

Make Sure to Deploy Leaders in Battle

Leaders are one of your greatest assets in Valkyria Chronicles 4. Outside of being powerful units in battle, each leader you have deployed adds an extra CP onto each turn. Because of this, it’s generally a better idea to deploy leaders first as they can ramp up your CP count and give you a nice boost. On top of that each leader has powerful Potentials, and they’ll unlock even better ones as you progress through the game. You can also boost the power of leaders by equipping different weapons and accessories on them at the Command Center.

Finally, there’s another ability you’ll unlock early on in the game called Command. By pressing triangle/Y on a leader in Map Mode, you can expend 1 CP to use Command, which will let the leader tell two other units to follow them. This makes the two units move without expending any kind of turn, and they’ll also provide backup fire if the leader you’re controlling attacks an enemy. Command also uses 1 SP to use, which you’ll have one of every turn.

Later on in the game you’ll have the option of promoting one of your normal units to a leader, increasing the extra CP you can gain even more. Strategically deploying leaders and learning how to use their various skills is influential.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Tips & Tricks For Beginners

Always Have an Engineer

Outside of leaders, the other unit type you always want to have deployed is an Engineer. These units function as both healers and mechanics, and are influential to keeping your army in tip-top shape. First off, they’re the only unit that can fix your vehicles, and the only way to fix vehicles outside of Orders. The Hafen and your other vehicles can be vital during battles, especially ones that have you going up against enemy tanks, so it’s important to have an Engineer there at all times to fix them up. Secondly, Engineers have Revival Ragnaid that can heal units and even get a KO’d unit back up on their feet, instead of just letting them retreat.

Finally, there’s another function Engineers have, that of replenishing ammo for your units. Simply by running up to an allied unit or vehicle the Engineer can restore their ammo, which can be vital for units like the Lancer, Grenadier, and Sniper. All three of these functions make the Engineer maybe the most valuable class in the entire game, so it’s important to make sure you have at least one on the field at any given time, if not more.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Tips & Tricks For Beginners

Play Each Skirmish At Least Once

Each and every battle you play in Valkyria Chronicles 4 rewards you with experience and money that you can then use to upgrade your unit classes and equipment. While you do get plenty of experience from main story missions, you can also grind Skirmishes to more money and experience. Skirmishes unlock as you play through the story, and they usually take place on maps you’ve previously played on in story missions, albeit with new enemy types and formations.

Skirmishes can be a good way to develop strategies and try out different options and unit combinations. They’re smaller scale battles that usually aren’t quite as difficult, but do be aware that if a unit is KO’d and not revived in time, they’ll still die like normal. Still, playing through each Skirmish once gets you some good training, and the little boost in XP and money is important to give you an edge in the story.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Tips & Tricks For Beginners

You Don’t Have to Deploy the Max Units in Battle

Most battles in Valkyria Chronicles 4 let you deploy 10 or more units at any one time, and you have a huge array of different characters to choose from. However, keep in mind that you don’t always have to deploy the max number of units, and in some situations you shouldn’t. Smaller battles that are focused on you reaching a point quickly or fleeing from enemies may require a smaller, stronger strike force.

Seldom will you have enough CP to move each and every unit during a phase, so it can be a more viable strategy to deploy a smaller number of units, and instead use them multiple times in a phase. It’s entirely up to you, of course, but approach every battle differently and don’t be afraid to cut your numbers if you want to go for a different strategy.

For more on Valkyria Chronicles 4, be sure to check out our wiki.