Chrono Cross features a relatively complex battle system, and while there is some amount of tutorializing in-game, it is not extremely thorough. As such, some players may be confused about how to effectively engage with Chrono Cross's battle system. This guide is here to address that confusion, and fans will find information on stamina, attacks, elements, and boosts in what follows.
Chrono Cross: Battle System Explained
Stamina
Stamina is at the core of the game's battle system, and Chrono Cross characters always start fights with the maximum of seven. Players can see exactly how much stamina their characters have by looking at the information panes at the bottom of the screen, and all combat actions consume some amount of it. More specifically, attacks consume one, two, or three points of stamina, depending on the number that a player selects after choosing to attack, and elements always consume seven points.
Due to the fact that all combat actions require that at least one point of stamina be spent, a character cannot act when they are below that stamina threshold. Fortunately, characters in this classic RPG regain stamina each time a teammate or foe performs an action, and they need not wait until they are back at maximum stamina to act. Additionally, it is important to note that elements can cause characters to have negative stamina, as those abilities always cost seven points and can be performed even if a character is at just one stamina.
Attacks
As previously noted, JRPG fans are presented with three numbered options when choosing to attack in Chrono Cross. Those options are 1, 2, and 3, and they represent light, medium, and heavy attacks respectively. Unsurprisingly, the amount of damage that these attacks deal increases as that number increases, and the number itself indicates how many points of stamina the attack consumes. The number also indicates how many element levels the character gains if the attack is successful, a concept that is further elaborated below.
Players will also see percentages next to the three attack options, which indicate how likely it is for the attacks to connect, and those percentages will increase each time the character lands a strike. To speak generally, this pushes fans toward using an attack combination that starts with light, then moves to medium, and then finishes off with heavy, though it is certainly not requisite that this pattern be used every turn in this recently remastered video game.
Element Colors
The first thing to know about elements is that every character and enemy has an innate element color, and a foe's color can be found at the bottom of their information pane when selecting them in combat. Possible element colors are blue, red, green, yellow, black, and white, and they form three opposing pairs: blue-red, green-yellow, and black-white. These opposing pairs help to inform which element abilities players should use in a fight, as enemies are weak to abilities that have a color in opposition to their own.
It is also important to know that characters are more effective with elements that have a color that matches their innate color. As an example, a blue character will deal more damage with a blue element than a red character will. This is something that Square Enix fans that want to maximize their characters' efficacy in combat should keep in mind when filling in their element grids.
Element Field Effects
Elements are also connected to the Field Effect system that is displayed in the top-left corner of the screen when battling. The graphic in that position tracks the colors of the three most-recently-used elements, including those that were executed by enemies. The idea here is that an element is powered-up by filling the Field Effect graphic with its colors, while elements that have a color in opposition to the field's dominant color will be made less potent.
Equipping and Using Elements
With respect to how to use element abilities, the first step is to allocate them into the element grid. This is something that is done outside of combat, through the elements section of the pause menu, and players will see that characters have several element levels that are composed of varying numbers of slots. The number of element levels and slots that a character has access to will increase as fans work to reach Chrono Cross's ending, and an element becomes more powerful by equipping it into a higher level slot.
After equipping elements to the grid, players can use them in combat simply by selecting "elements." However, Chrono Cross fans can only use an element if the character has reached or exceeded the level that it has been assigned to. Again, element levels are gained by landing light, medium, and heavy attacks, and those levels are expended when an ability is used.
One final thing to mention here is that each element ability can only be used once during a fight. However, many elements will recharge at the end of a battle and be ready for use in the next one. The exceptions are consumable elements, which have a limited number of charges. Those elements have an "x1" before their name, and they will not replenish automatically after finishing a battle in this Chrono Trigger followup.
Battle Boost
Battle boost is a special feature in The Radical Dreamers Edition, and it is activated by pressing R3. Players that use battle boost in the Chrono Cross remake will find that their characters' element levels are immediately set to maximum and that they are dodging all of their enemies' attacks.
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is available for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.