Introduction

The whole "in-game" section of Polaris is provided in order to help you take advantage of Kratos' strong points, as well as make up for some of his slight weaknesses. I will give a brief introduction to using him in first or second player, as well as just having him in the party. Make sure to read the other pages in this section as well to get the most out of using Kratos in battle.

Kratos is not necessarily the easiest character to begin with, as I found out rather quickly on my own. He is not as "hack and slash" as Lloyd, despite what you may think otherwise since he has his sword. True, Kratos does have a few swordplay moves, but his main skills are offensive magic. He is useful in the front line, but he has more advantages in the middle of the party setup or toward the back. Magic takes quite a bit of time to cast for majority of the game, so you should keep that in mind when planning a strategy. His elemental attacks are mainly lightning and wind based, but he does have some fire magic as well. If you know your enemy's type disadvantage, Kratos can be a very handy person to have in combination with Sheena or Genis in order to use elemental advantages to take them down. I would suggest having "Super Lightning Blade," "Victory Light Spear," "Eruption," and "Light Spear Cannon" for offensive moves in the main four attack options in whatever order you can remember them best.

Although Raine is the healer in this game, Kratos does know some defensive and healing techniques. "First Aid" is one that he has right off the bat, and it will save you many times. I suggest putting any defensive attacks in a shortcut so you can access them quickly. I always had "First Aid" and "Guardian" in my shortcuts, which proved to be quite efficient. That way, I didn't accidentally hit them while trying to attack, and I knew exactly where they were in an "emergency."

As for just having Kratos in your party, but not actually playing as him, I find it most useful to make the computer attack the same enemy as you are currently focusing on. Having Kratos as backup makes defeating enemies a lot quicker, and you risk less damage to the rest of the party that way. If the computer is Kratos, he will usually heal anyone in need right away, which gives him another strong point if Raine is busy doing something else.

Overall, I think Kratos is a character that takes some practice to get used to. He really is worth having in your party, even if he is not the main character you are playing as. Kratos should have a mix of brute force, magic and defensive techniques in order to take advantage of everything he can do, rather than just focusing on one area. Of course his weapons and equipment make a difference as well, but that is for another page...

b a c k   .   c l e a r   .   f o r w a r d    Count the Stars and its contents are © Samantha, however Kratos and Tales of Symphonia are © NAMCO. Count the Stars is a part of AFTER-DEATH.ORG.