Useful Battle Strategies

Monster Girl Quest: Paradox offers way more possibilities than its predecessor when it comes to fighting ennemies, thanks to the large amount of skills and abilities available from Jobs and Races. Coupled with the possibility to have up to four party members simultaneously in a fight, strategies to take down random encounters can be more varied and open.

With so much variety available, it shouldn't come as a surprise that several sets of strategies can come as absolutely game-breaking: They allow to complete most fights on normal like a breath, and can help standing most fights fine on higher difficulties without being completely overleveled or outright cheating.

Last Stand
First Availability: At the beginning of the game

Set up difficulty: Very Low

Farming required: Medium

Effectiveness: Medium

Range of application: Medium/High (limited by usable characters)

Basic Explanation
Several characters possess a "vengeance" trait that make them inflict more damages (as a whole or with a select set of skills) when their HP are lower, up to dealing twice the damages when they're almost dead. Several others (like Luka) have instead a trait that triggers when their HP falls below a certain threshold.

Simultaneously, there is the Endure ability available with the rank 8 of the Power Fighter job (intermediate, available right from the bat after completing warrior), or with the Courage Headband serie: A character with this ability that should take fatal damages when he has more than a certain threshold (30% or less) of HP will instead end up with 1HP. This allows the character to attack with the full strength of its trait.

Using in fight
Using this setup in fight is extremely simple: You just have to keep attacking with your character, and enjoy those precious turns when (s)he'll deal twice the usual damages.

This build becomes a necessity on higher difficulties where monsters can kill characters in one attack. You will need to take note whether your character attack before or after the opponent to time your SP consumption right to strike with your strongest attack at the right moment.

Avoid using HP recovering skills/Abilities to make it fully effective.

Pushing further
Once you roughly know if the opponent attack before or after, you can tile use a one turn power-up buff (most jobs have a relevant stat one in their levels). The "vengeance" trait is a final damage multiplier, which further amplifies buffs placed on it. Other characters can easily be used to buff/weaken

You can also get Goddess Protection from Apprentice Hero to get a free revive at 20%. However, it will be useless if you don't attack before the opponent.

Spirit Legacy (extremely rare accessories) and several races allow to get several actions in the same turn in given conditions. You can multiply attacks during that sweet spot.

Using barriers can allow this character to keep exploiting this trait for several turns with only minimal risks. Just remember that with only 1HP, skills requiring HP use are impossible to use unless you spend a turn using the smallest heal available (Herb)

In the Labyrinth of Chaos, Diamrem as a teacher can teach an ability that make the character directly start at 20% hp for an additional buff. Only the Stubborn headband can help this build complete nicely.

Strategic defense
First Availability: San Ilia's library (basic/patched game)/Four queens (advanced)

Set up difficulty: Medium

Farming required: Medium/Very High

Effectiveness: Medium/Very High

Range of application: Low/Medium

Basic Explanation
With a careful set up, it is possible to cancel most attacks from any enemies you encounter as soon as your team manages to survive two turns. It trivializes most superbosses fights, and is a requirement in the Labyrinth of Chaos

Wing Harpy's Sky Dance (+50% evade/Mag evade/available at rank 4) is theoretically available as early as the beginning of the game, and will grant your team a very high dodge chance, which coupled with a team geared defensively (shields equipped thanks to the guard's abilities), your team will reliably dodge physical and magical assaults thrown your way.

Once you're further in the game, you have access to the White Snake Kagura race (only accessible to the lamia races), which possesses Waning Moon and Evening Moon dances that can repsectively cancel Physical and Magic damages altogether. Their only weakness is their high SP consumption, which require a mix of cost reduction (Magamata accessories/Pirate job line) and regen (Hero job line/Dark rings). If both conditions are fulfilled, your party member can cast each dance indefinitively without having them expire.

With that set-up, the only remaining dangers are auto-hit attacks which meet their own weaknesses in the form of barriers. Barriers are shields that are consumed each time your party members take damages. They're taken into account last, which means they're not consumed if the damages from the attacks are cancelled by a dodge or the aforementionned dances, hence why those other skills are required.

There are several ways to access barriers. The fastest one is Vicarious Clara, a summoning skill that is acquired with a level 8 necromancer. Since necromancer requires Spiritualist who has an ability to allow you to use summoning, the only issue with that skill is its HP cost.

Another universally accessible one is the electromagnetic armor available to level 8 machinists. However, the ability to equip the skill is only available to a level 5 makina master, which requires quite a lot of farming if you don't want your character stuck in this job.

Kitsune Geisha's Anti Death Song can entirely prevent killing ailments from passing through. The other ones can only be managed on a case by case basis by farming the required job and using the related ability.

With this setup, the only remaining issues are status effects, ailments, and multi-hit auto-hit attacks.

Using in fight
On the first turn, set up party wide buffs, and on the second, use barriers. Keeping track of the number of barriers still available and the number of turns on the buffs is the more delicate part.

Pushing further
Evening Moon Dance can be replaced by Carbuncle from the Summoner job line to move a part of the strain on SP toward mana and reflect damages.