Elemental Vessels Explained: Basics

Unlock Elemental Vessels by progressing the story; the final two are acquired in Chapter 5.

Each Vessel unlocks a character class with unique strengths and weaknesses.

Gain Elemental Points primarily by leveling up and gathering Elementites. Gold Clovers can also be converted one-to-one into points.

Assign an Elemental Vessel to the R2/RT button for combat use.

After using a Vessel, it will enter a cooldown period.

To speed up the cooldown, use melee strikes on enemies while the timer is visible.

Some Vessels, like the Wood one, have longer cooldowns than others.

Set AI companions to use Vessels in battle via their Strategy settings.

Using Vessels in combat releases orbs that replenish MP (base value of two) and can be automatically collected.

Ability Seeds can increase MP and HP recovery from these orbs.

To use Elemental Breaks, unlock the second tier of the Elemental Plot and then the first node on that tier for the specific Vessel.

Unlocking an Elemental Break for the first time reveals the Mana Gauge, located to the left of the characters in the lower left corner of the HUD (heads-up display — the on-screen icons showing health, ammo and the minimap).

Fill the Mana Gauge by collecting orbs released when using Elemental Vessels.

Once the Mana Gauge is full, hold down the Vessel button to perform an Elemental Break.

During an Elemental Break, magic and moves of the same element deal increased damage and have reduced casting times.

The normal effects of the Elemental Vessel are also enhanced while a Break is active.