The advancement system in Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven is quite distinct and affects how your party members acquire new abilities. Simply leveling up weapon skills and spell categories isn’t sufficient. You’ll need to make use of Glimmers—moments of insight that can occur during battle.
Glimmers are crucial for unlocking powerful attacks necessary to defeat the game’s toughest enemies. If you miss out on Glimmers, you won’t gain any new moves, so be sure to take advantage of them whenever the opportunity arises.
How to Trigger a Glimmer
A character can learn a new Tech during combat if they meet the following criteria:
- They must be equipped with the correct weapon for that Tech (e.g., Spears for Spear Techs, Swords for Sword Techs).
- Their Skill level with that weapon must be sufficient to unlock the Tech.
- They need to know a Tech that can generate a Glimmer for the move they want to learn.
The final requirement can become challenging as you progress. Initially, basic attacks are enough for most Glimmers, but more complex Techs require specific abilities. For example, a Bow user can learn Rapid Volley through Bow Attack, but to learn Rain of Arrows, they must first use Rapid Volley.
If all these conditions are satisfied, any available Techs that can trigger a Glimmer will show a light bulb icon next to them. A larger icon means a higher likelihood of activating a Glimmer with that move. The chances of Glimmering depend on the strength of the enemies you face; they’re more likely against bosses, while weaker foes can reduce the chances to zero, removing the icon altogether.
When a Tech that can trigger a Glimmer is used, there is a chance that the character will instead create and execute a new move. This new move will be added to their Tech repertoire, and they can use it in future turns.
If a Glimmer doesn’t happen, keep trying as long as you have enough BP to use the required move again.
Spell and Defensive Glimmers
You can also gain Glimmers for spells and defensive techniques, though you have less control over these. Defensive abilities—such as Parry, Counter, and Evasions that ensure a specific attack will miss—can Glimmer when a character is hit. The best way to acquire these is to grind for them, so be sure to keep at least one on a character to ensure it registers at the Training Hall for others to use after the next time skip.
Spells don’t Glimmer during combat. Instead, when a character casts spells that align with a high enough Skill level, they have a small chance to Glimmer a new spell at the end of the encounter. Your best strategy is to consistently cast spells to improve your spellcasters’ Skill levels, then register any new magic at the Incantations Lab.
Maximum Number of Techs and Spells
Each character can hold up to eight Techs, eight Spells, and four Evasions at any given time. You can adjust their setup at the Training Hall and Incantations Lab in Avalon.
If a character learns a new ability through a Glimmer while at capacity, they will retain it for the duration of the battle. After the fight, assuming they survive, you’ll need to select which abilities to remove to make space for the new ones or choose to forfeit the new ones altogether.
It’s advisable to discard moves marked with a yellow medal, as these can be easily relearned at Avalon Castle for free at any time.
If you decide to give up a move immediately, there’s a strong chance it will Glimmer again in upcoming battles. Exercise caution, as this may lead to basic attacks evolving into moves you didn’t intend to acquire. Sometimes it’s better to create room for the new move to prevent unintended Glimmers.