Main Campaign Strat guide

[Thaecrasis]

The civilians all take their turn at the same time and do nothing/skip their turn.

[Chocobo_Fan]

Cora Ebon riders battle.  You have a new Male Calvary guy to equip and use.  Guess it's easier to be an old warrior when you don't have to walk everywhere.  I saw all the civilians and dreaded how long their turn might take so I haven't actually played this one yet.

There's actually a neat trick for this one: Destroy one of the bridges (preferably the north one) and you'll only have to fight one front of enemies. (This strategy applies to the next two fights as well -- it's especially useful when rescuing Sarn Kamina.) They also won't attack until you approach them, so you can spend as much time as you like charging energy. You'll also want one of the Striders to stay behind, as an ally appears along with some enemies in the southeast corner after a few turns and you'll need to talk to him if you want to control him.

Afterwards, Teresa will prompt you for an optional sidequest. I'd recommend taking it -- I don't think you get anything for avoiding it, but you get some nice stuff (replacement weapons, consumables, and an upgrade for the golem) if you complete it. Don't bring any physical attackers with you, though, as the enemies are all spirits and golems -- bring Meridian and all your psy users instead. Lakshmi might also be helpful, as the level is randomly generated and full of obstacles.

[Kletian999]

The civilians all take their turn at the same time and do nothing/skip their turn.

While good to know, I humble suggest to our developer friend that even something as simple as "Civilian's Turn" popping up each round feels like a waste of time.  I was SO HAPPY once I had killed the bartender and I don't think the desired effect of the game engine is to make me a murderous sociopath.  Better being civilian shaped objects than units with no mission objective.

[Chocobo_Fan]

Yeah, I'm not sure what the point of the civilian units is. At first I thought you had to protect them or could talk to them for a bonus, but they're just scenery. Seems kinda weird.

[Kletian999]

Finally got around to finishing this fight.  Like Chocobo said, destroying the north bridge is a great help; engineer bomb, crossbow bomb, or a ice+fire spell combo will do it.  If you destroy one square on the "close" side and 2 on the far side it gives you a bit of liberty to range harass the calvary; since they aren't smart enough to go the long way while having a strider in the start area.  The temporary helper shows up around turn 4-5, but he'll only help for this battle (He's a male swordsman who also knows weak fire magic).

Since the AI's aggression is very low, dividing and conquering will have the best results.  Walking around the top of the first house to your left or sending flyers (I gave my new cavalry guy the helicopter pack) north of the west bridge allows you to dispatch the flying force.  Shadow resistant units make the best lead ins: park them 1 square out of their melee range which'll force them to use their breath ineffectually, then use piercing/light attacks to slay them quickly.

The Mantis knights are probably the largest threat on the board, their charge hits hard and they have lots of hp.  Present a flat front of melee to prevent them from double teaming units and use Sabrina's traps liberally.  The crossbowmen and healers behind them will clean up fast.  Now you should be able to get the chests in the two houses without issue.  During this part of the map I found the Shadowport skill of the shadowling useful for traversing through the house walls.

Group up before passing the 2nd treasure house.  When you approach the boss he'll likely use a charge attack, thankfully outrunning his mentalist entourage.  The back airforce will likewise too long to reach you before you kill the boss.