Initial Recommended Character Stats

[KZ]

"The best combination that will offer you the most advantageous start on brutal and lower would be a
"Psy Defence 7
Psy Power 7
Personality 11
Aptitude 11"
combination. The reason is that with personlaity 11 you'll be able to fit in all new teammates that you meet during the Prsion break mission and in Baz's Manor before you get a trainer in the game. This will be very useful for beating the cellar mission (especially on brutal) as you won't have to choose one teammate to leave out. Having 11 aptitude will allow you to complete a side quest connected to Arman in the most useful manner before undertaking the cellar mission (and the reward might come in very handy for it, especially on brutal). Having such low Psy Power and Defense will be compensated by teammates for the time being, and there won't be a single enemy in the game at this stage that could kill your main with one hit (potentially not counting Al'al or Azma, but if you play it smart, you won't have to fight them). And after completing the cellar mission you'll be able to level up your Psy Defense and Psy Attack easily enough."

For other opinions on the matter, you can look here, or post your own advice!

[Rigby]

I find that 6/6/12/12 works pretty well, too, although the difference is minor.

[Zhampir]

I prefer 1/11/12/12
simply because you start out pretty strong and you're given 10hp anyways... (the health counter is later rebalanced if you train your Psy Defence past a certain point, so don't expect to keep the bonus hp)

[KZ]

Well, if you start off with minimum hp then on any difficulty higher than Normal your Hero can easily be killed by a single strike from behind even by a Bandit (and can be easily gotten to by a Bandit Bowman), so that's probably not the best strategy to adopt unless you're very experienced and think you can kill all enemies in the first turn/keep the Hero away from any damage.

[Zhampir]

Besides, the way the game is balanced before you meet the trainer really makes it so you should focus on as much aptitude and personality as possible.
At the beginning of the game the minimum amount of Health and Psp you can have is 10/10, respectably, and the max is 24/24
You start out with 14health 14 Psp, dealing 8damage.
I start with 10 Health, 12 Psp, and deal 12damage.

Once I reach the trainer I can use the ~4000g I get from battles and side missions to that point and uber train my Health at a ridiculously low price, quickly leveling me up gaining even more bonuses.

I can usually get to lvl 8 or so, thats 7 more points I can use free of charge.

-Z. ;)

[Frosty]

I like to start with 11, 1, 12, 12.
Your defense is high, so just listen to Griffin's strategy and you will be fine.

[Ertxiem]

I also start with 11,1,12,12 and I use Duvalier as a (second) healer until I'm able to train him.

[torugo]

i agree with kz 7 power and defence is enough to progress and with 11 pesonality you can have all the team slots you need and with the 11 appitude you can get the most out of side quests and missions for now theres no point in upgrading peronality above 11

[Ertxiem]

However, it's easier to raise power and defence than to raise personality or aptitude. That's why I start with both those stats at 12. And since there is a minimum PsP and Health and the cost of training increases with level, it may be worth the cost putting power or defence at 1 and the other at 11.

[torugo]

my theory about this is those who like to upgrade power and defence are those that like to play for brawn but those who play with higher appitude and personality tend to play with brain (considering they dont have the power to fight them head on)

[Presentiment]

my theory about this is those who like to upgrade power and defence are those that like to play for brawn but those who play with higher appitude and personality tend to play with brain (considering they dont have the power to fight them head on)

Aptitude helps you to get stronger.
Personality gives you more slots.

Because they have no in-battle effects, you might as well just not upgrade your Attack and Defense.

Besides, your team exists too.

I always go with 11PD1PA12AP12P

That way, you can pump up your PA very high after the ghost battles, you can talk Azma out of fighting with you (you can't win that battle), and have Luca on your team with the others (you are weak so you need as many teammates as you can get).

The only problem with this build is the prison break and ghost battles. However, with a little caution you should be able to overcome them. I'll go over the kind of caution you have to use in your first six battles. Griffin's advice will not suffice. [/badpun]

For example, in the Prison Break battle with a bowman and two bandits: (M=Bowman, B=Bandit)

   M
B     B

You have to place Griffin, Duvalier, and Rahel in the following positions:(G=Griffin, D=Duvalier, R=Rahel)

   M
B     B
G D
R

By doing this, Duvalier attracts the fire of the Bowman and a Bandit, helping Griffin survive.

This is the first tricky battle, as to avoid getting everyone killed you have to think everything through and get your positioning right. After that turn:

   M
B  B
G D
R

Duvalier has only 8 HP now, and one shot from the Bowman will kill him. Because of that, you always have to have two units between him and the Bowman. Griffin will have to take over tanking, and Duvalier healing, which means you have to keep the right bandit alive to block the bowman's fire.

   M
   B
   G
R D

The Bandit and Bowman will attack Griffin, who will counterattack, leaving the Bandit with 16HP. Your goal is to let Griffin's counterattack kill the Bandit; that way you can let both Griffin and Duvalier survive (otherwise the bowman will kill one of the two)

  M
  B
  G
  D
  R

The Bandit now has 9 HP. He will attack, lowering his HP to 3. The next turn do not attack with Griffin or Rahel. When the Bandit and Bowman attack, it will be your turn and the battlefield will look like this:

  M

  G
  D
  R

Griffin will need healing, so do not move him, keeping him there and healing him with Mind Shield as Rahel moves to keep the Bowman away from Duvalier.

  M
  R
  G
  D

From then on, it is a simple matter of surrounding the Bowman and killing him.

DMG
  R

Despite the early rigors of an 11-1-12-12 build, the rewards are great. The stat that you put at 1 can be upgraded extremely cheaply, at 35 per upgrade early on.

 

[torugo]

in short having higher personality and appitude will let you skip azma and have luca then afterwards you can upgrade your own power and defence for cheaper

[Nazx]

That isn't caused by high aptitude/personality but by low PP and PD.

;)

[FlyingFinn]

I don´t think that both of those affect to your succeed with Azma. There still are same options to choose and same result, i think?

[MikeW781]

no, if you have high personality (or maybe aptitude) you can talk your way out of battling Azma