The Tales Of series is an interesting facet of the JRPG genre, with Tales Of Symphonia often being credited with introducing many people to both. Aside from having an interesting story and an active flashy battle system, there's also the unusual Grade mechanic in play. It has become a staple of the series by allowing you to earn rewards for skilled playing.

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Essentially, you can earn a special kind of currency called Grade by performing well in battle. This can be spent at a special Grade shop where you can get high-quality items. As such, it's worth it to spend time battling and earning Grade where you can.

The Grade System

Grade is an optional currency that can be earned throughout Tales Of Symphonia, and while it's never necessary to progress, it can be used at certain shops to buy special items. Many of these items are for customization, though there are also EX Gems for sale, which will allow your characters to equip new skills.

You can earn Grade points by battling both regular enemies and bosses, so make sure you save before any potential boss encounter as you won't have the opportunity to retry the fight if your performance goes poorly. To earn a positive Grade, you need to battle efficiently yet carefully and there are several notable ways to rack up points.

The first way is through achieving combo attacks in battle, either by individual characters or by different characters stacking attacks on top of a target. The second way is by using powerful skills and magic that do heavy damage to one enemy or hit multiple enemies, and the final way is by exploiting enemy weaknesses which is where the Monster Book comes in handy.

Be cautious though, as you can also lose Grade points by performing badly, and if your characters drop into critical health frequently or get KO'd, this will count against your score.

You'll also earn fewer points if you hit enemies with attacks that they can resist or absorb, so don't just spam your strongest moves.

Grade Shop Inventory

Upon beating the game, you'll receive 1,000 Grade Points and get access to Grade Shop which will allow you to spend the Grade points you earned throughout your playthrough. The items sold here are meant to modify your New Game+ run.

They can make things easier or more difficult for you, but their main offer is allowing you to transfer your current game stats.

How To Farm Grade

Best Farm Location

Tales Of Symphonia has two worlds to explore, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, which both have reliable and safe locations to farm Grade. In the southeast corner of the Sylvarant map is an unnamed but distinct peninsula jutting toward the bottom of the screen, and Tethe'alla has its own beach peninsula towards the center of the map, although most coastal regions have similar encounters.

The coasts are pretty nondescript, with a lot of open space. You can run or ride around for a fairly decent encounter rate, with monster avatars showing up every few seconds.

The monsters are mostly aquatic in nature with jellyfish and starfish being prime examples. They typically attack in groups of two to three and can be quickly wiped out with powerful physical skills.

Using an attacker like Lloyd or Zelos will allow you to engage the enemy fast so that you can strike first and end the battle within moments.

You'll be able to sweep through battles easily earning on average one to two points of Grade.

Best Farm Characters

To earn the most Grade points, your party needs to be balanced in a way that allows you to maximize combos, damage, and elemental weaknesses.

Both Lloyd and Zelos are good choices for physical attackers that can build up combos quickly but should use hit-and-run tactics when necessary. The latter can also pull double duty as a support unit that can buff the other attackers.

Now, while Raine is necessary for healing, the final slot needs to be filled by an elemental specialist. Genis is the obvious choice, being able to cast a range of devastating spells from a distance, but is also highly vulnerable.

Sheena is a balanced ranged fighter, but her strength comes from being able to summon spirits that can do heavy elemental damage and distract enemy focus.

Lastly, there's Colette, who is a Light-based elemental attacker. This doesn't give her much range, but not many enemies are resistant to the Light element, and she learns some of the most devastating spells in the game.

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