Unicorn Overlord is a tactics-focused RPG, filled with different systems and stats to keep track of. While it does have the twist of combat being automatic, you have plenty of control when it comes to preparing for combat. There are tactics to set, unit composition to consider, and equipment to keep track of and that just covers combat. Here are some tips to help make your time in Unicorn Overlord much easier.

Pay close attention to unit composition

Unit composition is the biggest factor when it comes to success in combat. While you are given a few units already set up, as you get more characters and more slots in each unit you will want to start rethinking your setups. The basics are that you should have tanks up front, with lower-health characters in the back line. You should also consider having a healer in every unit. Some classes have unique abilities, like thieves being able to dodge a set number of attacks. Putting one up front means that the enemy will miss their first couple of attacks. You can change units before battles or even in battle, so long as you haven't deployed them, so try out different setups to figure out the best possible units.

Complete town deliveries and post a guard ASAP

Many quests and battles in Unicorn Overlord will result in you liberating a town. Many of these towns have taken damage and need you to complete deliveries to repair that town. There will be between one and three deliveries, which require materials found throughout the world. Completing the deliveries earns you renown and gives you the ability to station a guard there. You can pick any character to be the guard and they will collect gold and materials after every battle for you. You can also only give characters gifts when they are stationed in a town. Don't worry, stationed characters are still available in combat, so always post one whenever possible.

Explore the map and do side quests

Exploring the map outside of combat has tons of benefits. First, there are plenty of items and side quest-related secrets to find in the world. For the side quests, like stone circles and carvings, even if you don't have the character that lets you complete these yet, interacting with them will mark them on your map, making it easier to go back to them later. You can also find lots of side quests and towns to liberate. Not only do you get the benefits of liberating more towns, but there are tons of characters you can recruit from completing side quests, so exploring as much as possible before heading to the main quest can be really beneficial.

Consider your choices and consequences

Occasionally, you will get a choice at the end of a quest, typically related to how you want to deal with an enemy character. Some of the choices are very clear about their outcomes, like choosing between executing a character and recruiting them, but sometimes the choices don't make the outcome clear. You aren't really impacting the main story with these choices, but instead impacting your ability to recruit certain characters. If you aren't sure what to do, try picking the option that would benefit the character in question the most, as endearing them typically allows you to recruit them.

Pay attention to battle previews

In combat, when you direct a unit to move toward an enemy, you will get a preview of what the outcome of the battle will be. This preview appears again when you are about to enter combat, which will inform you of how much damage both sides will take. If you deal more damage, it counts as a victory, putting the enemy in a weakened state where you get to strike first in the next battle against them. When two units are about to battle, you cannot run away, but you can swap with a nearby unit. You also have the option to use items, so if you have damage- or defense-boosting items, you can use them to sway the outcome in your favor.

Teleport to rapport conversations from the menu

As you increase your rapport level between different characters, which is necessary for Alain to romance characters, you will unlock rapport conversations between the characters. While Alain can have these with pretty much every non-mercenary character that joins your army, certain characters can have rapport conversations with other characters. These conversations take place in specific spots on the map and aren't marked on the overworld map. However, if you go to the rapport section of the menu, if you scroll down to where speech bubbles are indicating a conversation, you can teleport to that area by selecting that speech bubble. Viewing a rapport battle earns you two honors, which are used to upgrade your unit size and upgrade characters to advanced classes, so they are worth doing.

Battle exclamation enemies for easy gold

Outside of the larger cities and near forts you can find characters in yellow uniforms with a sword icon above their heads. These characters typically represent the different classes that are available to hire at that specific fort. These characters also offer the opportunity to do a mock battle against them to see how to best deal with their class. If you can fully deplete their health bar in a single battle--which is indicated by a skull appearing above their health bar--they will award you a couple thousand gold, offering a quick way to earn some extra cash.

Tavern meals and gifts

While characters earn renown slowly by completing battles in the same unit, if you want to quickly boost rapport the best way is through gifts and tavern meals. Taverns can be found in most large cities and castles. Each tavern has three meal options, with each meal having a different cost and offering a different amount of rapport. Each meal also has a different amount of slots available, letting you add multiple people to one meal. Each character will earn the same amount of rapport with every other character in the meal--assuming they can have a rapport relationship with them. As for gifts, you can give these to any character stationed as a guard in a different town, giving a flat amount of rapport.

Spam XP boosts

Since your units only gain XP when participating in battle--and only get more than a small amount when defeating an enemy unit--you will likely struggle to keep all of your units at an appropriate level for where you are in the story. There are two boosts that you have at your disposal from the start of the game, Alain's Royal Order valor ability and Liquid Fortune. Alain's valor ability Royal Order costs two valor points and provides a 100% XP boost for their next battle. Since it only applies to one battle, you need to time it for when that unit will defeat another unit to get the maximum amount. Liquid Fortune doubles XP and Gold for the next 20 seconds for a single unit, so you don't need to wait until they are set up to defeat an enemy unit, but instead before they battle several units in a row.

Use map weapons, valor abilities, and items to level weak units

Another way to level underpowered units is to avoid direct combat altogether. If you defeat a unit outside of combat via another method, the unit using that other method still gets the full XP reward. Some examples are catapults or ballistas that can be found in some battles. These deal a set amount of damage, so having an under-leveled unit operate these can earn them some extra XP. The same goes for offensive valor abilities and items, which also deal a set amount of damage.

Don't abuse an overpowered unit

While it might be tempting to use an overpowered character or unit to steamroll through battles, this will leave you severely under-leveled later on. The reason is that when a character is a higher level than the enemy they are fighting, at least 4 to 5 levels and above higher, the amount of XP awarded is significantly reduced, offering only 20-30 XP for defeating an enemy. These units can be used to roll bosses or tougher units, but you will want to fight other enemies with units that will actually earn XP from fighting.

Optimize tactics, either manually or automatically

Combat happens automatically, but you can tailor how units fight by setting their tactics. Tactics can distance what order they use abilities in or what situations they use them in. If a move grants a bonus for defeating an enemy with it, you can set the tactic to use it if an enemy is at less than 25% HP. You can target specific types of classes, rows, or columns with abilities. If that all sounds like a bit much, if you go to the character list, you can optimize a character's tactics and equipment with a single button press. This has to be done for each individual character and it will only use equipment that is currently not in use by another character.