Tales Of Berseria boasts one of the most in-depth and complicated combat systems compared to every other game in the Tales Of series. Players can execute special skills during combos and chain together melee attacks to create certain desired effects. More often than not, players should change their skills for each character to accommodate for the weaknesses of their enemies and not attack their resistances.
That being said, there're certain skills that are universally useful and can get players through most of the game without needing to switch too often. Equipping these skills and using them in combos is great for crawling through dungeons and defeating mid bosses with a well-equipped party.
Velvet
As the protagonist of Tales Of Berseria, Velvet's attack plan is pretty well-balanced. She's able to move around arenas with quick attacks and enhance her damage in her rage mode. Making use of her mobility and burst damage potential is the first step in making her work. In terms of martial artes, her "best" combo route would be gouging spin > gouging spin > harsh rebuttal > rising storm. These attacks give solid physical base damage and will work as long as the enemy isn't resistant to physical attacks.
Velvet's hidden artes all offer great versatility and use, but are also situational. Combining elemental attacks with her weakness hunter title grants bonus damage against enemies with targeted weaknesses. Some skills to look out for are Banishing Thunder and Cerberus Wave. Banishing Thunder closes gaps quickly and Cerberus Wave does massive damage at the cost of range. Using skills in tandem is what makes them powerful for Velvet.
Rokurou Rangetsu
Rokurou is another character with hard-hitting melee attacks and even more mobility than Velvet. He is able to close gaps unlike any other character while dealing damage along the way. Rokurou's Vengeful Stance is another tool to build his playstyle around because it essentially makes him invincible in a lot of situations. Bone Breaker> Mowing Blade> Concealed Blade> Mirage Dance is the most solid physical attack combo players can set up with Rokurou. It's effective at stunning enemies and keeping them in line during combos.
Armor Crusher is one of his most notable hidden artes since is cancels nicely into every hit of the combo listed above. Hurricane Thrust is another must-have since it helps to close the distance to an enemy very well, which can reset situations that might've caused distance like after using Infernal Bloom. For fans of Rokurou, learning to control him is imperative since his AI doesn't really do him justice.
Magilou
Magilou is one of the most interesting characters to play in any Tales Of game because of her unique attacks and combo system. As an example, a lot of her strongest melee attacks make her trip which actually means they shouldn't be used except for in specific conditions against certain bosses. She also doesn't have many devastating attacks and instead focuses on controlling enemy movemet and space control in the arena.
With that said, her strongest standard combo is Up the Sleeve > Atomos Glaive > Gliding Blast > Spirit Beads > Shrike Dive. This combo leads into Spirit Drop very well, which gives her more opportunities to stun her opponents. Magilou requires a lot of tweaking before fights because her attacks have two elemental properties at once. This is a pro and a con because some moves can be doubly powerful against certain enemies, and doubly weak against others. When using Magilou, be sure to check what artes are equipped regularly.
Laphicet
Laphicet's most positive point is his hidden artes and area of effect attacks. He's a very capable caster that can control large spaces well, while dealing above average damage. To make the most of his abilities, players should use titles to shorten his casting time and elemental damage. Two fan favorite Laphicet combos are Triflare > Frigid Pillar > Lunar Fountain > Void Mire > Dark Fangs and Blessed Drops > Void Mire (hold) > Dark Fangs > Divine Saber.
Blessed Drops should be put in almost every Laphicet combo since it hurts enemies that get too close to him and buffs his utility in battle. The combos are structured to either use Blessed Drops or lead into it, while also stealing enemy stats to buff his attack or defense.
Eizen
Eizen is a harder melee character to play because of his restrictions. For starters, he's very reliant on his earth and wind elemental artes. He only has one of each other element, and those are mostly dual elements, including either earth or wind in it. He also doesn't have a big variety of different damage types, lacking undead, apodous, and person type damage.
What he lacks in diversity, he makes up for in damage and stun. Getting Eizen in the right range is the most important part of using him effectively since he lacks range. Spells like Stone Lance and Geo Rumble are great since they slow enemies and allow for him to close any distance easily.
His go to combo is Lighthouse > Deceiving Pummel > Tempo > Last Throes for most enemies and this combos into his spells well. Make sure to use spells like Stone Lance effectively with his melee artes and Eizen will become a powerhouse on the battlefield.
Eleanor
Possibly the most versatile melee character in the game, Eleanor offers a lot of tools for players to work together with their party, or do solo damage. Her best artes are the ones that group enemies together to lead into her AoE melee attacks, and ones that keep enemies off of casters, so they have time to do their job. Because of this, she works extremely well with Laphicet who can capitalize on similar situations.
There's a lot to talk about with Eleanor because so many of her skills are useful and great but a standard bread and butter combo for her is Thermal Skewer > Roaring Thunder > Crushing Drop > Skewering Spear > R2/RT > Maelstrom > Rending Strike > Rock Swarm > Hexa Strike. Shock Drum is another notable move because it follows up well after her Break Soul. The best bet with Eleanor is to try things for yourself since she can do almost anything that's asked of her.