Valkyria Chronicles 2 PSP: CP, Camps and Classes

In Valkyria Chronicles 2, plan the route to the objective before spending your Command Points. The PSP game combines a tactical overview with direct control of individual soldiers. A good shot matters, but choosing the right unit, camp and sequence of actions often matters more.

This beginner guide covers the original PSP release. It focuses on the campaign’s basic decisions: how CP differs from AP, why gateway camps change your options, and why raising a class level is not the same as promoting every cadet.

Treat CP and AP as different budgets

Command Points buy actions during your phase. Action Points determine how far the selected unit can move during an activation. Selecting the same soldier repeatedly reduces the AP available on later activations that phase, so repeatedly choosing your fastest character does not provide unlimited full-distance runs.

Look at the whole route before selecting a soldier. Identify the destination, the likely resistance and a safe stopping point. If the unit cannot finish the job in one activation, decide whether another unit can help before committing the first one to exposed ground.

Do not confuse a successful attack with a successful action. A soldier who wins a duel but ends the phase somewhere indefensible may cost you more on the next turn. Use the remaining movement deliberately after attacking when the situation permits it.

Use camps to change the shape of the mission

The manual distinguishes base, gateway and regular camps. Gateway camps connect areas; losing a base camp can decide the battle. Capturing an enemy camp requires infantry to clear the area and interact with its flag. A vehicle can help remove resistance, but it does not perform that final capture.

Read the victory conditions before treating every enemy as an equally important target. If a camp opens access to the required area, the useful plan may be to clear a short route and move through it. If your own base is threatened, pushing one more soldier forward can be the wrong priority.

After a capture, pause at the overview and reassess. Ask which unit should stay, which role is needed next and whether the new access makes an older route unnecessary. Camp control is a way to organize the squad, not merely another icon to collect.

Give each class a task

These roles are a starting vocabulary, not a rule that every mission needs the same lineup. Read the briefing and bring the tools needed for its actual problems. A squad prepared only for infantry may have an awkward answer to armor; a collection of heavy specialists may struggle to cover the route quickly.

Keep support within a useful distance of the units it serves. “I brought an Engineer” does not help much if reaching the wounded soldier costs more actions than you can spare. When a plan fails, inspect the location of each role as well as its equipment.

For a different approach to tactical party building, compare Jeanne d’Arc on PSP. The PSP strategy guide can also help you choose between direct movement, grid tactics and longer character-development systems.

Class levels and promotion credits are separate

Training at the Drill Grounds spends experience on a class. Individual advancement also requires the appropriate credits. Avan can move between the basic soldier classes; other cadets progress within their assigned class branch. A higher training level therefore does not mean that every member has automatically changed specialization.

Inspect the desired promotion before choosing a repeat mission. The original PSP walkthrough points players to the mission briefing for available credits and to the in-battle Credits and Evaluation screens for contribution information. That is more useful than assuming every completed mission awards the same result.

Choose one near-term development goal and give the relevant cadet meaningful work. After the mission, inspect the actual reward. If the required credit did not arrive, check the mission and contribution details before concluding that the promotion menu is broken. Avoid building a whole squad plan around a reward you have not yet earned.

Make academy preparation a short routine

Academy Mode provides training, research and character events between operations. Use that interval to turn a lesson from the previous mission into a concrete improvement. If armor stopped your advance, reconsider the anti-vehicle option. If movement was the issue, look at deployment and routes before spending everything on raw damage.

1. Read the next mission’s objective and available rewards.
2. Review the classes and equipment needed for that objective.
3. Check whether a desired promotion is actually available.
4. Keep a normal save before a long or unfamiliar mission.
5. After returning, identify one preparation change that would have helped.

This keeps preparation connected to what you are playing. It is easy to spend a long time comparing every possible future subclass without making the next battle clearer. Learn the current squad first, then expand its options when you can explain the benefit.

A useful first-run mindset

Aim for a controlled clear before trying to reproduce a fast ranking route. On the first attempt, learn where resistance appears and how the areas connect. On a later attempt, shorten the route and remove actions that did not help the objective. Speed is easier to improve when you understand what the mission is asking.

Record a specific reason for a loss: the base was left open, a soldier stopped in exposed ground, or the wrong weapon reached a vehicle. Each diagnosis suggests a change. “The squad is too weak” is less useful until you have checked those simpler possibilities.

The campaign’s mixture of action and planning is different from the systems in our Tactics Ogre version comparison. Keep normal progress saves while experimenting; the save guide explains how those differ from emulator states.

Common questions

Can I activate the same soldier more than once?

Yes, if you have the necessary CP, but repeated activations reduce that soldier’s available movement during the phase.

Can a tank capture a camp?

Infantry must perform the capture at the flag, even when a vehicle cleared the resistance.

Why can’t a cadet take the next class?

Inspect that character’s required credits and class branch. Training experience and individual promotion are related but separate systems.

Should I copy an advanced squad immediately?

Use a setup whose roles you understand. A powerful late-game arrangement may depend on promotions and equipment you have not unlocked.

Sources and edition notes

• SEGA: Valkyria Chronicles II original manual, archived
• Suih: original PSP campaign and credit guide
• vanalpsen: original PSP class research
• WorthPlaying: original PSP hands-on review
• Siliconera: hands-on multi-map demonstration