Read this if you want to know about Grids and setting a creature's Commands and AI. The unique, staggered battle system of BD is made possible because of a monster's Artificial Intelligence. Grids have been added to the new version, and they sure do spring a lot of confusion.

What is a Grid?
What is Artificial Intelligence?
What is AI?
How do I set my Grid?
How do I set my AI?
What is Energy?
What is Power?
What is Magic?
What is Special?
What is the point of Over-Slotting a tech?

---

What is a Grid? The Grid is a listing of the actions a monster brings with it to battle. A monster will only be able to use up to twelve of the spells, techs, and skills it knows inside of battle.
The Grid consists of three different bars: Power, Magic, and Special. Each bar is four energy levels deep. At each level on each bar, you may slot one tech.
How do I set my Grid? To set a creature's grid, log into your account. On the creature's page for which you wish to set the grid, click on the appropriate sub-tab.
You will be presented with a list of techniques that your monster currently knows. To the right of that list will be three seperate meters: Power, Magic, and Special, each marked with a button. To the right of those are the four energy levels of each meter, in sequence and numbered accordingly. This is the representation of your monster's Grid.
There are two ways to slot a technique into the Grid. Both beging the same -- select a technique from the list. When you click on the tech, you will be given a short description of what it does. You will also notice -- in both the description and next to the tech's name in the list -- the tech's Spell Level and details about which bars it may be slotted to. Techs can only be slotted to Energy Levels (EL) in the Grid equal to or greater than that tech's Spell Level (SL).
The first way to slot a tech is to click on the Power, Magic, or Special buttons to load the technique into the respective bar. It will be slotted at the EL equal to the tech's SL.
The second way to slot a tech is to click on the area in the grid where you wish the tech to be slotted. This is the only way you can slot a technique to an EL greater than the tech's SL. This is known as over-slotting a tech.
Spells must be slotted at a higher level than anything else on a given bar (other than those techs at Energy Level 1). Lower levels must be filled in before higher levels are. Every slot along the first energy level must be filled.
By selecting for a Grid to be used as a Default Grid, it will be what that creature's grid is set to every time that monster is challenged. You may customize a monster's grid on a per-battle situation if you wish, and you may change your monster's default grid at a future date.
If you are currently engaged to do battle, you may opt that a Grid only be used for that battle; your Default Grid will remain uneffected.
What is Artificial Intelligence? The Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, of a creature is a list of what actions it will take next in battle. It is kept in the form of references to that creature's current Grid. It should be noted that if you change a creature's grid, its AI will use the same sequence of events on the new Grid as it did the old, which will probably be radically different than you originally planned.
How do I set my AI? To set a creature's grid, log into your account. On the creature's page for which you wish to set the AI, click on the appropriate sub-tab.
You will be presented with your creature's previously set Grid, presented in the same fashion as which you set it. To the left of it will be a growing list of the commands you select to use in battle.
To set a command in your creature's AI, simply click on the button with the tech's name on it. You will receive information on the technique as you roll your mouse over it. Using a technique will decrease that bar's energy by an amount equal to the level the tech was slotted at (that is, using a technique slotted at EL 1 will decrease it by one; a tech at EL 3, the bar will decrease by three).
The other two bars will both increase by one point each to a maximum energy of however many techs were slotted in the respective bar.
You can set up to thirty commands to use in your AI. You can always add or change your AI any time after battle begins.
It is this AI system that is the reason you need to pick good weak techs as well as stronger ones; they will be used more often. In fact, at any point during a fight, you will be able to use at least one SL 2. You could opt to do nothing but cycle between all of your SL 2 techniques.
What is Energy? Energy shows how much or how powerful of commands a monster will be able to use in battle. Energy is represented by three meters: Power, Magic, and Special.
What is Power? The Power Bar can hold any technique that does not contain the Cast or Banish effect. When training a spell slotted in the Power Bar, the amount of practice rating increased is proportional to a familiar's Strength and Defense.
What is Magic? The Magic Bar can hold any technique that does not contain the Attack effect. When training a spell slotted in the Magic Bar, the amount of practice rating increased is proportional to a familiar's Arcane and Virtue.
What is Special? The Special Bar can hold any technique that has more than just either the Attack, Cast, or Banish effect, that is, has at least one effect that does not directly deal damage. When training a spell slotted in the Special Bar, the amount of practice rating increased is proportional to a familiar's Strike and Agility.
What is the point of Over-Slotting a tech? If you place a spell or technique at a higher Energy Level on the Grid than that technique's Spell Level, it is over-slotted.
An over-slotted technique does not become stronger than if you had slotted the same technique at a lower level. It also still costs the same energy as the EL at which it was slotted to use, not the SL of the tech (that is, an SL 2 tech slotted at EL 3 still takes three energy to use, not two).
There are two reasons that you could want to over-slot a technique. One is to have more techs available to use in battle. By squeezing more techs inside of your grid, you will have access to a greater variety of techs during battle, although the over-slotted technique and all those that may be over-slotted above it will cost more energy to use than if you had not over-slotted the tech.
The other reason is to get more energy. This strategy is particularly true if your monster has a spell you do not plan on using much or only once at the beginning of a certain battle. By expanding the size of one of your bars, it can hold more energy than it would have been able to had it not contained an over-slotted tech.