ah, yes, always always always snipe as much bravery as you possibly can before going for the HP hit. The reason: the more bravery you have, the more damage you do when you hit for HP. If you can, knock your opponent's bravery down to zero (bravery break); it gives you the stage bravery, which is usually a sizable boost, and I usually won battles by getting in two brave-breaks and two associated HP hits.

I played on action mode, but that's mostly because I am idiotically stubborn. If I ever go back to finish all the extra stuff in Dissidia, I will almost certainly have to do it in RPG mode. I'm just good enough to get through on sheer determination, but not enough for extras.