I used to never use auto-battle in anything, but right now, I just feel like it. My friend sits next to me playing the same game and does everything manually. My only gripe with tactics (auto) in DQXI is that it doesn't use the pep powers quite as often as I'd like. Interestingly, in the Tickington 2D levels, you can auto-battle but easily choose your own pep powers. In 3D it's somewhat hidden so you can't access it without making your character fully manual. I switched to manual once or twice to complete side quests that asked me to use specific pep powers. If you kept it in auto, they would never get used.


