Dungeons of Aether is an indie turned-basedRPGset in the same universe asRivals of Aetherand has you handling one of four characters. Challenge mode is a dungeon crawl, while Story Mode tells the tale of the Julesvale Caverns and the interwoven stories of the four protagonists.
Related:Rivals Of Aether - The Best Characters
Unlike other games, this one gives you enough of a tutorial to get you headed in the right direction. However, it leaves out a lot of tips and tricks that range from mildly useful to lifesaving. If you want to delve into the Julesvale Caverns with some useful knowledge, here are some things you should know before starting Dungeons of Aether.
7Accuracy Doesn’t Affect Hit Chance
In most games, if Accuracy is a stat, itdictates your chance for any given attack to hit. So, naturally, you might think it does something similar in Dungeons of Aether. Not so, since your opponent’s Defense and your Attack controls whether you land a hit.
Instead, your Accuracy dictates what attacks you can deploy, with more and more powerful options made available as it gets higher, but never more than your character knows. This number caps out around seven, but it varies for each character. In a way, it controls your chances to hit, since more powerful attacks sometimes make it easier to land a hit, and having a zero value means you can’t attack at all.
6Projections Don’t Apply Stat Changes From Attacks
The game is pretty helpful in showing you how the next turn is going to play out given the options you’ve chosen. If you’re going to whiff a hit or have your defenses broken, it will show an icon next to your Attack and Defense stat, and if you’re going to act second, it will show one near your Speed stat. The game will also tell you that you won’t land a hit if you highlight an attack.
Related:The Best RPGs on iOS
However, the game doesn’t factor in stat changes brought on by Attacks or Techniques in these projections. It might tell you that you won’t land a hit even though the attack gains a boost from its usage that would count towards your total. If you’re set to gain Defense from a move, the projections will still show that you’re going to get hit.
5Don’t Be Shy About Item Usage
In a lot of RPGs, there’s a tendency for players to hoard items for future use, theoretically tougher fights where the resources could be put to better use, only to never get used at all. Dungeons of Aether is not the kind of game that allows for this behavior.
All characters have space for three pieces of equipment, six items on their person, and one gem attached to their weapon. This means any hoarding behavior is rewarded with tough decisions aboutwhich items you’ll have to throw out when you find new ones. Also, characters can’t share items until you unlock the Bank, which has four slots to start with and can have seven max.
4Stamina Carries Over
Stamina is a powerful resource that allows you to fine-tune your stats when the dice aren’t quite in your favor (or if you draft poorly). It can be gained through various means, like from abilities or items and crucially, it carries over between fights. In Story mode, it even carries over between dungeon runs.
You’ll want to be judicious in your use of Stamina, since a little goes a long way, but it’s you might be tempted to use it to bridge a large gap and be wanting for it later. However, you don’t want to be too thrifty with it since you may only hold ten Stamina at a time.
3Keep An Eye On Enemy Abilities
Every character has unique abilities that make them play differently from the others. This is also true for the enemies, who have to be handled in different ways. Not only do they have varying HP, and different attacks and techniques, but they also have different innate abilities.
Related:The Best RPGs With Pixel Graphics
You can see if enemies have innate abilities by looking above their attack list, where there will be little white icons showing what they do. You have these same icons above your own attack list. Mousing over these icons will give you a description of what they do.
2Empty Potion Bottles Aren’t Trash
Whenever youuse a potion item, it leaves behind an empty bottle. Now, your first thought might be that it’s vendor trash at best and taking up precious inventory at worst, but they actually have a decent use.
Whenever you visit a tile with a source of water, you’ll actually refill the bottle with water. These Bottles of Water can be used in combat to give you a Stamina die with the value of one. Not spectacular, but sometimes, one point can make all the difference.
Also, you’ll sometimes encounter some thirsty fellows in the dungeon, and while you can give them a potion-type item for a decent chunk of cash, if you want to save your potent potables for a fight, you can revisit them with a Bottle of Water instead.
1Challenge Dungeons Are A Different Beast
Though they run on the same system, Challenge Dungeons and Story Mode are very different experiences. Story Mode, as its name suggests, gives you a story to play through. In addition to its plot, you are also slowly introduced to each character and how they work, as well as the mechanics of the game in general.
Challenge Dungeons, on the other hand, already expects you to know how the game works and how to play each character. There’s not much of a story and it pulls no punches out of the gate. You should only doChallenge Dungeons after you’ve beaten the Story Mode, otherwise, you might be in for a beatdown. Either way, building upgrades don’t carry over between the modes.
