Tips For Newbies

This guide will provide helpful tips for those of you who are new to RD. Feel free to reply with any tips that you think will help newbies out, but try not to give away too much info. :p

Tips for Newbies

UPDATE FOR PROLOGUE

The Prologue is quite long, but it is highly recommended to finish it. It will get you used to the basics of battling and certain strategies for Rogue Dynasty.
Be sure to read all the Tutorial messages and Tips that pop up on the map and at the bottom of the battle screen.
Siforzi Boss tips:

Siforzi is the first battle you encounter and serves as a battle tutorial. It should be extremely easy as long as you follow the directions in the tutorial.
Use Phoenix Pinion and Rage Potion when the tutorial tells you too. Pinion will give you Auto-Life and prevent unexpected death from Siforzi's Limit attack.
Rage Potion will give you full limit bar and allow you to use Omnislash which will do massive damage. Siforzi will most likely get full limit after you use it so be sure to have Auto-Life or full HP.
Siforzi's Limit attack will do over 2000 damage so if you see his limit bar is close to full, use an Elixir.
Siforzi may set Burn status on your, don't let your HP get too low or it can kill you on your turn.
Keep Tranquil status on Siforzi by using the Spirit Break skill as the tutorial instructs.
Be sure to Equip the Ark of Millions of Years into your accessory slot after defeating Siforzi.
It is recommended NOT to change any other Equips at this point. KoN KoA's Raiden's armor absorbs Gravity which allows him to heal easily with his Neutron Star and Atomos skills by targetting yourself. This is explained in the Tips during battles.
In the Jungle map, you may encounter some random monsters that should be easy. Midgard blocks Gravity, so don't bother using Atomos or Graviga. Stick with Black Sky or Black Orb Slash and use Blood Weapon and Gravity skills to heal.
Tiamat and King Behemoth do not block Gravity so you can use Atomos and Gravija to reduce their HP by 25, 50, or 75%. Graviga has a chance of miss, so Atomos is the better option.
King Behemoth will cast Meteor as it dies, so make sure your HP isn't low when you deal the final blow.
In Yuanlan, you will encounter Summoner enemies at a high rate. FOR ALL PROLOGUE MAPS follow the numbered locations in order ([1], [2], [3] etc). There is no need to explore off path and with the high encounter rate, you will easily get lost or at least be very annoyed by the constant encounters as you try to get back to the main path.
Use Atomos to reduce the Summoners' HP fast and Black Orb Slash or Black Sky to finish them off. Heal with Neutron Star, Blood Weapon, and Atomos.
There is a chance they will summon Alexander which will deal 5000+ damage due to your Holy weakness. Keep Auto-Life just in case.
At this point you may also want to change your Shield equip to remove the Holy Weakness. You can change to Skull Shield. This will reduce your magic defense, however, which is needed against summons.
Shaperia Boss Tips:

Shaperia will be the 2nd Boss battle. The easiest way to pass this battle is to use Hero Drinks. Use one before the battle to start with Peerless (Invincibility) and after 10 turns you can use another from your Item menu (equip it before the battle).
Without Hero Drinks, the battle is a bit difficult. Just keep Compression on yourself at all times with Neutron Star and heal with Blood Weapon or Elixirs.
Shaperia blocks all statuses so don't bother with any statuses. Just buff yourself with ATK UP and keep using Black Sky skill.
Keep Tranquil on Shaperia at all times with Spirit Break skill. If she reaches limit she will start spamming Bahamut, dealing major damage to you every turn.
As with the Summoner enemies, keep Auto-Life on in case Alexander is summoned and consider changing your Shield.
After defeating Shaperia, you will get her as a playable party member. It is recommended to switch to Shaperia for the next area.
There is no need to change Shaperia's equips, but you can equip her with the Ark of Millions of Years if you like.
The next map is Alexandria where you will encounter Holy based enemies at a high rate. Again, follow the numbered locations in order, DO NOT go off path.
Shaperia's charm allows her to cast Shadowga from her Magic menu. Use this to defeat the Paladins in 1 or 2 hits as they are highly weak against Shadow.
Anima and Bahamut Summons are also very effective.
Use Choco/Mog and Carbuncle summons to target yourself to buff.
Use Phoenix summon to keep Auto-Life on.
Brachtis Boss Tips:

Brachtis will be the 3rd Boss battle. I see a lot of players use KoN KoA because he is higher level, but Shaperia is much more effective with her Shadowga.
Buff and keep Auto-Life on. Brachtis' Limit attack will do 9999 damage. You can also use Guardian Angel Feather to double your max HP to survive this.
Brachtis can also summon Alexander which will 5000+ if you are still using KoN KoA with Satan's Breath shield.
Should be extremely easy for Shaperia.
The final area is Dinah where you will encounter Amazon enemies at a high rate. Again FOLLOW THE NUMBERS! I can't stress this enough. I see too many players getting lost and giving up because of the high encounter rate. If you follow the numbers, you will only have to do maybe 5~10 battles before reaching the boss.
At this point, you can choose any character to use. You will now have Brachtis as a playable party member. Shaperia is still the most effective against the Amazons due to their low Magic Defense, but KoN KoA and Brachtis can handle them well.
Final Battle Tips:

Winonia and Phoenix will be the Final Boss battle. If you have an Hero Drinks left, you may want to use one before the battle and take 1 or 2 in your items slots.
Without Hero Drinks, Winonia is fairly easy. She is weak against Shadow so Shaperia or KoN KoA is recommended.
Once you defeat Winonia, she will Summon Phoenix and you will immediate go to the next battle without a chance to heal or equip so be prepared for Phoenix going into the Winonia battle.
KoN KoA is recommended, Shaperia is effective as well. For ANY CHARACTER, equip the Satan's Breath Shield back on to block Phoenix's powerful Firaga spells. This will make the battle SO much easier.
DO NOT let Phoenix get full Limit. It will use Rebirth and get Auto-Life which will revive it to half HP and extend the battle and use up your potions. Use Spirit Break to keep Tranquil on Phoenix at all times.
Once you defeat Phoenix the Prologue will end and you can create your first character and start the real game!
Follow these steps and the Tutorials and Tips and the Prologue is SUPER easy! It literally gives you everything you need to win. I see too many new players struggling and giving up in the Prologue and it's obvious that they aren't reading the tips and tutorials!

These tips are for after you finish the Prologue and create your first character.
I see a lot of new players skipping the Prologue then not knowing what to do. PLEASE FINISH THE PROLOGUE!
I also see a lot of players skipping or running away from the Mayakan Trainer. This battle gives important information about the class you chose for your character. Also, if you finish it, you instantly level up to level 2 and get 500 gold and a free Accessory! This helps a lot for the monsters around Mayakan Kingdom and saves you gold since accessories are expensive!
When creating a character, take into consideration the combination of class and race. If you aren’t sure what a class or race is you can check the descriptions of each class and race in the Library. Using the right combinations of physical and magical based classes and races can make your character start out stronger.
If you are just starting and don’t have much gold, you should only make 1 or 2 characters for a while. The Inns cost 100 gold per character (not including characters that are dead or in battle) so if you make 5 characters right when you start you will have to shell out 500 gold each time you use the Inn. Even if only one character needs healed.
UPDATE:Inns in this version are only 50 gold per character. ^^ I still don't recommend making 5 characters at the start though.
More classes and races will be available at higher levels. You will need certain items to upgrade your character to a higher tier class and only certain classes can upgrade to certain other classes. Higher-level classes have certain advantages over others, or are combinations of lower level classes.
If it is your first time in the RPG Map, here is the best way to find your way around Mayakan Kingdom (the default starting point):

Go down from the Mayakan Arena and through the Back Alley. As you enter the Center Square, go East (right) and you will notice the locations are numbered (Ex. Center Square [2], Center Square [3], etc).
Following the numbers in order will take you around the perimeter of the square where the shops are.
When you get to Center Square [3] and you will come to the Pharmacy and Inn. These are the most important shops. The Pharmacy is where you buy items to heal and revive your characters, and the Inn can be used to fully restore all your characters’ HP and MP.
From there go South (Down) to Center Square [6] and you will come to the Weapon Shop.
From there go West (Left) to Center Square [10] and you will come to the Armor and Shield Shops.
From there go North (Up) to Center Square [13] and you will come to the Jewelry (Accessory) and Souvenir (Head Gear) shops. These are the least important of the shops. Accessories are pretty expensive so you might want to wait a while before buying any if you are low on gold. However, you can buy a bandana from the souvenir shop. Like shields, headgear add a little defense and are usually inexpensive.
Go East from [13] and you will be back at the start.

This set up provides an easy circle where you can find the shops, but as you get more gold, you will want to leave Mayakan Kingdom and find better shops. The exits can also be found on the perimeter of the square.
In Mayakan Kingdom there is a “Pacing Man” in the Center Square that will provide updates and information about the locations. Whenever we add new locations he will give hints to where they are. He will always be in the Center Square, but may change location to a different number. (He may move from Center Square [3] to Center Square [7], for example.) If he changes location, that most likely means that we have updated him and you should find him and see what he says.
When buying weapons from the Mayakan Weapon Shop, take into consideration the class of your characters. Each class has a “preferred weapon type” which can be found in the classes’ descriptions in the Library. Equipping a character with their preferred weapon type allows them to do extra damage. So, you should only buy the weapon types that are preferred by your characters and save your gold. (Note that some classes share preferred weapon types.)
Before buying any items it is best to check out their stats, which can be viewed in their descriptions in the Library.
UPDATE: You can now simply click on the item's name in the shop and it's stats will pop up.
UPDATE FOR NEW PVE BATTLES:
If you are just starting and have no equipment or gold, go to one of the Mayakan Bridges and keep entering the bridge until you encounter Alfador, Boco, or Fidor. These are "Beginner" monsters and are easy for characters with no equipment. You can only encounter them until level 5.
Travel to Center Square [15] and open the Treasure Chest here for a free weapon. The weapon obtained will depend on the class of your character.
On the Mayakan Bridges, you will see a "Bridge Bulletin". Click on it and start the daily hunt then defeat 5 Alfadors on the Bridges. This will get you a free armor.
Beginner Monsters will drop level 1 shield and bandanas.
If you follow those tips, you will get a full set of level 1 equipment for FREE, so save your gold and don't buy level 1 equipment. (Note: If you are using Scout, you will need to buy arrows and Thief can use another dagger in Off-Hand, but it's not required. You can still use your free shield.)
Once you have a at least a weapon and armor or reach level 5, you should be able to go up against the monsters in the Forest, Mountain, or River Path. These monsters can drop accessories like Green Ring and Black Ring, which are VERY expensive in the shops so again, save your money and farm them from monsters! They can also be sold for half price so it's a good way to make gold!
Don't forget you can get gold from posting in the forums! Just don't spam!
Don't be ashamed to run. Running in PVP battles gets you a loss on your win/loss record; but running in PVE battles has no negative impact. If you are low level, especially level 1, don't be ashamed to run from higher level monsters. In the areas surrounding Mayakan Kingdom, there are level 5 monsters. The encounter system makes it rare for a level 1 to encounter level 5 monsters, but it can happen. Since level 5 is a higher level tier (5~10), a level 1 characters mostly doesn't stand a chance against a level 5 monster so it may be best to run away.
Take a Warp Sphere when you leave Mayakan Kingdom. If you get stuck in the surrounding maps with no potions, you can warp back to your save point which is always at a potion shop. If you want to save money, you can also purposely get GAME OVER and you will be sent back to your save point as well. To get GAME OVER, all your characters must be dead. You will be sent back to your save point where you can buy revives to revive them.
Fire is your friend. Fire based attacks and skills have a small chance to inflict the Burn status effect, which takes 10% HP each turn. Most of the monsters in the low level maps do not block or absorb Burn status effect. If you don't have any fire skills or want a 100% chance to Burn the enemy the Incendiary Grenade item sets Burn for 10 turns, which means it can kill a monster after 10 turns. All you have to do is survive. Incendiary Grenades can't be bought at Mayakan Kingdom so you will have to make it to Peak City or Oldelm. The easiest way is to take the Airship and bypass the Mountains to Peak City. It will cost you 500 gold for each time you take the Airship though. Also, Incendiary Grenades aren't cheap. They are around 1000 gold, but well worth it if you want to take down monsters that are higher than your level.
UPDATE FOR NEW BOSS BATTLES:
The default starting point in Mayakan Kingdom is now at the Mayakan Arena. If your main character is still level 1, you can challenge the Mayakan Trainer Boss. This is a tutorial boss that will teach you about your chosen class. If you finish the tutorial you will gain 100 exp which is enough to instantly level up to level 2 as well as 500 gold and a free Ring accessory. As said above, accessories are very expensive, so save your gold and take advantage of the free Yellow Ring dropped by this boss!