Spell Brigade will look natural to most roguelike players, but like any other game from this genre, it has its own perks that need to be investigated and understood before playing. Leveling up, getting enchantments, choosing spells and their infusions, etc., are some basic things that this game brings.
We won’t claim we know every nook and cranny of this wizard adventure game, but we will say that after dozens of hours we’ve spent fighting, we know a thing or two about survival in the dangerous grounds of Spell Brigade land. Some of our experiences were laid out in our Spell Brigade first impressions write-up, which can give you a quick overview of what you can expect in Spell Brigade.
The Game Setup
The game is still in early access, so writing a Spell Brigade beginner’s guide can be limiting, but we nevertheless took on the task. It currently features three maps (realms), each more challenging than the previous one, with various terrain obstacles. When it comes to difficulties, as soon as you complete the easier ones, new ones will unlock.
The game has 13 different wizards (characters). Wizards differ only in their starting spells and buffs/debuffs, which means you are not limited from using a certain spell(s) just because you’ve chosen a particular wizard. Pay special attention to the hitbox perks of some wizards, as smaller ones can help you dodge enemies better.
You can play solo or in a coop with up to 4 players, but in reality, there are rarely enough players in the matchmaking pool to make a full stack. Most of the time, you’ll be playing with 1 more player (if you’ve chosen to play online matchmaking) or even alone when the server can’t find a teammate. Another thing is that leaving the match doesn’t seem to come with any penalties, so it’s also possible that you’ve started the game with two teammates, but after five minutes, you find yourself playing alone.
Fighting Time
There are a few things you should know before jumping into a run. First of all, there will be a couple of objectives throughout the round that give you spell augmentations if completed successfully. These can be really powerful, so try to complete the objective if you can. Also, these augments can be found in loot boxes placed around the map that you’ll need to find by exploring.
Not surprisingly, at the end of each run, there will be a boss that you need to kill if you want to have that realm and/or difficulty beaten. The boss is the same across all maps and difficulties, with more HP and damage.
If you’re playing solo, you will automatically revive after a few seconds once you’re down. However, in a team setting, you will need to revive killed teammates by standing in the circle of their gravestone. Whenever your teammate is down, you will see an icon with their wizard appear, showing you where they are. Pay attention to this, as playing without one player can be hard.
Spells Rule the Game
You have one starting spell, and other ones are offered to you on certain level-up milestones. Levels 5, 15, and 25 give you a choice of three random spells from which you have to take one. Read the descriptions carefully and try out all the spells in your first playthroughs to fully understand how they work.
We would classify spells in Spell Brigade in three categories: active, passive, and defensive. Active spells would be all those that let your character shoot projectiles that chase enemies and hit them. Passive would be spells that let you place different things behind you as you walk, damaging enemies that touch them. And lastly, there are spells that we like to call defensive because they rely on damaging only those enemies that get really close to you.
For beginners, we advise you to minimize using the passive spells because these can be harder to control. Defensive ones that let you clear out any enemies close to you are by far the most comfortable for new players.
Upgrading and Infusing Spells
As you will quickly notice, every spell you have equipped can be upgraded with various buffs to make it more lethal for the hordes chasing you. On spell level 7 and spell level 14, you will get a chance to infuse your spell with elements, making it more powerful. As you use new infusions and infusion combos, you will unlock new ones for future games.
Keep in mind that the upgrades you choose will influence the upgrades you are offered in the future. For example, if you’re currently using Aether Beam and Moonerang, and on level up you choose a Moonerang upgrade, you will overall get more Moonerang buffs. Remember this so you can get to spell level 7 and the infusions as soon as possible.
How Hard Can It Be?
When talking about challenges that you’ll see in Spell Brigade, we’re talking about a couple of things. First of all, you will have a clear difficulty setting (Threat level) that allows you to control how powerful and tanky the enemies are, and as we already mentioned, you will unlock harder difficulties when you complete a run in an easier one.
On top of that, the realms (maps) offer challenges of their own. Terrain obstacles that make it hard to move, or even straight up, can damage you, and will become common as you climb up the map ladder. That is why it’s best to master the basics of the game in the Verdant Meadows (the first map), after which you can try the other ones and not feel overwhelmed.
The difficulty levels that we described will really test you, so we suggest you tread lightly when deciding to try a higher Threat level. At first, it will look like something you can manage, but one or two slips in your strategy, and you will find yourself surrounded by hordes you can’t kill.
The last thing worth mentioning here is that playing with others will make your run harder as well. For example, the in-game objectives will be more difficult because there are more of you that can contribute.
Spell Brigade Beginner Tips and Tricks
Some things can be learned by reading in-game descriptions and rules, while others can only be learned through experience. And those experience-driven pieces of advice are the gold of any article.
Picking Up Upgrades
First gold advice we can give you is that early on in the game, it’s best to tunnel vision spell-focused level-up upgrades instead of those that give you general upgrades like armor, luck, or overall spell boosts. The only exception for those “neutral” upgrades would be if they are Epic or Legendary and their buff is huge, like +17 to XP gain or +18% to Move Speed. The reason behind this is simple – you need horde-clearing powers, and this is the best way to achieve that is to get spell infusions asap. And you can get them quickly by only leveling up spells.
Know Thy Enemy
You will encounter many different types of enemies in Spell Brigade, and it will mean a lot for you to know how to behave around them. For example, there will be times when you will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies chasing you. When this happens, try and find explosive bugs (they have a big rear pointed upwards, you can’t miss them) and trigger them by approaching very close and then swiftly moving away. They will explode a few seconds after they are triggered, and that will help you clear the waves and even kill off some of the tougher enemies.
Healer enemies can be one of your biggest worries when a horde piles up on the map. Your spells chip away at individual enemies’ HP, but these healers slowly heal them, replenishing what was lost. Because of that, it’s smart to target them if you can. One of the things that can help you with this is spell augmentation that appears from time to time and allows for a certain spell to target enemies with the highest HP in the range. That will target and kill healers more quickly.
Take Objectives Seriously, But Not at All Costs
Objectives will pop up at random time intervals during your run, and it’s vital to try and complete them whenever you can. Each successfully completed objective gives you a spell augmentation, which can mean a lot, since these types of upgrades only appear after a completed objective and from chests hidden on the map. Spell augmentations give you specific upgrades for your spell, like an additional projectile fired, an explosion at the end of the projectile’s path, the projectile targets the enemies with the highest HP, etc.
Still, don’t always blindly go for objectives. Since these pop up in random parts of the map, an objective may be put in a narrow space on the edge of the map where you can easily get surrounded by enemies that you can’t kill, and where you can quickly die. When you notice these risky situations, just walk away, as you don’t get any penalty for not completing the objective.
Enchantments Matter
After each match, you will get a certain amount of gold that you can spend on enchantments. The enchantments are permanent buffs to your character that can always be refunded and repurchased, so you don’t have to think too much about which one to take. The choice of enchantments will often depend on the Wizard you choose because you’ll want to play to every Wizard’s strengths that you can improve through these unique upgrades.
However, there are some that we would call a must for most Wizards, if not all. The first one is Luck. Luck boosts your chances of getting higher rarity upgrades on level up. So, for example, you will get more upgrades that improve things like your spell’s range, or damage by 20 or 25% instead of 10 or 15%. This also works for other, neutral upgrades, so your chances of getting +36 armor will be higher than getting a regular upgrade that only gives +10.
Spell cooldown is another important enchantment you should look out for. It essentially acts as attack speed, because it reduces the time it takes for your spell to refresh and strike enemies again. Upgrading critical damage and critical chance naturally always pairs great with boosted attack speed for plenty of those deadly strikes with increased damage.
Also, it would be smart to pick up XP gain enchantment since it will give you more spell upgrades and faster infusions. Health regen is one that can quickly slip your mind, but since there are not many reliable ways of healing, this one should be maxed out regardless of which Wizard you’re playing.
Conclusion on Spell Brigade
When all is said and done, our Spell Brigade beginner’s guide is here to give you a brief overview of how the game works and some details that we have noticed while playing that others can miss. The game is definitely tricky to play and will challenge your skills and strategies, mainly when you up the difficulty level. Playing with a well-organized team can make things easier, but you will need to coordinate well and talk to each other throughout the game.
Since the game isn’t in its full release yet, there can be surprises in future updates that change the gameplay, but for now, the state of things is what we described. If you want to play some full releases that look like Spell Brigade, you can check out our suggestions here.
Photo credits: Bolt Blaster Games
![Assault Rifles in Helldivers 2 [Detailed Guide]](https://fantasywarden.com/wp-content/uploads/HD2.webp)
![Hearthstone Battlegrounds Strategy Guide [Season 10]](https://fantasywarden.com/wp-content/uploads/hearthstone-battlegrounds-cover-season-10.webp)
