From your first essenceto your first class.

Words you'll see

Champion:

The character you create in the wizard (your founder). Only the champion gets Founder's Spark stat points and the free Founding Choices respec.

Unclassed:

No archetype (class) yet. Everyone starts Unclassed, including your champion. Unclassed members attack using ATK alone and have no skill tree.

Archetype:

The game's word for class (Striker, Guardian, Healer and so on). You choose it after equipping two essences. How it is chosen

Essence:

A slotted power source. Each member has two essence slots. The two essences decide which archetypes you are offered, then keep adding stats and combat effects.

Clouded / Identify:

Essences drop clouded (unknown). Identify them on the Essences tab to reveal what they are.

Unbound:

The first essence rank (0 of 13). While a member is Unbound, you can take essences off and swap them for free. Their first rank-up ends that.

Sub-level:

A member's level inside their current rank (Unbound 2 means rank Unbound, sub-level 2). Each sub-level adds a stat point and a skill point. At sub-level 10 you can rank up.

Chapter:

Your story progress. Finishing a chapter's story quests (at least one star each) advances it, and each chapter clear opens new features.

Beat / Command:

From Chapter 2, some quests pause at a decision (a beat) and wait up to 24 hours for your answer; if you do not answer, the crew decides. Command is the points pool your members earn over time and you spend on those decisions. Command explained

Strike Force:

Your combat team, found on the Combat tab. It fights the Proving Grounds, a long ladder of battle stages.

Your first day, in order

Steps 1 to 4 are guided: the game walks you through them and you cannot really go wrong. Steps 5 to 10 are yours, and they are where most new players get lost. Your first session covers the guided part screen by screen.

The guided part

1. 1.Create your champion

   Wizard, about 5 min

   Do this:

   Work through the 13 wizard steps: name, sex and race, portrait, a first mission, up to two traits, a profession, an essence, a backstory, then a short story and a scripted fight. Portrait, traits, profession and essence each have a Pick for me button.

   Why it matters:

   Three picks matter more than they look. Your profession sets your home region and lets you build that profession's building. Your essence goes straight into your champion's first slot and is the first half of your class choice: it steers which archetypes you will be offered later. Your backstory shapes the two companions who join you.

   Can I undo it?

   Mostly yes. Traits, profession and backstory are free to change for your champion under Identity > Founding Choices (changing profession does not move your home region). The essence can be swapped for free while your champion is Unbound. Race and sex are permanent. See what you can undo.

   You finish with three members (your champion and two companions), all Unbound 2 and Unclassed, plus a stack of clouded essences, one loose Rare essence from the mission, some gear and 500 gold.

2. 2.The quest tutorial

   Tutorial, about 2 min

   Do this:

   Follow the arrows: send a party on the 10-second First Assignment, claim it, Identify the clouded essence it pays, and equip that essence on one of your companions.

   Why it matters:

   This is the whole game loop in miniature: quest, collect, grow. The tutorial deliberately puts this essence on a companion, not your champion, so your champion still has one empty slot afterwards.

   Can I undo it?

   Yes. The companion is Unbound, so the essence comes off for free.

3. 3."Your Faction Is Formed"

   Right after

   Do this:

   Read the five-point card from Sage Alaric, then close it.

   Why it matters:

   It lists your five ways to grow: send members on quests, raise buildings, equip essences, push the Proving Grounds, and grow your roster. The rest of this page walks through them in order.

4. 4.Alaric's walkthrough

   About 3 min

   Do this:

   Tap through the tour of HQ, Faction, Quests, Essences (including Identify and Flux), Combat and the Proving Grounds, your first battle, and the offline preview.

   Why it matters:

   The offline preview hands you a free two-hour collection. When the tour ends, all six tabs are open: HQ, Combat, Faction, Quests, Essences and Map. From here on, nothing is hand-held.

Your first real moves

1. 5.Open the Tavern and recruit

   First real move

   Faction > Members > Recruit at Tavern

   Do this:

   Open the Tavern (that alone finishes the last First Steps task, for 75 gold and 2 gems), then hire a fourth member if one looks useful.

   Why it matters:

   Your roster cap starts at 4 and you already have 3, so there is one open slot. More members means more quests running at once, and a recruit with the right profession unlocks buildings you could not build before: "Seek a Profession" (200 gold) rerolls every candidate into the profession you pick. Recruits arrive Unclassed and Unbound with empty essence slots. Recruiting guide

   Can I undo it?

   You can release a member, and a released member can be re-hired later for about half price. Only your champion can ever change profession.

2. 6.Put a second essence on your champion

   Day 1

   Essences > Identify, then champion > Combat tab > Essence Slots

   Do this:

   Identify one of your clouded essences (or use the loose Rare from the wizard) and equip it in your champion's empty slot. Do the same for each companion.

   Why it matters:

   This is why the game asks for an essence before a class: the class comes from the pair. Until both slots are full, the Archetype section reads "Equip 2 essences to unlock (n/2)". Your first identification is always Rare (60%) or Epic (40%). Identifying essences

   Can I undo it?

   Yes, freely. While a member is Unbound, each equipped essence shows an X: tap it and the essence goes back to your inventory at no cost.

3. 7.Choose an archetype

   Day 1

   Opens by itself when the second essence goes in

   Do this:

   Pick one of the three archetypes offered. The first card, marked as the resolved default, is the one your two essences point to most strongly. "Decide Later" is fine too: a gold "Choose Archetype" button waits on the member's Combat tab.

   Why it matters:

   Unclassed members attack using ATK alone and have no skill tree, so this is a big power jump. Once chosen, the class stays put: swapping essences later never changes it. How your class is chosen

   Can I undo it?

   Your first pick is free. After that, Change Archetype costs 500 gold (or an Archetype Reroll Scroll) and refunds the whole skill tree. There is no limit on changes.

4. 8.Keep the quest queue full

   All day

   Quests > Available

   Do this:

   Every time you open the game, make sure every free member is out on a quest, with story quests first.

   Why it matters:

   Story quests move your chapter, and chapters unlock the rest of the game. Chapter 0 is 10 story quests (about 33 minutes of timers) and Chapter 1 is 5 more (about 3 hours). Quests also pay gold, essences and resources.

5. 9.Build your first producer, then Housing

   Day 1

   Map > your home region's city > Districts tab

   Do this:

   Once you have finished 5 quests, open your city and build a producer your home region allows and one of your members can staff, such as a Farm or Lumber Mill (720 gold each). Then set a Production Focus (Faction > Overview) on the resource it makes, and plan Housing next.

   Why it matters:

   Buildings are your round-the-clock income, and construction is instant. A building needs three things: the region must allow it, a roster member must have the matching profession, and you need the gold. Your Production Focus starts empty, and every resource you have not focused produces at half rate, so filling the first focus slot (free) doubles that building. A region with producers but no Housing counts as overcrowded and loses 25% production. Housing costs 1,350 gold, 120 Driftwood and 60 Rat Hide, needs an Architect, and needs a Residential plot: both of your free plots are Industrial, so you either open a new lot at city level 2 (10 quests in that region) or pay 50 gems to switch an empty plot. Collect from each plot or use Collect All: there is no automatic collection setting. Set up your base

6. 10.Push the Proving Grounds

   Day 1

   Combat > Proving Grounds

   Do this:

   Send your Strike Force up the stages until it stalls, then go level, equip and build, and come back.

   Why it matters:

   Stages pay rewards and show you when your roster is falling behind. Stages 1 to 10 can be fought with any number of members, but from stage 11 on you need a full party of five, and your roster cap starts at 4. Raising your faction reputation to rank 2 lifts the cap to 6, so plan your fifth member before you hit stage 10. Combat is not only automatic: you can watch in Full Auto or take control in Tactical, Tactical Auto or Manual mode, and set front and back rows. Combat basics

What you can undo

Almost everything in your first day can be changed. Race and sex are the only truly permanent picks.

After your first day

New features open as your story chapter advances, not by the calendar. How fast you get there depends on how often you keep the quest queue full.