Day 0 · 30 min · Day 1 · Week 1 · Long game
From your first bindto your first refine.
Thirty minutes from title screen to a member that hits hard while you sleep. One week from there to a build you actually identify with. Here's the path most players walk — and the four traps waiting on it.
MIN 0
Bind & tap through
Three free members. Tutorial does the rest.
MIN 30
First essence slotted
Chapter 1 cleared. Map open. Queue full.
DAY 1
First build identity
One member, one essence branch, points spent.
WEEK 1
Loyalty + shrine + 5 buildings
The second half of every system opens up.
BEYOND
Refining → soulfire → soul tree
Account-wide power. Compounds forever.
Want the system map first?
Characters explains everything that stacks onto one member — race, archetype, essences, mutations, soul tree, profession, gear, patron, faction, alliance perks. Skim it once and every step below makes immediate sense.
Don't know what to build?
Build Recommendations gives six concrete archetype + essence pairings for new players, with the first-week skill point spread already mapped out.
Your firsts
The first hour, phase by phase
Thirty minutes from title screen to your first essence. Each phase is short, gated by a clear milestone, and forgiving — if you take longer or skip ahead, the tutorial catches you up.
Bind your first three members
0–5 minYou start with three slots and three free pulls. Take the first three you see — the tutorial is forgiving and you'll re-roll plenty as the roster deepens.
Pick by archetype, not stats. Archetype decides the skill tree they'll spend 130 sub-levels filling out.
Push the first chapter
5–15 minCombat is auto. Tap to start the battle, watch the bar fill, collect rewards. Chapter 1 wraps in about five minutes of active play.
Two things to watch: which material tier the region drops, and how your dialogue choices push faction loyalty (it's a one-way commitment).
Fill the dispatch queue
15–20 minAs soon as the map opens, queue every available dispatch before doing anything else. Dispatches run on real-world timers and are the single biggest source of progress in your first week.
An empty queue is the #1 cause of slow progression. Always have something cooking before you put the phone down.
Slot your first essence
20–25 minChapter 1's finale awards your first essence. Slot it on a member, then open their skill tree — new branches appear on either side of the base tree.
Don't burn skill points on the branch yet. Read the nodes, commit to a direction, then spend.
Tour every major UI button
25–30 minHeartbeat (living-world feed), City (districts and buildings), Shrines (patron faiths), Soul Tree (account-wide passives). Tap each one. You don't have to understand them yet — you just need to know they exist.
After the first hour
The first week is when the systems unfold. Don't try to do everything at once — the pacing is deliberate, and you have months ahead.
Day 1
Lock in a build identity
- ▸Pick ONE member to be your build's centerpiece
- ▸Decide which essence branch to commit (left or right side of their skill tree)
- ▸Spend 8–12 skill points along that branch — don't sprinkle
- ▸Set 2 quick-slot errands targeting their preferred material category
Hybrid builds work but committed builds win the first week. Commit first, generalize later.
Day 2–3
Three buildings + first shrine
- ▸Build at least one of: Farm, Lumber Mill, Iron Forge — match your region's tier
- ▸Consecrate your first temple to a patron (you can apostatize later — it's expensive)
- ▸Refine T0 → T1 materials in the Workshop. 3-for-1 ratio; just push the button
- ▸Watch the dispatch queue stay full while you do all of this
Don't sit on materials. The warehouse cap kicks in fast and overflow decays into a fraction of what the resource was worth.
Day 4–7
Faction loyalty + chain quests
- ▸Push one faction in your starting region to its first tier — unlocks shrines & better recruits
- ▸Look at the bounty board's Elite chains (3-star a bounty for 25% chance to spawn one)
- ▸Add a second essence slot once your build member reaches Bronze rank
- ▸Build a Warehouse — raises your cap, slows overflow
Loyalty is account-wide; commit to one faction per region, not all six.
Week 2+
Refining → soulfire → soul tree
- ▸Take a Low Gold+ member to the Soul Refine UI — you'll permanently consume them for soulfire
- ▸Allocate soulfire into Soul Tree branches — these passives apply to every future member
- ▸Unlock a second build member with a different essence — diversify the roster slowly
- ▸Start pushing Proving Grounds for crests + weekly challenge bonuses
Refining a high-rank member is the single biggest non-content power spike in the game. Don't be precious — they're meant to be spent.
The four traps
Common new-player mistakes
Every system in this game is forgiving except these four. They look fine in the first few sessions, then quietly cost you a week of progress.
An empty dispatch queue
costs you:Hours of stalled progress for nothing.
fix:Always queue something before closing the app. Even a cheap quick-slot errand counts.
Stockpiling past the warehouse cap
costs you:Materials decay at 3%/min, refund only (tier+1) gold per unit.
fix:Refine the moment you hit cap. Or build something. Or upgrade the Warehouse.
Spreading loyalty across all six factions
costs you:No faction high enough to unlock shrines, recruits, or the second-tier buildings.
fix:Pick ONE faction per region. The system is designed around exclusivity.
Spending skill points before reading the branches
costs you:Respec costs 500 gold (skill-only) or a free class change reset. Both cost time.
fix:Read every active and capstone in your essence branch BEFORE spending the first point.
Where to read next
Quests
15 types, 11 modifiers, 4 difficulty tiers.
Errands
Pick exactly the reward you want.
Core Resources
Currencies, 8 categories, the overflow trap.
Essences
Slot mechanics, branches, status effects.
Essence Ranks
13 ranks, 4 realms, refine ladder.
Archetypes & skills
12 classes, 3 paths each, 130 SP cap.
Overview
What the game is, the core loop.
Build Recommendations
6 starter pairings, first-week skill spread.
FAQ
Pricing, offline gains, PvP, save sync.