We won’t lie: Dragalia Lost is quite a charming little F2P action RPG game. You fight mobs with a party of four, you can build your castle and homestead (albeit in very simple fashion), and you can transform into a kick-ass dragon when needed. It sounds almost standard for a mobile action RPG, but it’s done well and full of polish.

Nintendo and Cygames’ latest came out in September, but so far there hasn’t been a comprehensible guide for people to refer to. Luckily, we’re here to help.

General Tips & Tricks

-Do your dailies without fail. Every day, there’s always an Events quest for you to take care of: Dragon Trials, Avenues To Power/Fortune, elemental runes farming. The rewards reset every day, so make it a habit to go through the grind every day to level up your adventurers, get your money, and even earn your free Skip Tickets/Wyrmrunes too.

-Buy your items on the Item Shop. Don’t worry, you don’t need to input credit card numbers for most of the important things in this menu. You can buy Gold crystals and Dragon fruits here; you’re limited to 3 per day, so keep at it and farm money from Avenue of Fortune when needed.

-Save your Wyrmite for Events. This one time during the game’s Halloween event, our own Mr Toffee lucked out with a 5-star “slutty pumpkin” Elisanne because her summoning rates are bumped up exponentially. Save up whatever Wyrmite you have to do 10-times summoning rituals during such seasonal events. Just like Forrest Gump & chocolates, you’ll never know what you’re gonna get.

-Play the game in “Semi-Auto” mode. Here’s how you can save time swiping and tapping on the screen when in an instance: just turn on Auto Mode, then move your character manually when you want to make a detour. Auto Mode will make your characters go autopilot from point A to B hacking enemies, but sometimes you want to get that treasure from the off-beaten path.

-Team up for Raids. The only time you need to team up with online people is when you’re doing major Raids (the ones featuring a character you can recruit) and group-based holiday events. Why? Not only is it easier to kill bosses and complete challenges faster than usual, you can rack up ton of Friendship points (for the recruitable guest character) and tons of Holiday Event goodies/currencies.

-Work your ass off during Events. Dragalia Lost will feature seasonal events and monthly character offerings if the Celliera and Halloween vampire events are of any indication. So expect an elemental-themed adventurer/Raid boss and a Christmas event.

Do save up on Wyrmite to gacha your event-based adventurers. Grind for friendship points so that you can snag a free 4-star character. These events will be over in less than 2 weeks; make the most of it.

-Spend wisely. Look, we’re not telling you how you should spend your money, whether it’s for buying extra Wyrmite or diamonds. If you think Dragalia Lost is worth spending money for, go for it because it’s your decision to pay for your hobby with your hard-earned money.

BUT! make sure it stays a hobby and not a way of life. Here are tell-tale signs that you may be addicted to Dragalia Lost, or any other F2P gacha game:

• You rapidly spend small amounts. This is as dangerous as emptying your bank account in a few hours. We suggest keeping a record of your spendings and, if your bank offers it, sign up for text alerts. Seeing the money you’re spending is pretty effective at keeping you from losing control of yourself financially.

• You over-rationalize and justify your purchases to the point where you’ll forgo the necessities. This is a little tricky, as it’s case-by-case. If you’re a smoker or drinker who gave up your habit and saved extra money, you can treat yourself to some gacha rolls so long as the amount you spend is roughly equivalent to the amount you saved.

• However, if you are a bit behind on bills, you shouldn’t justify buying gacha rolls just because you didn’t eat yesterday. Make sure you’re financially stable to have “free” money first.

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