Starting

[croft]

Picked mage and it seems the cycle of this game is, go in the dungeon, fight five battles, die and get kicked out, repeat forever? The whole 5 gold I make a trip dosen't help much. I would not mind going healer if I have a bats chance in hell of getting all those class points. I just picked up the aoe energy spell. I am like level 4 or 5. I can't afford to get the mercinary to join me so it is always just me.

[krydak]

Hey Croft,

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time starting out. I picked mage my first playthrough as well (actually, nearly every playthrough), but several folks recommend starting off with one of the other classes the first time until you have a better feel for the dungeon and the game. Of course, you can do like I did and ignore them and play the mage anyway. :)

Going in solo as a low-level mage is tough and you have done well to get to level 4 or 5 that way. You are right to recognize that you need some party members to go in with you, though very few join up with you in the beginning. The mercenary (Rudy) does help a lot but as you pointed out, you need the money to hire him.

Another option, and the one I recommend, is to get the elf (Hendel) to join you. He has very high agility which helps out tremendously at the start. If you haven't encountered him yet, go visit the temple and you should encounter him in the wooded/bushy area to the right. He won't join right away, but talk to him a couple times and try to get him to join. He should agree to wait by the dungeon entrance (I think it is before 10am on the 3rd day after you talk to him).

Having him in your party until you make some cash to hire Rudy as well should help a lot. As you progress through the story, you'll have a huge list of characters begging to join you in a dungeon run.

Stick with it, it will certainly be worth it. :) You'll discover many other things to help you out along the way, but please reach out to me if I can help you with any part of this game.

[krydak]

Also, there's also a nice 'early game walkthrough' guide being developed in the forums for the female protagonist version of the game (the process is very similar to the male version).

It isn't set up as a "guide" yet as the author is still developing it, but you can check the posts out on the forum there. Here's the one for the first 4 days.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1141360/discussions/0/2248929785821993216/

[croft]

I got some better stuff by catching mice and chopping trees so it isn't so bad. Just finding the crystals to get out once I am depleted is a bit rough. I did read you can get teleport and not need wind crystals. Would be awsome to have that.

[krydak]

Excellent, glad to hear that things are progressing for you again.

Jobs are great for earning cash and are pretty much a necessity early on. Take all you can (except for the Pawn Shop, Drake is a cheapskate, hah).

Yes, you can learn the teleport skill, but unfortunately it happens so late in the game that it doesn't matter much. Just keep exploring the top floors for resources like Wind Crystals, even when you are far enough in the game where you can skip to greater depths.

[croft]

I want to marry that cleric. I always loved the bookworm girls. Sadly she apprently hates me, but will go along on adventures. The love witch said go for the furnature girl, but I really don't like her, she talks down to me almost as bad as Fabio does.

[AlterEgo45]

Same boat as the OP. I'm level 4. I get my 5 gold and an item before I get killed. I can't even sell the stuff I find. I despise everyone I've encountered and don't want to even interact with them, much less join them, and by the way the Wind Crystal is one of the most stupid mechanics I've seen in a while. Why can't I just walk out of the dungeon the same way I came in? I know it doesn't make much practical difference but it would feel a lot better to end a run by just walking outside than by getting killed.

I'll give it half an hour more before I refund it, but it seems like the game attempts to make itself as unlikable as possible to a new player.

[TheMightyMangos]

if you read the tutorial and all, it should be quite easy, when i started the game, i spent a few days doing part time jobs to get money, got myself a better weapon/armor, hired Rudy and Hendel. and it was easy for floor 1-4

Don't forget to talk to everyone, sometime its interesting and could give you a chance to get an extra member.

Little extra for new player, ifyou go to the Temple, right behind it , ON it, Wall it behind you will be stuck in the middle, there is a hidden chest there giving you 1 free wind crystal.

If you do the Inn part time quest a few time you will start the quest to get a new party member named Ark, a good Mage, he will run away after what happen and you will find him next morning around 4-8 am sleeping on the beach, keep anoying him to come to the dungeon and he will go by himself, then make yourself ready. go to the dungeon and you will enter a special floor 1 to 4 and you will get him by floor 4.

and make sure to make some money to buy Mana pot from the guy in the Inn as soon as possible! they're Cheap, and he will leave when you hit 3-5 days on the game!.

hope that help! dont worry about your first playthrough missing stuff, i must have restarted my mage like 10 time to try different thing ,wich is part of the fun on Dungeon Dreams!

Edit: Dont forget EVERYWHERE in town to try to interact with any *Tree on the ground* Barrels etc at the begining the stuff you get from all of them will easyly give you a good 1000+ gold

[AlterEgo45]

Yeah, I've probably missed a lot of stuff and have been beaten by Grant every time I've competed against him, but this is a great game and I'm really into it now. I'm in the mid-20's level wise so I'm doing well enough.

The fact that you CAN lose in this game, lose with girls, lose on subquests, make the accomplishments mean more. I've not seem a game use losing in quite this fashion before.

One thing I did wrong was do runs where I'd avoid combat and just look for stairs, to try and get as deep as I could, unlock stuff, and gain respect. That was a mistake and I probably missed quite a bit doing that. Also the quests that got unlocked beat the crap out of me, since I wasn't legitimately as strong as the game thought I was.

If I had to do it over, I'd advance much slower. That's been the big thing for me.

[GrinningStudios]

Croft, what party members are you taking with you? I do suggest getting Hendel, Rudy, and Ark. they’ve been my best group so far. Great AOE attacks.

[Rizyx]

hendel rudy and ark are probably the first party members youre gonna get on most playthroughs, the fact theyre a scout warrior and mage is not really a coincidence, im pretty sure youre supposed to get these 3 first and then start getting everyone else as time goes on.

to be honest with you this game puts a lot of emphasys on the relationships you build and the town itself so going slowly through it tends to work better than rushing through,
if you spend the first couple days exploring the town, doing jobs and talking to people by the time you hit the dungeon you should have 2-3 party members, a couple hundred gold and full initial equips easily

[nateraade]

Don't rush into the Dungeon. The passing of days seems to have no effect on anything, so take your time. Do jobs at the Carpenter, Inn, Pawn Shop, and anywhere else you can find. Talk to everyone - and this advice applies to not just adventuring advantages, but also expanding the town and building relationships and getting new jobs, etc.

Caecily is an awesome team member and has been in my team since the start. You just need to keep talking to her. She can be romanced and will finally warm up to you once you solve her quest to find a special pendant and go from there. Once you get enough JP to learn her Oracle skills (including Always Oracle so you always can use the moves) and then master Necromancy, she's crazy good...I'll be working on her hidden class soon.

[nateraade]

Ah, speaking of Necromancy...I just realized this was a revived thread haha. I thought it was brand new.