Anyone have tips for a noob?

[Selnathorn]

I like the game a lot, but it's quite disheartening seeing people talking about their millions of damage in cycles 6 to 9 while my stupid ass ain't getting past the first quarter of cycle 2, cause a random enemy one-shots me no matter my build.

So a few helpful tips would be really appreciated

[Gienah Corvi]

One thing that's helpful, is to look at the various cultures, classes, and Gods and see what bonuses they have. Then use the search bar at the top to see what other cultures/classes/Gods have synergies with it. Then click the Powers part while still making your character, and search there for other things as well.

For example, when I was making my Gallus which beat Tier 5 yesterday, I was looking at things that benefited from having high encumbrance (and high inflexibility). Volkite culture, Myrmidon class, and Mardok God all have synergies with it, so it worked out very well. Also dipped into Ice for Frost Pulse late that also benefited from per encumbrance.

A good culture to try and get a win with initially is probably the Kull, since they have very high speed + evasion innates. Combine that with Tengri as a God which also has synergies with speed and pick a high speed class. Then get your Str up enough to not be encumbered and pump Dex like mad. Pump Vitality fairly early to get your HP over 1000, then up it as needed (low on life, since you get a full heal from it), as level up Dex and then some will towards the end game.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3258858826

The Boulder Fist, Brute Plating, Kairos Skirt all had synergies with my build as well.

Also, I leveled up Heavyweight and Guard immediately, mostly Heavyweight to beeline for Gallus ASAP. I actually did pretty good initially without any healing, then dipped into Life Chant right before the Obelisk to get some handy end-game healing in (plus Emerald helm for more healing).

Also one tip that might get overlooked unless your bag is full (unless you're the Skeleton culture) is to SACRIFICE your items you do not want. These gives bonuses to you, do not sleep on that.

[Draken]

It's mostly just experience, trying things out and find what works and what doesn't. Which enemies are easy to deal with, and which to avoid.

At the early cycle, summon builds are pretty powerful, so I would suggest using those.
Don't neglet to have some kind of defense. A way to get more dodge, armor or block. Also don't forget to invest a bit into vitality. You want enough health to not get one-shotted.

Like I said, it's mostly an experience thing.
You can look around a bit on the forum, there are quite a few build posted that might help you.

[JackThejil]

The thing that I'd recommend trying is to just set your level ups to random. It's remarkably difficult to go wrong with that, and it tends to give you plenty of HP to tank a hit with.

Other than that, pay attention to what's one-shotting you and, well... avoid them. Or at least figure out what they're doing that's killing you and work around it. Some stuff's really mean against specific builds, and learning to eyeball what you're facing and if it's likely to eat you or not (and, just as importantly, exactly how it's going to do so, because sometimes getting around it can be as simple as not doing one specific action) is a pretty big part of getting better at surviving a run.

[Baronfuming]

You can click on the types of enemies that are in the current level on the right-side of the screen. Mouse over their abilities and see what they do. Something that I was dying to a lot but didn't realize was the Vigilance ability that some enemies have, this gives them a free attack when you move next to them.

[JackThejil]

Though, just as an idle thing, probably don't worry too much about builds that are outputting millions of damage in the lower cycles? It's definitely possible, but having done them more than once, they tend to be remarkably flimsy -- so for every win you get with them you probably get one-shot at some point more than once, heh. It's not a build style to follow unless you're okay with dying a bunch, ha.

Funny big number isn't really a particularly consistent way of getting wins in Achra, though definitely a fun one.

[Gienah Corvi]

Here's a Kull build similar to what I mentioned above that I just got a win with:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3259109027

[Keno]

I can only suggest reading enemies skill before enter new area, since some can totally counter your build. (and early learning curve, don't go full glass cannon, pick 1-2 defensive mechanics)