Some initial tips

[Delta]

wall of text incoming but hopefully not too bad. I'm thinking about finally trying my hand at a guide once 1.3 drops but this should be some good basics. Wanted to get this out there though since someone asked on one of my screenshots.

When struggling with rank 0 I think the first thing to do is make sure you didn't miss any of the rules. The most common mistake I find is that players don't realize you're not casting a spell and then another entire spell after it, but that each stone you select applies to all spells it can satisfy at that time. So if you're using Gwen's Spark (R-Y-Y) and Water Shield (B-B) Start, you can cast both with R-Y-B-B-Y (or tons of other combinations). you don't have to end one spell before another begins. Then if you find Fire Blast (R-B-B) you can actually save mana points by doing the same R-Y-B-Y-B because the order is fulfilled correctly, basically getting a spell cast for "free". I consider that the the first learning hurdle to overcome, with the second being able to recognize "oh, if i cast R-Y-B-Y-B I can do 4 damage then 9 damage, but if I a find a line that goes R-Y-B-B-Y I do 9 damage then 4 damage (which is better against the group of goblins or the pack of wolves encounters because the lead enemy has 5 health).

Once you've got the spellcasting down, then it's all about build choices. highest priority should be something that lets you heal. In act 1 that's Bat or Fast Food badge. Adding shield also counts but isn't quite as good. Then try to maximize it if possible. Look to combine with Barrage, Double Cast, Flan Badge, or Diamond Chip Badge (diamond chip on a two-cost spell being ideal)

Second highest is barrage. Sometimes you might get lucky and find it in act 1. A lucky Fire Blast + Barrage Combo can practically carry you to act 3 if you can find things to support it (like a boost spell like Catalyst). Same with Earthquake and Catalyst if you can get them both (Earthquake being good but a little weak on it's own).

And then third is probably make sure you get spells with complimentary stones. While it's nice to be able to cast 5 spells at once with all the same stones, eventually your board will fill up with stones you cant use and then you need to clear them out which would become a waste of turns. Sure you can ignore this if you kill the enemy before that happens, but the hardest enemies are the end bosses which will definitely survive that long. I like to try to aim for two different 3 spell cycles, something like one set that uses mostly green-red-blue, and the other that uses mostly yellow-purple (or something similar) with at least one spell in each group that adds either healing or shield. That way I can switch each turn if need be but also can respond to certain things like "oh he's doing leech attacks, shield would be better" or "he's summoning this turn so now would be a better chance to heal".

All that said I think Gwen is honestly the second hardest character to win with (out of the 6). Ceridwen is nice because most of her setups give her healing from the get-go and "shields" in the form of summons, and Aerfen I think is the easiest of the initial three because she can output alot of damage quickly by stacking boosts from rage with daggers.

[Andruis]

Thanks for the tips. These really helped me out!