Keeping items?

[akuakari]

I finally made it through the first level as a noob xD But then I die in the 2nd level and my items are gone? Like the relics and spells I bought-- do you only keep them if you finish the whole thing???

[Bloodscape]

No. You only ever take in 1 relic and 1 cloak with the arcana you pick. You unlock those by buying into item rotations at the pre-game shops. It is best to farm for gems at first to get some items cycled through.

[Kae Tokiha]

This is a rougue-like game...you don't keep anything. You enter the trial, acquire relics, arcanas to get strong enough to try to finsh the last boss with what you had acquired. The next run you'll be back from zero trying to get strong enough to beat the last boss.

[Bloodscape]

I forgot to mention that you do unlock signature arcana by killing the major bosses. These you will have access to use going back in. That and buying with gems (as opposed to in-trial gold) are the only ways to gain access to different cloaks, relics and arcana to take in. So there is less need to buy a ton of 50 gem signature arcana.

[ALX]

I just had the same realization myself lmao! The items you buy during your dungeon raid (with gold) is only used during your one time adventure. It's a little confusing at first to lose the arcana and relics you bought and then see it again in the plaza, but it's a lot simpler when you understand that the relics and arcana that show up in the plaza are permanent and the relics and arcana that show up in the dungeon are one time use. You pay for R and A for one time use in the dungeons with gold and gems for permanent use in the plaza. You only get four spells and one relic going in but can pick up extra as you progress through the levels.

[akuakari]

Thank you everyone for your replies- this makes so much more sense ^^;

[HolyLionBlack]

What confuses me is how you earn gems for permanent purchases. I racked up a ton of gold and gems in the dungeon but came back with only 50 gems. Is it 50 gems per level beaten before death?

[CopperFlame]

Gems drop primarily from bosses and minibosses, but you also get some occasionally from crates, chests, and I believe sometimes enemies? Point being, the further you get and the more you explore, the more gems you'll end up finding.

[legion11]

My friend and I just started this game yesterday in local co-op. We realized it's going to take dozens of runs to win so we restarted our game and used the initial gems to buy the Robe of Avarice. The rest of the runs we did that day were suicide runs meant to get as deep as we could and farm up gems to unlock stuff in town.

[Darkest King]

Avarice is a pretty nice robe for farming gems, yeah. You'll find your runs are a lot easier if you also go in with Jade's Chakra Locket so that you heal up from accumulating gems, and also gain armor based on your gem count.