Beginner's Guide to Hardcore Mode In Fate: The Traitor Soul by Miyuminh

This is mostly a video guide but with text on general ideas needed to get a good start when playing Hardcore mode in Fate the Traitor Soul. Also includes gameplay if things go right!

Tips To "Git Gud" at Hardcore Mode

1. Go to GROVE (the left most realm portal), then buy a fishing pole from Bartleby or Getts the Traveler to the right of town.

2. Go to the pier and go fishing and sell any fish you don't like.

While fishing, one of 3 things will happen:
- You get a fish (keep ones that turn your pet into a creature with high strength value)
- You get a fish that coughs up a gem or a piece of jewelry (just sell them)
- You get a fish that coughs up a rare yellow artifact item (JACKPOT baby! Identify, and sell it to get rich)

If you get gems and jewelry, sell them. If you get a Yellow-bordered item, use identify scrolls on it and sell them. This will take time so be patient.

3. When you feel confident, go to Zim (the robin hood looking guy in front of a huge building near the fountain). He has expensive stuff but once you sell enough artifacts, you should be able to buy a weapon that is not too expensive and get lucky with insane enchantments (preferably with high elemental damage buffs to wipe out enemies with).

4. Any leftover gold should be spent on armor and spells based on playstyle.

5. Only accept quests pertaining to level 1. If you can't find 3 of them, save and exit and keep refreshing till you do. You want to level up as much as possible.

6. Hotkey your best fish and potions, you'll need them.

7. You're set, but if you need clarification, ask in the comments

(CAUTION: Monsters are usually level 12-18 starting on the first level. It would be wise to only go to level 1 of each dungeon until you feel comfortable moving onwards. To do this, finish level 1, move into level 2, but then walk all the way back to town back up the stairs. This way, when you move between realms, you can repopulate the level 1s of other realms for grinding purposes.)

(WARNING: Monsters in Grove start out easy, but rapidly spike in difficulty past level 2. Grove has the easiest start, but the hardest mid and late game. Druantia starts off average, but levels out later on as there are not many spellcaster enemies nor enemies with nearly as much tanking potential. Typhon has a lot of spellcaster enemies and should be most careful in level 2 onwards where Broadwing monsters start using lightning spells that can kill you off-screen.)

- If you encounter any "Floating Mind" enemies (flying brains with tentacles) in Druantia, you should do the best in your power to kill them because they give upwards 1100 xp which is essential to quickly leveling up.

- Consider prioritizing Charm Magic so that you can summon creatures that can be a useful diversion so that you can save yourself from ambushes. I recommend Summon Rat Spell when you're starting out, then moving on to Summon Timberwolf.

Happy Hunting and Good Luck, Fellow Adventurers!

These are the general guidelines to make it in hardcore mode. If you have any questions, feel free to comment, or hit me up either on Steam or Youtube and I'll help you to the best of my ability. Good luck making it big on your score!

[McDuncan Writing]

This is a good guide! I especially like that you specify going to Grove first, as though there are no main-quests needed to complete the game in that town, it is also the easiest and safest dungeon in the game, making it the perfect place to start leveling and getting some power to make other dungeons easier later on. I would also add that if you're willing to spend a decent amount of time fishing to get money, you should also spend some of it to increase your fame a few levels and get good at a particular skill for an easier start. It's also wise to keep fishing in dungeons the deeper you go, since loot gets better in deeper levels, and you can sell or use some of the better gear.