Armello Ultimate Guide for Beginners

Armello Ultimate Guide for Beginners

Broad Tips/Game Guide - 

This is your ultimate guide to starting your Journey into Armello! After you read this, you’ll have all you need to start as well as extra advice to go from zero to Hero.

First are some snippets from Armello’s huge Game Guide, simplified and given extra tips. Then there are some broad basic types that will help give you an overview. After that are more general advice and tips that’ll give you ways to get Items Cards and such. At the bottom are basic Guides for Armello’s 8 basic Heroes. 

A user on Steam, Glizzy Gulper, has kindly provided a post with screenshots of the Game Guide’s pages. I won’t post all of them below, but I’ll have some of the more relevant ones to a beginner. If you want to see all of them, see the Game Guide Page in Armello’s Main Menu.

Armellian Dice – This tells you what you roll when you attack or roll to escape a Peril.

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An image from Armello's Game Guide describing the various Dice symbols in Armello.

Burning Cards & Card Cycling – During battle and Perils, a burning countdown symbol will appear in the middle of the screen. Take cards from your hand and drag them there to burn them and add their symbol.

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An image from Armello's Game Guide describing Burning Cards.

Tips for Burning Cards – 

• This can be an excellent way of getting rid of Cards that you don’t want in your hand. If you cannot get rid of some Cards either by buying them with Gold or playing them with Magic, Burn them in battle or Perils.

Your Inventory and Party – In your Inventory is where your Items go on the left side and your Companions go on the right side.

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An image from Armello's Game Guide that describes the Inventory and Party.

Tiles – These are the spaces you move around in the game. Here are their effects.

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Two images from Armello's Game Guide that describe the Tiles on Armello's game board.

Advice for Tiles – 

• Avoid swamps if you’re at 2 or less Health. It’d be easy for someone to kill you either in battle and/or with a Spell/Trickery card after you step in a Swamp.
• Dungeons have a higher chance of rolling Treasure and Companion cards at Night. But you also have a higher chance of rolling a Bane at Night too.
• Avoid Dungeons at Night unless you have 3 or more Health, have Stealth, are Corrupted, and/or are a Spirit Walker (You have 4 or more Spirit Stones). 
• If you’re Corrupted (5 or more Rot) you lose 1 Health for every Rot you have when you enter a Stone Circle. Avoid them when you’re Corrupted. Or, if you can, play a Mountain Moss to yourself to bring yourself below 5 Rot. 

Perils – These are Cards from both the Magic and Trickery Decks that can be played to specific places and give tests to people trying to beat them.

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An image from Armello's Game Guide talking about how to play Perils to the board.

Tips for Encountering and Playing Perils - 

• Play Perils to counter certain Heroes and/or to guard yourself. For example, you can play Mercenaries to a Settlement you’ve captured to protect it. 
• You can play Expendables, a Trickery Card, to a Peril, even a Palace Peril to reduce its level. Also, equipping Item Cards like Adventurer’s Kit helps your chances against Perils. 

King’s Declarations – Every Dawn, except the very first one, the King makes one of two Declarations that affects everyone in some way. And which Declaration he chooses is based on which player has the most Prestige.

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An image from Armello's Game Guide giving details on King's Declarations.

Tips for King’s Declarations – 

• The best way to control which ones will happen is to be the Prestige Leader. And to do that, you need to have more Prestige than everyone else. Easy right?
• Items like Bubble Tea, Royal Banner, and Feathered Helm will increase your Prestige. Killing Banes and Heroes also builds Prestige.
• Pick the Declarations that either won’t hurt you or affect other players more than you. 
• If you’re about to kill the King, being the Prestige Leader can mean you choose whether you live or die. Therefore, try to have high Prestige, even right before you try attacking the King.

King’s Guards – These are the guards of the Palace and the King. They’re here to guard King and kick butt, and the King’s pretty well guarded.

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An image from Armello's Game Guide describing the King's Guards and their duties.

Advice on King’s Guards – 

• By “Angers the King” they mean if you attack a King’s Guard without a Royal Pardon, enter the Castle, or are given a Bounty by some other means. Then the King’s Guard will attack you. 
• Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, don’t attack the King’s Guards! You get a Bounty stack every day you’re wanted, up to 3 stacks. Waiting until the Guard moves the next day is often better.
• They move every dawn to attack wanted Heroes, Banes, or Heroes inside the Castle. They’ll prioritize Heroes inside the Castle and/or who have higher Wanted stacks. Remember this! 
• There’s always at least one King’s Guard inside the Castle, guarding it. He moves around every dawn. Also, if you kill all the King’s Guards, 2 more will spawn inside the Castle every dawn.
• King’s Guards will destroy Spirit Stones if they enter a Stone Circle with one in them. Also, if they move onto a Terrorized Settlement, they’ll calm it down. They’re just doing their jobs after all.

Banes – Giant creatures of the Rot that appear every Night and hunt every Hero and civilian.

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An image from Armello's Game Guide talking about Banes.

Advice for dealing with Banes – 

• You can tell where one is going to rise that night by the purplish black smoke coming from a Dungeon. So, word of advice, don’t stand on these Dungeons when the Bane comes out. 
• Also, you can play the Wall of Thorns Spell Card to a Dungeon where a Bane is going to emerge. This prevents the Bane from moving beyond it when it comes out.
• Banes always move towards Settlements. When they land on a Settlement, they stay there the rest of the game until killed or moved away by a Spell or Item Card. 
• When Banes rise from a Dungeon, they’ll attack any Hero or King’s Guard adjacent to them. Therefore, if you have to cross by a Dungeon where a Bane is going to rise, get in an adjacent Woods tile or stay a tile away when night falls. 
• Have enough health to survive a potential loss when fighting Banes. Also have enough combat strength to do so. So please, don’t fight a Bane if you have 3 Fight, 2 health, and no attack/defense items.

The Rot – Basically the dark side of the Force in Armello. You get more power, but also become Corrupted and evil.

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The Rot being described in a page from Armello's Game Guide.

Tips for Rot and what to do if you get Infected – 

• If you get Infected, you lose one health every dawn. Keep this in mind and visit a Stone Circle if you can during the day.
• Judge wisely whether you want to use Rot Cards. If you have Leech and are at 1 health, I recommend not using it if you have no Rot or at 1 Rot. That’s easier than going down the Corrupted path.
• If you’re at 3 Rot, get more Rot as soon as you can. Rot Cards are in the Spell Deck with Cards such as Leech, Call of the Worm, Plague, and others. Item Cards that also give you Rot which include Cub’s Blood, Hot Rot Wine, and Marauder’s Gauntlets.
• When you reach Corrupted status, you’ll get a Rot Quest choice that allows you to get Rot as an extra reward. Choose the ones that you have higher stats for and can complete. For example, if you’re Thane and you’re offered a Fight Quest that offers Rot as a reward, take that one instead of a Spirit Rot Quest.
• Also, when corrupted, you get +1 Rot from killing Banes. Try to attack Banes with Rot less or equal to yours to ensure your victory. Play Cards like Cleansing Wyld and Mountain Moss to Banes to make them weaker and easier to kill.
• There are ways of losing the Rot you gain. The Wyld Talisman makes your Rot 0, Druids can cleanse you of the Rot (if you’re lucky to find them at night), the Cleansing Wyld Spell Card removes 1 Rot from you and getting 4 Spirit Stones also takes away all your Rot.
• Dying to a Bane also gives you Rot. And, if you and a Bane die in battle when you’re at 4 Rot, you get +2 Rot! This is because you get 1 Rot from dying to a Bane, and being Corrupted, you harvest the Bane’s Rot. 

Spirit Stones – These are objects that spawn every night at Stone Circles and can give you a way to the Spirit Stone Victory

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A picture of the Spirit Stones page from Armello's Game Guide.

Tips for Spirit Stones and getting them - 

• You’re offered Quests that offer Spirit Stones as an extra reward no matter what Hero you play as. Usually, it’s best not to go after these unless you have a high enough stat in that Quest that you can beat it. 
• Spirit Stones only spawn on Stone Circles and only if there aren’t any other Spirit Stones present on other Stone Circles. Get one that has already spawned to make sure more will spawn naturally. You can tell when a Spirit Stone is spawning by the blue light coming off a Stone Circle during the day. 
• You also have a chance of getting Spirit Stones in Dungeons. This is particularly true at night. 
• Another, rarer way of getting them is from the Ancient Ones/Druids. I’ll have more information on them later in this guide.

The Palace or Castle – This is where the King is, and it’s surrounded by unique Perils that will kick you out if you don’t beat them. 

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An image from Armello's Game Guide talking about The Palace.

Tips for entering and surviving the Palace –

• It has 2 Wits Perils and 2 Spirit Perils. If your Hero is high in those stats, Sana with 5 starting Spirit for instance, you have a chance of breaking into them. 
• If you want to make the Perils easier to defeat, build your Wits/Spirit up to 6, play the Expendables to a Peril, and have a variety of different card types to burn. Not necessarily in that order!
• Also, get cards like the Brilliant Fool Companion and/or an Adventurer’s Kit Item Card to improve your chances against Palace Perils.
• As it will take up all your action points, it would be good to try entering during the day, particularly if you have Day Affinity. Also, the King’s Guards won’t immediately attack you if you enter during the day. If you enter at night, they’ll attack you at dawn, all of them! 
• If you fail to beat a Palace Peril, you lose Health based on how many symbols you failed to match. Thus, it would be good if you have 3 or more Health before attempting to break into the Palace. If not, even if you beat the Palace Peril, you’re easier to kill by a Spell Card or a Sharpshooter Trickery Card.
• If you have a Hot Rot Wine or Strategist, which give +1 action point, consider saving that until you enter the Palace. Then play it to attack the King that turn.
• When you’re inside, build up your defense. This means having a lot of shield cards to burn and most of these are in the Item Card Deck. Also, play a Card like Feral or Mirror Image to yourself after you enter the Palace.
• If you’re in Stealth inside the Palace, the King’s Guards won’t attack you. The same applies if you play Reprieve to yourself after you enter the Palace. 

Victories – The traditional Victories that most games are won by are the Battle/King Slayer victory and the Prestige Victory. Not saying those are strickly the easiest! Just that those are the ones most games are won by.

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An image from Armello's Game Guide that describes the Prestige and Rot Victories.

Tips for Victories -

• King Slayer –
  • Attack the King only after your Hero has 4 or more Fight. The King has a buff that steals your misses, and he has 7 Fight. Therefore, make sure that you have 2 Defense Items Cards equipped.
  • Unless you beat the Perils in the Castle or complete enough Quests to unlock it, you cannot get to the King to fight him. Complete all your Quests or get 4-5 Wits or Spirit to take out a Peril. The little flags beside the Castle tiles will tell you whether it is a Wits or Spirit Peril.
  • Complete as many Quests as you can to boost your stats. Having enough Wits, Body, and Fight can mean victory or defeat against the King. Also, finishing Quests, as I said above, will eventually open up a part of the Palace for you.
  • If you have the Squire when facing the King, you’ll only have to worry about killing him and not whether he kills you in return. Whether you do or not, draw Item cards to boost your chances of getting sword or shield Cards to burn.
  • Play Spell Cards like Mirror Image, Bark Skin, and/or Feral to yourself to improve your chances of defeating the King. Also, if you’re Infected, play Mountain Moss or Cleansing Wyld to yourself if possible. 
• Spirit Stone –
  • This is the last victory you should attempt purely because getting Spirit Stones is hard. You can only get them through Quests, stopping at Stone Circles when a Spirit Stone spawns there, meeting the Druids, or when you find a Stone in a Dungeon. 
  • I recommend that you head for this Victory if you, through luck, find 2 Spirit stones early or mid-point in the game. Focus on Quests and stopping at Stone Circles to get them. No skipping Stones with this Victory!
• Rot –
  • This is a Victory that requires patience and attention to your health. However, if you get it right, you’ll conquer the King and everyone in your path.
  • The key is to play as many Rot Cards as you can to increase your Rot number. Magic Cards like Leech, Call of the Worm, Plague, Syphon, and Dark Influence, and Item Cards like Cub’s Blood, Hot Rot Wine, and Marauder’s Gauntlets are your best bet.
  • Increase your Wits as much as you can to increase your chances of getting Rot Cards. Also, if you’re at 4 Rot, lose to a Bane to get +1 Rot. To ensure death, burn useless Cards and allow the Rot to fully Corrupt you.
  • If you have more Rot than the King, a potential danger is giving him a lot of missed rolls from you. The best way to counter this is to burn as many Cards as possible in the battle before rolling. Yes, even the Cards that will count as a miss should be burned too.
  • This is the riskiest of all the Victories. You’ll have to get a lot of Rot early or you won’t have enough when you enter to the Palace. Sana, Thane, Brun, and Amber are the best (base game) Heroes for this path.
• Prestige –
  • This is the “Simplest” Victory since you basically just need to have enough Prestige by the end of the game. However, the challenge is 1: Keeping that Prestige high enough to win and 2: Making sure another Hero doesn’t kill and/or Purify the King while you wait. 
  • The best way to get Prestige is to kill other Heroes, Banes, complete Quests successfully, and through Items like Bubble Tea and Feathered Helm. You lose Prestige when you die and when you kill a King’s Guard. So, kill every other Hero, take the easy option in Quests, and don’t die!

General Advice/Tips 

Learning From the Game - 

There are some steps you can take to make learning the game easier. Below are some of those steps.

• Complete the tutorial and prologue. That sounds like a stupidly obvious step, but I’ve known many people who just jump in without the turtorial. Trust me, you’ll learn a lot of things just by playing that.
• The best way to learn about the game’s ins and outs is playing several Single Player games. The bots are difficult enough to give you a good experience yet aren’t too difficult to allow for a fun experience. 
• Don’t enter Multiplayer gaming until you’re comfortable playing against bots. Have 1-2 Heroes that you’re comfortable playing with and that you’ve achieved a lot of Victories with before starting Multiplayer.
• Also, take the time to look at the full Game Guide on Armello. It may take a while, but you’ll learn a lot from it. 

Items and Loadouts - 

Managing your Inventory and Hand can be the hardest and important thing to winning. Below are some tips to help you get started.

• Focus on equipping Item Cards first. Then, focus on Spell Cards if you have more Spirit like Amber and Sana. If you have more Settlements and/or Gold, pick up Trickery Cards and play Trickery Perils to your captured Settlements to protect them.
• When you’re purchasing Item Cards, a good idea is to buy at least one defensive item, an item that gives you +1 or more Armor like the Battle Armor and Chainmail Shirt, or another defensive perk like the King’s Guard Armor.
• And, along with that Item Card, get one attack item (an item that gives +1 or more swords). Items like this would be a Bastard Sword, Shining Steel Sword, and Oak Spear. If you have one of each, that’ll greatly improve your gameplay. 
• Little secret about rolling for battle: You have a higher chance of rolling an attack (Sword, sun/moon, and tree/worm) symbol than you do of rolling a shield. Thus, it can be smart to have at least 2 armor items in your Inventory. 
• Manage your hand carefully and discard Cards you don’t need or want. Ways to get rid of these Cards would be to play them if you can afford them and burning them through combat and Perils. 
• Rings are different from Amulets as each Clan (Wolf, Rat, Rabbit, Bear, Bandit, and Dragon) have their own unique Rings that give benefits. For example, many of the Wolf Clan’s Rings focus on battle strength. 
• Pick Amulets that increase lacking stats in your Heroes. For example, if you play as Thane for the first game, pick Think as your Amulet. This makes his 3 Wits into 4 which gives you an extra Card to play. 
• If you go to the Inventory Screen in Armello’s Main Menu, you’ll see the Signets and Amulet that are available and how to unlock new ones. 

Managing the Board - 

Armello is unique because it's basically a tabletop game made virtual. Here's some advice for navigating the tiles and Perils.

• Losing to Perils isn’t always a bad thing. This is particularly true if you’re trying to become Corrupted and lose to a Dark Influence or Plague Peril. You’ve just get free Rot from those!
• Speaking of Perils, you can generally tell which ones Trickery and Spell Perils are based on where they’re placed. For example, most Wits Perils are played to Settlements, with Dungeons being the next highest one. Trickery Perils like Mercenaries and Crooks can be played to any Tile.
• Most Magic Perils focus on Stone Circles, Forests, and Swamps. 
• If you want more Gold in your game, capture Settlements. However, they can be taken away from you or Terrorized to lose your claim on them. To secure them, play Trickery Peril Cards to them to discourage other players from capturing them. 
• Focus on completing the Quests. After you complete 5 of them, a place in the Castle will open up for you to enter. You’ll have a clear shot to kill the King after that, so take it!
• Quests, when you reach the place where the Quest marker is, give you a choice. You can complete it and get +1 Prestige and the stat you went for. Or you can take a risk and get a bonus reward like a Treasure or Companion Card. 
• Which Quests you complete depends on your Hero’s strengths. For example, Thane has 5 Body and Fight which means he has a higher chance of completing the bonus objective of a Body or Fight Quest.
• Also, to increase your chances at Quests, play Spell Cards to yourself that increase your stats. These include Focus, Evil Eye, and Bark Skin. Play these on the turn you’ll step into the Quest Tile.
• An important part of finishing the game well is not dying too often. While it isn’t the end of the game, it can hurt your chances of completing Quests 
• Keep an eye on your Prestige, if you have more than other Players that means you’ll be able to dictate which Declaration the King will choose at Dawn. It also means you’re a bigger target.

Countering/Fighting Other Players - 

Obviously, this is a game where you're playing against other people, AI and humans alike. Below are some tips for winning against them.

• Don’t fight when you don’t have to. If you need to wait for the King's Guard to move, or for the Hero to move, do so. Choosing your battles carefully is essentially a victory.
• Look at what your enemies have equipped in their inventory and what their health is at the moment. When you pull up your inventory, you can also select the inventory of others and look at them. Their icons are on the top right of the Inventory Screen.
• Plan carefully and think out your moves. Before you attack a Hero, look at their Items to see if your Items and Fight can beat them. A lot of time and heartache can be saved by planning out what you’re going to do.
• Remember this: Everyone else is going for the throne too! So, if anyone makes a good Pact with you via Trickery Cards or helps you in some other way, that’s just temporary. When it gets to the later stages of the game, keep an eye on everyone! 
• Pact Cards are best played at the beginning and to counter other Heroes. For example, Armistice is best played with a strong Fight Hero like a Thane or River to make sure they don’t attack you later. Blackmail would be best against the Player with the most Gold and so on.
• Another thing to keep in mind about Pacts is that, like Bounties, they expire when you die. So, if you want out of a Pact like Armistice or Blackmail, get yourself killed in a Swamp and/or Peril. 
• In between turns, you can play Trickery and/or Spell Cards to other people or the Board if you have the Gold or Magic to play it. Thus, if another player moves closer to your Spirit range, you can cast a Spell on them when they stop moving. But remember that other players can do this to you while you’re taking your turn too. 
• Spell Cards are your greatest counter against any Hero. Play Cards like Wyld’s Warning to them if you want them to flee rather than fight or Banish when you want them moved without fighting them.
• Also playing Spell Cards such as Wall of Thorns or Rotten Fog, can block Players coming after you. Also, playing Cards that give other Players Rot, particularly if they’re playing low Body characters like Zosha or Mercurio, can hurt them since Rot takes 1 Health away at Dawn.
• If there is an enemy Player inside the Palace, play a card to either remove or damage them. Good Cards to this effect would be Sharpshooter, Wyld’s Warning, Mercenaries, Immolation, Lightning Strike, Banish, and Aflame. 
• Also, if you can, simply attacking and killing the Player inside the Palace is a good way to prevent them from winning too. Even if you cannot kill the King next turn for some reason, at least preventing them from winning is enough.
• Be a good sport. If you lose the game, be gracious to the person who won. If you win, be humble.

Rare Encounters - 

Every once in a while, if you get the right conditions, you’ll trigger a Rare Encounter. These are special events that only happen once in a game and offer you 3 choices.

• The Ancients/Druids – If you’re in a Stone Circle at Night, you’ll have a chance of meeting these creatures. They’ll offer you a choice of the following: +1 Spirit Stone, remove all your Rot, or get the Moon Scythe which gives +2 Explode Pool and Moon Dice Explode at Night.

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A screenshot taken by an unknown user of their encounter with the Ancients.

• Cathartic Bonding – If you have the Stranger Companion in your Party and you stop on a Plains Tile, he’ll  give you a choice. You can send him away or he gives you Cards based on whether you pick the first or second option.

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A screenshot from an unnamed Armello player of their encounter with the Stranger.

• The Goblin’s Game – If you enter a Dungeon, you’ll have a chance of meeting these Devilish creatures that’ll give you a choice. You can get +2 Rot, Permanent Scout with -1 Body, or the Raven’s Beak Dagger which gives +1 Sword, +2 Rot when equipped, and gives your slain enemies +1 Rot.

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A screenshot, taken by an unknown player, of their game with the Goblins.

• A Helping Paw – If you enter a Settlement at 1 Health, you’ll most likely meet this helpful Apothecary who’ll offer to help you in one of the following ways: Restore all your health, give you +1 Body, or come as a Companion. The Apothecary Companion adds +2 Health for all Health gains.

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A screenshot from an unknown player showing their unexpected meeting with the Apothecary.

• Whiteshadow’s Gift – If you have some Rot in you and enter a Forest, you’ll find this horse who’ll give you a choice. You can get a Treasure Item, a Spirit Stone, or all your Health back. But all of this is at the cost of +1 Rot to yourself.

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A screenshot from an unknown player of their meeting the Whiteshadow in the woods.

• A Toxic Relationship – A rare circumstance, even among Rare Encounters, this one seems to only take place if you’re poisoned and enter a Swamp at 1 health. A player named, MisterHinotori, screenshotted his encounter and posted it in this Discussion Thread. What happens when you pick the options seems more random than others.

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A picture containing MisterHinotori's screenshot of his A Toxic Relationship encounter.

Victories/Picking the Best Heroes - 

Victories and Heroes are the core bits of Armello. Below is some advice on picking the right Heroes and which Victories to go for.

• Which Victory you go for largely depends on your Hero and what choices you make with your Quests. For example, Amber, with 3 starting Fight, isn’t a strong candidate for a King Slayer Victory. Still if you complete 2 Fight Quests and/or have good attack/defense Items equipped, your chances of killing the King are better.
• Still, a Hero like Thane or Zosha are better for Prestige Victories purely because of their high combat skills. For Heroes with 4-5 Fight, a Prestige Victory is a better path. 
• Also, your Victory path may change. You may be at 5 Rot but have 3 Spirit Stones too. Picking up 1 more Spirit Stone would set you on the Spirit Stone Victory. Be ready to change your strategy if the game forces you to change it. 
• Just because a Hero starts out as weak in a certain area doesn’t mean that they stay that way. River, Amber, and Sana are often disregarded because they’re not too strong at fighting. However, a few Fight Quests can easily fix that.
• It’s the same with Heroes who start with lacking Spirit or Wits to make their abilities work like Mercurio, Thane, and Brun. They only need a few Spirit Quests and they’re pepped right up!
• Complete Quests and pick the right Amulets, and any Hero can find victory.
• Know your Hero’s ability and play to its strengths. If your ability is focused on Item Cards, like Barnaby, get a lot of Item Cards in your hand. Keep your Hero’s ability in mind just as much as their stats.
• Pick your Hero based on the victory you want and how you like playing in Armello. Prefer Combat victories with a dash of spellcasting? Pick Brun who can balance both combat and spellcasting easily. 
• The best Hero to practice just learning the game with is Thane the Winter Wolf. He has enough starting Fight and his gameplay is straightforward enough so that you don’t have to do much crazy thinking to learn to play him. 
• After you play him for 2-3 games and learn most of the ins and outs of the game, consider switching to Amber for some games to get a different experience. Or feel free to play any Hero you want. 

Guides for Armello’s Starting Heroes

Below are some basic guides for playing the base 8 Heroes of Armello. There originally was four, but 4 others were added to the base game later. 

Of course, the DLCs add more Heroes, but I’m going to assume you’ve only purchased the starting game. These should give you an idea of the base Heroes, their difficulty level, what you should pick for their Rings and Amulets, and what their gameplay is like. 

Thane (Wolf Clan) – 

• Gameplay Style and Tips: Combat and all-out offense. Thane has 5 Body and 5 Fight which gives him an edge in battle over the other Heroes. His ability makes his burned swords Pierce in battle; meaning they ignore an armor that is rolled.
• He’s great for killing other Heroes and gathering Prestige.
• Always have at least 1-2 sword Cards in your hand for when you fight. Complete at least 2 Wits Quests to make the most out of your ability since you’ll have more chances of getting sword Cards with 5 Wits instead of 3.
• To counter him, play Cards that change/remove Cards in his hand. These would include Spell Cards such as Shimmer Shield, Call of the Worm, and Wake the Trees. Trickery Cards like Wandering Circus also do this as well. 
• Ring and Amulets for Starting: Sapphire is the only Ring you can get at first. However, if you commit to playing to him enough to get all of the starting Rings, Celestite is great for mobility around the map.
• For Amulets, I’ve found that Wits is the best one for Thane. His ability becomes useless if he doesn’t have sword Cards in his hand. Thus, having more Cards means more chances of getting those necessary Cards.
• Difficulty: Easy. Thane has enough Spirit and Body to survive in the game while being able to play most of the Spell Cards. His ability is also pretty easy to understand unlike other Heroes. Still, with his starting 3 Wits, this hurts his ability to get and burn sword Cards.
• Best for: King Slayer and Prestige Victories. Thane can outlive and outfight most of Armello’s other Heroes. Thus, he can kill other Heroes to build Prestige and live long enough to complete the final Quest, enter the Palace, and survive his battle with the King.

River (Wolf Clan) – 

• Gameplay Style and Tips: Her ability, Huntress, deals 1 damage to the Creature she’s attacking before she strikes. This, combined with her balanced stats makes her deadly and versatile in one stroke.
• Her ability is great for taking out 1 Health Heroes, particularly if they have a Bounty on them. Keep an eye on them, and if you have damaging Spell Cards, play it to them, before letting your arrow fly.
• River cannot use her ability if the person she’s attacking is in Stealth. This means that, for those playing River, cards like Divination and/or Rangers can help if you’re hunting a target at Night.
• If you’re playing against River, the Stealth flaw in her ability means that you should be in Forests at Night. Also, Ranger’s Cloak is a good Item Card choice to hide you from her in Forests be it Night or Day.
• If you’re playing against River, stay away when you’re at 1-2 Health. Look at where she is, calculate how many moves she can take next turn, and move so that she cannot reach you. Also, complete 1-2 more Body Quests to make sure you can survive her attacks. 
• Ring and Amulets for Starting: Sapphire is the beginning Ring for every Wolf Clan Hero. If you stay with River and unlock all the Rings, Celestite is best for River since she can more easily hunt down low health Heroes.
• For Amulets, Scratch is best for River’s Hero hunting. 1 damage when starting a fight and 5 Fight means she’ll be able to at least wound any Hero she faces.
• Difficulty: Easy. Her ability is also easy to understand and actually can be a little OP since it can kill the King when he’s at 1 health. Assuming you’re able to kill him that is. Also, her balanced stats means that she can complete most Quests well, play a lot of Spell Cards, and survive most fights.
• Best for: King Slayer and Prestige Victories. Her ability, as mentioned above, can kill the King without even fighting him! It also means that she can reduce the King’s health by 1 before fighting him.
• Her ability to kill Heroes and Banes in 1 shot means that she can gather Prestige quickly. 

Mercurio (Rat Clan) – 

• Gameplay Style and Tips: Mercurio is a powerful combatant who also can be a deadly saboteur to his enemies. Building his Fight and playing Perils while taking Settlements and Gold from his enemies makes him a powerful Hero.
• His Scoundrel ability means that he takes 1 Gold from a Hero when he captures their Settlement. This may not seem like much, but it can ruin a player’s strategy if they lose 1 Gold and a Settlement.
• When playing against a Mercurio, play Perils to your captured Settlements to discourage him from trying to take them. Also, build up Fight to be a match for him if he decides to attack you. Attack him early since he’s weaker in that stage.
• Ring and Amulets for Starting: The Black Opal is the starting Ring for all Rat Clan Heroes. Yet, if you commit to unlocking all the Rat Clan Rings, Ruby is best for Mercurio. It ensures that he has enough fighting power to beat anyone he crosses swords with.
• For Mercurio, I pick Scratch as my Amulet as it means I have a 50-50 shot at getting extra rewards from Wits, Body, and Fight Quests. Yeah, I’ll have to complete 1 lousy Spirit Quest early, but it’s a fair trade. 
• Difficulty: Easy, Mercurio has a fairly simple gameplay since his Scoundrel ability takes Gold from others. Also, his 5 Body and Wits make for a powerful combination when it comes to survival.
• Nonetheless, his starting 2 Spirit can be a drag since most Spell Cards cost 3 Magic. Thus completing at least 1 Spirit Quest or equipping the Scratch Amulet or a Mahogany Staff is essential. 
• Best for: Prestige or King Slayer Victories. Mercurio has enough Fight and Body to effectively battle and kill other Heroes, especially if he’s completed a Fight Quest or two.
• Also, playing Trickery Cards is his great strength as well. His taking money from Settlements while taking them too, means that he can easily have enough Gold to play many Perils in one turn.

Zosha (Rat Clan) – 

• Gameplay Style and Tips: Her strength is at Night where both her Affinity and Shadow ability make her dangerous. Shadow means she gets Stealth everywhere at Night. This means she can Ambush other players and usually navigate the map without being tracked.
• She’s best as a hit and run character. Her 5 Fight with 4 Wits means she can get the drop on a lot of Heroes. 
• However, it is best to attack Heroes who are any or all of the following: Low health, low Fight, have little or no attack/defense Items equipped, and/or who have a Bounty on their heads.
• For playing against Zosha, get a Sailor’s Lantern as soon as possible to get Scout. This’ll take the edge off of Zosha’s ability and is cheap to buy. Also, build armor Items for extra defense in case she attacks you.
• There are also Trickery and Spell Cards that give you sight on Zosha when she’s in Shadow. These include Divination played to yourself, Rangers, and Spy Network Pact played on her. 
• Ring and Amulets for Starting: Black Opal is what all Rat Heroes start with, and for committed Zosha players, is quite good at using when you want to stay hidden. Still, Ruby is better for enhancing her hit and run tactics.
• For Amulets, I pick Soak as it makes surviving essentially a non-issue the rest of the game. 5 Body is more difficult to take down than 4, especially when you cannot find Zosha half of the game. 
• Difficulty: Medium. While her ability makes wandering around at Night easier, it can also be difficult keeping in Shadow if there are a lot of Perils around. Still, her kit is easy to understand and to wield.
• Best for: Prestige and Battle Victories. Obviously staying in stealth means she can stay alive and retain her Prestige easier than most Heroes. That and her ambush tactics make a killing (literally).
• Also, killing the King becomes easier when she has 5 Fight. She’s best at taking out Heroes like Thane, but unlike Thane, she’s not bound to her Cards.

Amber (Rabbit Clan) – 

• Gameplay Style and Tips: Amber focuses on getting extra loot from Dungeons and conquering Quests easily with her balanced stats. Her ability, Tomb Raider, gives her a higher chance of finding rewards when exploring Dungeons.
• While she’s weaker in Fight than most other Heroes, she can pull her weight and get up to 5-6 Fight if enough Fight Quests are done. Also, her starting Wits and Spirit means she can play Spell Cards to buff her lacking Fight.
• Explore the Dungeons when you can. Treasure and Companion Cards come more easily for you as well as Spirit Stones.
• When fighting against Amber, play Perils to Dungeons. These will effectively ward her off and/or punish her if she tries to go in there. Additionally, she’s weaker in the early game so attack her then!
• Ring and Amulets for Starting: When you start playing as her, Emerald is the one you get at first. If you unlock all the Rabbit Clan Rings, either Diamond, if you think you’ll visit Dungeons more often, or Sunstone for survivability, would be good picks.
• For your starting Amulet, Scratch is best for Amber, since it’ll put her on more even footing with other Heroes. It’ll also make the risk of waking up Banes less since you have more strength to fight them.
• Difficulty: Medium. Her ability is easy to understand, and her Wits and Spirit make for decent spellcasting. Yet, her Fight, while not as weak as Sana, is weak enough to avoid battle until you complete at least 1 Fight Quest. I’d pick Amber for a more balanced and spell-oriented game, while also making ventures into Dungeons safer. 
• Best for: Prestige and Spirit Stone Victories. She more than other Heroes is good at getting Spirit Stones as her ability makes finding them in Dungeons easier. However, she can also be good at getting Treasure and Companion Cards to boost her power so that she can take on Heroes and Quests easier.
• Also, she’s also adept at getting Rot Victories since her Wits and Spirit means she can cast more Spell Cards and get more Rot Cards. Her Tomb Raider ability also makes it easier to find Rot Treasure Cards like Bane Blade, Poppet, and Reaper’s Trident. 

Barnaby (Rabbit Clan) – 

• Gameplay Style and Tips: Barnaby, more than any other starting Hero, can adapt to any situation because he can swap out Items with his Ability. His 4 Fight and 6 Body also make him able to survive most encounters.
• To capitalize on his getting more Item Cards to swap out, capture Settlements, complete Fight and Wits Quests, and pick a good range of Items to swap out.
• Have at least 2 attack Items, like a Bastard Sword and Oak Spear; 2 defense Items, like Tower Shield and Leather Armor, and 1 survival Item like Sailor’s Lantern or Adventurer’s Kit.
• When he swaps out Item Cards, their cost becomes 0 in his Hand. This makes swapping them out easier in the future.
• When playing against Barnaby, play Cards that either destroy Cards from his hand like Wake the Trees, Travelling Circus, and Cat Burglar. Also, play Trickery Cards like Vile Official and Blackmail to him to limit his ability to buy more Item Cards. 
• Ring and Amulets for Starting: Emerald is what Barnaby starts with as all other Rabbit Clan Heroes do. If you unlock all the Rabbit Clan Rings, Sunstone is best for Barnaby as it gives more survivability and help during the Day.
• For Amulets, I always pick Spirit to make up Barnaby’s 2 Spirit. That means I’ll be able to cast 3 cost Magic Spell Cards right from the start.
• Difficulty: Hard. Barnaby’s ability is the hardest one to work with in the starting Armello Hero pool. It takes time and patience to learn his ability. Nonetheless, he can be powerful when you’ve learned which Item Cards to switch out.
• Also, his lack of starting Spirit limits your ability to cast Spell Cards since most of the best ones (Evil Eye and Teleport) cost 3 Magic. 
• Best for: King Slayer and Prestige Victories. His ability gives him the versatility to swap out weapons and armor to counter any Hero’s build and to kill them. This means he can build up Prestige without dying.
• This adaptability also applies to his King-slaying prowess. He can get the Items to kill the King while also adding to his ability to enter the Palace.

Sana (Bear Clan) – 

• Gameplay Style and Tips: Sana is a powerful spellcaster and her Priestess ability means she fights against Corrupted creatures with her Spirit. This means she’s stronger against them than other creatures.
• Spells are her main focus. With 5 Spirit she can play Spell Cards that increase her lacking Wits or Fight. She can also have wider reach, giving her power over other Heroes with her magic.
• Still, she only has 2 Fight otherwise. Avoid combat at all costs, unless it is with Banes, Corrupted Heroes, or the King. Her Priestess ability only gives her an edge against the aforementioned.
• When playing against a Sana, stay above 2 Health whenever possible. It would be easy for her to cast a Lightning Strike or Enflame from halfway across the map to kill you.
• Also, kill her early in the game to prevent her from making any progress. She has little to no ability to fight back.
• Ring and Amulets for Starting: Jade is the starting Ring for Bears. And even if you decide to unlock all the Bear Clan’s Rings, Jade is the best option for Sana. It greatly augments her spellcasting and makes her able to cast at least one more spell at Dawn.
• For her Amulet, get Think to make playing Spell Cards all the easier. The more Cards you hold, the more power you hold over your enemies. 
• Difficulty: Hard. Being weak in combat (2 Fight to be precise), she’s harder to play. Basically, she needs to avoid battle with everyone except the King and Banes. Nonetheless, her ability to play more Magic Cards means she can cast Spell Cards to increase her chances.
• Best for: Prestige, Spirit Stone, and Rot Victories. Prestige is a good option for Sana as she can kill Banes with her Priestess ability. Also, Spirit Stones compliment her being a spiritual Bear really well.
• As surprising as it sounds, she’s also a great candidate for Rot Victories. Her Priestess ability gives her an edge against Banes, meaning easier harvesting of them. And her high Spirit pool means casting higher costing Spell Cards like Syphon and Dark Influence can quickly boost her Rot.

Brun (Bear Clan) – 

• Gameplay Style and Tips: Brun is suited for two things: Survivability and spellcasting. His high Body combined with his Scarcaster ability makes him tough in battle and beyond. Scarcaster gives him +1 Fight for every Spell Card he’s cast that turn until the end of his next turn.
• Cast at least 1 Magic Card every turn to keep up your Fight. This’ll make it easier for you to face whatever attack comes in that turn.
• Increase his Wits whenever possible. Brun’s spellcasting is limited by his 3 Wits. Complete at least 1 Wits Quest to help that.
• Then focus on Body and Fight Quests.
• When playing against a Brun, wait until he doesn’t have any Scarcaster stacks, and then attack him. Also, lower his health with Magic and Trickery Cards to increase your chances of killing him.
• Attacking him early in the game, when his Spirit and Wits are low, also is better as he won’t be as strong in that stage of the game.
• Ring and Amulets for Starting: Jade is naturally what all Bear Clan Heroes start with, and it works pretty well with Brun’s spellcasting. However, if you unlock all the Bear Clan Rings, Amethyst is best for Brun. A handful of Spell Cards mean you can burn some in battle, get Magic back from the ones you burned, cast them to build up Scarcaster, and battle again.
• For your Amulet, Think is the best one for Brun. It increases his chances of casting Spell Cards since he has extra chances of drawing them. The more Spell Cards you cast, the stronger you become.
• Difficulty: Hard. Brun’s ability relies on him casting Spell Cards, but without more Cards to use, his ability is basically useless. Thus, it takes getting extra Wits and Spirit through Quests to build up his power. 
• Best for: Rot Victories, Prestige Victories, Battle Victories, and survivability. Brun’s high health combined with his spellcasting focus, means that finding and surviving Rot is a viable option for him. He can also survive the Rot damage at dawn easier.
• Prestige and Battle Victories are easier since Brun can not only take damage, but dish it out with Scarcaster. Killing other Heroes, Banes, and/or the King become much easier with him.

That is all that I can offer you to start you on your journey into Armello. Go forth champion and slay the King. Save Armello!

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