• The most common question: "do I need to buy and play the first (or second) game before this one?"-- well, before all else, 3 is the best in the series so far, without question. If you're concerned about the story of the first two, such as it is, this TouchArcade article has you covered.
  
• As far as gameplay, the mainstay of it is identical across all three games, though weapon classes (light/heavy/dual) in 2 added (optional, welcome) complexity. The difference from second to third gameplay-wise is almost nothing at the core level. Accordingly, at this point I would recommend trying 1 only if it is free (which is occasionally is) and likewise for 2 (which is rarely is). On the other hand, your practice in 1 and/or 2 will carry over to 3.
  
• You have two characters in 3, which means two stat loadouts and twice as much gear to buy and grind experience with. Thankfully, each character has different "perks" tied to points invested in each stat, giving the leveling-up process between the two a layer of strategy. Also, it's a welcome mechanical addition to actually have you balance your character(s) compared to 1 and 2. You can respec at any time for a relatively nominal fee in the new secondary currency (Battle Chips).
  
• With respect to Isa's perks, you will want to get each of the first column ASAP. Shield perks are otherwise not really that useful, with the exception of the 25-point Gem Fusion Speed which is nice later on but not necessary if you're patient. Focus instead on first getting to 50 points (i.e. Lock Pick III) on the Magic perks, as that tree completed will allow you to open most of the locked chests you encounter in levels for free (with Isa only). Next I would concentrate on getting to 100 points in Health-- having free gem removal will save you lots of money in the long run and makes you much more flexible. After that, start sinking everything into Attack until you max out at 150 points with Gem Master which will speed up your currency grind by giving you high-value gems faster and cheaper. Lastly, you can throw points into Magic, but I am currently level 90 with Isa and most of the equipment in the game mastered once and I am just about to hit 100 points-- you probably won't make it to High Sorceress unless you love the game and play it for quite a while.
  
• Siris's perks are much less useful overall than Isa's for the metagame, but there's still some that are worthwhile. You'll want to get his first perks in Attack and Shield, then aim for the second Health perk Battle Challenges to start earning bonus Battle Chips for some fights. The third Shield perk Merchant Speed is useful to offload your mastered equipment more often. From there, it's up to you, but you will probably want to max out Health and Attack perks, and get 5/6 of Shield and Magic, with your extra points afterwards going into Magic (the last shield perk really doesn't seem worthwhile, potions are not that great).
  
• Make your way through the story missions as quickly as you can until you unlock the Gem Cutter and the Blacksmith. You will want to start using their services ASAP. You will eventually want to unlock 3 of the 5 gem fusion slots (and also the 4th one Isa's level 5 Attack perk gives) but you won't need but the first one for the Blacksmith (and possibly the second slot Siris's 5th Attack perk gives you). Upgrading at the Blacksmith is expensive and time consuming where gem fusion is much less so and generally quicker. You can revisit missions later on to grind, and each completion advances you 3-4 hours on the game clock (and refreshes gems in the store), advancing your gem fusion and blacksmithing for you, so wait to grind until you can benefit from that.
  
• For gems, you will want to always buy at least the 2 (sometimes 3) diamond-shaped elemental defense gems each Awakening. 3 elemental defense gems gives you one 5% rainbow defense gem. 3 5% rainbow defense gems gives you a 10%, and 3 10%s give you a 25%. 3 25%s gives you a 50% and three 50%s gives you the best possible rainbow defense which is really handy to have. I also generally tend to buy any gems that are $10K or under each Awakening and fuse them. Eventually with time you will make gems that sell for $300K.
  
• The dragon is basically a randomly encountered quicktime fest where you try to lower its hitpoints as much as possible. If it gets away, the damage sticks until next time. Your rewards for beating it the first two times are two really good gems so keep at it. It has rainbow defense so switch to your highest attack loadout when you see an empty field with no titan in it.
  
• The arena is an area you can only play once per 24 hours. Chances are on the hardest difficulty (Aegis) you will not be able to easily make it past round 15 which will much much lower than the theoretical maximum for the reward. The rewards in the arena are kind of bad generally but it is a really good place to level up your gear. Pay attention after each round to see what gear is mastered and check your skills for points to allocate as it doesn't do a good job of telling you when you master/level up in that mode.
  
• Gems are different in 3 than 2, and with their changes I feel like Dual is no longer the hands-down best class, and dodge is no longer the best strategy. One of the best class-specific gems (90% Titan Speed) I've so far only seen for Light weapons. Many (new) gems give really great results for parrying- for example, I have two triangle gems (On Parry, Damage Titan 800 and On Perfect Parry, Damage Titan 5000) and a hex gem (On Perfect Parry, Stun Titan 3s) that allow me to fight Titans with a (hex) Titan Level +500 Gem equipped without much trouble. Gems really mix things up in a good way.
  

DNK fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Jan 10, 2014

Kelthorn fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Jan 13, 2014