Crown Trick challenges you whenever you step foot in the Dreamrealm. Can you survive each dungeon floor and room? Here’s our beginner’s guide to help you out with survival.
Note: For more information, check out our Crown Trick guides and features hub.
Crown Trick: Beginner’s guide
Make the most out of the first zone
In Crown Trick‘s campaign, Elle starts in a tutorial dungeon, the Realm of Nightmares. It bears mentioning that the first zone has easy enemies and encounters, so stay here and keep farming soul shards and character upgrades.
When you’re done beating the last baddie, Vlad, you’re presented with a choice of three new chapters: Gears of Sorrow, Witchcraft of Fear, and Tsunami of Rage. There are special mechanics on these dungeon floors, and bosses are tankier and stronger.
Meeting the NPCs and managing resources
You’ll spot more NPCs that can be rescued in the Realm of Nightmares. They’ll be present in your HQ, offering their services to boost Elle’s capabilities in future runs.
Note 1: Dying, restarting, or completing a zone takes you back to your HQ. When you die, you’ll lose your gold, keys, and any items, but you do keep your soul shards. Take a look at our gold and soul shards guide for tips on how to manage your resources.
Note 2: You can also visit our HQ/NPC character upgrades guide for more info.
Manage the use of your elixir wisely
Your elixir restores your HP and MP to full. If you pick up the Elixir Upgrade perk from Barbara the Atelier, you’ll gain an extra charge. Still, you’ll want to manage when you’ll actually use your elixirs.
I usually hold off using one until I reach the boss. Once defeated, the transition floor has a fountain that replenishes your HP, MP, and elixir charges. Sometimes, you might even discover a fountain in the actual dungeon.
Turn on Sticky Directions
Trust me, you’ll want to have this enabled. By default, you have different buttons to make Elle turn and move. However, it’s possible to forget that and accidentally move a tile when you only wanted to turn towards that direction. That’s why enabling this option is important. Elle will first turn towards a direction (which won’t waste a turn) prior to any movement.
Breaking defenses and fighting “diagonally”
In Crown Trick, many normal attacks, even those from enemies, can only hit those in front or in a straight line. That’s why Axes become more viable since you can hit all surrounding tiles, including foes that are diagonally-adjacent. They can’t hit you with normal attacks yet, but you’re free to slash them already.
Furthermore, this lets you set up some easy “breaks” when you whittle down a target’s shield value. This stuns your foe for several turns. Likewise, if you managed to consistently hit multiple targets, you’ll boost Elle’s attacks significantly while fighting in a room.
Note: Speaking of axes, we’ve got a weapons guide to help you out.
Skipping turns and using Blink
Although you can’t move diagonally the normal way, you can definitely move to any nearby tile using Blink. It has limited charges, so use it sparingly when needed.
Additionally, you should consider skipping turns. Elle will remain in place while enemies take their turn (often moving towards you). Use proper placement and positioning when approaching fights.
The initial room is the most important one
The first room in each run in Crown Trick is actually the most important. It presents you with several weapons and familiars that you can select. As such, the initial room will likely make or break your attempt. As mentioned in our official review, I found myself restarting often just so I could get the ideal combinations at the start.
Note: Regarding familiars, you can read our familiars, skills, and abilities guide for more tips.
Additionally, the first room (in later stages of the game) will show you the modifier that’s active throughout your run. A good example is Corpse Explosion where a bomb spawns on the tile where an enemy dies. You can use this in conjunction with skills to ensure that other nearby enemies get caught in the blast.
Learn the map: Events, exploration instances, and icons
Although Crown Trick‘s dungeons are procedurally-generated, you’ll notice a lot of similarities with tilesets, mobs, and even bosses. It definitely pays to become acquainted with the map’s icons.
If you spot a crystal icon as you approach a new room, that means there’s a decision to make. Some of these let you heal your HP to full or provide an item, while others are there as jokes.
Alternatively, you might encounter cursed chests or cursed statues. These provide you with a powerful boon. However, it’ll cause something so debilitating in return. It’s “risk vs. rewards,” so it’s up to you to gauge if the results are worth it.
A word of warning: try to avoid choosing a penalty like taking quadruple damage. Imagine getting hit by a weak mob only for it to take out 90% of your HP.You’re going to hate it eventually.
Lastly, if you find rewards that require keys, don’t open them immediately until you’ve explored all the rooms. Some reward rooms might need two keys instead, and you don’t want to spend a key on something that might not be helpful in the long run.
Gacha and slot machine rewards are often not worth it
Due to the amount of RNG you need to keep in mind in Crown Trick, the last thing you want is a minigame that relies on even more RNG. The two types of slot machines will drain your gold the more you keep playing and the rewards are often negligible. You’re better off buying stuff directly from the transition floor vendor or the Black Market.
Note: For these amazing wares, head over to our Black Market guide.
Crown Trick is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.
