I see a lot of new summoners struggling with what to do when they are first starting out. The general progression strategy of Scenarios > GB10 > etc. gives some basic direction to new summoners, but doesn’t explain how to clear that first PvE goal: Scenarios. This step-by-step beginner’s guide will be a walk-through that highlights what I believe to be the best path for clearing Scenarios, and will go a little more in depth with some basics to set new summoners up for long term success.

Definitions

Before we get started in earnest, let’s lay out some definitions for commonly used terms:

AD: Arena Defense

Arena Defense AO: Arena Offense

Arena Offense AOE: Area of Effect (skills that hit more than one enemy mon)

Area of Effect (skills that hit more than one enemy mon) ATB: Attack Bar

Attack Bar ATK: Attack (stat)

Attack (stat) CC: Crowd Control (slow, stun, sleep, freeze, etc.)

Crowd Control (slow, stun, sleep, freeze, etc.) CD: (1) Critical Damage (2) Cooldown (number of turns before you can use a skill again)

Cleave: A team of mons that can kill the entire enemy team in one turn

A team of mons that can kill the entire enemy team in one turn CR: Critical hit Rate (i.e. % chance of your mon landing a critical hit)

Critical hit Rate (i.e. % chance of your mon landing a critical hit) DD: Damage dealer

Damage dealer Debuff: Any negative status indicator (e.g. ATK break, DEF break, Slow, Stun, etc.)

Any negative status indicator (e.g. ATK break, DEF break, Slow, Stun, etc.) DEF: Defense (stat)

Defense (stat) DOT: Damage Over Time, aka Continuous Damage debuff

Damage Over Time, aka Continuous Damage debuff Dungeon: Referring to the various dungeons in the Cairos Dungeon DB10: Dragon’s Lair, Basement 10 Elemental Dungeons: Hall of [Element] (Sunday-Thursday: Light, Dark, Fire, Water, Wind respectively) GB10: Giant’s Keep, Basement 10 HoH: Hall of Heroes NB10: Necropolis, Basement 10

Referring to the various dungeons in the Cairos Dungeon Farmable: A mon which you can acquire reliably, either by Scenario drops, Secret Dungeons (SD), or shop pieces

A mon which you can acquire reliably, either by Scenario drops, Secret Dungeons (SD), or shop pieces Farmer: Any mon who can clear a scenario alone and is used to “farm” a scenario over and over, with the goal of leveling up three other mons

Any mon who can clear a scenario alone and is used to “farm” a scenario over and over, with the goal of leveling up three other mons Fodder: A mon used for sacrifice to level up, evolve, or skill up another mon

A mon used for sacrifice to level up, evolve, or skill up another mon GW: Guild War

Guild War GWD: Guild War Defense

Guild War Defense GWO: Guild War Offense

Guild War Offense gz: Congratulations

Congratulations Proc: When something occurs, like gaining an extra turn from Violent runes or landing a debuff

When something occurs, like gaining an extra turn from Violent runes or landing a debuff R1-5: Raid levels 1-5

Raid levels 1-5 RNG: Stands for Random Number Generator; used to express the random probability of something occuring.

Stands for Random Number Generator; used to express the random probability of something occuring. S1-3 : Skill 1,2, and 3

: Skill 1,2, and 3 SD: Secret Dungeon. Found through the elemental dungeons (Sunday-Thursday)

Secret Dungeon. Found through the elemental dungeons (Sunday-Thursday) TOA: Tower of Ascension TOAN: TOA Normal mode TOAH: TOA Hard mode

Tower of Ascension

Your First Mons

Ellia walks you through your first few summons, netting you the following mons:

Sieq, The Fire Hellhound: Sieq brings some self-sustain with S1, decent damage with S2, and, once awakened, a great 3-turn team ATK + CR buff. ATK buffs give your mons +50% ATK (based on your overall ATK, not just base ATK), and CR buffs give your mons +30% CR. As a 2* mon, Sieq is easy to awaken (2 Fire Mid, 15 Fire Low, 15 Magic Low), and easy to skill up (Fire Hellhounds are the most common mon drop from Faimon). Sieq has great base attack, and his S3 is on a 3-turn cooldown (CD) when max skilled (meaning your team can basically have constant ATK + CR buffs). Sieq will help you through Scenarios, but is mostly used in PvP later on because he is too squishy for PvE content.

Elucia, The Water Fairy: Elucia is going to be your first leader, giving your team +20% RES which will help prevent DEF breaks, slows, and other debuffs from affecting your mons. Her S1 has a 20% chance of freezing a single target for 1-turn (60% chance when maxed), which is useful (if unreliable) in PvE and PvP. Elucia’s S2 cleanses a single ally and recovers their HP. This heal is proportionate to Elucia’s ATK, meaning if you want a bigger heal, you need to give her more ATK. Finally, Elucia gains an S3 upon awakening that puts an enemy to sleep for 2-turns. Be aware that attacking a sleeping enemy wakes them up. I do not recommend awakening Elucia, as the essences are better used (IMO) towards fusing Veromos.

Ellia forces you to use 75 crystals to summon Elucia, so I feel the need to give you this advice: you should never use crystals to summon one monster ever again. Instead, save up your crystals for the Premium Pack (750 crystals) for 11 Mystical Scrolls (MS), 100,000 Mana, and 3 angelmon (Fire, Water, and Wind). This is (arguably) the most efficient use of your crystals early game, as a lucky 4 or 5* mon can be a big boost to your progression. Later on, energy refills and experience boosts will be the most efficient use of your crystals (exp. boosts for leveling, energy refills for rune farming).

Garen Forest

All Scenarios drop a unique rune set, monsters, unknown scrolls, and crafting materials. In Garen Forest, you’ll find:

Energy Runes : A 2-set of energy runes gives your mon a bonus +15% HP. With three sets, that’s an additional 45% HP for your tanks. Put three sets on Roid so he can soak damage for you versus Fire mons.

: A 2-set of energy runes gives your mon a bonus +15% HP. With three sets, that’s an additional 45% HP for your tanks. Put three sets on Roid so he can soak damage for you versus Fire mons. Monsters : Icaru (Water Inugami, 3*), Rainbowmon (2*), Water Flower (2*), Fire Maned Boar (2*), Wind Mushroom (1*), and Wind Forest Keeper (1*) all drop from Garen Forest. Check out our Monster Guide of Monsters series for more info on what mons to keep.

: Icaru (Water Inugami, 3*), Rainbowmon (2*), Water Flower (2*), Fire Maned Boar (2*), Wind Mushroom (1*), and Wind Forest Keeper (1*) all drop from Garen Forest. Check out our Monster Guide of Monsters series for more info on what mons to keep. Unknown Scrolls (US) : Unknown Scrolls will summon a random 1-3* mon. US can be found as a drop from every Scenario.

: Unknown Scrolls will summon a random 1-3* mon. US can be found as a drop from every Scenario. Crafting Materials: Crating Materials can only be found when clearing a Hell mode Scenario, and you won’t be using the crafting materials dropped by Scenarios until much later in the game. You can either hold on to them until that time, or sell them by going to your Arena tower > Storage > Craft.

Going forward, I won’t mention US or Crafting Materials as Scenario drops, and instead will focus on the unique drops (Runes and Mons) of each Scenario.

TIP: Higher star level mons are more likely to drop in higher difficulty Scenarios (i.e. Hell mode will drop more Water Inugamis than Normal mode).

Roid, The Wind Vagabond: Ellia has you summon a US upon completing Garen 1 Normal, and you get Roid. Roid brings DEF break (reduce enemy DEF by 70%) on S1, ATK break (reduce enemy ATK by 50%) on S2, and an ATB reset + Taunt on S3 once awakened. Debuffs are powerful and useful tools that will be the cornerstone of your PvE progression, but require investing in ACC for your mons to land them with any consistency (the same goes for Elucia’s freeze on S1).

Ellia also has you feed a mon to power / level up your Sieq. I generally recommend not wasting mons in this way. Especially early game, you will need the mons you summon from US and friend points to evolve your mons or you will run out of food quickly. I generally only use 1* mons as food for Angelmon I find.

Continue fighting through Garen Forest (turn “Auto Fight” on after level 3) and beat the boss using a combination of Roid’s debuffs and Elucia’s heals to tank through the fight. As a clear reward, you will get…

Lucien, The Light Elven Ranger: Although I recommend keeping Lucien, I don’t find him to be that great… He’s an attack type mon with fairly low base ATK (692 @ lvl 40). The Ankle Shot (S2) + Steady Shot (S3) combo is decent for PvP, but Lucien won’t help you much in PvE.

TIP: Don’t collect your mission rewards until you have used up your energy and arena wings. Collecting rewards can level you up, which refills your energy and arena wings.

Elemental Relationships

Elemental relationships are an important concept that you will use throughout the rest of the game. Here are the main effects to understand:

Attacking With Elemental Advantage grants you a bonus +15% CR and an increased chance to land a crushing hit (+30% damage). The 15% CR is important when looking to efficiently rune your mons. For example, if you can get 85% CR through runes on your Water Magic Knight, she will always land a critical hit versus fire mons (85% + 15% = 100%), which means more consistent higher damage.

grants you a bonus +15% CR and an increased chance to land a crushing hit (+30% damage). The 15% CR is important when looking to efficiently rune your mons. For example, if you can get 85% CR through runes on your Water Magic Knight, she will always land a critical hit versus fire mons (85% + 15% = 100%), which means more consistent higher damage. Attacking With Elemental Disadvantage increases your chance of landing a glancing hit, which normally reduces damage by 30%, but reduces an additional 16% damage when glancing with elemental disadvantage. Glancing hits will also block most skill harmful effects from landing. The reduced damage is a major reason why the suggested starting GB10 team is made mainly of wind mons.

Arena

Your main goal early game is to progress through the game’s PvE content. That being said, you should use up your wings whenever you can to start saving up for your weekly Devilmon (save for Veromos) and buildings (finish both energy towers first, then start your SPD Totem). For later game players, check out our Arena guides!

Always beat your Rivals for the guaranteed free crystals. After beating Gready for the first time, Durand will send you a gift…

Teon, The Light Garuda: Often overshadowed by his Water brother, Teon is a great free reviver with a decent S1 stun and support S2 (ATB fill + ATK buff). Cheap to awaken, and useful through DB10 and TOAH if you use a revive comp. You can also speed tune your arena team to give your DD a second turn.