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Dungeons and Dragons can be intimidating because of its complexity, and has some of that same energy. You take control of either one of several warriors in a fantasy RPG party on an epic quest. It's divided between adventuring across a hexagonal overworld and combat encounters.
The goal is to visit and clear as many dungeons as possible in order to grow in power and complete quests. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, and the game has a lot of little tricks and mechanics to master. I🌃t will take time to get used to everything it has to offer, but there are good ways to get started.
Do Fodder Runs
As the game blatantly states at the start, you will fail a lot. This is due to the large element of RNG and the overall difficulty of the game. However, since you know this, you can take advantage of the system. Therefore, you shouldn't take your first runs too seriously. Pick the toughest and most resilient classes for your party and then head out into the world.
Explore as much as you can, visit all points of interest, and fight as many enemy types as possible. Not only will this let you get familiar with the game, but you'll also gather lore that will carry into future runs which you can reference when you need.
Conserve Focus
For The King incorporates a feel similar to DnD in terms of luck when it comes to performing actions from investigating to simply attacking. While it's not a die roll per se, it has a similar randomness. This is where Focus comes in. Each party member has points of Focus indicated by yellow icons above their portraits.
These points are used to improve your chances of success in almost any action. This means you can guarantee a powerful strike or high-value loot if you expend all your points. Unfortunately, Focus doesn't recharge as often as the other stats, and it's easy to burn through it. Before attempting a dungeon run, stock up on Focus restorative items.
Grind Wisely
With any RPG, grinding is to be expected. However, unlike others, For The King doesn't offer easy access to low-challenge areas that you can use to gain quick EXP. The game consistently scales to strength level with enemies sometimes appearing out of nowh🎃ere to ruin your day.
Thankfully, dungeon areas clearly indicate how strong the enemies are, so you'll know what you need to do to prepare. However, since enemies match you consistently, your party can get worn out very quickly and full recovery can get expensive. Because of this, it's better to target the more difficult enemies for max EXP benefits.
Manage Each Character Carefully
One of the more unique mechanics of this party RPG is that you're not controlling a unit. Rather, you're controlling individuals that are working towards a common goal. Each character has their own moves and strengths both in combat and in overworld exploration. Even when they're all together in one place, they remain independent.
This is made clear by the fact that each member has their own inventory and gold pouch. At the end of fights, always share the gold and portion out any equipment and items based on each member's shortcomings. This also applies to passive bo꧒nuses and boosts you can get from certain points in the overworld.
The Shortest Path Isn't Always The Best
In a game where time is a factor, it's normal to think that a straight line is the best path to travel. Since the world is hexagonal, movement can be angular and awkward. However, the goal isn't to finish quests as quickly as possible as you'll end up severely ill-equipped and under-leveled.
The longer paths and spreading out your party give more time for high-EXP encounters and profitable events to spawn. You need to explore more of the map to give each party member a chance to grow and earn more gold whenever you need to stop to rest. Also, Murphy's Law dictates that ambushes are more likely the faster you try to get to safety or your goal.
Mind Your Life Counter
Though you have access to a wide range of support classes, they're not as powerful as you would hope. Considering how strong enemies will get, party members falling in battle will occur often. The only reliable way to revive them is to use your Life Counter. This is indicated by the Heꦜart icons at the top of the screen.
A party member can expend an action to use a counter to revive an ally to around half health. While it's convenient, it's not easy to restore the Life Counter, so it's better to approach challenges as cautiously as possible because once the counter is gone so𓆉 is your safety net.