Beginner's Guide: Tips and Tricks for New Players
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Starting out as a beginner in Black Beacon can be as easy as picking a character, knowing how combat works, and gathering resources. Our beginner's guide covers all of that, as well as other tips and tricks to start your playthrough on the right track.
List of Contents
Beginner's Guide
| Black Beacon Guide for Beginners |
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Overview
Welcome to Black Beacon. Just like the Library of Babel, Black Beacon has many secrets in store for new players, and our guide will show you what you need to know, as well as how to progress through the game as fast as possible.
At this stage of the game, you will want to focus on clearing as much as the Main Story as possible, with a good team that clears enemy groups quickly. Gather as many resources as you can since resources are scarce in general, so you will have to prioritize picking your team.
Eventually, as you go through more of the Main Story, you will get your hands on more ways to strengthen your characters, such as equipping Ancient Marks from Tome of Fate Mode and getting Rune Shards from Infinite Multiverse mode. Your objective from there on in is to get a good DPS character, as well as decent/good support units.
Our guide will also show you how to get Mutual Aid Points (and raise your characters' affection), what's on sale at the Black Beacon Store, and a glossary of key in-game terms.
Progress Through the Main Story As Soon as Possible
When you start the game, try to clear the Main Story up to Chapter 4-19 (or at least Chapter 3-19) as fast as possible to unlock all of the game's important features and start settling into doing your dailies. This is doable within 2 to 3 days, depending on what team you have assembled, your luck with Retrieval Pools (the game's equivalent of gacha banners) and the amount of resources you have gathered.
How to Unlock All Game Modes and Features
However, we don't mean this to say that players should skip Black Beacon's story. The early plot of Black Beacon is a rich narrative revoling around the nature of myths, knowledge, philosophy, and humanity's understanding of all things, as well as its own hubris. This is coupled with a quest to try and prevent a great catastrophe.
For players to have an easier time playing the game so they can focus on enjoying the story, we prepared walkthrough guides that show how to get through these early chapters and beyond.
Learn the Combat System and Character Stats
Combat in Black Beacon is not just about smashing the Attack button and hoping for the best. You will have to take advantage of your character's Skills to deal the most amount of damage or have the greatest amount of utility, and then put them in a team with characters that make them better at what they do or cover their weaknesses.
Use other combat mechanics such as Elemental Anomalies to deal even more damage to enemies, and even learn a few tricks such as queuing up your characters' ultimate skills, and using certain characters' abilities beyond what the game initially tells you. You could get by with doing the basics, but you will go further if you know the finer points of combat.
Characters with high ATK, Critical Rate, Critical Damage, and even Pierce stats will cause more damage and perform better overall in combat. So, take some time to learn how character stats work as well - so when the time comes, you can raise a character's most useful stats with Ancient Marks.
Get a Good Team and Weapons From Retrieval Pools
Retrieval Pools are Black Beacon's equivalent of gacha banners, and some of the most powerful units in the game will be avaiable through these retrieval pools, especially any banners hosting 5-star units or weapons that are only available for a limited time. You will first encounter retrieval pools after clearing Chapter 1-4.
When starting out as a new player, they will most likely have acccess to the game's permanent retrieval pool, Mortal Wanderings. Pulling from this banner 30 times with gray Lost Time Keys (non-limited retrieval tickets) gives players access to a selector that will give one copy of a non-limited 5-star unit.
We recommend either the Light character Logos or the Dark character Ereshan. The first is a fast damage dealer that can also play as a support, while the latter is a heavy damage dealer with a nifty teleportation gimmick that's only hampered by her initial lack of damage in the early game. Logos' Elemental Anomaly deals more damage compared to Ereshan's Elemental Anomaly at this early stage of the game, though Ereshan is easier to play for beginners. The damage of both these units can be supplemented by ATK buffs from Zero, a character obtained from the very start of the game.
If you prefer more unique playstyles, Nanna is a steady damage dealer that has a scimitar pickup mechanic that lets her do AoE attacks on enemies surrounding her. Viola meanwhile is a good Thunder support character (especially if you have other Thunder characters like Xin), while Li Chi is another DPS that uses a clone to deal more damage to enemies.
Depending on who you choose, focus on gathering enough Rune Shards to pull one copy of the character featured in the limited banner, especially if the character is a powerful DPS unit such as Florence. Then, put these units together in a team and progress through the Main Story.
Weapons are not as important to get as characters at this stage, but one you have at least one copy of a limited unit, you can also try putting some Rune Shards toward getting one copy of their 5-star weapon. If you did not get a limited character or their weapon, you can try rerolling, though the game is generous in giving away Rune Shards, and much of the early story can be cleared with most characters.
Gather Rune Shards, Upgrade Materials, and Other Resources
| Sources of Rune Shards, Upgrade Materials, and Other Resources in the Early Game |
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Rune Shards are Black Beacon's in-game currency, which is used to buy Keys (such as Time-Seeking Keys) to pull new characters from Retrieval Pools. To upgrade your characters and their weapons (by leveling them up, raising their breakthrough levels, and raising the level of your character's skills), you will need special upgrade materials such as Fires of Hephae, Proofs of Search for Knowledge, Moonlit Red Stones, and various element-specific and skill-specific materials.
There are many ways to get these items in the early game, and we encourage new players to get as many of them as making a single character stronger can be resource-intensive. This can be started right after players are given free rein to navigate most of the game's menus after Chapter 1-4.
Main Quest Progress Rewards
The first way a player will be getting Rune Shards and other resources is through progressing the Main Quest. Each Main Quest gives a Rune Shard reward for clearing it the first time, on top of clearing it with 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star rankings depending on specific criteria.
Each main chapter of the Main Story also has a progress tracker that gives rewards based on what mission a player has already cleared.
Pure Energy Bonus
The Pure Energy Bonus, or P.E. Bonus is Black Beacon's own battle pass. Some of the Daily, Weekly, and Active Quests may already be done by the time you clear Chapter 1-4, so it's worth checking for upgrade materials and other rewards.
P.E. Bonus (Battle Pass) Guide
Seer Level Rewards
Once a player's Seer Level starts rising, they will start to get various Seer Level Rewards. These are like milestone rewards that give a gift of Rune Shards, various Upgrade Materials, Orelium, and even Ancient Marks. You can get level rewards per level up to the max level at 60.
Mail Rewards
In the Home Screen, the Mail tab will most likely have a letter from the developers of Black Beacon that contains Rune Shards and other useful resources.
Free Store Packs
Check the Store Packs in the Store tab from the Home Screen. The Gift Pack Store's Daily Pack and Beginner Privileges sections will most likely have free item packs containing useful resources for players starting out in the game.
7-Day Sign-in Event
If you need Lost Time Keys or Time-Seeking Keys, there is typically an event that requires you to log in for seven consecutive days. In exchange, however, players will receive free limited keys and standard keys.
Vision Expansion Event
Vision Expansion is a Seer Level milestone reward event. If you reach Seer Level 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, and 55, you will get a set of Lost Time Keys, and either Rune Shards or Spherical Fruits (items that restore your Clarity, or this game's equivalent of Energy in other gacha games).
Any Ongoing Events
Events are good sources of Rune Shards and other resources, on top of offering a fun minigame. If there happens to be an event going on at the time that you signed up, participating in these events can give you a good amount of the resources you need.
Character Trials
Character Trials are Events where you can try out a character for free in exchange for Rune Shards and other resources. Whether you want to try out the latest character in a banner or need just a bit more Rune Shards, Character Trials are a good way to get extra currency.
Character Tutorials
As for characters you already have, each of them have their own Tutorials available via the Character tab from the Home Screen. On top of teaching the basics on how to use a character, the Tutorial will also give out one Lost Time Key, which can be used at the game's permanent retrieval pools.
New Librarian Privileges
Clarity is this game's equivalent of Energy, and though you will get some Spherical Fruits in the early game, you can still run out of Clarity easily (especially once you start playing Resource Stages).
The New Librarian Privileges event can be a potent source of Clarity until you unlock Babel Tower mode.
Raise Your Characters’ and Weapons’ Breakthrough Levels
To make your characters stronger in Black Beacon, you will need to raise three things: Their Character Level, Breakthrough Level, and their Potential. That's on top of getting them a weapon and also raising its Level, Breakthrough Level, and Sync Level.
Character and Weapon Levels are raised with EXP materials such as Proofs of Search for Knowledge (characters) and Fires of Hephae (weapons). Breakthrough Levels, meanwhile, are raised with Moonlit Red Stones and specific upgrade materials depending on your character's element.
If you are raising the Breakthrough Level of a weapon, you will need Casting materials such as Casting - Ashes.
Most of these upgrade materials can be obtained from rewards gathered at the start of a playthrough, though players will need to eventually get them from Resource Stages or Merging certain low-quality upgrade materials.
Play Side Stories and Events for More Rune Shards and Rewards
Once you've finished Chapter 1 of the Main Quest, additional side-stories exploring certain characters will become available. These missions reward players with both Rune Shards and various resources including Orelium (a currency used for most forms of levelling up in-game).
Unlock Resource Missions and EX Stages
Progressing through Chapter 1 and reaching Seer Level 10 gives players full access to all Resource Stages, which are sets of missions that give out certain upgrade materials once you beat them. Most players will spend their Clarity on these missions to farm upgrade materials so they can raise the level of their characters and weapons.
Clearing Chapter 1, meanwhile, gives access to EX stages. EX Stages are sets of challenges that test a player's knowledge of game mechanics, their ability to last in battle, and their strategies in beating certain bosses. Even after clearing Chapter 1, Character Tutorials and the Head Librarian's Authority modes are unlocked, the latter of which rewards players with Rune Shards once cleared.
Get Ancient Marks From Tome of Fate Mode
After clearing Chapter 3-19, you will unlock Explore stages, which feature two modes. The first one is Tome of Fate, a campaign that gives players random battles with random buffs and debuffs. Clearing stages in either Story Mode or Adventure Mode will reward the player with Ancient Marks which are equipable items that give stat boosts and special effects to the character they're attached to.
These Ancient Marks can make or break a character, as they can give them beneficial boosts such as increased ATK, increased Critical Hit Rate, increased Critical DMG, etc. That's on top of special effects such as a rising ATK buff per basic attack made by the character that hits an enemy.
These Ancient Marks can either come for free from the Tome of Fate mode or Level Rewards, or bought with Seals of Fate, a special currency given by the Tome of Fate missions. Dismantling your Ancient Marks also yields Seals of Fate.
Dispatch Characters in Babel Tower Mode
Clearing Chapter 3-19 also gives access to Babel Tower Mode, a base building mode where you need to dispatch characters on timed missions to gather building materials. With these materials, you will build special floors and rooms at the Tower of Babel that will then give benefits such as free Orelium and other resources.
Unlock Infinite Multiverse Mode for Renewable Rune Shards
Clearing Chapter 4-19 gives access to one of the final unlockable modes: The Infinite Multiverse mode. It's a survival enemy rush mode where your team has to beat and survive successive enemy teams.
Infinite Multiverse is divided into two areas. The first is the Preparation Area which is made up of stages players need to beat to get to the second part of the mode, which is the Battle Zone.
The Battle Zone is where most of the surviving comes in. The more battles your team takes part in and the more enemies they face, the more Stars they collect. The more Stars they collect, the more Rune Shard rewards they are given. These rewards renew themselves every two weeks, making it a renewable source of Rune Shards.
Don't Miss Out On Your Dailies
Now that you've unlocked most of the features you need in the game, it's time to get settled on doing daily tasks so you don't miss out on resources and other goodies. We have prepared a list of dailies that you can follow for an optimal yield of Rune Shards, Orelium, and other upgrade materials.
Things to Do Every Day (Dailies Checklist)
Get Mutual Aid Points and Raise Your Characters' Affection
If you have a favorite character in Black Beacon, it's worthwhile to raise their Affection because it not only unlocks more of their story and voice lines, but it also gives certain rewards including a free costume.
Affection Guide: How Do I Raise My Character's Affection
To raise their Affection, you will have to give them Gifts, which are bought from the Store with Mutual Aid Points, a currency obtained only through having Friends in-game or setting up units that other players can use to augment their teams. Get enough Mutual Aid Points and grow close with your characters.
Friends Guide: How Do I Add Friends?
Learn What to Buy From the Store
Black Beacon's Store offers everything from upgrade materials, orelium, to Retrieval Keys, to Rune Shard and Rune Stone packs. But which section of the store sells which item? We have a guide on what can be bought from the Store, as well as recommended picks.
Store Guide: What to Buy at the Store?
Know What Everything Means in Black Beacon
For newcomers to an action game like Black Beacon, you can get caught up in all the different terms used inside the game. If you want to know what a specific term means, you can search for it in our Glossary.
Black Beacon Related Guides
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