When everyone enters the Cycle, they will transform into a mysterious Reclaimer with the mission of reincarnation, embarking on a journey through time. Each time loop is an opportunity to rewrite past stories and alter predetermined fates. However, as you'll see in the beginner's guide for the Cycle, mastering its core gameplay is no easy feat. So don't worry, this carefully prepared guide will start from choosing your profession and gradually delve into every detail of the cycle mechanism, providing a comprehensive breakdown of the game's playstyle.
The choice of profession at the beginning of the game directly determines your subsequent adventure style and growth path. The Insighter profession is the top choice for players who are passionate about strategic planning and skilled at uncovering hidden clues. They are born with a unique innate talent called Heart's Eye, which allows them to keenly sense even the slightest abnormal fluctuations in their surroundings, thus detecting traces left by time rifts in advance. When facing those cycle puzzles, Insighters can always seize the initiative and find the key to solving them first.
On the other hand, the Boundary Breaker is the ideal choice for players who prefer close combat and enjoy physical confrontations. They have high health points and powerful melee output capabilities. There is also the Spirit Invoker, the best companion for players skilled in long-range control and team support. They skillfully use mysterious spirit energy to deal large-scale attacks on enemies while also promptly applying sturdy shields and various beneficial buffs to teammates. In terms of later stat allocation, health points, which are the fundamental guarantee for survival, should be prioritized for enhancement. Stamina is equally crucial, as it affects the character's running speed, dodging reactions, and the frequency of combo moves, so it's important to increase its cap as much as possible.
Besides these two necessary attributes, different professions have their own unique stat allocation strategies. Insighters should mainly focus on Intelligence to strengthen their environmental perception and puzzle-solving skills, aiming to unlock the powerful Time Rewind Perception skill as soon as possible, allowing them to rewind time in specific areas and reveal hidden historical clues, providing strong support for exploration. Boundary Breakers, on the other hand, need to focus on Strength + Constitution to comprehensively improve their offensive and defensive levels, and prioritize activating the Desperate Burst skill, which instantly triggers a damage boost effect when in a low-health dangerous situation, enabling a last-minute counterattack.
Spirit Invokers should primarily invest in Spirit, continuously enhancing their spirit damage and sustained spell effects, and quickly master the Spirit Shield skill. In the game map, special areas that emit a faint glow often hide hidden quests or extremely rare resources waiting to be discovered. At this point, fully utilizing the characteristics of each profession for exploration becomes particularly important. Insighters can activate Heart's Eye to penetrate illusions and see through secret passages behind walls. Boundary Breakers can use their brute strength to directly destroy cracked walls, forcibly creating a shortcut. Spirit Invokers can release spirit waves to accurately sense the exact location of distant treasure chests.
In addition to conventional exploration methods, you can also try three-dimensional exploration techniques, such as climbing steep cliffs or traversing narrow rock crevices to reach unconventional areas. In these places, you might have unexpected gains, such as rare equipment blueprints, source elixirs that permanently enhance attributes, or even precious memory fragments left by time rifts. The game's gathering system is also rich in content; plant collection allows you to obtain various herbs, which can then be made into practical potions for restoring health and stamina.
Mining can yield metal ingots, which are essential materials for forging powerful weapons. There is also a special resource called Time Crystal, which is usually found in areas around time rifts or as a reward after completing a cycle mission. This precious material is key to unlocking advanced skills. In terms of combat, attack patterns are divided into light and heavy attacks. Light attacks focus on rapid combos, effectively building up the enemy's vulnerability. Heavy attacks, while powerful, have a longer wind-up and should be precisely released when the enemy is in a staggered state to unleash maximum power.
In terms of defense mechanisms, holding down the defense button consumes stamina to block incoming damage. However, once stamina is depleted, the character will enter a staggered state, so it's crucial to time defenses properly. Dodging skills are also very important, allowing for agile rolls to evade enemy attacks. Some professions can trigger a temporal rift during dodges, gaining a brief acceleration effect to quickly distance themselves from enemies. Tactical use of items is diverse, such as Source Elixirs for healing, Flash Grenades to blind groups of enemies, and Smoke Bombs to provide cover for the team, making it easier to reposition.
For new players, there are some things to be mindful of in the beginner's guide for the Cycle to avoid falling into common pitfalls. First, attribute mismatch: in the early stages, don't blindly pursue output attributes; instead, prioritize stacking health and stamina to ensure survival. Second, avoid wasting cycles; before each reset, make sure to complete tasks that can retain progress to avoid missing out on valuable opportunities.
