Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia is a delightful grand strategy game that you might have heard of before if you remember the classic fantasy strategy title on the PS One. This new game is a remaster of that classic title, and it’s tons of fun. It’s been out on the PS4 for some time, and recently got ported to Switch, and has now landed on Steam. That means a ton of strategy game fans are jumping in and picking a side in a legendary war. You get to lead units of fantastical monsters into a raging war of attrition, and there’s a lot of blood to be shed.
But getting into the game isn’t easy, as there are a lot of mechanics to learn. Here we hope to give you a few tips and tricks for new players to help you lead your army to victory.
Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia Beginner’s Guide
Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia can be kind of a confusing game if you don’t take the time to learn it. The basic idea is that you use Mana to summon monsters, then command special Rune Knights to lead those monsters into battle. An isometric battle map is the real focus of the game, and the way you use your units in combat will often determine how well you do.
When you first make a game, you can actually alter the balance of power. By choosing a certain pattern, you can alter what territories are assigned to a faction at the start of the game.
Choosing a starting faction in and of itself can be kind of hard. Smaller factions like the Shinobi Kingdom start with few territories and fewer allies. Larger factions might also seem tempting, but often have more enemies and active wars. You will want to take a look at each faction on the screen and select the position you find the most advantageous. The starting unit rosters are usually pretty terrible, but that’s not a huge concern. The reason is that you can completely rework your army once you have enough Mana. That actually leads into our first tip, building your army and training.
Check your castles
The ability to summon different monsters will vary with each territory. Not every castle can summon Unicorns or Demons. Always take a turn to familiarize yourself with the best units you can recruit at the start of the game. It’s not a bad idea to spend some early Mana on getting a few of the best healing or ranged troops you can out early. Having the troops that can be moved into position to reinforce a weaker army can help a lot with getting an early advantage on your rivals. And once you have your initial army set up, start planning how you’re going to level them up.
Train any way you can
Monsters can be acquired via two primary means. The first and easiest way to get a monster is to summon it. Unfortunately, summoned monsters start with rather bad stats. Capturing enemy monsters by taking territory and winning fights is much better if you can do it. This can give you a good source of slightly more powerful units, even in the early game.
Once you have your units, plan to train them up in combat. On that note, always have your lower levelled units deal the finishing blow, as this is the easiest way to ensure bonus XP for them to gain ranks.
By taking your toughest monsters and Rune Knights and pairing them up, you get a rather tanky army. A bulky unit can anchor a weaker army, especially if it can self-heal and buff allied units. Training these Knights and forces up by winning small battles is a good idea as well. Getting a few extra levels and some shinier weapons can be the difference between victory and defeat. And as you level up your units, they sometimes unlock special forms. The Nightmares, Dragons, Sea Serpents and other top-tier units are some of the best in the game.
Always do Exploration Quests
Exploration quests in Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia are quests that will enable you to obtain items or monsters. These are the only source of some rare and crucial items, as well as new generals. The quest success rate and item rarity are affected by the level of the knight sent. This basically means to get the best rewards possible you need to send your best knight. Every quest you complete gives a bit of XP to the unit, and you have a chance for special events or rewards.
When a unit comes back from questing, their quest is either deemed “Excellent,” “Great,” “Good,” or “Failure,” with Excellent getting you the best rewards. One thing to keep in mind is that new Rune Knight events don’t work based on the strength of the Knight sent. The quest rewards for Rune Knights are based on time, encounters, battle wins and other conditions.
It’s OK to lose some fights
if a Knight is defeated, they retreat, but if a monster is taken out, it does not return unless you summon it again. One other thing to keep in mind is that the resummoning of lost units uses a Revival Stone. You will have to spend both the Mana on a new summon, and a rather rare item, to get that monster back. Losing battles by retreating is far preferable to losing an entire army that you then have to pay for. Sometimes you have to accept a loss. Losing territory is OK when compared to losing powerful units.
Rune Knights cannot die, no matter how many times they are defeated in battle, but they will be caught out of position and you might lose some very useful monsters. And having to retrain strong monsters is a huge time sink.
Don’t expand too fast
On the same token as not worrying about losses, you want to plan your expansion. Since you’re going to have your best knights out on quests a lot, they often won’t be able to lead armies. It’s a good idea to retreat from fights you really can’t win. Concentrate smaller armies in a territory to stop an encroaching foe if you have to, even if it means temporarily losing some castles.
The first few turns of the game should be spent preparing your army by summoning new units. And also, be sure to refill your ranks when you get the chance. Don’t ever stretch yourself too thin and end up without the units to defend your territory. It’s also a good idea to not try and take too much territory. You need Rune Knights to lead armies, so you can often let weaker factions exist on the edges of your territory while you focus your units on taking on stronger foes. If you can lock down a weaker rival to a few territories with a single army, take the opportunity and hold that territory rather than having to manage those few extra castles.
Take a good look at the map and figure out where your enemy is strongest. You don’t want to rush right into the heart of their army. The map will show you how many knights and units each city has, and commanders will often try and take chokepoints on the map when they can. By establishing a border with the majority of your army guarding against your enemies, you can resist many attacks. The AI will do the same thing, stacking most of their units on the borders of their territory. Try and catch the AI out when it only has a few knights in a city, as you need a Knight to actually lead units into battle. Each knight can only command so many units, so a city with two Knights is much weaker compared to a city with five of them.
BRIGANDINE The Legend of Runersia Map
Chains, chains and more chains
Chains are the surround mechanic in Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia. Think of them as flanking in TTRPGs. Every time a unit is chained by enemy units, it takes various debuffs and much more damage. You will want to try your best to surround enemies while not allowing your own units to get trapped. Having the flanks of powerful units protected by weaker units is key in many battles. You can often tank pretty easily if you’re using stronger units.
