Routes For All Mastery

Last updated 22/05/23

READ THIS WARNING BEFORE PICKING A ROUTE

You will get contested using routes. As you don't play alone on the Lumia Island, and sometimes RNG is not on your side. So remember the idea behind a route (or playing well) which is going to the next best area where you can pick multiple items in that area according: to what you have in your bag/inventory, your HP & Stamina status, and animal events. So you'll have to learn eventually alternate crafts/area for your build. You don't have to learn everything all at the beginning, but keep adding them over time.

You can also practice the route with one AI in Private games, then try in Normal games initially as well to get used to it.

Read below, for FAQ about Routes

Hand

Blunt

Blade

Stab

Gun

Bow

Throw

[FAQ about Routes]

"Why a route?"

The in-game Index is fine at the very beginning but it is too slow at it points you only toward one item at a time. A route select items that goes well together because ingredients are in same area so you get your build done faster.

It's really the opposite of a common new player mistake where they build according to the most armor. This is too slow in this game as the game is specifically made so that you will have to take more time to craft armor so less mastery by doing so. This game reward efficiency & speed. As Mastery scales over time. And that guy with a faster armor can just salvage your perfect armor anyway. That is why we end our routes with 1-2x Blue Craft in our builds.

It also helps initially new player build something and not die too quickly. Fast learners also deconstruct the route and end up building their own route over time.

"What is a good route for [insert Character name]?"

Some Characters benefit from specific items, but you might slow you down if you try to force to many items for a specific character. As we said in the previous question, speed is key. You can sometimes pull it off it you build a route around it though. Here's some examples. Check Characters tab for more.

Crit characters (Shoichi, Rosalio, Silvia) love Blade Boots + Pirate Flag.
Sissela loves +Max HP items: Sunset Armor, Eye of Horus, and transition into Blood Red Hood late game.
Rio loves +Accuracy items: Failnaught, Cosmic Watch, Clergy's Cassock.

"Is this a good route? How do I evaluate this route?"

To tell if a route is good, you should be able to complete all items to Purple/Epic around Gorilla/Bear if you're doing it against one AI. If you don't make it, you might be too slow on your fingers/hotkeys or you are picking wrong areas.

"What are the ingredients of a route?"

In this order of importance.

Food ("Survival" in the name of the game): if you have no food and you have armor/weapon, you die. Food allows you to survive until the end. While crafting your route, usually one crafted food is enough. Afterwards, as much as possible!
- Food is good all game, the latter you are, the more big food.
Armor ("Survival"): if you have no armor but only food, you’ll take a lot of damage and you won’t be able to make enough food to survive. So we need to build that armor to increase the value from our food. Armor is strong early, and decreases in value over time.
- Armor starts strong early game, then as the Mastery gets higher and higher, Armor loses value over time.
Weapon ("Black"): if you have food & armor, and no weapon you won’t kill/contest anyone, especially relevant for early route & animal control. You do get more hits in with a weaker weapon for Mastery but you also give cheap (no food) Mastery for your opponent. Be careful.
Stamina: if you have everything else, but no Stamina, you will be resting a lot and you won’t search as much as others. We used Blue Research Result in our our route for this reason. If you have Accelerate, even better.

Best starting location/areas combines the four by upgrading your starting Weapon.

Uptown is a classic example for Stab mastery
School & Pond & Chapel are classic example for Blunt mastery

"I'm a new player, what's a good route for me?"

There are no "easier" routes. So routes do end up a little faster but everything up there should be done in the same time. A route is weaker when you take more time to craft all your Epic as we already said.

"I played Eternal Return before, is this the same?"

Some crafts are different tho. And you don't have a safe time to craft unlike in Eternal Return. So flexibility is required in this game unlike Eternal Return.