Hey everyone! Ragnarok Labyrinth NFT is the newest Ragnarok Online series game for mobile. It's an auto-battler idle phone destroyer, basically a blockchain version of the existing Ragnarok Labyrinth game.
Even if you're not interested in the P2E/blockchain aspect of RLNFT, this is your chance to start the game from the beginning when the servers launch! Which IMO is the best way to play F2P/Mobile games.
The servers are opening at 9AM GMT+7 on 27 April (or around 10PM EDT tonight), so get your game downloaded and ready to go. If you're in SEA, you can just download the game from the Play Store or App Store, but if you're outside of SEA, you'll have to sideload the app. It's easy to get it through QooApp if you're on Android, or just pick up the latest APK from APKPure.
Also note that this information is about the actual gameplay of the game, how to get a good start with your character. It's NOT about how to earn. I really doubt you'll be able to earn much at all from this game, but being able to legitimately own your in-game assets as NFTs sounds great. You'll also constantly get a bunch of ONBUFF Points, which can be exchanged for other tokens at the cost of some ETH. Other that saying that, this guide is going to be about the actual gameplay of the game for people wanting to have fun and not get too behind at the start from not knowing what to do.
A note about this game: This game is meant to be left running pretty much all the time, so play on a device you can constantly run and won't need to interrupt the game. To get the basic bonuses each day you'll want to have the game running for at least 6 hours, but if you want to get the most out of the game you're going to be leaving it running pretty much 24/7. Once you have played for a couple days the amount of active play you will have to do will greatly decrease, so you can just leave it running on Power Saver mode and check in on it every few hours or so.
Before You Start (The Classes)
Before you start, you're going to want to decide on your class you're going to pursue. This will determine where you're going to spend your stat points. There are early-game builds where you will basically just dump everything into a primary stat, and late-game builds where you'll custom-tailor your stats to your build. You'll be able to respec, so don't worry about that. The main branch is in the 2nd class change, which is where your character will become more 'specialized,' so we'll go over the 2nd tier classes so you can decide what you want to play.
There's no whitepaper or much information about RLNFT at all, so we don't know exactly how the P2E aspects are going to work and whether it's better to prioritize PVP or PVE for your build.
Also note you can have 8 characters on one server so it's possible to build all 8 class branches, so don't worry about being stuck in one.
I'll focus on how to build the jobs for early-game later. For now you just need to pick which one you like the best.
If you're wanting to get lots of shares (people using your character as a helper, which gives you bonuses), Archer->Dancer->Clown seems to be a good choice. Swordman classes (Knight/Crusader) are the least played classes so they might be in higher demand as well, as anyone can use a tank and most people aren't running a tank. Swordman -> Crusader -> Paladin is my favorite job personally.
Knight - This is a tanky-ish, DPS-ish class that basically gets by pounding on enemies while trying to withstand their attacks. Wields swords. To become Knight you want to start with Swordman. Dump all your stat points into STR.
Crusader - This is the real tank class that specializes in defense, and can sacrifice health to increase damage output. Wields lances. Also starts as Swordman. Dump all your points into STR.
Dancer - This is a support class that focuses on boosting stats, as you would expect from a bard-type job. Weilds a bow. Surprisingly, when you class up into Clown, you'll get a bunch of DPS capabilities. Starts as Archer. Dump all your stats into DEX to start.
Hunter - This is the more pure DPS branch of Archer. Exactly what you would expect, long-range DPS that wields a bow. Great for PVE. Starts as Archer. Dump everything into DEX.
Sage - Mixed DPS that buffs itself, actually using close-range attacks sometimes, always fun to play magic classes. Starts as Magician. Dump everything into INT.
Wizard - The magic-y version of hunter, long-range DPS with powerful spells. Starts as Magician. Dump everything into INT.
Rogue - PVE-focused, can increase drop rate and stuff like that. Good if you're not that into PVP and multiplayer and like farming loot. Starts as Thief. Dump everything into AGI.
Assassin - PVP-focused rogue build. Focuses on swift attacking and inflicting status ailments. Starts as Thief. Dump everything into AGI.
Once you hit your 3rd job change you'll respec into something more fitting for your class. Up until that you're just wanting to mash through the game with your main stat -- there's no real strat other than outpower your opponents, and it's best to dump everything into one stat for that.
Your first character's basics will be randomly generated. You will get a gender reassign potion as part of the story, and you can change your name at any time, so you're not permanently stuck with either choice it makes for you.
First Things First
The game will start off by introducing you to the Sharevice, where you hire other players' characters to fight alongside you. As soon as this is done, there are two things you're going to want to do:
IMMEDIATELY go to your Hero tab (bottom left icon next to menu) and turn off AUTO for your stat distribution. If you leave Auto on, as you level up your Base Level, it will automatically distribute your stats somewhat evenly. We DON'T want this. We want to dump all our stats into one thing. Every time you level up your Base Level, go back to the Hero tab and dump your newfound stat points into your preferred stat.
SECONDLY, be sure to dismiss your Sharevice helpers at any time they're not critical. Sharevice can only be activated for so many "hours" before it runs out, and these are not real time hours. The more characters you have recruited, the faster these "hours" count down, and you will run out FAST. You will NEED your Sharevice characters for bosses and some MVPs and things like Labyrinth, so you want to only use them when you MUST use them. If your Sharevice runs out of time, you will be VERY SAD. In the beginning it will look like you have plenty of time, but you want to conserve this as much as possible. Be warned!
At the beginning of the game, you'll basically need the Sharevice characters if you're not wanting to go at a snail's pace. But once you notice you can one-shot regular enemies, turn them off and only turn them on for MVP or Boss battles (or Labyrinth once you get that far). It's okay to leave them on for a while in the beginning, especially since at lower levels the time will deplete less quickly, but eventually you're going to want them off for most of the time. The game will not suggest this to you, so just know it ahead of time!
Upgrade the Spoon!
The first equipment you will get is a spoon. Soon you will get new weapons and armor, and you'll get main quests to continue to upgrade your equipment. Keep upgrading the spoon. You've already upgraded it once, and even if you upgrade your other stuff, you'll soon lose those upgrades when you craft or find new equipment. The spoon will use fewer of your resources, and enable you to get through the main quests more quickly. Keep your spoon around for this purpose!
You'll never actually want to equip the spoon. You're just using it to clear the main quests that require you to upgrade equipment.
What to focus on
Your main focus should almost always be MAIN QUEST. This will give you tons of EXP and is basically the main way you will level up your character. It's also how you will unlock most of the game's functions, so you'll want to keep doing it as much as you can to get access to more stuff. If you're doing something you just have to wait for or can choose where to go, also make sure you're focusing on gaining crafting materials that can be useful to you. If there are no crafting materials you really want at the moment, you can always go for clovers, as they can be used to craft card boxes, or jellopies, which can be used in crafting star crystals.
So when should you not do Main Quest? Well, you'll want to get your dailies out of the way, so make sure you do those. Usually you can do those while doing Main Quest, though. But there are also Labyrinth Passes (which is found through the shop), Bingo Events, etc. that will have daily requirements. Keep an eye on these and make sure you're doing them. Once you know you can get them done, work on Main Quest again.
What to do regularly
Your little guy or gal will sit there and fight monsters tirelessly. But there's so many things to click on and do! Make sure to keep up on these things regularly once you unlock them:
- Dispatch - You'll want to dispatch as much as possible, as you're going to be desperate for mats at all times. Look ahead to see what armor you want to build for your third job change (if you don't know what kind of build you're going to use, focus on gear that helps for PVE farming such as stuff that increases AGI, attack speed, drop rate, etc.). If you absolutely don't know what to go for or you're set on equipment, go for clovers since you can make card boxes out of them. There are three kinds of Dispatch: collecting, mining, and trading. Each dispatch character has specialties and can only be applied to some of these. Prioritize mining first, then dump everyone into collecting, and if you have anyone left over that can only do trading, do trading.
- Duels - This might not be something you want to do regularly if you're weak and keep getting pieces stolen from you. But if you notice that your pieces don't get stolen frequently, go ahead and do a duel every time it charges back up. The time it takes to charge will depend on where you're grinding and how quickly you can defeat mobs. Once you get ~25% you should have a charge ready. When you complete a set of duel blocks, you get a reward, and you'll have to do these as part of the main quest at some point, too, so it'll be nice if you already have them out of the way. There's different duels for each area of the map, and fighting MVPs in that section will get you block drops. Steal the rest of the others from low-level players. Once you complete a set, accept your reward!
- Space of Infinite - This isn't available constantly, but every couple hours you'll be able to do it. Just do the highest level one you can, as you're not going to be winning the top prize any time soon at all. So you'll be getting the lowest prize, so the higher the level, the more you get. The Shattered Magic Stones you get from doing these can be used to craft Fragment of Valkyrie's Power, which is used to trans your character.
- Check the Secret Shop - Every few hours the Secret Shop refreshes and you can buy new stuff. If you're rolling in Zeny, feel free to buy mats you need for crafting, otherwise save your money. There's no real need to spend your Nyangvines here unless you see a card that you definitely want for your final build. Never spend Nyangvine or Zeny on something that has a random chance (boxes, companions, etc.) as you'll 99% of the time waste your money on a low-level thing.
- Fight MVPs - MVPs will drop card upgrade items and junk equipment that you can disassemble into star dust. Both of these things are very valuable, and you'll want to get them as much as you can. If you can babysit your device while you afk, try to run your character over to MVPs whenever they pop up. If you're actively playing, try to run to them as much as you can. Pull out some Sharevice characters if you can't take care of it on your own. They'll only be out for a few seconds, so it shouldn't waste too much of your Sharevice time.
Things to do every day
Obviously you want to do all your dailies (including event and pass dailies) every day, but there's other things that need to be done every day as well:
- Labyrinth - You get 5 passes into the Labyrinth every day. Do the highest level one you can manage. Make sure to take along a good set of Sharevice helpers or you'll be screwed. In the very early stages, you might want to wait til the end of the day to do this as you might be more powerful and capable of taking on a later one compared to what you could at the beginning of the day.
- Special Quiz - Once a day in the "Special" icon there will be a special quiz you can partake in to get bonus items and Zeny. If you get an answer wrong, you will get Zeny, but if you get it right, you'll get the displayed item. If you multi-account you can check the answers on a 'junk' account, and then get them right on your 'main' account. The "random guess" ones will also always have the same answer. I don't know if multi-accounting will be allowed in RLNFT though.
- Butterfly Ship - After finishing your dailies, you'll get a present you can give to the Doram to build friendship with them. As you increase friendship, you'll be able to unlock special requests to get nice items. I don't know if it will be available in RLNFT, but you can also watch ads to reduce the time it takes to get the presents up to 5 times a day.
- Free Shop Items - At different points during the day, free items will appear in the front of the Nyangvine, Box, Daily, and Items shops in the General Shop. Make sure to grab them.
How to build your Novice/1st job/2nd job
You're going to completely respec your skills once you hit your 3rd job change, so you want to put your first and second job's skill points into stuff that gives you the most quick damage output, so you can more quickly take down random mobs and bosses and MVPs and stuff, getting you through the Main Quest as quickly as possible. You're also going to be dumping all your stat points into one stat to make everything go more quickly. Just focus on pure damage output and you should be fine. I'm not going to go into which specific skills to use, as it's pretty easy to figure out. For example, don't waste time on Sacrifice for your Crusader when you can choose Holy Cross instead.
What to spend your Nyangvine on
Nyangvine is the premium currency (NOT the cryptocurrency) of RL, and there are tons of spending traps to try to get you to waste it on stuff that's not worth it. The only things I feel are worth it are buying additional attempts at the Central Laboratory (as getting the drops from here are permanent and valuable upgrades to your account), buying Fragment of Valkyrie's Power if it appears in the Secret Shop, and buying specific cards only if you know you need them in your final build at the Secret Shop. You can also buy the 10% off set of three Gacha Coins if you have plenty of extra Nyangvine from the Daily Shop. Don't spend them right away; hoard them until an event comes around that you MUST have the central item for. It will cost 3 per pull and you'll likely need all 9 pulls, so you'll want to have saved up 27 coins. A lot of times the gacha is not worth it, though.
What are RO Points?
RO Points are another currency you will earn in the game. These are only earned and not bought, AFAIK, and they are used as a fee when buying items from other players. Not only will you have to spend Zeny to pay the other player, but you'll have to pay the marketplace fee in RO Points. These get VERY expensive, so try to nab them whenever you can.
Conclusion
I hope this helps you get an idea of what you're going to be doing as you start your adventure in Ragnarok Labyrinth NFT. Feel free to ask me questions if you have any. I plan on making a video guide which will pretty much be the same information as this, but with playing the actual game once it's released, so it might have updated information if there are some changes to RLNFT compared to the old RL. I did get to play RLNFT for about 2 hours before the game completely crashed on the original launch, and it seems to be pretty much a copy/paste of classic RL, so I'm not expecting a huge difference.
I also plan to eventually do 3rd class build videos, but I'll only be doing those once I unlock the 3rd classes and build them myself to test out different options.