Just starting out in Sea of Stars? We’ve put together a small, spoiler-free guide of tips and tricks to help you get started as you explore the game.
Characters and party tips
When starting the game, you’ll be faced with the choice between the game’s two main characters, Zale and Valere. Who you choose will not impact the story, but for the first few hours of the game you will be unable to swap that character out for another party member, so keep this in mind when choosing between them!
It is recommended that you pick your party based on the enemies in the area, and what locks they display during combat: for most of the game having both Zale and Valere in your party will be useful, as between them they can target four of the six damage types in the game.
When leveling your characters, MP is a good stat to invest in when the opportunity presents itself, as it will allow you to use your skills in combat more frequently. Other stats can be easily boosted through equipment so should be a lower priority.
Difficulty tips
Sea of Stars does not have difficulty options, but difficulty can be customized to a degree through enabling Relics. Whilst some of these will carry their own penalties for activation (for example, the Adamant Shard reduces bonus damage from timing hits by 50%) there is no penalty for using them, or content in the game you will miss by activating them, so use them according to your own personal preference.
Additional Relics can be purchased at shops for further customization options, so it is recommended that you save any gold that you earn to spend on these before purchasing equipment for your party if they interest you.
Exploration tips
Make sure you fully explore each area you enter. As well as ingredients for cooking, areas will usually have at least one or two hidden chests with equipment and Rainbow Conches scattered around if you go off the beaten path.
Talk to every NPC in populated areas. Whilst this can be a chore, NPCs will frequently yield items, or quests that can result in items such as ingredients or Rainbow Conches. Unfortunately, NPCs with sidequests do not have any icons to indicate this, so you will need to find them yourself.
Combat tips
Whilst the game recommends that you go all-out with MP, we would recommend conserving your MP so that you can react more readily to breaking enemy locks, or saving it for inflicting a finishing blow. Moves that come with locks are usually more powerful than standard attacks, and it is in your best interest to stop these before the enemy can use them.
Similarly, outside of boss battles, it would be best to save your combo attacks for emergencies, or when you can inflict a finishing blow. These accumulate slowly and can help avoid more powerful attacks if you use them at the right time!
Plan your attacks carefully: if you can kill an enemy with a three-turn countdown before they can act, it would be better to attack them rather than an enemy with a two-turn countdown that you cannot defeat before its turn.
