So, first things first. My gametag is HuntedSouls. And as weird as it looks i'm not really into Battle Royalle games. But this game got my attention, and after i gave it a chance i found it amusing. It was nothing like the other battle royalles i have tried. So, what is the game about:

Eternal Return : Black Survival, is a blend of many popular mechanics, but the composition became something quite different from each of the other ones.

A MOBA
Although it really resembles a traditional MOBA, it is only on the controls and interface of the characters. You move and attack with right mouse click, have Q,W,E,R skills and a weapon skill (D), as well as items. There is also very similar stats from many MOBAs out there. And we have bushes!
But that is where the resemblance stops. Everything else is different, objectives (both major and minor), progression and challenges. Those are drawn from the other mechanics

A Battle Royalle
That should actually be the first one, because it is the most central one in the game. You find yourself in a reasonably big map with 17 other players and need to be the last survivor. A.K.A. kill everyone else (or let them die by their mistakes, we will get into that latter). As time goes on in the match some regions of the map will turn into danger zones to narrow down the game area and force players to confront each other.

A Survival
Although i think effectively stating that a battle royalle game is a survival game is quite redundant it actually does make some sense here. As in any battle royalle you will need to find equipments and resources to strengthen up to fight other players. But here, these mechanics are way more complex, and interesting, than just opening boxes and equipping whatever has the greatest rarity or stats. ON Eternal Return you scavenge objects like scissors, paper, towels, alcohol and many others. And carefully craft them into ever increasing equipment. You also need to find food and drink to keep up your health and stamina.

Now you're ready to enter, Lumia island. Let's get to the lessons learned.

There are some lessons i wanted to share that does not even happened inside the game. So i'll start with them:

Seriously, its just 5 quick lessons (the first one is mandatory) they quickly fill in the basics of movement and UI of the game, both of which might be scary at first. They don't delve deep, but you can jump into action without being at a complete loss. ALSO it gives you the 2 basic characters Jackie and Aya, and enough ingame money to buy anyone from the available ones. But don't be hasty with buying one, we will cover that in a minute.


⠀



Aside from the obvious reason, the ping. Matchmaking servers in Eternal Return are not online 24/7.


Specially for SA and EU servers, which are only open at specific times of the day. Even US and KR servers have their modes limited. As the writing day of this guide the duo game mode is only available on weekends. Although for those last two solo mode is open 24/7.
The devs made a very nice website so you can keep track of their current schedule:
Eternal Return Server Schedule[playeternalreturn.com]

⠀



I'm on the opinion that you should always play what makes you have fun. But some disclaimers need to be made regarding them in ER.

⠀

1 - All of them have weaknesses. And some times they might be overwhelming so you need to chose carefully. As example: i looked into the character rooster and instantly Hyejin jumped to me, with her charms and ghostly attacks. And instantly bought her. As i said, all of them are amazing, Hyejin included. But there are some characters which CLEARLY were made to work in group play and are strongly outperformed by some other characters in solo mode. Don't get me wrong, she can be quite successful but sometimes her weaknesses will stand out, and can be frustrating. And although i'm not saying you should not go and play whatever one you like, just be mindful that you may have a hard time.

2 - Enjoy the free week, a second learning i had is that there is a rotation of free characters to play. You can try those characters and play with them freely. This is a good way to evaluate the different types of gameplay this game have. And beleive me, there are a lot of them and some might not just be for you. With this you can be thoroughly surprised. For instance, i tested out Yuki almost sure i would dislike him, in the end it was a very rewarding and fun character.

3 - Use the info pannel. Be it to check what the next character you will try can do or just perusing which characters are in the game. There is a tab on the character screen called info with good information that can be easily dismissed



Not only it has pretty good hints on how playing the character but as well tips on how the different weapon choices can affect his gameplay. Also providing a gauge of his stats, showing if it is a more offensive or defensive character.

4 - Dive a bit more, The in-game skills decription for all characters might be lacking in therms of the details (a.k.a numbers). If you are the type of player, like me, where it is quite important for understanding and judging a given character you will need to dive into the game wiki[eternalreturn.gamepedia.com] for that info.

ER has 3 game modes, solo, duo and squad. In solo you play alone against 17 other survivors and the last man standing wins. Duo and squad are team games, with 2 players and 3 players respectively. Where the team with at least one player standing at the end, wins.


If you have some friends you can try out the team modes from the start. But i would advise playing some games on solo mode so you can get more familiar with the game and how it plays. In solo you can do your pace and progress through the map as you want, as well as choosing when do you want to fight (unless you cannot run fast enough XD).

Vs AI is a viable method for getting out on your first steps, as you can get around the map and feel the basic mechanics of the game. On hard difficulty you might get killed by a bot you find early, but as the game progresses they wont upgrade as much as you do and therefore will not present much of a challenge. Custom games are self explanatory and i wouldn't bother much, unless you have like 10+ friends to play together.

⠀


Your important decisions start on the selection screen. After you chose you character (which is covered in the tutorial) you chose your "plan" and starting area of the map. The plan is equivalent to a build. Its the sequence of equipment you will craft to get into the "endgame" power to fight for your live. And the area where you start have a BIG impact on what resources you can get and your progression.

⠀

1 - Keep on the recommended, The red area is where you chose your saved plan. At first you only have the recommended path STICK WITH IT! This game is quite complex, and building and crafting equipment is by far the most complicated part. Don't try to deeply learn the intricacies of building on the first games. Focus on getting used to the playing patterns and what you can do inside the game. Adjusting and changing the path is a fine grain strategy, which you don't really need by now.

2 - Keep on the recommended... again, The green area show the map, where the route defined on your plan shows the order of the areas you should explore (the numbered areas). The same as the equipment plan stick with it. Although sometimes many players will start on the same area and this could be dangerous for a learning player. You can see where the players are starting by the red markers on the map (just like google maps) the blue one is you. Even if your starting area is cramped, i would not advise going too far from it. At max going for the second area, than going back to the first one. Deviating too much from the recommended path may result in you being quickly under equipped and/or filling your inventory too much.

Everything makes you stronger literally EVERYTHING, every single action in this game gives you XP, even if a small ammount. Each of these actions have their own level and experience bar, which can be checked with "V" key. Don't worry too much about individual levels, what is importante is that together they level you, which gives you skill points and stats. The thing here is that even WALKING gives xp, so the trick is to never stay idle, always do something, even if you dont need more itens, scavenge places, if you are thinking or organizing your inventory, keep moving. Have useless itens that can craft something, do it. Even what seem worthless, gives you xp. So never stop moving or doing things. A hint when you want to check the map or the equipment tree etc. Click on the corner of the screen to make the charachter move while you read. Specially in the beggning keeping this in mind may keep you one level ahead of other players, and thus safe from them.



⠀

Everything makes you tired! All comes with a price, as all actions give xp benefits, EVERYTHING you do, except atacking and moving costs SP. Because of that it is the most important resource of the game, most of the time even more than your health. And if you disergard your stamina and spend it mindlessly without recovering you may find yourself unable to even craft! This of course can put you in GRAVE danger. After all, skills spend a lot of SP, and fighting without SP means fighting without skills. Even with an Auto atack build this is terribly dangerous. So the best tip i have is keep your stamina at least at 50%, so you wont be too much vunerable in surprise encounters. To do that be sure to have enough drinks on your inventory and use them. Also remember that all recovery in the game is over time, so plan ahead.

Crafting does not stun you! Although at first it may seem that anything can interrupt your crafting, that is not true. You can freely manage your inventory, equip and unequip, and also eat and drink! Just be sure to not throw away something that is used by the craft, that will cancel it. You can even craft while you have a chest (or any scavenge place) open, and take their contents to your inventory while crafting. Use this to optimize your actions that do not give xp, like throwing off itens, changing equipments, or even checking the map or your recipes.

Your eyes can save your ***, visibility is key in this game. Being aware if there are many enemies in your area can help you make safe decisions, or even take advantage when they are in a bad position. The tip: use the console! Many areas have a wierd device that when yoused reveal parts of the area you are on your minimap, showing enemy players present as well as wildlife.



⠀
Remember to rest. The actually has a rest mechanic, which increases your health and stamina regeneration greatly, but with a great cost. You become extremely vulnerable to enemies when you are resting. It narrows your field of view drastically, and when you leave the rest you have a second or so animation on which you are locked and can't react. Even than its an important tool to recover stamina and health without needing food or drinks (which might have run out) but use with caution.

Restricted areas are dangerous. Seem obvious, the red areas are danger areas, if you stay on them you die. But what nobody tells you is : THE DEATH TIMER DOES NOT RESET! What is that? That number on your head that apears when you are in a red area kill you when its over. ok. But if you manage to leave the red area before it ends you are ok, BUT it does not reset, so if you took like, 10 seconds to leave that area, the next time you get caught in a red area the timer will start at 20, and so on. So be mindfull of the yellow areas on the map and the timer on top of the screen, so you will not be taken off guard and end up dying! Although it does seem to reset when the last area of the map is restricted, but thats way at the end of the game.



⠀

Fast travel whenver you can, although walking gives you XP, other things you do also give xp AND make you stronger in other ways, so abuse the telephone cabinets that allow you to go to any area in the map. Specially usefull to leave a big yellow area that is about to turn red. So try to get used to where they are on the map.



⠀

Run like your life depends on it! cause it really does. At some point in the game, a crazy looking poison lady will show up in the map and start wandering randomly. She will atack players that get too close, and god she HURTS. Most likelly she will kill you, or even if you get away it won't be unscathed. So as soon as you see her, or her poison trail, get away from there, if possible from the whole area.

The first great lesson i learned, the basic equipment matter A LOT even if it is not the ones you need for your total build. I know i said to not deviate, but this is far from it. Get used to what item is an equipment, and pick them up and equip until you get the one you will use in the future. It may not seem a huge difference, but some paths get those basic equips on second or third map. And they help your survivability on the very beginnings, helping against wild life or even other players. And while they are equipped they don't eat up inventory space. So no cost, all benefits. Grab the first equip you see, and when you get the correct one, just drop it to the ground to equip the right one. Profit!

⠀

Remember to have a proper meal, even though its a game. The game passive regeneration is really lacking both for health and stamina. And you have two major ways of recovering them, resting and eating/drinking. But the major one is food and drinks. This makes them the most important item in the game, in a way, even more than equipment. Learning how to make better quality foods and drinks is important, as well as knowing where to gather the basic ones (like meat from animals or water in the Pond).

Be crafty! Even if the rule of thumb is to follow your plan for equipment, there are a bunch of useful items that the guide will not help you build. This mostly applies to foods and drinks, but some other gadgets like cameras and traps. The game actually helps with this, but the tutorial do not teach the whole thing.


The tutorial indicates that the item you need for your plan has the yellow tag on upper left corner (yellow arrow) . But there is an even more important indicator the "you can craft" one (red arrow). This means that this item can be used with another item in your inventory (or equipment) to craft something new. And if these are foods or drinks 99% of the cases it will provide you with better foods or drinks. So even if its not on your plan always try crafting new foods and drinks. This will save your life, many times, believe me. Also, as i said, crafting gives XP, so even if you craft something just to throw away, it does not mean its useless.

LOOT THEM BOXES! During the game a lot of Supply Drops colored boxes will drop around the map. The color of the box correspond to the rarity of the item inside. Those can contain from equipment, to materials or foods and drinks. If you get food or drink from a purple box, take it, purple foods and drinks are way stronger than lower tier ones and will make a difference in the long run. It is always worth opening them, you can always be surprised. Although close to the end game the green ones might not be worth your time.



Incredible items and where to find them. All of the materials from the game can be found in specific areas of the map or as a random drop from animals. But sometimes, your perfect plan get ruined by a red area right on top of your 4th or 5th scavenge area. What now? Luckily its easy to solve. Look at your plan (upper right corner) and click on the item you don't have. The map will open and show which areas have the item you need, also what types of animal that drop it and where to find them. Use this to detour your path and not get desperate! But don't trust the animals, usually their drop rate for a specific material is really low.

"Animals are the man best friend", wild life is VERY important, they provide the leather resource and combat experience, and the only way to level up you weapon (and unlock the weapon skill) without fighting other players. They also have a small chance of dropping high quality/rarity resources, which can save you a lot of time on scavenging. Level up your weapon is important, this extra skill makes a HUGE difference in fights.


⠀

"Animals are the man best way to die", while good for you wild animals can be EXTREMELY dangerous in the early game. Even a level 1 bat or chicken can cost you a lot of life in combat if you go straight without thinking, Also each animal is different. A wild boar, even level 2 can easily rip off 70% of your health bar if you forget do dodge his charge attack. So engage with them carefully, be sure to have your weapon on green rarity before trying to hunt a lot and don't be afraid to use your skills! Purely auto attacking wild animals takes a looong time and is not that good in terms of xp.


Fighting other players in ER is quite a thing, there are many variables and most of the time they are all unknown to you when you first meet them. So first tip, look at their levels! if he is two levels ahead, that is a VERY good indicator that you should run away. Same goes the other way around, you are 2 levels up, beat them to a pulp. Other things are important when the levels are close as overall equipment. Look at their colors, his colors are better than yours, run.

This is no arena game, so don't go expecting that a fight will go 1v1 without anything else happening. This leads to many tips, know your surroundings, if you are sure there are many players around big chances that one of them will bump into you with low health after the fight for an easy kill. Animals can kill you! Again... Wild animals close by can be drawn to the fight by wide range attacks and such, and nothing is more frustrating than having a boar charging you in the middle of a tough fight. Also, bushes can be tricky when fighting, be mindful of them.


⠀


Fight does not mean Starve!. It goes completely against medical recommendations, but you can really eat while you fight. And not only its possible, most of the times is exactly what decide the fate of a "fair" fight. Usually better foods and drinks means you have the upper hand. Its very unusual for you to one shot enemies (or vice versa) thus, fights take some time. This let you drawn the best from healing over time from foods, and also you will eventually run out of stamina, good drinks can save you from failing to finish your combo.
Secondary tip: You can stuff your mouth. That means, you can stack the over time regeneration from foods and drinks at most three times each. So not only eat, but eat a lot! Beware that any food you consume above this third one will go to waste. So be careful.

Hope some reader find those tips useful and that they make your entry into the game easier.

On the more, i hope you enjoy this game, as it is quite unique in some points. And no matter what any people say, having fun is the only thing that matters. This game surprised me on the fact that i have a lot of fun without even getting close to other players. Much probably due to the survival roots of the game.

Anyway, that's all for today folks!
Good gaming :)