Illusion Connect: Re beginner's guide - 7 tips for a good start
As with any level-gated game, Illusion Connect: Re can be disheartening. However, if you follow our beginner's guide, you'll have a much easier start.
Illusion Connect Re drops you straight into a world threatened by monsters. It has real-time battles and a bunch of amazing characters to choose from, but to help you pass all the stages, I wrote this Illusion Connect: Re guide to help you out.
As you're probably aware, some of the stages are considerably harder than others. You will need to make several upgrades (and adjust your team) before challenging them, and with the help of these tips, you will know exactly what to focus on.
Don't panic, it all takes time!
Before you start spiralling, you should know that it all takes time - you won't be able to clear all the stages right off the bat because you will need to reach specific CP to even stand a chance. That's not too difficult to acquire, though, since you can upgrade your characters' gear and level them up.You can also star up your characters quite a bit, which will give you more character shards, but that's something I will cover further in this guide.
For now, let's start with the basics and dive into our first Illusion Connect: Re tip.
Tip #1 - Focus on your core team
You probably know that you can level up any character you want - well, the downside is that resources are limited, and I strongly recommend focusing only on your core team instead of levelling everything up.
I know it's tempting, but focusing mainly on your best SSRs (a tank, a DPS, and maybe a secondary DPS or a Healer - depending on what characters you have) is the best course of action.
If you rerolled, you probably have Miyuki or Yuffie, who are great early on. Invest most of your resources to level them up to max, and then focus on your tank. If you happened to pull Anna from the gacha, then you can also level her up. She's a great character to use in the Arena as well, so it's not a waste of resources.
Tip #2 - Use the right rotation
Illusion Connect Re isn’t a passive auto-battler. Yeah, you can turn on the Auto function, but the AI doesn't always work in your favour. Auto will most often deploy a character you don't want, unless you only have 4-5 characters on your team and you're happy with the order.
The main reason I mention the order here is that Energy is an important resource, and if you use it all to deploy the characters in the wrong order, they don't return to your hand (unless they have a skill that specifically does that).
I cannot tell you the right rotation here, because it all depends on what characters you have and what Leader you're using, but as a rule of thumb, you always want to use a tank that has Taunt before your main DPS source (like Miyuki, Rotania, or Yuffie).
Note: In the early stages, this is not that important because you'll be able to one-shot most enemies.Tip #3 - Pick a Leader based on the characters you have
As you probably know, you can change your Leader once you meet the requirements to unlock the option. The Sakura Swordsman is a solid option, and even if it's unlocked by default, it can be used all the way into the late game (if you meet the requirements to unlock all of his skills).
How to unlock more leaders:
- Sakura Swordsman: unlocked by default
- Nightmare Hunter: claim 24 stars in Collapsed Dreams 6
- Light Paladin: claim 36 stars in Collapsed Dreams 9
- Soul Reaper: claim 60 stars in Collapsed Dreams 14
- Spirit Healer: claim 60 stars in Collapsed Dreams 16
- Axe of Dawn: claim 60 stars in Collapsed Dreams 18
As you can see, you will need to clear the Collapsed Dreams stages as much as you need to clear the regular Dream stages.
Tip #4 - Focus on the normal story first, then on the Collapsed Dreams
The story mode is the backbone of your early progression. Every chapter unlocks new features, resources, and ways to make your team stronger. I recommend you try to clear as many Dream stages as you can, and then you switch to Collapsed Dreams.
You can get a lot of Diamonds for clearing the stages with 3 stars, so I suggest you put Auto battle on hold when the stage is too hard, and try to clear it manually.
Tip #5 - Upgrade Muscipula
The Illusion Connect: Re home system looks like pure decoration, but it adds to your long-term progression. Characters have some interactions there, but most importantly, furniture pieces offer passive bonuses. In short, the whole system becomes a steady way of getting resources.
Even if you’re not the type who enjoys decorating, upgrading the home pays off. It's also cheap to do, and whenever you log back into the game, you should clear the rewards from there (it's also needed to complete one of the daily quests).
Tip #6 - Redeem all the gift codes!
Illusion Connect: Re has a pretty generous list of gift codes, and they’re absolutely worth using as soon as you start. You will get a lot of currency and summons, and they will be a huge help in the long term. You will even get gear boxes, which are extremely important if you want to progress faster (those extra stats help a lot).
Tip #7 - Don’t waste Diamonds on Stamina - save them for exclusive banners
There are plenty of Diamonds to be claimed while you have story stages to clear, but once you finish them all, you will need another source of Diamonds. That's where the daily and weekly quests come into play. Make sure to clear them all regularly - it only takes 20 minutes or less, so it's worth it.
Since we're on the topic of Diamonds, you should save them all for exclusive pick-up banners that have characters that you need on your team. You don't have to do that from the start, though, so you can have fun with the gacha system (until you unlock some SSRs). After you get your hands on a few top-tier SSRs, I recommend saving the Diamonds.
