JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit beginner's guide - 5 tips for wielding your stand power

• It's time for a bizarre adventure! Well, it certainly delivers on the bizarre part
• But, what if you're a total JoJo's Bizarre Adventure beginner?
• Read on for our total beginner's guide to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Golden Spirit.

With 139 volumes (and counting) and having been in continuous publication since 1987, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is as much a cornerstone of the Japanese manga canon as Dragon Ball or One Piece. And with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit, fans on iOS and Android can dive into the world of Hirohiko Araki’s often bizarre (pun intended) creation for themselves.

But what if you’re a total newcomer to the series, and to the character-collecting RPG genre for that matter? Well, don’t worry because we’ve got a quick and easy beginner’s guide to take you through all the basics and various elements of Golden Spirit, so that soon you’ll be summoning your stand with the best of them.

So let’s dive in!

Tip #1 - Learn the basics

At its core, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit is a character-collecting RPG. Your main input as a player will be arranging your lineup of characters and choosing which to deploy for each fight, with objectives ranging from taking out all the enemies on screen to defeating a particular boss.

Your only real chance once a battle has started to sway it in your favour is to activate each character’s ultimate, which appears in the bottom right corner where their icon lights up. But you may want to wait until at least three are ready, for reasons we’ll soon reveal.

Before you start the battle, you’ll also see where enemies are set to attack or move to. So you can adjust your lineup accordingly. Enemies that move into melee are shown with red arrows, while ranged enemies are shown with dotted lines representing where they’ll shoot.

You’ll also have a list of requirements shown for your ‘star rating’ in each battle. Complete more of these requirements, and you’ll gain more rewards. Simple.

Each character you can recruit and put on the field has their own specific defining attribute from the following list:

• Defence
• Assault
• Agility
• Ranged
• Special
• Support

These attributes don't necessarily define what each character does, but it offers certain bonuses depending on where they’re placed and what actions they can take. For example, ranged characters can get a bonus to their damage so long as they’re placed at least one tile away from enemies, while assault characters regain health from attacks once they drop below a certain threshold.

Conveniently enough some pointers on who you should pick. So be sure to keep your eyes peeled because it’ll also tell you who you can use to activate one of Golden Spirit’s other defining features, Rush mode.

Tip #2 - Rush mode is what makes it different

One of the more interesting mechanics that Golden Spirit has is Rush mode, which I’m only 50% sure is a reference to the band. This can be triggered whenever you activate three ultimate abilities of characters with separate attributes at the same time. Rush mode grants a whopping 25% damage bonus, as well as slightly restoring each character’s energy.

Tip #3 - Recognise your poker hands for summoning

Golden Spirit even puts its own spin on the summoning process by which you acquire new characters. You’ll be dealt a hand of poker, and depending on what kind of poker hand you acquire (see: Balatro), you’ll gain different rarities of characters. It’s an interesting twist but, as far as I can tell, it’s really more of a visual representation, even if it does add an extra bit of excitement to making your rolls.

Tip #4 - How to upgrade your characters

When it comes to upgrading your character, you have two separate paths to follow. The first is a simple upgrade system that boosts their stats and abilities, which is pretty straightforward. However, if you want to actually unlock more of their abilities, you’ll need to instead upgrade their star rating, which requires you to gain character shards by, you guessed it, summoning.

Tip #5 - Check out story mode

Unsurprisingly, the main attraction for longtime fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is the story mode, which follows many of the key beats of the manga and anime storylines, starting off with Golden Wind. While you may feel a bit out of your depth going through them, they do offer plenty of rewards for following along with the story, and if you have even a passing knowledge of the series, it’s easy enough to become invested.

Playing through story mode is also one of the best ways to gain EXP and upgrade your story level, which itself unlocks new features ranging from friends to trials and the forge.

A few more quick tips

Now for a few additional tips ‘n tricks that I’ve learned while playing that should be helpful for getting started with JJBA: Golden Spirit:

• Don’t always use auto-battle mode: I’m often surprised by how many games really take the decision-making out of your hands with auto-mode. But there is a reason not to use it, as it automatically activates characters’ abilities. So if you want to hit Rush mode, you’ll want to turn it off and instead activate them manually.
• Check where your own characters are attacking: Just like with enemies, you can check out where your ranged and melee characters will go during a battle. Simply tap the button above ‘battle start,’ and it’ll show the directions for your lineup rather than the enemy.
• Check out your damage stats: Want to see who’s doing the most damage during a fight? You can tap the damage stats button and see who’s doing the most in real time. Just remember certain characters like Giorno work a lot better in a support role, so naturally will do less damage.

• Take a look at rewards and events: This’ll be pretty obvious to longtime players. But for newcomers to the genre, there’s almost always an event or some other means of grabbing upgrades without spending a penny, so keep your eyes peeled and be sure to claim any rewards.

And that’s all the basics! Of course, there’s more to explore beyond just these central mechanics, such as the Hall of Trials that lets you compete in high-risk, high-reward stages and Versus mode that lets you take on other players. But for those just getting started, and those looking to see how JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit differs, these aspects are what you need to know!

If you’re looking for even more great experiences on mobile, then we’ve got you covered. Be sure to check out our list of the best RPGs on Android to find more from our constantly evolving list!