Welcome to part one of our Brave Frontier guide! Brave Frontier is a new Eastern-style free-to-play RPG game, cut from the same cloth as Puzzle and Dragons. Just like Puzzle and Dragons, Brave Frontier can be daunting to newcomers. It's not as complex as it first seems, though, and in part one of our Brave Frontier guide, I'll give you all the things you need to know to get started!
Brave Frontier Guide: Currencies - Gems, Zel, Honor Points, and Karma
Gems are the premium currency in Brave Frontier. Gems in Brave Frontier can also be spent to upgrade the size of your monster box, which is a smart move near the start. Chances are you're going to need some space in your Monster Box to store rare evolution monsters. We'll cover evolution monsters in the Units Guide.
Brave Frontier FAQ How do I get free gems in Brave Frontier? You get 1 gem for each complete set of quests that you clear. You also get free Brave Frontier gems for logging in on consecutive days, and frequently they're given out as Gifts. Gems can be used to summon rare monsters, but I'd suggest waiting for a good event before you do so.
Brave Frontier FAQ What should I spend my gems on in Brave Frontier? Redditor whatevrmn suggests (and I concur) that the best thing you can do with Gems is save them for Rare summons. They're also useful in the early game for upgrading the maximum number of units you can hold. But whatever you do, don't spend them to continue a quest you've lost or to refill your energy. Both of these are just gem-sinks for the impatient.
Zel is the standard "cash" of Brave Frontier. You'll earn a lot of this from playing quests, and you'll primarily spend it to fuse and evolve units, which we'll cover in the Units Guide.
Honor Points are earned by doing things with the people on your Friends List. We'll cover the Friends List and social elements of Brave Frontier later in the guide. You can spend it in the "Summon" menu - 200 Honor Points will give you one chance to summon a new monster. Do note, though, Honor points aren't shown on the main UI, they're only shown in the Summon menu.
Finally, Karma. Karma is earned, like Zel, by fighting enemies in quests. It can be spent to upgrade your Town, and also to create Spheres. Spheres will be explained in detail later in this guide, and also in the Units Guide.
Brave Frontier Guide: Energy
Energy is the "limiting factor" in Brave Frontier. Without energy, you can't take on quests. Each quest takes an amount of energy, with higher level quests requiring more energy than lower level ones. Energy recharges slowly in real-time. It can also be restored by spending Gems, or by leveling up.
Brave Frontier Guide: Gifts
You can get to the Gifts menu from the main menu by tapping the "treasure box" icon. Usually there will be a little number indicating the number of Gifts you have waiting. It's always a good idea to grab your gifts!
Gifts are how the game gives you bonuses, usually for logging in or for compensation for game downtime. Gifts are a good way to get free Gems in Brave Frontier - just check in with the game once a day and you're likely to start piling up the gems!
Brave Frontier Guide: The Town
Tapping the Town icon will take you into the Town view. There are several buildings here that are of great utility to Brave Frontier Summoners.
Some important ones to note for the early game are:
- The Synthesis hut allows you to create new consumable items from the items you find while questing. These consumable items can be used in battle to great effect, so it always makes sense to check in here and stock up before you go monster hunting!
- At the Items hut, you can review the items in your inventory, and select items to take with you on quests. You can take a maximum of 5 types of item, and 10 of each item with you on a quest.
- The Spheres hut allows you to use Karma and the items you've collected to create stat boosting equippable items for your monsters. At first, the bonuses are pretty paltry, but the cost is also pretty low.
- Finally, the Upgrades hut lets you spend Karma to "level up" each of the other parts of the town. This unlocks new items, spheres, and other neat goodies for the town.
Brave Frontier Tip In addition to the huts, there are also areas of the Brave Frontier town that you can tap to get free resources, like items and Karma. These spots only drop so much, but they will restock over time. It pays to check in on your town from time to time to max out these drops!
Brave Frontier Guide: Social and Friends
When you go on quests, you'll have the option to take the leader of another party with you. These "guest" leaders are chosen from your friends list. If you don't have enough friends, you'll be given the option to meet someone new!
Brave Frontier FAQ Why should I make friends and use their units? Taking a friend rather than a stranger has two benefits. One, you'll earn way more Honor Points, which means you'll be getting Honor Summons faster. Two, you'll get the benefit of their leader's "leader skill." This can make a big difference, if you have the right friends!
At the end of the quest, if you picked one of the people on the list who wasn't already your friend, you'll have the chance to send them a friend request.
From the Social menu, you can also send and receive gifts to and from your friends. You can choose from a set of purple Honor items, which can only be earned by sharing with your friends. It doesn't cost you anything to gift stuff to your friends, so don't be stingy!