Brave Frontier Newbie Guide

Brave Frontier Newbie Guide by Heer0

My purpose for this guide is to teach you how to think for yourself about this game. I’ll be discussing Team Composition, Unit Analysis, and a general FAQ for newer players.

Some players will see most of this as common sense, but I thought it would be nice to have a simple guide to read through.

Short Note:
I write this guide assuming you know the various mechanics of the game. (BB, SBB, Guard, Attack, BC, HC) These are pretty self-explanatory and should be discussed in the tutorial. I also mention several buffs (Spark, Crit, Ignore Defense, Mitigation, etc.) If you don’t understand something or want to see mechanics in depth, I suggest looking through Xerte’s analyses.

Team Composition:

A large part of the fun Brave comes from creating a team for the content you fight. It’s definitely possible to have one squad to tackle most content or to just google a squad for a specific trial, but I think squad-building is a skill all players should have.

When building a squad, you want to keep in mind three things:

1) Is it possible that I’ll die? (How much mitigation do I need?)

2) How many enemies are there to hit? (How much BC gen do I need?)

3) Are there specific mechanics I need to be aware of? (Do I need Defense Ignore/etc?)

These three tips cover the basic essentials of any squad. For specific content, I’ll outline other things to bring.

Quest/Vortex (Easy):

Bring:

• Critical, Spark, and Attack Buffs
• Moderate BC Buff
• Units with high attack
• Amanohabaken/Similar high attack spheres

Avoid:

• Heals
• Units with low damage

If You Can:

• Units with fast attack animations
• Less units for faster autobattle

Quest/Vortex is fairly simple, and basically auto-able. Many stages will have multiple mobs, so a weak BC buff is fine for BC generation. A well-built squad should be able to OTK each stage, and refill all BC gauges. If you truly want to min-max time playing this game, I suggest looking for units with short animation time, and run a squad with less units than normal.

Trials/EX Quest/Vortex (Hard):

Bring:

• Mitigation/Defense Buffs
• Huge BC Buff
• Healing Mechanics (HC, Regen, Heal)
• Status Null (Cleanse, Prevent)
• Strong Element Units
• Pure Stat/GGC Spheres/BC Spheres

Avoid:

• Lower Star/Leveled Units
• Weak Element Units
• Units with Low HP
• Units with high BC cost

If You Can:

• Offensive Buffs (Critical > Spark > Elemental > Attack > DI)
• Infinite SBB
• Status Inflict (Attack Down, Injury, etc.)

This category includes “harder” content, including Trials and GGC. Generally you want to survive first, and do damage second. Usually in these scenarios it’s only one enemy at a time, BC generation will be short unless you plan ahead! Definitely have a plan for getting BC to your mitigator, whether that’s through Sol Creators, Lilly Matah, or some other unit. Remember that each Trial/EX Quest/GGC has dedicated guides written already! R E A D them, and prepare any additional units you need – in Trial 4, for example, paralysis is a godsend. However, it’s completely useless in Trial 3. Study up!

Arena:

Bring:

• Attack boosting LS (Zurg is free!)
• BC Boosting LS
• 2x Hit Sphere (Lexida, Hallowed Skull, etc.)
• Amanohabaken or similar
• BC Sphere
• Selena 7*
• Units with high attack
• Units with good Arena AI

Avoid:

• Units that don’t attack on BB
• High BC Costs
• Healers

Pretty self explanatory. You want to be killing units first turn, fill up BB’s to fire on second turn. The Arena AI guide is pretty useful, make sure your squad is oriented correctly. Random tip is to start looking for people with a higher rank when you’re within 3,000 points of ranking up. It’ll guarantee you at least 100+ ABP.

Unit Analysis:

I thought for a while about putting this before Team Comp, but I realized that many people who play Brave don’t realize that it’s mostly a single player game. Brave Frontier isn’t about who has the best units, it’s about doing the best you can with what you have. I feel like there is a big stigma on the sub where you need new units or things are a ‘must pull.’ This is not true! There isn’t much content that straight up requires new units, it just makes it more convenient/easier (usually.)

I hate tier lists for this very reason. It promotes an idea of the ‘best’ – but honestly, the best is what you have ready access to and what works for your squad. For example, If you already have Ulkina + Shida… There’s no real reason to summon for Rigness. Don’t be a sheep.

Summon for yourself! Not because everyone else has a new unit.

Here are 3 things to keep in mind when looking at a new batch/deciding whether to summon or not.

1) Is there a mechanic introduced that I don’t have? If so, is it useful? In what cases?

2) If a unit is a mashup of old mechanics/simply higher buff numbers, does it make things more convenient? How much more?

3) Will I have a use for this unit in the foreseeable future? How future-proof is it?

Fresh Start:

There are two key mechanics that are vital to fighting end game bosses: Mitigation and Healing. If you are just starting a new account/new to the game, try to time your summons when there is a rate-up for a mitigator! That being said, EVERY rare summon can be used as a solid filler in your questing team at the least. Don’t struggle through quest without leveling your RS units because you ‘heard that they’re not good.’ Make that decision for yourself once you get a feel for the game. You can also always reroll accounts.

Played For a While:

This are for people who clear trials…eventually. You still read unit analyses. You summoned for Luther, then Elza a few weeks later. Spend some time looking at your units, figuring out what has what, and what you’re lacking. Read up on guides, make some original squads. Since re-trials are open, try some out! Practice makes perfect. Look into upcoming batches, and figure out whether a unit will be replaced the direct batch afterwards. Think of the content you have left, or upcoming content. As a global player, you have the advantage of ‘seeing into the future’ – abuse it.

Veteran:

Honestly, I don’t know what to write for this section. I figure that you already know most of this info, and what to pull for/when to pull for it. I’d suggest skimming over new JP batches and keeping yourself up to date. One player I know hasn’t summoned since Zelnite batch…and he’s cleared all content – or lack thereof, but I digress. You really don’t need new units.

Notes:
It’s always okay to watch videos or read unit analyses, but remember to think for yourself. Focus on big UPGRADES to your own units, not pulls that other people hype over! That being said, if there’s a lot of hype for a unit, give them a look. Hype doesn’t start for no reason…Minus this whole ‘waifu’ nonsense. Zellha comes to mind.

General FAQ:

Why are you making a FAQ? Why make this post?

Main inspiration from this whole post came from answering these questions in IRC all the time. I just wanted something I could link to and update.

W2C Levels? I got these sick summons but I can’t use them!

Best place to spam levels is 4fold pillar in St. Lamia. If there’s a 1/2 energy event going on, you can do Riotous Thunderbird instead. Monday Karma Dungeons are also insane EXP with a few high leveled friends!

I started to raise X unit but I pulled one with better typing! What do I do?

Honestly, it’s preference. If you’re new to the game, I’d save the other unit for a side project to upgrade last. If you’ve been playing for a while, it’s completely up to you if you want to scrap the first unit.

Who should I sphere?

Again, preference. Sphere who you use a lot, and would appreciate the extra utility on. Generally, I sphere my mitigators and Trial units. Don’t sphere something just to have it sit on the shelf. That being said, a Sphere Frog sitting in your inventory is just as useless.

Is Anima really the best typing?

Generally, typing only matters for very old units – and even then, it’s very minimal. Anima typing would not save those units in any case of regular damage. Most of your unit deaths nowadays come from fixed damage in trials, most of which can be prevented through mitigation and healing. As power creep raises both unit and sphere stats, typing matters less and less. I prefer Breaker > Anima > Lord > Oracle > Guardian for most newer units though.

Is this unit good?

Idk bro, look at your units right now and tell me. Is it good in comparison to what you have? Then it’s good.

What should I Evo/Prioritize?

Depends on your style of play. If you want to do Trials straight away, raise the appropriate units for that. If you’re more of a quest autobattle guy, round your units out. I would personally raise the units that fit multiple roles.

WTF Why is my game glitched?

Your guess is as good as mine. I’d suggest reinstalling.