Rovio hardly needs any introduction to long-time mobile gamers as well as enthusiasts who enjoy a wide variety of games. With more than 10 years of activity in the mobile gaming industry and 30 games in its current app portfolio, Rovio continues to provide its fans and followers, as well as the mobile gaming market, quality games that appeal to a wide range of audiences. Angry Birds Evolution, Small Town Murders, and Angry Birds Dream Blast are just some of Rovio’s games that we spent a lot of fun time on. With Rovio breaking the a billion downloads mark on the Google Play Store alone and maintaining largely positive average user review ratings across its titles on both mobile platforms, you can be certain that every game they release is worth diving into.
Darkfire Heroes is Rovio’s unique take on the action fantasy RPG genre, showcasing simple controls and mechanics as well as light-themed and cartoon-styled graphics. While Darkfire Heroes may initially give the impression that it is an idle RPG. Although there is auto-battle mode in Darkfire Heroes, strategy plays a vital role in winning over the various challenges thrown your way. Strategy, in this sense, stretches all the way from choosing the heroes and spells to invest in, customizing each hero with gears, and exhibiting skills in utilizing each team member and spell on hand in actual combat.
The initial pace at which you make progress in as you start your adventure in Darkfire Heroes can be tremendously fast. The introductory story and tutorial part can be skipped but it is best to go through it and walk through all the basic mechanics of the game. Every new feature unlocked will be accompanied by a short and simple explanation as well.
The degree of challenge from one battle to the next can be surprisingly overwhelming, especially to the inexperienced and unprepared. If you have just started your journey within the world of Darkfire Heroes and raring to dominate battles every step of the way, read on as we have come up with a bunch of tips and strategies!
1. Prioritize Progression Through The Campaign
The Campaign mode in Darkfire Heroes serves as the main game mode and your primary source of hero cards and all other basic resources you need to equip and upgrade your heroes and spells. Contrary to conventional RPGs, battles in the campaign mode or any game mode in Darkfire Heroes for that matter, neither earn the heroes you use experience points nor does it earn you XP as well to rank up your account. In essence, however, progression in the main campaign directly contributes to both.
What exclusively matters in the campaign is that you win through each stage. There are no special conditions or missions you need to accomplish to earn all rewards from each stage, which means that clearing it even with just 1 hero left in your party works the same way. The campaign mode is divided into locations with each one further broken down into stages. Completing one location unlocks the next one and, at some points in your adventure, special locations can be unlocked as well.
Treasure chests that contain various cards and resources are rewarded for completing each stage. Given that the gap in challenge level between stages can go beyond what you can cope with despite upgrades and improvements, you can replay every previously beaten stage to farm for extra resources. Once you click on a campaign location where the stages are laid out ahead of you, you can click on the loot icon at the upper right side of the screen. This will show you replay rewards in terms of the amount of gold and gems you can earn as well as essences, shards, and gears that you can possibly acquire form the stages.
Before you dive into any stage, be sure to take note of the elements that are recommended for the level. 1 or 2 elements may be indicated along with hero level bonuses gained by each one. A strong element grants +3 hero levels while a superior element grants +6 hero levels for that stage. This can help you make adjustments to your roster if needed and while a full roster of heroes sporting the superior element is recommended, it is not absolutely necessary.
Completing all stages within 1 location unlocks the next higher difficulty level for that location. Once you beat all stages within The Lost Free City, for example, you can play the hard difficulty level for that area. Beating hard mode, on the other hand, unlocks epic difficulty mode. Stages on higher difficulty levels also require more energy and naturally earn more rewards.
2. Maintain A Balanced Team Of Heroes
While the perks you can earn for having heroes of specific elements in battling through stages is hard to ignore and can influence how you build your team, there are a lot more to take into account as far as creating your main team is concerned. Each hero in Darkfire heroes can be categorized by their elemental affinity as well as their class. Each hero sports different sets of attacks and skills well.
For starters, elemental affinities do not necessarily follow the proverbial “rock-paper-scissors” mechanics common in RPGs and other strategy games. A character’s element in Darkfire Heroes simply allows temporary level boosts on certain stages. Elemental affinities can also influence the set of abilities heroes have, particularly added effects to their attacks and ultimate skills.
An important consideration in choosing the heroes for your team, relative to how they will synergize in combat, are the roles or classes that each one has. There are 4 different classes of heroes in Darkfire Heroes, namely: Damage-dealers, tanks, heals, and supporters. A good, balanced team that considers each class in its roster can certainly make the difference between winning and losing a battle.
Each team consists of can certainly make the difference between winning and losing a battle. Each team consists of 5 heroes, which leaves an extra spot to consider 2 of one class or 2 duplicate classes in case you opt to leave one out. Relative to each hero’s class, you should also check if their attacks are ranged or melee, as this will determine their positioning in the team formation.
Damage-dealers are typically at the center of attention and are usually the favorites in RPGs. For this class, in particular, it is important to determine the type of attack they have. Melee combatants will likely have lower damage outputs but higher defense values than their ranged counterparts. In essence, melee combatants are often relied on as off-tanks or tank substitutes as they are in the front end of the formation.
Tanks are equally necessary in every team as they are built to soak in the most damage form enemies and defend the rest of the team. Tanks are naturally close combat fighters but lack offensive strength to deal any real damage. Tanks typically have crowd control skills as well as support skills that further increase their survivability.
Healers, as the class name implies, have abilities focused on sustaining or restoring the team’s health. They can lag behind in terms of both offensive prowess and defensive strength but passive generally improve their survivability in combat.
Last, but not the least, are supporters who have a abilities that either improve the team’s performance or weaken their enemies. Although supporters are typically opted out of rosters by beginners, supporters, especially in Darkfire Heroes, are important to have in any roster to boost the entire team’s efficiency in combat.
With these given classes, the recommended team composition is comprised of a tank, a melee damage-dealer, a ranged damage-dealer, a healer, and a supporter. This consideration is naturally dependent on individual hero abilities and how these abilities synergize with one another. You can always deviate from this recommendation and go for 2 tanks, 2 ranged damage-dealers, and a healer for example. In any case, be sure to check on individual characteristics, powers and skills.
Note that as far as damage-dealers are concerned, taking into account whether the hero’s power deals damage to a single target or multiple enemies is important. There are hordes of enemies on every stage, and then there are bosses as well that make single target damage-dealers a necessity. Passive skills may also include a leadership ability. It might not be evidently important at first as to whom you choose to lead your team. By looking at each hero’s skills, you can discover just how powerful the team can grow with leadership abilities.
3. Learn To Switch Across Different Spells
A team of 5 heroes, each with his or her own ultimate skill and a set of 4 unlockable passive abilities can certainly do a lot. Darkfire Heroes, however, further expands your arsenal with 5 spells you can take to battle with you. There are 20 magic spells to unlock and use but you can only take 5 at a time. Choosing spells are independent of the 5 heroes you use. Spells have a variety of effects similar to the powers of each hero, essentially providing more of what your team lacks or replicating some of the effects that you need more of.
Regardless of which heroes you choose to form part of your team, there will always be different needs across the challenges that come your way. Although there is always an option to switch across different characters to more suitably engage a particular challenge, opting for changes with the roster of spells to take with you will often be enough.
If you feel that your team lacks AoE spells to deal damage to or take down mobs of enemies faster, then considering one or a couple of AoE spells can make up for that. If having only one healer makes you struggle against some battles, then chipping in a healing spell or two can compensate that as well. Although there are random elements when it comes to the availability of spells in your hand, having the right set of spells to carry with you goes a long way.
4. Regulate Upgrades On Heroes And Spells
With more than 75 heroes and 20 spells to unlock, Darkfire Heroes certainly does not fall short in presenting you with options as to how you can build your perfect team. It may take a long while to unlock all of them but decisions as to which heroes and spells to switch in and out of your team comes naturally every step of the way. In addition to the different traits and abilities of heroes and spells as discussed above, another point to consider is the level attributable to each hero and spell in your collection.
As we mentioned earlier, battles you engage in do not grant your heroes additional XP and the same goes with spells you take and use in combat. The only way you can level up heroes and spells is through upgrading them using extra copies of the specific hero or spell as well as gold. Naturally, higher levels require more copies of the card as well as more gold.
Levelling a hero up increases his or her stats. Beyond that, every 5 levels or so unlocks a passive skill. Passive skills, however, are not immediately activated and you will have to activate the unlocked passive skill by using the specific elemental essences needed. Levelling up a spell increases the potency of its effects and will not impact the mana cost attributable to the spell.
Given the limitations of resources needed to upgrade all heroes and spells, it becomes difficult, if not impossible to consistently sustain having a full roster of fully upgraded heroes and spells. For best results, a system of prioritization ought to be considered when it comes to performing these upgrades. Naturally, you would want to prioritize your main team and favorite spells, leaving you with some extra resources to perform upgrades on others as well.
One detail you should not forget is that hero and spell cards are largely obtained at random from the treasure chests you earn. As some of the heroes you unlock at a later time will naturally yield less cards in stock, and with rarity grades in play as well, the heroes you want may not necessarily have the most cards to level them up. In any case, even the random element of securing cards will eventually balance copies of cards you obtain, impacted exclusively by rarities.
5. Prioritize Gear Utilization Accordingly
Gears are yet another feature in Darkfire Heroes that further increase each heroes’ stats and lead to a more customized team. Gears come in different rarities, and while each hero can equip 5 different gears, gear types can vary from one hero to another. Early on, you will not have enough gears to fully equip all 5 of your main characters but as you make progress in your adventure, you will soon have an abundance of it.
As a matter of prioritization, the way to go should not be focused on one hero exclusively. Instead, prioritize usage of specific types of gears based on the character’s role or class. Tanks and melee damage –dealers, for example, should be priority one for defense type gears as well as magic type equipment. Attack type gears should primarily be considered for damage-dealers, perhaps more for the ranged experts than the close combat types.
Healers and supporters, depending on their specific skills can typically be considered last as far as gear utilization is concerned. Relative to this, be sure to take into account the hero’s stats relative to what will be boosted by the gear you will equip him or her with.
Gears can also be levelled up or salvaged. Levelling up increases the buffs provided by the gear and requires gear shards to initiate. Salvaging unwanted gears, on the other hand, generates extra shards depending on the quality of the gear sacrificed. Given that higher grade gears have much better stat boosts provided, it is only practical to invest in them first.
As common gears will naturally come in overabundance at some point, you can equip them to your heroes but hold off on upgrading them. Towards the mid or end game you are bound to have common gears salvaged for resources so investing in them will effectively be a waste of gear shards.
6. Manage Your Energy And Account Rank Up
Every battle you engage in Darkfire Heroes requires energy and even when you fail to clear a level and would have to try again, the energy you consume will not be given back to you. Although the initial stages of the normal difficulty level in the campaign only consumes 1 energy, this will soon increase as you reach further across the campaign map and unlock higher difficulty levels. Naturally, having no energy leaves you with very little activities to engage in and you will often find yourself taking long breaks from your adventure as you wait for energy to replenish.
Energy replenishes once every 10 minutes. If you are raring to make good progress, taking note of this and always keeping in mind how much time it would take to completely recover all your energy is important. Ranking up your account completely replenishes your energy as well and increases the maximum energy you can store. Ranking up can only come from XP gained with each level up performed on a character or spell.
This adds more reasons for you to regulate upgrades of heroes and spells. You will always see the XP bar related to your account rank and can easily determine how much more XP is needed to reach the next rank. As you level heroes and spells up and draw closer to reaching a new rank, it is best to expend all your energy first. This effectively gives you more resources with every battle you can engage in using whatever amount of energy you have before ranking up your account.
Accomplishing missions and event objectives can earn you energy stones. These items can also completely recover your energy when needed. While these items are naturally tempting to use, it is always best to save them for later. Complete recovery of your energy has varying values based on your account rank. At level 1, your max energy is at 5. At about level 13, your maximum energy will be 19. Using energy stones at this point will be more beneficial than doing so at level 1. As you reach higher ranks as well, your maximum energy will continue to increase, giving more value to each energy stone consumption.
For the best results, what you should do is upgrade heroes and spells to rank up when you are out of energy. Once you are unable to do so and still have lots of time to engage in more challenges, then that should be the time to consider using your energy stones.
7. Don’t Rely Too Much On Auto Battle
Darkfire Heroes is designed in such a way that your team automatically attacks in battle. Manual controls are for the activation of special abilities as well as casting spells. Despite consistently launching normal attacks, your team of heroes will have a hard time making through the end of any stage relying exclusively on these auto attacks. Without activating skills and casting spells, your team is likely to get wiped out early on.
Activating skills and casting spells can be a challenging feat as well. Some skills and spells need to be dragged onto the specific target or area before executing. On top of mastering familiarity of each hero skill and spell you have on your team, getting the timing of each skill and spell use also matters a lot.
This is what would separate manual from full auto play. Opting to utilize auto mode, through its button on the upper left side of the stage, has its own advantages. Convenience is evidently the primary motivation to consider using auto mode. While using spells and special skills automatically are better than not using them at all, you should always perform better than it with a bit of effort.
Auto mode simply activates a hero’s skill whenever it becomes available. Spells are also casted when there is enough mana to do so. While the A.I.’s targeting is spot on, the fact that there is little to no strategy considered in every execution of your heroes’ skills and spells places you at a more disadvantageous scenario than manually activating them.
It can certainly be a challenge for beginners early on to do precise targeting and activating powers and spells with strategy in mind. More challenging battles, however, require careful execution of these strategies in relation to when each available spell and skill is used.
8. Partake in The Arena And Elemental Dungeons
No RPG is complete without its own brand of PvP game modes and Darkfire Heroes comes with a variety of game modes in its arena that puts your skills and strategies to the test. Wins earn you key chests that unlock rewards and your performance for the season earns you extra rewards as well.
Regardless of the game mode within the arena, it is important to take note that each one holds an elemental boost for specific heroes. This can lead to an advantage if utilized and can even help you win against a stronger enemy team. Battles are real-time which means that there is no auto mode and you have to be ready for manual activation of skills and spells.
Despite our recommendation of prioritizing the main campaign ahead of everything else, the elemental dungeon is an extra game mode that you have to engage in regularly. Each day of the week, except Sunday, exhibits a different elemental shard that you can farm. As these elemental essences are needed to activate and upgrade a hero’s passive abilities, you need to keep a healthy supply of it especially for your main heroes.
Each elemental dungeon has 10 floors and you need to beat the current one to unlock the next. Higher floors are expectedly more challenging and costs more energy per run. You can readily see the amount of essences you can obtain from each floor.
9. Join A Clan As Soon As You Can
As clans, guilds, alliances, factions, and other player groups have become a basic feature in any online game, most especially RPGs and strategy games, it no longer raises the question of whether or not you should be a part of one. Although there is always an option to start your own instead of joining another clan, it is best for every beginner to learn more about the concept as well as the mechanics surrounding the clan system of the game in question.
There may not yet be a lot of activities tied up to the clan system in Darkfire Heroes, but there are still advantages you can earn from being a member of one. Given as well that joining clans have no cost, there is no reason for you to opt out of it. One of the most basic perks of being a clan member is having people to chat with. You can always throw your questions into the clan chat and there will certainly be people happy to assist you with information you need.
You can also engage in a friendly battle with fellow clan members. The PvP arena in Darkfire Heroes can be very challenging for beginners and engaging with friendly battles within the clan can help you polish up on your team roster and strategy. Every arena win clan members earn benefits the entire clan. Each point fills up a bar in the clan page that makes a clan chest available once it is filled up. If anything, winning in arena matches at least once a week provides quantitative proof of your contribution and activities for your clan.
10. Take On Expeditions And Quests For Extra Rewards
Despite the abundance of rewards to earn from every battle you engage in as well as every new level reached, Darkfire Heroes provides additional incentives for you to take advantage of. The shop, which can be accessed through the lower left icon on the screen holds daily, weekly, and monthly freebies. Additionally, there are time-limited events as well that promote more activities and accomplishments for you to earn even more rewards.
Expeditions in Darkfire Heroes become available early. These expeditions only require you to click on them and wait for its completion time for you to earn rewards. Expeditions can take either 2 hours, 4 hours, or 8 hours to complete, with the longest duration holding the best set of rewards. What you only need to do to take full advantage of this feature is to always keep in mind the duration of the expedition. Even if you sign back in without much of your free time to spend on battles, make sure to always have an expedition running.
Quests are divided across daily quests, weekly quests, and campaign quests. Each set of quests holds a list of accomplishable objective, granting rewards for each objective completed. All quests relate to the usual activities you engage in as you progress in your adventure and as such, should serve as your guide towards progression.
Daily quests are the easiest of the bunch and should always form part of your daily routine. Every objective achieved earns you activity points that unlock rewards at the top of the page. Naturally, you would want to earn enough activity points to claim the top rewards. Weekly quests are basically the same with daily quests with objectives closely tied up to the ones you accomplish daily.
Campaign quests can be challenging to accomplish as far as dedicated time is concerned. These quests relate to milestones you reach across all aspects of your adventure. The usual rewards can include gems as well as treasure chests and accomplishing some feats unlock higher level objectives that offer even bigger rewards.
Darkfire Heroes certainly holds more content and events in future updates but for now, this is where we wrap up our Darkfire Heroes beginner’s guide. We hope that you picked up a lot tips and strategies you can readily apply to the challenges ahead of you moving forward and we likewise hope that you enjoyed our guide. If you have stumbled upon a nifty trick or two in your adventures and would want to share them, feel free to leave us a message!