Looking for a unique fantasy adventure RPG on mobile? Well, you probably want to check out Dawn of Isles, the new multiplayer title from NetEase, whose zombie survival game, LifeAfter, we had recently covered. Featuring characters inspired by island life and culture, this new game is billed as a “fun-tastic fantasy adventure” where you can build new and uncharted island, make use of the game’s crafting mechanics to create new items, and combine your skills and use special items to unleash the “primal power of nature.” You will be facing various types of AI-controlled enemies in the game’s many storyline quests, but beyond that, you can match strategies against other human players once you’ve gotten your feet wet and gotten a feel of the game’s main story and its various features.
Of course, we’d like to talk you through the intricacies of Dawn of Isles and help you gain an advantage over those real-life players from all over the world, but before all that, you’ll need to have a good idea of how to survive those first few days and hours of gameplay. Without further ado, we now present to you our Dawn of Isles beginner’s guide, which includes tips, cheats and strategies that should serve as your early survival guide and help you fly through the early stages while unlocking more features and learning them along the way.
1. Know The Basics Of The Game
Compared to your usual fantasy MMORPG, Dawn of Isles has a rather unique island setting, making it a stark contrast to the standard magical worlds that are part and parcel of the RPG genre. Regardless of which class you choose, you will be guided through a tutorial stage of sorts where you meet the first few characters in the game — your loyal assistant Gugu, the mysterious interloper Teeman, and your character’s sister Daria, who gets kidnapped at the end of the tutorial, leaving you to go on a quest to save her from the evil forces lurking in the in-game universe. Don’t worry about the spoken Japanese dialogue — by default, all text conversations and instructions are translated in English. And don’t worry about the stuff the game will make you learn in this tutorial stage — it’s pretty much basic resource gathering and crafting that you’ll be learning here. Gather the required materials that make up an item’s recipe, and craft or cook them accordingly, depending on whether you’re creating a piece of equipment or whipping up a meal for people to feast on.
As you progress forward in the game, you’ll get a feel of the fighting mechanics in the game, learn how to string your special skills together to form elemental combos, and learn about the multiplayer features that make up the heart of the game. As this is a beginner’s guide, we won’t get to the latter just yet, but we will definitely be guiding you through the things you can do early on while following the instructions and progressing through the main quests. One good thing about this title is that it will automatically do the navigation for you if you tap on any given quest, so there’s no need to worry about getting lost in the woods or getting sidetracked. Fighting isn’t quite as automatic as it’s become in other RPGs, but it’s still fairly easy early on — easy enough that you can button-mash your way to easy victories more often than not. The same applies to most of the other tasks you’ll learn how to do in the first few levels — just pay attention as the NPCs explain each new mechanic, save those screenshots for quick reference if you have to, and you should be flying through the first few levels with little to no effort.
2. Know Each Character Class
Dawn of Isles allows you to choose a character belonging to any one of the four available character classes — Fighter, Ranger, Dancer, and War Mage — as you go through the same story and face the same challenges as the other characters do, as far as the main story quests are concerned. If you have time, it’s definitely advisable to try all four characters out for yourself — the game allows one save slot per character class, and contrary to what you may think, your old character(s) do not get wiped out if you create a new one. Just click on the main menu button on the right side of your screen, then go to Settings if you need to switch from one character to a newer one you may have created. Give each created character a go in order to determine which ones is best suited for your desired playing style in the game — you’ll never know unless you actually try!
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at al four individual character classes in Dawn of Isles, and learn their strengths, weaknesses, and find out why they may or may not match your preferred play style.
Fighters, contrary to what you may think, are not the highest-attack characters in Dawn of Isles — rather, they serve a dual role as DPS and Tank, meaning they do a decent amount of damage while absorbing a lot of it. Normally, your Fighters will be outfitted with axes or swords. Aside from serving as front-liners, they “protect” teammates, as the game explains — their basic stats are Attack (4), Defense (5), Control (2.5), Regen (1), and Difficulty (4). We’re a bit confused by the high degree of difficulty the game has assigned for this class, as we personally find Fighters to be the easiest to use in most in-game scenarios.
Rangers typically wield longbows and crossbows as their weapons, and aside from attacking enemies from afar, they specialize in DPS (damage per second) and crowd control. Agility is one of their defining characteristics, as the game explains, and this reflects in their basic stats — Attack (5), Defense (3), Control (4), Regen (1), and Difficulty (4). In other words, they can be pretty useful out there, though it could take a while before you can master such a character.
The Dancer character class is quite an interesting one, we’d say — it’s not often in RPGs where you’ll have the option to choose a character that works her magic through dancing, but if you read the Dancer description carefully, you’ll see that it’s their dancing that heals teammates. Attack-wise, they don’t do much by wielding staffs or twin fans, but they are able to deal out damage per second aside from healing teammates. Basic stats are Attack (4), Defense (2), Control (3), Regen (5), and Difficulty (3).
Lastly, Warmages are ranged characters like Rangers, but could also fight up close like Fighters. Their roles are defined as DPS and Crowd Control, while their weapons of choice are lances and blades. These are faith-defined characters that harness the elements to defeat their enemies, and are rated as follows by the game — Attack (4.5), Defense (3), Control (3.5), Regen (1), Difficulty (3).
And no, in case you’re wondering, the game will not allow you to pick Kumamon (the bear) or the dragon from the character select screen — this is expressly stated for the latter, while tapping on the former will simply inform you that “Kumamon is here.”
3. Questing May Be Routine, But It’s Important
On the left side of your screen, you will see a list of things that need to be done in order to move on to the next part of the story, e.g. Talk to Gugu, Talk to Daria, Gather (x/x) Breezewood, et al. Just as you may have guessed, these are quests which you would need to complete in order to be up to speed with things, and if you’re not a fan of storyline quests, we would understand if you’re not, especially if you download these games for the multiplayer action. But there’s a reason why you should be paying close attention to them and completing them.
Aside from the obvious reason of getting you closer to completing story objectives, the main quests in Dawn of Isles would allow you to slowly, but surely, unlock new features, which you’ll see popping up on the upper right of your screen as you complete more of these seemingly routine in-game tasks. Some quests may even reward you with new pieces of equipment which, of course, will increase your basic stats and keep you safer from the many dangers that lie within the game’s universe, while giving you a better chance of fending them off on offense. They may not always be exciting, but quests are an important part of this title’s gameplay.
4. Complete The Side Quests, And Not Just The Main Ones
The main quests, as designated in yellow on the left side of your screen, are the ones you should be following in order to ensure you’re on the right track in Dawn of Isles. Not only do these guide you on the right path as far as developing your chosen character is concerned, but these quests also bring you closer to accomplishing your main objective in the game’s overarching story — the search for your missing sister. However, there may be some main quests that you won’t be able to complete until you reach a certain level. What do you do in such a situation?
The simple answer here would be to take the quests that appear in blue, usually above or below the highlighted main quests. These are basically side quests that do not have any bearing on the game’s main storyline, but rather offer you a chance at more experience points and additional rewards. You may encounter such a situation from time to time in the earlier levels, so don’t panic if you’re unable to make it to the required level for the next quest in the main storyline.
5. Collect Your Rewards, Including The Daily Sign-In Bonuses
Upon logging onto Dawn of Isles for the first time each day, you will be directed to the game’s Benefits page, which allows you to claim a variety of rewards, including those for daily sign-ins. The game would actually require you to log in at least for a few seconds at least once per day, with different rewards for Mondays, Tuesdays, and all the way until Sunday. You may end up with a wide range of items for your daily logins, starting with fragments for treasure maps, and ending with special items (Dim Powder, to be specific) that could infuse your equipment with elemental energy!
Once you reach a milestone level, starting with level 5, you could collect Level Up Rewards, which mainly include items for your pets (more on them later) and common currency, but could also include items that allow you to reset either your progress (including the name you chose upon choosing your character for the first time) or your attribute points. You probably won’t have much use for the latter items, but there’s a chance that you might — in the event you want to start from square one because you may have missed a few things here or there earlier in the game, or aren’t satisfied with how things are playing out for you.
Those two are among several options you can view in the Benefits screen, but we’re limiting things to the dailies and the Level Up Rewards due to the scope of this guide.
6. Basic Tips For Battling Enemies And Stringing Elemental Combos Together
Although Dawn of Isles makes things much easier for players by allowing characters to walk to quest points simply by tapping on the quest being completed at the time, this title isn’t like some of the other RPGs we’ve covered in recent months that allow for a lot of auto-battling. You’ll need to fight your own battles, as we mentioned earlier, but while you’re in the earlier stages of the game, things should be pretty easy. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind when it comes to the creatures you’ll be facing early on.
First thing to keep in mind is that you should use these easy battles as practice for the times when you may really need your special skills. Save these skills for when you really need them — know what each skill does and don’t activate them willy-nilly while out there fighting enemies. Better yet, it would help if you got some practice in stringing together elemental combos, beyond what the NPC Hodo may have guided you through.
Depending on whether you have a specific Elemental Flask in hand or not, or a skill that allows you to produce a certain element, you can, for example, create a burning area by launching fire (either through a flask or through your skills) toward a puddle of miasma. (That would be the bubbling green stuff you may oftentimes encounter in the game.) Miasma, on the other hand, can be created when water is polluted by toxin. Meanwhile, you can launch a Water Flask toward a burning area to create steam, thus allowing for a further elemental combination. Then you’ve also got the option to blend certain skills together to create new ones that make use of the elements. If you chose a Fighter character, for instance, Hodo will teach you how to create a Blazing Leap by first enchanting your weapon with fire through the Blazing Trail skill then by launching your Fearless Leap skill. Once combined, the new blended skill (Blazing Leap) will create a burning path after you execute your leap.
Your first Elemental Flasks — as well as the materials required to create them — will be given to you free by Hodo. But where do you get them anyway? Read on and we’ll tell you where.
7. Visit The In-Game Shops When You’ve Got The Time
As it’s so very easy to go from one quest to the next, it’s also easy to forget that once you reach a certain level, you’ll be able to visit the in-game shops by tapping on the Shops option on the upper right-hand menu. Let’s start out with the default Market tab.
Once again, we’ll be talking about pets a little further in the final tip in this guide, but the first section under the Purchase tab is Pet Training — this is where you can buy manuals to help your pets level up and learn new combat skills. Underneath that, you’ll find the Element Materials tab, which allows you to buy items that you can use to craft Elemental Flasks — there are different types of materials here, namely Dust, Particles, Extracts, and Essence, but what they have in common is the ability for you to use them in combination with an empty flask to create an Elemental Flask you can use in battle. Regardless of the color or element — Aqua (blue/water), Ignis (red/fire), Terra (green/earth), or Zephyr (yellow/wind) — they all cost the same, with the only differentiating factor being the amount of energy generated. Dust refers to minor energy, Particles to small, Extracts to medium, and Essence to large.
In the Other section, you’ll find all sorts of miscellaneous items which you can also purchase with your coins, much like the Element Materials and training manuals we mentioned above. These range from Empty Flasks, which cost 100 coins each, Old Logging Axes (3000 each), to Sea Salt (4000 each). You can also buy ready-made meals at the in-game shop if you need something to pick yourself up after battle to either gradually or instantly restore any lost HP.
You can toggle between different shops by tapping on the different tabs on the bottom right of the menu, and you can get good deals on various items for yourself and your pet in the Trade shop. You can place your items up for sale through this shop, though take note that not all of the listed items may be available for purchase at any given time!
Next to Trade is the Emporium, which is subdivided into the Enhancements, What’s New, and Gift Packs tabs. This is essentially a store for items you can purchase with your premium currency — your Gold and your Crystals — so we won’t be tackling these items just yet. Lastly, you can buy Crystals for real money by tapping on the Recharge tab — the cheapest costs a dollar in U.S. currency (or its local equivalent) and gets you 60 Crystals.
8. Pet Basics
Dawn of Isles is much like other RPGs in the sense that it allows you to keep, train, and fight battles alongside a pet — if Jon Snow had his loyal direwolf, Ghost, on Game of Thrones, you too could acquire your own mythological animal companion to help you fight off enemies and perform other tasks in the game. Your first pet, however, will be gifted to you by the NPC named Nikolai, who will also teach you some of the essential things you need to know about having a pet in the in-game universe.
As pets in Dawn of Isles all start out as wild, untamed beasts, you’ll need to have some Pet Taming Stones at your disposal. Once you see a creature that you can tame, throw one of these stones through the game’s drag-and-toss mechanic — it may be tricky at first, since the game does not allow you to throw a stone in a direction where it wouldn’t be visible to the create you’re trying to tame, but this, at least, guarantees that you will have a chance to tame some wild animals and convert them into your pets.
As we said in the first paragraph, pets are mostly useful when you’re fighting off enemies, but in order to ensure their effectiveness, you’ll need to train them through the manuals we mentioned in the entry about the in-game shop. You’ll also need to feed them with Pet Snacks to keep them in good health, and shower them with affection through any one of several special Pet Affection items to make sure they remain loyal to you.
And this ends our beginner’s guide for Dawn of Isles. If you have anything to add to our list of tips, cheats and strategies, then don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!