Beginner's Guide to Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad
Here are some helpful tips in beginning this game! If you are playing the demo to check it out, we also recommend to look through our demo guide below.
| Related Article |
|---|
| Demo Guide |
Beginner's Guide to Combat
Combat can be confusing at first because it uses a lot of terms and some enemies require specific movements in order to become available to attack.
Here is a shorthand in understanding the system of what the combat in Echoes of Aincrad uses:
Status Bars
| Status Bar | Description |
|---|---|
 | |
| Stamina | Used by attacks, dodging, guarding, and sprinting. These are only consumed during battle. |
| SP | Skill SP for Weapon Skills |
| Crystals | How many times you can heal yourself |
| Partner Focus | ・Partner Vulnerability ・The higher it is, the lower their vulnerability ・Easily depleted in Free Mode |
| Combo SP | ・SP for skill combos done with partners ・Accumulates as you battle |
| Partner SP | SP for the set skill of your partner |
Battle Actions
Battling can get some practice to get used to. Here are some quick notes about actions done in combat.
| Battle Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Light Attack | ・Low stamina usage, low power ・Combo max depends on weapon |
| Heavy Attack | ・High stamina usage, high power ・Leaves you vulnerable ・Holding it will turn it into a crush attack ・Crush attacks deal high damage for Guard Breaking Combo max depends on weapon |
| Extra Attack | An attack while you sprint or jump. |
| Dodge | ・Low stamina usage ・With shield, roll. Without shield, step. ・Makes you invincible for the a split second when the dodge starts |
| Guarding | ・Stamina usage will depend on the enemy strength ・If done with no stamina, you will experience Guard Break and be vulnerable |
| Break Markers | ・Some enemies can defend against frontal (light) attacks ・Whittle down their break bar with attacks to zero to make them vulnerable ・What might get broken is not necessarily be a shield; it may be the enemy's body part |
| Parry | ・Can only be done with a shield ・Guard right before an attack ・Can open up the enemy to more powerful attacks |
| Parry Slash | ・Done with your partner ・After parrying, do a light attack to signal your partner to attack after you ・Staggers the enemy |
| Reversal Slash | ・When the enemy glows blue, do a light attack ・This enables your partner to follow-up an attack on the enemy ・Staggers enemy ・Large damage |
Sword Skills
Sword Skills is somewhat a misnomer because they actually refer to any weapon skill according to what weapon you have equipped. We will cover weapons later. Here is what you need to know:
- You learn more the higher your weapon proficiency grows
- Weapon proficiency starts increasing after the prologue
- You can equip up to 3 skills at a time
- Skills are limited to their weapon
- But you can assign skills per weapon and that layout will be saved. But remember! You can only change weapons at an inn.
Beginner's Guide to Stats
After completing the prologue, you will gain access to the town inn where you can manage your skills, stats, and partners.
Stat points are gained from defeating monsters and leveling up, so battle a lot to increase your stats!
It should be noted that you can always reallocate your stat points later on and they do not have to be permanent so it'll be easy for you to change your build to fit your weapon if you want.
| Stat | Description |
|---|---|
| STR | Physical Damage and Defense UP |
| DEX | Parrying/Pertfect Dodge UP |
| AGI | Speed and Dodging UP |
| INT | Status-Resistance and EXP gain UP |
| VIT | HP and Healing Crystal UP |
| END | Stamina UP |
| Mind | SP UP |
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| Iori's Request Walkthrough |
Beginner's Guide to Weapons
Weapons have different advantages and disadvantages to them. It all depends on what your playstyle is and what build you would like to create.
| Weapon | Shield? | For What kind of player? |
|---|---|---|
| Sword | Yes | An all-rounder weapon for offense and defense |
| Two-Handed Sword | No | Hits hard and long reach. Slow and leaves you vulnerable after |
| Mace | Yes | All-rounder stagger weapon |
| Two-Handed Axe | No | Good for AoE but slow |
| Rapier | Yes | Ideal for those who like to dodge and parry |
| Dagger | No | Rapid burst attacks |
How to get weapons?
In Base Towns like Town of Beginnings, just look for the hammer icon to find the blacksmith. This is where you can craft your weapons.
What matters in a weapon?
The Attack stat is not the only thing important in a weapon, it is important to consider the Unique MODs, which is inherent to each weapon, and the Ex-Mods, which are modifications that can increase certain stats or skills. They can help in sustaining you, your partner, better skill usage, better damage output, and the like.
These Unique MODs may be activated upon use or would need a sword skill to activate its boon while Ex-Mods are acquired from weapons found while dungeon crawling.
Of course, Col cost and the materials available will also be important in selecting what weapon gets to be created, sold, or synthesized with others.
| Related Article |
|---|
| List of All Weapons |
Armor
Much like weapons, armor have Unique MODs that help determine whether they are more fit for you. Don't just look at their defense stat to decide whether they are good or not. They can also be bought and crafted at the Smithy.
| Related Article |
|---|
| List of All Armor |
Beginner's Guide to Death Game Mode
What is the Death Game Mode? Death Game Mode is a perma-death feature that intensifies the stakes of your game. Once you die once, your save gets deleted! No back-up, nothing, nada.
Interesting, isn't it? In order to unlock Death Game Mode, you would either need to finish the game once or buy the Deluxe or Ultimate edition where the mode is unlocked from the start.
| Related Article |
|---|
| Death Game Mode Guide |
Extra Items
Sometimes you might see magnifying glasses at areas. Make sure to investigate them as you can get rewards for filling up your database! You can also get some lore about the world from the information.
Related Guides
Latest News and Updates
| Latest News and Updates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Release Date and Time | All Platforms Available | All Editions and Differences |
| Is there Multiplayer? | ||
Helpful Guides
| Helpful Guides | |
|---|---|
| Recommended Weapons | How to Farm Col |
| Death Game Mode | Best Stat Allocation |
| Trophy List | Game Length and Completion Time |
| All Blueprint Locations | Post-Game Content Guide |
Beginner Guides
| Guides to Get You Started | |
|---|---|
| Beginner Tips & Tricks | Demo Guide |
| Game Overview | All Difficulty Levels |
| Character Creation | Can You Change Your Name? |
| How to Log Out | How to Transfer Demo Save |
Guides by Category
| Guides By Category | |
|---|---|
 Main Quests |  Side Quests |
 Weapons |  Armors |
 Bosses |  Characters |
