Loop Hero guide - 7 tips that will keep you in the loop
A guide to enduring for as long as possible in Loop Hero.
- Staying in the loop is all about balancing endurance with growth
- Hero stats help, but your most effective move is the cards you play
- Focusing on cards that can inhibit monsters and make loops less intense
When you decide to be a Loop Hero, you're taking on quite a lot of responsibility. Through some unknown means, you've survived the total erasure of existence and have the power to rebuild reality. Unfortunately, time is meaningless and though days seem to go by, the loop always resets with more and more things appearing and changing with each iteration.
You may be strong enough to survive the universe's destruction, but monsters and hazards can still bring you down with enough loops. You can act like a hero, so you need to build yourself up to be a hero who can do all the heroic things.
No matter which chapter you take on, it always starts you on a long and empty road that wraps around in a circuit. At first, the only thing you need to worry about is the seemingly endless amount of Slimes that can survive in even the most desolate void. The more rounds you make around the circuit, the more time will pass and the stronger the enemies will get. Your hero will need to rely on their inherent skills, the gear that you find, and the traits that you learn through levelling up. On top of that, there's more you can do with cards and the road to last longer in the loop.
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Tip #1 - Villages are your friends
Staying healthy is the first hurdle you'll need to jump over in keeping the loop going. All of the classes have different ways of shaking off injuries, but they're not always consistent or reliable. You can rely on the campsite and lay down certain cards to improve your health, but the more monsters on the field, the more you'll be forced to limp. That's why you should have a healthy mix of Village (with optional Wheat Fields) cards to lay down along the road. They act as mini-camps to restore health every time you pass through them. They will give you quests that summon empowered monsters and bandits can occasionally show up, but that's a small price to pay.
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Tip #2 - Treat yourself to traits
When you're building up the town, the first building you should work toward is the Gymnasium. It essentially unlocks the level-up system, adding a nice little XP bar underneath your hero's health bar. Going forward, you'll be able to earn XP by killing monsters and when you get enough, you'll level up and gain a choice of one of three traits. These are the best you have in terms of passive bonuses with each class getting traits specifically for them. They can do amazing things from summoning companions to giving you barriers to giving you a do-over if you die. The more monsters you put down, the faster you make your way to loop-saving traits.
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Tip #3 - All about Oblivion
Despite this being a card game, all of the cards are pretty much representative of structures and pieces of land that you can just put down in empty spaces to do their thing. However, there is one card that does behave like a magic spell in an anime show: Oblivion. Bearing the visage of the ominous and creepy Lich, Oblivion cards are the only ones with an instantaneous effect. Each one lets you clear entire tiles of all structures and monsters. As you start putting things down that draw things like Goblins and Bandits to the field, these cards become invaluable in reducing the strain on your health.
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Tip #4 - Gamble on Beacons
Before you even enter the loop, you'll gain access to a nice range of cards. Although the starter deck may not last long into the game, there is one card that can be quite handy when used in the right circumstances. Beacons are lighthouses that can be placed alongside the road to coat several tiles in a mysterious light. As a result, anything moving in the light will move much faster while anyone fighting in the light will gain an attack speed boost. It's very handy in saving time and gives you a quick burst of speed if you need to reach the campsite or village sooner. While enemies gain the same boost in fights, a hero built for speed will still come out on top.
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Tip #5 - Power your Potions
Arguably the handiest item any adventurer can have is a health potion that can restore a good chunk of health instantly. After you build the Herbalist's Hut in town, you'll gain the passive ability to carry a limited number of potions. They can't be used on command and instead will be automatically used when the hero's health drops a certain amount. You'll receive potions every time you pass through the campsite and Witch's Huts (though the latter will reduce the number you can carry). You should invest a fair amount of time and resources into upgrading the Herbalist's Hut so that you can carry more of more effective potions.
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Tip #6 - Light up the Road
Even though the Beacons are useful in affecting the road in certain ways, the Road Lantern rivals it with its effects. Road Lanterns can be placed along the road in the same way but have a very useful ability: reduce the number of monsters on the affected tiles. This is great for preventing Spiders from spawning too quickly and holding back the forces of Goblin and Bandit Camps. You can even build multiple Road Lanterns around each other to make them even more effective. It's a simple but one-side road effect card that is great for slow-building your hero and when you don't have Oblivion cards handy.
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Tip #7 - Throw out some Outposts
Now we get to a card that is nice to you two out of three times…the Outpost. This is a way for the town to help you out by sending guards to patrol parts of the road where the Outposts are posted. When you engage in fights near them, guards will come to help you out which can be especially helpful against bosses. This is extremely beneficial the more loops that pass since guards also get stronger with time. However, depending on the hero you pick, you'll have differing experiences. The Rogue will get Outpost help for free, the Warrior will need to pay with any yellow or orange items they get from the battle, and the Necromancer will be treated as an enemy.