Brave Brigade has managed to be a big hit on Google Play, and it’s not hard to see why: the game’s sprites look nice, it’s not too stingy with Action Points, and the combat is simple yet fun.
New players might find progressing a bit overwhelming and confusing as they push through the first few stages of Vermanix. The tutorial only tells you so much, and there are several facets of Brave Brigade that the game never attempts to explain.
This guide will hopefully help you take advantage of all that is available in Brave Brigade, and make the most of your time with the game. It does assume you’ve played a bit and know the basics! Below are some tips to do better in battle, a chart of mercenary weaknesses and strengths, and explanation of stats, and a few other tidbits to get you by.
How do you get Star Crystals for free?
As with most other F2P mobile RPGs, Brave Brigade has more than currency system. The most important of which being Star Crystals, which can be used to buy new heroes, recruit new mercenaries, recover Action Points, and even buy Gold.
So how do you get Star Crystals? There are a few ways you can rack them up through gameplay, and a single one-time method to get a 30 Star Crystal boost:
- Completing a stage with a 3 star rating will award you 1 Star Crystal
- Defeating an area’s boss will award you 3 Star Crystals regardless of rating
- Certain quests and achievements will award you Star Crystals
- Logging in each day for eight days within a two-week cycle will award you a Star Recruit Box, which grants a random, low number of Star Crystals
- Defeating the last boss of a world (for instance, the very last boss stage of Vermanix) will award you 10 Star Crystals for clearing that world
- Syncing the game with your Facebook account and Liking the Brave Brigade Facebook page will net you 30 Star Crystals. Tap on ‘Star Shop’ in the in-game store, then “Free Stars” to receive your gift.
It is also worth noting that obtaining some especially strong mercenaries will unlock achievements for up to 10 Star Crystals, which can be a huge help if you repeatedly get lucky with recruitment.
Why can’t I receive free 30 Star Crystals from the ‘Free Stars’ button?
Actually getting your free 30 Star Crystals might be a bit of a pain, as the game is a bit buggy. If you have never played the game before your current playthrough and can’t claim your Star Crystals, you may need to manually like the page via web browser instead of via the Facebook app on your phone (I know I had to).
If you’ve done that but are still having trouble, be sure to check that the Facebook account you attached to your Brave Brigade account is the same one you Liked the game’s Facebook page with. You can sync and unsync via the Settings icon at the top right of the game’s main screen.
If you have played the game before but are trying to get your Star Crystals on a new account, you will need to make a new Facebook account and sync it to your device and Brave Brigade account.
How do I get Gems?
You’ve probably noticed Gems drop from stages, but you can get the exact ones you want from the daily dungeons. These dungeons are found by tapping the ‘Special’ arrow at the top left of stage selection.
Weekday special dungeons provide Gems of particular colors, while the weekends give evolution materials. Here’s a list of each weekday’s special dungeon Gem drops:
- Monday – Red Gems (Attackers)
- Tuesday – Blue Gems (Defenders)
- Wednesday – Green Gems (Healers)
- Thursday – Purple Gems (Supports)
- Friday – Black Gems (Specials)
You will also receive the following Gem Boxes on these log in reward days:
- Day 2 – 6 Normal Gem Boxes
- Day 4 – 5 Bright Gem Boxes
- Day 9 – 3 Grand Gem Boxes
How do I find new mercenaries?
At the start of the game it can feel like you’re not getting mercenaries fast enough to keep up with how tough enemies are getting, and that is very possible. The chances of capturing mercenaries on any stage are very low, including the Special stages you use Honor Medals to get into.
Recruiting with Star Crystals is your best bet for powerful mercenaries, but there are a number of decent mercenaries you can get from Special stages and Honor Medal recruits. You can use a Trainer’s Whip in the item selection screen before a battle to increase your capture chance by 50%, though this item costs 2 Star Crystals and does not guarantee drops.
One tip to make the most of your Star Crystal recruitment is to keep in mind the fact you can immediately recruit another mercenary at 25 Star Crystals instead of 30, should you have enough on hand. You can do this multiple times, and at the fifth recruit you will receive a voucher for one free.
Tip for brand new players
If you are just starting the game and haven’t spent any Star Crystals past the first 30 the tutorial forces you to spend, hold onto what you get until you have 55 to spend on two consecutive recruits (instead of 60). This way you will save 5 Star Crystals and be able to summon your next mercenaries sooner.
Can I choose another hero?
It is entirely possible to get more than one hero on a single account, if you are willing to spend 100 Star Crystals on one — and that’s the price for one of the defauls. The hero menu allows you to switch between heroes and take a look at their skills, as well as buy any you have enough stars for. There are also two heroes aside from the four defaults: Furian (200 stars) and Yasmin (180 stars).
The hero you choose at the beginning of the game is going to have a noticeable impact on how quickly you clear stages early on, and hence how quickly you gain Star Crystals. Adelia (the priestess) is the weakest offensively and will give the slowest clears in the early levels, but has the benefit of being a strong addition to most parties later on. Keep this in mind when choosing.
Should I put a unit in the back or front row?
This is a good question and one that will have an effect on every battle you fight, and the answer is pretty simple.
Units in the front row will receive an increase to their MOV but will lose some of their SP. Units in the back row will gain SP but will lose some MOV. Furthermore, units in the front row will take damage more often.
What this means is units with higher STR and DEF and who are less ability-dependent should be placed in the front row because they will attack more often, and will be hit more often. Units with a heavy focus on ability usage and low DEF should be kept to the back row.
If you’re not sure what your units are best for yet, try a few different set ups over the course of a few stages to come to an effective party formation. Also remember that if your hero dies, you will immediately lose a battle. Plan your formation accordingly.
I can’t seem to get 3 star ratings on many stages. What am I doing wrong?
There’s a lot more to an effective battle set up than using your Bursts and abilities as soon as they’re available! Your team composition, formation, and levels are all going to affect how well you do in battle.
Leveling your mercenaries is required to strengthen your team overall and is something you should do whenever you have the Gems and Gold available to efficiently level. Some mercenaries cost more to level than others, so try to plan your leveling accordingly to avoid running out of Gold.
Know your team’s strengths and weaknesses
Every unit has varying strengths and weaknesses, and you have to learn to take advantage of them! For instance, take a look at the differences between putting units in the front or back row, and unit strengths and weaknesses.
Think about the skills you use
Aside from weighing your units’ placement and strengths, you should also take care in choosing when to use some abilities, particularly Healer Bursts and some status effects!
Here’s a question: do you have a unit with an ability like Fatal Poison, which inflicts poison? If so, wouldn’t you like that poison to tick once (and do 10% of their total health as damage), or are you just fine with the initial damage?
Obviously, the ideal outcome is for that poison to do at least a single tick of damage and not just do the basic damage before the unit is killed. The answer to this is to use Fatal Poison when it’s more likely to hit a full or nearly full HP unit, instead of something that’s already been hit a few times.
This type of logic can be used for most status effects. You usually want to put damaging status effects on units who aren’t going to die immediately, which means using another mercenary’s abilities (or waiting for a few auto attacks to go out) and killing a weak unit before taking a gamble and spitting out something that bleeds or poisons.
You may also want to wait a few seconds before using some purely damaging abilities with gimmicks, such as Mana Flare, which hits an entire row of enemies. If there are two rows and only one enemy left one one of them, wait on using Mana Flare until that single enemy is defeated to ensure you make the most of the ability. Keep this in mind when using any other gimmicky abilities, like Shock Wave (which hits a column) as well.
Don’t wait long to use a skill once it’s available! You want to be a little picky, but not too much so.
And of course, finally: if you don’t need heals and a Healer Burst comes up or a mercenary who only has a healing ability comes up, don’t use it! The casting animation for these wastes precious time, so they should only be used when absolutely necessary.
What do stats do?
There are a total of eight primary stats in Brave Brigade, each one with a different purpose. Some are obvious, while others are a bit less so!
It is worth noting SP does not reflect your total amount of Skill Points, but rather how quickly that unit’s SP fills in battle, allowing units with a higher SP stat to use abilities more often than those with a lower one.
LP can be recovered outside of battle, but is costly. A mercenary with 0 LP cannot be used, so don’t let your units die!
| Stat | Effect |
|---|---|
| Health Points (HP) | The amount of damage a unit can take before falling (and losing LP). |
| Skill Points (SP) | Increases the speed at which a unit can use abilities. |
| Strength (STR) | Increases standard attack damage. |
| Defense (DEF) | Reduces incoming damage from enemy attacks. |
| Movement (MOV) | Increases the speed at which a unit attacks. |
| Intelligence (INT) | Increases a unit’s ability damage. |
| Agility (AGI) | Increases a unit’s chance to dodge and critically hit. |
| Life Points (LP) | Reflects the amount of times a unit can fall in battle before becoming unusable. |
What Burst does this type of mercenary have?
Each merc type boasts a different type of Burst, which will play a large part in how your battles play out. This, along with strengths and weaknesses, will play a large part in your party composition as you push through Brave Brigade.
| Type | Burst |
|---|---|
| Attacker | Deals heavy damage to a single enemy. |
| Defender | Taunts enemies to direct attacks to the defending merc. |
| Support | Recovers allies’ SP. |
| Healer | Heals all allies. |
| Special | Deals moderate damage to all enemies. |
What are each mercenary type’s strengths and weaknesses?
Your mercenaries’ types will affect how hard they hit, how much damage they take from attackers of other types, and their SP recovery (making them able to use abilities more or less often).
If a mercenary attacks a unit it’s strong against, it will recover some of its SP. If it attacks a unit it’s weak against, it will do half damage. ‘Special’ mercenaries have no strengths nor weaknesses.
Here’s a small table showing each type and their strengths and weaknesses:
| Merc Type | Weakness | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Attacker | Supporter | Healer |
| Defender | Healer | Supporter |
| Supporter | Defender | Attacker |
| Healer | Attacker | Defender |
| Special | N/A | N/A |
