Take a magical journey through Sea of Stars in our complete beginner’s guide. We’ll uncover everything you need to know about this enchanting world and its game mechanics, from character creation to uncovering hidden wonders and navigating the cosmos.
If you haven’t done so already, grab your copy of Sea of Stars today on Switch. Don’t forget to grab your Nintendo eShop Card from OffGamers first, so you can purchase the game and enjoy all it has to offer.
What is Sea of Stars?
Sea of Stars is a turn-based JRPG inspired by the classics. It tells the story of two Children of the Solstice who combine their powers of the sun and moon together to perform Eclipse Magic.
Eclipse Magic is the only force that’s capable of defeating the monstrosities created by the evil alchemist The Fleshmancer.
Sea of Stars takes you on a magical adventure where you’ll encounter dozens of characters. Swim, vault, jump and hoist your way through the world, or take a break to rest by the fire and cook, fish or sail.
There’s so much to explore in the world of Sea of Stars as you progress through the story.
If you’re just getting started with your journey, you may want some guidance. Our comprehensive guide will walk you through gameplay, so you can make the most of your play time.
Character Creation in Sea of Stars
In Sea of Stars, you can choose between six unique playable characters. Each character has their own backstory, playstyle, personal objectives, synergies and skills.
The story’s protagonists, Valere and Zale, are unlocked right from the start. But you can unlock other playable characters, including:
- Garl, a warrior cook
- Serai, a portal assassin
- Resh’an, the immortal alchemist
- B’st, the Living Glass Golem
These characters will unlock at various points throughout the game and will add new dynamics.
Always Prepare Food
In the Sea of Stars game, you’re limited to just 10 food slots. You’ll need to be resourceful and ensure you’re always preparing food and camping often.
Cooking food will give you consumables that restore your health.
You can camp on the World Map, but you can also find some places to set up camp in dungeons.
At the start of the game, you’ll be limited to making recipes like Berry Jam, but you’ll unlock better recipes later on.
For example, you can purchase:
- Bouillabaisse recipe from merchants in Lake Docarri. This food restores 110 HP and 6 MP.
- Paine Dore recipe from merchants in Lost Ones Hamlet. This food restores 9MP to all party members.
There are lots of recipes that you can purchase from vendors you come across during your travels. You’ll also acquire many recipes automatically as you progress.
Don’t be Stingy with Mana
Don’t be afraid to use your abilities in Sea of Stars. Remember that you gain Mana every time you land a hit, so there’s no reason to be too stingy with it.
Do make sure that you master the timing of your attacks and skills to maximize your Mana regen when fighting. Each time you perform a successful physical attack, it will also restore some of your health along with your Mana.
Explore Everything and Everywhere
Get out and explore everything, everywhere. There are so many hidden treasures and chests in the most obscure places. Leave no stone unturned when you’re out in the world.
Some chests are hidden behind puzzles, so keep your eyes peeled.
Always Try to Break Locks
Sometimes, enemies will display a lock icon above their heads. The lock symbol means that they’re getting ready to perform a powerful skill.
Make it a point to break these locks in combat. When you break locks, you use a powerful attack to interrupt enemies.
Breaking locks can be tricky. But taking away just a few will reduce the enemy’s damage output, so it’s worth the effort. Breaking all locks will stop them from performing that skill.
Timing Matters a Lot
When you’re in combat, timing matters – a lot. It’s especially important when defending. Timing when to guard will reduce the amount of damage taken.
When you’re on the offensive, timing can give you an advantage. For example, if you land a successful hit at just the right time, you can actually hit the enemy twice. To do this, tap A as the hit connects. If you hit A at just the right moment, you’ll deal so much more damage.
Proper timing when you’re defending and attacking will make it much easier to win battles.
Another important thing to consider with timing is team order. Party members can use their turn order in whichever order you prefer, but they can only act once each round. Keep this in mind when trying to time attacks and gain advantages.
Remember to Boost Your Attacks
At some point, you’ll be able to boost your attacks with Live Mana to seriously increase your damage output.
Live Mana charges can be dropped by enemies and used to deal magical attacks.
If an enemy is vulnerable to a certain type of attack, you can use Live Mana to boost that type of attack and hit them with all you’ve got.
For example, let’s say that an enemy has a Lunar and Blunt lock on their bar. You can boost Valere’s physical attack to deal both Lunar and Blunt damage simultaneously.
You can apply up to three boosts.
Don’t Waste Time Looking for Solstice Shrines
When you first start your journey on Sea of Stars, there will be a lot of talk about Solstice Shrines. Naturally, you’ll be tempted to get out there and find these shrines ASAP. After all, there must be tons, right?
In actuality, there are only five. And most of these shrines aren’t even accessible until you gain a special fast travel ability late in the game.
In other words, don’t bother looking for these shrines until you gain the right abilities.
Most will have rare equipment, which can be nice finds, but you may or may not need them during the main quest. The shrine on Evermist Island is the only exception because it has a useful combo spell. It’s worth going out of your way to get to this shrine, but the rest can be done whenever you wish.
Be on the Lookout for Rainbow Conchs
Every once in a while, you’ll come across hidden Rainbow Conchs in dungeons. Some NPCs will also give them out as a reward.
Don’t disregard these Conchs. They’re really valuable.
At some point, you’ll meet Mirna in an underwater area. She’ll give you rewards based on the number of Conchs in your collection, so they’re worth finding and picking up.
Some rewards may not be useful right away, but you’ll make use of them at some point. There’s a really useful item called Cornucopia that gives a +20 HP boost to all party members for just 11 Rainbow Conchs.
Once you’ve collected 27 Conchs, Mirna will give you a special detector that you can use to find them more easily.
Adjust Brightness Settings
Brightness always seems to be an issue in modern games. You either have a game that is so dark you’re squinting to make out objects in the environment or you barely have any shadows on the screen.
Cursed Woods is one area of Sea of Stars that I had a difficult time with visibility.
The devs also added crystals in the environment that you can interact with to brighten up your space. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of not being able to see well, you can then do the following:
- Go to Options
- Adjust brightness
If you brighten up the environment a bit, you will have a much easier time seeing and enjoying the game.
Select the Right Type of Attack
You’ll be able to use single- or multi-attack spells in the game. If you’re used to area-of-effect (AOE) spells from other games, the concept is very similar. Your damage will be spread to characters with the multi-hit options and spreads unevenly compared to other games.
For example, if you have a target on the left or right, you may attack the left one and hit two people and the right one and hit four nearby enemies.
If you want to defeat enemies ASAP, be sure to attack the enemy with the most enemies nearby.
Avoid Buying Armor and Weapons in the Early Parts of the Game
Early on in the game, you’ll be enamored with the armor and weapons that you find in shops. Better gear will make your journey through Sea of Stars much easier. But in the early stages of the game, you’re better off with relics.
You won’t find the relic shop until 5 hours into the game.
Instead of buying gear, you’ll want to buy relics that your party can use to:
- Block attacks
- Reduce damage
And there’s a relic that you might think to overlook: Gold Tooth. While this relic won’t help you reduce damage, it will make it cheaper to purchase items because they’ll be sold at a 10% discount.
You’ll have a much easier time buying weapons and armor when you get a 10% discount on each purchase. In the beginning stages of the game when money is tight, you’ll find the discounted gear will make play much easier.
And, as a word of warning, don’t get obsessed with the shops and feel the need to buy everything from them. You may be tempted to make purchases because you don’t know when you’ll visit the shop again.
Right?
Well, the good news is that you’ll be able to fast travel in the future and will be able to return to the shops and purchase items.
You will need to have more of the Rainbow Conchs, if you plan on using fast travel for this strategy.
Don’t Ignore Fishing
Being an angler may not be something that you like to do in games. A lot of players find fishing boring, but it’s an integral part of the game that offers a lot of benefits. Each island you land on is an opportunity to fish.
And, you will need to fish if you want to make some of the best food in the game.
Late-game recipes require a lot of raw fish for you to complete them, such as Tataki, which will heal you for 135 HP.
If you don’t fish throughout the game, you can still go back and begin to catch up. However, it’s a challenge to level up your fishing when you’re in the later stages of the game because you’ll need to grind to get the ingredients.
Powerful bosses are a bit easier when you have recipes that can boost your team, such as:
- Legendary Feast
- Gourmet Burger
- Yakitori Shrimp
Talk to Party Members
Sea of Stars is loads of fun. If you love JRPGs, you know that dialogue is an important part of the experience. If you’re used to running around solo and don’t talk to your party members, you risk missing out on very important aspects of the game.
For example:
- Secret challenges are often mentioned when you talk to party members
- Locations in the game where you can unlock things, such as alternate endings, are only found when talking to party members
Teaks also plays an important role in dialogue because she will let you know about characters and their backgrounds. You’ll want to touch base with Teaks as often as you can so that you can learn the fate of the characters.
Also, she will want you to bring artefacts that you find to her.
You’ll find that this little historian will join you in the Moorlands. If you’re camping, she will read stories to you.
If you want to watch more gameplay and get tips on how to play Sea of Stars better, you’ll want to watch streamers on YouTube and Twitch. Great players are offering real-time updates about the game and playthroughs, too.
Want to put down the Sea of Stars game and try something different? We recommend reading through our recent article: 7 Entry-Level JRPGs for Beginners.
