Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a new JRPG from developer Rabbit & Bear Studios and publisher 505 Games. The project, helmed by Yoshitaka Murayama, Junko Kawano, and Osamu Komuta, is considered a spiritual successor to the Suikoden franchise.

You take on the role of Nowa, a boy from a small village. Nowa sets forth from his village to oppose a warmongering empire, exploring the lands of Allraan and recruiting new comrades to the resistance, such as the gifted imperial officer Seign and haughty recruit Lian. This adventure might seem daunting at first, but don’t worry—our Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes beginners guide has several tips to help you on your journey.
 

Revisit locations to recruit more allies

As the spiritual successor to the Suikoden series, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes boasts a hundred recruitable companions. Still, you won’t be able to meet all of them right from the get-go. In fact, some characters only become available later in the campaign, and they might be found in previously visited locations.

There are characters that will join you upon chatting with them for the first time. Others might have additional requirements, such as increasing your level further or tackling their quest objective.

 

Manage your party and formation

You can manage your party in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes via inns and certain notable NPCs. Your party is comprised of the following roles:

• 3x Front Ranks: These should be your tanky or melee-focused warriors.
• 3x Rear Ranks: These should be your healers, spellcasters, or those with long-range weapons.
• 1x Support: Characters assigned to a Support role provide passive effects. Examples include increasing the yields of materials that you gather and triggering particular buffs at the start of battle.
• 3x Attendants: Characters that are required for certain missions/campaign segments can be placed in the Attendant slot. This frees up a combat slot (i.e. Front/Rear), in case you want to use different companions.

Note that characters assigned to Support and Attendant roles don’t earn XP at the end of battles. Only those in active combat roles (i.e. Front/Rear slots) receive XP. Moreover, some characters are classified as “huge,” and they take up two slots instead.

 

Master the turn-based combat system

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes makes use of a turn-based combat system. Each character takes turns based on their Speed stat, as denoted by portraits at the top of the screen. Battle resources include Magic Points (MP) and Skill Points (SP). MP is consumed when casting spells and is restored by using certain consumable items or by resting at an inn. SP is consumed when using skills or hero combos. SP is regained after each turn.

Hero combos are multi-hit actions that can be cast if two or more characters with special relationships are in the party. Here are some examples:

• Nowa and Seign: Friendship Combo
• Nowa and Lian: Senior & Junior Combo
• Lian and Perrielle: Girls Combo
• Garr and Sabine: Mercenary Combo
• Mio and Hakugin: Stealth Combo
• Ivy and Pohl: Magitech Combo
• Seign, Valentin, and Pohl: Young Imperial Combo

Pay attention to battles with gimmicks

Some encounters also have a gimmick or a special mechanic, which is denoted by the “Attack/Gimmick” command:

• A few bosses have their own quirks, such as devastating attacks that you need to hide from or limbs and appendages that you can destroy.
• Some random encounters have treasure chests, which you can open while on the battlefield.

Leveling has a catch-up mechanic

Don’t worry if characters have been idle for too long because Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes also has a catch-up mechanic of sorts. Simply create a party consisting of a couple of stronger characters and others at lower levels. If you complete just a few tough encounters, you’ll see that your weaker characters’ levels have skyrocketed, bringing them up to par with your main squad.

Note that characters who are knocked out or incapacitated when combat ends won’t receive XP from that battle.

Consider each character’s rune types

Characters in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes have rune slots, which are unlocked as they level up. Rune slot types include:

• Skill: These pertain to abilities, some of which are unique to a character.
• Enhance: These slots allow you to equip runes that provide buffs, such as increased armor, HP, power, and resistances.
• Magic: These slots are for runes that let you cast magic spells.
• Passive: These runes convert your remaining SP into another stat during combat.
• All Types: You may socket any type of rune into this slot.

Take note of your items and inventory

Apart from runes, you also have to pay attention to weapons, armor, and other items:

• Weapons: Each character has their own unique weapon that cannot be changed. You can, however, upgrade a weapon’s attack power via blacksmiths.
• Armors: Some characters might be restricted from wearing certain types of armor. For instance, frontline tanks like Garr, Reyna, and Yuthus can equip heavy armor and shields. Conversely, spellcasters like Milana and Isha can only wear light armor or cloth.
• Consumables: Consumable items, such as Healing Herbs, Revival Medicines, and Runeshards are organized into stacks. Pay attention to your inventory space in case you’re carrying too much loot.
• Valuables: These are also known as key items or quest items.
• Materials: These are resources that you gather while exploring the world.

Start building up your castle headquarters

A few hours into the Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes campaign, you take charge of the resistance forces and get to build your own headquarters. Here’s what you need to know:

• The Drafting Studio is where you can select rooms or functions that can be built or upgraded.
• Construction projects require Headquarters Funds and raw materials. These resources are gradually accumulated as you build more gathering-related structures, such as the Farm, Quarry, and so on.
• Your castle headquarters can eventually contain vendor shops, an inn, and various minigames.
• Some rooms or structures require specific characters to join you as allies beforehand.

The Divination Room helps you locate potential recruits

Searching for every unique character can be quite a challenge. However, the process becomes much easier once you recruit a hero named B’baba in Daphan Village. B’baba manages the Divination Room in your headquarters, and she grants clues regarding the whereabouts of potential allies. You can also learn about the backstories of characters here.

 

Gather recipes and tackle the restaurant arc

There’s a fairly lengthy quest chain once the inn and restaurant are up and running in your headquarters. Upon recruiting a chef named Kurtz, he’ll be able to cook food to buff your party. Kurtz also kicks off a quest arc that leads to several cooking contests against a nefarious organization.

 

Participate and win at cards and other minigames

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has a lot of minigames. There’s Beigoma, where you challenge foes to a game where you spin tops. There’s also Eggfoot Racing, where you get to hatch and breed creatures. There are fishing spots where you can catch sea creatures. And so on.

We suggest giving the card minigame a shot. It involves building out a deck and placing down cards to earn points. Character cards also have passive abilities that grant various bonuses.

 

Unlock fast travel

You don’t have to explore the entirety of the known world solely on foot. That’s because you can unlock the fast travel mechanic a few hours into the campaign.

Fast travel unlocks once you meet a woman named Carrie in the city of Hishahn. You can fast travel to any location that you’ve visited (barring story-related restrictions). This can be done while you’re roaming around the world map or inside settlements/towns.

 

Earn more baqua via appraisal and trading posts

Don’t fret too much if certain items seem too expensive, because there are many ways to amass baqua (i.e. gold/money) in-game.

Some towns have trading posts, where you can purchase goods at low prices and sell them in settlements where there’s higher demand. Additionally, it’s possible to obtain unknown or mysterious items. You can have these appraised to reveal their true worth. Just remember that some of these items might be required by allies that you’ll recruit later, so don’t sell them quickly.

 

Prepare for army battles

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes also has army legion warfare. You control troop formations, moving them across the grid to clash with hostile forces.

Unique characters confer passive boons, and you gain access to Legion Commands that can turn the tide of battle. The goal is to maximize enemy casualties while keeping your units alive to ensure that the opposing side is routed.

These are just some of the tips to help you as you start your grand adventure in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. You can expect thrilling action, numerous recruitable characters, headquarters management, enjoyable minigames, untold secrets, and (much) more.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is available now on the Epic Games Store. We suggest checking out the Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes - Deluxe Edition, which contains the expansion pass (access to three story DLCs once available) and other digital goodies.

Lastly, those who want to delve further into the lands of Allraan might want to get Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, which serves as the prequel to Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.