First-hours checklist

A low-regret route for a new save.

  • Complete the opening tutorials and read the combat prompts.
  • Practice dodge, camera control and switching before chasing damage.
  • Learn how Active Skills apply or use Status Ailments.
  • Use Signal Skills after the relevant ailment setup.
  • Keep one functional three-Hero team before splitting resources.
  • Follow story progression, then return for caves, cellars and side content.
  • Cook when you have ingredients; treat recipes as part of progression, not decoration.
  • Experiment with Familiars and note what each one changes for your route.
  • Install the game on an SSD; Steam lists an SSD as strictly required for an optimal experience.

What to do first

DragonSword: Awakening introduces an open world, companions and tag-team combat at the same time. Resist the urge to optimize every system immediately. Your first useful milestone is a team that can reliably create a Status Ailment and convert it into a Signal Skill.

Your first combat chain

Use an Active Skill, watch for the Status Ailment it creates, then switch into the Hero whose Signal Skill can capitalize on the opening. The official store description supports this broad chain; exact character-specific rotations remain outside this guide until tested in-game.

Early team building

Think in roles rather than a tier list: a setup Hero, a connector who can exploit the status state, and a finisher. Team order matters because switching is part of the combat language, not just a way to escape danger.

Exploration and progression

Orbis includes meadows, watchtower cellars, deep seas, caves and dungeons. Mark places you cannot finish yet and return after story or system progress; this keeps exploration useful without pretending every location has been mapped here.

Early mistakes to avoid

  • Do not spend every rare material before testing a Hero.
  • Do not treat an unverified community tier list as official data.
  • Do not assume story or open-world co-op from the store’s Online Co-op label.
  • Do not skip the SSD requirement when troubleshooting performance.

What to learn next

Continue with the combat system guide, then use the teams hub and map reference once your first team is stable.