The core mechanic that will keep you coming back to Mario & Luigi Brothership is the unique turn-base combat. You’ll need to master the timing of each move that the brothers can use to ensure that you’re dealing as much damage as possible per turn.
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While a lot of your results will come down to how well you can use each of the attacks, you can help improve your chances in battle with a cunning combination of accessories. Each brother has two accessory slots, and how you use these will drastically alter your success throughout the game, but which are the best?
8
Arc Scope
Perfect Victory
While the combat in Mario & Luigi Brothership can get pretty tricky the later you get into the game, even some of it’s toughest battles can be completed without taking a single hit. There are even a few boss fights that you can come out of unscatched if you know exactly how to dodge each of their attacks.
If you’re confident in your dodging ability, then you’ll want to try going into battle with the Arc Scope equipped. On top of the handy speed buff, you’ll also be rewarded with an extra 15 percent exp for every battle you finish without taking damage.
7
Gold Medallion
Pretty Penny
One aspect that makes Mario & Luigi Brothership stand out compared to other more linear turn-based RPGs is the litany of choices you can make. These decisions can alter the narrative of the game, or can just change how the brothers feel to play in battle.
This level of choice even comes down to how you treat your accessories. While all of your accessories can be sold (and therefore lost forever) for some, this is encouraged. The Gold Medallion will sell for a hefty sum, but perhaps it’s worth keeping a hold of since it will increase all of the wearer’s stats (except HP) by 2. This is offset by an increase in attention from enemies, but this can hold strategic merit if you’re building one brother to be sturdier than the other.
6
First-Round Belt
Off To A Good Start
If you spend most of Mario & Luigi Brothership perfectly balanced and leveled to be at the right level the game expects, then you can expect some overworld encounters to be over in just one turn. If you’re skilled enough at controlling the pair of plumbers, then they can easily take out entire screens of enemies with the right combination of attacks.
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You can specifically build the brothers to thrive during shorter battles, and one accessory that helps with this is the First-Round Belt. With this accessory equipped, the first attack of the brother wearing it will deal an impressive 30 percent extra damage. On top of this, you’ll also be able to move quicker with a helpful speed boost as well.
5
Ready-Already Gloves
Feeling Lucky?
Most of the stats that each of the brothers gains in Mario & Luigi Brothership are self-explanatory if you’re used to playing similar-style turn-based RPGs, but one that stands out is STACHE. If you’re unaware, this stat increases how often the brother will make a Lucky hit, similar to a critical hit in other games, dealing more damage than usual.
This is usually quite rare, but if you go out of your way to boost your STACHE stat, then you can build your character to consistently deal extra Lucky damage. One accessory that helps with this is the Ready-Already Gloves, which will award the wearer with a massive 50 percent extra STACHE. The only issue with this is that you can’t equip any other accessories, or the effect will be negated.
4
Bildit Gloves
Hard Hitter
When compared to the different effects of each of the accessories in Mario & Luigi Brothership, it can be easy to get lost in the comparisons and detailed descriptions and not be able to tell which is better for each of the brothers. This is why it’s refreshing to get accessories with simpler buffs that are easier to choose.
A great example of this is the Bildit Gloves, named after the brother of Maykit, whom you’ll meet early on in the story. These gloves will give the recipient an extra 5 percent damage. Because of how early in the game you get these, they’ll be useful for quite a long stretch of the story with their simple extra damage buff.
3
Luck Charm
Hit The Weak Spot
There is a variety of different ways you can build each of the brothers (with some builds being better suited for each of them thanks to their unique stat distributions), but one way to make them consistently deal extra damage is to lean into a Lucky build.
One of the best ways to augment this build is to find the Luck Charm. This simple accessory will give the wearer a massive 1.5x extra chance of getting a Lucky hit with every attack, massively improving their damage output. On top of this, you’ll also get a small speed boost too.
2
HP Bangle
Staying Healthy
As you get later and later into Mario & Luigi Brothership, you’ll quickly realise that the brother’s health pool alone won’t keep you alive, and you’ll need to rely on your ability to dodge to ensure that they don’t fall too early in battle.
However, more HP always helps, especially when you’re up against enemies whose move patterns you haven’t mastered dodging yet. This is why the passive effect of the HP Bangle, which restores 5 percent of your health every turn, is great at helping keep the brothers alive for longer.
Easy Buff
One of the best ways to get through the tougher fights in Mario & Luigi Brothership quicker is to get a strong start. While you can do this by perfectly hitting each of your attacks or using Bros. moves early on, an even more effective method is to go in with a buff.
Sometimes buffing in the first turn might seem like an overly strategic method which wastes time when you could be attacking, especially with a party of just two, but if one of the brothers is wearing First-Contact Gloves, then they’ll get a bonus 15 percent POW and DEF right at the start of the battle.
- Franchise
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Mario & Luigi
- Released
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November 7, 2024
- Developer(s)
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Acquire
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
- ESRB
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E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence
- How Long To Beat
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37 hours
- Prequel(s)
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Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey
, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions
, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
, Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time - Number of Players
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1
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
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60 hours
- OpenCritic Rating
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Strong
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
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November 7, 2024