Beginner Tips For Eternal Strands

Eternal Strands is a new action RPG from a relatively new studio, Yellow Brick Games. The game wears its influences on its sleeve, from the giant boss battles reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus to the stamina bar and ability to climb anything like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

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Eternal Strands borrows from the best, but does it have anything of its own to add to the conversation? Centered on a band of travelers trying to make it in a magically ruined world, players assume the role of Brynn who scouts out locations to help rebuild her caravan of travelers one rock at a time, almost literally. It can be a challenging go at first glance, so here are some beginner tips to make the early hours of Eternal Strands easier.

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Playing With Difficulty

What Kind Of Experience Do You Want

Unsurprising for most modern games, Eternal Strands has difficulty options. The game is not overall brutally difficult, but it can be painstakingly slow on anything higher than Easy. Also, the type of experience players want will be reflected in the challenge rating, mostly through combat.

If players want to experience Eternal Strands like a true survival game where anything from a wolf to a soldier could kill them, crank that difficulty up. For everyone else, Easy may be a more balanced experience, which feels odd to say when typically “Medium” is the most balanced experience. Players may also want to turn off the helmet option in the menu if they care about seeing Brynn’s face at all times.

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Follow The Story Until Dredger’s Mire

Unlock More To Fret Less

To make the game feel less plodding, players may want to stick to the story until they get to Dredger’s Mire. It’s the second area in the game, which is also when things get interesting from multiple angles. Also, going through the entire first area will unlock a lot of useful mechanics like a fast travel system in Eternal Strands.

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Unfortunately, players can’t simply open up the map and warp around. Fast travel is tied to Gates, but it’s better than nothing at all. It shouldn’t take too long to reach Dredger’s Mire, as the opening couple of hours are basically just a bunch of fetch quests—or more like observation quest—which can add to the tedium before fast travel opens up.

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How To Level Up

Gathering Materials To Upgrade The Caravan

Eternal Strands is more of an action-adventure game akin to The Legend of Zelda than a traditional action RPG. That’s because all leveling up will be done through gear progression and upgrading the camp. Players won’t fight monsters, gain EXP, and then level up stats as they would in something like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Instead, they will gather materials dropped from monsters, looted from chests, or from smashing objects in the world. Inventory space is very limited, so players can’t just pick up everything like in Minecraft. These materials can be used to craft gear at the home base, but more importantly, they can be used to upgrade the camp overall. Upgrading Casmyn, for example, will unlock more inventory space in Eternal Strands, and that’s the first upgrade players should go for.

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Wear Headphones

Pay Attention To Your Caravan Crew

Typically, the tip for wearing headphones in a game is reserved for horror experiences. Wearing headphones in something like Silent Hill 2’s 2024 remake can enhance the experience and also alert players when something dangerous is drawing near. Players don’t have to worry about anything sneaking up on them in Eternal Strands, but headphones will make it easier for them to hear their comrades.

Brynn’s crew will chime in if they have something relevant to say about the current quest. The game’s quest markers aren’t the best in the world, nor are the text prompts. That’s why listening to comrades can help guide players to their destinations quicker without having to resort to looking up video guides every two seconds.

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Gear Progression

Learn When To Use The Best Materials

Players won’t have a cascade of gear just waiting to be crafted once enough materials are found. Instead, they have to search for recipes themselves in the world. It’s a weird system overall, from the crafting to the map marking to the leveling up, but Eternal Strands is not without its charm. It just takes time to get into the flow of it all, so players need to be patient.

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When players do find a recipe in the world and craft it, they are going to feel that change. For example, players will start with a sword and shield combo, and then they’ll get a bow. Players will eventually find schematics to craft a Mundane Two-Hander right around when they are on their way to Dredger’s Mire. This will significantly increase Brynn’s attack power, and even though it is a slower weapon, as most two-handed weapons are in games, the Mundane Two-Hander is well worth crafting and equipping if only to deal with multiple monsters at once.

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Use The Physics Advantage

Or Avoid Enemies

Players will unlock spells in Eternal Strands, and two of the most useful ones will be given to them straight away. Players can use telepathy like a Jedi, manipulating The Force to pick up enemies or objects. It will void the rewards for defeating them, but difficult enemies can always be chucked off cliffs. The only thing missing from these moments is the Wilhelm Scream.

The other useful spell will freeze enemies in place or build a wall around them. The physics system in Eternal Strands is wild, and toying with it is half the fun. Seeing a wolf run around with a giant football field’s worth of ice trailing behind it never gets old. Of course, since monsters only drop materials and not EXP, it’s also okay to run away from them. Eventually, players will need to find monsters for rarer crafting materials, but for the opening hours, it doesn’t really matter. Smash some objects instead.

Systems

Released

January 28, 2025

Developer(s)

Yellow Brick Games

Publisher(s)

Yellow Brick Games