The Best Ways To Upgrade Your Characters In Eternal Strands

Eternal Strands is unlike most modern RPGs out there today. It’s more like The Legend of Zelda in its depiction of the action-adventure genre, because players won’t level up traditionally through defeating monsters and gaining experience by grinding. There are ways to improve the hero, Brynn, though, so the game is not without an upgrade path to become stronger.

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Eternal Strands a bit slow to start, but once players understand the inner workings of the game, then they can properly move forward. Let’s review all the upgrade paths, what players should focus on first, and how to best equip Brynn with the right gear in Eternal Strands.

Weapons

Attack Enemies From All Angles

Players will begin the game with a sword and a shield combo which, again, adds to the Zelda factor even more, as these weapons are Link’s favorites. Eventually, players will also get a bow, which won’t do a lot of damage, but it will be helpful when attacking from a distance if need be. The bow is particularly useful against the game’s second boss, Ark of the Stricken Earth, which is a colossal automaton that players have to break armor off of before they can damage its exposed skin. Climbing and injuring it is harder than tackling the colossi in Shadow of the Colossus, but it’s easier to hit Ark of the Stricken Earth with a bow. Bow and boss advice aside, that will be it for the first hour or two of Eternal Strands.

Once players are on their way to the next area, Dredger’s Mire, they will find a recipe for the first big weapon upgrade, the Mundane Two-Hander. Players should craft it immediately. It will increase Brynn’s attack power significantly, as the blade’s sweep is wide enough that it can damage multiple foes at once. It’s kind of like the reach the Buster Sword gives Cloud in Final Fantasy 7. Players can craft weapons, or even reforge weapons by acquiring recipes and then using random materials. They don’t need a specific materials list either, just certain material types. For example, if a weapon needs ore, players can use iron or other minerals, and the materials used will dictate the weapon’s stats. Gaining more weapons, or reforging weapons, is a good way to stay on top of Brynn’s offensive game.

Armor

Take More Hits While Looking Stylish

Besides weapons, Brynn can of course equip herself with armor, from her torso to her legs. Like weapons, armor does not need a specific list of materials to craft. However, what materials are used will affect the resulting armor beyond stats. For example, using a specific thread can turn the starting body armor from red to green. If players like to customize their heroes in RPGs with certain colors, they should be mindful of the materials they use.

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It might not be a bad idea to manually save while back at the home base as well. That way, if players mess up while forging a new piece of armor or a weapon, they can reload their save and try again. Getting the best armor goes beyond improving defensive stats though. There are a lot of elemental beasties out in the world, from wolves that can freeze the land to bees that can burn Brynn to ashes. That’s why elemental resistances should be taken into consideration while forging armor, and it’s not a bad idea to make multiples of the same armor depending on what area players are exploring.

Spells

Become The Ultimate Jedi Mage

Beyond weapons and armor, Brynn can use magic in Eternal Strands, called Strands, funny enough. Her starting spells include Ice Wall, which can form ice around enemies, and with Weaver’s Grasp, which is sort of like a telekinetic Jedi ability. Both can vastly improve Brynn’s combat capabilities if players know how to use them well. For example, using Ice Wall to freeze or trap enemies will leave them open to attack. Using Weaver’s Grasp to toss enemies off of cliffs is an easy way to deal with them, too.

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Eternal Strands is practically a physics-based playground, which was seemingly the devs’ goal when creating the magic system. Beyond using these spells correctly in battle, they can also be upgraded back at camp. Unlike weapons and armor, though, getting the right materials for improving Strands won’t come easily. Most upgrade items will come during or after story quests, so players have to be patient when upgrading their magic.

The Caravan

From Increasing Inventory To Boosting Allies

There is an NPC back at camp named Casmyn who takes care of materials after players return from an exploration mission. Players can leave materials in her care or donate them to the camp as a whole. This converts materials into resources that can be used to upgrade one of the four main NPCs. First, giving Casmyn resources will open up Brynn’s locked inventory slots in Eternal Strands, meaning that players can bring more materials home when they’re adventuring. The starting allotment is abysmal, so Casmyn deserves the first resource boost.

Sola is the weapon and armor smith, and upgrading her station will allow players to craft higher levels of gear. They’ll still need recipes, so it’s not too important to give Sola any resource upgrades right away. The same goes for Dahm, who weaves magic and boosts the power of Strands. Finally, Laen is the camp’s lore keeper and will also give Brynn elemental protective potions for each mission to help them guard against ice and fire. While not all NPC upgrades are needed right away, they are necessary eventually to make Brynn the best that she can be.

Systems

Released

January 28, 2025

Developer(s)

Yellow Brick Games

Publisher(s)

Yellow Brick Games

Engine

Unreal Engine 5