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GrimGrimoire OnceMore can be a pretty tricky game. If you enter into a battle haphazardly, you may find that this is a game that is more than capable of trampling you. Even on the normal difficulty, this is a game that isn't afraid to push back. However, as tough as the game may be, you are given all the tools you need to reign victorious.

Related: GrimGrimoire OnceMore: First Cycle Walkthrough

Allow us to point you in the direction of all that good stuff that will provide you with an early advantage. We'll show you how to increase your awareness, improve your flexibility, and show you how to counter dangerous opponents.

Chase Those Coins

GrimGrimoire OnceMore, Showing a Trial Stage worth three coins

You first get the ability to rank up in the second cycle. Once you do, coins will be your primary target. Especially in the early game, you aren't going to have a ton of flexibility. Without coins, you can't buy skills, and if you can't buy skills then your troops are often going to feel incomplete. So, every coin counts in the first half of the game. That means that you should always pursue the bonus missions. You are also going to want to jump on those trial stages as well. The first handful are pretty quick and easy, so these are a valuable source of coins early on.

As you complete more trial stages, finish missions, and move through the story, you will quickly acquire enough coins that you won't necessarily need to worry about completing those trials as much. However, for the first two cycles or so, you are going to want to get every last coin that is on offer.

You are able to refund skills, and move your investments around freely. This is a great way to get more out of your coins. If you are completing a stage with the mission requirement that you not use any Necromancy units, that is a great opportunity to refund every skill in the Necromancy Skill Tree section. You can then use those coins to buff up the troops you will be using.

Skill Tree Experimentation

GrimGrimoire OnceMore, Charon getting all the good powerups

You've surely heard of paralysis by analysis, right? Well, with GrimGrimoire OnceMore, it is more like acceleration by lack of contemplation (okay, that needs a little workshopping). The way the skill tree works here allows you to completely sidestep this issue and just pick whatever you think looks good. This is the lowest commitment skill tree we have ever seen in a game.

If you decide that you chose the wrong skill, you can refund it and immediately reinvest. This includes at the beginning of a battle. So don't sweat it, partner. Play around with stuff. If it doesn't work out, refund and readjust. Keep in mind that at the beginning of the stage, you will be told what unit types you will be fighting against. So, use this information to adjust your skill point allotments.

Work Grand Magic Into Your Gameplan

GrimGrimoire OnceMore, Lillet is casting a Grand Magic spell

Grand Magic is huge. You gain access to it during the second cycle, and from that point onward it is a huge part of the game. You may use Grand Magic exactly once per match (unless you are playing on easy, at which point you can invest in the Grand Magic skill which is located in the Hell Gate tree, which will allow you to cast more spells). Of the four spells you have access to, we would recommend ignoring the "Resurrection" spell, as Elves and Pillars are more than capable of being your healers. The "Sands of Time" spell is GrimGrimopire's rewind mechanic. It can be a pretty interesting choice, as it allows you to undo your mistakes. This will be the only Grand Magic spell you can use in the trial stages.

However, more than anything, we think "Mana Burst", which is a giant AOE attack, or "Mana Synthesis" are the best spells of the bunch. Mana Burst will buy you time. Especially if you get swarmed early by tougher units, as it will clear them out, allowing you to invest more of your initial mana in pumping up your troops. However, Mana Synthesis is will allow you to build a better army faster, and it also increases the amount of troops you will have at your disposal. This is particularly good on certain stages where your unit allotment is smaller.

Universal Skill Tree Skills

GrimGrimoire OnceMore, The must have Familiar Capacity Up Skill

While you are going to want to move skill points around, massage your troop composition, and adjust based on the needs of your opponent's strengths, there are a set of skills that are spread around the different skill tree sections. These skills are absolutely invaluable and are universally applicable. These skills can increase the number of troops you can summon, see how many enemy runes are remaining, as well as give you more mana to begin the match with. There is no reason why you shouldn't have these skills equipped at all times.

Runometer in the Engrave section gives you the ability to know how many runes are remaining, Familiar Capacity Up in the Gehenna section and Acheron section increases your maximum summonable troops by ten, Rune Mana Cost -50 in the Purgatory section makes runes cheaper, and Fairy's Wallet in the Titania section gives you an additional 300 starting Mana. These are all extremely valuable, and you should grab them the first chance you get.

Countering Units

GrimGrimoire OnceMore, The Grimalkin is putting a Dragon to sleep

GrimGrimoire has a number of extraordinarily powerful units. However, the way this game balances these units is by providing a series of hard counters. The first and most obvious of these counters is that of Astral Vs. Substance. Every unit is one or the other. Astral units are completely immune to certain physical attacks, however, there are units, such as the Skullmage that are hyper effective at taking them out.

There are other hard counters spread throughout the bestiary, and some of them allow you to destroy far more expensive enemies with relative ease. The Grimalkin's ability to put enemies to sleep, as an example, is an excellent way to kill powerful individual units. In fact, for that reason alone, you are going to always want to have a Grimalkin on your crew past a certain point in the game. For a detailed breakdown on creatures and their counters, check out our unit counter guide here.

Gathering Mana More Efficiently

GrimGrimoire OnceMore, Slimes gathering Mana

Gathering Mana from crystals is obviously a pretty valuable aspect of GrimGrimoire. However, there is a maximum to the amount you can gather at a time. Any more than six units gathering from the same crystal is a waste. Six units will give you the best mana yield that you are capable of achieving.

Speaking of gathering mana, just keep in mind that while every magic-type has a minion for gathering, Mana is universal. So, you aren't obligated to have different minions mine Mana in order to summon a monster from their type. And for the record, all minions are not created equally. Especially when you are mining separate crystals. Since Ghosts are able to move through platforms freely, we think they are the best pure Mana miners.

The Fog Of War

GrimGrimoire OnceMore, A war between Ghosts while half of the stage is covered in darkness

Like many RTS-style games, you rarely have access to a perfect amount of information. Due to the fog of way, you have limited visibility, so you are never fully aware of what is happening around you. Unless, that is, you make the right investments. One of the very best troops for improving your visibility is Charon. Especially if you have improved his visibility.

However, you can also use turrets to help expand your view. You can also invest in different skills that will help improve your turret's visibility. Using these units wisely will help keep tabs on your opponents. However, even without them, you can get an idea for what is coming by paying close attention. The best example of this is the Dragon, which shakes the stage as it moves. If you see those tremors, get your Grimalkin primed, as a Dragon is on the way.

Some Units Depend On Rune Abilities

GrimGrimoire OnceMore, Fully Upgraded Morning Star

The Fairy is the first unit you unlock in the game. They can fly, they are cheap to summon, and they hit surprisingly hard. However, partway through the game you will find that they are quite simply too fragile... but look closer at their skill tree, and you will see that they can actually become Astrals, which makes them substantially more survivable. For a single coin, the fairy unit will be late-game viable. And their last ability literally doubles their attack power.

Similarly, the Homunculus has a great ability, it can make Astrals hittable by substance-type units. However, their true power comes out once they get the Psychic Storm skill. This extremely powerful attack will sap them of almost all their MP, but it is an AOE attack that can devastate groups of enemies. But you only gain access to this ability through the Skill Tree. Another excellent example is the Morning Star unit, who needs to be upgraded to attack without needing to charge. Identifying which units are dependent on upgrades is a huge part of budgeting you limited coin purse.

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