Quick Links
Soulstone Survivors takes a unique approach as a roguelike by having you fight off waves in an action-RPG style. You go to different maps, defeat hundreds of enemies, and take down five bosses in each area. Since you get different skills in each battle, you'll have to plan around what you get.
Even though the game seems simple since you don't have to activate your skills, it can quickly become complex, even during the first level. That means you'll have to get a feel for the game, understand how to maximize your survival, and unlock more levels to boost your resources.
This game is still in Early Access. You can expect some parts to change or update as the game progresses toward the full release.
Remain On The Move And Circle The Map
Enemies will constantly move toward your location and try to defeat you. If you don't want to get surrounded, you must remain on the move to avoid damage. If you keep moving, enemies will have to follow you, especially the weak grunts who can only hit you in melee range.
You'll want to circle the map with consistent paths, so you'll pick up experience. Otherwise, you may kill some enemies in places and forget about them, making you weaker overall. Circling will also let you look for spots to collect more resources. You'll want to collect as many of them as possible to improve all your characters and make future runs easier.
If you keep moving, enemies can't hit you with standard attacks. Only the attacks that leave red area of effect (AOE) circles can damage you. Keep moving, and you won't take any unnecessary hits during your run.
Movement Speed Is The Most Important Stat
Speaking of moving around the map, movement speed remains the most important stat you can increase. As you play through areas and level up, you'll get to choose your passive bonuses in between active skill choices. You should always choose the movement option whenever it appears. If you have the starting running speed, you'll find it difficult to fight enemies later in the run.
Since stats stack, you can significantly increase your movement to the point where enemies will struggle to catch you. Once you find yourself at a comfortable movement speed, you can prioritize other passive buffs, such as increasing your AOE size or damage output. Generally speaking, you'll want to have yourself at a 150 percent movement speed bonus before you focus on anything else. While the speed boost won't appear every time, watch for it, so you don't miss it.
One of the passive bonuses increases your attack by 20 percent while lowering your movement by 10. Never go for this since it'll make it more challenging to dodge, so you may struggle to survive.
Synergize Your Skills
As you try out characters and see what skills they get, you'll want to synergize them as effectively as possible. Some characters perform well with melee attacks, such as the Barbarian. On the other hand, the mages work well with ranged attacks, so you'll want to maximize that damage and focus on staying away from the opponent.
You should also seek a "get off me" tool as you look at spells. For example, Flame Wave shoots a ring around you that knocks enemies away. Even though such a spell is a close-range move, it works best on a range build. That way, if any enemies get too close, you can use the move to knock them away and keep hitting them with different spells. On the other hand, a knock away move would be wrong for a melee build since it'll knock opponents out of the way of your other attacks.
Synergy also applies to the passive skills you'll get. For example, if you have a build with plenty of poison, you should increase your poison damage when it pops up. The same applies to other status ailments, like doom or burn. You can even gain passives that give each move a chance to inflict burn, poison, or other debuffs. Keep these in mind, see what the game throws at you, and think about what matches your current build.
You can always replace active skills once you have a complete set. Don't be afraid to try something new in your build and replace it later if it doesn't fit. Such experimenting will help you find your ideal build for each character.
Use Your Dodges Sparingly
Even though your dodge has a low cooldown, you'll want to use it sparingly. If you use it too often, you'll find yourself without a dodge during a powerful attack, so hold off on rolling when you can. You should reserve it for repositioning or avoiding AOE attacks. If you want a general rule of thumb, wait until you become surrounded by enemies, and then dodge out of the group to give yourself some space. Doing so will help you avoid melee attacks, so you don't take any damage while you get out of a corner.
AOE moves can sometimes be difficult to dodge. For example, the circles that expand on the ground are straightforward, but the lines track you until the attacks come out. If you see the circle, roll out of the center to avoid damage. It takes a second for the move to come out, so you can quickly react. For the lines, keep moving away from it and wait to dodge until the red area fills up. Doing so will increase your chances of avoiding the attack.
Check Your Stats After A Run
Once you finish a run, you'll see how everything played out with your stats. This includes information about your abilities that dealt the most damage during the run. If you go through those stats, you can see which spells helped you the most while you played. For example, if you notice spells that hit near you work best for your play style, you know to stick with them. Others may prefer summoning pets since that works better for them.
You'll have to experiment with different characters to see which ones help you deal the most damage and survive. Also, remember that abilities designed for survivability won't deal as much damage, but you'll still want them for utility purposes. However, if you notice some damaging spells barely deal any damage, you may want to avoid that ability in the future and save the slot for something more powerful.
Work On The Green Section Of The Skill Tree
You'll notice you have three sections on the game's skill tree: red, blue, and green. Red increases your offense to help you slay enemies, blue increases your defense to improve your survivability, and the green section improves your resource gain and utility. Since resources help you win battles and stand a better chance, you'll want to improve them immediately.
For example, the Green section improves your movement speed, increases your experience gain, gives you more minor soulstones, and many other benefits. Since they offer utility to make grinding, movement, and fighting easier, you'll want to prioritize them. You may want to grab the additional dodge from the red tree, but the green offers the best options overall.
You may struggle with challenges as you go through Soulstone Survivors, but you'll make it easier as you work on your characters and practice. See if you can improve your movement while aiming at the enemies to get better results. As you work hard, keep at it, and follow the tips, you'll tackle all the levels and even make your way through the higher-tier sections to unlock everything.