via: Unsplash / Kyle Smith
Have you heard about Idle Heroes?When you're looking to while away your idle hours, you've got a lot of options. You could, for instance, stare off into oblivion and contemplate the silent emptiness of life. Or, you could actually enjoy yourself and play Idle Heroes.
A magical, richly realized, intricate game, Idle Heroes will make you anything but idle while you're playing. It turns out, building up a ragtag team of champions that can take on extensive campaigns, guild raids, and player versus player (PVP) arena battles, takes a lot of fun work, creativity, and time.
One of the great things about Idle Heroes is that it becomes more engrossing and your options become more expansive the more you play it. So, to really get the most from your heroes and your time, you need to know what this game really is and how to master its gameplay.
What is Idle Heroes
Idle Heroes is a mobile game available for Android and iPhone. It's a spin on idle games with RPG elements that involves some teaming up, some PVP fighting, and lots of campaigning.
But what makes Idle Heroes stand out? There are tons of games you could play on your phone in your free time, what has made this game such an international sensation?
Unlike a lot games out there, Idle Heroes doesn't focus so much on your ability to battle it out with bosses. Most of the battling takes cares of itself.
Additionally, a lot of your progress occurs while you aren't even on the game. For eight hours after you logoff, your heroes will keep making progress, making it easier to reach that elite level.
So, Idle Heroes really recommends itself to those who absolutely despise the leveling up side of RPG gameplay. If you can't stand fighting the same battles a million times just to level up a couple more times, Idle Heroes isn't going to make you waste your time.
Instead, Idle Heroes puts you in the place of a hero team manager.
Your main tasks will be based on finding the right heroes, getting them to the right levels, spending your gold and gems carefully, and choosing the right ways to make your progress.
Once you start a campaign, you can largely sit back like a proud parent and watch your heroes make their way through battle after battle. You can admire the great armor you've purchased them or the new hero you've introduced to their team.
Another way Idle Heroes is distinct is how complex it is. Unlike a lot of mobile games that come up with a basic premise and try to just tweak the dynamics, Idle Heroes throws a lot of things at you, even at the beginning.
You've got campaigns, guilds, raids, a marketplace, dungeons, a Summon Circle, a Prophet Tree, an Arena, a Tavern, and more. You've also go items, gold, gems, spirit, heroes, auras, casinos, events, equipment, and much, much more to master.
The more you progress in the game, the more of these items and options become available. It can feel a little daunting at first, but all of these possibilities keep Idle Heroes remaining fresh and new whether you're playing your first hour or your thousandth.
How to Play Idle Heroes: 8 Steps
Okay, you're sold. You're ready to enjoy the heroic journey and heroic deeds available in Idle Heroes. You like the idle battle style, you want to become the top hero among your friends and opponents.
...Now what?
Like we mentioned above, Idle Heroes is wonderful because it has so much to offer, but it's also somewhat intimidatingly complex. To really get into the game, you need to know how to really play it.
That's why we've offered you eight straightforward steps so that you can get a handle on your heroes from the first moment you open the game until you're a true Idle Heroes master.
Step 1: Set Up an Account
A lot of us have a knee-jerk preference to avoid accounts. With so little anonymity left on the internet, it can seem preferable to avoid putting our email address down for another company.
When it comes to Idle Heroes, though, you're going to want to stifle this impulse. Setting up an account with the game has a lot of benefits. The first, and most obvious, is that it ensures you don't lose your progress.
While the game can save your progress on your phone, if you lose your phone or your phone loses its memory, you're out of luck if you aren't using your account.
Really excited to get that 8-star hero on your team? Too bad, an error on your phone erased your game and started you over at Day 1.
An account also allows you to play on different phones if you want to.
Idle Heroes does more than that to attract you to registering, though. It also offers you some nice goodies upfront. As we'll see directly below, you need to build up your wealth to really make progress in the game, and you'll get gems just for signing up on your first day.
Even more important, though, you get a 5-star hero when you register. That is the real game changer here.
Step 2: Focus on Building Your Wealth
A lot of Idle Heroes is actually about good money management skills.
Don't worry, the game isn't nearly as boring as that sentence makes it sound. When you play Idle Heroes, you'll see right away that you're going to be trucking around a lot of gold and gems.
Items can cost millions, and while you're making a lot of money really quickly, it's easy to overspend on the wrong things early, which will set you back.
This is part of where the complexity of the game comes in. Your first trip to the marketplace will throw a lot of items at you, and it can be difficult to judge what you should buy.
Should you lay out a lot of cash for a 3-star hero? Do you want casino chips? At what price? Should you plump down for spirit or scrolls?
There are different strategies to these purchases. The main point as a new player is to be aware of how much you're buying and what you're buying. Until you really get a feel for what you feel works best for your game, focus on building up some wealth and avoiding major purchases.
You can build your wealth by finding all the different ways the game will deliver you gems for nothing. You can get them by starting some gem mines, going on campaigns, doing daily quests, going to the tavern (when it becomes available), and just by watching a few ads.
Step 3: Decide If You Want to Spend Real Money
Right upfront, you ought to do a little real-world money management as well. The easiest path ahead in Idle Heroes is by paying your way forward.
Idle Heroes really puts a basic choice before you right from the start: money or time and effort. If you put a little real cash down, you'll get far more gems and other great items that can make it far easier to make a quick start to the game.
If you aren't looking to spend a few frustrated hours or some stopping and starting in the early stages, you can clear a way with your credit card.
However, be warned, it's easy to spend a lot in this game, particularly if you lack good impulse control. Tired of failing with a big campaign fight? There's a way to make it through...for the right price.
If you're going to spend money, spend it on monthly cards. These have the best gem-for-dollars value in the game, and while they can still take a bit of time to be fully effective, you'll get far more out of them than other purchase.
If you don't want to spend a cent, don't worry. You can be just as successful in your gameplay, but it will take more time and work than the other way.
Step 4: Get a Team of Natural 5-Star Heroes Right Away
Whether you're putting your own money in the game or not, the first real strategy you need to employ (beyond just getting your gems and gold sorted) is to build a complete team of natural 5-star heroes.
5-star heroes are almost universally far superior to any 4-star heroes (and certainly those lower than 4-star) that you can bring into your team. Once you have a full team of 5-star heroes, you can make far more progress in the game.
But how do you get these heroes? Well, the first one we already know we can get just by registering. Others can be attained in various ways. Some can be purchased in the marketplace. Others come through different summons or prophet orbs at the Prophet Tree.
You can purchase some heroes with guild coins or shards. You get others through gambling in the casino. Finally, some 5-star heroes come at natural points in your campaign and in the Tower of Oblivion.
In other words, 5-star heroes are scattered throughout the game and can be picked up through different methods. The more you play, the better you'll feel out which methods work best for you as you progress.
In general, though, the best way to start working towards your 5-star hero team is to get as many arena tickets, casino chips, guild coins, and hero summon scrolls as possible from the very beginning of the game.
Step 5: Make the Most of Your Time Away from the Game
Above, we briefly mentioned that you will continue to make progress even after you logoff Idle Heroes for up to eight hours. Keep that number in mind if you're trying to maximize your success in the game.
Check in as close to every eight hours as possible, and you'll be able to make far more progress far faster without really having to do much of anything at all.
One of the great benefits of Idle Heroes is how you can really get the most from the idle part of the game.
Step 6: Don't Just Run a Battle Once
Now that we're really getting into the gameplay, it's important to relate a cautionary tale.
Many players will assume that battles have foregone conclusions based off of how you've set up your team versus the opponent you're facing. These players will go into a battle, lose, and assume that the game has thus decreed they are unfit for the fight.
These players then go away, tail between legs, sulking, licking their wounds, questioning their worth, and assuming they've got a lot more work to do.
It's true that if a battle is lost, it shows you're reaching the limits of your team's abilities, but it doesn't mean you can't still win.
If you lose a battle, run the battle again. And again. If you run it ten times, there's a decent chance you'll win once, and that's really all you need to get all the benefits of that win. If you lose that tenth time, then is the time to sulk and go back and find ways to improve.
Step 7: Join a Guild and Start Raiding
Some players, unaccustomed to the vastness of a game like Idle Heroes, will end up looping through the same activities over and over. They'll run campaigns. They'll go to the Tower of Oblivion. They'll go to the Marketplace. They'll try a couple events. Then they'll start over.
All of that is very important to the game, but it's leaving a lot of progress on the table for no good reason.
So, when you get your team up and running, even if it isn't as fancy and impressive as you'd like it. Join a guild. Guilds will go on raids together and allow you earn guild coins (that buy armor, heroes, and more) and other items.
The more you contribute to raids and boss fights, the more loot you'll get. But there's no reason not to start out getting the scraps and work up from there.
Be sure, though, that your guild is active. If the guild you join barely ever bother to raid, you're still not getting the most from the game.
Step 8: Use Our Idle Heroes guide
At this point, it ought to be very clear that Idle Heroes is a pretty complicated game. This article is really just the tip of the iceberg. To really get all the advice you need to master the game, you need to use our Idle Heroes guide.
Our guide can help you understand the items, quests, heroes, and strategies that you need to place yourself amongst the best players of the game.
Pro Tip: Know Who the Idle Heroes' Best Heroes Are
Before we finish here, we need to talk about perhaps the most important aspect of the game: choosing the Idle Heroes best heroes.
As you might have guessed by now, choosing the best heroes is by no means an easy thing to achieve. There are some basics, like working towards the best Shadow Heroes (like Blood Blade and Walter) or the best Forest Heroes (Rosa), but this is only the beginning of what the game expects from you.
Your team works best when you bring the best heroes together in the best configurations. Organize your team into assassins, mages, priests, or other categories to get the most of your heroes, no matter who they are.
More Awesome Game Options
Idle Heroes is a great game, but that doesn't mean you don't want a few more options for games to switch to. No worries there. We've got introductions to all the best games out there, including:
- Learn all about there is no game, one of the most imaginative games ever created.
- Check out egg inc to take your idle gaming to the farm.
- Continue to get your magical gameplay fix with EverWing.
Conclusion
For some of us, Idle Heroes represents the most fun part of RPG gameplay, which is preparing for the big battles. Getting your strategy right, building the right team, and taking advantage of every quest can make a game exciting, engaging, and challenging without ever having to require you lift a sword.
With Idle Heroes, you get the best aspects of idle gameplay while still enjoying the magical and the challenge of a mobile RPG.
Once you get the hang of this game, you won't want to put it down, even when the game is taking care of itself.
