What This Page Is For
The main Hard Guide teaches how to survive the mode. This strategy tab is narrower and denser: it is about building the correct charm combinations and special potentials once you already understand the run loop.
The source tab is matrix-heavy, so this page keeps the principles that are easiest to lose inside spreadsheet formatting.
Special Potential Basics
The core concept in the source sheet is that Hunt rewards and ancient artifact pieces can be combined to create a desired special potential.
Key points preserved from the published tab:
- your opening manual influences which gear type appears first
- later Hunt reward choices influence the passive and substat you end up building toward
- some outcomes are not guaranteed
- a few special reward choices override the normal logic and force specific outcomes
The tab also stresses that each gear piece carries its own stat identity, so even before the passive text matters, the piece type already biases the result.
Hunt Reward Selection
The sheet’s most important warning is that Hunt reward selection is not random noise. If you pick the wrong branch, you can drift away from the passive you actually wanted.
High-level interpretation from the source:
- choose toward ATK-scaling routes for damage dealers
- choose toward HP/DEF-scaling routes for tanks and supports
- pay close attention to the pieces that guarantee specific outputs, especially when the sheet explicitly labels them as exceptions
The English strategy tab repeatedly calls out that selecting Totem, Gauntlet, or Guard-style reward branches can guarantee fixed special outcomes regardless of other Hunt reward paths.
Role-Based Talisman Logic
The basic Hard Guide already says:
- use 1 or 3 style talismans for DPS
- use 2 for tanks and supports
This strategy tab goes further by mapping equipment-piece choices to passive identities. You do not need the whole grid memorized on day one, but you do need the rule:
- Strikers want aggressive ATK or speed-oriented routes
- tank and support paths lean into HP, defense, resistance, or recovery triggers
- speed-based passives gain value when the character’s entire kit benefits from acting first or more often
How To Use This Reference
Use this page after three things are already true:
- You can consistently enter Hard Journey with a viable roster.
- You understand which character is carrying the run.
- You know whether that unit needs damage, survivability, or turn-cycling more.
At that point, the dense matrix from the original sheet becomes useful. Before then, the high-level routing from the Journey: Hard Guide matters much more than perfect charm algebra.
