Puzzle & Dragons on iOS: A getting started guide

GungHo's Puzzle & Dragons originally launched back in February of 2012 in Japan, and eventually came to the US in November of last year. Now that we've all had a chance to get thoroughly addicted to this cross between Pokemon and Bejeweled, we're here with a set of tips and tricks to get you started on your road to monster-fueled domination. Many of these tips come straight from the developer, but we've added our own ideas to really boost your game as you go along. Let's get started!

Getting Started

Monster Stats

Each monster comes with a variety of stats, starting with its "Monster Type." Healers, for instance, are best for healing your party, while attackers are best for going to war against your many opponents. Each monster has a variety of other stats as well, all presented on its Monster Card. Here's a full breakdown of each.

HP: How much HP this monster contributes to your team's total HP

ATK: When 3 Orbs of this Monster's Attribute are lined up, this is the base damage the Monster will deliver. The monster's attribute is indicated by the colored Orb icon in the top left corner of its portrait.

RCV: The monster's contribution to your Team's healing potential. When combined with the RCV of your other team monsters, this will add up to the base amount of healing done with you match three healing Heart Orbs.

SKL: This is the skill you use by tapping the Monster's portrait in battle as soon as it's activated. The "Lv.1" refers to the ability's potency (which can be increased through Power up Fusion), and the "Turn: 10" indicates how soon the ability can be used. In this case, you must take at least 10 turns before you can use this SKL.

Leader Skill: This is a passive ability that is always active if the chosen Monster is in your Leader slot. You can also take advantage of your Friends' Leader Skills if you choose for them to accompany you into a dungeon. These may give a certain attribute more power, or may help you gain more HP each time you heal.

Tips & Tricks

Earning New Monsters
--Find a monster egg in a dungeon. When you kill a monster, they may drop an egg that will allow you to add them to your party after you complete the dungeon. If you kill an evolved monster, they will drop a pre-evolution version. In very rare cases, you can even obtain boss monsters after defeating them!

--Get a random egg from the Egg Machine. Pal Eggs can be obtained using Pal Points, which are earned on a daily basis or when helping friends in their own games (this option occurs passively). Rare Eggs require 5 Magic Stones, which can be won by completing dungeons or will be received for free from the developer. You can also give presents to friends - just once, and by using the Premium Egg Machine.

Heads up! You can't trade monsters among friends, and you can't purchase monsters outright, so make sure you really want to get rid of that extra rare monster before you sell it or use it to evolve another creature!

Getting Un-Stuck in Dungeons

--If you feel like you're stuck in a particular dungeon and can't beat its enemies, your first task should be to look at your party members. If you don't have the right monsters, you can replay previously cleared dungeons to earn additional monsters that can then be used to evolve or at least level up your current roster.

--Don't feel like you have to stick with the same monsters in your party just because they have high levels. While a beginner monster at Level 11 may seem pretty strong, you will likely come across monsters at Level 1 or 2 that have slightly less points than your current Level 11 monster, that can easily be upgraded to be much better in the long run. Remember, the level of your monster doesn't matter so much as its Attack power does.

--If all else fails, try bringing in a very strong monster when choosing from the list of friends at the beginning of each dungeon. Their boosted HP can be the difference between life or death in some cases. And if you find a stranger that has a particularly strong monster, make sure you add them as a friend after the battle!

Expand Your Monster Storage Box

--At the beginning of the game, you'll have a very small amount of storage for monsters. Since evolving monsters requires specific formulas of various colors and types of monsters, you may sometimes fill your Monster Box while waiting to evolve your team members. You won't be able to claim any additional monsters from dungeons without selling others first, but you can also spend Magic Stones to expand the your Storage Box, allowing you to store more individual monsters before this becomes a problem. Since you earn free Magic Stones at the end of each overall dungeon, these expansions are well worth the investment.

Know Your Monster's Strengths and Weaknesses

--Monsters have the following strengths:

Water > Fire (Water is strong over Fire)
Fire > Tree
Tree > Water
Dark > Light
Light > Dark

Even with all of the tips we can give you, the best way to learn about to master Puzzle & Dragons is to simply dive into the game and explore for yourself. We wish you the best of luck in mastering the game!

Download Puzzle & Dragons for free on iOS >

Do you have any tips for Puzzle & Dragons that you'd like to share with your fellow players? Make sure to leave them in the comments below!