Welcome to my guide on early gameplay information. Here I'll be explaining a few facets of the game that, as of writing, are either not explained or may not be obvious. Either way, I hope I can convey some useful information to newer players. A special thank you to Jen for her assistance both directly on the official discord and indirectly through the Nordic Ashes Wiki[nordicashes.fandom.com], as well as everyone else on the official discord server.

I will try to update this guide with more information if details change with updates, but I make no guarantee. I recommend checking out the "Quick Guide" for some other generic tips

I also highly recommend using a controller. WASD is fine, but precision movement and being able to sit back will make this game more enjoyable. There is a point-to-move option but it needs refining in my personal opinion.

Now without further ado,

In this section I will focus on explaining the many drops of this game. When destroyed, enemies will drop experience orbs, and crates will drop gold, potions, and artifacts.

Experience

Here we have the various types of experiences orbs you'll see, put in order of exp earned.

Orange is the default, earned from most normal enemies. Green is gained when you lose green health. Blue is earned very rarely from normal enemies. Purple is a larger and more noticeable orb gained when you defeat Elites. Red is gathered as you defeat a mini-boss at the end of a wave, and is gained automatically, so you likely will not see it. If I find out the exact values of the exp orbs, I shall add them later.

Gold

Here we have the typical gold drops. From left to right, the values are: 1, 5, and 10 gold.






This is a special gold drop, earned after raising your friendship with Gnoki to a certain level. They will drop a deuce every time you see them. This is worth 5 gold.

There are other ways to earn gold, but these can only be done with unlockable character artifacts or other relics that you'll unlock over time. There are also two upgrades in the Yggdrasil that will affect starting gold, as well as the chance to add 1 to each gold pickup.

Potions

Here we'll be looking at the different types of potions you'll encounter.






Here begins the first batch of potions. Red. The small potion will restore half a heart containers, the normal red potion will restore a full one, and the super red potion will refill all empty heart containers. As of this writing the super red potion seems to be only obtainable via purchase at Gnoki's shop, or may otherwise be an incredibly rare crate drop.





Next up are the blue potions, which grants a blue heart separate from your usual heart containers. . Respectively, the small blue potion will grant half a blue heart, and the standard will grant a full blue heart. Blue hearts are lost completely when they disappear, and you must gain new ones separately.





Now as previously mentioned, these green heart potions will give you a special green experience orb as they deplete. The small one gives half a green heart, and the bigger potion gives a full one. Green hearts are also like blue hearts and cannot be regenerated.





There is also a special golden potion, exclusive to a specific character's relics. The ability replaces all potions that drop from crates with golden potions. These potions do not heal, but are worth 1 and 3 gold respectively.

Below is what the three different heart types look like while active. Damage will deplete hearts from right to left.

Other Artifacts

There are also some other special artifacts that can be bought from Gnoki, or found from crates. In no particular order:





The repulsion charm. Using this will knock back all standard enemies off the visible part of the screen, and will move elites and bosses a noticeable distance away. No damage is done, but it will grant you some breathing room.





The fire pendant. Using it will shoot fireballs in all directions, which of course does sizable damage as well as burn damage. The exact damage and effects are based on your current stats and relics.





The red heart charm. Using this will instantly fill a single empty heart container. If your health is full, this will do nothing but still use the artifact.





The blue heart charm. Using this will instantly grant a full blue heart.





The heart ring. Using this will attract all red potions across the entire map. Useful in a pinch! But using it while your red health is full will simply clear all red potions from the map.





The gold ring. As you might expect, this attracts all gold and gold potions from across the entire map. Any gold/gold potions absorbed that would exceed your gold cap (99 by default) will also be cleared. Very useful right near the end of a wave if there's a lot of gold you have not collected, as the map is cleared of drops once you head to Gnoki's shop.





The attraction ring. A fan favourite, this ring gathers all exp orbs still on the map. Used well, you can pick up all missed exp orbs, and gain multiple levels at a time. Especially useful near the end of waves.





Status cards. Each card affects every enemy present on screen, applying a 75% chance of inflicting the corresponding ailment. These status ailments can be empowered by any relevant relics you currently have.

Coming Soon

Coming Soon

Coming Soon