Digimon Story: Time Stranger is all about taming monsters, using them for battles, and progressing through the vast open world, accompanied by a rich, deep narrative. To master the core gameplay and features, you need to know about a few things before you start. Here are 10 beginner tips to master Digimon Story: Time Stranger quickly.
1. Pick Patamon as the Starter Digimon
For starters, you should be picking Patamon as your partner Digimon when you’re beginning your Digimon Story: Time Stranger journey. You can pick whoever you prefer, but Patamon has a couple of reasons to be chosen, more so than the others. First, Tokomon is Patamon’s De-Digivolution, and early iconic Digimon like Terriormon, Armadillomon, Coronamon, and more are tied to it.
Secondly, you can stumble across DemiDevimon and Gomamon early on, of which Patamon reigns supreme as the best starter Digimon. Thirdly, Patamon has access to DNA and Armor Digivolutions since it’s a Data Digimon. This is specifically for players who want to get the most out of their starter Digimon, so if you’re not one of them, pick anyone you want.
2. Convert and Digivolve When Hitting 200% Scan Rate
As soon as you hit 200% Scan Rate for a Digimon, Convert them to increase that specific Digimon’s max HP and Talent in Digimon Story: Time Stranger. Waiting after having a Scan Rate of 200% will only lead to waste of resources, so as soon as you hit this number, it’s time to Convert them and raise their attributes. You’ll be able to achieve a 200% Scan Rate for a Digimon after around three or four battles.
The next thing you need to do is Digivolve your Digimon as much as you can. Be on the lookout for which Digimon can be Digivolved to avoid wasting XP when you can build them up instead. So, what you need to do is Convert lower-stage Digimon, then Digivolve them as much as you can to make them stronger.
3. Talent and Bond are Important
Talent and Bond are two of the most important stats in Digimon Story: Time Stranger that you need to keep in mind, particularly. Talent will be increased by Digivolving and De-Digivolving your Digimon, since it will increase their max HP and the more bonus stats that will be passed down to the other Digimon.
On the other hand, Bond is increased by using your Digimon effectively in battles, feeding them in the DigiFarm and loading them. You can also increase the Bond stat by Digivolution, which will not only increase the Bond level but also Talent as well to make them a stronger Digimon overall in Digimon Story: Time Stranger
4. Complete Side Quests
Side quests in Digimon Story: Time Stranger are just as important as the main quests, and beginners should focus on both equally to get everything that the game has to offer. Battle mechanics, new features, and Agent Skills can all be unlocked from side quests, so make sure to complete all of them before you jump into the main quests.
Another thing worth remembering is that some main quests will lock you out of certain side quests, so it’s important to clean up the side quests before you progress to the main campaign. They’re easy and fun to complete, and they are crucial to unlocking features in the long run.
5. Agent Skills & Cross Arts Offer More Perks
One of the core things about doing side quests is unlocking Agent Skills and Cross Arts in Digimon Story: Time Stranger. Agent Skills offer more bonuses in battles, allowing you to enhance your Digimon when facing tough bosses and more. Agent Skills have different skill trees, which also let you Digivolve your Digimon way quicker and earlier, and remember, you need to be Digivolving them whenever you get the chance.
Cross Arts are also incredibly important to unlock. They make main quests, side quests, and boss battles easier to deal with by offering boosts to you and your Digimon. To unlock more Cross Arts, you need to focus on your Agent Skills and every skill tree within, so these two go hand in hand.
6. Exploit the Enemy Respawn Feature
When you leave and reload an area in Digimon Story: Time Stranger, the enemies respawn completely, meaning you have to defeat them once again. While this can be seen as a chore, it can also open up ways to increase the Scan Rate for Digimon to 200%. You can use this enemy respawn feature to scan your preferred Digimon and get them for yourself by repeating the fights and scanning them.
Once you scan them enough and the Scan Rate reaches 200%, you can get the Digimon for yourself and Digivolve them to something better. This ties back to one of the first tips in this guide, which is to Digivolve your Digimon as much as possible, so enemies respawning isn’t a bad thing in Digimon Story: Time Stranger at all.
7. Load Enhancement Amplifies XP and Stat Gains
The Load Enhancement feature in Digimon Story: Time Stranger can give a significant boost to the XP and stats your Digimon gains. What the Load Enhancement feature does is use other Digimon to boost a singular Digimon of your choice, specifically the one that’s your main partner. The amount of XP you’ll get is based on the level of the loaded Digimon.
Convert your Digimon when you hit 200% Scan Rate, then load them and use the Load Enhancement feature to dump them into a single Digimon of your choice. This not only increases the XP and stat gains, but you can also Digivolve the Digimon further to get more levels on your main Digimon.
8. Favorite Digimon & Digivolution History: QoL Improvements for Protection
There is a new feature in Digimon Story: Time Strangers, which allows you to favorite your Digimon to protect them from accidental loading in the Load Enhancement feature. During loading other Digimon, you can accidentally load a preferred Digimon without noticing, since the UI is a bit clustered. This helps those Digimon you need stand out from the ones you want to load, saving them from loading.
Digivolution History Chart, on the other hand, shows you the Digimon you’ve Digivolved previously, which provides a glimpse into the past and tells you which Digimon went through a Digivolution and which ones haven’t, so you can make an informed decision about the Digimon you want to Digivolve next in Digimon Story: Time Stranger.
9. Pick up Every Item You Find
This is a pretty basic tip that most players are most likely already doing, but pick up every item you find in the open world of Digimon Story: Time Stranger. As you progress through the game, you’ll find a plethora of items on the grounds, from HP Capsules to Fragments, that will help you save your in-game currency later on.
Locations like Shinjuku Back Alley are prone to multiple items just lying on the ground, waiting for you to pick them up. It will be very rewarding in the long run, and you’ll get valuable items free of cost. Explore the world of Digimon Story: Time Stranger at your own pace, but don’t forget to pick up what’s on the ground.
10. No Shame in Retrying Fights in Invincible Mode
If you’re playing Digimon Story: Time Stranger on the lowest difficulty setting and have lost a boss fight, you’ll be offered to retry the same fight in Invincible Mode, which negates all damage dealt by the bosses as well as recovers your HP and SP fully. While this can be pretty cheesy, there’s no shame in using this mode to get some extra XP early on.
Remember, you can only retry the fight in Invincible Mode if you lost the battle on the lowest difficulty setting, and the mode will only apply to that specific fight, meaning it won’t be carried over to the fights you do next. Use it as a means to get extra XP early on Digimon Story: Time Stranger easily.
How are you enjoying Digimon Story: Time Stranger so far? Let us know your thoughts and experience with the RPG in the comment section below.
