Reverse 1999 is a turn-based tactical role-playing game developed by Bluepoch, a Chinese studio. The game has a unique setting and plot, where a mysterious storm has caused the world to regress back to the year 1960, from 1999. The game features a card-based battle system, where you can use different characters with special powers called Arcanus. You play as a timekeeper who travels with a group of Arcanites and a magical suitcase that serves as your base.
The game is set to launch in China on May 31st, 2023, and it has been confirmed that there will be a simultaneous worldwide release. However, the exact date for the global Reverse 1999 release date is still unknown. The game has been praised for its graphics, music, and story and has been compared to games like Arknights and Punishing Gray Raven.
If you are interested in this game and want to learn more about it, you have come to the right place. In this beginner guide, we will share with you some tips and tricks on how to play the game effectively and enjoyably. We will cover topics such as how to choose your Arcanus, how to build your deck, how to strategize your battles, how to progress through the story, and more. Whether you are new to the game or already familiar with it, we hope you will find this guide helpful and fun.
Reverse 1999 Gameplay Modes
The heart of Reverse 1999 lies in its captivating story mode, where players get to join an unforgettable journey through the main storyline. The main storyline levels are divided into two modes: the first story difficulty and the difficult disaster difficulty.
Each level in the disaster difficulty presents unique additional conditions, adding depth to the gameplay. The captivating story unfolds on vast maps, allowing players not only to progress through the main levels but also to explore branch plots and hidden gems.
Endless Wasteland
The Endless Wasteland is a captivating home system that gives players the freedom to shape their island map as they, please. Progressing through the main line unlocks new island blocks, providing endless possibilities for customization. Utilize the dedicated task system in the Endless Wasteland, placing islands strategically to fulfil task requirements and earn valuable rewards.
Furthermore, the Endless Wasteland serves as a crafting table. After reaching the main line 2-14, players can upgrade the Wasteland Ancient Hall. The second level upgrade unlocks two essential buildings – the Tooth Bazaar and the Wishing Oasis. The Wishing Oasis, akin to a synthesis platform, allows players to combine insight materials, barren materials, resonance materials, and heart phase materials.
Resource Books
In Reverse 1999, players encounter four general resource books that play a vital role in character development and progression. Clearing the will analysis rewards players with the mental state, and the will analysis can be undertaken multiple times daily. Motes needed for character leveling up drop during the Dust Movement while minting aesthetics yield sharp teeth, which are consumed by various systems.
During the Harvest Season, players can collect materials required to upgrade buildings in the Endless Wasteland. Make the most of these resource books to optimize your character’s growth and strengthen your gameplay.
Insight Books
Reverse 1999 features four kinds of insight books – Rock, star, wood, and beast – each corresponding to tomes of specific attributes. These tomes are essential for characters to upgrade their insight levels. Ensure that you collect the required insight books to unlock your characters’ true potential.
Non-intelligent characters of the four attributes need two books of Rock and stars, while spiritual characters require two books of wood and beast. Harness the power of insight books to empower your characters and elevate their capabilities.
Combat System of Reverse 1999
In this game, the battle process is divided into several steps, each offering a unique gameplay experience. Let’s explore each stage in detail:
- Pre-battle Preparation: A team comprises four characters, with the first three serving as combat characters and the fourth as a backup role. Each character can be equipped with an aura, and players have the choice of selecting a Sichen skill for each character.
- Card Drawing Stage: At the beginning of each round, cards are drawn based on the number of characters in the field. The maximum number of regular cards is seven, and there are specific rules for drawing cards to ensure balanced gameplay.
- Card Playing Stage: After card drawing, the stage of playing cards commences. The number of actions a player can take in each round corresponds to the number of surviving characters. Players can combine identical cards of the same star level to increase their power.
- Final Rite: Passion value is a crucial aspect of the game, accumulated through actions like playing cards, moving cards, and combining cards. When the passion value reaches its upper limit, players can unleash the powerful ritual in the next round.
Attribute Restraint and Attack Type
In Reverse 1999, there are six attributes, each affecting the game’s dynamics. It’s important to understand attribute restraint, which has been weakened in the beta version. Players need to strategize and use the appropriate attacks based on real trauma and mental trauma, corresponding to physical and magical attacks, respectively.
Si Chen’s skills play a crucial role in shaping the battlefield. You can obtain two sets of Si Chen’s skills, each requiring the consumption of Si Chen’s passion for activation. These skills are invaluable as they offer powerful effects that can turn the tide of battle.
Things to Know About Character Skills
Reverse 1999 revolves around the unique skills possessed by each character. Each character has two main skills and a powerful ritual skill, often referred to as a big move. Upgrading skills is crucial for improving their effectiveness in battles.
Skills come in two forms: small skills and ritual skills. Combining the same small skills will enhance their skills stars. Upgraded skills may add skill multipliers or special effects, with the highest rating being three stars.
In most cases, two-star skills are sufficient for card output, while three-star cards are more suitable for dealing with bosses. For instance, Mud Cave’s talent grants one round of rest time, reducing trauma bonus by 20% but increasing damage reduction by 20% and ghost hunting time by 20%.
Red Crossbow Bolts’ talent, on the other hand, doubles the crit rate obtained from the heart, transforming the character into a crit output powerhouse. Understanding and leveraging character talents can elevate their performance and provide a strategic edge.
Upgrading Skills and Special Effects
In order to explain this more clearly let’s take two characters as examples:
Sonnet’s one Skill:
- After two stars: Gains an additional disarm effect.
Star Antimony’s tow Skills:
- After a critical strike: Gains an additional passion-reducing effect.
- Final Ceremony: Can only be used when the character is full of passion.
Passion Points can be obtained through various means:
- Performing actions outside the rules.
- Executing group attacks (causing 300% actual damage to all enemies).
- Moving cards during gameplay.
- Special skill effects that grant extra passion points.
Once a character accumulates five passion points, the player will receive the final ritual skill card in the next round. While the ritual skill may not be decisive in battle, it still packs a significant punch compared to ordinary three-star small skills.
Hands and Action Points
Understanding the card dealing mechanism is crucial for success in Reverse 1999. The number of cards in a player’s hand and the action points available depend on the number of characters in the team. When a character joins the team:
- Two characters: 4 cards in hand, each skill card with one action point.
- Three characters: 5 cards in hand, each skill card with one action point, and the fifth card randomly distributed with two action points.
- Four characters: 6 cards in hand, each skill card with one action point, and the seventh card randomly distributed with three action points.
Optimizing Card Distribution
In Reverse 1999 optimal card distribution varies based on the number of characters in your team and your strategic approach. Having just one character allows for generating high-star skill cards and rapid passion recovery. However, this strategy is generally applied when the first three characters are defeated. Otherwise, it is advisable to have a well-rounded team.
Ritual cards occupy significant space in your hand and are often related to damage. It’s crucial to consider playing them strategically to avoid facing powerful bosses prematurely, especially if your team lacks sufficient damage output.
Attribute Restraint
One of the critical factors in mastering Reverse 1999 is understanding attribute restraint. Properly allocating restraint attributes on the field is essential to cultivate powerful characters. Restraint isn’t solely about dealing damage but also plays a crucial role in various environmental conditions.
To maximize the potential of your characters, you must strike a balance between multiple attributes. However, there are instances when a character’s single card strength or combination strength surpasses the improvement brought by the restraint attribute. In such cases, opting for a powerful character or combination can be a strategic choice.
Role Panel
The role panel is the cornerstone of character improvement in Reverse 1999. Upgrading, insights, and resonance are the three main ways to enhance your panel. Leveling up requires experience (dust) and gold coins (sharp teeth), which can be obtained through main storylines and missions. On the other hand, insight breakthroughs demand fragments, solitary volumes, full chapters, rare materials, and gold coins.
Unrusted Armor serves as a level cap, and with Legacy Mercy Upgrade, the character can start from insight level 1 and progress through insight breakthroughs. The character’s star level affects the upper limit of insight level, where higher star cap panels result in stronger characters.
In Reverse 1999 Resonance operates like a squeeze puzzle, where upgrades introduce new puzzles and grids while improving puzzle attributes. Each puzzle piece has different properties, and the materials required for upgrading can be found on the natural night surface or obtained through artificial sleepwalking in weekly dungeons.
Occult
The character’s mysticism skills, referred to as Occult. They can be upgraded to stars and stats during battles. Upgraded Occult skills often result in new effects that amplify the character’s strength. For instance, Mistletoe’s skill “Into the Forest” with two stars can petrify the opponent for one round, interrupting their actions.
Sophie’s Concentrated Essence offers continuous, high-quality blood recovery to the entire team. Some Reverse 1999’s characters have powerful skills that are closely related to their talents, and aid in enhancing the character’s overall effectiveness. Coordinating Occult skills and talents strategically can lead to remarkable results on the battlefield.
What is Last Rite
The Final Ritual is the ultimate move in Reverse 1999. Requiring full passion points, characters can unleash devastating moves in six levels. As characters level up from one stage to another, their Final Rituals become increasingly potent.
Some Final Rituals not only increase damage but also have additional effects. For example, Centurion’s move at level 2 not only inflicts damage but also reduces the enemy’s ritual power. Understanding Final Rituals and their effects can tip the scales in your favor during critical moments in battles.
What Is Mind
Mind is the equipment (weapon) system in Reverse 1999. Character improvement primarily revolves around three aspects: white value, imaging (entry), and amplitude (special entry). White value is improved through engraving, requiring upgrades every 20 levels up to level 50.
Imaging and amplitude are improved through refining, with imaging being ordinary entries and amplitude special entries. Amplitude equipment takes effect under the specified attribute, adding a layer of customization to character enhancement.
Some Reverse 1999 characters have talents that synergize with specific hearts. For instance, the Red Crossbow’s talent doubles the critical strike rate obtained from the heart. Utilizing a well-matched character and heart shape can elevate a character’s strength significantly.
Fighting Skills
Reverse 1999 offers two pieces of player equipment: the Initial Scale and the Great Band. The Initial Scale is available at the beginning and provides all possibilities for imagining the extreme. It grants various bonuses, including movement mystic, turn recovery, and more.
The Great Band’s achievements are a collective effort and come with an improved passion for recovery. Additionally, the Great Band introduces unique abilities that can drastically impact battles. Understanding the strategic use of both the Initial Scale and the Great Band can help you maximize your potential.
Utilize mysticism and its special effects strategically during battles. For example, Mistletoe’s petrification in the Forest and Sonnet’s disarming can be used to interrupt and block the enemy’s actions. Matching mysticism characteristics with your characters and crafting a suitable strategy can make crossing difficult levels a reality.
Combat Strategies
Victory in Reverse 1999 demands a keen understanding of combat strategies and enemy behaviors.
- When facing hyperactive enemies in Reverse 1999, prioritize eliminating non-moving foes first. Observing enemy action patterns is vital—enemies who attack twice consecutively are less likely to act in the next round. Capitalize on this opportunity to gain an advantage for the next round.
- If you can’t eliminate hyperactive enemies in the current round, consider targeting non-moving enemies first. When the next round involves a boss-level encounter, sell blood cards in the current round to prepare for a potent AOE burst in the subsequent round. Swiftly dispatching enemies significantly reduces your team’s survival pressure.
- Be mindful of special environments and buffs at certain levels. For instance, in some levels, spirit attacks inflict increased damage, while others amplify the character’s damage to debuffed and controlled targets. Understanding these level-specific effects can help you devise better strategies and achieve three-star ratings in various stages.
- Strategically use ultimate rituals during the second wave of enemies for maximum impact.
- Utilize Auxilia and blood-boosting skills of characters during the first wave of enemies to optimize actions.
- Keep a small monster during the first wave of monsters to brush high star cards and character ritual skills.
- Optimize card usage by playing cards in the middle instead of moving them when possible.
- Take advantage of the fixed opening hand in the public beta version to reshuffle without consuming physical strength.
- Remember that buff continuous rounds include release rounds.
- Keeping an eye on the recovery rate, which indicates the percentage of HP recovered from damage received in a round.
- Using buffs wisely, avoid bringing more than two buffs to the team to avoid potential complications in gameplay.
- Maximizing the potential of low-star and six-star characters based on their strengths and attributes.
Conclusion
You are now equipped with an in-depth understanding of playing Reverse 1999 Global. Armed with this knowledge, explore the vast world of the game with ease. As much as winning all battles, make sure to enjoy the story mode, embrace the endless possibilities of the Endless Wasteland, and conquer the challenges of artificial sleepwalking. With a keen grasp of the combat system and tactical insights, you are ready to take on any foe that crosses your path in Reverse 1999
