The Arcana Compendium

Update 19-Sep-2018: [x] Memories of Asra

The reward chests from Heart Hunter mini-game gives very good coins in the long term. You do have to be persistent and keep playing everyday to accumulate the cards and open the chests. Feel free to check the Index page on this blog for some general Heart Hunter tips as well as past Asks on most efficient coin gain without spending cash.

Oh I know... trust me I had a few choice words after I read Book XV. But, on the bright side, we should still have 7 more books to go so hopefully the crew will figure out some genius plan to fix this hot mess. And maybe slap the goatman and his cronies around for a bit while they’re at it.

Good question! If we define “finding out about ghost Lucio” as his ghost being definitively recognized as a fact during a non-paid portion of the game, then the short answer would be: Julian’s route beginning of Book XIV - Temperance. 

Long answer below:

Technically the earliest encounter with Lucio’s ghost is in Prologue Book 3 - after you first enter the palace and have dinner with Nadia, Portia leaves you for a moment on the way to your room and you hear a voice. For an optional 50 coins, you can “Chase the voice” and see the ghost of Lucio. However if you did not pay for this option you won’t actually physically see his ghost, so we won’t count this.

In Asra’s route, a definitive encounter with ghost goat is in Book VII, Chapter 3. As you exit the Cave and make camp with Asra, you hear a voice. Asra suggest you investigate and you both see the ghost goat, Asra confirms Lucio’s identity.

In Nadia’s route, a definitive encounter is in Book IX, Chapter 2 & 3. The ghost goat shows up in the forest and Nadia crashes the carriage in Chapter 2. You seek shelter at Muriel’s hut and in Chapter 3 when Asra shows up he confirms the ghost goat as Lucio.

In Julian’s route, you have a brief encounter with “something” in Book VIII, Chapter 2 in Lucio’s room when Portia falls off the ladder, but no confirmation is made that is was Lucio, so we won’t count this. It’s not until at the beginning of Book XIV when you meet up with Asra at the Masquerade and he tell you definitively that the ghost of Lucio is out there do you officially find out. And the actual sprite of the ghost goat is not shown in Julian’s route until the end of Book XIV!

So there you have it. 

Hi anon, if you are referring to the background currently featured as the the header for this blog, a high quality version of it can be found on Veronica Liwski’s Artstation page here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nGlOX

A brief word about choices

I don’t normally like to post information without adequate data or evidence to backup the claims, but with some obvious choice branches in Book XV update and with the looming Upright/Reversed ending, I feel the need to provide some clarification to those who may not yet have realized this.

Particularly in regard to accepting/refusing the deal with The Devil in Book XV, the immediate outcome regardless of your choice are all the same: - Asra reunites with Faust (yes I know we all want to protect her but she is fine even if you say “no”) - Nadia will refuse the deal - Julian will be trapped in between realms with you

However, the long term effect of the choice is not yet known. Given the current available information, it is very likely whether you accepted a deal with The Devil will impact the ending. 

Update: [x] Memories of Julian

Hi Anon, you can use the powerups/boosts by selecting one of the available boosts during your turn after you spin the wheel to move X number of steps. They are on the bottom of the screen next to the “change avatar” option.

You can obtain the boost via coin purchases or by opening one of the award chests for completing a set of postcard collections. 

The functions of the three boosts are as follows:

Move +1 boost: Adds 1 step to the number of steps you spun from the wheel. (e.g. if you spun the wheel and landed on ‘move 3 steps’, this will add 1 additional step, allowing you to move 4 tiles away.)

Move +2 boost: Adds 2 steps to the number of spaces you spun from the wheel. (e.g. if you spun the wheel and landed on ‘move 1 steps’, this will add 2 additional steps, allowing you to move 3 tiles away.) 

Summon boost: You will not move from your current tile (disregards the number of steps you spun from the wheel), you can select one of the characters to bring to your current tile.

Some general tips for using the boosts:

It’s generally better to use the boosts in your last few turns than in the beginning, as they can help you bridge the gaps at the end if you are close to winning. If you use the boosts in your first few turns, you may still end up losing and thus wasting the boost. (There are exception to this, i.e. when the character lands in a tile you need for a missing postcard.)

Since the update that allowed for repeated collection of reward chests, it is a good idea to use the boosts when you have them instead of hoarding them because they can help you win more cards, thus allowing you to collect more reward chests, which will give you more boosts. A positive feedback loop!

You are correct! With the July 25th, 2018 update, the Upright and Reversed ending options has been added. The developer has previously stated that there will be a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ending, however the ‘bad’ ending will be more bittersweet or tragic rather than traumatic (although the threshold for what is considered traumatic may vary from person to person). Coin options will also NOT affect the outcome of the endings. 

However, beyond that, little to no data has been collected on which story choices affect the outcome of your ending. Although I am aware that there is a WIP “Walkthough” page on The Arcana wiki, it is currently very sparse. But keep your eyes peeled as I suspect once the endings are available the fandom will find a way to pool together information so that a viable walkthrough may be pieced together. 

You’re fine! Also I have been doing this for a few months because I wanted to do the first two scenes at once… I just- that teacup taunts me

Mod note:  Thank you for sharing! I have a similar story with mine, I have multiples of every trinket except I have yet to get a single cake! (Ironic considering I personally love cake.) I am wondering if the wheel is designed to have a bias for the various trinkets for each user. I.e. unequal weighted probabilities for each trinket so that you will always have less of something.

@smol-fangirl-trash My deepest apologies for the delayed response! I had somehow missed this in my inbox. 

Hi there and welcome to the game/fandom!

That’s an interesting question and a very good one because since we’re close to the end of the first 3 routes now there are quite many chapters for new players to catch up on.

If we disregard the obviously costly way of buying coins with real money, I would say my recommended strategy would be to:

Use keys to read the chapters but do not spend any coins on paid options within those chapters. This will allow you to progress through the chapters at a stead rate.

If you want, you can search for Youtube videos on full paid scenes to see what they are like in the meantime. (I know VikaAvey has been posting their playthroughs here.)

Save up your coins from daily check-ins, spins, and Heart Hunter rewards.

Go back and buy the books you liked so you can replay those at any time with your own apprentice(s).

I know it might be tempting to spend coins on individual scenes within the chapters instead of buying the full book, but with the current system it’s not cost effective in the long run. That said, there is no one correct way to play the game. This is just my recommendation for maximizing your coins. As long as you enjoy the story, however you choose to play is valid! :)

Just to add a few additional notes, since Heart Hunter was added, you can now acquire free keys and coins much faster than before. If you want to maximize the amount of coins/keys you get, keep opening the collection reward chests as soon as you complete a collection, regardless whether you’ve already completed the same collection before. This will likely result in you getting all of the postcards slower but will increase the rate of coins/keys you get.