What Guildrun is asking you to do
Guildrun is a single-player PvE roguelike autobattler. You recruit heroes, choose items and relics, set formation and specializations, then let combat resolve automatically. The important skill is not clicking during the fight. It is reading what happened and spending the next reward on one specific weakness.
This guide is written for Demo 0.5.1. Use it once in order, then return to the section that matches the problem that ended your last run.
Your first complete run loop
A run begins with one of three hero-and-relic bundles and 15 spendable Shards. The opening only needs to survive the first fights; it does not have to lock the final build.
- Inspect the encounter. Check enemy range, abilities, formation, and any fight modifier before moving a hero.
- Choose the active board. Field three heroes at first, then expand toward five only when the new slot has a clear job.
- Predict first contact. Name the hero who should take the first attacks and the enemy your main damage dealer should reach.
- Watch the first failure. Record the first important death, interrupted cast, wasted walk, or target that survived too long.
- Spend for that failure. Buy durability, damage, mana, range, a duplicate, or a new role only when it changes the next fight.
Before leaving a shop, you should be able to explain what the purchase fixes. “More power” is not enough. “Fiona now casts before Pimenta drops below half health” is a useful answer.
Build a job-complete team first
A useful first-run framework is one hero that absorbs opening pressure, one reliable damage dealer, and a third piece that supports or scales those two. Specializations can move heroes beyond their starting roles, so treat classes as starting points rather than permanent identities.
| Job | What success looks like | Failure to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Anchor | Lives until allied abilities begin resolving | The support or carry is targeted first |
| Damage | Reaches and finishes the priority target | Walks too long or attacks an irrelevant body |
| Support or control | Creates time before the formation collapses | Casts after the important death |
Three early frameworks that stay readable
- Shield and Stall. A durable front line buys time for delayed payoffs.
- Direct damage. One carry with clean target access and enough protection to act twice.
- Status control. Poison, Frost, or Burn when several pieces reward the same trigger.
Keep the fourth slot flexible until the engine is proven. The fifth slot should answer a matchup or multiply a trigger you already own.
Positioning before combat
Because combat resolves automatically, formation is how you influence the opening exchange. Positioning decides who receives pressure, which abilities reach their targets, and how long a carry has to scale.
Predict the normal target order
- Find the closest valid hero.
- If distance ties, use class priority: Tank, Vanguard, Warrior, Duelist, Assassin, Mage, then Mystic.
- If class also ties, compare targeting health: the lower value of log2(current HP) + Defense / 100 is preferred.
- A hidden identity resolves a remaining exact tie, so avoid perfect ties when first contact matters.
Place heroes in job order
| Placement | Check | Common correction |
|---|---|---|
| Anchor | Is it strictly closer to the opening threat? | Move one hex forward or into the threatened lane |
| Carry | Can it attack without wasting the opening? | Clear its route or use the correct row |
| Support | Does its range cover the intended allies? | Move closer without becoming second contact |
| Flex hero | Does it answer this exact formation? | Swap with reserve instead of rebuilding the core |
The front row is y=3 and the back row is y=0. Adjacent means a hex distance of 1. When a modifier depends on a row or nearby ally, confirm the board coordinate rather than how close the characters look. Pathing and attack locks are separate: a unit can prefer one target, fall back when blocked, and keep a locked attack once it starts.
Shop and Shard economy
Rerolls, heroes, items, and relics compete for the same economy. A rare-looking offer is not automatically correct. Buy the effect that fixes the next fight or deepens a trigger the team already produces.
What a regular shop contains
After a normal win, a regular shop offers three heroes, two items, and one relic. One random offer is discounted by 25%. The first reroll costs 1 Shard and each later reroll during the same visit costs 1 more. Freeze carries useful offers into the next regular shop.
| Offer | Price | Before buying |
|---|---|---|
| Hero | C 15 · B 25 · A 35 · S 45 | Does the recruit fill a job or create the next rank? |
| Item | Common 5 · Rare 15 · Epic 25 | Which holder and item slot are already available? |
| Relic | Common 10 · Rare 20 · Epic 30 · Legendary 40 | How often does the active board trigger it? |
| Team Size | 45 | Is the next active hero ready to field now? |
A practical stop rule
- Name at least two acceptable reroll outcomes.
- Reserve the cost of the next known breakpoint.
- Stop after finding the planned role, rank, or trigger.
- Freeze only when the exact offer remains useful after another floor.
Heroes and items sell for 66% of their value. Relics cannot be sold. The post-boss Auction House offers three heroes, four items, and three relics, starts rerolls at 7 Shards, and cannot be frozen—enter with a priority order before browsing.
Read a loss instead of restarting the plan
Use Emergency Rewind as a learning attempt. Change one variable—formation, active roster, equipment holder, or purchase—then compare the new opening. If the carry still cannot reach its target, more Attack is unlikely to solve the real problem.
- Carry dies before the first cast → move the anchor closer or buy frontline protection.
- Frontline lives but enemies do not fall → open a clean lane or rank the damage dealer.
- Abilities arrive too late → protect the caster or buy Starting Mana / Attack Speed.
- Fourth hero adds no value → return the specialist to reserve and finish the three-hero core.
Where to go next
Continue with the strategy guide for ranks, team engines, relics, Red Rift, and Endless. Use the player handbook for combat rules, the growth route for board size and upgrades, and the enemy database when one exact formation stops the run.