'Sword Art Online: Integral Factor' Tips, Cheats and Hacks

Imagine getting trapped inside a video game and the only way to get out is to beat it. Yeah, that would exist pretty bad news considering all the stats that indicate people don't more often than not finish the games they buy. But that conceit made the Sword Fine art Online light novel and anime serial clumsily popular, and information technology'due south front and eye in the latest mobile game based on that franchise, Sword Art Online: Integral Factor (Gratis).

SAO has had games congenital around it before, just Bandai Namco has taken an interesting and logical approach with this one. Instead of playing equally Kirito, Asuna or other well-known characters, you accept on the role of i of the many anonymous players trapped inside the game within the game. Integral Factor then retells the story many fans known from a different bespeak of view, and since it is also an MMORPG in its ain right, it's equally close to putting yourself within Sword Art Online as information technology'south possible to get.

Well, until someone invents the NerveGear, that is.

Inside the game, you have access to NPCs and even cross paths with Kirito and the others, only who'due south going to be your guide to the game? That would be us. Read on through the rest of our Sword Art Online: Integral Factor tips and you merely might make it to flooring 100 yourself someday.


Getting Effectually Aincrad: Controls and Other Basics

Integral Cistron is played from a third-person perspective and the bones controls are pretty elementary. In the bottom-left corner of the screen is a virtual thumbstick to motion your grapheme. Anywhere else on the screen, you can concord and drag to look effectually, every bit well as pinch to zoom in and out.

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

Buttons in the lesser-right corner of the screen are for combat, which we'll go to in its own section. The upper-right corner features a mimi-map, which marks both your location and the management you are currently facing. The next location you demand to reach to proceed on your current quest, if whatever, is marked by a crosshairs, and borer on the mini-map expands it to a full-sized overlay.

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

The upper-left corner of the screen has a hamburger icon which volition produce a menu (and make your grapheme look as if he or she is accessing the in-game menu in truthful meta manner). From there you'll find tabs to check your character status, equip items, view quest info, find your friends or party members and access the shop.

The bar at the bottom of the screen is for in-game communication. Along with emotes and stamps, y'all'll too find a chat bar with three pick: 'Say' is public conversation to anyone around, 'Party' chats with anyone you are currently grouped with, and 'Tell' is similar a whisper in other MMOs that sends a message to a item player.


Fight for Your Right to Political party: An Intro to Combat

The combat arrangement in Integral Factor is easy to learn but has surprising depth to it. The largest of the buttons in the bottom-right corner is for bones attacks. Simply walk up to an enemy — yous'll know them from the ruddy crystals over their heads — and tap it to commencement attacking. You lot can too hold down the push button to continuously set on.

Four buttons around the main attack push are for sword skills. Yous get-go the game with a single skill simply tin can accept up to four of them slotted at a time per weapon you have equipped. These skills do more damage than a normal assault, generally effect an expanse indicated by a darkened expanse on the screen and tin can also have other furnishings on enemies. Merely tap the desired skill push button to activate information technology; you'll accept to wait for its cooldown to complete before using it again.

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

Above the skills is a push marked 'Switch' that tin can unleash an specially powerful skill. That button too doubles as a meter that fills up with a lite blue color as you harm enemies. When it's available, the Switch push will flash, and once used, the meter needs to be refilled for its next apply.

Here'due south where things really get fun. The button with the orange weapon icons next to the Switch allows you to bandy between two weapons you take equipped. This is useful considering some enemies are vulnerable to different types of weapons — for example, stabbing instead of slashing — merely likewise because swapping on the fly volition allow yous to use skills from the other weapon while the skills on the previous one are still cooling downwards. While you lot won't demand to utilise this strategy against the enemies you encounter early on, information technology'southward a cool and useful tactic for bosses and stronger foes y'all fight afterward.

Last but non least, the button that looks like a faceless Barry Allen in action at the very bottom makes your character dash. Nonetheless, when engaged in gainsay, that nuance is actually a backstep that tin can instantly assist you lot avert incoming attacks.


Partners Are People Too

As you lot progress through the game's story, you will meet and befriend a character who becomes your partner on all your adventures. Her default name is Koharu, though you tin rename her as you like. Along with serving a narrative purpose, your partner aids you in gainsay, attacking whoever yous are targeting and joining in when you employ the Switch ability.

While y'all don't take to worry nearly controlling or issuing commands to your partner, you practice desire to remember to equip them with a weapon (or weapon and shield), armor and skills of their ain. You can find their stats and equipment by going to 'Partner' under the main card.

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

One last annotation most partners: When you are in a party with other players, your partners won't be bachelor since you take other people to spotter your back. Where do they go during their downtime? That'southward an excellent question.


Order Up: How to Get More Sword Skills

Integral Factor doesn't brand you chase characters to collect, and then information technology needs some other gacha-style element. This is a gratis-to-play game, after all, and Bandai Namco needs to make money from it somehow. In this case, it's through Orders, which you can observe in the 'Store' tab of the card.

Orders let y'all to purchase Skill Records that teach and allow y'all to equip new sword skills. They are based on different characters from the Sword Art Onlineand come up in different rarities. Some Skill Records also are specific to a certain class of weapon, of which there are six: sword, rapier, shield, social club, axe and spear.

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

To buy Orders, you'll demand the game'southward premium currency, which is called Arcana Gems. You'll obtain these in a variety of ways, including as login rewards, for completing achievements and for finishing sure quests. Y'all'll also receive Skill Records as rewards from time to fourth dimension too.

Not to be confused with sword skills, you can also obtain and equip upward to four abilities, the slots for which you lot volition find in your character'south armor tab. Abilities offer passive stat boosts, damage buffs and the like, including bonuses confronting certain kinds of enemies.


How to Improve Everything

Improving your character's base stats is pretty unproblematic, every bit things similar HP and attack value become up every fourth dimension you level upward. Just continue fighting enemies and completing quests and this simplest form of progression volition take care of itself.

Everything else yous accept, including your weapons, sword skills and abilities, tin be improved using materials found on your adventures and the common currency of the game, chosen col. To heighten your equipment or skills/abilities, you'll want to visit an NPC Blacksmith in any town. Pretty uncomplicated menu options volition show you what stuff you have that tin be enhanced and any materials you accept that can be used to that end.

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

Selecting the materials and detail to exist enhanced volition then evidence y'all the exact effect of the enhancement and the toll in col. And so one tap and your stuff is instantly better.

If you have an item that is at its max level, you lot tin can as well perform a process called transforming to crash-land it up to the adjacent rarity tier, making it even more powerful still — unless it'south maxed out there also, Skills and abilities will have empty stars if they can be transformed across the tier they are currently at. The process is much the same an enhancement but requires different materials and a lot more col.


Party Up

Though we'll grant you that Kirito preferred solo play when he first stepped into Sword Art Online, it's non much fun to play alone all the time in an MMO. Integral Gene makes it easy to form parties and tackle quests with other players.

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

From the master menu, merely tap the quaternary icon down, which looks like 2 people, to open the Party menu. There y'all'll be able to employ 'Party Search' to find parties looking for members, or utilize 'Political party Recruit' to start your own party. When doing the latter, you take the power to prepare the level range for prospective political party members, the size of the political party (upwardly to six players) and set a password if desired so that not but whatsoever rando tin bring together.

Assuming you've stayed with us this far, you now have a base of knowledge much better than most of the poor souls in the Sword Fine art Online series when they first learned they were stuck at that place. Adept luck in reaching the 100th flooring and defeating that final boss.

  • SwordArtOnline: IntegralFactor

    The newest Sword Art Online game! This fourth dimension, the protagonist is...you! You appear in this online RPG equally a member of an …