Newbie Guide

Line Gundam Wars Beginners Guide
(This is a guide for new players that are not sure what to do in their first few hours to days of playing Gundam Wars)

Huge thanks to Duck, Kiki, and really all of the Line group they have set up. You have all been a big help and a huge reason why I made this guide. If you aren’t a part of this group yet, definitely join, because what I will write here will only be a fraction of the help they provide.

What is Gundam Wars?
Gundam Wars is a gacha style, “auto-play” Gundam game where players collect different mobile suits and pilots from the various anime and video game series ranging from the classic 0079 series such as RX-78 and Zaku’s, all the way to the obscure MS Igloo (Seriously, I’ve never heard of this series until playing this game) and Blue Destiny Side Story. This game is awesome for fans of the Gundam series as not only is your favorite series likely represented in here, but also there’s the fun of putting pilots in suits they would never be seen in. Want Char in Nu Gundam? Go for it. Kira Yamato in Psycho Zaku? Go crazy! It’s a fun game in the aspect that you can put your best pilot into any suit you want, and it doesn’t have to be someone from the same series. Not to mention you could very likely do a full Amuro team from how many times he appears in the series. Once you have your team and pilots, it’s time to start actually playing the game. The mobile suits attack and use skills all on their own, save for their super move. These are activated by the player themselves most of the time. This is somewhat a turn-off for a lot of people, as it isn’t very “active” for the player themselves. But, if you’re here looking for something to pass the time with or really dive into fully and collect some cool (and cute) Gundams, then you’re in for some fun. 

BEFORE YOU START
'''Before starting into the actual beginners guide, I want to go over a few things that are vital to the game. These are stats, Vanguard/Rear Guard formation, and other options.

Stats:
 In Gundam Wars there are a TON of stats, both on the suits themselves and the pilots. Below will be each listed along with a short description:

 Mobile Suit Unit Stats:  Pilot Stats: '''
 * HP: Self-explanatory if you’ve played RPGs. Health points. Run out of these, your unit is destroyed.
 * Beam Attack: Strength of the units beam attack power (Only affects skills with the Beam Type attribute)
 * Physical Attack: Strength of the units physical attack power (Only affects skills with the Physical Type attribute)
 * Beam Defense: Affects the units ability to defend against Beam Attribute attacks
 * Physical Defense: Affects the units ability to defend against Physical Attribute attacks.
 * Critical Rate: Chance of an attack becoming a Critical Hit
 * Critical Damage: Affects the damage an attack does when performing a Critical Hit
 * Accuracy: Chances of that unit hitting the enemy.
 * Evasion: Chances of the unit dodging an attack (Does not dodge skills from what I can tell)
 * Mobility: How long until the next attack or action for the unit
 * EN Recovery: Affects the units ability to recover super energy.
 * Shooting: Affects damage by ranged/shooting attacks.
 * Melee: Affects damage by close range/melee attacks.
 * Accuracy: Affects how often the attacks will hit.
 * Evasion: Affects how often the pilot’s unit will dodge an attack
 * Awakening: This affects the damage of a unit’s Super Move.

Formations:
 Formations are very important in this game and really need to be paid attention to. Vanguard will mean the unit will be a “front line” unit, using mostly melee or close range attacks. Rear Guard usually has units using shooting abilities or attacks. There are two big things to remember about these formations. The most important thing to remember here is to keep your units in their preferred position. If you look at a units picture in the Unit screen, the upper right corner shows their preferred position. If there’s a left, blue arrow, they are meant for rear guard. A right, red arrow means they are meant for frontline.
 * 1) A unit that has skills for Vanguard/Front Line will NOT use those skills in Rear Guard, and vice versa. (E.g. red skills are for frontline, blue for rear guard. If you have a unit with red, frontline skills, they will not use these skills unless they are in the frontline.)
 * 2) While battling, you can change the formation of your units to dodge some attacks or prevent a unit from being hit. This is done by swiping up or down on the units picture, depending on where you want it to go (swipe up for frontline, or down for rear guard)

Unit Status Screen
 From the main menu, selecting the Unit screen will take you to a list of all your units having your strongest units first, and cycling down to the weakest. When at this screen, selecting a unit will bring up their Status screen. There’s a number of important options here that will be expanded on below. 
 * Status: Shows EVERYTHING. Level, Star Ranking, Name, Level, HP, Attack, Defense, Default Position, type of unit, Upgrade, and Details (Which shows full range of stats, as well as where the unit is from anime or game wise)
 * Remodeling: One of the most important things to work on in this game. Units can be remodeled up to version 13. Each remodel will need specific items, which will be listed under this option, and when clicked, shows where they are able to be dropped. The higher the version, the better it’s stats.
 * Pilot on Board: This allows you to select a pilot for your currently selected unit. These are arranged from highest level, to your lowest.
 * Skills: Shows detailed information about the units skills (what formation they need to be used, probabilities, power, detailed information, everything). Get used to coming to this screen, as this is also where you will be leveling up your units skills and Super Move.
 * Custom Parts: Not able to be used until the unit has reached Version 7. These will contain farmable parts that will boost a units stats, ranging from HP and Attack Strength, to EN Recovery and Defensive parts. As a beginner, do not focus on this unless you have certain units that are not up to preference (e.g. Bio-Sensor Zeta)

Battleships:
 This is from the Unit screen as well. Shows which battleships you own, and under the Unclaimed tab shows all that you do not own. Good to look at when you want a specific skill for your battleship. This is also the place to level up your battleship with Coins, or upgrade their star rarity.

Pilots:
 Shows your list of pilots, as well as the option for Training and Discharge. Selecting a pilot will show you their skills and stats, as well as the options to level them up with Coins or pilots of the same name. Note: There are multiple pilots with the same name, such as Kira Yamato. Unless their pictures and skills are matching, you cannot level them up with pilots.

Pilot Training is important later in your time. When you level a pilot to max level (Usually 20 for 1 Star rarity), you have the option to train them to 2 Star rarity, all the way to 6 Star. To increase their Star rarity, you level them to max, and then train a pilot of the same Star rarity (E.g. a 1 Star Kira at level 20 can be upgraded to 2 Star with ANY 1 Star rarity pilot, and so on.) Each time you level their rarity, they get a higher max level, and a randomly rolled for skill. This can be better defense to EN recovery, and all sorts of stuff. In your beginning days, this isn’t something to really focus on, but I would recommend getting a couple pilots to level 20, the stat boosts are great if you can afford it, but don’t focus too hard on it.

Discharge is not really something you need to do, but is there if needed. Basically, select a pilot and get rid of it. You get nothing for doing this. Not recommended unless you have a pilot at max rarity and level.

Mobile Armors:
 Now we’re talking. Huge robots! Mobile Armors are awesome. A Mobile Armor is something you add to your team that will come and support your battle after a certain number of Super Moves are used. These, however, are pretty hard to come by to an extent. They do not normally drop from the regular gacha pulls, and instead only come when they have a specific banner. Depending on when you started the game, you may either be preparing for one soon, or just missed it and have to wait until the next. If you are just starting, or even a few weeks in, getting a Mobile Armor is a must. There really is no “bad’ Mobile Armor, but some do certain things that could be useful (E.g. Neue Ziel can pull units from rear guard to frontline, or Apsalus II can flinch all enemies). Definitely something worth investing in when they come up. Mobile Armors have skills, Star rarities and versions just like normal units, but are more difficult to rank up.

Blueprints and Star Rarities:
 Welcome to the absolute long haul of your time playing this game. Let’s start with the basics: Star Rarity

 Every single unit and pilot in this game can reach a 6 Star (Or 6*) rarity. Units will start out anywhere from 1* (GM’s and Zaku’s) all the way to 4* (Unicorn Gundam, Avalanche Exia, big name mobile suits). Each star rarity ranking need a number of blueprints (BPs) to rank it up to the next star rarity. Upgrade chart is as follows.

 Create a 1* = 10 BPs

2* = 10 BPs

3* = 20 BPs

4* = 30 BPs

5* = 40 BPs

6* = 50 BPs

'''Basically, to get to the next star rarity, you need blueprints equal to the current rarity. Example being my Wing Gundam Zero is at 4* rarity. To make it a 5* I will need 40 BPs of Wing Gundam Zero to upgrade him to 5* rarity.

How do you get BPs?
 Some BPs can be gained from Story missions (Gusion, Methuss, Guncannon to name a few can be farmed through story missions). Most blueprints come from the gacha (Big name Gundams like Exia, Barbatos, Turn A) but there are also regular BPs there as well, like Dom’s and Zaku’s. Gacha is almost the “main way” to get BPs, as for every duplicate unit you draw you will receive 10 BPs of that unit. If I already have a 1* Rick Dias, if I draw a Rick Dias out of the gacha, I will receive 10 BPs towards his upgrade. Gacha, however, is NOT a good primary way to get BPs, as it is completely random which unit you will draw. So we turn to…

Universal Blueprints (UBP)
 Universal Blueprints are amazing. You get one for logging in each 7 days in a row, as well as coming around in most events. UBPs can be used on ANY mobile suit (Not Mobile Armors) and count in a 1:1 ratio. These are amazing items and chances are, if you are lucky to have limited time units, you will be using them on those. Do not use these on units you can farm from story missions.

Battle Tower BPs
 In the Battle Tower you will find there are a ton of BPs here. Methuss, Rick Dias, Blitz Gundam, and a few others. Almost none of these matter save for the amazing unit that is Turn X. As a beginner, and even later in the game, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND saving your battle tower points to get the Turn X blueprints. Turn X is quite possibly the best free unit available, and one of the top units in the game. It will take some time to save up to get him to 4* rarity but it is absolutely worth the time and effort. 6* rating will take you months of saving up, but once you’re there, he will make up for the time and effort in some of the highest damage output of nearly any unit.

Arena Shop BPs
 Blueprints in the Arena shop change every so often, and you can only buy a certain number. It’s great if the unit up for sale is one you need to fill out, but mostly you’ll find other, better ways to get them. Recommended you purchase the Thunderbolt pilots (Io Flemming and Daryl Lorenz) as they are very good pilots.

EX Shop BPs
 Generally as a new player you won’t even see this shop, however, it’s worth noting it exists. When you reach 6* on any mobile suit unit, you can change extra blueprints over for EX points. Each BP has a different value ranging from 10 points to 30. The mobile suit BPs here change from time to time, but there are also mobilization draw tickets and UBPs here to purchase as well. Recommended you get UBPs first and foremost unless the unit being sold is something you already have.

EN Tanks
 EN Tanks help make your units super move charge faster. In some events there will be EN tanks for a specific unit, but there are also Universal EN Tanks which can be used on any units super move. For every 50 EN Tanks, the super meter starts with a percentage of charge. In the early levels 3% isn’t much, but when it gets to 15% and higher, it really, really helps. Save for units you know you will use and keep for a long time (Limited units and other recommended units)

Mobilization
 NOW we’re talking. Nothing like borderline gambling for little cute Gundams. One draw will cost you 10 Diamonds (the premium currency in this game), where as an 11 draw will cost you 100 diamonds, but also promise a 3* or better mobile suit drop. This is where it gets tough…

 Generally, you want to save your diamonds for limited time banners. And no, I do not mean limited time as in “We are focusing on this one unit for now”, I’m talking the limited time, these are not added to the gacha pool afterwards, limited banners. Things like Mobile Armors, Gundam (Final Battle), Bio-sensor Zeta, Double Fin Funnel Nu Gundam (DFF), Build Strike Full Package, the list goes on. You absolutely want to save for these banners, unless you see…

Step Up Banners
 Step Up banners are interesting. Each time you draw on this banner, a step gets counted. Step one is usually a 10 diamond draw once pull, but then you get to step two and its a draw 3 for 30 diamonds, and so on until the final step, which usually ends in an 11 pull for 100 diamonds. In general, these can be passed over, as most units are in the gacha pool. However, there are some that are worth drawing on (Avalanche Exia being one of them from recent memory). Some step up banners will reward you with coins or a “Choose a 4*” ticket, which can be worth it depending on the unit. I would recommend not pulling on Step Up banners without asking for a veteran opinion first.

 In general, save those diamonds for limited time banners for units that will NOT be added to the gacha pool.

Free Gacha Pulls
 This is something I absolutely love about this game. Once every five days you get a FREE gacha pull. And no, not from some small, limited pool, or common items. I’m talking the chance to pull big name Gundams. This is fantastic as not only is it a great way to get BPs every five days, it also scratches that gacha pull itch you may get. I’ve gotten everywhere from 1* Goggs all the way to 4* Wing Gundam Fenice. Absolutely amazing and worth doing as soon as you can.

Ticket Mobilization
 Tickets are somewhat… common. They’re in every event (3* or better pull), they’re in the EX Shop, Battle Tower, they’re in lots of places. If you get them for free, use them right away. You cannot save these for limited banners and the like, as they have a “fixed pool” when they are created (as in, whatever is in the gacha pool when made, save for limited units, you have a chance to pull those units). These are great, but not something to spend every time they are up.If you ever need to know what units are possible to pull from your ticket (or even the gacha in general) clicking on the Probability button will show you what units are able to be dropped, as well as their chance of dropping, and even guaranteed units if applicable.

Beginners Guide
 Alright, so you’ve installed the game, updated, made a name, and got through the tutorial. Now what?

 There are a few choices that are pretty important as a new player, so let’s try to make that easier:

Use Those Mobilization Tickets
 Chances are you have RX-78, Turn A, Unicorn, and other regular units. These are okay, but aren’t flashy units. You want something big, and cool, and recognizable. Thankfully, you are given a few tickets at the start of your journey. When I started there was an 11 pull and some 3* or better tickets as well. These are great to use, but the most important ones are the “Select a 4* units” tickets. You will receive two of these tickets and will grant you a specific unit from a small pool which contains  The best picks here, and generally what most will recommend, are Strike Freedom and Nu Gundam.
 * Nu Gundam
 * ZZ Gundam
 * Wing Gundam
 * Barbatos Lupus
 * Strike Freedom Gundam
 * Unicorn (Destroy Mode)
 * 00 Raiser

Do not focus on Event Missions
 Events are awesome, and are basically the end game, but it’s nearly impossible to get the most out of them as a new player. You can feel free to try them out a bit and get the Stamina drops, but do not try them for a long term thing, as you will benefit spending stamina elsewhere. If you decide to do event missions, use those points to purchase pilots and UBPs before mostly anything else. Haro’s are great to increase star rarity in pilots, items are pretty useful if they have a low drop rate (Psycho Frames) and of course, diamonds.

Finish Sayla’s Orders
 This will take a bit of time to complete, but Sayla will reward you with diamonds, pilots, coins, and the like. Definitely worth finishing as soon as possible.

Do your best not to spend diamonds
 I cannot stress this enough. I know the allure of pulling for big units is there, but this is a huge mistake. You really want to focus on your core team of 5 units before doing anything else. ellean4 on the subreddit stated “It’s better to have 5 good units than a bunch of subpar ones” and they are RIGHT. Find your team of 5 and focus on them until later on when you can upgrade others. Always wait for limited banners, limited units are awesome.

Ignore Arena
 Basically that. Feel free to go in, spend your free 3 points and fight, but do not focus on this. It’s a very endgame thing.

Join the Line Group
 Seriously, join the Line Group. There’s no reason not to, it’s a lot easier to communicate in there about certain units or what to do. I’m sure a Discord will be made shortly, and once it is, I will add it to this guide. But until then get in that Line chat. Everyone in there is awesome and will help you out a lot more than this guide.

Which units to farm from Story Missions?
 Units worth farming are Blitz, Guntank, Gabelthy, Guncannon, Gusion, Galieo Graze,  Amidas Hyruken, Gundam (RX-78), Rick Dias, GM, Geara Zulu and Angelo’s Geara Zulu. I personally went for Methuss first, as its healing abilities are invaluable in the later levels. Almost all of the Iron Blooded Orphans units are worth farming, with emphasis on Gusion, Galieo Graze, and Amida’s Hyruken. For a more in-depth look check out Duck’s guide on the Line group (Details why the units are good, and good EX point farming ones)

 Source: Duck’s guide in Line Group (Thanks for your hard work!)

Ending
 This is basically it for now. I’m sure other will chip in and I will update the guide accordingly, as I know I’ve missed some things, or overlooked others.

 Thank you to all of those in the Line Group that helped make this possible. You all are awesome, and even though we are (usually) countries away, communication is always constant and fun. You guys are what makes this game great.