rewrite this title Echoes of Aincrad combat and progression systems explained

Echoes of Aincrad follows a similar structure to most modern action RPGs, albeit with a slight Sword Art Online twist. Much like in the past Sword Art Online games, EoA’s combat system offers a host of options to tailor your own playstyle. From different weapon types to customizable active skills, there are a lot of moving elements in the game’s combat.

Furthermore, combat also drives the game’s progression, as is the norm for any Sword Art Online game.

Here’s a comprehensive guide going over the basics of Echoes of Aincrad’s combat and progression systems.

How does combat work in Echoes of Aincrad

If you’ve played games like Elden Ring, Code Vein, or even the past Sword Art Online titles, the combat in Echoes of Aincrad will feel very familiar. It follows the same basic principles of ARPG combat, featuring perfect guard, parries, and also a dedicated counterattack mechanic. However, the biggest differentiating factor here is the party mechanic.

In EoA, your party members act as an extension of your weapon’s abilities. For instance, after you land a successful parry using your weapon, you can press a button (square or X) to perform a counterattack using your active party member.

Furthermore, you can also change the combat inclination of your party member. By default, your active party member is set to support type. However, by pressing triangle or Y, you can change the inclination to offense, where your active party member takes the lead on attacking the enemy.

There are also party synergies based on weapon types. However, in the demo version of the game, synergies were not available to try out. Coming to the most important aspect of the combat system, the weapons. In EoA, there are a total of 6 weapon types:

Sword and ShieldGreatswordHammer/AxeRapierSpearKnife

Each of these weapons have their own skills, which you can unlock as you progress through the story. Furthermore, some of the special skills are tied to party member quests, which only unlock after you’ve increased affinity with a specific party member.

Also Read: Echoes of Aincrad walkthrough: Prologue and all major boss fights

Echoes of Aincrad progression system explained

Progression in Echoes of Aincrad is fairly straightforward for an ARPG. Your personal progression is dictated by a linear leveling system. As you explore mission areas, defeat bosses, and find secret treasures, you’re awarded XP. Accumulating a certain amount of XP increases your level automatically, without any manual intervention.

However, leveling up does not necessarily mean you’re getting a stat upgrade. Your levels are independent of your stats. Similar to The Witcher 3, your levels simply dictate the quests/bosses you can tackle during the main story.

To upgrade your attributes, you need to manually visit the Chest in your room and pick the stats you want to level up. Additionally, you also need to upgrade your weapons to keep up with the increasing difficulty of the quests. Weapon upgrades follow a similar structure to Nioh games, where you can sacrifice unused weapons to temper your preferred armament.

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Edited by Suman Biswas