Hero’s Adventure: Road To Passion is one of the best open-world RPGs I’ve seen in recent times. It promises a vibrant adventure where you, the underdog hero, shape your destiny. As you navigate this chaotic Martial World, you’ll face choices that influence your saga, making every decision a crucial part of your heroic narrative.
Being a big fan of Chinese martial arts, Korean Murim, and even Japanese martial arts, this game hit all the right spots for me. That is why I decided to make an in-depth guide for new players. Overall, this game doesn’t have a steep learning curve. It’s pretty simple to grasp, but it takes a bit of time and strategy to master.
So here’s a comprehensive beginner’s guide for all the new players to this game to help you all get started and avoid many of the early game mistakes that I’ve made. You mustn’t forget some of these and follow them rigorously. They will help you trigger certain events and get items that will play an essential role in the game later.
Updated to the latest Calamity in Penglai DLC!
Difficulty Selection
When you start a new game, the first thing you are greeted with is the difficulty selection. Even though most people would go with Normal Difficulty, I would recommend new players experience the normal difficulty till Day 100 to get the hang of the game. Unlock most of the achievements, and then get started with Hard or Nightmare difficulty to get a realistic and fun experience.
Hero’s Adventure has the following Normal, Hard, and Nightmare difficulty levels.
| Difficulty | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Easy/Normal | Ideal for learning game mechanics and experimenting with builds. |
| Hard/Nightmare | Best attempted after completing a playthrough and mastering combat and progression. |
Start on Normal difficulty, play until around Day 100, and unlock achievements to familiarize yourself with mechanics. Once confident, try Hard or Nightmare for a more intense experience.
Character Creation
This is one of the best aspects of this game. The character creation menu provides many fun options for players to explore, with 11 choices for weapons, some starting items to get you started with the game, and, of course, the trait selection, which provides unique functionalities to your character. Also, you get to set your character’s initial attributes here, which initially dictates how good your player is.
Don’t get too stressed about weapon selection since it only provides a starting move for your character, and you can decide to switch to other weapons whenever you wish throughout the early and mid-game.
Character Creation Tips For Beginners:
- Weapon Selection: For new players, I would recommend going with Fist or Sword since they are the most versatile and strong manuals in the game, which can be found and upgraded easily. You can also try using Spear or Staff since you can get some good manuals early on with strong weapons and late-game potential after joining the Ye Family Battalion. Feel free to Blade, Short (Dagger), or Musical Weapons once you get experienced since they require a bit more grind before you get the legendary manuals for them.
- Traits Selection: Initially, new players don’t have many traits, but there are quite a few good ones to get you started for your first playthrough. I would say “Analysing” and “Practice Makes Perfect” are two of the go-to traits since they provide a total of 45% increase in exp. Among the battle traits, I would recommend you select “Lone Wanderer” if you’re not planning on getting companions. If not, then “Like A Rabbit” and some weapon talent are a must to give you a speed advantage since speed is key in the world of Jianghu!
- Initial Attributes: There are five attributes in this game: Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Luck. For beginners, I would recommend you distribute all the stats equally on each attribute since each stat can be raised up to nine by doing in-game activities. Using pills, which can be found in-game, allows you to raise five stats of your choice, and certain traits also provide stat bonuses to your character. You can refer to our other guides to know how to get the most out of each stat!
For initial items, I would recommend new players get three gift items: wine, cosmetics, and appliances so that they can build relationships with the Blacksmith, Innkeeper, and hunter from Nameless Village.
Beginner’s Tips for Days 1-5 in Hero’s Adventure
A lot of events happen in the first five days of the game, and here are some tips to help you navigate through those five days.
- The choice between Cold Woman and Constable: This is the first choice you need to make (or not, depending on you) in the game. You can leave the scene or choose to save whoever you want since it won’t matter much in the late game. They both give the same rewards, and you can let the other person go when one of them falls asleep in the temple at night.
- Lost Forest: This is the first place you visit after the dilapidated temple. Here, you can find small berries (I recommend you collect 15 to cover all future events), fight snakes and boars to level up to 15, make friends with Liu Shiba, and finally find 2 Lingzhi Mushrooms and the Combat Experience Treasure at the back of the forest.
- Nameless Village: When you enter the Nameless Village, you will meet a “Lewd Old Man” whom you can choose to take as your master, who will provide you with good manuals as you progress through the game and a bunch of new questlines. For your first playthrough, I would highly recommend you take him as your master.
- Nameless Inn Event: Be sure to have 500 gold on you at all times, since when you enter the Inn at the Nameless Village after all, an event will trigger where you need to pay 500 gold, NOT 200, and you get purple relic which provides good stats when appraised later on.
- Farming: The Lost Forest is the best place for you to farm gold and exp in the early game. Spend your first five days farming and selling the loot to the villagers [Butcher for selling meat, Doctor for selling poisons, woodcutter for selling leaves and lumber, Hunter for selling skins and Blacksmith for selling Ores].
Event Tips for Beginners After Day 5
Once you successfully complete the 3-day time limit quest at the Dilapidated Temple, an exciting series of events awaits you. Return to the location and boost favorability to 100 with whoever you save to trigger a fierce battle against numerous enemies alongside a mysterious character.
Your objective is clear – ensure the survival of this character. Victory in this battle rewards you with three valuable maps, each leading to hidden treasures in different cities. These treasures provide 10,000 gold and other valuable items.
Event Tips for Beginners In Nameless Village
Here’s a breakdown of key events that take place in Nameless Village, which you can trigger before moving on to other cities.:
Little HongQi Beggar Scenario:
- Carrying 500 gold or more triggers an encounter with the Little HongQi beggar.
- Swiftly address the situation if he snatches your money to unlock the correct scenario.
- Delaying may result in a different scenario, potentially causing you to miss out on his staff martial arts skills.
- Cook and feed him good food to invite him to your team. (Level up cooking from Si Liang).
Si Liang’s Favorability and Assassination Attempt:
- Raise SiLiang’s favorability to 100 for another new event.
- The assassination attempt scenario unfolds at the Inn between 12 am and 2 am.
- Defeat the assassins aiming to harm SiLiang.
- Also, consider delaying her dowry quest until you amass enough gold since it provides an epic-grade accessory.
Hunter Liu Shiba’s Events:
- The Hunter character may not trigger significant scenarios in the Nameless Village, but be sure to take him with you to other cities.
- He is crucial in convincing the Blue Wind Camp and also gets a new trait when he meets his nephew at the Chi Xiang City Armory.
Village Chief and the 12-Zodiac Event:
- The Village Head plays a pivotal role in initiating the 12-zodiac quest, which isn’t something I’d recommend beginners to pursue in their first playthrough.
- It would be best if you bought over ten painting gifts, which you can buy from the village peddler.
- Raise the Head’s favorability to 100, unlocking the quest. Access the underground storage, requiring the Legendary key provided by the Head, to obtain one of the 12 zodiac rings.
- Following this, engage in saving Little Bao from bandits and destroy the wooden bench box at the hideout, uncovering a Legendary key.
- Talk to the Head again for further guidance, unlocking a new area on the Village map leading to the 12-zodiac cave scenario.
Village Blacksmith’s Events:
- Ensure the Blacksmith’s favorability reaches 100 for valuable rewards and get him on your team.
- Unlock the chest in his possession to acquire a Rare Internal Art Manual, which is nearly the same as the initial Rare Yang Internal Art Manual at the beginning of the game. Trade the key from him to get this from his chest.
- He is also essential in triggering certain events at the Langya Sword Pavilion.
Beyond the Nameless Region
After leaving the Nameless Region, the world opens up. Here’s some tips to help you make the most of it:
Exclamation Mark Events
Exclamation marks indicate one-time events, often involving combat. Approach them cautiously:
- Be Prepared: Ensure full health and MP before engaging.
- No Second Chances: Failure means the event disappears forever.
Libraries and Deans
In Chuxiang City and Daliang City, you’ll find schools with Deans offering intellectual challenges. These mini-games reward Wisdom points and set you on the path to completing the Imperial Examinations, which are crucial for certain storylines. Look up answers to these puzzles online if needed.
Building Friendships
Relationships offer numerous benefits, such as:
- Quests and martial arts manuals from NPCs.
- Better prices at shops and free access to house items.
- The ability to invite NPCs into your party.
Chests and Machinery
Whenever you encounter locked chests:
- Use Machinery instead of keys to gain XP and save resources.
- Befriend a Night Watchman in a city to learn Machinery.
Leveling Stats
Engage in specific activities to raise your base stats by 10 points:
- Dexterity: Walking
- Strength: Gathering nodes
- Constitution: Eating food and drinking wine
- Intelligence: Praying in temples
- Luck: Opening lootboxes or fishing for clams and mussels
Pawnbrokers
Pawnbrokers are invaluable:
- Buy unidentified items to level Identify skills and Luck.
- Purchase gifts like calligraphy, ornaments, and books for relationships.
- Exchange Gold Sycees and Silver Scrap as needed.
Advanced Tips
Focus on High-Rank Activities: Higher-rank resources or skills yield more XP, making your progression faster and more efficient.
Homestead: Upgrade selectively. Avoid rushing Back Mountain as it reduces accessible nodes.
Martial Arts Comprehension (DLC): Combine arts of the same type and rarity for powerful boosts. Use the Lewd Old Man’s universal skills to unlock cross-weapon manuals.
Bribes vs. Friendships: Raise guard approval to 60 to bypass restricted areas cheaply instead of bribing them.
Hero’s Adventure: Road To Passion
Indie, RPG, Strategy
