Dreamscaper is a unique roguelike title about blurring the boundaries between dreams and waking reality. Players will dive deep into their character’s dreams in order to face off against nightmares and all sorts of other challenges. A player will have to survive against perma-death, along with fighting against enemies that represent emotions in the human psyche.

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Due to the title being an experience that not many have been able to go through before in other games, a newer player might find themselves getting stuck at the beginning. Moments that a knowledgeable player would understand can prove challenging for newcomers, so keep these tips in mind when delving into Dreamscaper for the first time.

9 Lucid Mode Can Ease Difficulty

Dreamscaper - An image of the player walking down the woods.

The more roguelike parts of Dreamscaper can be a bit difficult for most new players. Bosses can be harder if a player isn’t properly equipped, or haven’t figured out the right strategy to take down a particularly hard enemy yet.

Lucid Mode is essentially the “Easy Mode” of Dreamscaper. It eases up the difficulty of the game by making the player grow stronger, and decreasing the amount of damage that they take after dying. The decreasing of damage is accumulative, as well.

8 Lucid Abilities Are Very Useful

Dreamscaper - The player using two melee weapons.

Lucid attacks – otherwise known as abilities – are some of the best attacks in the game. A player will start off with Astral Blow at the first default lucid attack, and will start to unlock more as they play.

Lucid abilities can be used within dreams, and are great to use against large swathes of enemies. They target significant amounts of enemies, and deal high damage. A player should prioritize unlocking as many as possible, so clearing out enemies can become easier in the roguelike experience.

7 Bosses Aren’t Mandatory After Winning Once

Dreamscaper - A street in the middle of the night.

Unlike other roguelike games, it isn’t mandatory to face off against a boss more than once after beating it for the first time. Once they are defeated, the player can move on to the next area, instead of needing to fight everyone all together.

It is still recommended that players fight off bosses more than once, though. This is because beating the bosses again will net a nice reward, which can always be used to improve game-play further.

6 Fast Travel Isn’t Restricted

Dreamscaper - A player swinging their weapon in the woods.

Fast Travel is always an important addition to games with a large map. Dreamscaper is no different. Most players may be used to Fast Travel being restricted in some way. For example, in many games, it can only be used in certain scenarios, such as being unable to fast travel whenever there are enemies nearby.

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However, Dreamscaper does not restrict Fast Travel. It can be used whenever necessary, as long as the player has already been to that area before. It can be used in the waking world, as well.

5 Keep An Even Balance Of Ranged & Melee Weapons

Dreamscaper - A player standing in a cemetery.

It may sound obvious, but it’s a good idea to balance a player’s use of ranged weapons and secret weapons. There is an option in this roguelike title that randomizes the weapons a player has to use in a round. However, this may not be the most optimal choice.

Usually, it’s a good idea to make sure that a player will have an equal amount of both weapons. This will ensure that they will be able to fight off any enemy thrown in their direction.

4 Look For Secret Rooms

Dreamscaper - Fighting off enemies in the middle of the street.

Secret rooms are littered throughout Dreamscaper. As their name suggests, it’s not easy to simply stumble upon one of them, but finding one can benefit players greatly in the long run. These rooms can contain all sorts of goodies that a player would want to go for.

Players can find secret rooms by bombing a wall where the gate adjacent to the secret room is. There will be a spot that appears on the wall that can be bombed, so it’s just a matter of looking.

3 Improve Relations in the Real World

Dreamscaper - Fighting enemies in an ice-covered street.

A player should not neglect the real world when it comes to Dreamscaper, even though the main focus of the game is the dream world. Relationships in the real world can have perks in the dream world.

By forging relationships and giving gifts to people in the real world, the player’s stats and benefits will increase within the dream world. On top of this, it can also add more lore and develop the player’s character as well.

2 Parrying Will Weaken Enemies

Dreamscaper - The player fighting a larger monster in the woods.

Parrying is an important skill to learn in Dreamscaper, because it will make almost every non-boss enemy incredibly easy to deal with. Learning how to parry will allow a player to reflect projectiles and other damage back at the enemy.

With this, damage that is meant for the player will instead be redirected towards the enemy. Parrying may take a little while to learn, but once a player does so, it makes the game much easier.

1 Meditation is the Best Tree to Upgrade

Dreamscaper - Walking down a neon-lit street corner.

There are multiple skill trees that a player can upgrade in Dreamscaper, in order to make their play-through easier and their character even stronger. It is widely considered among many players of the roguelike that Meditation is the best tree to work on in general.

Going through Meditation will increase the player’s Health, increase critical extinguish damage, make parrying easier, and much more. It’s recommended to upgrade each tree, but Meditation is the best one and should be prioritized the most.

Dreamscaper is available on Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

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