The Relic: First Guardian throws a lot at you right away. Between five weapon types, a relic system with over 70 passives, twelve skill trees, and nearly 80 bosses scattered across a ruined world, it is easy to feel lost in your first few hours. This beginner’s guide breaks down exactly what to focus on first, so you can settle into the game’s rhythm instead of getting steamrolled by it.
What Is The Relic: First Guardian?
Before jumping into tips, a quick word on the game itself. The Relic: First Guardian is a dark action RPG built by Project Cloud Games, a small team of around a dozen developers, and published by Perp Games. It draws heavily on Korean mythology and folklore, set in the ruined world of Arsilthus after the destruction of the Great Relic unleashes a shadowy Void across the land. You play as the last Guardian, tasked with recovering the shattered pieces of the relic to seal the Void and save what remains of the world. It is available digitally on PS5 and PC.
Understand How Stamina Actually Works First
This is the single biggest thing to get right early, and it trips up a lot of players coming from other soulslikes. In The Relic: First Guardian, basic attacks and skills do not cost stamina. Stamina is only spent on dodging and blocking. If you play this like Dark Souls and hold back your attacks to conserve stamina, you are actually playing it wrong. You can attack far more freely than you are used to, but you still cannot ignore your stamina bar completely, since running out means you cannot dodge or block the punish that follows.
Choosing Your Starting Weapon
There is no traditional class system here. Instead, your weapon choice functions as your class. You start with a sword and shield, and four other weapon types unlock as you progress, including options like dual daggers for faster, more aggressive playstyles.
A few tips for picking your main weapon:
- Pick the weapon that feels most reliable against regular enemies, not just the one that looks strongest against bosses
- Test its basic combo, dash follow-up, and recovery time before committing resources to it
- Avoid spreading your attention across every weapon type at once early on
- Carrying a backup weapon is fine, but your main weapon should get the bulk of your early experimentation
How the Relic System Works
Relics are the core of your build in The Relic: First Guardian, since there is no traditional leveling system. With over 70 unique passive effects available, it is tempting to equip whatever you find first, but that is not the best approach.
Relics generally fall into a few categories:
- Stat boosts
- Survival effects, like extra healing or damage reduction
- Attack boosts, like raw damage or crit chance
- Cooldown reduction for skills
- Weapon-specific bonuses
- Special effects, like inflicting Frostbite or granting brief stealth
Picking one relic from each category tends to work better than stacking five copies of the same effect. You can only equip a handful of relics at once early on, with more slots unlocking later through Relic Energy and a rarer item called an Awakening Shard. Prioritise relics that fix whatever is actually killing you, rather than hoarding every drop you find.
First Skill Tree Priorities
Each of the twelve skill trees ties into your weapon choice and can support different playstyles, whether that is sustained attacks, mixed light and heavy combos, cooldown-focused damage, or a more defensive setup. Before spending Relic Energy on a skill node, check exactly what it unlocks. Some nodes are simple passive buffs, while others add an entirely new attack that changes how your weapon plays. A focused build that commits to one branch becomes effective faster than one that spreads resources thin across everything.
Exploring Arsilthus the Right Way
Most bosses, weapons, armor, and upgrade materials in this game are not marked by clear checkpoints. Instead, they are hidden around events scattered near each hub area. Every time you unlock a new fast-travel campsite, take the time to explore the ruins and villages nearby before pushing further into the world. This is genuinely how the game is designed to be played, and skipping ahead too quickly often means running into bosses that are far too strong for your current gear.
Dungeons are worth prioritising too, since completing them expands world access and directly feeds your relic progression, making them build engines rather than optional side content.
Fighting Your First Bosses
The game’s roughly 80 bosses, sometimes called Brutals, vary a lot in difficulty and design. A few useful habits:
- Before a fight, note whether the boss punishes careless attacks and rewards parrying, or whether it is better handled with pure evasion
- If a specific boss keeps wrecking you, it is often better to explore elsewhere and come back stronger later, since most of the boss roster is optional
- Read notes and lore items you find. They often double as navigation clues pointing toward unexplored areas or hints about a boss’s weaknesses
Common Early Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating this like a classic stamina-for-everything soulslike. You can attack freely, but stamina still limits your dodging and blocking
- Swapping weapons every time you find a new one. Finish exploring at least one skill tree branch before abandoning your current kit
- Selling gear without inspecting it first. Every weapon and armor piece in this game is unique
- Ignoring lore notes scattered through the world, since they often function as a map as much as story content
A Quick Word on Reception
It is worth knowing that The Relic: First Guardian has had a mixed critical reception since launch. Reviewers have praised its combat feel, environmental design, and ambitious scope, while also pointing to camera issues, repetitive world design in places, and some inconsistent boss design. If you go in expecting an ambitious, still-rough soulslike rather than a fully polished one, you will likely get more out of it.
Ready to Start Your Journey in Arsilthus?
Getting your stamina habits right, picking a weapon that suits you, and exploring each new hub area thoroughly before pushing forward will save you a lot of frustration in your first few hours. From there, the relic system gives you real freedom to shape your build around whatever keeps killing you.
Head over to Driffle to buy The Relic: First Guardian at the best price, with fast digital delivery so you can start your journey as Arsilthus’s last Guardian today. If you enjoy soulslike action RPGs, it is also worth browsing Driffle for more single-player titles in the same genre.
