How to Play Warriors of Waterdeep: Beginner’s Guide

D&D fans rejoice as Ludia brings a new Dungeons & Dragons game to Android and iOS devices. A turn-based role-playing game, Warriors of Waterdeep is set in the Sword Coast’s most influential city, Waterdeep.

Also known as “The Crown of the North”, Waterdeep is attacked by evil forces from all sides and only you can save it from total destruction. You will have to build your own party of adventurers to fight fearsome monsters, collect treasure chests and make your heroes more powerful by equipping gear to them.

The game lets you collect and upgrade powerful weapons, armor and accessories and experiment with powerful gear combos to unleash mighty effects on the battle arena.  

There are two main game modes – Explore and Battle. In Explore, you will fight AI monsters and in Battle mode, you will be battling against human opponents in fierce turn-based battles. There are also limited-time events that allows you to earn coins and cards by exploring an endless dungeon infested with monsters and huge bosses.

This guide is aimed at new adventurers and explains everything one needs to know about turn-based battles, gear cards, renown and the red dice. You can also watch our gameplay video below to know more Warriors of Waterdeep:

How to Play

1. Your party consists of 4 characters. You can choose your best heroes to fight AI enemies in exploration mode. But in PvP “Battle” mode, 4 characters are randomly selected from your roster

2. To select characters for “Explore” mode, tap the “Heroes” tab and then drag a hero’s portrait towards the platform to add him/her to your party. Once you have more than 4 characters in your roster, you can change your team by replacing the current character with a new one.

You will receive a new hero when you reach a new “Renown” level.  During combat, you will have to tap an enemy to perform a melee or ranged attack.

Tap an attack ability on the bottom of the screen and then tap on an enemy to attack him. You can’t choose your hero while attacking, it’s randomly selected by AI. Similarly, to heal another hero or deal status effects to him/her, tap a hero’s ability and then tap another character.

3. When fighting goblins, skeletons and other assorted enemies, pay attention to their “battle timer” or turn meter. The hexagon-shaped turn meter is located just above an enemy. It fills up in every turn and when its full, the enemy attacks.

Keep an eye on glowing hexagons above enemies – these suggests that enemies will perform an action or attack once your heroes’ turn ends. Since you have the freedom to choose an enemy to perform an attack, you should take strategic advantage of these hexagon meters to decide which enemy you should attack first.

4. Use the “Skip” button wisely. It is located on the left side of the screen. Use it when you need the most, such as when you want to avoid spike traps in front of you and want the enemies (melee units) to approach those traps first.

5. Pay attention to the red dice. In Warriors of Waterdeep, a hero’s move and attack ability get a big boost when the red dice flashes just above an ability’s icon on the bottom of the screen.

You can easily view the chances of the red dice appearing above an ability by tapping and holding ability icons. When your hero’s turn comes, just tap and hold his ability to see the chances of the red dice flashing above it. The red dice’s appearance chances are measured in percentages.

6. There are four archetypes and a hero or a villain belongs to one of these archetypes: Sturdy (Blue), Skilled (Yellow), Tough (Red), Mighty (Purple).

A hero or villain’s archetype affects his combat stats. Sturdy heroes or villains have high HP or healing abilities.

Mighty characters deal extra damage (DMG) when they hit their target. Tough characters have high Armor Class (AC). A high AC helps reduce the damage taken from successful hits. Skilled characters have increased Attack (ATK) stats, which gives them a higher chance to deal max damage to enemies.

7. Each archetype is stronger than the other – Sturdy > Skilled > Tough > Mighty > Sturdy. You can take full advantage of a hero’s stronger archetype against enemies during combat with the help of the above sequence.

Basically, a hero with a stronger archetype will deal more damage to an enemy with a weaker archetype. However, the game provides a much easier way to know which enemy is weaker than your hero by displaying arrows above each enemy.

A green arrow above an enemy suggests that the damage dealt will be highest. A yellow arrow suggests normal damage whereas a red arrow indicates less damage. Since you can choose any target, select the ones that have a green or yellow arrow to reduce their HP drastically.

8. When choosing the best characters for your party for “Explore” missions, make sure your team composition includes characters from each archetype. To know a hero’s archetype, tap the helmet icon on the bottom of the home screen. Next, tap a hero’s portrait and then tap the tiny “i” beside his stats on the upper left corner of the screen.

9. In Warriors of Waterdeep, you can dig for more information about your foes and your heroes during combat. This will definitely help you know which ability you should use and how dangerous the enemy on the frontline is:

Tap and hold a hero’s attack ability icon on the bottom of the screen to get more information about it. The info card will show key stats such as ATK and DMG, cooldown (in turns), if any, whether the ability is ranged or melee and any extra effect if the red dice above the attack ability’s icon flashes. As you progress, you will unlock more abilities by equipping new gear items to your heroes.

You can also know an enemy’s stats and abilities. Just tap and hold on an enemy until his sheet appears on the battle screen. You will find crucial info such as enemy type (humanoid/leader), stats (ATK, DMG, HP,) and all abilities, including their effects.

10. Make sure enemies are within your hero’s attack range. If the enemy is not within your range, you will have to move forward by tapping the glowing slots on the battle arena to come closer to him. Melee units usually have to be near enemies to attack them.

11. You will receive a chest and some coins when you win an exploration stage. Chests usually contain coins and gear item cards such as boots, helmets, armor, spell books, weapons and accessories (rings, amulets etc.). Gear cards can be upgraded/equipped to your character.

12. You will need a certain number of duplicate gear cards to upgrade the original gear card of a hero. Upgrading a gear card improves that’s card’s stats (ATK, DMG etc.) and grants XP to the hero. You will get gear cards from chests.

13. To upgrade gear cards, tap “Heroes” (Helmet icon) and then tap a hero’s card or portrait. Make sure you tap a hero card that has a tiny number on it as it denotes the number of gear available for upgrade/that can be equipped to your character.

Now tap on a gear item’s tab that has a tiny red circle on it. Tap upgrade. You will notice changes in stats just beside your animated character. They will be shown in green when you tap an upgradable card.

14. As you progress through exploration stages, you will obtain new gear which can be equipped to your character via the “Heroes” tab. However, your hero needs to attain a particular level before you can equip a new gear card to him/her.

15. Keep upgrading a hero’s gear cards to obtain XP for him. When his XP bar is full, your hero can level up. Upgrading a hero’s level not only improves his stats (ATK, DMG, HP), but also lets you equip higher level gear items to him.

16. Keep this in mind when upgrading gear or leveling up a character:

When you upgrade gear, your hero gains XP. He/she also gains XP during combat. Once your hero’s XP bar is full, you can level him up to improve his key stats. When he is ready to level up, a big green arrow is displayed on his portrait.

When you level up a hero, you gain “Renown”. You can see your Renown level on the upper-left corner of the screen. Once your Renown bar is full, you reach a new Renown level. When you reach a new Renown level, you get a reward pack which contains a new hero card, coins and new gear that can be equipped to that hero.

When you upgrade a gear card, it reaches a new level. Reaching a certain gear level improves a particular ability. When you tap a gear card, you will see an ability flashing and upgrading a gear card to a particular level improves that ability’s stats, such as higher chances of red dice appearing above an ability and increased effect when the red dice appears.

17. Once you get new gear items, try experimenting by changing gear to discover new abilities and improved stats. Tap Heroes (helmet tab) and then tap a new gear item. Next, tap “Info” and then tap “Equip”. Each new gear item unlocks newer abilities which can be beneficial during combat. Keep experimenting until you find the best gear setup for your heroes.