Many people have been asking what direction to take / what to do as a new player so I will list a relative guide as what you should strive to aim for. Keep in mind that you are clearing content in days it took me weeks/months to reach so things may feel fast forwarded and frustrating at times.

Generally the end goal is to clear descends with 0 stones used and in order to get to that level will require a few things:

A) Get a strong starter / team that is viable in clearing descends. There are many existing guides heavily covering this topic so you will need to do some of your own homework on what to aim for as this guide is going to assume you have passed that stage of the game.

B) Rank UP! you must keep ranking up not only to reach the 50 stamina required to even enter descends, but to also increase team cost to be able to fit in all the subs you wish to bring. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) PAD is a very grindy game in that you are going to have to repeat dungeons over and over again whether it be for plus eggs, skill ups, team cost, or rank experience. When you first start out your rank and thus max stamina and team cost will be your limiting factors. As such, I cannot stress enough that you are going to have to play dungeons over and over again. With the advent of 1.5x experience existing in normal dungeons, these will be the best to play over and over to chain rank ups for many ranks. If those are not present, I would play the highest normal dungeon you are capable of clearing and only stopping when you feel you hit a ‘wall.’ A very important thing to note is that on Saturday and Sunday, Tower of Giants and most specifically Dragons of the Tower will be available for 3 stamina and thus providing ~500 exp / stamina. This may be boring but can be done infinitely for about the first 80 ranks.

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C) Level up your monsters as high as possible and evolve them to their max evolution if you are fortunate to acquire the rare 50 stamina materials (eg. Keeper of gold, Jewel of Water, etc.). Even just reaching their second evolution is sufficient for early content. Research where their mats drop from and get them! It is also worth noting that monsters will gain diminishing returns on experience at higher levels because they require far more experience to level up near max level compared to the first several. Therefore, it is more beneficial to level up your leader and subs relatively equally instead of all experience into one card.

D) +297! Or at least place pluses on ideally your end game leader / most used sub as these stats will make a difference. As a general rule, it is best to plus out your favourite/end game leader since this will also generate more pal points through friends, Best Friend Requests, and overall levels of happiness. You can read my Best Friend Guide HERE.

E) Awaken your monsters, they are sleepy! Do not vendor Tamadras  to save box space, simply leave them in your mailbox as ‘free’ inventory space. Generally the most beneficial awakening at the beginning are skill boost (to get actives up sooner and thus stall less) , two prong attack , row enhance (if team benefits from this)     , and to a certain extent auto heal .  This changes as you progress/descend depending

F) Research! Do your own research on what the dungeon entails, if there is a pre-emptive of 12k and you have only 11k hp, find a way around it or attempt at a later date. Also, do a damage test in endless corridors by taking a screenshot and calculating your damage and compare it to the dungeon you are plan on doing. I can help, but do some research on your own first via PuzzledragonX

G) Beat all the skill up dungeons even if they do not skill up your main cards. Some of them such as Scarlet Snake Princess and Gleaming dragon drop invaluable subs for most teams. These are also easy to clear and reward a stone. This also gives a break from the mindless grind of normal dungeons as you see different monsters

H) Grind normal dungeons, if stuck switch to technical, then switch back if hitting another wall. Best things to play are Ocean of Heaven (esp on weekends) and the dungeons above during better drop rates. If those prove too difficult, play the ones just below Ocean of Heaven. With the introduction of 1.5x rank experience in normal dungeons, play the highest difficulty one you are comfortable replaying as this will be the most time efficient way to rank up. As noted earlier, Dragons of the Tower grants 500 exp/stamina on weekends with it costs 3 stamina. It is mindless and boring, but impossible to lose and can be quickly cleared with a lead like Echidna who deals damage with any orb match

I) Descends to aim for that are ‘easier’ in no particular order (note that some are easier for certain teams as the dungeon simply favours them due to colours/mechanics etc) and assume legendary if two options:
1. Hera-Is
2. Satan (No Recovery)
3. Heracles (God of Brawn)
4. Takenimakata (red, blue, light, heal only)
5. Athena
6. The Goddess (aka Yellow Valkyrie)
7. The Thief (Goemon)

Take these with a grain of salt as this is personal opinion as for instance light teams excel in Satan due to light damage being twice as effective versus dark attribute monsters.

J) Find powerful friends! In this current day and age, there is going to be plenty of players running your favourite leads who are already hyper maxed. Post on the numerous Facebook fan pages with your ID and your favourite leader asking for help. In my own personal experience, the PAD community is amazingly warm and welcoming and you will get a response =)

I) Be patient! This game is not meant to beat in a day. It takes a long time to build up a strong team and yes things may come quickly, but some things have to be grinded out. This is not a pvp game, so even if Bob has shiny new things, it does not affect your gameplay nor your enjoyment. Others may clear content at lower ranks simply due to better team comp, luck, individual skill, or the dungeon simply favours their team. Go at your own pace and enjoy the journey!

Happy Puzzling!