If you’re a gamer looking to satisfy your dungeon-crawling, spell-slinging cravings, then Wizard of Legend is exactly what you’re looking for. This frenetic, rogue-like adventure takes you through the pixel-graphic dungeons of the Chaos Trials, a gauntlet of challenges that will test your magical might. The game is available on Steam, Humble Bundle, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Developed and published by Contingent99, Wizard of Legend is a fast-paced, simple, addictive game that puts you through the Chaos Trials: A 10-level dungeon of progressively difficult enemies, bosses, and tactical decisions. You’ll collect spells, items, and currency as you go through each level, eventually facing off against the mysterious final boss. Succeed and you’ll officially receive the title of Wizard of Legend, a prestigious prestidigitator of prodigious power (you’ll get the option to purchase some unique loot too)!
Guide to Wizard of Legend
How to play
The game’s controls are very simple, with the joystick (or mouse) to move, and 4-6 buttons allocated to equippable spells: One basic, one standard, one dash, and one chargeable signature. Once you enter the first dungeon, the goal is to reach a room with the mini-boss. Defeat him and you’ll be allowed to progress to the next dungeon. Once you’ve beaten each boss you’ve won the game.
This is the way progression works in the game: Everything in the trials costs coins (which will never stay with you after beating the trial) and everything in the pre-game lobby costs gems. Things you buy with coins don’t stay with you. Things you buy with gems do. Spend your gems on Arcana, Relics, or Outfits out in the lobby, trying to find the best combination that works for your unique play style. When you’ve got gems to spare, you can even consider spending some to dictate the dungeon order ahead of time, get a starting bonus of gold, get a random set of Arcana, or even fuse two Outfits together into one. There’s no one way to win, but rather many clever combinations of Relic, Arcana, and Outfit that work in tandem to increase your chance of victory.
How to save
If you’ve been fruitlessly searching for a checkpoint during your Chaos Trials, we’ll burst that bubble right now: There’s no way to truly ‘save’ in Wizard of Legend. Should you die during the trial, you’re sent back to the lobby to start again from scratch. You’ll also lose any coins you collected, any unique relics acquired, and any spell you bought with coins during the trial.
You will, however, get to keep any collected gems as well as any spells gifted to you from the three main bosses (Earth, Water, and Fire).
Arcana
Arcana is divided into five categories (along with a secret sixth called Chaos, unlocked only upon passing the Chaos Trials): Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Lightning. While the corresponding spells can be similar, the element changes the shape, damage, and rate of fire, forcing you to choose what best suits your style of play.
Earth is slow and deals high damage, while lightning rapidly damages enemies, and may shock them for a brief stun. Choose your four spells wisely; you only get one of each type:
Basic: Your basic attack is the only move you’ll get that won’t need a cooldown. It’s usually a fairly spammable projectile attack such as fireballs, a stream of lightning, or a volley of boulders.
Standard: The most ubiquitous, standard attacks are more damaging and more unique than basic attacks, and have a wider range of application. Some are simply stronger, chargeable attacks while others conjure minions, deal damage over time, ensnare foes, or even render you temporarily invulnerable to damage. Choose wisely, and remember to consider how it pairs with your other equipped types.
Dash: Every element has a couple of Dash moves, and they’re always useful. Healing yourself in Wizard of Legend is hard as health orbs are rare and maps are rife with angry enemies, deadly pitfalls, and unpredictable bosses. The main purpose of your dash is mobility and evasion (duh), but you can also infuse it with elemental attacks like lightning, ice traps, poison pits, or even fireballs.
Signature: Your most powerful attack, each element has a number of signature moves to choose between. Some are big AoE attacks, others are hold-to-charge high damage projectiles, and others still can incapacitate and stun large crowds of enemies. Whichever signature move you choose, the key is to mind the adrenaline meter directly below your health bar. Once this is fully charged you’ll be able to unleash an enhanced version of your signature move, which devastates large crowds or deals significant damage to bosses.
Click here for a full list of all the Arcana available in Wizard of Legend!
Relics
Relics are the next piece of the puzzle, and will have a dramatic effect on the efficiency of your chosen Arcana. There are three varieties of Relic: Offensive, defensive, and miscellaneous. The former largely serve to increase the damage of particular elements, crit more often, or boost the power of a particular Arcana type. The more defensive choices will resist certain damage types, increase the number of health orbs dropped, or boost your armor value. The miscellaneous variety are the most interesting, offering you reduced store prices during the trial, more gold from breaking crates and containers, charm enemies when taking damage, or reveal all enemy health bars.
As with the Arcana, the best approach is to take into account not so much what the Relic itself does, but how it operates in harmony with your other equipment and spells. Click here for a full list of the Relics in Wizard of Legend.
Outfits
The outfits in Wizard of Legend work in much the same way as the Relics in that some are more catered to offensive play styles while others will help keep you alive. They’ve all got vibrant colors, cool names, and multiple bonuses, so it’s well worth the 75 gems to buy a new one. Hint: Increased crit chance pairs particularly well with many of the Relics, so stack your bonuses!
Here’s a list of all the Outfits in the game.
Shops
Each level of the dungeon (as well as the starting lobby) will offer scattered NPCs to help you along your journey, offering Arcana, boosts, health, and equipment at a cost. The strategy of Wizard of Legend really shines through when you’re confronted with the opportunity to spend your hard-earned cash on a boost that will accompany you through the rest of the dungeon. Beware: Nothing comes for free. Is what you’re about to buy worth the price?
Artisan Andres
Andres manages the Relic shop, and is your most trusty companion; he’s there at every stage, and is your most reliable source of health.
A health potion will always cost 100 gold and is usually worth it. He’ll also sell you Relics, which are often the better choice early in the trials.
Virtuoso Iris
Iris puts up four random Arcana for sale and shows up pretty frequently during the trials. Buy from her to replace any Arcana you don’t want, or to enhance a spell you already have.
A good idea is to do this early on, ensuring that your base abilities are at their peak when the harder fights roll around.
Savile
Savile is the clothing merchant, and she’s arguably the most pricey NPC of the list. Her work charges you 100 gold … and also 125 of your current health.
Savile’s skill is well worth the money, however, as it grants your outfit a permanent 50% boost to its bonus!
Nox the Unfortunate
Nox is the devil of Wizard of Legend, and offers you cursed items. Like we mentioned above, everything has a price! These items are powerful, but will also plague you with an equally damaging debuff. Receive a large sum of gold, but go massively in debt.
Reduce your cooldowns by half, for example, at the cost of receiving double damage from all sources. It may seem foolish to make a deal with the devil, but if you’re near the end of the trials and your health bar is flashing the offer can become quite enticing. Will you bargain your soul?
Doctor Song
Like Nox the Unfortunate, Song will never ask you for money. Instead, she’s after your Arcana for research purposes.
Agree to give her one and she’ll randomly remove one from your arsenal, granting you one of four permanent Relics, most of which help you heal in-game.
Taffy
This irritating piñata taunts you to murder him, and if you do he’ll explode into an enhanced Arcana. The trick, however, is that you need to deal massive damage to him in the span of 5 seconds.
Before you start the trials be sure you can dish it out, or you may not be able to beat him early on!
Cremire the Collector
Cremire is an Archaeologist who will buy your Relics (unless they’re cursed; he’s not dumb) at 40% their original price.
If you’re strapped for cash but loaded with Relics he’s a smart person to talk with. A little extra gold can go a long way if you’re needing some health potions or enhanced Arcana!
Nocturne the Cardist
The last person you might meet in the dungeons of the Chaos Trials is Nocturne. He’ll give you the option to sacrifice one of your Arcana in exchange for a new one – one guaranteed to be enhanced.
If you’re relying on a particular build to get through the trials then he’s a dangerous man to talk to since he always takes yours at random, but if you don’t mind the risk he’s arguably the most useful of the NPCs since he always rewards you with an enhanced item at no cost.
Jade (only in main hub)
Jade will offer you 200 gold at the very start of your trial, but asks for 20 gems in exchange. If you’ve got gems to spare, she’s a great way to boost your chances of success.
Mah-Lind (only in main hub)
Mah-Lind is a seasoned old man who boasts some clout with the Council. What this means is that (for 10 gems) he’ll start you off on the boss who last defeated you, making the fight significantly easier this time around. This will also determine the starting dungeons, which can be very useful when deciding your Arcana loadout. If this is your first run since booting up the game, the member he chooses to start you against will be random.
The Dungeon
The dungeon itself is a huge component of the game, and a large determining factor to your success. Each layout is randomly-generated, meaning there’s no way to know where ambushes happen, what enemies you’ll be facing, who the boss will be, or where the various shops are. It also means you won’t know where the final room of each level will be; it could be right at the start or far beyond a long hallway of pitfalls, sentinels, and whirling traps.
Another component to the game’s strategy is when to explore and when to beeline for the next level. You can always stick around and explore every level to 100% and your wallet will thank you for the effort! This will also ensure that you get to know each shopkeeper available to you, which allows you to see all the purchase options laid out in front of you. As the dungeons get tougher, though, exploration carries a higher likelihood of taking damage. Is it worth exploring if you beat the level boss without taking much damage? Maybe. Up to you to decide!
Wizard of Legend is a game with many ways to lose, but many ways to win as well. If you get frustrated with how difficult it is or how frequently you’re defeated by the level bosses, remember that every run rewards you with experience and with gems, and other than having to restart from scratch there’s no real penalty for losing. Just suit up with an outfit, select your Arcana and Relic, and head back into the fray.
When you beat the Chaos Trials (and you will!) let us know in the comments below which build carried you through the winning run! Best of luck, and may you become a champion of champions, a Wizard of Legend!
