Glyph

Glyphs are a new type of gear, introduced in September 2023. They use a different system of upgrading from other gear, and introduce three new stats: Atk Amplification [Circle Glyph], Atk Amplification [Square Glyph], and Atk Amplification [Hex Glyph], all new attack multipliers akin to Atk Amplification [Belt]. Glyphs only have Equip Effects, no Owned Effects. You can equip one glyph of each shape, benefiting from each of the three Atk Amps, plus the glyph-specific bonus based on the shape/pattern you've chosen.

You earn glyphs from the Glyph Dungeon; you get one ticket a day. You earn "Aged Glyphs" (the level-up currency) from a daily quest; 10 ads gets you 10 aged glyphs, and one more gets you an additional 10.

## Basic Mechanics

Glyphs come in three shapes (circle, square, hex), and five patterns:

* Red, granting Atk bonuses
* Green, granting HP bonuses
* Blue, granting Def bonuses
* Yellow, granting Skill Dmg bonuses (Circle for Slash, Square for Aura, Hex for Magic)
* Purple, granting damage bonuses against a type of monster (Circle and Hex for "normal" monsters, Square for "boss" monsters)

Additionally, glyphs have a "grade" (using the standard Common/Uncommon/etc scale that all gear uses), and a level, both of which affect the Atk Amplification stat. Specifically, the Atk Amp stat's value is

30
%
(
1
%
∗
(
L
e
v
e
l
−
1
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∗

2

G
r
a
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{\displaystyle 30\%+(1\%\*(Level-1)\*2^{Grade})}

 (with Common being Grade 0 for this purpose). For example, a level 10 Uncommon glyph (grade=1) has an Atk Amp of

30
%
(
1
%
∗
9
∗

2

1

# )
48
%

{\displaystyle 30\%+(1\%\*9\*2^{1})=48\%}

 (a 1.48 multiplier), while a level 20 Ancient glyph (grade=3) has an Atk Amp of

30
%
(
1
%
∗
19
∗

2

3

# )
182
%

{\displaystyle 30\%+(1\%\*19\*2^{3})=182\%}

 (a 2.82 multiplier). In other words, increasing the grade of a glyph *almost* doubles its Atk Amp right away; since it also raises the level cap, each grade is worth at least double the previous grade, even before taking the grade-specific benefits into account.

## Upgrading Glyphs

Glyphs upgrade differently from other gear. Similar to other gear, you merge several glyphs of one grade into a single glyph of the next grade, but unlike other gear, each glyph is unique and carries its own level. When upgrading, you choose *one* glyph to be upgraded, and then choose several "fodder" glyphs of the same grade to sacrifice to it. (For the first several grades it costs three fodder glyphs; later grades take two or only one.) While you really only want to level up the glyphs you're equipping, if you *have* spent aged glyphs to level up other glyphs, they're not lost - you'll get them refunded when you use them as fodder.

When upgrading a Common or Uncommon (gray or green) glyph, you can use *any* glyph of the same grade as fodder. For Rare and Ancient (purple and orange), the fodder has to have the same *shape*. For Legendary (blue) or higher, the fodder has to be *the exact same glyph*. You should thus keep your goals in mind when merging glyphs - if you're currently working on upgrading a Square glyph, make sure you have at least one Square Uncommon glyph so when you upgrade it to Rare it'll be usable as fodder for your main Square; similarly, make sure you have the correct pattern on one Ancient glyph before raising it to Legendary, so you can fodder it for your main glyph. (This isn't difficult to ensure; it takes 16 Commons to make one Rare, and 256 to make one Legendary, so you're pretty certain to find the right shape out of 3, or the right pattern out of 5, before it's time to merge.)

### Optimal Upgrade Path

Ignoring HP and Def (if you need those, you'll know), the optimal glyphs to upgrade for DPS are the Atk glyphs (red pattern).

* Dmg glyphs (purple) are only useful for half the situations you'll run into, so you'll want an Atk glyph of the same shape *anyway.* The fact that your Atk Amp doubles each grade means it's more efficient to just focus on getting your Atk glyph to a higher level, rather than trying to upgrade two glyphs at once. (They're a good second glyph to raise up *after* you've gotten a Trans Atk glyph, however.)
* Skill glyphs are just weak, even the Slash one. They replace the Cri Dmg and Super Cri Dmg bonuses at Uncommon and Mythic with a Skill Dmg bonus, and while the number *looks* higher, Skill Dmg isn't a pure multiplier - it gets *added* to your Slash/Aura/Magic Dmg stat, which'll in practice be larger anyway, so a Skill Dmg multiplier is typically worth *less than half* of an equivalent damage multiplier.

The optimal upgrade path is:

* Upgrade your Atk glyphs evenly. Keep them at the same level, and when you upgrade one to a new grade, upgrade the other two to the same grade before you start on the next grade.
* Once all three Atk glyphs are at Ancient (orange), raise up a Dmg glyph to Ancient (any shape). Level it to max, and swap between it and your Atk glyph as appropriate for what you're fighting.
* Raise up two more fodder glyphs of the same shape. When they're both Ancient, immediately feed all three (including the Dmg glyph) to your Atk glyph, and use the refunded aged glyphs to level your Atk glyph.
* Repeat for the other two shapes.
* From Legendary to Fantasy, continue upgrading as normal (Atk only), getting all of your glyphs to the new grade before starting on the next.
* Once you get a Fantasy glyph, upgrade it straight to Transcendent before upgrading your other Mythic glyphs.

This "upgrade a Dmg glyph temporarily" trick *only* works at Ancient. Before Ancient, Atk and Dmg glyphs are identical; after Ancient, you can no longer feed the Dmg glyph to your Atk glyph (patterns have to match from Legendary onward), so you can't recover the investment.