Beginner's Guide

As a new player, the wealth of systems, banners, and currencies that PGR has to offer may be overwhelming. This guide aims to minimise the resulting confusion and ease you into Punishing: Gray Raven.

*Parts of this guide assume you are going to be F2P; if you're a spender, feel free to disregard any F2P tips that seem irrelevant to you.*

## Choosing a Server

In the Global version, you will be given a choice of three servers to play on every time you open the game: North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The region you choose will determine who you can add as a friend and play co-op with. Co-op has a 2-second delay on all servers regardless of whether you chose the one nearest to you or not.

Your data will NOT carry over between servers, so please choose carefully.

## Banner Currencies in PGR

###  Black Cards

Black Cards are the most important and precious banner currency is PGR, as they can be converted into any other currency. Use these carefully, and avoid spending these on the Member Recruit banner in particular. **F2P players and low spenders will want to save all of these for new S-rank Construct debut banners** ("Theme Limited").

* **How to Acquire:** Stage completion, Mission completion, Events, Top-up ($), others

###  Basic Construct R&D Tickets

Basic Construct R&D Tickets are used exclusively in the Member Recruit banner under the first tab ("Base") of the R&D section. **F2P players should avoid converting Black Cards into Basic Construct R&D Tickets.**

* **How to Acquire:** Level up rewards, Bounty Missions, Login Reward, Top-up ($), others

###  Basic Weapon R&D Tickets

Basic Weapon R&D Tickets are used exclusively in the Weapon Research banner under the first tab ("Base") of the R&D section. **F2P players should avoid converting Black Cards into Basic Weapon R&D Tickets.**

* **How to Acquire:** Login Reward, Top-up ($), others

###  Target Weapon R&D Tickets

Target Weapon R&D Ticket are used exclusively in the Target Weapon Research banner under the first tab ("Base") of the R&D section. Players trying to get a character's 6★ weapon will probably convert Black Cards into Target Weapon R&D Tickets.

* **How to Acquire:** Top-up ($), others

###  Event Construct R&D Tickets

Event Construct R&D Tickets are used in any banner in the second tab (Event - Guaranteed) or the third tab (Special Event - Floating Guarantee) of the R&D section. Players attempting to pull for new S-rank Constructs you will probably convert Black Cards into Event Construct R&D Tickets.

* **How to Acquire:** Level up, Top-up ($), others

## Which Banner Should You Choose?

The short answer is that F2P players and low spenders should **avoid Tab 3 entirely** as it still has very large variance.

Some things to keep in mind:

* Characters and weapons are pulled from separate banners.
* Every banner has a pity (a maximum amount of pulls you need to do to guarantee a character/weapon).
* The A-rank Construct and 5★ Weapon pity counts are counted separately from the S-rank Construct/ and 6★ Weapon pity counts respectively.
* Pulling a Construct or weapon of a certain rarity before the pity counter reaches maximum will reset the counter back to 0 (eg., if you pull a featured S-rank on the 20th pull on Theme Limited banner, the next pity will take another 60 pulls).

## Tab 1: "Base - Guaranteed"

This tab houses what the community likes to call the beginner banner (Member Recruit) as well as the two weapon banners, namely Target Weapon Research and Weapon Research.

### Member Recruit

* This is a permanent banner.
* The first S-rank Construct pity in this banner comes in 40 pulls; **subsequent S-rank Constructs will have a pity of 60 pulls regardless of whether or not you hit the pity the first time.**
* A-rank Construct pity in this banner comes in 10 pulls.
* Often referred to as the "beginner banner" by players

### Target Weapon Research

* This is a permanent banner.
* In the bottom left corner, you may press a button to choose a specific weapon as the rate-up.
* The 5★ weapon pity comes in 10 pulls.
* The 6★ weapon pity comes in **30 pulls.**
* There is an **80% chance** of getting the chosen rate-up weapon on pulling a 6★ weapon.
* Every weapon remains in this banner permanently once added (with NieR collab weapons being the exception).

### Weapon Research

* This is a permanent banner.
* You cannot select a rate-up weapon here, so it is completely random.
* The 5★ weapon pity comes in 10 pulls.
* The 6★ weapon pity comes in **30 pulls.**
* Every weapon remains in this banner permanently once added (with NieR collab weapons being the exception).

## Tab 2: "Event - Guaranteed"

This tab features debut and rotational banners with a guaranteed S-rank Construct pity on the 60th pull.

### Theme Limited

* This is a temporary Banner.
* Featured Construct has a **0.5%** rate on every pull.
* This banner will feature a debuting S-rank Construct with a **100% rate-up** and a **60 pulls pity.**
* A-rank Construct pity in this banner comes in 10 pulls.
* Subsequent banners featuring this Construct will not be at 100% rate-up, and you may end up getting another S-rank instead.
* Current pity count will carry over to the next debut S-rank Construct banner.

### Arrival Limited

* This is a temporary Banner.
* Featured Construct is a **0.5%** rate on every pull.
* This banner will feature a rotating S-rank character with a **70% rate-up** and a **60 pulls pity.**
* A-rank Construct pity in this banner comes in 10 pulls.
* Current pity count will carry over to the next rotational S-rank Construct banner.

## Tab 3: "Special Event - Floating Guarantee"

This tab features debut and rotational banners with a guaranteed S-rank pity ranging anywhere from the 80th to the 100th pull, hence the term "floating guarantee". **F2P players should steer clear from this tab.**

### Fate Theme Limited

* This is a temporary Banner.
* Featured character has a **1.5%** rate on every pull.
* This banner will feature a debuting S-rank character with a **100% rate-up** and a **80-100 pulls floating pity.**
* A-rank Construct pity in this banner comes in 10 pulls.
* Subsequent banners featuring this character will not be at 100% rate-up, and you may end up getting another S-rank instead.
* Current pity count will carry over to the next debut S-rank banner.

### Fate Arrival Limited

* This is a temporary Banner.
* Featured character has a **1,5%** rate on every pull.
* This banner will feature a returning S-rank character with a **70% rate-up** and a **80-100 pulls floating pity.**
* A-rank Construct pity in this banner comes in 10 pulls.
* Current pity count will carry over to the next rotating S-rank banner in the same tab.

## Story Milestones and Unlockables

It is imperative that you **get to level 35 and clear 5-7 Normal as soon as possible** to unlock all of your weekly Missions, rewarding you with access to a steady stream of Black Cards.

### Unlocked via Story Progress

* **Novice Missions:** Clear 1-6 Normal
* **Daily Login Reward:** Clear 1-9 Normal
* **Missions (Dailies):** Clear 1-10 Normal
* **R&D - Research (Gacha):** Clear 1-12 Normal
* **Shop:** Clear 2-3 Normal
* **Celica's Class:** Clear 2-4 Normal
* **Memory Rescue:** Clear 2-11 Normal
* **Interludes (Daily farmable shards):** Clear 3-8 Normal
* **Weekly Bounties:** Clear 2-1 Hidden
* **Dorm:** Clear 4-2 Normal
* **Guild:** Clear 4-5 Normal
* **War Zone:** Clear 4-8 Normal
* **Phantom Pain Cage:** Level 35/Clear 5-7 Normal
* **Collections Tab:** Clear 6-12 Normal

### Unlocked via Level Up

* **Co-Op:** Level 35
* **Compositer Maze:** Level 52
* **Stronghold:** Level 60
* **Unitus (FUTURE UPDATE):** Level 62
* **Golden Vortex:** Level 65
* **Border Contract:** Level 70
* **Support Pet (FUTURE UPDATE):** Level 80

## Free-to-Play or $1-to-Play?

***Note:** Conversion rates can be brutal for some countries, so this may only apply in some areas.*

Although many may be opposed to spending on gacha games (for good reasons), take note of a single item in the Top-up (real money) shop worth considering: The Construct 10x R&D Pack - 10d. The reasons why are twofold: it costs $1, and for that price you acquire the following:

* 2,500  Basic Construct R&D Ticket over the course of 10 days (250/day)
* Skill Point x10 (meh)
* Cogs x20,000 (meh)

In addition to this, if this is your first (and perhaps only) purchase, you will also receive:

* Kuji no Sada, a 5★ Weapon useable by any Lucia frames and Vera - Rozen.
* Rain Walking, a coating for Lucia - Lotus

### Why is This Pack So Good?

While the Skill Points and Cogs are nice, they're nothing to write home about. That said, if this is the only purchase you are willing to make, you get quite a lot for your dollar, the weapon and the banner tickets in particular. These tickets will allow you to complete your first 40 pulls pity on the Member Recruit banner and let you nab your first S-rank Construct without spending any Black Cards on tickets by Level 50; the alternative is farming Bounty Missions for weeks.

Is it ultimately just a ploy to tempt you into spending more on the game, though? Absolutely, but if you want to minimize spending and have self-control, this pack is a very good purchase.

## S-Rank Construct Pick: When to Use and Who to Choose

When you begin the game, you'll notice that your mailbox holds an item that lets you select any one (1) of the base game's S-Rank Constructs: the S-Rank Construct Pick, more commonly known by players as the "S-Rank Selector". The selectable characters will always be the same no matter how far the game is in the patch cycle.

### When to Use

Generally speaking, you may want to **wait until you hit your first pity on the Member Recruit banner (40 pulls)** before using the S-Rank Construct Pick. This is because it is more useful to have two S-Rank characters than one SS-Rank character, which you might end up with if you pull a dupe of the character you selected. Another reason is that certain characters go better together. For example, if you got Nanami - Pulse from your first pity, you may want to pair her with Karenina - Ember because the two of them together make up the core of the Fire team.

### Who to Choose

Ultimately, who you choose is up to you, and you should pick the character you feel you will enjoy the most. If you want to refer to the meta, here are the top picks:

* **Kamui - Tenebrion**: A Dark Tank Construct who is very useful in the early game and has impressive longevity after his Dark teammates ,Watanabe - Astral (later replaced by Luna - Laurel) and Vera - Rozen, are released.
* **Karenina - Ember:** The only Fire Attacker Construct, Karenina is a force to be reckoned with, but later in the game's lifespan she is let down by her comparatively weaker Fire teammates, Nanami - Pulse and Sofia - Silver Fang. If you get her, you may want to pair her with Nanami - Pulse
* **Nanami - Pulse:** Usually considered the worst of the bunch on her own, Nanami - Pulse mainly exists to make Karenina - Ember's damage stronger. If you get her on your pity, you may want to pick Karenina - Ember with your selector.
* **Liv - Luminance:** Being a very unique S-Rank Support Construct, while not the the go-to Support for the Physical team (Liv - Eclipse) or the Lightning Team (Liv - Lux), Liv: Luminance carves her own niche by having incredible tankiness and an unmatched amount of sustained healing; very useful for co-op or brute-forcing your way through tough story missions.
* **Lee - Entropy:** Unfortunately outclassed by Lucia - Crimson Abyss (Alpha), Lee: Entropy is still quite a decent Physical Attacker to take her place if you miss her banner and/or just love his play style,

## Different Name? Different Character

The naming convention of Constructs in Punishing: Gray Raven may be confusing at first. On launch, there are three separate versions of Liv--Liv - Eclipse, Liv - Lux, and Liv - Luminance. All of these count as different Constructs entirely, and you can even use all three of them in the same party if you so choose. The words after their given name indicates their Frame model, so you may think of them as the same Construct, but in different bodies with different abilities and strengths.

Often times, players will refer to Constructs by their starting rank, not their Frame; this can be confusing as a Construct's rank can actually be improved in this game. Although Liv - Eclipse begins at B-rank and Liv - Lux begins at A-rank, Liv - Eclipse can be improved to A-rank and beyond, but she will not "evolve into" Liv: Lux--the two are entirely separate. With that in mind, if someone refers to "B-Liv," they are usually always talking about Liv: Eclipse.

Using rank to refer to characters can become more confusing still when a character has two Frames of the same base rank--Watanabe - Nightblade and Watanabe - Astral both start at A-rank, for example.

### Ranks

* B-rank
* A-rank
* S-rank
* SS-rank
* SSS-rank
* SSS+-rank

## Trial By Error Encouraged

Although PGR utilizes a stamina system (Serum), Serum is only consumed when a stage has been completed. That means that you can keep throwing yourself against a piece of content until you beat it at no cost, including even Co-op. Don't be afraid of failure. This game encourages repeated attempts to hone your skills.

Most content in PGR can be completed at shockingly low BP with the right skills, so if you don't want to invest much in certain characters early on, you can just keep them at low BP and keep retrying to see how far you can get.

Likewise, although Phantom Pain Cage only allows 3 attempts per day (and each character can only be used a total of 5 times per week), you can always press "Save Cancel" after a battle and it won't consume any of your attempts/character AP. Use this knowledge to try again and again to get the best score you can for more rewards. Similarly, quitting out of a Pain Cage battle will not consume attempts/AP, either.

## Farm Shards to Power Up B-Rank and A-Rank Characters

Inver-Shards are the items used to rank up your characters (eg. B-Rank --> A-Rank --> S-Rank, etc). When you unlock Interludes by clearing 3-8 Normal, you'll be able to witness the backstory of certain Constructs, and in addition to that, you'll gain access to a Challenge Mode version of each Interlude. Interlude Challenges can be attempted twice per day, rewarding 1 Inver-shard of the respective particular character per clear. Each of these stages costs a whopping 30 Serum, however, so choose carefully who you collect shards for. Every Construct in the game can be potentially raised to SSS+, although getting duplicates and Inver-Shards from gacha banners is the only way to improve the ranks of base S-rank characters beyond SS-rank (duplicate characters award Inver-shards).

### Recommended Shards to Farm

* **Liv - Eclipse:** Although only a base B-rank Construct, Liv - Eclipse becomes an amazing Support for the Physical Team at SSS-Rank, when she gains access to a passive that gives other characters a 10% physical damage boost when she's not on the field.