Center Your Camera
If you’re not using the Circle Pad Pro on your 3DS, don’t worry. You can still center the game camera in Final Fantasy Explorers by tapping the L button. While holding down the button will bring up your ability list, simply tapping it will quickly snap the camera to the back of your character so you’ll be able to see where you’re running.
Make Use of Your Abilities
It’s not apparent right away, but holding down the L or R buttons will bring up a small window in the bottom right corner of your screen. This window shows you the list of abilities your character currently has equipped. If you’re just getting started in the game, you should have the Moonlight Blade ability available. Your abilities are generally stronger than your regular attacks, and will deal more damage as well so you’ll want to use these whenever an opportunity presents itself.
You’ll also notice a red bar beneath the ability name. This red bar represents the cooldown period after you’ve activated the ability. Once you’ve used it, simply wait for the red bar to fill up and you’ll be able to use it again.
Charge Up Your Resonance
In the top left corner of your screen, you’ll see a crystal next to your health bar. Each time you land an ability attack on an enemy, a number will appear in place of the crystal. Your goal here is to land as many ability attacks as possible to get that number up to 100. Once you do so, you’ll be able to activate Crystal Surge, which grants you a temporary buff to some of your ability attacks. This comes in especially useful against boss-like monsters.
Do note that the Resonance count will drop when you’re not attacking, and it can only be built up with ability attacks, and not just regular attacks.
Talk to all the NPCs
Each time you complete a main quest, be sure to make a quick run around town and have a chat with the NPCs. You may find some new folks in town, including a rare Moogle merchant, and some of the existing NPCs may have new dialogue as well. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the land you’re exploring, and its politics.
In addition to that, you never know when an NPC might feel generous enough to gift you with items.
Learn New Abilities at the Center Crystal
Before too long, you’ll notice a giant crystal sitting at the center of the hub in Final Fantasy Explorers. You’ll receive a notification whenever new abilities are available at the crystal, but do make sure to check it out once you’ve completed the tutorial. Having more abilities at your disposal means being able to deal more damage out on the field. It’ll also make it much easier for you to build up your Resonance count.
I recommend picking up the Cure ability regardless of which job you choose for your character. It won’t heal your HP by much, but hey, it’s a free healing spell that any job can equip.
However, do be careful not to spend your CP on the wrong abilities either. By tapping the Y button, you can swap categories and view the ones that are specific to your character’s job.
Forge and Upgrade Your Armor
Be sure to check back regularly at the workshop in the hub. This vendor will take all your scavenged materials and use them to forge better armor, accessories, and weapons for your character. If you have the materials for it, he’ll also upgrade your equipment. As you complete more quests, the vendor will have stronger equipment available for you.
If you’re out of Gil, you can always pop over to the item shop right next to the workshop and sell all your unused items there.
Explore the Map
Don’t be in a hurry to complete all the main quests in Final Fantasy Explorers. When you’re in between quests, it might be a good idea to leave town and explore as much as you can. Some areas will be inaccessible at first, but it’s always a good idea to unlock as many areas as possible so you can get a good feel for the location by the time you accept a quest that requires you to slay a monster there.
Furthermore, increased exploration will allow you to encounter many different kinds of enemies, and learn where all the different materials are as well.
Take On Sub Quests
After you’ve completed a certain number of main quests, the sub quests will become available to you as well. You can take on as many sub quests as you like, as long as you have the Gil for it. Be aware that each sub quest will cost you around 300 to 400 Gil. However, they will reward you with CP, which you can then spend at the crystal to learn new abilities.