Top 10 Stoneshard Tips and Tricks

Stoneshard is an entertaining turn-based RPG that recently hit Steam Early Access. Prepare for all the strategy that goes into surviving this open world with our Top 10 Tips and Tricks. Your character might not be the chosen one, but that doesn’t mean they can’t become one.

Tip 1 – Understand How to Save

The tavern in Osbrook has a room upstairs where you can save.

Saving is one of the more controversial issues in Stoneshard since you can’t save on exit. Originally, players had to go to one of two taverns located in either Osbrook or Mannshire. In order to save using a tavern, you can rent a room and sleep in the bed within it. This adds a Rested buff and saves your game with a message that appears in the chat log.

The developer added another form of saving almost immediately after their Steam Early Access launch. Once you receive your map, you’ll see question marks on it that are Points of Interest. These are frequently Brigand Camps that can be cleared out and then used as a saving point to sleep at.

Tip 2 – How to Handle Groups of Enemies

You can lure enemies from far away using your bow.

Stoneshard starts by telling you that you’re not the chosen one. This means when a group of enemies attack you like a pack of wolves, you’re not going to win easily. It’s important to take advantage of methods like luring enemies away from a group one by one. This works best with wolves and unaware bandits.

Another way to handle groups is to take advantage of your terrain. Depending on the situation, you can lead multiple enemies through a narrow hallway. Or make them bump into trees and take an extra turn to get to you. Be sure to focus enemies one at a time so you can lower that group size.

Tip 4 works well with Tip 2 as well.

Tip 3 – Use Rest Mode to Heal in Stoneshard

Rest Mode is a fast way to heal health so long as you’re safe.

One of the best and most common ways to heal is Rest Mode. To activate it, press “B” to show modes at the bottom right corner, and click it. You can only activate this mode when no enemies are visible and it significantly lowers your vision. This makes it a risk to heal and unfortunately, an opportunity for enemies.

However, Rest Mode restores your Energy and Health at a high speed. This is a great way to heal injuries and recover your max health too. If you’re struggling with a broken limb, take advantage of a Splint to heal it quicker too.

Also, “R” is the default hotkey to activate Rest mode.

Tip 4 – Move Tactically to Lower Your Cooldowns

Learn how to balance attacking enemies with backing up to lower cooldowns. There’s nothing wrong with using a ranged ability and then stepping back a few turns so you can use it again. This might be a cheesy method, but it’s necessary when you’re outmanned and outgunned.

Tip 5 – Switch Between Melee and Ranged

Using ranged weapons and abilities helps level the playing field.

Use a combination of melee and ranged attacks by having two loadouts. By default, you can press “W” to switch your weapons. This allows for using multiple skill trees and fully taking advantage. On my first character, I used duel daggers with a bow on my back. Alongside that, I also used strong Pyromancy spells in-between.

By using a mixture of melee and range, you can weaken enemies before they even reach you.

Tip 6 – Hold Alt to Make Item Names Appear

Holding Alt to see items is a great way to see loot more easily.

This tip is all in the name. People who play action-RPGs are familiar with keys like Alt for making all items on the floor appear. Especially if you’ve played Diablo whether it was the first one or the latest. Also, this is a great way to spot useful mushrooms and flowers that are hidden.

Tip 7 – Know How to Repair Your Gear

Keep your gear repaired to get the most out of it.

It’s important to repair your gear in Stoneshard because of how low durability negatively affects it. If you don’t repair broken armor or weapons, every stat will suffer. Your damage decreases, your resistances are lower, etc. Each NPC for repairing is below:

Tip 8 – Inspect Enemies to Learn Their Skills

Inspect enemies to be prepared for whatever they throw at you.

This is the best way to be prepared for every fight Stoneshard throws at you. I mainly inspect new enemies to learn their skills and don’t focus too much on their resistances. The primary reason for this is because their skills are what you need to worry about.

Whether you’re playing the prologue or the main game, it’s a gamechanger to know how a boss works. I killed the first one without getting hit once by understanding the mechanics of the fight through inspecting. Also, inspecting shows how much damage you’re dealing in relation to the percentage of health they have.

Tip 9 – Attack of Opportunity

Don’t get hurt by Attack of Opportunity when you can avoid it.

Depending on the type of games you play, you may have heard of Attack of Opportunity. This means if you’re adjacent to an enemy and try to run away, you’ll immediately take damage. The enemy uses your attempt to retreat as an opportunity to attack. Every enemy in Stoneshard takes advantage of this, so if you’re close to them, don’t try to run.

It’s important to play around this challenge by keeping your distance until you’re ready to fight close. Because once you’re adjacent, you’re not leaving without killing them.

Tip 10 – Enchant Your Gear

The best way to get ahead in Stoneshard is to use Enchantment Scrolls. Enchanting your gear makes it stronger by adding two more traits to it. Examples of enchants include: Extra energy, extra health, increased damage, resistances, crit chance, etc. To my knowledge, every trait can appear as a bonus from an enchantment.

The jack of all trades merchant in Osbrook, name Bert, frequently has Enchantment Scrolls. If you make it to Mannshire, the Priest from the church has them too. I highly recommend enchanting your gear and eventually, you can reroll the bonuses by enchanting it again.

I hope these tips and tricks help you get started in Stoneshard. If you have any questions, comment below and I’ll do my best to help!

Stoneshard was provided by the developer via a Steam code.

Jeffrey Lerman

Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.