Quick Answer
If you are searching for the best early route, the short answer is simple: push story until the important unlocks are online. Game8’s launch-period progression coverage points to 1-5 for the first ally join, 2-2 for the second ally join, and 1-10 as the first real checkpoint for reviewing your gem plan and carry strength. Story stays correct until the next bottleneck stops being “I need more unlocks” and starts being “I need materials, safer clears, or group help.”
Why Story Is Still the Best First Mode
It unlocks the party shell
Early ally joins matter more than squeezing a little extra efficiency from side content. Until those joins happen, many account decisions still feel incomplete.
It opens rank-based systems
Story is also how Adventure Rank starts becoming useful. That matters because rank checkpoints feed later growth systems, not just campaign bragging rights.
It keeps your next options honest
A lot of early “should I farm this instead?” questions disappear once story has opened enough of the account for real comparisons.
Story Unlocks and Early Checkpoints
| Checkpoint | What it unlocks or proves |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | Game8 says this is the first ally join, which makes the account stop feeling like a solo tutorial. |
| 2-2 | The second ally join makes formation choices and early survival much easier to stabilize. |
| 1-10 | The first real checkpoint for judging your reroll result, your gem discipline, and whether your carry route is real. |
| Adventure Rank 4 | Game8 ties this to early growth-quest access, which is your first clean sign that story is opening side value. |
| Adventure Rank 10 | Useful “main lanes are open” marker for branching into other mode goals without getting lost. |
What To Do At Each Early Story Stop
After 1-5
Do a fast build sanity check, but do not overreact. The point of this stop is to enjoy the first ally unlock, not to pretend the whole account is solved.
After 2-2
Recheck team stability. This is a good moment to confirm that your basic party shell works before you push more stages.
After 1-10
Pause long enough to ask whether one more story clear is really the best value. If the answer is no, this is often where shrines, growth quests, or co-op start making sense.
When to Keep Pushing Story
- You are still missing the early ally joins or the first practical Adventure Rank breakpoints.
- Your next useful reward still comes from a clear unlock rather than a repeated farm.
- Your build is strong enough that story clears are still efficient instead of frustrating.
When to Stop Pure Story Pushing
- When Adventure Rank 4 growth quests are already unlocked.
- When one more story stage gives less value than materials or safer repeated clears.
- When a shrine, boss, or co-op room is now the cleaner answer to the next reward target.
- When your carry is underbuilt enough that story progress is becoming slow, messy, or expensive.
The Common Story Mistake
The usual mistake is trying to finish story mindlessly or abandoning it too early. The better approach is narrower: use story until it has opened the next system that actually matters. That keeps the page aligned with what players usually want from a story guide: unlock order, checkpoints, and a clean stop point.
FAQ
What are the most important early story unlocks?
The practical early ones are the ally joins at 1-5 and 2-2, then the rank-based growth progress that starts making side systems worth your time.
What is the first good stopping point in story?
1-10 is the first clean review point because it is late enough to judge your account but early enough that changing course still feels cheap.
Should I ignore shrines and co-op until story is finished?
Usually not until story is finished, but yes until story has opened the important early checkpoints. After that, other modes can become the better answer.