Child of Light has two difficulty settings: casual and expert. There is not much difference between these two types of difficulty. The major noticeable difference is the effect of a glowing plant called wishes. For your first playthrough, you might want to set the difficulty to casual. During combat in casual difficulty, wishes can be used to restore some of your HP and MP and the light bar of Igniculus. In expert difficulty, wishes only restore Igniculus’ light bar during combat and you must rely on Igniculus, potions, or magic to heal your party members.

This is a beginner’s guide to your first playthrough of Child of Light. Whatever is covered here applies to casual and expert difficulties. We will complete all quest lines, collect all stardusts, and open as many coffers as possible.

The following tips apply regardless of the difficulty setting:

1. In any area, fight as many enemies as possible, preferably all enemies. Surviving a fight would give you a chance to obtain a random item such as oculi or potion. Furthermore, you would obtain a certain amount of experience points that would help all your party members to level up. All party members receive experience points even though only two members can be in combat.
2. Equip oculi to boost the defense, damage output, and other abilities of your party. Craft better versions of a particular type of oculi for greater effect. Refer to this page for the effects of oculi.
3. Hunt for all coffers and stardusts. Coffers contain oculi and potions that can temporarily boost various abilities. Using a stardust can permanently boost a particular stat. Similar to oculi, you can choose which member of your party would use a stardust. During your first playthrough, Aurora should consume all stardusts because she should at least be in every fight against a boss or mini-boss. Similarly, complete all quest lines and fight all mini-bosses. Some quest lines and mini-bosses would reward you with stardusts or oculi upon completion/victory.
4. An area or boss can be more manageable once Aurora and her allies have reached particular levels. Before exploring a new area, farm enemies in previous areas to obtain some levels, oculi, and potions. Similarly, before you fight an area boss, farm enemies in the current area to level up your party a few times. Enemies can respawn in two ways: (1) quit to menu and load your game again; (2) warp to a different area and warp back again. You must see a loading screen with the word “Loading”, otherwise enemies won’t respawn. Before proceeding with your farming session, equip a Diamond (Rough, Tumbled, Faceted, or Brilliant) in Aurora’s armour slot to gain additional XP from an enemy’s defeat. Refer to this page for how to craft a Diamond and the percentage bonus XP gain from various types of Diamonds.
5. There is an option to flee from a battle, including any boss fight. Use this option to give you time to equip oculi or fully heal your party.
6. Use Igniculus to glow its light on an enemy. Igniculus is glowing its light when you can see its face squinting from intense concentration. As you explore an area, you might be too close to an enemy and, in case you’re careless, the enemy might initiate a battle and get the first chance to hit your party. Position Igniculus at the enemy’s face and let Igniculus glow its light to distract the enemy, allowing you to preempt the enemy from starting a battle. One advantage of this distraction is that you can skip battles with non-boss enemies, allowing you to explore an area first and postpone the battle. Another advantage of the distraction is that, in case you want to fight, you can get a “Surprise Strike” that allows your party to attack first. As an enemy is distracted by Igniculus’ glowing light, position Aurora by the enemy’s torso, release Igniculus from its glowing concentration, and wait for the enemy to compose itself so your party would get a “Surprise Strike”. Similarly, use Igniculus in the same manner during battle to slow down an enemy’s progress on the battle timeline, prolonging the time it takes for an enemy to attack.
7. Battle is turn-based, but you can use Igniculus to preempt an enemy’s attack. The battle timeline has two stages: Wait and Cast. Each character, including a member of your party as well as an enemy, has an icon on the battle timeline. When an icon is within the Wait stage, the corresponding character must wait and can’t choose an action. When an icon is on the vertical line that separates the Wait stage from the Cast stage, the corresponding character is allowed to choose an action. As the icon moves rightward through the Cast stage, the corresponding character has committed to an action and the action can only be performed as soon as the icon has reached the end of the Cast stage. While an icon (called it Icon A) is within the Cast stage, another character (whose icon is ahead) can knock Icon A out of the Cast stage, thus placing the corresponding character back in the Wait stage. Use the preemptive attack to your advantage. Let Igniculus’ glowing light slow down an enemy, position a member of your party in front of the enemy, let that member and the enemy be in the Cast stage, and attack the enemy to push it back to the Wait stage. Beware: enemies can also preempt your attacks.
8. Generally, you should reserve your potions for fights against a boss or mini-boss. During the course of your exploration of an area, use wishes to restore some of Aurora’s HP and MP, and Igniculus’ light bar. Igniculus can also heal Aurora. Move Igniculus to Aurora’s torso and hold the left mouse button. Use a potion or magic to prevent an enemy from preempting your attacks. Let a member of your party consume an Unstoppable Elixir, which temporarily prevents enemies from pushing the member out of the Cast stage. Some members of your party have an ability that grants a similar effect.
9. When facing multiple opponents, a rule of thumb is to focus on one enemy and defeat it as soon as possible. Use your experience from previous battles to identify the weakest enemy and dispatch of it as quickly as you can. As members of your party upgrade their skills, they would gain skills that can attack multiple enemies at once. A multiple attack skill can be useful, especially for knocking a bunch of enemies out of the Cast stage, but don’t lose sight of your objective to defeat the weakest enemy first.
10. Each member of your party has a particular strength and specializes in one type of attack, whether it be elemental or physical. Aurora’s strength is her light-related attacks, Rubella specializes in healing and ailment protection, etc. Equip oculi to boost a particular member’s specialty and use each member’s strength to your advantage.