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The perfect mode for all who —like me— love the genre, AFK Journey‘s Arcane Labyrinth allows players to dive into a true roguelike/dungeon crawler experience made to test their teambuilding skills and understanding of the game. But unlike the title’s other modes, if any of your characters die here, they won’t come back on their own. Here’s everything you need to know to rule the Arcane Labyrinth in AFK Journey, including how the mode works, the best heroes for it, and which crests you should prioritize.
- Table of Contents:
How Does the Arcane Labyrinth Work
On Arcane Labyrinth, you are tasked with selecting a certain number of heroes —which will vary based on your difficulty of choice— and then using them to complete a series of at least 15 stages (or rooms) in true roguelike fashion. The 15th stage will always feature a boss battle. Your run will end once all of your heroes are killed and you have no more Resurrection Potions. You can also end your run at any time by heading to Quit.
After completing the first 15 stages on your highest available difficulty, you will then be able to enter the Deep Labyrinth, where 5 extra stages await you. Your results in the Deep Labyrinth will not generate regular points. Instead, they will allow you to climb the leaderboards. In the last stage, you will face an unkillable and enhanced version of the mode’s boss and get points related to how much damage you deal to it.
About Crests, Relics, and Special Picks
Before entering each room in Arcane Labyrinth, you will be given the choice to pick one out of two rewards for it, which can vary from any of the mode’s relic types to its special picks. Each relic type will have its own passive, whose effect will increase based on how many copies of it you get. You will also be able to pick a Crest among a list of three (at first) after getting 2, 4, 6, and 8 copies of any relic. The rarity of the available crests will be directly related to your relic level. You can check out an overview of what each relic I managed to encounter brings to the table below:
- Guard: Enhances your Physical and Magic Defense.
- Fortitude: Allows you to and then increase the amount of health healed after each victory.
- Potential: Allows your party to restore energy after performing Ultimate moves.
- Vanquish: Increases ATK%.
- Swiftblade: Increases your ATK Speed.
- Speedy Recovery: Increases Haste.
- Sanctuary: Increases Vitality.
The special picks will vary from passives to a guarantee that the room will feature the Fit’z Store —a place where you can expend the mode’s exclusive currency in exchange for Relics, effects, and Resurrection Potions. Certain rooms will also feature extra challenges that may reward you with valuable rewards if completed.
About Heroes and Rewards
The floors of the Labyrinth will refresh biweekly (always after a one-week cooldown) together with its featured heroes selection. Each of the heroes part of it will receive new passives when in combat and increase the number of points you will get per run by 50% when as part of your roster (stackable). You will also be able to get rewards based on your cumulative number of points during each active week.
Differently from Honor Duel, you won’t be able to play with heroes not featured in your unlocked roster when on the Arcane Labyrinth. Instead, all of your heroes will be leveled up (or down) to the required level of the difficulty you wish to dive into. All heroes below Epic will also be temporarily boosted to it.
AFK Journey Arcane Labyrinth Guide: Best Heroes and Teams
Like with most of the game’s modes and true to the AFK Journey meta, the game’s top-tier heroes are also the best picks for the Arcane Labyrinth —with Thoran being the best tank, Cecia the best ranged damage dealer, and so on.
But given how you won’t recover health between battles by default and how many late stages can be made easier by using multiple tanks, it’s key that you bring spares. You will unlock the ability to take more than five heroes to the labyrinth from its second difficulty onward. I managed to find success while using Antandra as my main tank (with Lucius on the bench), Rowan as my main support/healer, and Cecia and Mirael as my main DPS’s.
To check out who are the best of the best in the game, as well as the best alternatives to them, don’t forget to check out our AFK Journey Tier List.
Should You Use the Featured Heroes Not Part of the AFK Journey Meta?
Absolutely yes. If you have any of them, don’t skip on using the featured heroes. The reason for that lies in how the effects given to them are game-changers capable of turning even mid-tier units into true menaces. Just make sure not to prioritize them over a well-balanced team. As always, a well-balanced team should feature at least one Tank, one healer, and one focused damage dealer.
For the remaining two spots, I recommend the use of both a focused support and a flex unit, the latter can be either a counter-pick or simply a unit you trust completely. One hero can perform multiple roles, so keep that in mind. For the best results, I recommend that you bring two teams (if possible) when diving into the Arcane Labyrinth, for both adaptability and in case the worst happens.
Which Relics and Crests Should You Prioritize?
Although the best relics for you may heavily depend on both your selected formation and difficulty, I recommend prioritizing Guard and Vanquish. If you plan on using teams lacking a true-to-form tank, leveling up the Fortitude relic will allow you to remediate the loss in HP, as well as increase your survivability.
For crests, go with those focused on increasing your base stats like Strong Will and on dealing extra damage to enemies such as Wither.
You can play AFK Journey right now on PC and mobile devices.
