Slotbound First Run: Recruit, Absorb and Prepare

Start with the army you can build

1. Finish the in-game tutorial, then inspect the units already available rather than selecting a late-game build before you have its pieces.
2. Spin the 3×3 machine and look for winning lines. Winning symbols recruit units; a symbol appearing by itself is not a recruited unit.
3. Inspect the recruit before deciding whether to keep it. Unit stats and Imprints vary, so the class name alone does not describe everything it contributes.
4. Before starting a wave, check who will take incoming attacks and who can keep dealing damage behind them. This is planning advice, not a guaranteed formation.

Grow one useful recipient without deleting its support

Choose the unit you intend to keep before sacrificing anything. In absorb mode, the expendable donor is placed onto that recipient; use the confirmation prompt to check the target and the offered benefit. Cancel if either is wrong. See the absorption checklist before committing your first donor.

The developer describes unit growth through absorption and branching class choices. Read the available promotion options instead of assuming every copy follows one fixed path. In the current release, the Collection can be opened during a run with C, the battlefield tab, or the gamepad View button; it is also available during Class Promotion.

Make the next wave the priority

A rare summon is a possible upgrade, not a prerequisite for every opening. Keep a working army while you look for a new piece; an uncompleted Jester setup does not replace the units already protecting you. Check an Item or Core's target and trigger before spending resources on it.

If a promotion lacks faction choices, use the faction unlock check. If the machine refuses to spin, inspect capacity and absorption state rather than repeatedly spending or reinstalling.

Know which advice changed

The 1.0 hotfixes altered early-stage difficulty and upgrade-currency rewards. A difficult opening in an old demo video is not a benchmark for today's balance. The update reference gives the relevant changes. This route is a source-based decision checklist, not a wave-by-wave clear or a tested best build.