Dice Player One: Beginner Tips

Dice Player One is a polished roguelike deckbuilder, but its tutorial and keyword translations can make some mechanics unclear-here are beginner tips.

Dice Player One: Beginner Tips

Travel Light: Opt for a Smaller Dice Box

The Travel Light option, available in the rhythm (difficulty) settings on the dice set selection screen, reduces your maximum dice box size by -1 per level, up to -5.

Despite the game hinting that this makes runs harder, I strongly recommend selecting Travel Light V for every run. A smaller dice box allows you to remove weaker, early-game dice more quickly as you acquire stronger, late-game dice. This is especially useful for discarding the 10 standard dice earlier in your run.

Although larger dice boxes let you utilize more Global Effect dice, these are generally less effective than dice that need to be on the board to be useful. Of all resonances, only Hibernation applies to dice not on the board.

In most deck-building games, a smaller deck ensures you consistently draw winning combos—this applies here as well.

Advanced vs. Basic Dice Types

When forming advanced dice types, all dice points in your hand are considered. For example, if your hand contains 1, 3, 3, 3, 6 and you fill a Three-of-a-Kind, the points of 1 and 6 are still included. This differs from basic dice types (except Choice), where only selected dice contribute points.

Notably, Choice functions as a basic dice type, even though the UI groups it with advanced dice types.

The Power of Resonances

Resonances, particularly those granting permanent points, are incredibly strong. For instance, even a modest +10 permanent points can scale to +100 after 10 uses. Utilize all resonance slots as your run’s economy allows.

  • If your deck relies on active skills or dice destruction, resonances become even more potent. Consider saving for multiple Echo modifications.
  • Recommended resonances include:
    • Suicide Squad: -3% real-time target score upon destruction.
    • Fallen Petals: +5% permanent multiplier on all dice types upon destruction.
    • Sandification: +5 permanent points on active skill usage.
    • Hoarding (+10 permanent points for obtaining coins) and Gilding (+1 coin per active skill usage): An excellent synergy.

The Celestial Garment die grants a unique resonance that provides +2 resonance slots (netting +1 extra slot), unlike other resonances that only give +1.

Drawing More Dice

Drawing additional dice offers several advantages:

  • More dice points are factored into the field.
  • Many dice effects only activate when the dice are on the field.
  • It increases the frequency of drawing stronger dice, improving consistency.
  • Easier completion of advanced dice types.

To increase dice draw, use:

  • Hexagrams: One is obtained after beating the Stage 4 boss, another after Stage 8.
  • Dice effects like Infinity, Unequal Exchange, Hand of Fate, and the Replenisher resonance.

You can also “summon” specific dice into the field before the deck cycles, using examples like Bishop (upgraded from Pawn, summons Rook), Spectacular Duel, and Roach.

Boss Dice and Legendary Dice

Most boss dice are strong but often not worth taking:

  • Boss dice start with 0 resonance slots and cannot be forged.
  • Stage 4 boss dice are usually weak and need removal later.
  • Stage 8 boss dice arrive too late to scale effectively.
  • Taking a boss die disrupts your deck-building, whereas skipping grants 10 coins—useful for improving your current deck.

Similarly, legendary dice (identified by rainbow corners) can be impactful if obtained early enough to build around. Note that boss and legendary dice can acquire resonances via effects from other dice (Celestial Garment, Parasite, Thunder, etc.).

Key Tips for Success

Level 5 Difficulty Spike

If you struggle with the first boss, prepare thoroughly for Level 5, as its target score quadruples from 1000 to 4000. Use the shop aggressively to strengthen your deck.

Reinforce Modification

The Reinforce modification doesn’t triple future permanent point changes retroactively. Save it for when the dice are in prime condition.

Save Scumming

Despite being a roguelite, the game allows save scumming. Returning to the main menu during a level or shop resets your run to the last shop, refunding coins and resetting the shop inventory. Use this to mitigate bad RNG or optimize your upgrades.

Enable the Multiplier Display

Toggle the multiplier display via the flower-like button in the top-right corner. This simple feature helps prioritize dice types.

Speed Up Animations

To reduce waiting time during rolls:

  • Maximize Animation Speed and Dice Roll Animation Speed in settings.
  • Set Play Bonus Animation to Close to disable the scoring animation.