Nimble Neuron's Eternal Return left early access on July 20, 2023 after three years, and it drops eight teams of three onto Lumia Island for 24 players a match. It plays like a MOBA folded into a battle royale: you level skills, farm wild animals for materials, and craft gear from recipes instead of buying it from a shop. There is no shrinking ring, only restricted areas that go red on a timer, and eliminations buy that timer back.
Starting Eternal Return can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Eternal Return is a moba game built around Crafting from gathered materials and Weapon Mastery breakpoints. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Jackie | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Aya | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Hyunwoo | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Fiora | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Yuki | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Aya. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Yuki as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Crafting from gathered materials
Gear is built rather than bought. Common parts combine into Uncommon, then Rare, Epic and Legendary, with Mythic reserved for items that need the VF Blood Sample. Each area of the island stocks a fixed set of components, which is why route planning decides your build.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Crafting from gathered materials works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Forest
One of the four areas that connect to the Research Center exits, and a common early farming stop because wild animals there feed both mastery experience and crafting components.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Rapier: it's the most accessible early upgrade. A short range fencing weapon built around repeated quick connects rather than one heavy swing, which pairs with characters whose damage scales on consecutive hits.
Step 4: Understand Weapon Mastery breakpoints
Masteries cap at level 20 and rise from crafting and from dealing damage. The weapon skill unlocks at Weapon Mastery 5 and ranks up at 10 and 15, so hitting those three numbers on schedule is a genuine power spike rather than a slow curve.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Uptown
An urban area with dense building geometry, which makes it strong for ambushes and awkward for ranged characters trying to hold a sightline.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Crafting from gathered materials
Gear is built rather than bought. Common parts combine into Uncommon, then Rare, Epic and Legendary, with Mythic reserved for items that need the VF Blood Sample. Each area of the island stocks a fixed set of components, which is why route planning decides your build.
Weapon Mastery breakpoints
Masteries cap at level 20 and rise from crafting and from dealing damage. The weapon skill unlocks at Weapon Mastery 5 and ranks up at 10 and 15, so hitting those three numbers on schedule is a genuine power spike rather than a slow curve.
Restricted areas
Areas turn red on a timer instead of a circle closing in, and staying inside one drains the time you have left. Eliminations refund part of that timer, which rewards teams that fight for space over teams that hide.
Boss monsters and special materials
Alpha, Omega and Wickeline are the three bosses. Omega spawns at the start of night 3 around 680 seconds in, and Wickeline arrives at the start of night 4 through one of the four Research Center exits leading to Avenue, Forest, School or Cemetery.
Hyperloops and supply drops
Hyperloop phone boxes move you between distant areas but broadcast your position to enemies while they charge. Air supplies and artificial meteorites deliver the special materials animals will not drop, with meteorites landing roughly every four minutes.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Improvising a route instead of committing to one, then reaching night 2 with mismatched components
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
2. Skipping wild animals early, which leaves mastery levels far behind and every trade losing
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
3. Hiding in a corner to survive, when eliminations are what refund restricted area time
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
4. Taking a hyperloop into a contested area and handing the enemy team a charge up warning
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
5. Hoarding special materials in the inventory rather than converting the spares into credits
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Crafting from gathered materials and Weapon Mastery breakpoints
- Choose Aya as starting build
- Clear Forest main content
- Acquire Rapier or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Uptown
- Pick a route before the match starts rather than improvising. A route fixes which areas you visit and in what order, which decides your weapon tier, your armour and who you run into, and improvising usually means arriving at a fight one tier behind.
- Treat Weapon Mastery 5, 10 and 15 as scheduled power spikes. The weapon skill unlocks at 5 and ranks up at 10 and 15, so crafting extra weapons purely to push mastery is often worth more than the item you actually equip.
Tips for New Players
- Pick a route before the match starts rather than improvising. A route fixes which areas you visit and in what order, which decides your weapon tier, your armour and who you run into, and improvising usually means arriving at a fight one tier behind.
- Treat Weapon Mastery 5, 10 and 15 as scheduled power spikes. The weapon skill unlocks at 5 and ranks up at 10 and 15, so crafting extra weapons purely to push mastery is often worth more than the item you actually equip.
- Convert leftover special materials into credits at a kiosk. Meteorite and Tree of Life give 10 credits each, Mithril gives 15, Force Core gives 20 and a VF Blood Sample gives 30, which turns dead inventory into items you can use.
- Alpha and Omega give a permanent buff for the rest of the match, not just materials. That makes the boss timing more important than the loot, and Omega arrives at the start of night 3 around 680 seconds in.
- Wickeline appears at the start of night 4 through one of the four Research Center exits toward Avenue, Forest, School or Cemetery, and always picks a route into an unrestricted area. Watch the restricted map to narrow down which exit before she arrives.
- Restricted areas refund time on an elimination, so a team that keeps taking fights has more room than a team that hides. Playing passively in this game shortens your own clock rather than extending it.
- Artificial meteorites land roughly every four minutes in contested spots. Plan to be nearby but not standing on top of one, because everybody else on that side of the island can read the same timer.
- Hyperloops broadcast your position while they charge. Use them to leave a fight or to rotate early, not to arrive at one, because the enemy team sees the charge and gets free seconds to set up.
- Farm wild animals on the way through an area rather than making a special trip. They feed mastery experience and crafting components at the same time, and mastery is what carries your damage through the mid game.
- Mythic items require the VF Blood Sample, which is the rarest of the five special materials. Do not plan a build around a Mythic unless your route reliably contests air supplies or bosses.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players are in an Eternal Return match?
Twenty four, as eight teams of three on Lumia Island. There is also a four against four permanent mode called Cobalt Protocol, and a rotating eighteen player solo event called Lone Wolf that runs faster with its own rules.
How does crafting work?
You gather Common components from boxes, gathering spots and wild animals, then combine them upward through Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Legendary. Mythic items need the VF Blood Sample specifically. Nothing is bought from a shop, so which areas your route covers determines what you can build.
When do the bosses spawn?
Omega spawns at the start of night 3, roughly 680 seconds into the match, and Wickeline at the start of night 4 from one of the Research Center exits. Alpha and Omega both grant a permanent buff for the rest of the game on top of the materials they drop.
What are the special materials for?
Meteorite, Tree of Life, Mithril, Force Core and VF Blood Sample gate the top item tiers. They come from air supplies, wild animals, bosses and kiosks, and any spares convert into credits at 10, 10, 15, 20 and 30 respectively.
Why does the map turn red instead of shrinking?
Eternal Return uses restricted areas rather than a closing circle. Individual areas lock out on a timer, and standing in a restricted one burns your remaining time. Getting an elimination refunds part of that timer, which is why the game pushes teams toward fighting rather than hiding.
More Eternal Return Guides
- Eternal Return Eternal Return Overview
- Eternal Return Best Builds
- Eternal Return Tier List
- Eternal Return Walkthrough
- Eternal Return Tips & Tricks
- Eternal Return Weapons Guide
- Eternal Return Combat Guide
- Eternal Return Boss Guide
- Eternal Return Maps & Locations
- Eternal Return Crafting Guide
- Eternal Return Classes & Characters
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