Holyday Studios launched Firestone into Early Access on 26 September 2019 and shipped the 1.0 version on 1 April 2024. You field a party of up to five heroes plus one guardian against waves of enemies in the setting of Alandria, and the party keeps fighting while you are offline. Progress comes from research trees, slot-based gear enchanting and repeated ascensions rather than from manual combat input.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Five hero party plus one guardian
You bring five heroes and a single guardian into each fight. Heroes divide into Damage, Tank and Healer specialisations and spend mana, rage or energy on their abilities, while the guardian supplies passive buffs plus an active screen-clearing hit that unlocks auto attack at Talent Level 21.
Slot-based gear enchanting
Enchantment levels attach to the equipment slot rather than to the item sitting in it, so upgrading a Common chestplate to a Mythic one keeps the enchantment level you already paid for. Costs double per enchant level until level 8, then rise by 50 percent per level, then double again for levels 13 and 14.
Firestone and Meteorite research trees
Gold, firestones and meteorites each buy different upgrade trees, and meteorites in particular gate the tier 2 and tier 3 equipment unlocks. Tier 1 gear only helps the hero wearing it, while tier 2 and tier 3 gear give attribute bonuses to every hero you own even when they sit on the bench.
War Machine campaign
War machines run a separate campaign from your hero party, fighting enemy war machines and other players' machines with their own upgrade path. It progresses independently, so it keeps earning while the main campaign is stalled on a wall.
Ascension resets
Ascending wipes campaign stage progress in exchange for permanent multipliers, which is the actual engine of long-term growth. Pushing one extra stage before ascending is almost always worth less than ascending sooner and pushing further on the next run.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Firestone: Online Idle RPG combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warrior | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Mage | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Priest | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Druid | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Paladin | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Firestone: Online Idle RPG builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | The attack slot, and it only boosts the single hero wearing it. | Pushing one damage hero's output during the early campaign stages |
| Chestplate | The health slot for one hero. | Keeping your tank alive through wave spikes |
| Boots | The armour slot for one hero. | Front-line survivability alongside the Chestplate |
| Wrist | One of the account-wide slots: it raises attack across all heroes rather than just the wearer. | Raising the whole party's damage without touching individual heroes |
| Relic | The slot that boosts every attribute on every hero, which makes it the highest-value slot on the account. | Account-wide scaling and the anchor point you balance every other slot against |
Weapon: The attack slot, and it only boosts the single hero wearing it. That makes it the right early investment for your main damage dealer and the wrong one for a bench hero.
Chestplate: The health slot for one hero. Boris wants it first because he already carries the most health in the early roster and the front rank is where fights are decided.
Boots: The armour slot for one hero. It stacks with the Chestplate on the same hero, so the two together define how far your front line can push before the party stalls.
Wrist: One of the account-wide slots: it raises attack across all heroes rather than just the wearer. That makes its enchant levels worth more than the single-hero slots once you have several heroes rotating.
Relic: The slot that boosts every attribute on every hero, which makes it the highest-value slot on the account. Guides generally suggest keeping the Ring one to three levels above it and tier 1 gear two to four levels below it.
Full breakdowns in our Firestone: Online Idle RPG weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Stage 1 onward, reset on every ascension | Hero unlocks, gold, firestones and the meteorites that gate tier 2 and tier 3 gear |
| Chaos Rift | Endgame, after substantial account progress | Endgame currency and the reason to build a guardian setup separate from your campaign one |
| War Machines | Mission 1 onward, progresses independently of the hero campaign | A second progression track that keeps earning when the hero party is stuck |
| Guild Expeditions | Available once you join a guild | Guild tree bonuses and shared objectives with other players |
| Alchemist | Unlocks during the early to mid campaign | Experiment results that feed the wider upgrade trees |
Campaign: The main stage progression through Alandria, where hero unlocks are gated behind specific stages: Boris at stage 2, Solaine at stage 7, Leo at stage 150. Stalling here is the normal signal that it is time to ascend.
Chaos Rift: Endgame content with its own rules. Guardian bonuses from research, experiments, exotics, guild trees and talents do not increase guardian damage here, so the loadout that carries your campaign will not carry this.
War Machines: A separate campaign where your machines fight enemy machines and other players' machines. Battle speed options are available from Mission 1, which keeps the early missions from dragging.
Guild Expeditions: The cooperative side of the game, run through guilds and fellowships. Guild trees feed bonuses back into your account, though not into guardian damage inside Chaos Rift.
Alchemist: The research screen where alchemist experiments run on their own timers alongside the Firestone and Meteorite trees. It is passive income for your account, so leaving experiments idle is a straight loss.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Enchant the slot and not the item. Levels stay attached to the slot, so a Common chestplate enchanted twice stays at level 2 when you replace it with a Mythic one, which means you should never wait for good gear before enchanting.
- Watch the enchant cost curve before committing gold. Costs double per level up to level 8, rise 50 percent per level after that, then double again for levels 13 and 14, so pushing one slot far past the others burns gold you could spend across four other slots.
- Unlock tier 2 and tier 3 gear as soon as your meteorites allow. Tier 1 gear only helps the hero wearing it, while tiers 2 and 3 give attribute bonuses to every hero on the account including the ones sitting on the bench.
- Ascend earlier than feels right. Grinding three extra stages before an ascension usually returns less than the permanent multipliers you would have banked by resetting sooner and pushing further next run.
- Build a separate guardian plan for Chaos Rift. Guardian bonuses from research, experiments, exotics, guild trees and talents do not raise guardian damage there, so the setup that carries your campaign is worth much less inside the rift.
- Keep the Ring slot one to three levels ahead of the Relic and Wrist. The Ring drives the gold bonus, which funds every other enchant, so it pays for itself faster than the slots it is funding.
- Push Talent Level 21 to unlock guardian auto attack. Until then the guardian's active ability needs your input, which defeats the purpose of an idle game running while you are away.
- Run the war machine campaign as a second track rather than an afterthought. It progresses against enemy machines and other players independently, so it keeps generating value on days when the hero campaign is walled.
- Match hero specialisations rather than stacking damage. A party of five damage dealers dies to the first wave spike, and the Damage, Tank and Healer split exists precisely because the front rank decides how long the back rank gets to fire.
- Check that alchemist experiments are always running before you close the game. They resolve on timers, so an idle experiment slot overnight is the single easiest source of lost progress in the whole account.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Waiting for high-rarity gear before spending on enchants, when the levels attach to the slot and carry over anyway.
- Dumping every gold coin into the Weapon slot, which only benefits one hero, while the Relic and Wrist slots sit unenchanted.
- Delaying ascension to chase a few extra campaign stages instead of banking permanent multipliers.
- Carrying the campaign guardian build straight into Chaos Rift and finding most of its damage bonuses do nothing.
- Ignoring the war machine campaign entirely and losing a whole parallel progression track.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is the party?
Up to five heroes plus one guardian. Heroes split into Damage, Tank and Healer specialisations and spend mana, rage or energy on their abilities, across classes including Warrior, Mage, Priest, Druid, Paladin and Rogue.
When do the main heroes unlock?
Boris is the first, arriving at stage 2 with the most health and dodge chance of the early roster. Solaine is the third at stage 7 with the lowest health of any hero, and Leo is the sixth at stage 150 as a Paladin.
Does enchanting carry over when I replace gear?
Yes. Enchantment levels attach to the equipment slot rather than to the item, so upgrading from Common to Mythic in the same slot keeps whatever level you already paid for.
What is the difference between gear tiers?
Tier 1 gear only improves the hero wearing it. Tier 2 and tier 3 gear, unlocked with meteorites and a minimum gear power, give attribute bonuses to every hero you own even when that hero is not in your active party.
Why is my guardian weak in Chaos Rift?
Guardian bonuses from research, experiments, exotics, guild trees and talents do not increase guardian damage inside Chaos Rift. It runs on different rules, so it needs its own approach rather than your campaign loadout.
More Firestone: Online Idle RPG Guides
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Best Builds
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Tier List
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Walkthrough
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Beginner's Guide
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Tips & Tricks
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Weapons Guide
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Combat Guide
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Boss Guide
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Maps & Locations
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Crafting Guide
- Firestone: Online Idle RPG Classes & Characters
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