Slice & Dice Walkthrough — Start to Endgame

Slice & Dice is a tactical roguelike where your party of five heroes fights enemies using dice instead of traditional combat systems. Each hero has a custom six-sided die with faces showing attacks, shields, heals, and special abilities. The strategic depth comes from rerolling dice, choosing which faces to use, and upgrading die faces at level-ups. With 100+ hero classes, 20+ difficulty levels, and runs taking 30-60 minutes, Slice & Dice is the most elegant dice-based combat system in gaming — simple to learn, endlessly deep to master.

This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. Follow this path to avoid common traps that stall most players.

Quick Progression Summary

Phase 1: Getting Started — Forest Encounters

The starting battle set with basic enemies (goblins, wolves, slimes). Low damage output gives you time to learn die mechanics and hero abilities. The forest shop introduces the item system.

Level/Difficulty: Encounters 1-5 (easy) Key Rewards: Basic item purchases, first level-ups, mechanic tutorial

What to Do in Forest Encounters

1. Learn dice combat. Each turn, your five heroes roll their six-sided dice simultaneously. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
2. Pick Mage as your starting build. It's the most forgiving option.
3. Rerolling dice is free (up to your reroll limit) — use rerolls every turn. A bad face on your healer when healing is needed should always be rerolled. Don't accept suboptimal faces passively.
4. Acquire your first equipment upgrade — Ice Staff Die or whatever's available.
5. Clear all main content before moving on.

Phase 1 Checklist

• Understand dice combat fundamentals
• Mage selected and functional
• Forest Encounters main content cleared
• Ready for Cave Battles

Phase 2: Early Game — Cave Battles

Underground encounters with tougher enemies (trolls, bats, elementals). Enemies here deal more damage, requiring healers to be active. The cave boss is the first real difficulty check.

Level/Difficulty: Encounters 6-10 (medium) Key Rewards: Mid-tier items, significant level-ups, first boss challenge

What to Do in Cave Battles

1. Work on hero rerolling. You get free rerolls each turn to change unfavorable die results. This system becomes critical from here on.
2. Farm for Ice Staff Die if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
3. Healing prevents more damage than extra offense in most situations — keeping your heroes alive for more turns generates more total damage than killing one enemy slightly faster.
4. Complete all objectives before pushing to Castle Siege.
5. Consider whether Warrior might suit your playstyle better than Mage.

Phase 2 Checklist

• hero rerolling integrated into gameplay
• Ice Staff Die acquired
• Cave Battles fully cleared
• Ready for Castle Siege

Phase 3: Mid Game — Castle Siege

Fortified enemies with shields and armor. Castle enemies require sustained damage to break through defenses. AoE damage is less effective; single-target burst damage matters more here.

Level/Difficulty: Encounters 11-15 (hard) Key Rewards: Late-game items, advanced upgrades, armored enemy strategies

What to Do in Castle Siege

1. Master item shop. Between fights, a shop offers items that modify gameplay: extra rerolls, passive bonuses (all Sword faces deal +1), hero-specific upgrades, and new heroes to recruit. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
2. Start working toward Flaming Sword Die. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
3. Shop items persist for the whole run — spending 5 gold on '+1 to all Sword faces' at the start means 15+ extra damage over the run. Early shop purchases have the highest total value.
4. This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
5. Start investing in boss encounters for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.

Phase 3 Checklist

• item shop mastered
• Flaming Sword Die acquired or in progress
• Castle Siege fully cleared
• Ready for Volcano

Phase 4: Late Game — Volcano

Fire-themed encounters with enemies that deal fire DoT. Fire resistance items become valuable. The volcano boss is one of the hardest fights, combining high damage with fire pools that damage your party each turn.

Level/Difficulty: Encounters 16-19 (very hard) Key Rewards: Powerful items, near-endgame upgrades, fire resistance gear

What to Do in Volcano

1. Finalize your build. You should be running Warrior or Mage with optimized gear.
2. Flaming Sword Die should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
3. Class upgrades at level-ups change die faces permanently. Choose upgrades that cover your party's weakness — if you have strong damage but weak healing, upgrade your Healer's Heart faces.
4. class upgrades optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
5. Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Final Boss.

Phase 4 Checklist

• Build fully optimized
• Flaming Sword Die upgraded to max
• Volcano fully cleared
• Ready for Final Boss

Phase 5: Endgame — Final Boss

The ultimate encounter — a multi-phase boss with changing mechanics each phase. Phase 1 tests DPS, Phase 2 tests healing, Phase 3 tests both simultaneously. Defeating the Final Boss completes the run.

Level/Difficulty: Encounter 20 (final) Key Rewards: Run completion, difficulty unlock, meta progression

What to Do in Final Boss

1. Final Boss tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
2. Positioning matters for AoE dice — enemies are arranged in a line, and some AoE effects hit adjacent enemies. Position your AoE heroes' targets to maximize collateral damage.
3. The endgame loop: run Final Boss, optimize gear, push harder content.
4. Experiment with Specialist for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
5. This is where class upgrades mastery separates good players from great ones.

Phase 5 Checklist

• Endgame content on farm
• Best-in-slot gear acquired
• Final Boss fully cleared
• Ready for challenge content

Common Progression Mistakes

• Not using all free rerolls — leaving rerolls unused is wasting your most valuable resource. Even if a die face is acceptable, rerolling might give something better. Use every reroll.
• Skipping the healer role — all-damage parties die on boss fights. At least one hero should have strong Heart faces for sustaining through multi-turn encounters.
• Buying expensive items late instead of cheap items early — a 3-gold item at encounter 1 provides value for 19 encounters. The same item at encounter 15 provides value for only 5.
• Upgrading the same hero every level-up — spread upgrades across the party. A team with one maxed hero and four weak heroes is worse than a balanced team with moderate upgrades on everyone.
• Wasting Shield faces when no enemies are attacking that hero — check enemy targeting before assigning shields. Shield faces used on untargeted heroes provide zero value.

Key Tips for Smooth Progression

1. Rerolling dice is free (up to your reroll limit) — use rerolls every turn. A bad face on your healer when healing is needed should always be rerolled. Don't accept suboptimal faces passively.
2. Healing prevents more damage than extra offense in most situations — keeping your heroes alive for more turns generates more total damage than killing one enemy slightly faster.
3. Shop items persist for the whole run — spending 5 gold on '+1 to all Sword faces' at the start means 15+ extra damage over the run. Early shop purchases have the highest total value.
4. Class upgrades at level-ups change die faces permanently. Choose upgrades that cover your party's weakness — if you have strong damage but weak healing, upgrade your Healer's Heart faces.
5. Positioning matters for AoE dice — enemies are arranged in a line, and some AoE effects hit adjacent enemies. Position your AoE heroes' targets to maximize collateral damage.

For detailed build optimization, see Slice & Dice builds. For quick wins, check tips & tricks.