Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time – Top Starting Lives for Your Adventure

For those diving into Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time, the familiar mechanics of role-playing games (RPGs) are likely well-known to you. Players usually create a character, choose a role—be it a warrior, archer, or mage—and embark on a lengthy adventure, often stuck in that single path for hours on end. While you might enhance your skills or gear, your role remains largely unchanged throughout your gameplay experience.

However, Fantasy Life I revolutionizes this traditional framework. With its introduction of 14 distinct job classes known as “Lives, ”players are empowered to participate in a vibrant interconnected ecosystem.

Take on the role of a Farmer cultivating crops, only to transition seamlessly into a Cook whipping up meals from your harvest. You are not merely one role; you are a miniature economy thriving on your own. This innovative system caters to various playstyles, whether hunting monsters or indulging in farming simulations.

While this expansive feature is incredibly engaging, it may pose challenges for newcomers.With 14 Lives to choose from, certain selections may better suit beginners. To help you navigate your options, I’ll provide guidance to ease your entry into the game.

Optimal Starting Lives

Despite the game presenting each of the 14 Lives as equally viable choices, the narrative structure clearly favors the Combat Class. Early quests predominantly revolve around combat missions and monster hunting, making it inefficient to start with any class other than a Combat Life.

Not only does a Combat Class streamline the early experience, but it also allows you to reach Fledgling Rank quickly, a prerequisite for switching to other Lives. Completing the tutorial and quests tied to your chosen Life will be essential in this early stage.

The added benefit is the ease of leveling up a Combat Class, letting you progress the main quest concurrently. Next, let’s delve deeper into the available Combat Lives, helping you determine which of the four suits your playstyle best.

Life

Playstyle

Weapon

Guild Master

Guild Location

Paladin

Melee

Sword and Shield

Cradle

Guild Office and Paladin’s Guild (Eternia Village)

Mercenary

Melee

Greatsword

Marcen

Mercenary’s Guild and Inn (Eternia Village)

Hunter

Ranged

Bow

Arche

Southwest of Eternia Village

Magician

Ranged

Staff

Oz

Magician’s Guild (Near the Statue of Goddess Celestia, north of the Main Guild Hall in Eternia Village)

Choosing a single Combat Life for your journey can effectively carry you through the game’s latter stages. Should you wish to explore other facets, such as farming, mining, cooking, or crafting, simply leveling up your Combat Life will suffice to handle the monster encounters.

Paladin

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The Paladin embodies the classic RPG warrior archetype, wielding a sword and shield for both offense and defense. This class offers a balanced gameplay experience with the ability to dodge and block, providing versatility when facing groups of enemies.

As you progress as a Paladin, you’ll unlock special abilities like Sonic Slash, enabling you to hit adversaries from a distance, along with elemental damage capabilities.

Mercenary

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The Mercenary is designed for those who favor an aggressive melee approach. Utilizing a two-handed weapon, this class excels at dealing damage to multiple enemies simultaneously.

Though it has a slower attack speed compared to the Paladin due to its broad-swinging motion, the Mercenary excels in offensive capabilities. If dodging appeals to you more than blocking, this character might be your ideal choice.

Hunter

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The Hunter functions as the quintessential archer. If you enjoy ranged combat, this class is a perfect fit. The Hunter utilizes various arrow types that inflict distinctive effects, such as poison, sleep, or paralysis on foes.

Additionally, the class features an AoE charged skill known as Arrow Rain, making it powerful against groups. Notably, combining this charged attack with equipped arrow types can produce strategic advantages, like putting enemies to sleep.

Mastering a ranged character and leveling it early will greatly benefit your mid-game when larger maps become available, simplifying enemy engagements from a safe distance.

Magician

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The Magician class is arguably the most enjoyable experience among the available Combat Lives. Equipped with a Staff, you’ll cast both single-target and area-of-effect spells. With rank progression, you’ll unlock additional spells and Arcane Arts, increasing your versatility.

This class also proves practical for solo play due to its healing spell, which is incredibly useful during the initial game stages when trying to conserve Dosh, the in-game currency.

Top Gathering Lives for Beginners

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Having explored the Combat Lives, you may wonder if starting with a non-combat Life is feasible. Technically, yes. The game allows for this freedom, although you’ll initially be unable to access the Farmer and Artist Lives until you make headway through the story.

For those seeking to focus on farming, the best alternative is a Gathering Life. This choice enables you to accumulate resources for use in Crafting Lives later.

Here’s a summary of the Gathering Lives and their functionalities:

Life

Tool Used

Guild Master

Guild Location

Function

Miner

Pickaxe

Meralda

Miner’s Guild (Eternia Village)

Harvests ores from deposits.

Woodcutter

Axe

Leela

Woodcutter’s Guild (Eternia Village)

Gathers logs by chopping trees, which the Carpenter Life can convert into lumber.

Angler

Fishing Rod

Gramps

Fisher’s Guild (Pier in Eternia Village)

Catches fish required as ingredients for the Cook Life.

Farmer (Unlocked in Chapter 4)

How

I hear.

Faraway Island

Plants and nurtures crops.

While I have highlighted the advantages of selecting Combat Lives, I understand that the charm of Fantasy Life I lies in its farming and crafting mechanics. If you’re determined to start with a non-combat Life despite the early-game obstacles, Gathering Lives provide an excellent foundation.

The gathering mechanics in Fantasy Life I involve a mini-game focused on managing SP. Different resource types, such as ores, trees, and fish, have varying levels and HP that players need to deplete to collect materials.

By moving strategically during your gathering sessions, you can identify “sweet spots”that allow for increased damage against resources. Achieving these sweet spots not only expedites the gathering process but also enhances your chances of obtaining excellent drops that yield bonus items.

All Gathering Lives possess a skill called Sweet Spot Search, enabling players to pinpoint these advantageous spots during resource gathering. This skill is crucial for maximizing material collection efficiency.

If you’re keen on pursuing a gathering path, the Miner emerges as the most practical choice. Stockpiling ores can benefit your Blacksmith Life, allowing you to forge essential early-game weapons, armor, and tools.

Reasons to Avoid Starting with Crafting Lives

Once you have familiarized yourself with Combat and Gathering Lives and reached the Fledgling or Apprentice ranks, you might feel tempted to dive into a Crafting Life next.

However, I strongly advise against starting Fantasy Life I with a Crafting Life. These roles function as the end of the resource chain, requiring raw materials collected by Gathering Lives to be effective. Starting as a Crafting Life can leave you stranded without necessary materials, and you may lack sufficient dosh to purchase them from stores.

While other Crafting Lives, such as Tailor or Alchemist, can forage for basic resources, early game lacks adequate items to gather. You may find the experience tedious and frustrating, waiting for items to respawn to craft even a single potion.

Nevertheless, once your Gathering Lives are properly leveled, and you have a good stockpile of raw materials, the Crafting Lives become an extraordinarily delightful aspect of the game. I personally found great joy in creating various tools and weapons as a Blacksmith or designing furniture as a Carpenter. Additionally, crafting my own Potions as an Alchemist allowed me to retain a considerable amount of dosh.

The mechanics of Crafting Lives echo those of Gathering Lives in that they too involve engaging mini-games. However, this time, you’ll need the correct recipes and the agility to execute sequences on your controller or keyboard promptly.

Here’s a comprehensive list of Crafting Lives and their functionalities:

Life

Tool Used

Guild Master

Guild Location

Function

Alchemist

Flask

Chemmel

Alchemist’s Guild (Eternia Village)

Creates various Potions and Charms.

Cook

Pan

Cocott

Cook’s Guild and Restaurant (Eternia Village)

Prepares food offering healing and stat bonuses.

Tailor

Needle

Sue

Tailor’s Guild (Eternia Village)

Crafts clothing and armor for other Lives.

Carpenter

Saw

Dad

Woodcutter’s Guild (Eternia Village)

Processes logs into lumber and builds furniture.

Blacksmith

Hammer

Hammerhead

Blacksmith’s Guild and Shop (Eternia Village)

Forges weapons, armor, and tools.

Artist (Unlocked in Chapter 5)

Brush

Paulette

Paulette’s Atelier (Tropica Isles)

Creates decorations and ornaments.

Having examined the diverse Lives in Fantasy Life I, the choice of which to start your adventure with is entirely yours. The beauty of this game lies in the freedom it grants you to explore and engage with its numerous features. While opting for a Combat Life may streamline your journey, remember that there is no definitive “perfect”choice. Ultimately, your enjoyment and the unique path you carve in the game are what truly matter.

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