Backpack Battles offers many items, features, and mechanics to constantly monitor if you want a successful run. Before starting on this competitive inventory management roguelike, you might want a few pointers.
Backpack Battles is an autobattler like no other. Picking your class and build is just the start of your journey, as you also need to craft items, manage HP and stamina, collect buffs and debuffs, as well as maximize your limited inventory space, which is the most important part of the game.
Always keep expanding
As to be expected in a game that touts itself as a competitive inventory management auto-battler, inventory space is essential. Your character begins with only a modest, class-specific bag with only six slots. Although this will carry you throughout your first few encounters, you quickly need to work to expand your carrying capacity.
Like most things in Backpack Battles, expanding your inventory is done in the shop. As new bags appear, I highly recommend picking them up. Leather and Duffle bags both offer significantly more space, but the niche bags appearing later down the line are also valuable: Armor and Stamina bags also offer small pockets of extra inventory alongside beneficial side effects.
Watch your stamina
Stamina is by far the most important stat in Backpack Battles. The more weapons you have, the more stamina you will drain. If you run out of stamina in the midst of a battle, you will start skipping over your own attacks, giving your opponent ample opportunity to win an easy encounter.
To combat this, you should stock up on Stamina Potions, Stamina Stash bags, and weapons without Stamina use, like Daggers. In between fights you can see your average stamina use below your character stats. It is best to keep this stat near medium stamina use, so you are using enough to cause significant damage but not so much as to exhaust your character.
Don’t be afraid to reorganize
As you progress throughout your run and collect more items, it’s a good idea to dump out your bags and reorganize from scratch. This might be time-consuming, but careful item placement is what separates good runs from great ones.
Items such as the Phoenix, Death Scythe, Double Axe, and other essential build pieces have rather awkward shapes that demand space in your limited inventory. It is best to place these centerpiece items in the most optimal spot and organize your smaller items from there.
For example, if you are playing as a Reaper with a poison build then you always want your Death Scythe, Poison Potions, and other poison effect items in your coffin bag. Pyromancers similarly want to stack their Flames inside their Pyro-specific bag to maximize your possible damage.
Look out for strong upgrades
Backpack Battles is all about getting the next crucial item for your build to hit a power spike. Naturally, this means you’ll spend a lot of time in the shop. Whenever two or more items can be combined, a faint blue line will draw them together. Always look for this visual signal and make sure to place these items side-by-side.
If you are targeting a specific item, such as the Spectral Dagger or Rainbow Goobert, then you’ll need to refresh early and often. A refresh only costs one coin per pull, however if you are simultaneously picking items off the shelf then this can quickly spiral into a massive cost. In this case, be sure to reserve items by right clicking on the shop, saving it for your next merchant visit.
