Your First Steps
Prerequisite: You must purchase an Operator's Pass before creating a character. Each character requires its own pass.
A practical guide to your first hours as an Echo Operative.
To begin your Echo Collective journey, you'll need to:
- Create a character You can create multiple characters per wallet
- Roll character attributes This will determine your starting capabilities in combat, intelligence and other areas
- Lock your character avatar: You can re-roll your character to attempt to get an improved character avatar, which come in four types: Common, Uncommon, Rare and Legendary. Higher-level avatars deliver improved attributes, and skill check bonuses, which will impact your success in missions, crafting and other activities.
Step 1: Check Your Forge Engine
Your economic foundation starts here.
- View your Forge Engine status - Check current efficiency and condition
- Load Data Shards - Empty engines attract no Producers
- Monitor batch processing - Cycles run every 5 minutes
Tip: Engine condition degrades over time. Keep Engine Parts in inventory for maintenance.
Step 2: Review Your Skills
Open your skill pane and assess your starting capabilities.
Early priorities:
- Build baseline competency across multiple areas (versatility)
- Or focus early on 1-2 areas (faster specialization)
Recommended starting focus:
| Play Style | Priority Skills |
|---|---|
| Intelligence/Analysis | Pattern Recognition, Analytical Thinking, Information Gathering |
| Combat/Tactical | Basic Combat, Tactical Planning, Advanced Combat |
| Diplomatic/Social | Negotiation, Faction Relations, Alliance Building |
| Technical | Reticle Navigation, Echo Interface, Manufacturing |
Step 3: Accept Your First Mission
Missions are where you earn experience, build faction standing, and shape your story.
What to expect:
- Branching narrative with meaningful choices
- Embedded challenges testing your skills
- Skill checks determining success probability
- Faction relationship impacts based on decisions
Early mission tips:
- Read all options before choosing
- Note the risk assessment colors (Green = favorable, Red = dangerous)
- Your skills + equipment bonuses affect success rates
- Failed checks aren't immediately catastrophic—learn and adapt
Step 4: Explore a Location
The Cosmos contains extensive locations with intelligence reports.
Benefits of exploration:
- Build your knowledge base
- Find Advisement opportunities (strategic consultation)
- Unlock higher-tier intelligence access over time
- Understand the political landscape
- Gain opportunities to decrypt signals intelligence, which provide opportunities to lead covert operations (and gain additional XP rewards)
Start with:
- Visiting locations within different Cosmos and Reticle regions to understand differences and similarities
- Accepting easier signals intelligence invitations to understand how they work
- Completing Advisement opportunities to potentially shape local political, economic and military environment
Step 5: Try Cognitive Training
Strategic games develop operational capabilities.
TriDyak
- Develops: Spatial reasoning, influence projection, pattern recognition
- Format: Place stones on triangular grid to control territory
- Time: Games take 10-20 minutes
Confluence
- Develops: Resource management, multi-dimensional strategy
- Format: Card-based territorial control across four domains
- Time: Games take 15-30 minutes
Note: First few sessions each day provide the best skill rewards (diminishing XP returns over time).
Step 6: Understand Faction Dynamics
You'll interact with all four major factions. Your choices impact your relationships with your chosen faction.
Faction standing progresses through:
- Initiate → 2. Associate → 3. Adept → 4. Master → 5. Exemplar
Higher standing unlocks:
- Improved skill checks
- Better interactions with NPC faction agents
- Sub-mission opportunities
- Memory Machine bonuses
Common Early Mistakes
| Mistake | Why It Hurts | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Ignoring Forge Engine | No FP = no advancement | Load Shards daily |
| Not picking a career | Jack of all trades, master of none | Picking a career provides skill earning bonuses which helps you craft key items faster |
| Rushing skill checks | RED warnings exist for a reason | Respect risk assessment |
| Hoarding resources | Shards decay; FP sitting idle helps nothing | Invest in skills/equipment; save FP in vaults to protect from degradation |
| Ignoring After-Action Cases | Reputation damage, missed opportunities | Respond within time windows |
Your First Week Goals
- Maintain positive Forge Engine efficiency
- Complete 3-5 missions to build experience
- Advance in at least two skills
- Explore 10+ locations
- Play 5+ cognitive training games
- Improve your faction rank
Next Steps
- The Homeostatic Economy - Deep dive into how the economy balances itself
- Skills & Progression - How advancement works
- Faction Overview - Understanding the major Cosmos powers c