Sephiria is a top-down action roguelite from TEAM HORAY, the developers behind Dungreed. You play a bunny adventurer from Bunnyville, diving into procedural combat rooms across six chapters. The game entered Early Access in April 2025 and reached full 1.0 in July 2026, shipping six weapon branches, roughly 300 artifacts and 70 tablets, more than ten bosses, and four-player online co-op.
If you have played Dungreed or any action roguelite, the loop will feel familiar: enter, clear rooms, collect gear, fight the chapter boss, die, return stronger. What makes Sephiria different is that your gear has shapes, and where you place it matters as much as what you pick up. This guide walks the first run from the moment you spawn in Bunnyville to the moment you decide to push or reset.
Your First Hour in Bunnyville
Bunnyville is the persistent hub between runs. Before you chase chapter six, spend your first hour learning where the vendors, the inscription altar, and the quest givers sit — it stops a wipe from costing you momentum.
- Talk to Ken and start Home Repair. Ken's quest line gates the core talents — passive bonuses that smooth early runs. Repairing his house is not optional fluff; it is the structured tutorial for a layer of power that inscription alone cannot replace. Finish at least the opening steps before deciding the game is "too hard".
- Pick a costume. Costumes shift your starting stats — evasion versus crit, attack speed versus dash recovery — before a single artifact lands. It is a small choice, but it nudges how forgiving your first rooms feel.
- Open the Destiny Inscription board. Even if you cannot afford many nodes yet, read the categories. Sapphires drip in from achievements, milestones, and run performance, and knowing what to save for beats spending blind.
- Plan the Side Bag. Once inscription allows, purchase the Side Bag node so spare artifacts can bank off-grid and be swapped in before a boss. It is one of the highest-value quality-of-life unlocks in 1.0.
- Enter a normal solo run first. Learn room pacing without co-op chaos. Practice the Q/E grid preview and start reading the red laser telegraphs that warn of every dangerous attack.
The Run Loop, Step by Step
A typical successful run follows this rhythm:
- Prepare in town — spend Sapphires if a node unlocks, slot talents from Ken, and grab Potions or Side Bag utilities.
- Clear room chains — prioritise artifact drops that fit your grid plan rather than grabbing everything shiny.
- Manage the inventory grid — place artifacts so tablets can buff them. Bad placement is a silent run killer; see the Inventory Grid guide.
- Fight the chapter boss — learn its phase telegraphs; do not burn Miracles early.
- Return and reinvest — even failed runs yield Sapphires, unlocks, or knowledge. Bank progress instead of forcing depth when your build lacks synergy.
Choosing Your First Weapon
You start with Sword & Shield. The other five branches unlock through Destiny Inscription nodes and their village training quests, so your first commitment matters more than it looks — inscription rewards sticking with one branch.
| Weapon | Good first pick? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sword & Shield | Best for most | Guard gives a direct defensive answer while you learn telegraphs; forgiving blocks. |
| Crossbow | Great alternative | Ranged safety lets you study boss patterns from a distance. |
| Greatsword | Good if patient | Huge room clear, but long wind-ups punish greedy swings. |
| Quarterstaff (Staff) | Later pick | Strong mid-range sweeps, but early chapters feel slow before your grid is online. |
| Dagger | Confident players | Fast counters, but the shortest reach and least forgiveness. |
| Katana | Experienced players | Highest ceiling, but MP and stance management on top of parry timing. |
Full breakdowns and the scenario-weighted tier list are on the Weapon Tier List page. If you are unsure, Sword & Shield is never the wrong answer for a first run.
The Two Systems That Decide Your Run
New players often focus on the artifact in front of them and miss the two systems that actually compound over time:
- Destiny Inscription — permanent nodes bought with Sapphires. Survival nodes make early runs feel fair; weapon-branch nodes reward commitment. Inscription persists across deaths, which is why a clean reset that banks Sapphires beats a deep run that ends badly.
- Talents — unlocked by progressing Ken's Home Repair quest. These are passive bonuses that stack with inscription and smooth the whole experience. If the game feels brutally hard after ten runs, check whether you have actually unlocked talents yet.
Items You Will See Immediately
- Artifacts — run-based equipment with grid footprints and passive or triggered effects; the core of every build.
- Tablets — placed on the grid to buff adjacent artifacts when tags match; the multipliers of your build.
- Miracles — powerful actives with cooldown discipline; time them for boss vulnerability windows.
- Potions — consumable safety nets. They cover mistakes; they do not fix a broken grid.
- Side Bag — off-grid storage added in 1.0, used to swap situational pieces before bosses.
Survival Tips for Your First Run
- Read the red laser telegraphs. Almost every lethal attack is announced first. The tell is the fight.
- Dodge perpendicular, not backward. Backing up walks you into walls and the next beam. Sidestep.
- Learn the dash i-frames. The dodge's invincibility window is your main defense — not your HP bar.
- Prioritise survival early. A heal or shield artifact in chapter one is worth more than a glass-cannon piece.
- Do not chug Potions on trash. Save them for boss attempts, and reset if you burn them learning early rooms.
- Keep the grid tidy. Preview with Q/E before placing; a coherent three-piece proc beats three random rares.
Common New-Player Mistakes
These are the habits that quietly cost early runs, in rough order of how often they appear:
- Panic-placing artifacts. Grabbing a shiny item and jamming it in breaks the adjacency you were building. Bank it in the Side Bag instead.
- Ignoring Q/E preview. Ten seconds of rotation preview prevents an entire run of dead cells.
- Rainbow-building. Five unrelated "strong" tags produce a silent DPS failure. Commit to one or two combo families.
- Backing into corners. The single most common cause of death in chapter one is retreating into a wall during a beam or fan attack.
- Fighting mini-bosses while low. Optional elites are a routing decision. Take them with HP and grid room to spare; skip them otherwise.
- Greeding phase two. The most common boss wipe is overcommitting right after a clean first phase.
When to Push vs Reset
Roguelites punish greed. Reset a run when your grid has dead cells with no way to fix them, when you burned Potions on avoidable damage, or when you are under-inscribed for the chapter's damage checks and restarting is simply faster. Push when you have a coherent synergy and you are deliberately practising a boss pattern for later — for example, drilling Blackhand Mogdi's phase transition before you attempt Hard Mode.
What to Do After Your First Run
- Spend Sapphires on Destiny Inscription — survival nodes first.
- Continue Ken's Home Repair quest to unlock more talents.
- Try a second weapon to see which rhythm suits you before you commit inscription.
- Read the Inventory Grid guide once your runs start reaching chapter three.
- When Normal feels fair, invite up to three friends through the Mysterious Door, and treat Hard Mode as a graduation exam rather than a second run.
Beginner FAQ
What should I do first in Bunnyville?
Talk to Ken and progress Home Repair to unlock talents, then open Destiny Inscription so you understand Sapphire spending. Enter a solo run only after you know where the town services are.
Does dying mean I wasted my run?
No. You still earn Sapphires, unlock knowledge, and sometimes currency toward town upgrades. Failed runs fund the inscription that makes the next attempt stronger.
When should I try co-op or Hard Mode?
Try co-op once solo telegraphs feel readable. Attempt Hard Mode after you clear the normal chapters with a stable grid — elemental modifiers punish weak builds hard.
Are there redeem codes in Sephiria?
No. Sephiria is a Steam title without promotional code redemption. Progression is run-based, plus Destiny Inscription and talents.
Game data sourced from community gameplay, patch notes, and wikis (ssephiria.wiki, sephiria.net). Game images © TEAM HORAY. Used under fair use.