Starting out in Battle Buddies can feel overwhelming, especially with so many features, missions, and upgrades available right from the start. Whether you’re looking to build a strong team, progress through stages efficiently, or simply avoid common beginner mistakes, knowing the right steps early on can save you a lot of time and resources. This guide will walk you through the essentials so you can hit the ground running and enjoy the game without feeling lost. Also check out our Battle Buddies Codes and More guide!
1. Quick essentials (what to unlock first)
- Unlock Company and Factory as soon as possible (skip cutscenes if they’re long).
- Company = buddy upgrading / chip conversion. Factory = spend Buddy Tokens to create specific buddies (very useful later).
- Do easy stages first to collect tickets (skins) and buddy tokens. Easy stages are solo-friendly — spam starter buddies to learn the flow.
2. Starter buddies & basic mechanics
- Starters: Donnie (defense/tank), Fee (support/healer), Prickly Pete (attacker). Cover tank, heal, DPS roles.
- Type advantage exists (triangle system). Match-ups matter.
- Recruit chance: 5% to recruit a defeated buddy from a run.
- Cannon mechanics: when an enemy base reaches half HP it fires the first cannon (clears ~50% of the field). When a base hits 0 HP it fires the second cannon (clears ~75% and usually triggers the boss). Don’t get surprised — plan stalling accordingly.
3. Chips, upgrades and stars
- Duplicate buddies → Chips. Use chips to upgrade other buddies’ talents.
- Talent / Stars: Max talent is sometimes shown as a bar (now caps at 6 for Apex). Star levels multiply base stats (2★ = 2×, 3★ = 3×, etc.).
- Upgrade cost example: different rarities need different chips — a common Rivant might start at 8 chips per upgrade step, while a different buddy (Chuck) might start at 5. Higher rarity = more chips.
- Refund mechanic: if you convert already-upgraded buddies, you can get back 80% of chips used — useful for re-rolling or reclaiming resources.
- Goal: focus chips on a small core roster (tanks + healers + 1–2 DPS) before spreading upgrades widely.
4. Apex & Rare buddies — what to know
- Apex buddies are larger, have higher maximum talent potential, and are usually the most powerful. Their talent bar caps differently than normal buddies.
- Rare buddies have a small chance to replace a normal spawn (example chance shown in leaks: ~0.04% to replace a normal buddy). Each map has its own rare buddy — that’s the main reason many players grind specific maps.
- Spawn notes: Apex and Rare encounters generally appear during regular map waves — they do not spawn after the boss. If you want the maximum chance to encounter them, run the full-time window strategy below.
5. Factory & Buddy Tokens
- Factory consumes Buddy Tokens to manually create buddies. Some powerful late-game units (like Flick) are craftable and worth prioritizing.
- How to get Buddy Tokens: clear maps (easy/medium/hard), do events, and collect tickets rewards. Save tokens for buddies that will speed up long-term grinding (tanks or universal healers).
6. Progression roadmap (Easy → Medium → Hard)
- Easy: spam starters, learn base/cannon timings, collect tokens/tickets and chips. Clears take ~8–12 minutes.
- Medium: start specializing; repeat Timberland to farm Pawn spawn for later hard-mode grinding.
- Hard: aim to run a stalled strategy that maximizes recruit chances and Apex/Rare encounters (see next section).
7. Hard-mode pond (stall) strategy — maximize recruits & rare spawns
Goal: stall the map long enough to hit the map’s full recruit window and get all possible unique encounter chances.
- Team comp: Tank (Damian) or Flick (if you have him) + multiple healers (Fee stacks) + a few damage dealers.
- Why Damian/Flick? Damian stalls effectively; Flick is ideal for sustained control and managing waves.
- How to stall: hold back the waves rather than pushing them into the enemy base. Wait until ~1:00 mark to organize your formation and then slowly manage spawns to avoid triggering the cannons prematurely.
- Healing priority: equip Fee and stack healers early. Sustained healing prevents cannon wipes and preserves your team for recruit rolls.
- Note: Apex/Rare buddies do not spawn after the boss — they spawn during the run — so stalling maximizes encounter chances.
8. Spawn timing (boss windows):
- Pawn: 8:00 (fastest)
- Canyon: ~9:40
- Timberland: 12:40 (slowest)
Stall until the full boss window for the map you run — that gives the most recruit opportunities.
9. Farming tips — what to grind and where
- Collect crafting mats and chips from specific map bosses (pharaoh/wolf/etc.). Pick zones that drop the material you need.
- Focus upgrades: prioritize getting 2★ on a strong tank + healer + one DPS. Two-star units are huge power jumps.
- Use tokens smartly: factory-create high-value buddies (Flick, Jordan) that speed progress, rather than wasting tokens on low-impact units.
- Spin and recruit: repeat the map that contains the Rare you want — it’s the fastest way to get a specific rare buddy.
10. Recommended buddy lineup examples
- Starter-safe: Donnie (tank) + Fee (healer) + Prickly Pete (attacker). Works for early easy/medium.
- Hard pond stall: Damian (stall/tank) + 2–3 Fee (heal stacks) + 2 DPS (Prickly Pete or crafted attacker). Flick replaces Damian if available.
- Token-efficient team: 2★ Damian + 2★ attacker + one healer — this gives consistent survival with lower token investment.
11. Common beginner mistakes
- Upgrading too many buddies instead of focusing on a core 3–4.
- Spending Factory tokens on vanity units rather than grind-saving ones.
- Pushing too aggressively in hard-mode and triggering cannons early.
- Ignoring the convert/refund mechanic — you can reclaim 80% of chips from converted/upgraded buddies.
Mastering Battle Buddies as a beginner comes down to understanding the core mechanics, making smart upgrade choices, and steadily improving your team. By focusing on the right priorities from the start, you’ll be able to progress faster and enjoy more of what the game has to offer without unnecessary setbacks. Keep experimenting, adapt your strategies as you unlock new features, and you’ll soon find yourself moving from beginner to seasoned player in no time.