Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story has officially arrived, and it’s the cosy crafting RPG we’ve all been waiting for. Set in the magical realm of the Yordles, your player character has been tasked with restoring the city’s portal network. To achieve this, you must harness the power of knitting to craft items, throw parties, and explore the various islands of Bandle City.
You can certainly throw caution to the wind and head into the enchanting world of Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story without preparation – and you’ll have a perfectly wonderful time – but to make the most of your crafting dreams, here are some handy tips to keep in mind.
Our Top Tips
1. Always take your Backpack with you
Your character player has a magical backpack that acts as a home base; you can drop your pack and watch it turn into a cosy home that’s perfect for knitting, cooking, and throwing parties.
Instead of always running back to home base, and if you’re like me and forgetful of where you last placed something, always take your magical Backpack with you on any part of your adventure.
Not only will you save yourself a whole lot of bother running around to pick it up again, but there are also locations that offer crafting bonuses, so it’s a good idea to keep it on you at all times.
Read: All the biggest video games launching in February 2024
2. Unlock portal travel locations
Throughout Bandle City, you’ll find a number of portals that can be activated; these allow you to easily teleport to various island areas and reach your quest goals. As you explore and discover new areas, you’ll want to unlock these portals so you can revisit these locations quicker. You can only run so fast!
3. Maximise your crafting resources
As a knitter, your main job is to craft and you’ll be doing a lot of it. The natural world of Bandle City offers a number of resources such as yarn, leaves, crystals, and… junk. Yes, you can clean up junk and turn it into something beautiful. These resources respawn after a certain period of time, so it’s a good idea to check after each rest and even if you don’t need it now, you’ll need it later.
In addition to collecting resources, when you’re transforming them into crafting materials, this can take some time. A handy tip is to load up your machinery to create a large number of materials while you’re out and about, so you know you’ll have materials ready when you come back home. Or do this before you rest and you’ll wake up to find a good portion of your materials crafted.
4. Make the most of local environments
While you’re scaling your skill trees to help you craft, keep an eye on what’s available in the area to communally use. Your fellow Yordles are quite neighbourly and will let you use community workbenches, upcyclers and seed beds; these are excellent for early game crafting and gardening for your food stand.
5. Feed your friends when you’re low on Stars
If in doubt, cook up a storm! Aside from hosting a party, one of the many wonderful things you can do in this game is feed your fellow Yordles and keep the good vibes going. Running your food stand not only gives you Stars to purchase certain resources and quest items, but it fills your emotion orbs and unlocks some fun side quests.
6. Upgrade your inventory
If you’re an avid collector like me, it can be easy to quickly fill up your inventory. You can save yourself the hassle of low space by upgrading your inventory when you can; not only will you have access to the right materials when you need them, but it will save you time.
Alternatively, you can make use of chests to store your items. These are craftable at your workbench and if you’re out of resources, you can always stash items and pick them up at the post box later.
7. Prioritise rest
Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story isn’t your average crafting RPG. The grind is so minimal and there’s no time limit, which is simply delightful for anyone who hates doing things under pressure. Instead, the actions you do such as collecting resources, cooking, and crafting will fill your emotion orbs. Be sure to keep an eye on these, because when your orbs are nice and full, it’s time to rest your little yordle.
One of my favourite things is how the game prioritises rest (as we all should be!) and rewards us with points to input into a variety of skill trees, and unlock new abilities and crafting tools. Rest is important for progress.
8. Regularly check for new skills to unlock
Every time you rest, you gain skill points to spend on a variety of skill trees. Unless prompted by a quest where you require a certain skill, it’s good to go in and check what you can unlock.
What’s great about the game is it allows for exploration and creativity in your craft, so there’s no wrong skill to unlock. However, you’ll have a range of different quests that fall under the different skill trees, so try not to put all your points in one basket. Varying where you place your skill points allows for more wholesome gameplay — whether it’s a new Backpack upgrade or a dish to grow and cook.
9. Pace yourself
Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story is an absolutely delightful adventure, and you can find yourself wanting to fly through the story. But much like the game tells us to rest, a small piece of advice is to take your time to enjoy each moment. This is a game that you’ll want to spend the time uncovering its quirks and charms at each turn.
So pace yourself and be curious as you navigate different story threads; take the time to smell the pixel roses, go fishing, decorate your Backpack, and chat to the residents of each island, some of whom include our favourite League of Legends Yordles. It’s a beautiful game, so it’s worth the patience.
