So, you’ve finally unlocked the Spiral of Fate in Sword of Convallaria. Honestly, it's a bit of a shock to the system. You spend all this time leveling up your characters in the "Fool’s Journey," grinding for gear, and worrying about gacha pulls, only to realize that inside the Spiral, none of that actually matters. It’s a complete reset. A clean slate. It's basically a standalone tactical RPG tucked inside a gacha game, and if you treat it like a standard mobile campaign, you’re going to hit a wall fast.
Most players walk in thinking they can just steamroll through with their high-tier legendaries. Nope. The game doesn't care.
In the Spiral of Fate, you are managing a mercenary group called the Sword of Convallaria. You’ve got a limited calendar, a tight budget, and a stamina system that feels much more like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics than a modern mobile game. Every choice—literally every single one—drags you toward a different ending. You aren't just playing a story; you’re navigating a political powderkeg in the nation of Iria.
Why Your First Run is Supposed to be a Disaster
Let’s be real: your first run through the Spiral of Fate will probably be a mess. You’ll run out of gold. Your best units will get exhausted because you forgot to let them rest in the tavern. You’ll probably accidentally side with the Union when you meant to help the Papal States, or vice versa.
That’s fine.
The Spiral is designed for replayability. You earn "Knowledge" points at the end of every run, which you then use to buy permanent buffs for your next attempt. It’s a rogue-lite mechanic disguised as a narrative epic. If you try to get the "Perfect Ending" on your first go without any Destiny Points or permanent upgrades, you’re just asking for a headache.
The game uses "Fate Stones" to let you start from specific branching points. This is huge. Instead of replaying the first ten hours of the game, you can jump back to a critical decision. But here’s the kicker: even if you jump back, the stats and facilities you built up stay tied to that specific timeline. You can’t bring late-game power into an early-game branch unless you start the whole thing over with better permanent perks.
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Managing the Chaos of Iria
The world of Iria is falling apart. You have three main factions breathing down your neck. The Union is all about "order" but acts like a colonial superpower. The Papal States are religious zealots who might be worse than the people they're fighting. Then you have the Irian Government, which is basically a sinking ship.
Don't try to play "the good guy" in every scenario. It doesn't work.
If you try to keep everyone happy, you’ll end up with mediocre rewards and a neutral ending that feels pretty unsatisfying. To get the most out of every Spiral of Fate playthrough, you need to commit. If you’re going to be a mercenary for the Union, be the best mercenary they’ve got. This unlocks faction-specific units and unique story beats that you literally cannot see otherwise.
The Training Room Trap
One mistake I see constantly is players ignoring the Training Room. In the Spiral, your characters don't just level up by fighting. Well, they do, but it’s slow. The Training Room is where the real growth happens. But it costs time. And time is the most valuable resource you have.
You have to balance:
- Sending units on commissions to get gold.
- Training units to keep them viable.
- Resting units so they don't hit 0 Energy.
- Actually doing the story missions.
If a unit hits zero energy, they are out for several weeks. If that unit is Rawiyah or Beryl, your campaign is basically paused. You’ve got to rotate your squad. This isn't a game where you have a "Main Four" and ignore everyone else. You need a bench. A deep one.
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Skill Trees and the Illusion of Choice
Every character in the Spiral has a different skill tree than they do in the "real world" (the Elysium/Gacha side). This is where things get interesting. You can build a character in the Spiral to be a total glass cannon, even if their gacha version is a tank.
But watch out for the "Skill Stones." These are rare. You get them from specific events or high-level commissions. If you dump all your Skill Stones into a generic Recruit unit because you’re desperate, you’re going to regret it when you finally recruit a hero like Dantalion later in the story.
Speaking of recruiting: keep an eye on the Tavern. Every week, new mercenaries show up. Sometimes they’re garbage. Sometimes they have "Traits" that are absolutely broken for specific missions. A unit with a movement buff on forest tiles might seem niche until you’re stuck in a swamp for three story missions in a row.
The Economy is Rigged (And That’s Okay)
You will always feel poor. The game wants you to choose between buying a new sword and upgrading your forge. Always choose the forge.
Better gear can be crafted, but a better forge stays with you for the whole run. The same goes for the Sanctorium. Upgrading your ability to heal or provide tactical supports (like the "March Order" or the "Bombardment") is infinitely more valuable than a slightly higher attack stat on one guy. Tactics are the "spells" of this game. They don't cost mana; they cost tactical points that regenerate. Using a teleport tactic to move your slow-moving defender into a chokepoint is often the difference between a 3-star victory and a total party wipe.
How to Actually Get the Good Endings
Getting a "Good" or "True" ending in the Spiral of Fate usually requires two things: specific choices and high Reputation.
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Reputation isn't just a number. It dictates which missions appear on your map. If your reputation with the Vlane is too low, you’ll never get the prompt to uncover the conspiracy behind the riot. You’ll just see the riot happen, deal with it, and move on, oblivious to the fact that you just missed a massive story branch.
Most of the "True" endings are locked behind "Destiny Traces." These are basically achievements you earn by playing. Once you have enough, you can unlock a "Beacon." Using a Beacon when you start a new Spiral of Fate run changes the starting conditions. It might give you more money, better starting units, or—most importantly—unlock dialogue options that weren't there before.
It’s a literal loop. You live, you learn, you die (or reach a bad end), and you use that knowledge to fix the past.
Technical Nuances of Tactical Combat
The terrain matters more than the stats. I can't stress this enough. If you’re standing in high grass, you’re harder to hit. If you’re on a hill, you do more damage. If you stand next to a barrel of gunpowder... well, you know what happens.
The AI is actually pretty decent at exploiting this. They will try to push you off cliffs. "Knockback" is the most underrated stat in the Spiral of Fate. You can have a level 10 unit kill a level 30 boss just by shoving them into a river. If a map has water or a ledge, your goal shouldn't be "reduce their HP to zero." It should be "make them stand where the ground isn't."
Actionable Steps for Your Next Run
To make progress without losing your mind, follow this logic:
- Focus on the Forge early. Do not spend gold on consumables like healing potions unless it's a life-or-death mission. Crafting permanent gear is the only way to scale with the enemy's increasing levels.
- Burn your first run. Treat your first playthrough as a scouting mission. Grab as many Knowledge points as possible, explore one faction's path, and don't stress when the ending is a bit depressing.
- Rotate your roster constantly. Never let a core unit’s energy drop below 20%. The moment they hit the "Tired" state, their stats plummet, and they become a liability.
- Check the "Fate Records" menu. It’s easy to miss, but it literally shows you the flow-chart of your journey. If you see a grayed-out box next to a major decision, that’s your hint that there’s a secret branch you missed because you didn't have enough Reputation or a specific item.
- Invest in Tactics. Specifically, look for tactics that grant extra movement or allow for "Re-act." Being able to move a unit twice in a single turn is the most powerful mechanic in any tactical RPG, and Sword of Convallaria is no exception.
The beauty of the Spiral of Fate is that it doesn't care about your wallet. It only cares about your strategy and the choices you make when the world is burning down around you. Stop worrying about the gacha for a second and just get lost in the politics of Iria. You'll find a much better game waiting for you there.