This Neverness to Everness beginner guide covers what actually matters in your first weeks in Hethereau, because NTE throws a lot of systems at you at once: dice boards, City Tycoon, Fons, Character Pixels, Esper Cycles, cars and property. Most of it can wait. A few things can’t, and getting them right early saves you hours and a lot of wasted dice.
Key Takeaways
- Push the main story first, since it unlocks the systems everything else depends on
- Do your 50 Standard Board rolls for the free S-class selector, then save Solid Dice for limited characters you actually want
- City Tycoon Level 16 doubles city stamina efficiency, and Level 18 gives you Chiz for free
- Spend Character Pixels on levels and abilities, not gear, until Legendary gear is within reach
- On PC, NTE is played through Steam: a free download, and you log in with your Steam account
Push the Main Story Before Anything Else
Hethereau is distracting. There are cars to buy, safes to crack and anomalies on every corner. Resist it for a while. The early chapters unlock core pieces of the game, including the vehicle and city systems, and the story hands out strong rewards along the way.
Fair warning: the opening chapters are slow, and several reviewers called out the pacing. It does pick up. I’d treat the first stretch as a tutorial with cutscenes and keep moving until the city opens up properly.
Learn the Combat Basics: Swaps, Parries and Esper Cycles
You fight with a team of four and swap between them mid-combo. On top of basic dodges, there are perfect dodges and parries, and learning their timing early pays off once bosses start hitting hard.
The deeper layer is Esper types. Each character belongs to one of six: Lakshana, Cosmos, Anima, Incantation, Chaos or Psyche. Pairing the right ones triggers Esper Cycle reactions, and that’s where a team stops being four random units. When you pull someone new, check which Cycle they enable before you sink materials into them.
Spend Your Dice the Smart Way
NTE’s gacha, Scarborough Fair, is a dice board. Each roll costs 160 Annulith or one die. Limited Boards use Solid Dice, and the permanent Standard Board uses Fabricated Dice.
Here’s the order I’d follow:
- Do 50 Standard Board rolls first. The first 50 are discounted by 20%, and finishing them unlocks a free S-class selector for one of the standard characters. It never expires, so you can claim it whenever you’ve decided.
- Save Solid Dice for limited characters you want. There’s no 50/50, so any S-class you hit is the featured one. Hard pity is 90, and a Board Modification at 70 rolls raises the S-class rate from 1.87% to 19.59%.
- Don’t panic about timing. Limited Board pity carries over between limited boards, so rolls you stop on aren’t lost.
Version 1.4 also gives you up to 20 Solid Dice through a seven-day login event and an update gift, so claim those from your mail.
City Tycoon and Fons: The Side Economy That Pays You Back
City Tycoon is NTE’s money game. You earn Fons through city activities and spend them on cars, property, outfits and Tycoon upgrades. Two milestones matter for new players:
- Level 16: city stamina costs and rewards both rise by 100%, so you clear your weekly stamina in half the time. In 1.4, this level also unlocks the Puka Membership Program, which includes two S-class Standard Character Selection Boxes and an S-class Standard Arc Selection Box.
- Level 18: unlocks Chiz, a free DPS, with her signature weapon.
For quick Fons that don’t cost stamina, run the Pink Paws Bank Heist. It resets every two weeks and pays out up to 1,000,000 Fons. Hidden one-time safes around the city can hold up to 150,000 more.
Daily Resources: Character Pixels and Gear
Character Pixels are your main daily resource. They regenerate one every six minutes, which works out to 240 a day. Early on, put them into character EXP and ability materials.
Don’t farm gear consoles yet. Early gear gets replaced quickly, so wait until Legendary gear drops. When you do gear up, chase 4-set bonuses before worrying about perfect stats. A complete set beats a pile of mismatched pieces with slightly better numbers.
Get Around Hethereau Faster
Two cheap upgrades make exploring much less of a chore. First, visit the Witch’s House southwest of Hankaku Street. Collecting birds around the city earns Oracle Stones that level it up. At Level 3, birds show on your mini-map, and later levels raise your maximum stamina. Daily visits also give buffs and Hunter EXP.
Second, buy the Novis ST-X 950 motorcycle at the New Herland Regalia dealership. Cars are great on roads, but a bike handles off-road routes much better, and you’ll spend plenty of time leaving the asphalt.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I play NTE on PC?
Through Steam. NTE is a free download on its Steam store page: install it, launch it, and log in with your Steam account to start playing. Plan for 110 GB of free space and Windows 10 64-bit.
Should I reroll in NTE?
You can, by starting a new account and replaying the early game until Scarborough Fair unlocks, which takes roughly 25 to 30 minutes. The free S-class selector after 50 Standard Board rolls makes rerolling less necessary.
Who are the free characters?
Chiz unlocks at City Tycoon Level 18, and the 50-roll Standard Board selector gives you a standard S-class of your choice.
What should I spend Annulith on?
Dice for limited characters you plan to use. With no 50/50 and carry-over pity, saving up for a specific character is reliable.
Is NTE hard for beginners?
No. Open-world fights are forgiving. Difficulty shows up in bosses and endgame, which is where your Esper Cycle knowledge pays off.
Once you’ve settled in, read our Neverness to Everness review for the full picture, and use the Neverness to Everness tier list to decide who’s worth your dice. For more games like this, browse the Gacha RPG section or download the game from the official NTE website.
