With the Japanese release of Blue Protocol, many English-speaking players are diving into the game despite the language barrier. This guide offers a detailed breakdown of how to get started, level up, and craft gear effectively, even if you don’t understand Japanese.

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Understanding Progression

• Character Level vs. Item Level: Your main progression comes from both your character level (top-left of the screen) and your item level (below it). Your item level is critical, as content is gated by this number.
• Item Level Components:
  • Weapon
  • Battle Imagines (skills): 2 slots
  • Equippable Imagines (stat boosts): 5 slots

Upgrading these pieces through crafting increases your overall item level.

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Main Story and Adventure Boards

• Main Story: Follow the main quest line to unlock new areas and systems. It won’t give gear but is essential for progression.
• Adventure Boards:
  • Adventure Rank Boards: Identified by a crest symbol. Completing these boards raises your adventure rank, which unlocks more content.
  • Gear Boards (Weapon & Imagine Boards): Offer recipes and crafting materials for upgrading your gear. These are categorized by slot shapes (e.g., triangle items go in triangle slots).

To progress:

1. Complete story quests.
2. Use boards to farm materials and unlock recipes.
3. Upgrade adventure rank via the officer in the guild hall (central city).

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Crafting Your Gear

• Crafting Stations:
  • Weapon Station: Located via the main story.
  • Imagine Station: Found in the central city. NPC offers options:
    • B (Battle Imagine)
    • E (Equippable Imagine)
• Crafting Process:
  • Unlock recipes via boards or quests.
  • Use translated tools (e.g., Yandex image OCR) to locate material drop zones.
  • Prioritize equipping the highest-level imagines available.

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Side Quests

• Which Side Quests to Do:
  • Focus on quests that reward recipes and boards.
  • Skip low-value XP quests until you reach later zones (e.g., post-level 12–17), where side quest XP becomes significantly better.

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Pro Tips & Quality of Life

1. Board Management:
   • You can only have a limited number of boards active.
   • Check your boards menu: green = active, gray = inactive.
   • Track boards on HUD for easy access.
2. Material Tracking:
   • When crafting, click the magnifying glass icon to track specific items and highlight farming locations.
3. Mount Unlock:
   • Acquired via Adventure Rank 4 Board completion.
4. Drop-Based Imagines:
   • Some imagines drop from field mobs and bosses. Always check your inventory in case you picked one up.
5. Dungeon Ticket Usage:
   • Post-run, you’re prompted to use a ticket for double loot.
   • Default is “Yes” – select “No” (right option) to conserve tickets in early game.

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Final Words

This guide should give you the foundation to navigate Blue Protocol‘s Japanese version confidently. Stick to story progression, prioritize board-based gear upgrades, and leverage translations to make sense of your tasks.

For more help, join the English-speaking Blue Protocol community on Discord or drop by the Twitch stream for live Q&A and gameplay!

Stay strong, adventurers!