How to play Lantern Road
Lantern Road is an idle RPG, so your party fights by itself. This guide covers what to spend gold on, how loot and affixes work, when to Rekindle and how offline progress is counted. Every number in the tables below is read straight from the game data.
Heroes
The Warden is with you from the start. The Ranger joins at zone 10 and the Ember Mage at zone 25. Each level costs about 7.5% more than the last, and every 25 levels a hero earns a +25% damage milestone.
| Hero | Role | Joins at zone | Base DPS | Base level cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warden | Frontline. Holds the road and draws the blows. | 1 | 1.6 | 4 |
| Ranger | Marksman. Sharp eyes, lucky crits. | 10 | 4.5 | 28 |
| Ember Mage | Caster. Fire that spreads. | 25 | 11 | 95 |
Skills
Each hero has three skills that unlock at levels 10, 50 and 100. With auto-cast on they fire when ready at 80% strength; casting by hand is always full strength. Press 1, 2 or 3 to cast that tier early.
| Hero | Skill | Unlocks at level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warden | Beacon Taunt | 10 | +25% damage for 4s · cooldown 20s |
| Iron Dawning | 50 | 3× party damage burst · cooldown 35s | |
| Roadward Oath | 100 | +60% damage for 8s · cooldown 60s | |
| Ranger | Lantern Volley | 10 | 2× party damage burst · cooldown 18s |
| Glasswing Mark | 50 | +40% damage for 5s · cooldown 32s | |
| Sevenfold Trail | 100 | 7× party damage burst · cooldown 55s | |
| Ember Mage | Cinder Wake | 10 | +40% damage for 6s · cooldown 22s |
| Ashlight Bloom | 50 | 4× party damage burst · cooldown 38s | |
| Sunseed Storm | 100 | +80% damage for 8s · cooldown 65s |
Loot and rarities
Enemies drop gear for six slots: weapon, helm, armor, charm, ring and relic. Rarity sets both power and the number of affixes (common 0, legendary 4). Bosses have a 30% chance to roll one tier higher. Your pack holds 30 items, and extra items can be salvaged into Dust. Rarity is shown with a symbol and a letter, not only a color.
| Rarity | Drop chance | Power multiplier | Affixes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common (C) | 60% | ×1 | 0 |
| Uncommon (U) | 25% | ×1.3 | 1 |
| Rare (R) | 10% | ×1.7 | 2 |
| Epic (E) | 4% | ×2.3 | 3 |
| Legendary (L) | 1% | ×3.2 | 4 |
Affixes and rerolling
Affixes are bonus stats on a piece of gear. To keep the first run from being decided by lucky drops, rolls are scaled down to 8% of their range in the early zones, then ramp up and reach full strength around zone 80. A reroll costs 10 Dust and replaces one affix.
| Affix | Roll range at full strength |
|---|---|
| Damage | 1% – 6% |
| Crit | 0.5% – 2.5% |
| Gold | 2% – 8% |
| Boss | 2% – 10% |
| Cooldown | 0.5% – 3% |
| Offline | 0.5% – 2.5% |
Rekindle and talents
From zone 30 you can Rekindle. Zone, gold, hero levels and pack items reset, and you earn Embers: the best zone of the run divided by 10, raised to the power 2.2, rounded down, plus a small bonus from achievements. Embers, talents, equipped gear, Dust, Oil and achievements are kept. Talents cost more with every rank.
| Talent | Max rank | Effect | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steady Flame | 30 | +35% damage per rank | — |
| Wayfarer Purse | 20 | +12% gold per rank | — |
| Banked Coals | 5 | +3% offline efficiency per rank | — |
| Long Night | 6 | +2h offline cap per rank | — |
| Familiar Footsteps | 5 | Rekindle starts 2 zones further along, per rank | — |
| Deep Satchel | 4 | +5 pack slots per rank | — |
| Treasure Echo | 3 | +1 extra loot roll per kill | — |
| Patient Lantern | 5 | +2s boss timer per rank | — |
| Keen Wick | 10 | +1.5% crit chance per rank | — |
| Quick Spark | 8 | +2.5% skill cooldown reduction per rank | — |
| Watchful Beacon | 2 | Next skill of Warden auto-casts at full strength | — |
| Guiding Feather | 2 | Next skill of Ranger auto-casts at full strength | — |
| Living Cinder | 2 | Next skill of Ember Mage auto-casts at full strength | — |
| Dawnfire | 30 | +50% damage per rank | Steady Flame |
| Heartforge | 30 | +75% damage per rank | Dawnfire |
| Pocket Sun | 30 | +100% damage per rank | Heartforge |
| Warm Caravan | 15 | +20% gold per rank | Wayfarer Purse |
| Nightwatch | 5 | +3% offline efficiency per rank | Banked Coals |
| Open Horizon | 5 | Rekindle starts 3 zones further along, per rank | Familiar Footsteps |
| Amber Hourglass | 5 | +3s boss timer per rank | Patient Lantern |
Offline and background progress
In a hidden tab the game keeps following the real clock. After you close it, the next visit simulates the time away: up to 12 hours (talents raise this up to 24) at 70% efficiency, which gear and talents can raise. A summary card shows the zones gained, gold and loot.
Tips
- Early on, tap the enemy and buy a level the moment the button lights up. The first boss comes quickly.
- Let the buy bar choose: it always picks the hero who gains the most damage per gold.
- Keep auto-equip on and visit the Gear tab only to salvage, reroll or equip by hand.
- If a boss times out you keep farming the same zone. Level up and it tries again.
- Your first Rekindle is a trade, not a loss: the second run climbs back to your best zone much faster.
- Spend your first Embers on Steady Flame and Wayfarer Purse, then branch out.
Ready to walk the road? It takes one click and nothing to install.