Looking for a guide on how to play Wheels in Sea of Stars? Minigames like Wheels have started to become more common in video games, especially following the massive popularity of The Witcher 3‘s Gwent. Like Gwent, this minigame can be found at taverns around the game’s world.
The first time you come across it will be in the Port Town of Brisk, where you’ll get two options by interacting with the table: Casual game or Champion game. Unfortunately, both of these kind of throw the player into the game without much explanation. Luckily, we’ve got you covered with the rules to Wheels, as well as some basic strategies and a list of obtainable units.
How to Play Wheels in Sea of Stars
At its core, Wheels is a simple game. You and your opponent each start the game with 10 health. The goal is to use your units to get your opponent’s health to zero, while building up your bulwark (wall) to protect yourself. Each of your moves, too, are dictated by the game’s slots in the bottom middle of the board. You can spin these three times, while locking results you see as beneficial.
In practice, though, the Sea of Stars minigame Wheels can start a bit tough to get the hang of. Here’s what each symbol on the reels represents:
- Hammer: Builds up your bulwark, up to a max height of 5 units. Try to get this high at the beginning of the game to keep yourself protected.
- Square Energy: This represents your unit on the left. Matching three or more of these symbols puts down one notch on your “action rod.” Once the rod is fully down, your unit will attack the enemy.
- Diamond Energy: The same effect as Square Energy, but for your right hero.
All of these spins work in “3oak+” fashion. This means that a minimum of 3 matching symbols are required for a given symbol to take effect. For example, matching 3 hammers will create one layer of wall, 4=2, 5=3, etc.
How to Evolve Units
The other main mechanic in Sea of Stars‘ Wheels minigame is evolving your heroes. When your heroes’ XP (denoted by the notches below a figure. 4 highlighted blue “XP” can be seen in the picture above) reaches max, your hero will evolve into a higher version of itself. There are two ways to gain XP for heroes:
- Any energy with a blue background will give 1 XP to the hero of the matching symbol, ignoring the “3oak+” rule that other spins have. In the spin shown in the photo above, the bottom left warrior gained 2 XP.
- When a hero performs an action, it gains 2 XP.
Heroes can evolve twice, from bronze to silver, then silver to gold. Each evolution grants them higher damage & stronger secondary effects. If a hero reaches max XP while they’re already gold, it will create a bomb, which deals 2 damage to the opponent regardless of the Bulwark.
Note: the remainder of this guide contains minor spoilers about future locations
Where to Play Wheels in Sea of Stars: All Locations
- Port Town of Brisk (Sleeper Island)
- Town of Lucent (Wraith Island)
- Mooncradle (Evermist Island)
- Cloud Kingdom (Skylands)
- Mirth (Settlers Island)
- Note that this inn requires the Inn Plans and talking to Edgar in the Town of Lucent to recruit an innkeeper
- Stonemasons’ Outpost (Sleeper Island)
- Repine (Cerulean Island)
- Need to buy the self-deploying Wheels Table from the Watchmaker at the top floor of Clockwork Castle
- The Boat
- Hold Left Bumper (or your console’s equivalent) on the world map to enter the boat and challenge Yolande at the Wheels table in the basement
- Clockwork Castle (Mesa Island)
- You have to have beaten every other Wheels champion to play the game here
All Wheels Units & How to Get Them
There are six total units to obtain for the Wheels minigame in Sea of Stars. You will unlock them in the order listed here as you beat champions:
- Warrior: Starter unit. Deals heavy damage with a short action rod. Easily blocked by the Bulwark.
- Mage: Starter unit. Attacks with two fireballs. First fireball fires at ground level while the second flies at a height of six units, which guarantees a hit on the enemy no matter the height of their Bulwark.
- Archer: The archer has high damage against the crown, but low against walls. Luckily, its arrows fly at a height of 3 units, ignoring the bulwark when its height is at 2 units or less.
- Engineer: The engineer uses its action to build up your bulwark, while dealing damage that destroys the enemy bulwark. While dealing damage that destroys your enemy’s defenses can be powerful, there’s plenty of units that can ignore the wall, making your bulwark-bolstering effect a bit bankrupt. Can be good against certain matchups like a warrior or archer, but you’ll likely want to substitute this for something else.
- Priest: The priest’s action heals your crown, while also providing some extra energy to your other unit. Pairing this with a quick offensive powerhouse like the warrior can be a deadly combination.
- Assassin: Assassins are the most unique heroes in Wheels. Their action delays the opponent’s hero’s action, prioritizing the hero closest to acting. They also deal damage directly to the crown, ignoring the enemy bulwark.
In our experience, pairing the mage with a support unit like a priest or assassin is a powerful combination. Keep on winning Wheels throughout your journey and challenge the Watchmaker herself! And while you’re here, check out our guide on effective fishing in Sea of Stars!
