Chrono Ark Beginner Guide: Hein, Joey, Fixed Abilities, and Enemy Counts
Edition: PC (Steam), Normal difficulty, basic systems. Official update history checked through 1.2.10. Blood Mist, mods, and late-story answers are outside this guide's scope. English skill names are included. Sources checked: October 14, 2026. No in-game testing was performed.
Start with Hein handling attacks and Joey handling healing, reading the enemy's count after each action. Repeatedly using the same character increases the mana required, so do not spend your healing budget on attacks. Before battle, set the Fixed Abilities you can use independently of your hand.
From two starting members to four: roles and leveling priorities
| Role / action | Example | What to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Main attacker | Hein | Read predicted damage and cast delays, and prioritize enemies you can defeat. Do not fill your hand exclusively with attacks |
| Healer | Joey | Choose between healing skills such as Healing Potion and healing over time from Healing Vapor. Read cast delays and predicted healing |
| Expand the party | Check recruitment options at camps between areas | Choose a defender if protection is lacking, or a secondary attacker if damage is insufficient. Do not assume a companion will be available unless they are offered |
| Level manually with Soul Stones | Level up through each character's details screen | Unlock each character's unique ability at level 2. Do not assume experience is automatically distributed to everyone |
| Develop Lucy | Check maximum-mana and draw upgrades | Check available mana before adding expensive attacks; improve draw as well if you cannot find the cards you need |
Set Fixed Abilities before battle
- While exploring, open a character's details screen and find the Fixed Ability setting. Choose an eligible skill from those the character currently knows.
- For Hein, compare Rage Slash as an attack option; for Joey, compare Healing Vapor and Health-Augmenting Patch as healing options. Do not assume an unlearned skill is available from the start.
- A Fixed Ability gives you an option independent of the cards you draw. However, it costs 1 more than the normal card, so check the displayed mana requirement before deciding.
- In battle, check whether it is available and whether it is on cooldown. Fixed Abilities have reuse restrictions and exceptions such as basic skills, so do not treat one as a trump card you can use endlessly in a turn.
- After a fight, reconsider your Fixed Abilities if you often lack healing in your hand. Secure a role you are missing instead of fixing only attack skills.
Overload: calculate before using the same character again
| Situation | How to read the cost | Example choice |
|---|---|---|
| Use a normal skill once | Normally, that character's other skills each cost 1 more mana for the rest of the turn | After Hein attacks, read the cost of his next card and Joey's healing separately |
| Use consecutive normal skills from one character | Add the displayed increase to the base cost | Do not assume a card with a base cost of 1 is necessarily usable with 1 mana left |
| Use a card with Swiftness | It does not advance enemy action counts. Read its description to understand how it differs from normal skills | Use necessary draw or support effects to expand your next attack or healing options. This does not necessarily mean the mana cost is free |
| End the turn | Normal Overload increases reset on the next turn | Check remaining enemy actions before spending everything. Ending the turn does not erase the actions enemies have planned |
When the enemy count is 3: what to check after each card
This example explains the system with one enemy whose displayed count is 3. It does not describe a particular enemy's fixed value or a guaranteed hand. With multiple enemies or skills that have cast delays, check each separate count as well.
- Check the enemy's count and planned action, along with allies' health and healing gauges. Before choosing a card, count out that the enemy will act after three normal actions.
- If you lack necessary cards, first consider available Lucy draw skills or cards with Swiftness. Swiftness preserves the count at 3, but you still pay the card's displayed mana cost.
- One normal skill advances the count from 3 to 2. After an attack, read the enemy's remaining health and the increased cost of the same character's next card.
- Before advancing from 2 to 1 with another normal action, decide whether healing is needed. Do not keep attacking while postponing healing for the character who will take the next hit.
- At count 1, choose with the knowledge that the enemy will act after this action. Attack if you can defeat it immediately; otherwise, secure healing or defense first. Do not count an attack with a cast delay as an immediate kill.
- If your action brings the count to 0, the enemy acts. If it has multiple planned actions, read its subsequent counts too. Check everyone's condition before ending the turn and taking the remaining enemy actions together.
Joey's healing: distinguish emergency treatment from healing over time
| Situation / skill | Action to choose | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| You need health back immediately | Choose a healing card such as Healing Potion and check its cast delay, target, and predicted healing. Use a card that resolves before the next hit | Assuming that setting up healing over time will let you survive a large attack immediately afterward |
| Use Healing Vapor | Prepare future recovery through healing over time. If assigned as a Fixed Ability, check its mana requirement and availability too | Assuming it restores the same amount at the same time as an immediate-healing card |
| A small follow-up attack is coming after a heavy hit | Consider healing or protection before the healing gauge is reduced further | Leaving healing until last just because health has not reached 0 |
| You want Joey to both attack and heal | First calculate the healing you need, then plan the sequence including the cost increase from normal skills | Using Joey's attack first and running out of mana for healing |
Use the cause of a setback to improve the next fight
| Problem | What to check | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| You have Hein's cards but cannot use them | His Overload and your current mana | Include Joey's and Lucy's cards rather than relying on one character's normal actions |
| The enemy acts before you can heal | Enemy counts, Swiftness, and card cast delays | Move healing earlier in the action order. At count 1, check again whether an attack will kill immediately |
| You learned a good skill but never draw it | Fixed Abilities, roles within the deck, and Lucy's draw | Consider fixing essential healing or attacks, and avoid adding too many unnecessary cards |
| You suddenly feel weaker than in the previous area | Manual character levels and unique abilities at level 2 | Spend Soul Stones and review your main attacker, along with Lucy's mana and draw |
Frequently asked questions
Who should I choose as my first two characters?
This page uses Hein and Joey as examples. Their attack and healing roles are easy to understand; use later recruitment to add missing defense or secondary attacks. This is neither a strongest-team recommendation nor a guarantee of recruitment.
Can I use a Fixed Ability every time at the same cost as a card in my hand?
It normally costs 1 more, and reuse is restricted. Exceptions such as basic skills exist, so check the assigned skill's description, current mana, and availability indicator.