[ Guide ] Navigating the APUS railway in Punishing Gray Raven

APUS is most probably the most confusing mode in Punishing Gray Raven so far. Our guide will help you determine how to tackle it.

Added as part of the Eternal Engine event, APUS is a roguelike mode with branching paths that resets every week. However, in terms of rewards, the only reward that is worth your Serum are the 6-Star Memory Shards. It is recommended to spend your Serum on Eternal Throne and max out the daily limit on experience before taking on APUS.

The Rules

Every day, players have 5 exploration attempts. Each attempt is consumed every time you take part in a battle in APUS. The attempts reset every day, so any unused attempts are basically wasted. Each battle also costs 10 Serum and provide Akdilek Coins, Cogs and Support points (more on that later).

Note that as a roguelike mode, the HP of your constructs are carried forward after each battle. Thankfully, healing is permitted.

Pro tip: If you feel like your Constructs are going to die, you can quit the battle without wasting any resources or challenge attempts.

Support points are used exclusively in APUS for purchasing buffs and support constructs.

Constructs and Supports

Every day, you can choose 3 Constructs to form your lineup for exploration. Once the team is formed, you cannot change it until server resets the next day.

While it’s tempting to use your strongest Constructs, you should also consider the Themed Constructs of the day. Every day, Themed Constructs (you can check who by tapping on the magnifying glass) provide the following buffs when used as part of your lineup:

• 1 Construct: ATK of the deployed Constructs increases by 10%
• 2 Constructs: Gains 15% more Support Points from battles
• 3 Constructs: Get a 10% discount in the Tactical Supply Shop

Regardless of who you choose, the most important Construct are your healers. Unless you plan to keep resetting a losing battle, healers are useful to keep your HP up for each fight.

Besides the Constructs who make up your main lineup, Support Formation is basically your reserve lineup in APUS. Support Constructs are randomly given to you by the game whenever you purchase them from Tactical Supply or from Random events.

Once your Support Formation is full with 3 Constructs, they can replace your main formation for a single battle without consuming one of the 5 daily attempts. However, once that happens, the Support Formation disappears, and you will need to obtain 3 more to have a full formation. Note that the Support Formation Constructs are very strong, with stats that are basically maxed out. Once your Support Formation is full with 3 Constructs, any time you get a new one, it will replace the oldest one you got, so be careful!

Also, the random Support Formation Constructs you get in APUS can also be Constructs that you haven’t unlock in Punishing Gray Raven. Have fun using them!

The Strategy

The entirety of APUS consists of 5 zones with 16 nodes each. You’re not able to backtrack or change your path once you selected the node that you are proceeding with. The nodes are as follows:

• Tactical Supply: Basically a shop in which you can purchase buffs and random Constructs for your Support Formation by spending Support Points.
• Supply Crate: Basically a treasure chest which will give you random bonuses.
• Respite: You can rest to restore HP and gain one attempt or enhance one of your buffs.
• Random Event: Ranges from a Skirmish to a question with 3 answers that give different rewards (or even nothing).
• Skirmish: Consume 10 Serum and 1 attempt for a battle. Rewards include Akdilek Coins, Coins and Support Points.
• Elite: The same as Skirmish, just stronger enemies.
• Boss: The same as Skirmish, but you’ll be facing a single boss. The boss for each zone is as follows:
  • 1st Zone: Nozzle
  • 2nd Zone: Iron Maiden
  • 3rd Zone: Roseblade
  • 4th Zone: Musashi
  • 5th Zone: Rosetta

There is one node, called the Support Terminal, which you can access at any time to purchase buffs. If you have a large excess of Support Points and there is a powerful DMG-increasing buff, feel free to purchase a buff.

Generally, the goal is to take the most Serum-efficient route by avoiding fights. At the same time, always grab Support Formation Constructs as much as possible. The moment you have a full Support Formation, your next fight should ideally use the Support Formation so you can immediately start filling it in with more Constructs. Note: You can purchase more than one Support Formation Construct in Tactical Supply, so feel free to completely fill up your Support Formation in one Tactical Supply visit.

The Map

Here is a stitched map of the 5 zones in APUS, made by Zalmoxix#5504 from the Punishing Gray Raven official Discord. The red line indicates the most Serum-efficient route and represents the ideal route to use (especially if you are F2P).

Random Event answers

Here is a list of APUS Random Event answers and their rewards, compiled by user Irene#8089 from the Punishing Gray Raven Discord. Note that this is basically a translation of the Chinese version, so the exact language used in the questions and answers may not be completely accurate. When in doubt, follow the order of the answers (answer 1 is the top option, answer 2 is the middle option and answer 3 is the bottom option).

APUS node choices

That is all for this APUS guide. We hoped you found it useful.

Follow the game on Twitter to stay updated. For more Punishing Gray Raven content, check out our:

• Eternal Engine guide
• Babel Tower guide
• Bianca: Veritas guide

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Punishing Gray Raven

Publisher: Kuro Game

Developer: Kuro Game

Release Date: 2021-07-16

Android, iOS

Punishing: Gray Raven is a fast-paced ultra-stylish Action-RPG. Mankind is almost extinct. Earth has been conquered by a robotic army—the Corrupted—twisted and warped by a biomechanical virus known as The Punishing. The last survivors have fled into orbit, aboard the space station Babylonia. After years of preparation, the Gray Raven special forces unit leads the mission to reclaim their lost homeworld. You are their leader. As commandant of the Gray Raven unit, you are tasked with assembling the greatest cyborg soldiers the world has known and lead them into battle. Unravel the dark truths behind the Punishing virus, push back the Corrupted and reclaim the Earth in this stylish Action-RPG.

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