[ Guide ] Punishing Gray Raven Path of Stars Choices and Routes

Path of Stars is the APUS equivalent of Nona Ouroboros in Punishing Gray Raven. However, there are some fundamental differences. This guide will teach you how to best tackle this new mode.

Path of Stars is a roguelike mode that rewards Punishing Gray Raven players with 6-star Memory Shards, Holographic Tickets and many other rewards. Players take on branching mission paths, with the HP of their Constructs carrying forward to the next stage.

The Rules

Whereas APUS lets players have 5 exploration attempts or AP every day, Path of Stars gives 8. Each attempt is consumed every time you take part in a battle or when you purchase certain effects from Support Terminal. The attempts reset every day at 7.00 am UTC, so any unused attempts are basically wasted. Each battle also costs 10 Serum and provide Metal Grubs (event currency), Cogs and Support Points (more on that later).

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 Path of Stars 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 they are by tapping on the magnifying glass) provide the following buffs when used as part of your lineup:

• 1 Construct: Gains 25% more Support Points from battles
• 2 Constructs: Get a 20% discount in the Tactical Supply Shop
• 3 Constructs: Extra DMG Bonus of all team members increases by 24%

Healers are very useful in this mode for recovering HP. However, between having a Healer and having all 3 buffs from Themed Constructs, the buffs are much more important. Later stages (especially bosses) are much tankier compared to their APUS counterparts, and you’ll need the damage buff to clear the mission in time (you’ll automatically fail if you take more than 5 minutes).

Besides the Constructs who make up your main lineup, Support Formation is basically your reserve lineup in Path of Stars. The Support Formation is incredibly useful because when you have 3 of them, you can use them to fight without using a daily attempt. Once you use them, they disappear. Support Constructs are randomly given to you by the game whenever you purchase them from Tactical Supply, Support Terminal or get them from Random events.

In Path of Stars, you can have up to 8 Support Constructs in reserve. If you obtain a new Support Construct when you already have 8 of them, the new one replaces the oldest one, so remember to free up some space before you get a new one.

If you have more than 3 Support Constructs, you can select which Support Constructs to use in your Support Formation. Note that Support Constructs are all SS-ranked by default and are equipped with their respective 6-star signature weapon.

Support Terminal

The Support Terminal in Path of Stars is a lot more different from APUS in the previous Punishing Gray Raven event. In APUS, the Support Terminal is a shop that only sells random buffs in exchange for Support Points

As such, it is highly recommended to buy Support Team twice every day. You’ll be making a net gain of 2 Support Constructs by doing so (Using the Support Formation doesn’t consume attempts, so it evens out). Support Airdrop is also a worthwhile purchase. With the 200 Support Points that you gained in exchange for an attempt, you can buy 3 Support Constructs at a price of 165 (55 x 3) Support Points. Since 3 Support Constructs = 1 attempt, you’re essentially getting 35 Support Points for free.

As for the Repair Kit, don’t bother buying it. Remember, if you lose a lot of HP in a middle of a fight, you can always restart it without wasting an attempt.

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: A shop in which you can purchase buffs and random Constructs for your Support Formation by spending Support Points.
• Supply Crate: A treasure chest which will give you random bonuses or Support Points.
• Respite: You can rest to restore HP or enhance one of your buffs. Note: You CANNOT restore attempts anymore.
• Random Event: Randomly encounter a Skirmish, Supply Crate, Respite, Tactical Supply or an event that requires you to pick one of multiple options answers that give different rewards or penalties.
• Skirmish: Consume 10 Serum and 1 attempt for a battle (If you’re using Support Formation, only 10 Serum will be consumed). Rewards include Metal Grubs, Cogs and Support Points. You can choose between Normal Challenge and Hard Challenge. Hard Challenge gives better rewards.
• 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:

Generally, the goal is to take the most Serum-efficient route by avoiding fights. At the same time, always grab Support Constructs as much as possible. The moment you have a full Support Formation, you should use it in your next fight.

Ideally, you should always choose the Hard Challenge for more Support Points. The only exception would be the last stretch of Path of Stars in the 5th zone, towards the end. You don’t need to use Support Points anymore once you defeat the final boss, anyway.

The Map

Another major change from APUS is how the map works in Path of Stars. Every Punishing Gray Raven player will be randomly assigned 1 of 4 different potential Path of Stars maps. The first 4 zones of each map are different, while the fifth zone is always the same.

Here is a stitched map of all 4 maps and their respective zones in Path of Stars. Credit goes to YouTuber Proto for sharing this. The red line indicates the most Serum-efficient route and represents the ideal route to use (especially if you are F2P). Different coloured lines are the routes you should take if you accidentally went to the wrong node:

APF

APT

APS

APZ

APZ5 (all maps feature this as their fifth zone)

Random Event answers

Here is a list of Path of Stars Random Event answers and their results. Once again, thanks to Proto for coming up with this. Note that most of this is based on the translation of the Chinese version Punishing Gray Raven, so the exact language used in the questions and answers you’ll encounter in Path of Stars may not be completely accurate.

Finally, note that unlike in APUS, where each node corresponds to a specific Random Event, Path of Stars randomly assigns you one of the following options whenever you land on a Random Event and it triggers the decision-making.

Encounter on a narrow road – you hope to quickly pass through the danger zone without the light of day, but there are a large number of infectious body reactions in the area ahead. What is it that attracts them?

1. Forcibly Breakthrough: Lose HP and get 40 Support Points
2. Find a safe route: Lose 1 attempt and get 50 Support Points
3. Go through unobtrusively: Get 30 Support Points

Signal Interference – The navigation systems of the airdrop from Babylonia seem to have malfunctioned. It landed in an area that is dark on your radars.

1. Rush in and snatch it: Lose current support points and restore HP
2. Probe for enemies: Lose HP and get 45 Support Points.
3. Leave: Nothing happens

Fork route – As the saying goes, there must be a road to the mountain, but no one has told you how to choose when there is a road that is not on the map and is divided into two or three sides. 

1. Go to the left: Get 1 attempt, restore HP and lose 180 Support Points
2. Go to the right: Lose 1 attempt, get 50 Support Points
3. Go straight: Lose HP and get 1 Support Construct

Victims – Refugees not far away are struggling to fight off the infected, they don’t seem to see you yet…

1. On the sidelines: Lose 30 Support Points.
2. Rescue → Sound of the East: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs
3. Rescue → Frontal Impact: Lose HP and get 20% of your current Support Points

Relics of the old days – The signal shows that there is a support terminal in operation nearby…

1. Maintenance tool set: Lose 90 Support Points and restore HP
2. Airdrop of quota: Lose 1 attempt and get 15% of your current Support Points
3. Support team: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs

Meeting – A group of Corrupted is blocking the path uphill. It will be quite the hassle to deal with them yourselves.

1. Waiting for an opening → Set up a trap: Lose 1 attempt and get 20% of your current Support Points 
2. Waiting for an opening → Full frontal assault: Lose HP and get 20% of your current Support Points
3. Contact your higher-ups → Wait for support: Lose 1 attempt, get 1 Support Construct and 30 Support Points
4. Contact your higher-ups → Leave: Get 35 Support Points

Unexpectedly – Information from other teams coming from the public channel seems to be very close to your position. …

1. Say hello: Get 5% of your current Support Points
2. Simulated battle: Lose Hp and get 10% of your current Support Points
3. Invitation to join: Lose 15% of your current Support Points and get 1 Support Construct

Abnormal figure – The structure belonging to the sky garden is walking not far away, but it looks a little strange… is it infected? 

1. Pain the killer: Lose HP and get the Support Effect “Tactical Team”
2. Think of a way → End his pain: Get the Support Effect “False Target”
3. Think of a way → Ask for help from the headquarters: get 30 Support Points

Dilemma – Damn it! When did it start to be surrounded. Could it be that there is a problem with the vibration sensor? 

1. Concentrated breakthrough: Lose HP and get 121 Support Points
2. Shrink the line of defense: Lose HP and get 1 Support Construct
3. Full attack: Lose 1 attempt, lose HP and get 216 Support Points

Bad premonition – narrow passages deliberately left, garbage piles inexplicably appearing in unmanned corners, white light flashing in the morning mist…

(Continue to the title) You always feel that you don’t know where someone is staring at you.

1. Go straight to the past: Lose HP and get 1 Support Construct
2. Find a way to get around: Lose 1 attempt and get 12 Support Points
3. Dismantling attempt: Lose 1 attempt, lose HP and get 100% of your current Support Points

Dilemma – You find a task force team that has become immobile. You detect Punishing Virus reactions from them. Could they possibly be saved…?

1. Try to help them: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs
2. Leave some supplies for them: Lose 41 Support Points and get 2 Support Constructs
3. Leave: Nothing happens

Choice – The broken refugee family is looking for the separated children. You passing by may be their last hope. …

1. Help find → Carpet search: Lose 1 attempt and get 82 Support Points
2. Help find → Find suspicious traces: Get 1 attempt and lose 20 Support Points
3. Leave: Lose HP and get 85 Support Points

There is plenty of help – the mother and child are crying around the father, and the black burning traces of Punishing Virus have appeared on the father’s body…

1. Use Serum → Continue: Lose 90 Support Points and get 1 attempt
2. Battlefield Surgery: Lose Support Points
3. Leaving: Nothing happens

Storm – Encountered bad weather on the way to the mission, you decide…

1. Priority to find refuge → Wait for the severe weather to pass completely: Lose 1 attempt and restore HP
2. Give priority to finding shelters → Set off when the bad weather is slightly calm: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs
3. Prioritize the current task: Lose HP, get 12.% of your current Support Points and get 1 Support Construct

Mystery – Stray into the black area of ​​information, cut off the communication of the sky garden, you have to make your own mind…

1. Complete the task → Trench advancement: Lose 82 Support Points
2. Complete the mission → Sound of the East: Lose HP and get 1 attempt
3. Withdraw from the area → Retreat along the original road: Restore HP
4. Withdrawal from the area → Fire cover: Restore HP and lose 147 Support Points

Uninvited Guest – You follow a smoke signal and find a supply point. The only issue is that it seems like it has already seen visitors.

1. Search the supply crates: Get 35 Support Points
2. Investigate the trails of the visitors → Continue: Get 1 Support Construct
3. Leave this supply point behind: Get 28 Support Points

Remains – The site of an industrial facility traverses on the only way, and the mark of Huanyu Heavy Industry is clearly visible on the wall. 

1. Enter the site → Continue searching: Lose 20 Support Points
2. Enter the site → Leave → Continue searching → Try to crack: Lose HP and lose 80 Support Points
3. Enter the site → Leave → Continue searching → Leave: Lose HP and lose 50 Support Points
4. Enter the site → Leave → Retreat: Lose HP and lose 50 Support Points
5. Leave: Nothing happens

Contingency Plan – Long distance travel and hasty preparation make your supplies tight. As a commander, you need to make choices…

1. Hold your ground and call for support: Lose 76 Support Points and restore HP
2. Cost-effective use of materials: Lose HP and get 1 attempt
3. Find the nearby supply box: Lose 1 attempt and get 86 Support Points

Trapped person – Received a signal for help from nearby sporadic settlements…

1. Support → Rush into the enemy’s formation: Lose HP and get 45 Support Points
2. Support → Strengthen the line of defense: Lose 80 Support Points
3. Leave: Nothing happens

Encounter- Encounter with the enemy on a narrow road without adequate preparation…

1. Be cautious: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs
2. Full attack: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs
3. Task priority: Lose HP and get 15% of your current Support Points

Encampment site – There is a loud noise near the campsite, and it seems that this is not a suitable encampment site. 

1. Leave in full outfit: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs
2. Check the situation → Assist the refugees → Help the refugees: Lose 1 attempt and restore HP
3. Check the situation → Assist the refugees → Defeat the infected: Get 7 Support Points
4. Check the situation → Ignore: Lose HP and get 17 Support Points

Shelter – A shelter, some ruins, or a forgotten fort? Whatever the case, there should be something worthwhile inside…probably.

1. Enter → Examine the device: Lose 1 attempt and restore HP
2. Enter → Destroy the device: Lose HP and get 35 Support Points
3. Leave: Get 25 support points

Trade Point – You are close to running out of ammunition and food, but the people in this settlement are living well, and they are even able to provide you with some ‘paid’ help…

1. Inquiry → Accommodation rest: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs
2. Inquiry → Supplementary materials: Lose 10 Support Points and restore HP
3. Inquiry → Borrowing radio: Lose 26 Support Points and get 2 Support Constructs
4. Leave: Nothing happens

Roadhog – A group of sea people surrounded you, murmuring in words that you don’t understand, it seems that if you don’t hand over something, you won’t be allowed to leave…

1. Hand over what they want: Lose 9 Support Points and restore HP
2. Repel them: Lose 1 attempt and get 2 Support Constructs
3. Intimidate them: Lose HP and get 15% of your current Support Points

That is all for this Punishing Gray Raven Path of Stars guide. We hoped you found it useful.

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

• Nona Ouroboros guide
• Chrome: Arclight guide
• Bianca: Veritas guide

Download

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.

Join Us!