Fantasy Life i is an enchanting Slow Life RPG where lets you dive deep into a crafting, exploration or combat-filled world. Picking a single life out of the fourteen offered can feel tricky with so many options to choose from. This guide we will break down everything you need to know about these lives, helping you make the right choice for your journey. 

• Slow Life RPG
• Can You Play One Life?
• Quality of Life Upgrade
• Stats
• Combat Lives
• Gathering Lives
• Crafting Lives
• Challenges

↖ Slow Life RPG

The day to day life progress from Fantasy Life i is the core focus of gameplay. And while it would be easy to dismiss the game as charming and cute, it is important to remember that this is an RPG.

What you can expect?

• 14 Lives (or classes): Each life offers unique skills, abilities, and gameplay styles.
• Exploration: Beautiful environments to roam and resources to gather.
• Slow-paced progression: Expect grinding and mastery as part of the journey.
• Stats and Skills: RPG mechanics like strength, intelligence, and luck play a vital role in your success.

↖ Can You Play One Life?

Yes, you can play through the main story using just one life—at least that was possible in the 3DS version. However, the true essence of Fantasy Life lies in mastering multiple lives. Switching between lives allows you to experience all aspects of the game and makes grinding more rewarding.

Key Points:

• Main Story Flexibility: Focus on one life for the campaign.
• Mastery Encouraged: Experiment with other lives post-story.
• Ranking System: Start as a novice and level up through fledgling, apprentice, and beyond.

↖ Quality of Life Upgrade

The guild was a separate area in the 3DS version that was a small hub for changing lives, making it quite the hassle. Players can now change multiple lives instantaneously, This change truly does make managing multiple lives a delight.

Step: Simply walk to a gathering point (like a tree where you can chop wood) and change your role with a press of a button. Better yet, there is no need to pause your adventure to change roles. 

↖ Stats

Being an RPG, Fantasy Life i requires attention to stats. Each life benefits from specific stats, so allocating points wisely is crucial.

Notes: Rare items often depend on high luck stats. You could reset your stats, Match your stats to your chosen life for smooth progression.

↖ Combat Lives

In Fantasy Life i, there are four Combat Lives to choose from:

1. Paladin – Balanced defense and offense with a sword and shield.
   
2. Mercenary – High-damage attacks with a two-handed great sword.
   
3. Magician – Elemental magic attacks from a distance using a staff.
   
4. Hunter – Precision long-range attacks with a bow and arrow.
   

Each life offers unique abilities, weapons, and strategies to fit different playstyles. Additionally, you can craft or acquire gear to enhance your stats and abilities.

1. Paladin

The Paladin is perfect for players who enjoy a balanced approach to combat. Armed with a long sword and shield, you can deal quick attacks while blocking enemy strikes.

Key Features:

• Perfect Block: Time your blocks perfectly to unleash counterattacks for extra damage.
• Skill Tree: Customize your build with special abilities for more versatility in combat.
• Playstyle: Ideal for players who prefer a mix of offense and defense.

2. Mercenary

If you love dealing massive damage at the cost of speed, the Mercenary is your go-to choice. Wielding a two-handed great sword, Mercenaries sacrifice defense for raw power.

Key Features:

• High Damage Output: Slow but powerful attacks that can devastate enemies.
• Combos & Charge Attacks: Learn combos to maximize damage and use charge attacks for critical hits.
• Mobility: Roll to evade enemy attacks despite not having a shield.

3. Magician

For those who prefer ranged combat and magic, the Magician life is an excellent choice. Using a staff, you can cast elemental spells to exploit enemy weaknesses from afar.

Key Features:

• Elemental Damage: Fire, water, wind, earth, and possibly more elements in this new entry.
• Mobility: Roll to dodge enemy attacks while maintaining distance.
• Stances & Skills: Experiment with stances and spells to adapt to different enemies.

4. Hunter

The Hunter is ideal for players who prefer staying out of harm’s way while dealing consistent damage from afar using a bow and arrow.

Key Features:

• Lock-On Mechanic: Use the R stick to lock onto enemies for better accuracy.
• Special Abilities: Utilize moves like Arrow Rain to deal area damage.
• Custom Arrows: Craft arrows with unique status effects:
  • Poison: Deals damage over time.
  • Paralysis: Immobilizes enemies temporarily.
  • Burn: Reduces enemy defense stats.
  • Chill: Slows enemy movement speed.
  • Sleep: Makes enemies defenseless for increased damage with an Awakening Blow.

↖ Gathering Lives

Gathering Lives focus on collecting resources using specific tools. Each life comes with unique mechanics and strategies to master. Tools can be upgraded by purchasing, earning through bounties, finding in chests, or crafting. Bonus stats can also be achieved by excelling in crafting mini-games. 

Angler

If you love fishing, the Angler life is perfect for you. Using a fishing rod, you'll reel in various fish species through engaging mini-games.

Key Features:

• Use a fishing rod to catch fish.
• Adjust your rod and stay calm when fish move quickly.
• Example: Reel in a Level 12 Plains Lordfish.

Tips: Practice the reeling mini-game to improve your timing, Pay attention to fish movement patterns for better control.

Woodcutter

Woodcutters use axes to chop down trees and gather materials. This life involves strategic strikes to deplete a tree’s HP bar efficiently.

Key Features:

• Use an axe to chop trees.
• SP (stamina points) are consumed based on attack type.
• "Excellent Gathering" feature deals extra damage with the final hit, yielding more materials.
• Locate the "sweet spot" on trees for maximum damage (indicated by pink damage numbers).

Tips: Experiment with different hits to find the sweet spot, Manage your SP wisely to avoid running out mid-task.

Farmer

The Farmer life is a new addition to Fantasy Life i. Here, you'll tend crops and harvest produce from your fields.

Key Features:

• Work on 3x3 plots of crops (e.g., carrots).
• Use stamina when harvesting or digging.
• Charge up for an area-wide harvest, which consumes more stamina but saves time.

Tips: Decide whether to harvest quickly or conserve stamina for longer tasks, Plan your farming strategy based on stamina availability.

Miner

Miners explore caves and mines to gather valuable ores using a pickaxe. Similar to woodcutting, this life involves depleting an ore’s HP bar.

Key Features:

• Use a pickaxe to mine ores in caves or outdoor locations.
• SP is required for mining actions.
• "Excellent Gathering" feature allows for high-damage final hits, increasing material yield.
• Target the perfect spot on ores for maximum damage.

Tips: Locate ore-rich areas for efficient mining sessions, Alternate between regular and powerful attacks based on SP levels.

Comparison Table of Gathering Lives

↖ Crafting Lives

Whether it is cooking, designing furniture, creating artworks or even potions to Crafting Lives offers something for everyone. Each Life has its own unique gameplay elements which integrate seamlessly with other components of the game like combat and gathering.

Crafting Mechanics: 

• Mini-Games: Crafting involves pressing, holding, or rotating buttons on screen to perform specific actions which require a certain level of concentration to complete. Each of these steps, even if repetitive in nature, affect the overall level of your crafted items.
• Gathering Resources: Several crafting and cooking recipes need ingredients from gathering lives like Angler of Farmer.
• Level Based Recipes: Get to unlock more recipes access as you progress with levels in your selected life.

↖ Challenges

Now, in the 3DS version, all of these lives had a variety of challenges that we needed to complete to actually rank up and eventually master each of the lives. And some of these challenges were so tedious and boring. For example, you had some that said chop 500 trees or mine 500 ores or defeat this many of X enemy in Y region, etc. While others were actually fun and a little bit more challenging to do.