Tips and Tricks to Mastering Variance, the First Onchain Roguelike RPG
Are you ready to level up your game in Variance?
We picked up a few tips during our time with the game and wanted to share them with the community.
Variance is a roguelike developed by Realm Studios that blends anime visuals, fast-paced combat, gacha-style progression, and a world that constantly evolves. Variance is also the first game on the Somnia mainnet to put every action onchain. Every move, elimination, and action is recorded directly on the blockchain, giving players a verifiable history of their gameplay and creating new opportunities for achievements, leaderboards, and prediction markets.
In the first week after launching on Somnia’s Mainnet, Variance already had over 12,500 unique players logging in over 720,000 minutes of game time. Variance also launched an NFT collection to coincide with the launch of Mainnet, generating over 10,000 mints and $180,000 in revenue.
Practice!
As with any roguelike, your first few runs in Variance will be challenging. Enemies move in patterns you won’t recognize right away, and each level introduces new hazards that test your reflexes. Don’t get discouraged. Each playthrough teaches you something about how enemies attack, when to dodge, and which upgrades to prioritize. With time you’ll find yourself slipping into the flow of the game, making instinctive choices that keep you alive longer.
You’re Not Dashing Enough…
Dashing is one of the most important mechanics in Variance. When you dash, you gain a brief window of invulnerability that lets you glide through enemies, bullets, and other hazards without taking damage. The battlefield often fills with projectiles, so weaving in constant dashes is the best way to buy yourself time and space. If you’re ever overwhelmed, dash through the chaos, reset your positioning, and then go back on the attack. The difference between a short run and a high-scoring one often comes down to how effectively you use this mechanic.
Special Powers: Don’t Hold Back
Special powers recharge quickly in Variance, which means you shouldn’t be afraid to use them often. You can also reduce the cooldown time by collecting the gold orbs. Each level offers a choice of new abilities, giving you the chance to experiment with different strategies. Some specials are best at clearing groups of enemies, while others provide more focused damage or utility.
For players looking for broad coverage, Prism Barrage stands out. It blankets a large section of the screen with projectiles while dealing consistent damage, making it useful in almost any situation. Meanwhile, the “Void Cascade” is great for setting traps, but you need to use it carefully and be sure that the enemy will be walking towards your fire.
Don’t treat your specials like rare resources. Using them often can turn the tide of a run, and most enemies will drop gold orbs that will allow you to recharge.
Contact is Not Fatal
Unlike many games, simply bumping into an enemy in Variance won’t damage you. It’s their projectiles that you need to watch out for. This changes how you can move around the battlefield. Instead of focusing on avoiding every enemy, prioritize dodging bullet patterns and keeping yourself safe from ranged attacks. You can even stand on top of some of the larger enemies without taking damage, as shown in the screenshot above, but don’t stay in the same place for too long, especially when you’re close to the source of a projectile.
Connect with Portals Quickly
Enemies periodically come out of those portals, so you’re going to want to connect with them as soon as possible so you can start to deactivate them. The closer you are to the portal, the faster the deactivation is, but as long as you are within the green circle you are making progress, so don’t feel like you need to stay right next to the portal, your main priority should be dodging those projectiles.
Search for Secret Areas
Variance rewards players who take the time to explore. Hidden areas are scattered throughout the map, often tucked behind breakable walls or opened by switches. If you’ve cleared the current wave of enemies, take a few moments to scan your surroundings, because there will often be more secrets to find and more orbs to collect. These bonuses could be what helps push you to the top of the leaderboard.
Variance Has Controller Support!
Some players swear by the precision of mouse and keyboard controls. Others feel more at home with a controller. Variance supports both, and it automatically adjusts the in-game tooltips depending on what you’re using. If you plug in a compatible USB controller, such as an Xbox controller, the on-screen prompts will switch to reflect the controller buttons. This flexibility ensures that every player can use the setup that feels most natural, whether that means clicking rapidly with a mouse or leaning back with a gamepad.
Ready for a New High Score?
Jump in and start playing today, and don't forget… practice, dash constantly, use your specials freely, and always keep an eye out for secrets!