Mario & Luigi Dream Team – Character Customization

Throughout their latest adventure, on Pi’illo Island, Mario and Luigi engage in countless battles against a variety of foes. Defeating enemies earns Mario and Luigi experience, or EXP. As in any RPG, EXP accumulates over time allowing our heroes to level up, increasing their stats and making them stronger. But you can take an active role in how Mario and Luigi level up by allocating bonus stats, consuming beans, and applying unique rank up bonuses awarded at levels 8, 16, 26, and 40. But before randomly applying these bonuses, take into account what kind of character you want to build. Here are a couple of specialized options to consider.

Offensive Character

If you like dealing heavy damage during battles, consider building an offensive-focused character specializing in attacks. When consuming beans or after leveling up, sink your bonus stats into the POW, BP, and STACHE categories. POW measures the strength of each attack while BP increases the amount of points available to perform Bros. Attacks and Luiginary Attacks. The STACHE stat measures how likely the character is to score a critical hit, resulting in extra damage.

When it comes to applying the rank up bonuses consider choosing the following five options for your character.

1. Gear Slot +1: Choose this as your first rank up bonus as it allows you to equip accessories such as gloves, scarves, rings, and bangles. Some of these accessories (such as the POW Scarf or POW Gloves) increase your POW stat, allowing your character to deal more damage with each attack.

2. Jump Man: Choose this as your second rank up bonus. The Jump attack is the most common, and this bonus increases the damage dealt by a whopping 125%.

3. Hammerhead: This is another good offense-centric rank up bonus, increasing Hammer attack damage by 125%. This is made more effective by equipping  a hammer with a high POW stat, like the Master Hammer (90), available in the Driftwood Shore Gold Shop.

4. Big Lucky: If you’ve been boosting your STACHE stat, this rank up bonus is well worth the consideration, increasing the damage dealt by critical hits by 200%. But note, this only affects damage. It does not increase the likelihood of critical hits; that is only improved by boosting the STACHE stat. So if your STACHE stat is below 60, consider another bonus like Counterer.

5. Casual Bros: Bros. Attacks and Luiginary Attacks are the most powerful options during battles. But each attack costs BP. This rank up bonus decreases the BP cost by 50%, allowing you to use these powerful attacks with greater frequency without the need to constantly consume Syrup Jars.

Defensive Character

If you’re more interested in taking a cautious approach during battles, consider building a defensive character, emphasizing health and defense. When allocating bonus stats and consuming beans, boost the HP, DEF, and SPEED stats. HP determines how many health points your character has, allowing them to take more damage before becoming incapacitated in battle. The DEF stat is what protects Mario and Luigi during attacks; the higher the number, the less damage dealt by enemies. The SPEED stat determines initiative at the start of the battle; the higher the number, the more likely your character will get to attack first.

Now that you’ve figured out which stats to focus on, consider choosing the five following rank up bonuses for your defensive character.

1. HP Up+: This bonus adds an extra 2 HP each time you level up. Consider making this your first rank up bonus. The earlier this bonus is applied, the more HP you’ll gain over time.

2. Iron Body: This bonus reduces all incoming damage by 25%. If you’re having trouble dodging or countering enemy attacks, this bonus is essential.

3. Gear Slot +1: Gaining the ability to equip accessories is a great way to boost your HP and DEF stats. This bonus allows you to equip accessories like HP Gloves, Metal Gloves, and the HP Scarf, each improving your survivability during battles.

4: Badge Stock +1: This bonus gives you one extra badge effect slot, shown on the Touch Screen. This comes in handy when using HP or DEF based badge effects offered by Luigi’s Mush Badge or Guard Badge.

5: Quick Healer: When this bonus is applied, consumed items, like Mushrooms, heal at a 200% bonus rate. This makes consumable items far more effective, giving you more time to stay on the attack instead of constantly healing.

These are just two examples of possible character archetypes you can construct through the allocation of stats and rank up bonuses. If you want to create a well-rounded character, that’s possible too. Or perhaps you want to maximize the EXP you gain during encounters? That’s possible as well. It all comes down to personal preference, choosing a path that best fits your style of play and capabilities. For more information on all rank up bonuses, check out the Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Prima Official eGuide. Or preorder the print guide at your favorite games retailer.