Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time allows players to live out their best, well, lives. You can be a miner, fisher, woodcutter… The world’s your oyster. With so many Lives to choose from, though, you could get hit with a bad case of decision paralysis. That’s where I step in. Here’s everything you need to know about Lives in Fantasy Life i, including the best Lives to choose at the start of the game, and more.
What are Lives in Fantasy Life i?
Think of Lives as classes in Fantasy Life i. Every Life specializes in a certain skill. For example, the Angler Life lets you fish, while the Woodcutter Life lets you chop down trees for materials. There are also combat-focused Lives, such as the Paladin, Mercenary, and a few others that cater to different play styles.
You’ll start out with just one Life in Fantasy Life i, but you’ll gradually be able to unlock them all as you continue playing. The best part is that there are so many quality-of-life improvements here that make it so that switching between Lives is totally seamless.
Best Lives to Choose First in Fantasy Life i
Okay! Let’s start with the first big decision you’ll need to make in Fantasy Life i. Shortly after crashing on the island, you’ll have the opportunity to choose your first Life. While you do get to unlock them all eventually, this first choice is pretty important because you’ll be stuck with it for a little bit.
I recommend going with either the Woodcutter, Angler, or Miner. These are gathering-focused Lives that don’t involve combat, but they’ll still net you experience points. The reason why you should these is because they’re very good at netting you resources, which can be sold for Dosh — the main currency in Fantasy Life i. Without getting into spoiler territory, there’s a fairly early game quest that requires you to scrounge up a bunch of Dosh, so choosing these Lives will give you a good headstart that cuts down the grind later on.
All Lives in Fantasy Life i
There are a total of 16 Lives to choose from in Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. They’re broken up into three main categories: combat, gathering, and crafting. Below, I’ll go over each Life and their description.
Combat
| Life | Description |
|---|---|
| Brand New | Default Life. |
| Paladin | A shield of the innocent and a sword of the weak. A hero to children everywhere, and a villain’s worst nightmare. |
| Mercenary | Wield sword not for king nor country, but for your own gain and glory. Totally cool greatsword included! |
| Hunter | In deep forests today, sandy wastelands tomorrow. Seeking prey with bow in hand, a wild soul awakens. |
| Magician | Imagine all your problems, solved by the power of magic! As long as you have your staff, the only limit is your imagination. |
Gathering
| Life | Description |
|---|---|
| Miner | What lies beneath the ground? Your pickaxe will reveal all, be it power or riches. |
| Woodcutter | Enter the woods with axe in hand and fell the finest trees. As long as you respect nature, nature will respect you! |
| Angler | Walk the land with your trusty fishing rod! Just don’t come home empty-handed, or you’ll be going to sleep hungry. |
| Farmer | TBD |
Crafting
| Life | Description |
|---|---|
| Cook | Cook delicious homemade dishes fit for a king’s feast! A tasteful Life flavored with the spice of love. |
| Blacksmith | What would a Mercenary do without a sword, or a Farmer without their hoe? Life is nothing without Blacksmith! |
| Carpenter | Chairs, tables, homes and castles: with a saw and some timber, you could build just about anything. |
| Tailor | Make your mark on the world with extravagant designs and elegant stitchwork. Be the next fashion icon. |
| Alchemist | This isn’t magic, nor is it a scam! Alchemists can actually turn weeds into usable items. Trust me! |
| Artist | TBD |
All Lives will be available to you from the start of the game, with the exception of Farmer and Artist, which must be unlocked separately.
Best Combat Lives in Fantasy Life i
All of the crafting and gathering Lives are very task-specific, so I’ll just focus on the best combat-focused Lives here. If you’re looking for the best combat Life to pick in Fantasy Life i, go for the Mercenary. While the Mercenary is a little lacking in defense, it has the highest damage output of the bunch. You can boost your DPS by dodging and countering at the right time, and you also have a lot of versatile skills for both AoE and single-target damage.
Here’s the ranking:
- Mercenary: Best damage dealer with tons of AoE and single-target damage skills.
- Magician: Balanced Life with healing spells and decent damage output.
- Paladin: Great at defensive maneuvers. Has very high defense, but also caters to a much slower play style.
- Hunter: Effective at inflicting debuffs on enemies, but lower DPS.
How to Unlock New Lives
Keep playing through the main story until you get the Dragonut, allowing you to revive your dragon. Just as Trip and the protagonist are about to escape, Auntie Anne will stop you from leaving. At this point, the game will open up and you can start accepting new quests and exploring other Lives.
Whenever you want to check out a brand new Life, head over to the Guild Office and speak with Auntie Anne. From here, choose the Life you want to explore, and you’re all set!
How to Change Lives
Changing Lives in Fantasy Life i is extremely simple. Your character’s Life will automatically change to the relevant one as soon as you start engaging in an activity. For instance, if you have a combat Life equipped but interact with a tree to chop it down, you’ll automatically be switched over to the Woodcutter. This cuts down a lot of unnecessary time in menus.
Of course, you do still have to unlock the Life itself at the Guild Office. Once you do that initial check-in though, the world’s your oyster and you can change Lives freely.
Fantasy Life i Life Ranks and Skills Explained
For every Life License you unlock, you can rank them up as well. I’ve yet to reach the max rank in Fantasy Life i, but if the original game is anything to go by, they should look a little something like this:
| Rank | Effect |
|---|---|
| Novice | You start at this rank with no bonuses. |
| Fledgling | +2 to main stat and +1 to sub-stat. |
| Apprentice | +4 to main stat and +2 to sub-stat. |
| Adept | +6 to main stat and +3 to sub-stat. |
| Expert | +8 to main stat and +4 to sub-stat. |
| Master | +12 to main stat and +6 to sub-stat. |
| Hero | +16 to main stat and +8 to sub-stat. |
| Legend | +20 to main stat and +10 to sub-stat. |
| Demi-Creator | +20 to main stat and +10 to sub-stat. |
| Creator | +24 to main stat and +12 to sub-stat. |
To increase your Life Ranks, you’ll need to complete quests for your Life Master. Doing so may also unlock new skills for that specific Life.
Skill Boards
Next up, every Life in Fantasy Life i also comes with its own unique Skill Board. You can access this via the Weird Pad menu.
Whenever you level up, you’ll gain SP, which can then be used to unlock new skills on the Board. These are immensely useful, so I recommend checking it out whenever you gain a level.
