Featuring a Career mode where managing your trainee's stats and arsenal is vital, Umamusume Pretty Derby sets itself apart as one of the most exciting gacha games on the market.
The mode's rogue-like feel and management-focused style, however, can make it specifically tricky for those new to the genre. To boost your chances of success and help your runners achieve their dreams, here's a full overview of how the Umamusume Pretty Derby career mode works, and a few must-know tips and tricks.
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How the Umamusume Career Mode works
The Career mode in Umamusume Pretty Derby sees you take part in scenarios with a trainee of your choice. During it, you can alternate between training, resting, hanging out, and racing while witnessing your chosen Umamusume's storyline.
But don't go thinking all of the events here will be the same when reprising it, as although the main points of a trainee's career won't change, you can unlock new events based on your performance and RNG. At the moment of writing, only the URA Finale scenario is available as part of the game's global version.
Picking your Veteran Umamusume
Before officially starting your career, however, you must also select a duo of Veteran Umamusume and a set of Support Cards. The veterans offer initial stat boosts (and unique skills if on 3-stars or above) and can be acquired by completing careers. They also allow you to get both new skills and stat/rating increases via Sparks.
The Sparks can be triggered after each round of Inspiration and vary from 1 to 3 stars. Keep in mind that, unlike the stat sparks, which offer boosts, Skill Sparks provide you with hints. Lastly, Track, Distance, and Style Sparks offer your Umamusume rating increases. For example, in the event you trigger a Pace Chaser spark while having an A-Rank aptitude, it will be boosted to S.
About Support Cards
You also need to pick a series of six support cards when starting a career. The first five can be freely selected from your collection, while the sixth must be borrowed from friends or picked from random draws. All cards offer unique effects and are linked to different training regimens.
Picking the regimens featuring the Umamusume starring on your cards can then allow you to unlock hints to their skills and raise their Friendship level, thus unlocking enhanced training versions and unique events. In most cases, runners benefit the most from sets featuring 3+ Speed Cards.
More on Training and all stats
Training is the main way in which you can boost your trainee's stats in Umamusume. Each regimen spends energy and boosts their chances of failing or getting injured. You can recover energy by resting, selecting certain dialogue options, or taking your trainee to outings. To help you know what you are investing in, here's an overview of all the main stats and what they determine in Umamusume Pretty Derby:
- Speed: As its name implies, it determines your trainee's overall/max speed.
- Stamina: Determines endurance. If you find your runner at the back of the pack in longer races, low stamina will 9 out of 10 times be the reason.
- Power: Boosts your Umamusume's acceleration. Vital for running styles focused on overtaking positions in the late race.
- Guts: Determines how much stamina your chosen Unmamusume will burn in the last stretch of a race. The higher the amount, the less stamina will be spent. It's the last effective stat for the URA Finale, so performing its training is not recommended.
- Wit: Determines your trainee's ability to trigger skills during a race, and can also affect her speed in set portions. Most importantly, the stat stops your racer from rushing, which boosts stamina consumption by over 50%.
What stats should you prioritize?
Although each Umamusume's unique strengths might cause variations, all running styles in Pretty Derby benefit the most from Speed, Stamina, and Power, in this order. If running sprints, Speed can then be your only priority. You can check out a few easy-to-train Umamusume and the best stats for them below:
- Sakura Bakushin O: The easiest Umamusume to build via her Front Runner and Sprint focus. Can excel by investing solely in Speed.
- Daiwa Scarlet: Her unique skill allows her to excel as a Front Runner by investing in Speed and Stamina. To learn more, take a look at our build guide.
- Silence Suzuka: The best Front Runner for Medium races, think of her as a caffeine-infused version of Scarlet.
- Oguri Cap: The best Late Surger in the game, can excel by investing in Speed, Stamina, and Power. Remember, investing in Speed can also net you a fair amount of the latter.
Now that you know all you need to about the game's career mode, make sure to also check out our Umamusume Pretty Derby support card tier list to get the best selection for your future champion.
The post Umamusume Pretty Derby career guide appeared first on Destructoid.
