There is a rating system in MXM’s Stages and Timespace Distortion, and the number of rewards you get will differ depending on your rating, so it is important to get the highest rating possible. In order to do that, you need to play through the Stages as fast as you can to get the highest time score.

One way to quickly play through the game modes is to upgrade your Masters. Master upgrades help you speed up combat with monsters.

There are many ways of upgrading your Masters, from choosing a Master that suits certain Stages to augmenting skills and weapons, and also using items. With upgraded Masters, you’ll be able to get high ratings in PvE.

◇ Find out the attunements for each Stage and choose the best attuned Master

Each Stages have different attunements, so it’s a good idea to choose a Master that is best attuned to each Stage. Ardent is strong against Helix, Helix is strong against Kinetic, and Kinetic is strong against Ardent, and the input and output of the damage differs depending on the attunements. The damage increases by 15% for a stronger attunement, while it decreases by 15% for a weaker attunement.

For example, the Karith Area is Helix-attuned, so it is smart to choose a Master with an Ardent attunement to get 15% additional damage against the monsters in that area. If you ever play random Stage, you’ll get the Masters best attuned to that area automatically recommended to you, so all you need to do is choose one of them.

Have at least two Masters ready for each attunement when playing random Stage, since you won’t know which area will be selected. In case you happen to have no Masters best attuned to the selected area, or even if you do have one but it has an inefficient skill set for PvE, then choose a Master with the same attunement as that area, and if possible, the one with a skill set good for PvE.

◇ Skills with a wide AoE are more efficient in PvE than CC! How to choose a skill and upgrade it

It will be efficient to use a skill with a wide AoE in PvE since you can quickly kill monsters that are closely packed. Also, skills with more damage are usually used more than the ones with CC. Since normal monsters don’t have very high HP, it is more effective to kill them quickly before they move closer, instead of using CC on them.

You can upgrade a Master’s skills in the Bridge - Master section by using Gold. Upgrading the skills will give you add-on effects such as a shorter cooldown or an increase in skill damage, and upgrading it to level 3 and 6 will give your Master a new additional effect or upgrade the ones they already have. You’ll be able to speed up the gameplay in the Stages by upgrading your skills, but the skill upgrades done at the Bridge are applied only in PvE, so they do not apply in the Arenas.

◇ Gather materials to increase your attack effectiveness! How to effectively use Master weapon

Each Master has their own set of 3 ‘weapon augments’ by default. These help Masters in battle thanks to their additional effects, such as increase in attack damage, critical hit rate, wider AoE, and movement speed. You can choose a weapon augment you like depending on your play style.
You can upgrade these weapon augments at the Bridge. Unlike the skill upgrades, the weapon augments need ‘Upgrade Materials’, ‘Augment Module’, and ‘Augmentation Crystal’ to upgrade, and as the upgrade level gets higher, so does the required item’s class.

Some Masters may require special upgrade materials to upgrade their weapons, which you can get from certain Stages or from Timespace Distortion. You can also get them in exchange for Battlefield Medals, which you can receive as PvP rewards.

You can check out the upgrade materials you need for weapon augments on each Master’s page. You’ll be able to check the upgrade materials you need for the next upgrade after you’ve augmented the weapon of your choice.

◇ Apply Nodes to enhance your Masters!

Nodes are items that enhance your Master’s abilities. There are 3 types of Nodes- Offensive, Defensive, and Auxiliary. You can’t apply just any Nodes you want on your Master; each Master has a certain Node Compatibility, so you must apply the right Nodes. Getting the right Nodes applied will give you 100% Node Efficiency, which applies 100% of the effects in PvE, PvP custom modes, and ranked PvP match, although Nodes are only 50% effective in other PvP modes.

Offensive Nodes offer effects like increase in weapon damage, critical hit rate, and life steal, so Masters who are damage dealers would benefit most from Offensive Nodes. Using weapon damage in PvE is good, but another good way to get additional damage is by attunement scaling, as each Stage has certain attunements.

Defensive Nodes have several effects related to survival stats like defense, HP, and stamina. You could say that since tank type Masters aren’t usually played in PvE, the rate of Defensive Nodes used in the Stages are low. Instead, stamina related Nodes are generally more helpful.

As for Auxiliary Nodes, these nodes have skill power, movement speed, and Tag cooldown effects. As the name suggests, they are subsidiary Nodes that offer useful effects, thus they are always needed by tanks or damage dealers. You can fight more effectively with skill power, mana, and skill attunement in the Stages.

◇ Support Kit is activated when Master is near-death

Support Kits are items that can only be used in PvE and is activated when certain conditions are met. There are items that immediately heal or gradually heal HP, and there are items that increase defense by 100%, or knock the enemies out when activated.
To use a Support Kit, all you need to do is choose one on your Master page. You can also pick one in the Support Kit tab when you are choosing your Master’s skills or weapon augment before playing. Most of the Support Kits are usually activated when your HP goes under certain amount, and have a 120 second cooldown.

◇ 2 Masters with the same attunement are more effective! Recommended Masters for each Area

As mentioned above, each area and Timespace Distortion in the Stages have different attunements, so choosing a Master that has a stronger attunement is more effective. All monsters in one area have the same attunement, so you might want to choose 2 Masters that have the same, stronger attunement as well.

Karith and Nuuran are Helix-attuned, so choosing to play Ardent-attuned Masters would be a good idea. Caligo Factory is Ardent-attuned, so Kinetic Masters are your best choice, and Lacrimosa and Rentu Laboratory are Kinetic-attuned, so Helix-attuned Masters should be played in this Stage.

Marksman are Masters who can usually get good ratings in PvE. Masters who can deal damage effectively with basic attacks or have skills with wide AoEs can also provide advantages. Masters who can sustain from using their skills are considered advantageous, too. The Masters who meet these conditions are Taejin, Lua, Merope, Sizuka, MBA-07, and Vonak.