Part 2: Chronology for the story and where to find lore
Hi!! I'm Maga, a daily player in SN Global server, S2 Cloudcrest, and I've been playing since release day. Lately I've encountered a lot of new SN players or Wannabe players on Twitter, and I see some confusion on how the game functions, how to farm diamonds, how does x y z feature work, among other things. So, I wanted to extend a hand and compile some useful videos, guides, docs, and tips that I think would be helpful.
Firsts things first: welcome, stylist! It's great to have you here, and I hope that, in spite of roadblocks and pulling woes, you can enjoy the game and have a positive experience playing it (⌒▽⌒)☆ Looking forward to your creations and reactions to the story~
To begin, I'd strongly suggest joining SNOD, that is, Shining Nikki Official Discord server. There, you will find lots of stylists to chat with, a space to share your outfits, channels to help you find a guild that matches your playing style, a channel dedicated to questions, guides and strategies; also activities with in-game rewards. And lots more, so it just makes sense for you to join and make the most of our community!
If you're planning on playing casually, maybe you're just interested in the story and want to read it, collect few sets here and there, then this compilation of resources will be overkill for you, and you might prefer to skip straight to Part 2 of these Guides. But, even if you're playing casually, you will at some point or another interact with different game features and be blocked by certain requirements, so it will help if you know your way around the game.
On the other hand, if you're planning on committing to the game so you want to build your account correctly from the beginning, or aren't sure yet but would like to play it safe just in case you get hooked, then this will be helpful for you.
Tip: If you haven't started your account yet, make sure to join S3 Rosset. The third server released months after the first two, so most players who locked in are in S1 and S2. Rosset is the most f2p server, with the least p2w players- so even if you're not staying f2p, it'll be easier for you to rank higher, which is a must to save diamonds.
Best server to join as a new player looks like this:
Rosset > Flowerland > Cloudcrest
Miscelaneous: server population and competitiveness (S1 and S2)
Useful Videos
Next, I'm going to add every video that I have personally used all those years ago, plus other guides I consider important to understand the game and play smart from the beginning. Please try to read or skim my notes first and don't just dive into the videos directly.
Simply Nightshade and LoveEffie's Beginner's Guide Playlist
✔ Great, concise introduction to many game features for you to not go in blind.
✔ While these guides will feature an old version of the game with a different UI, the mechanics for the features present there are mostly the same as they are now. This applies to most videos on this list. Some game features aren't present because they hadn't been implemented yet, but I'll try to get those covered through other videos and resources.
✔ I wanted to include this playlist because they cover little things like friend affinity points, which is one of many features that have been left forgotten for a long time now, because we old players are alredy done with them, and have been for a long while.
Vivi Gaming's guides for V0 players for the first week of the game
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7
✔ I don't love these guides, because in retrospective I disagree with certain things, but I can't deny that when you're new and lost and there are so many things to do the first few days, something like this is very helpful.
✔ If I remember correctly, she tells you to buy the diamond stamina pack at first. While I did do that, I don't recommend it if your goal is to start saving from the get go. The schedule used to be a lot more forgiving back then, so that decision didn't affect me too badly, but It's still 300 diamonds down the drain, 60 short of 3 pulls. If you're really itching to speedrun stages and farming, you can do it, I can't stop you, but I have warned you. Maybe the first week it's alright, but it's not a good long-term deal (unless perhaps you're planning on paying for monthly cards often and don't mind it).
✔ I don't remember if she also says to buy diamond arena attempts to get the arena reflection sooner- but in case she does, also take this recommendation with a grain of salt. It will help you rank faster if you're not pulling for current UR limited events, but it's still spending diamonds in an otherwise free feature of the game. Still, if you feel like you want to, go ahead. And do use the Arena Calculator to manage your bought attempts.
✔ My intention with these videos is for you to familiarize yourself with the game and its core mechanics. The long format and repetitive nature of Vivi's videos makes for a great teaching tool regarding the names of different menus, tabs, features and other details. This will help you learn from the basics so you can work your way up to understanding other guides that can confuse you if you don't know the terms, concepts, and names of things very well. It'll also help you develop a routine for dailies: make some actions more natural for you so you don't forget about them. I suggest watching them while you play, so you can see the new locations or looks of certain features that have changed since.
Sei Nikki's guide on Styling Power and scoring
This video covers scoring for Clothing, Designer's Reflection (DR), Awakening, Passive Effects, Call of Reflection, Concepts, and Stylist Academy (This is super important to do early game, I'm begging you to not forget about it. I'll link a farming doc later)
✔ Obviously we've gotten tons more DRs by this point, so when she says "this is the strongest for x attribute" remember this was during global release. It can work as a reference for which DRs you should work on as a new player, but for current rankings refer to the DR tierlists I'll share later. There are plenty of f2p friendly DRs there, that will help you direct your resources to what works best with what you can get.
✔ She mentions that concepts that are part of a Resonance will be numbered, but there are exceptions, so watch out for Concepts that look like pairs, and check their resonance info on 'Promote Concept' in the Ark.
✔ Bond with Nikki isn't super high priority for scoring, but it blocks some rewards, like Chapter rewards in the Achievements menu.
Simply Nightshade's full Concept crashcourse
This video is a wonderful guide to understanding concepts, Concept Voyage stages, how does leveling and petaling (deepen) works, which concepts to prioritize and why, decomposing and merging.
Tip: I didn't go throught the entire video, just skimmed it to verify it was useful, but! In case it's not included: don't decompose R concepts, at least early game. Either merge them to obtain SR concepts (this is just at the very beginning when you're struggling to get new concepts), or leave them as leveling fodder. SSR and UR concepts take a lot of points to level up, so be mindful and allocate your R concepts wisely.
Benign Chaos on Stylist Academy
✔ Stylist Academy is a feature you need to do a lot of farming for, and includes Mind Maze and Challege Stage drops, which you get 10 tries per day for, so you should start farming ASAP so you can be as efficient as possible and not waste those tries. Of course, you'll struggle with stamina at the beginning, so even if there's a lot to work on, it's understandable if it takes a lot of time, be kind to yourself and do what you can when you can. The amount of things to do at the start is simply overwhelming. But don't neglect the Academy.
Tip: what she says about not being sure what the strategy is to choose what to upgrade, she must be referring this:
First, upgrade everything to lvl 3 for the 7-day Tour
Then, prioritize Dress > Hair > Accessory > Shoe > Sock > Coat > Full
Evie Gaming's Guides
Evie has several guide videos, but next I'll list the ones I think you would need the most.
Ultimate Battle Guide: These videos are heavy on math and calculations, but they offer great insight into how scoring works and what features affect your overall scores. The guide is incomplete, sadly, but that couple of videos are already a great boon.
Nail Salon: Both the video on how the feature works, and the one with tips.
Memory Stairway: Full Guide on the feature, with the weekly schedule, currencies, Idea lab recolors and score boost (though please don't reset your recolor levels if you don't want to spend diamonds freely, this is more for monthly cards players), how to best pick your DRs and concepts, and a couple other details. Super useful.
Memory Stairway Shop
✔ She says there's no reason to exchange the Star Wish (puzzle piece) currency for the Rewinding Hourglass one, but that's more for old players. Since you're new, you might prefer to work on old sets that you aesthetically like more, so feel free to play around with that exchange if it's what you want.
✔ Current Idea Lab cap level is 400, soon to be upped to 500.
Feel free to peruse the rest of her playlist, but there's a lot of videos that were meant to be useful before the events came out (pre-farming for example), so I didn't feel it was necessary.
Sei Nikki's other guides
✔ Diamond farming guide (doesn't include Memory Stairway)
Recommendation: Like she says, please don't spend your diamonds on the permanent pavilion sets. And as an adendum, don't spend your Fantasy tickets (InNikki equivalent is the blue crystals) on the Fantasy pavilion- focus on Gleam. You'll collect SR and SSR sets way faster, and slowly but steadily nip at the permanent URs.
✔ Intel Hub Tips
✔ Redundant, but in case you prefer her video about the Nail salon
✔ Styling Competition feature
Tip: These competition DRs are SUPER easy to max for their Call of Reflection, so make sure to check the DR tierlist I shared below and see which ones are worth gunning for if you're lacking a good enough UR. Remember; a good and properly leveled SSR with maxed Passives and Call of Reflection can beat a base leveled UR.
✔ General tips, tricks, recommendations, and reminders
More Videos:
Mind Maze
How to make and/or change your name card: unfocused but it does show you. This video is on a playlist of similar inquiries, such as profile pictures, use lighting, filters, backgrounds etc. I will continue linking a few more I consider important, but you can check out other things she explains in those.
"Why Can't I Decompose My Echoes?"
Hard stages for Clock Workshop and Concept Voyage (same idea applies to Neverfall Courtains and Memory Stairway): This video and This video
Reverie Moment: basics about our Instagram-ish feature
Set Breakdown videos so you can decide what limited events you'd like to save for, and see a variety of other sets.
Docs, Written guides, Tierlists, Archive of Past and Future Suits, and more
Here I'll put together guides and other resources available on Shining Nikki Official Discord (this is partly why I insist you join), that I have used myself in the past and that are incredibly useful. Lots of respect and love for the creators and contributors of these.
Remember to make copies of the docs that require it
Terminology used in the server
So that you can understand the other docs and answers you receive in the server
Farming Docs
Designer's Reflection upgrade costs (elexela)
Academy farming guide (kami.8518)
Crafting Sheet for Main story, Lifetimes and other Workshop sets
Designer's Reflection Tierlist
Go to the Doc
This doc was last updated mid 2024, next is an adendum made on SND
Again, for those times when you want a second opinion deciding on what to prioritize or if a DR is better than another depending on the context, don't hesitate to ask for help on discord!
Make-up Album by lehmi (up to 2022)
Make-up Album by crystalrainchimes (picks up where lehmi left off)
✔ Awesome archives, because you can see the make-up close-ups on all skin tones.
Gallery for past and future event sets (both limited and permanent) by Rummi
Tip: make good use of this archive to create a wishlist. This way, you'll prioritize what you absolutely want to get and plan your savings accordingly.
Recently I sent this gallery to a new player, but they weren't sure how to navigate it, so I made some basic explanations that I'll share as well. Though, on this other post so as to not clog this one
✔ Just in case you miss Rummi's note on this- this gallery uses the TW/CN server rarities, which basically they go up to SSR instead of UR. Our URs are their SSRs, our SSRs are their SRs and so on and so forth.
Event Costs (from SNOD)
✔ Every pull costs 120 diamonds
Single SSR: 70-100 pulls
Double SSR: 130-180 pulls
Single UR + SSR set: 70-100 pulls for just the SSR set, 180-240 for both, up to 360 pulls for echo
Double UR: 180-200 pulls for one set, 300-350 for both, possibly more for awakening
Collaborations: Are a special type of event where SN collaborates with another brand and make in-game sets featuring said brand. Collabs cost about the same amount as regular events of the same rarity, though they don't come with reflections. Collaborations do not return.
Arena Costs Calculator
✔ Remember to make a copy to use it
Weekly Gems Calculator and Gem sources by Ruby, doc by nununana9515
✔ Remember to make a copy to use it
✔ Adendum to set completion rewards: If the UR set doesn't come with a DR, sometimes the reward will be 300 diamonds. If the SSR set doesn't come with a DR, the reward will be 75 diamonds (so half compared to one that has a DR). If the SR set doesn't come with a DR, the reward will be 25 diamonds (so half compared to one that has a DR).
Last words: join the discord!! there are many more guides, calculators and resources there. I just listed barebones here ;) Plus other wonderful stylists you can interact with and ask questions to.
I think SN does a great job of fleshing out and explaining why styling battles exist in the first place, plus explaining how they can even work. All without breaking the magic and wonder of the concept.
*Spoilers for Shining Nikki Volume III*
Also, your timing was insane, because not long after this post they updated the Main Story and... guess which curse was CREATED live 🫠
I actually feel bad for SN players who read this without knowing anything about LN because the impact of the reveal hits like a truck when you do know.
Hey, Shiny Designers! Hope you're ready for Monday, 'cause that's when our next anniversary event comes out...
The apocalypse has finally come! We've fought alongside Nikki throughout Vol. 3 to stabilize the anomalies in Miraland: from the Wasteland tower to the New Wing Island competition to the false God of Glory in Pigeon Kingdom. Has Leonid truly returned? Why is Modric against us now? And how can we stop the Doomsday god?
We're up to our biggest threat in Apocalypse Aeterni Diei, but with the help from our friends, we can push the Doomsday god back into the Ocean of Memories!
As we wait for the livestream to start, with about 11 minutes and 20 seconds to go, a montage starts, showing off various Designer's Reflection artworks and UR event trailers.
This loops until the countdown reaches 0:00, which is when our Miraland tour begins. We hop in a car with Nikki and Momo and travel around the continent. Gotta brush up on the seven different cultures if we're gonna save all seven countries from the Doomsday god.
We put our lives in Momo's paws as he steers us on our journey. As we soar through the air, he shares some bird facts with us (along with some custom, dyed stylings for each bird):
After all, one of the UR suits is based after a peacock, so why not look at other birds, too?
...Unfortunately, our next stop on this journey is a strange place, where a familiar figure hovers.
Last year, Nikki disappeared from the group during the livestream. But now, it's our turn to go missing! Who is that angelic figure? Can they help us come back? Or... did they make us disappear in the first place?
Thankfully, our hosts for the livestream interrupt this nightmare: one wearing the Twinkle Twinkle dress, and one donning a purple version of the God of Styling's moonlight dress.
They give us the first redeem code, STARSALIGN, where we will get:
-1,000 pink gems
-200 stamina
-3,000,000 gold
-20 Fantasy Tickets
-5 Star Cycle (event currency)
-6 UR Concept Shards
-60 SSR Concept Shards
-60 Memory Key: SR
-120 Memory Key: R
-100 Fixed Key: SR
-200 Fixed Key: R
All the redeem codes are good until 12 July.
And then, we get some more trivia! This time, it's about the game.
-Last year, 69,302,795 new clothing pieces were added to Nikki's wardrobe.
-Over 14,000 clothing items are now available in Miraland.
-The Top 3 Most Popular UR Sets were:
--Vast Blossom (Nikki)
--Whales Toward Sea (Aeon and Marina)
--Noctis Arcanum Lumen (Ludwig)
-The Top 3 Most Popular SSR Sets were:
--Repose Upon Nightfall (Modric)
--Adagio of Reminiscence (Hestia)
--Heart's Wish Fountain (Nikki)
-The Top 3 Most Popular Free Sets were:
--Peachy Dream (Nikki, SSR, anniversary)
--Echoes of Time (Yexiao, UR, Whale/Flower)
--Blossoming Impression (Nikki, SSR, birthday)
-The Top 3 Most Popular Scene Interactions were:
--Pale Bloom (Whale/Flower)
--Roses' Fine Feast (Sin Flower)
--Sacred Resolve (A Tale By Midnight Roses)
-Over the past year, Stylists created 2,115,825 stylings and generated 36,029 styling codes.
To show off these new outfits, the hosts prepared a Styling Showcase, displaying lots of your cool suits. Here are only a few examples:
Then, we have our first giveaway: HAPPY5THYEAR will grant 1,200 Pink Gems to 20 different players.
After premiering the anniversary trailer, we get a special look at the two new suits:
By Stars, Be Sworn
-Designer: Nikki/God of Starry Night
-Rarity: Special UR
-Attribute: Blue/Cool
-Awakened Suit: To Heart, Forevermore
Eclipse of Eternal Day
-Designer: God of Glory
-Rarity: UR
-Attribute: Gold/Elegant
-Awakened Suit: Fall of Kingdom Come
So gorgeous! To keep the hype train going, we have another redeem code: STARSEAREUNION! This gives you:
-1,000 Pink Gems
-300 stamina
-3,000,000 gold
-20 Fantasy Tickets
-5 Star Cycle (event currency)
-6 UR Concept Shards
-60 SSR Concept Shards
-60 Memory Key: SR
-120 Memory Key: R
-100 Fixed Key: SR
-200 Fixed Key: R
-50 Refresh Cards
We then come across something either truly cute or truly cursed (depending on how you view it lol): a giant Momo!
Don't worry; he's just checking on the game devs and designers.
They've put so much thought into the story, even going so far as to share the doomsday prophecy back in Leonid's Prophecy. That was back during the blog's first anniversary! And Nikki remembers her power gained through the Star Sea dress, and finally transforms into the God of Starry Night herself! The BTS video is 12 minutes long, but it's worth watching how they crafted the anniversary story.
The next giveaway happens right after. Typing PINKHAIREDSAVIOR will reward 5 winners with a special Nikki merch bundle.
Even if you didn't win, that's okay. Everyone can enjoy this video of a costumer designing Nikki's starry god dress in real life!
Then, Nikki sings us a song. It's short, yet sweet.
And then, a special surprise: Nikki's free anniversary suit for us is actually 3 versions of the same suit!
Blossom Bound will have a UR, SSR, and SR version, changing the length, skirt cut, and accessories.
Are you already getting styling ideas? If you need more inspiration, we'll be getting more free suits.
If you're worried about Ophelia at the end of Vol. 3, don't worry. The God of Glory may have been trying to taunt Ophelia and lure her to her death, but she tells her story in the top-up SSR suit, Farewell to Nightfall. Did the Pigeon Queen find a mystery or a piece of the truth at the bottom of Lake Holy Light? We'll have to find out!
You think that's all the devs have in store for us? They actually have more things you can buy in the Golden Market (found on the Exchange page):
Suits, poses, scene props... we are getting spoiled this anniversary lol
Speaking of spoiled, we have our last redeem code. Typing 5THANNIV0629 will give you:
-1,000 Pink Gems
-300 stamina
-3,000,000 gold
-20 Fantasy Tickets
-5 Star Cycle (even currency)
-6 UR Concept Shards
-60 SSR Concept Shards
-60 Memory Key: SR
-120 Memory Key: R
-200 Fixed Key: R
-50 Refresh Cards
The livestream starts coming to a close, but before that, we get a short animated film of Nikki at her Home on a night of shooting stars.
We then wake up back on the van with Momo and Nikki, who stay with us on our road trip across Miraland. Viewers have one more chance to win a giveaway, this time by typing GEMSCOMETOME. The three lucky winners will get 3,600 Pink Gems.
And a special surprise: a message from the voices of Nikki (Emma Ballantine) and Momo (Emma Tate)!
They also give us one more Nikki song! "Before the Beginning" is a bonus song we get for this anniversary.
Hello, Shining Designers! The 4th anniversary of the game is coming up, and the game devs did not disappoint with the livestream. Our anni hell is...
Whale's Fall: Flowers Bloom
I saw the announcement last year for the CN/TW anniversary livestream, and I was amazed by how beautiful the suits are! So much detail in each dress, and who would've guessed they'd make an entire outfit based on a dying whale?
The story is an emotional one. It takes place right after Vol. 3, Ch. 5, when you and Nikki return to the Ark to find everything...strangely silent.
(Fun Fact: If you go to the main page for Vol. 3, Ch. 5 right now, there's an icon for Flowers Bloom, but when you tap on the icon, it brings up the story for Sin Flower instead. It will probably update when the hell event officially comes.)
We also received three Redeem Codes! Make sure you use them soon. The first code, CHERISHEDMEMORIES, gives you:
-1000 pink gems
-777 stamina
-1,000,000 gold
-10 World Flower (the hell currency)
-20 Fantasy Tickets
-50 Refresh Cards
-12 UR Concept Shards
-100 SSR Concept Shards
-20 Memory Track
The second code is WHALESFALL, and it gives you:
-1000 pink gems
-250 stamina
-1,000,000 gold
-5 World Flower
-20 Fantasy Tickets
-50 Refresh Cards
-380 R Memory Keys
-128 SR Memory Keys
-10 SSR Concept Shards
And our last redeem code is FLOWERSBLOOM, which gives you:
-1000 pink gems
-250 stamina
-1,000,000 gold
(And in case you missed it on their other social media platforms, we have 4 extra Redeem Codes. Each of these gives an extra 100 pink gems and 500,000 gold)
-GEMS4U
-3KISSES
-BORN2SHINE
-1ANDONLY
The hosts also shared some fun stats from the past year:
-Stylists have greeted Nikki in the morning 3,559,882 times and in the evening 2,391,244 times.
-Stylists have bought Nikki 7,273,585 movie tickets, which is about 19,927 movies per day. (What movie do you think is her favorite?)
-Stylists introduced 131,898,138 outfits to Nikki's Closet at Home.
-Stylists have posted 295,873 stylings to the main menu.
-The most popular interactive scenes were:
--Crystal Stairway
--Twinkling Rhythms
--Parade Time
And then, the grand showcase of the anniversary suits:
-Vast Blossom - Nikki
--Attribute: Pink/Sweet
--Rarity: UR (special)
--Awakened Suit: Cradle Era
-Whales Toward Sea - Aeon and Marina
--Attribute: Gold/Elegant
--Rarity: UR
--Awakened Suit: Cosmic Melody
(You might have seen Older Marina before, as the designer for the top-up suit Broken & Chainsaw. It's her only Sexy attribute suit, because now she's an adult. Her "growth spurt" actually comes from the anniversary event.)
There were three lucky draws for those who watched the livestream.
-Lucky Draw #1: WHALESANDFLOWERS
--Rewards: 20 winners receive 1200 pink gems
-Lucky Draw #2: SHININGDRESS
--Rewards: 1 of 5 new IRL dresses from Shining Nikki
-Lucky Draw #3: BESTNIKKI
--Rewards: 3 winners receive 3600 pink gems
And like last year, Paper got two real-life designers to make pieces for Shining Nikki's anniversary. The first is Angie Wu, a jewelry artist who made a breathtaking opal necklace inspired by Nikki's blooming dress.
You want to know the best part? This is the grand prize for the Ocean Reverie fanart contest! Only one lucky person can claim this necklace, so get your creative energies flowing now.
The second designer is Valentine Moon, and she spent countless hours sewing and crafting a cosplay version of Nikki's flower dress!
The voice actors for Nikki and Momo, Emma Ballantine and Emma Tate respectively, share their anniversary wishes, and then we get a new single to end the livestream!
A lot of amazing things to look forward to! I hope you have a wonderful anniversary, Shining Designers!
Shining Nikki Story and Lore Guide for New Players
Part 1: Game mechanics
This is Part 2: Chronology for the story and where to find lore
So, you want to tackle SN lore, but— there are so many places where you can find different stories! Where to begin, what to prioritize? I will go over all of it, from the most obvious to the more hidden.
If it wasn't clear, this is NOT a story recap, this is simply an aid for you to dive into the story and experience it for yourself 🩷 in the way and amount that best suits you.
I hope this serves as a helpful guide for my fellow lore and story junkies. Or, maybe, as an invitation to experience the wonderful story, characters and other details that this game has to offer.
🩷 Main Story
Shining Nikki: Story Guide, Characters, Factions, and Terms
The most important thing is for you to read the Main Story, of course. Lovely u/piendish put together this guide to facilitate:
A chronology of events, including the relevant Anniversary events.
Chapter summaries (very brief, intended to jog your memory when a new chapter drops— not to replace actually reading the chapters).
A list of the characters plus brief descriptions for each.
A list of different factions/organizations that exist in the game and who belongs where.
A list of terms you will encounter that are specific to the game's world.
That said, I will still go over other things about this point.
The Main Story (1) is structured by Volumes (2), then Chapters (3), then stages. For stages, there are normal ones (4), there are what I think of as 'Book' stages (5) (because of how they look), and then there are Challenge Stages (6) at the end of most chapters.
Normal stages include a styling battle, "Book" stages just play the next bit of story uninterrupted.
Challenge stages... Okay, more tricky. What they tell depends on which Volume they are in.
For Volume I they're either a fun, lighthearted side quest with barely any relevance for the story of the chapter, with few exceptions. Still, I suggest you read them as a palate cleanser for the end of the chapter.
For Volume II though, they stepped up and gave them a special spotlight; there, they can expand on what's happening directly after the chapter ends, give more attention to certain characters and context on things they were doing before/during/after the chapter, or deviate from the chapter because they're giving you context FOR something that happens or shows up in the chapter. Essentially, they have the role of filling in some gaps that would've been too much of a tangent for the storyline of the chapter to go into. Please don't skip these, they're really good.
✔ From Volume II Chapter 6 onwards, you won't need to craft certain items from the chapter set to pass stages and progress with the story. Styling Battles will only depend on your Styling Power.
✔ Volume III will not consume stamina while reading the story, because all stages are "Book" stages. The exception is the prologue, because it features a special format. Drops for crafting the chapter sets are now obtained through 'Investigations'.
✔ In case you didn't already know, almost every Anniversary event is straight up part of the Main Story. That's why the guide I linked above is super useful to know the chronology.
✔ For the first two relevant Anni events, they had the foresight to add shortcuts. For the first Anni event, which takes place at the end of Volume I, they actually made an independent chapter for it: chapter 13— so, this one is actually part of the Main Story. For the third Anni (the second one has a stellar story, but it's not really key for the Main Story), Tides Rise to Everlasting Flames, they added a shortcut to Journey Review (more on this later), that will take you directly there to be able to read the event story.
✔ The main story can be understood by sticking to the Volumes and Anni events only, but every other feature I will explain next can add a lot of context and help you better understand some of the things that happen, plus the characters involved and their motivations.
💭 Mind Maze
Like the game description says, this story section dives into a character's inner world. It features characters that are key for the Main Story; they are all part of our main cast— Not all characters from the main cast have a Mind Maze chapter, but all of the Mind Maze chapters focus on characters from the main cast. Mind Maze shows you some of their core memories, and helps you better understand what has shaped these characters to become who they are.
Mind Maze (1) is structured by Chapters (2), then stages. There are normal stages (3), and "Book" stages (4).
All the stages work with the same logic as they do in the Main Story
✔ Every chapter is dedicated to one designer only, and there are a total of 5 chapters.
✔ As far as we know, there will not be more chapters added to Mind Maze.
✔ All the chapters operate the same, though chapter 3 is a little special. Almost at the end, you will be met with a different stage layout. Just play them as you see fit (this will make sense once you get to it), and then you can finish the chapter.
✔ All chapters except for chapter 3 feature an SSR set. Chapter 3 features a UR; our first Lifetime set in the game. This set and the special stages in the chapter served as the prototype for Time Corridor (more on this next), where you can find the rest of the UR Lifetime sets.
✔ I suggest you read the DR associated with the chapter set, since the story in them is complementary to what happens in their respective Mind Maze chapter.
⌛ Time Corridor
The spiritual successor to Mind Maze
In Time Corridor, we are presented, for the most part, with stories from the Past. Here we meet historical characters, some of which appear in the Main Story, others who are only mentioned in passing. The exception to these descriptions is, of course, Nikki's Star Sea Dream, which has a very particular story to it.
Time Corridor is organized in Seasons, and then stages that are visually varied depending on the Season.
When you open Time Corridor, you will be met with a simple enough layout. I'm not sure if the game opens the first or last season for someone who has never opened Time Corridor before, but I'll stick with the first season.
To change seasons, just go to the Switch option on the top right, and then select the season you want to go to.
On the bottom we have some more options.
+ There's the PV trailer for the season, which I recommend you watch either before or after you're done reading the story. They're really great additions.
+ Then there's the Stages option, which will lead you to the story stages— these, just play them as they come.
+ Lastly, there's the option to craft the Lifetime set of the season, which you can also access through the Workshop.
✔ Time Corridor features stories that give a lot of context for the distant past of Miraland, through different important characters. Seasons 2 and 3 dive into characters we don't meet in the Main Story, but that occasionally get mentioned in passing, either in the Main Story or elsewhere, because they were really important people. Seasons 4 and 5 feature characters we do meet in the Main Story, and tell us about their origin stories.
✔ Lifetime sets get their name for a reason. For you to unlock the DR, if you're a f2p with no extra tries for the Time Corridor stages, it will probably take you around 5 months.
🪞Designer's Reflection (DR)
DRs are character cards that come with specific sets, and the character in them is the person who designed that set.
They feature art for the designer, plus a complimentary story that explains the inspiration of the set and tells us more about the designer; personality, flashbacks, side stories, etc.
Canonically, they're a version of the designer that has been frozen in time, forever embodying the memory fragments related to the set they designed. When we use them in battle, the explanation is that we're channeling this Designer's specific state of mind and intentions to boost our Styling Power.
DR memories are contained within Personality Mirrors, that in turn are stored in the Ark. This is also the way you look for them within the game.
Go to the Ark of Memories, then to Designer's Reflection.
Once there, just choose the DR you want, and tap the option "Into Memory". Here, you will be presented with the chapters available for this DR's memories.
✔ There are three types of rarities for Designer's Reflection: SR, SSR, and UR.
✔ SR rarity DRs have 3 chapters, SSR DRs have 4, and UR DRs have 5.
✔ There are a variety of dialogues you can have the character from the DR say, and you can unlock some of them by upgrading the designer. If you like to see these, keep tapping on the art to trigger a different line and see if you have read all of them.
» Which DRs are more relevant?
First, I'd like to tell you that all DRs are worth reading for different reasons. Some offer incredibly valuable context for things that happen in the Main Story, some expose facets of a character that aren't too deeply explored elsewhere, or tell you more of their story (which you'd be interested in if you like them or find them intriguing). But! They can also include more lighthearted stories or simple recounts, either for important characters, or straight up background characters. So, there's a variety of tone and themes that they cover, which is why I think there's a time and place for all of them, depending on what you want to read at any given time.
With that said, and whether you do want to read them all or priorize what is more key to the overall state of the lore, how do you recognize which are more important/interesting, and which are more silly fun? Let me provide some pointers for this.
✔ All URs have great, interesting stories. I've yet to come across one that didn't. But, that aside, I'd recommend prioritizing the ones from Diamond Arena and Anniversary, and the ones from Fantasy/Gleam and Time Corridor. For other limited event URs, their stories are really good, and can contain very interesting or important tidbits here and there; but at least those come with an event that usually reflects what the DR is going to be about, so you can read them at your leisure.
✔ SSRs are mostly the same, but what you will notice is that, since there are a lot of them (there are many URs, but not that many from the same character), this is where you'll find the thick of the character development content. Here is where I usually see the most perspectives on who a character is, because I can see them in different scenarios and memories that show me varied sides to them. For SSRs you can see the sources to decide which you prefer to prioritize.
✔ The DRs from Mind Maze are very relevant in regards to their respective chapters.
✔ There used to be a feature called Pinnacle Battles, but it was eliminated immediately after its last season ended. Some of these DRs touch on very important plot points, and some are just to expand on the characters.
✔ The December Troupe SSRs from Styling Competition are like a different storyline, because yeah, they feature designers we know, but here they're interpreting a role. So, these ones are pretty cool, but maybe not that relevant in the grand scheme of things.
✔ SSRs from Welfares and Crafting tend to be more lighthearted, but honestly they have a variety of stories in them.
✔ I'd recommend reading all the ones from Fantasy/Gleam, because they're all a good baseline to get to know some main and secondary characters.
✔ The ones from Limited events are varied as well, but! Mostly they're good for developing a character, since there will be many events for the same character. So, they're an interesting read.
✔ SRs is where it can get tricky regarding what kind of stories they feature, and whether they're all that relevant, but like SSRs you can get an idea depending on their source.
✔ I suggest reading all Main Story Chapters' SRs, because they offer more insight into the characters that play an important role in the chapter.
✔ Welfare and Crafting SRs are where most lighthearted stories are at.
✔ Fantasy/Gleam I'd say the same I said about the SSRs
✔ Nikki SRs from Memory Stairway are a wholesome recollection of Nikki memories and hobbies, and in general serve as more characterization for her, as well as more situations and interactions outside the scope of the Main Story for her to exist in.
✔ The ones from Intel Hub I would recommend reading as well.
» I can't access multiple DRs because I don't have them, but I still would like to read them
Luckily for you, the lovely Tumblr user Shining Reflections has every DR available in the game and is currently working on sharing them through their blog, in a written format. Not all DRs are up, but they will be, eventually. So check it out, see if the one you're looking for has been uploaded yet.
Some people have also uploaded a number of DRs on Youtube, but this method isn't very consistent. Still, the DR you're looking for might be one of the lucky few there. To give you a starting point, I do have a playlist where I've put all the DRs I've been able to find there. If you find more, feel free to DM me the link, I'd love to add them.
🗃️ DRs Index Profiles
This is one of my favorite aspects about DRs! The Profiles offer a deeper look into the designer and the memory featured in the DR. Sometimes they tell you more about their personality, their thoughts, their principles, state of mind, among other things.
Some of the profile entries come from some sort of omniscient POV, and they include different analysis on the designer. How cool is to have that sort of thing inside the game itself! If you ever want to pick at a character's brain, make sure that aside from the DR memory itself, you also take a peek into its accompanying Profile.
You can find these Profiles in the Index menu, in the Reflections archive.
Once you're there and have selected the DR you want to explore, you will see different options and tabs on the bottom. I'll explain all of them a little, but I will focus more on the last three tabs.
The profile will open directly in the first tab: Image.
Pretty self explanatory, but here you can see the DR art in its full glory. If you tap on the image itself, the Profile menu will be hidden and you can move the image atound to see the entire art— because the full piece is almost always cropped to fit the screen of your device. Then, if you select Illustration, you will see the set from this DR displayed on Nikki. Next, by selecting Source, you can see what feature you obtained the DR from. Lastly, the third option allows you to switch the DR art between its original and awakened state (In case you prefer to see one or the other in the miniature, you can select which you want the DR to display by doing this process in the Ark instead).
The Second tab will be Skills/Stats
This section doesn't have much in the way of lore, but each skill does contain a brief description that will fit the DR. I just think it's nothing you won't already get from the other tabs.
Also (nothing to do with lore, skip ahead if you want), It'd be remiss of me not to add that this tab is super important when you're debating between one reflection and anotherin terms of Styling Power, and don't have the DR tierlist on hand or someone to give you a second opinion. This tab will show you the fully levelled and ranked up potential of that particular DR, with all its Passives maxed, and Call of Reflection maxed as well. Just look at the number besides the DR main attribute, and compare it between the two you're undecided about.
Up next, the last three tabs that I consider the true goldmine of the Profiles: sure enough, Profile, then Pieces, then Audio.
From all the text, I think you can already tell what I mean with these being such a fantastic trove of information.
On the Profile tab
✔ You will get a brief introduction to the designer that will give you a description of them that best fits the context of the DR memory and the set. You will also get what age they were when they designed this particular set, plus height, sex and birthday. Well, these latter characteristics... most of the time you will get them. Sometimes you'll be met with "Unknown" in either one or more or all. Some are obscure or mysterious like that, tee hee~
✔ Then, you will see the analytical entries I mentioned. For these, you will always get some fixed categories, and some others unique to each DR. Fixed categories are: About Design, About the Ark, about Nikki, About Self/Ego, True to Self, and About Styling Power. Now, with "fixed" I mean that they are consistently present, not that they are always in all DRs. I think the only one that does exist in every single Profile is "About Design". You will see what I mean if/when you dive into Profiles yourself. Also, Nikki sometimes signs off on these, marking that she wrote that specific entry herself ("By Nikki").
✔ In these entries you will really get to see a deepdive into the designer and that particular design and memory, sometimes putting what was subtly implied in the DR memories into actual words, or simply elaborating more on what's behind some actions or dialogues that took place there.
✔ To unlock all entries, you need to get the DR to a certain level. I will probably need to come verify this later, but I think it's lvl. 40 for SRs, lvl. 60 for SSRs and URs. Basically, same level requirements as awakening.
On the Pieces tab
✔ You will be able to see all the set pieces and their flavor text, most of the times arranged in an specific order they should be read in. I will go into more detail about clothing flavor text later, but for now know that these do add to the overall story being told.
✔ From the get go, you should know that while both versions have something to offer, the more juicy flavor text is usually in the awakened version of the pieces. Sometimes it adds to the mental state of the designer through some of the events from the DR memory, sometimes it's a short but poetic recount of these same events. They can have really cool rewordings or perspectives of the DR memory.
✔ More often than not, the Original pieces are about the design and the pieces themselves in a more literal sense, but they are still pleasantly poetic, or nicely worded, so don't dismiss them entirely. They're also a great choice if you would ever want to make those kinds of collages with a few blocks of text, and don't know what to use. I've done that myself before.
On the Audio tab
✔ You will find the character voicelines available in the Ark. To be able to see them all displayed on the profile, you will have to have triggered them in the Ark prior.
✔ When selecting a voiceline, you will get a speech bubble next to the designer's miniature, plus them saying the line out loud (if you have VO on) just like they do in the Ark. But, here you can actually choose which they say. It's randomized in the Ark.
✔ Voicelines can be similar to entries, but rather than thoughts it's what the designer actually has to say about certain key things from the DR memory. Sometimes it's really cool, because it's like they're making commentary on themselves. Or, they can be sharing principles they live by, conclusions they've come to from their experiences, etc.
✔ Leveling - Ranking that blocks voicelines is as follows: DR ascending 1 and 2, 2-Star and 3-Star rank-up, Any (passive) skill reaches lvl 2, and Awakening.
✔ The other consistent lines across all DRs are: Summon, Meet, and Select (this last one is what plays when you "select" the DR for a Styling Battle). Consistent in that they're in all DRs, not that they say the same, for clarity's sake.
✔ The rest of the lines' names are particular to each DR.
Fun tidbit: a few of the lines will be the exact same across different DRs, when they're from the same character. Mostly the ones tied to levelling and ranking up the DR. I think this is just a nod to their more important/iconic lines overall, so they include them in more than one DR in case you're not collecting everything from everyone, but rather one here and there from different designers.
📆 Limited Events
Here, I'll talk about the Timed SSR and UR events in the game. You can always find the current one(s) in the upper left corner of the Homescreen Menu.
Timed events always include a storyline to complement the Event Set and the DR associated with it. This storyline varies in length and overall quality, though almost all of them are super interesting to read. Some, like with DRs, are more silly fun and friendly shenanigans— which I honestly find nice enough every once in a while.
The obvious elephant in the room is: okay, but how can I read these storylines if the event is already over?
And, thankfully, for some time now there has been a handy answer: Journey Review.
I mentioned Journey Review earlier, when talking about the Anniversary events. Now, let me explain it in more detail.
Once you open the feature, you will be met with three tabs: Time Record, Major Events, and Video Collection.
Time Record is where you will want to go for almost all events, be it SSR or UR, single or double; the grand majority are there. If you're looking for a specific event and not just browsing, you can use the search option in the upper right corner to find it more quickly and efficiently. You can input either character names, event names, or set names. And, if I understand correctly, searching a character's name will show you events where the character is either present or just mentioned. You can also filter events by nation (weird filter, but it is what it is).
Major Events is where you will find all Anniversary events, bar one. All the events in this tab are an essential part of the Main Story, so it's only fair to highlight them and separate them for easier access. I reiterate, The first relevant Anni is part of the Main Story— However, not everything from the event is in Chapter 13, only the Main Story of the event, so you will need to head to Journey Review for the full picture. The shortcut to the second relevant Anni will directly take you to its Journey Review archive. In case you don't remember, please refer to the Story Guide I linked at the very beginning for the chronology of these events in the context of the Main Story.
Video Collection will show you all the UR event PV trailers, which you can also simply look up on Shining Nikki's Youtube Channel. They're an awesome addition, so I do suggest you watch them. Plus, they're just fun. But, beware, they don't always upload all PVs to the channel dedicated to the Global Server (my best guess is not wanting to translate the voiceover). So, I will also give you the link for their TW/CN Youtube Channel, in case it's something you would like to check out. Of course, remember their server is ahead of us in terms of events, so keep in mind that you will come across spoilers.
✔ When you select any given event in either Time Record or Major Events, you will be met with a simple menu where you can select the chapters or story segments that make up the event's narrative. Some events have two or three tabs, and these are side stories that usually played along the main one, or showed up as extra tidbits after certain parts of the story were read. For example, for the Anniversary I mentioned earlier that is incomplete (Vol I Chapter 13), it's because of these extra tabs with additional story and context.
✔ The multiple tabs are confusing— what do I read first? To be completely honest with you, I couldn't tell you this exactly; I recommend you go in the order they're presented. The first tab will always give you the Main Story, so you can hardly go wrong from there.
✔ Will Journey Review give me the same experience as the event itself? Sadly, no. You will not get a map or illustration where the chapters will pop up as you're going through them, or experience any visual alterations this map/background might have gone through in the actual event. Additional cinematics that might've played in between chapters will also be absent.
Luckily, you can review some of these events in this stylist's archive channel! I found it while looking for Designer Reflection stories, and I'm incredibly happy someone had the foresight to do this. Please do check the rest of her channel, because it has super well curated playlists. I'm sure there are more loose videos from event stories here and there, but I think this is a great starting point, specially if what concerns you the most is getting the full experience for Anni events.
✔ For some events not present in the Major Events tab, they can also have relevance in the Main Story chronology. Never as prominent as the Anniversary events, but rather to offer some connecting tissue for certain chapters or things that happen behind the scene. I don't remember all of them, and I remember even less where some would go in the context of the Main Story, but I can list the ones I remember for you to sort through, maybe after you've caught up with all the Volumes. I'll add chapters to a few I feel confident about, and probably update the list in the future.
+ Lodden's Night (Around chapter 6)
+ Angelic Prayer (After vol II ch 3)
+ Ocean of Storms (After vol II ch 5)
+ Game Royale
+ Windtraveler's Forest
+ Deep Sea Treasures
+ Stellar Scales
+ New Chapter of the Glory
🖼️ Concepts
Concepts aren't really important for the story, but the art and flavor text add to it, in my humble opinion.
If Designers' Reflections are the full recollection of a memory, I'd define a Concept as a snippet of one. This snippet can be a thought, an emotion, a wisdom, etc. What's interesting is that you can easily link some Concepts to DR memories, and look at some others to put a visual to some characters' lives and experiences.
You can see Concept art and flavor text either going to Promote Concept in the Ark
Or going to the Index and into the Concepts archive
To see the flavor text, select a concept. Let's assume you've selected to view the concept in the Ark. You will see this text below the Concept's name and Designer, and you can also see it when you open Show Details. With the latter, if the Concept is part of a Resonance Set, you should also go to Resonance for an extra bit describing the overall theme.
✔ Just like DRs, all Concepts have designers. Though, some of these designers are "concepts" themselves; like Time, Desire, and Emotion. Because Desire is here, my running theory is that these are from gods, but that's just a theory.
📱 Moments
Moments is a Social Media in Miraland that I would describe as a mix of Twitter and Facebook. Almost every relevant character has posts here, and also replies to other characters' posts.
This feature is a really cool way of seeing a bit more of the connections (friendships or relationships in general) between characters. Moreover, to see how the rest of Miraland interacts with or reacts to the things that happen in the story.
New Moments posts will appear on your feed every time you do certain things (like getting concepts, completing sets, obtaining specific set items, etc), play story chapters, read DRs, and also in response to limited events.
From left to right, 1) because of a limited event, 2) after a story chapter (large scale), 3) after a story chapter (character response)
If you want to focus on a specific character or account, you can go into their profile (an actual profile!! neat!) by tapping on their profile picture, see how many Moments they've posted, and scroll down to see them.
✔ I recommend reading them as they come, because eventually you have a TON of them to go through and you'll have to scroll too much. If you do leave them for later, the most organized and easy way of going through them is by account.
✔ When you reply to a Moment, there will be many new replies from other users, maybe between themselves, maybe to you, but not only a response to your comment. So, make sure to leave a Reply so that you can see all responses.
✔ Moments is a great way to get to know more about Nikki. She's the user with the most Moment(s) and she posts about many different things. Sometimes about the story, or about an event. She posts about her art, and design studies as well. She also shares some of her hobbies, or whatever has her attention at any given time. If nothing else, you might want to see her posts to get more interactions with her!
I could probably mention more tidbits about why I think Moments is a cool feature, but I prefer to leave you with this brief rundown and explanation so I don't spoil it too much!
👗Clothing
Of course, Clothing. All clothing pieces in the game have flavor text, and this text can be easily accessed at any moment.
You can see this flavor text when you first get an item, by looking up an item in the Index' Clothing archive, or by long pressing on an item in the Wardrobe.
The kind of flavor text these items have can be wildly different depending on where the clothing comes from; a full set, chapter drops, limited event rewards, etc. But even then, aside from set pieces, the rest of sources don't really automatically inform whether the flavor text is related to stories or characters, so it's a tricky thing to talk about
✔ As a rule of thumb, set items' flavor text is a worthwhile read. Though, of course, these are best read in the DR Profiles. Both because they're all already on display, and because they give you the best reading order. Specially awakened pieces— those can sometimes follow coherent sequences across different pieces.
✔ If you look at the first example I used, the SSR earrings, I'd consider that one to be a great flavor text that is in sync with the story and characters. It doesn't come with a set, it's just an isolated piece. The item's connection to the story and characters makes it more valuable to me: because I can appreciate it beyond its aesthetic. This specific item I'm pretty sure was a reward for the daily tasks of that limited event. But there are others that come from the same source and are much more random in content. So, it's really a toss-up.
✔ Like I mentioned earlier, this flavor text can provide you, at the very least, with some cool caption or text for your edits and collages, so they can still be fun to play with even if they aren't giving you particularly substantial information. The second example I used is a good reference for this.
Phew! Are you still good? I didn't lose you? Sorry (not) about dumping so much information on you! Thanks for making it to the end if you did, I put a lot of love into writing this... I even lost a chunk I'd already finished and had to rewrite it again OTL
Thanks to the lovely @alluskies for checking this over for me, you're the sweetest!
An events list to compare the yearly scheduling for hells in Shining Nikki
2022
• Wishes on the Cloud (CNY 2020) Jan 24th-Feb 8th
• Demon's Descent, Dawn Duel Mar 17th-29th
• Autumn Moon May 12th-22nd
• Fallen Kingdom Sorrows Jul 5th-16th
• Zither River Night rerun Aug 12th-21st
• North Melody Sep 27th-Oct 10th
• Queen's Starsnow Ball Dec 22nd-Jan1st
Breakdown
✓ 7 hells in the entire year
✓ CNY, 2 Double URs, 4 Single URs
✓ About a month and some days ~ to a week between each (only between Krysta and Loen Fox was the month not reached before another hell)
✓ Rerun treated as another hell, not a padding rerun
2023
• Autumn Moon rerun Jan 16th-24th
• Blessed Blossoms (CNY 2022) Feb 16th-Mar 1st
• Tides and Flames (2nd Anni) Apr 4th-Apr 17th
• Grand Obsession May 24th-Jun 4th
• Void Stardust (3rd Anni) Jul 3rd-16th
• Wedding Day rerun Aug 14th-24th
• Sleeping Star of Eternity Aug 25th-Sep 5th
• Forgotten Golden Dynasty Sep 25th-Oct 6th
• Dream Reflection Oct 26th Nov 6th
• New Beginning (CNY 2021) Nov 22nd-Dec 1st
• Puppet Night Dec 21st Jan 1st
Breakdown
✓ 11 hells in total
✓ 2 CNYs, 4 Double URs, 5 Single URs
✓ At first, barely a month or a bit less between each, then from Wedding Day onward they followed closely one behind the other, with an average of 20 days between each– WD notwithstanding.
✓ Wedding Day was not treated as a hell in and of itself, rather as a padding event for its rerun.
2024
• Fallen Kingdom Sorrow rerun Jan 14th-22nd
13 (days in-between)
• Delayed Devotion (CNY 2023) Feb 5th-19th
16
• North Melody rerun Mar 8th-19th
20
• Wishes on the Cloud rerun Apr 9th-18th
21
• The Depths of Evernight May 10th-20th
16
• Demon's Descent: Dawn Duel rerun June 6th-17th
19
• Reminiscences of Starstream Jul 7th-14th
24
• Everdream Trap Aug 8th-19th
30
• Stellar Scales Sep 19th-30th
11
• Sleeping Star of Eternity rerun Oct 12th-21st
0
• Arachnus Flutterby: Into the Deepblue Oct 22nd-Nov 3rd
30
• Galaxy Reverie Dec 1st-12th
7
• Sin Flower Dec 20th-Jan 1st
✓ 13 hells in total
✓ 2 CNY, 7 Single URs, 4 Double URs
✓ An average of 17 days between each including Yesenia, and an average of 18 excluding her event.
✓ Didn't think it was possible, but we got 2 more hell events compared to 2023.
✓ Although the Fallen Kingdom Sorrow rerun wasn't immediately followed by CNY, the break period also wasn't given the new treatment of 20 days (average), although it came close. Unclear if this means there's a new, shorter average, or UR reruns will still be padding and not hells in their own right, since it was more or less the same time between Puppet Night and it. -> goddammit they did it again with Yesenia and w3.........
✓ Luming-Yexiao CNY original run was 16 days, the rerun lasted 10. Krysta original run was 12 days, rerun lasted 10. North Melody was 14 days, rerun lasted 12. Dawn Duel was 13 days, rerun lasted 12. Yesenia was 12, rerun lasted 10. It's important to note the decrease of run time for events when they rerun, since combined they can add up to maybe a couple weeks, and that's a couple weeks of saving which is nothing to scoff at. And that's only the URs; Single and Double SSR reruns have also had their rerun time shortened compared to the original time. This means that we get more events yearly overall, because they can squeeze in some more from those shortened runs.
↪️ Of course, for many of us some of these reruns are simply more free time to save because we've completed them, or getting some more pulls in with an event we'd already pulled for, but i.e. for server 3 this means they got 2 brand new UR events (Krysta and Luming CNY), so I felt it was worth to point out. With this schedule, "playing-since-release" players like me struggle, so I can only imagine new players can get very discouraged by the speed of things. New players know what they're getting into, of course, but comparing it to playing from the get-go, there are way less days of break between events (some oddities here or there, but for the most part events are back-to-back now) and a way more aggressive hell schedule. By comparison and not taking into account the sheer backlog of sets now in the game, it's a very intimidating timetable to try to keep up with (from the perspective of not only a f2p, but dolphins and p2w as well)
✓ Yesenia UR was treated as a padding rerun and not an usual UR event schedule-wise
✓ Sin Flower's rushed addition at the end of the year was terrible, especially considering the highly sought-after Yoneyama Mai collab came about a month later.
2025
• Sin Flower ended on Jan 1st, but I will exclude it from 2025 hells.
18 (days in-between)
• Peerless Majesty (CNY 2024) Jan 20th-Feb 2nd
37
• Queen's Starsnow Ball rerun Mar 12th-23rd
0
• Burn Like a Flame, See Through It All Mar 24th-April 4th
✓ 3 hells so far
✓ CNY, 1 Single UR, 1 Double UR
✓ An average of 18 days between each.
✓ I think it's worth pointing out we had a month and a week between CNY and the next UR, but I just see this as only right, because the Yoneyama Mai collab came in between those two. Still, it was indeed a good amount of days of "break", like what there was on year 1. But they "compensated" by having no break immediately after. So it doesn't really help the break days' average.
✓ No Break between Queen's Starsnow Ball rerun and Burn Like a Flame, See Through It All
18/10/24 This last update is more rambly than the previous breakdowns, but it's seriously crazy how much difference there is in the schedule compared to the game's first year.
31/03/25 Updated the last two hells from 2024 and added what we have so far from 2025.
Diamond Arena Sets: free sets you can find in the Arena shop. You obtain them by buying each set piece with Flower of Odes (for the current season) or Quicksand of Years (for old season sets). Leftover Flower of Odes are automatically converted to the other currency at the end of each season.
Memory Stairway Nikki sets: free sets that accompany each new season of Memory Stairway. You can find them going to Memory stairway, bottom left corner (current) or in the Workshop (all).
All Single SSR events
Gleam sets: Gleam is the better version of the Fantasy perma pavilion. Sets will rotate every 10 days, and each rotation will have drop rate ups for 1 SSR set and 1 SR set. This pavilion includes the perma URs from Loen and Lilith, plus the other Fantasy sets, with same drop rates; so you really have no excuse to waste your pulls over there.
Welfare events: events featuring free sets you can collect by doing simple daily tasks. These events have repetitive formats, but there is a variety of tasks or minigames within that repetitiveness. Some of these have already had reruns on Memory Booth (go to Shop > Supply station), so I'm not sure how/if those are coming back again.
VIP sets: sets you unlock by top-ups, as you increase your VIP level.
Intel Hub sets: free sets you unlock by doing investigations on the intel hub, these investigations consume stamina.
Main Story chapters sets: sets you unlock by playing the main story. You can access them in their respective story chapter or through the Workshop. You craft them by farming mats on their respective -sometimes previous- chapters.
Fantasy pavilion sets: sets from the perma Fantasy pavilion.
Collabs: Collab events, which are special limited events that, due to copyright and partnership reasons, do not come back once they're over.
Pinnacle Battles: Old game feature that got a few seasons and then ended and got removed. Reruns of these have come to Memory Booth, but I'm unsure if they'd come back a second time.
First CNY event; CNY events bring 2 UR sets and 1 SSR set.
Fashion Plan: top-up long term feature, you can find the current one and the corresponding rewards in the Tasks menu
Recharge sets: accompanying sets for some limited events, aside from the set pieces you unlock by tiers, you also get some pulls for the corresponding event they're running along with, plus some other currencies.
Nikki Birthday Sets: free sets we get on Nikki's birthday (Dec 6th)! Reruns of these have come to Memory booth but I'm unsure if they'd come back a second time.
Single UR event: single UR events are pavilions with 1 UR set and 1 SSR set- like how InNikki's 5★ sets run with a 4★ one
Mind Maze sets: free suits that you unlock by playing Mind Maze stages, craft in corresponding Mind Maze chapter or in the Workshop
Purple diamond events: purple diamonds are the top-up currency, you can only get them through top-ups. These events feature a set that you can buy using those.
December Troupe sets: These are free suits that you unlock with Styling Competition currency; that you obtain through voting or ranking in said Styling Competition feature.
Make-up: make-up available in the guild menu, you buy it with Guild coins that you obtain by donating in the guild, participating in the commissions, and weekly guild ranking (plus some welfare mini-events that come every once in a while)
Casual Drinks sets: free suits available for crafting in the workshop
Lifetime sets: called such because they take a lot of time and daily farming to complete, but they're free. Similar concept to Wishful Aurosa from InNikki. You can find them in Time Corridor or in the Workshop.
Double UR event: first wedding sets event! So far we've gotten 3, all of them Double URs
Clear Sky sets: More free suits available for crafting in workshop
Anniversary event: this was the first anniversary event of the game! It was a double UR pavilion. These events are special because they always include a free UR set that you have to complete some daily tasks to obtain. Also these are key events for the lore of the game. This one takes place during vol I chapter 13 of the main story.
Second anniversary event: Single UR
Anniversary sets: free sets available during anniversary! Reruns of these have come back through Memory Booth, but I'm not sure If they'd come back a second time.
Memory Collection sets: this is the feature located in the last tab of the events menu. You unlock nodes by collecting points, points that you obtain by getting pieces from the current limited time events, both pavilions (💎) and welfares (freebies with daily tasks). The Memory Collection sets are collected by unlocking certain nodes after amassing a certain amount of points.
Single UR
CNY 2
Double UR
Diamond expenditure sets: these are events where you unlock the pieces of the set by spending diamonds and completing normal daily tasks. But, you can't complete the suit with only the daily tasks, so the 💎 expenditure is inevitable if you want to complete them. They run along pavilions, so the idea is that if you're pulling in the pavilion, you're spending 💎 that will also unlock nodes for these sets. We haven't gotten new ones in a while though.
Memory Stairway/Ranking Ocean recolors: Available in Idea Lab. They include a variety of recolors of free sets, recharges, pavilion sets, arena sets etc. These recolors have higher scores than their original versions, so they come up in scoring.
Anniversary No.4
Double UR, wedding 2
All Double SSR Pavillions
CNY 3
Single UR
Single UR
Guild Theater sets: free sets that you collect using a special currency obtainable through guild commissions and seasonal guild events like theater and scrapbook. The latter is active only when there are events running, so usually it says 'Guild Theater Resting'. You can see these sets in the Guild Shop.
Anniversary 3
Puzzle sets: These are special events, similar to recharges. You have a 9 piece puzzle and can unlock squares by pulling in the accompanying pavilion and recharging, but can only complete them by recharging.
Double UR event
Anniversary 5
Single UR
CNY 4
Single UR
Store Items: some clothes you can buy in Apple Apparel
Single UR event
MR event: MR sets are special UR sets that usually have an extra color/recolor or play with the color effects of the set. The pulling also works different compared to other UR events, because for your first 80 pulls, you will get another 80 for free. So like- you buy 10 pulls, do them, an automatically the system will do another 10 pulls for you. These events can be expensive though, don't let the free pulls fool you. They're also good events to obtain UR clothes duplicates to decompose, that you can later use to upgrade a Designer Reflection's passive skills for endgame scoring.
Single UR
Anniversary 6, upcoming, first week of July
MR event
Double UR event, wedding 3
CNY 5
Single UR
MR event
Left. CNY 6, coming end of January~beginnings of February 2026
see this is why i have a strong disdain for sloganeering instagram explainer activism because now people are making pro-US interventionism posts like this using the exact same language LOL
oh god the fucking teenage and early 20-something digital artists who support presidential candidates like Adolfo Hitler, the guy who loves privatizing the economy, have found this post and are mad about it
you dont have an argument other than "youre not venezuelan" lmfao, the loud annoying venezuelans online and their supporters dont automatically constitute a majority, they just get attention from capitalist news orgs and first world governments
You're the moron here for putting an emphasis on the wrong things. It's not that you can't talk about this despite not being Venezuelan or living here, it's the fact that you'd, even in the slightest, side with a dictatorship. This is beyond comunism and socialism at this point. They're masquerading as a democratically elected government still, and clinging to the facade as long as possible, but that's what this is, A DICTATORSHIP. It might not look always look the part, or even be sometimes, but those are old stereotypes. They desperately try to maintain appearances because of international support, but that's a fucking joke. We'd rather people who won't bother to listen to us and truly put themselves in our shoes to not make a peep.
Keep on having your opinions for all I care, but you're no one to tell us, who're living this first-hand, how to interpret our situation. Unfortunately posts like yours always get some attention and give uninformed people in other places of the world a wrong and misleading perspective or narrative that doesn't represent our opinion on the matter, resulting in hurtful, mocking and insensitive comments that we're so fed up of already. We repost whatever translations are made from original posts, but our efforts are still in Spanish for the most part, to help inform each other here and stay alert for news.
You're being called gringo? sorry, general rule is you speak English you are. But, even Serbian, you're still posting in English, and the language has global weight. You'd do well to keep that in mind. It's hard enough to find relevant and truthful publications in English to share, without people like you butting in.
We're trying our damnedest to communicate we want out of this people. Don't make it harder than it already is, se le agradece.
