Complete Sea of Stars Wheels Guide – All Champion locations, rewards, & more!

And a minigame fan and self-proclaimed champion of Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII, I’ve spent an insane amount of time on Wheels. Wheels is a Sea of Stars minigame you first unlock in Brisk after the events in the Tavern. Here’s how to play it (and be good at it too!).

How to play Wheels in Sea of Stars

Before we talk about winning in Wheels, let’s talk about how to play it first. The goal in Wheels is to reduce your enemy’s HP (called the “Crown”) to zero before they can. You can protect your HP with a wall called a Bulwark. Bulwarks cap at 5 damage resistance/levels. Even if the damage goes over the Bulwark’s resistance level, the attack will not reach the Crown until it’s fully down. Usually. Some heroes are an exception to the rule, which I’ll discuss below.

For a hero to act, their rod must be fully down. Based on my experience, I think you want a total of 3 or 4 Energy for this to happen.

Roulette Icons

Here are all the roulette icons and what they mean. Note that any row of icons fewer than three will NOT have their effect triggered.

• Square: Energy for left hero. Three shapes is 1 Energy, four shapes is 2 Energy, and so on.
• Diamond: Energy for right hero. Three shapes is 1 Energy, four shapes is 2 Energy, and so on.
• Shapes with a blue background: EXP. Used to evolve heroes assigned to the shape. By the way, heroes also gain 2 EXP by taking action. This is just a bonus!
  • Heroes can level up twice (once to Silver, then Gold). Once they reach gold but still gain a full node of EXP, they throw a bomb that deals 2 damage.
• Hammer: Bulwark builder. Three hammers add 1 Bulwark level, four hammers add 2 Bulwark levels, and so on.

Every turn, you can spin your roulette up to three times to get a combination of icons to use during the next bout. You can lock and unlock parts of the roulette you’re happy with.

Hero Symbols

When playing Wheels, you can choose to play two heroes to fight for you. These heroes are defined by two icons, which should tell you exactly what they’re used for.

• Sword: The amount of damage a successful attack can deal the Crown.
• Pyramid-looking tower: The amount of damage a successful attack can deal the Bulwark.
• Block with a break: Delays the enemy’s attack.
• Medic symbol: Heals your Crown by that amount.
• Square Symbol: Adds Energy to an ally by the amount.

Related: Where to find a Golden Pelican reservation in Sea of Stars

Heroes

There are six heroes to choose from in Wheels:

• Warrior: They’re strong enough to deal big damage against both the Crown and the Bulwark. However, all their attacks hit the Bulwark first whenever it’s up.
• Mage: Deals moderate damage and attacks twice. One is automatically blocked by a Bulwark, but a weaker attack will go past the enemy shield no matter how tall the enemy wall is.
• Archer: Deals good damage towards the Crown but not against a Bulwark. Their arrow will hit the Crown when the enemy’s Bulwark level is two or less.
• Engineer: Deals weak damage against the crown but very strong against Bulwarks. Whenever it acts, your own Bulwark automatically raises by two levels.
• Assassin: Delays the opponent hero with a lesser amount of energy before it acts. Ignores the Bulwark completely but deals only a small amount of damage against the Crown.
• Priest: Heals your Crown and sends a ton of energy towards your other Hero.

Initially, you’ll only be given a Warrior and Mage, but more will unlock as you progress through the tournaments. Each Tavern has a champion you can beat to win something cool.

How to win at Wheels in Sea of Stars

Now that you understand the rules let’s talk about strategy. The first thing you have to do is remember what all the heroes do. Look at your opponent’s line and devise a plan based on that knowledge. For example, a Warrior on the other side of the field would mean keeping a Bulmark up at all costs. Meanwhile, an Assassin would mean focusing more on turn delays, getting things done quickly, or adding a Priest to your team.

Then, adjust your plan based on what’s going on in the field. If your enemy is dying and you have an Assassin, focus on raising them and send out a powerful attack.

If you want more specific advice, however, just never remove the Mage from your line up. Again, it attacks twice, with the second attack guaranteed to hit the Crown no matter how tall the enemy Bulwark it. And if there is no Bulwark, then both attacks hit the Crown. The Mage is also good for destroying enemy Bulwarks to make way for other heroes (such as Warrior and Ranger) to land their hits. It's a unit that has good synergy no matter who it's paired with.

Related: All Quiz Master answers in Sea of Stars - All Question Pack answers & locations

Are the rewards for Wheels worth it?

I’d say no for the casual battles. Winning those will only net you a small amount of G, which you can gather from defeating enemies instead.

However, you’ll be able to challenge the Watchmaker once you’ve beaten all the Wheels Champions. Some of the Champions hold the Hero rewards you want, too, so always aim to defeat them in all towns/villages. Mid-game Taverns like Docarri might be worth it, but it depends on how fast you can finish a game.

All Wheels Champion locations & rewards

Here are all the locations of every Champion in the game so you know exactly where to find your challenges. Unless specified, you'll find your Champion in an Inn or a Tavern.

• Port Town of Brisk
• Town of Lucent
• The Vespertine: You can enter your boat by holding the Camp button while you're riding it in the overworld
• Mooncradle
• Lake Docarria
• Cloud Kingdom
• Stonemasons Outpost: This one's in a resident's house; it's near the middle of town
• Town of Mirth: You must have built an Inn and invited over the Innkeeper in Lucent; you can get the Inn blueprints by trading over the appropriate number of Rainbow Conches in Docarri
• Repine: Speak to the only person in the Inn, and they'll give you a mini quest to bring Wheels to Repine

Based on the last dialogue I had with the Watchmaker—and this is just an assumption—each Champion will give you the rewards in a specific order: Archer Figurine, Bronze Wheel, Silver Wheel, Engineer Figurine, Gold Wheel, Priest Figurine, Diamond Wheel, Assassin Figurine, and Platinum Wheel. After you've received the Platinum Wheel and all six figurines, you can challenge the Watchmaker in Clockwork Castle.

How to defeat the Watchmaker in Wheels

In my run, the Watchmaker used an Engineer and Archer—which is a pretty good combo if I do say so myself. In theory, you'd have to constantly raise your Bulwark high enough for the Archer not to hit your Crown, but the Engineer will just destroy it. If this is the figurine set you're up against, forget about any Bulwarks and bring in your Priest and Assassin. The strategy should be pretty straightforward: heal up, don't die, and steadily bring her Crown to 0 using your Assassin.

The reward for winning against the Watchmaker is a Flimsy Hammer, which you can use to view Sea of Stars' final secret in the Ancient Crypt. You must first see the true ending though!

For more help with Sea of Stars, take a look at All Relics & Unique Accessories in Sea of Stars - All locations & what they do and All Artifact Locations in Sea of Stars here at Pro Game Guides.