How to play Sebo in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Sebo in Flintlock is a recurring board game that appears throughout The Siege of Dawn, as Nor can find various NPCs who will play the game with her. Sebo is a game played in two stages - offensive and defensive - where players take it in turns to try and create a triangle by moving their coins around the board, while the other player tries to stop them. 

It's surprisingly nuanced and ramps up in difficulty across the course of the game, and not only that, but players can find special coins that have unique abilities - and go up against them too, depending on the opponent they've challenged. If you want help, we'll explain how to play Sebo in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn here, with tips and strategies to help you win.

Rules for Sebo in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn explained

Sebo in Flintlock is a board game that certain NPCs will challenge you to, marked on the map by three circles arranged in an upside down triangle. If you agree to face them, here's how the rules of Sebo work:

1. A full match of Sebo is split into two rounds: attacking, and defending. You'll need to win them both to claim victory.
2. First you play an attacking round. The goal here is to move your coins so that three of them form a triangle somewhere on the board.
3. Your opponent will be trying to stop you, simply by moving their own coins to block you.
4. If you don't form a triangle within a certain amount of moves, shown on the right, you lose.
5. If you can create a triangle with your counters in the time limit, you win.

6. It's not over though - if you win the attacking round, you then have to play a defending round. 
7. This is basically a reversal - now your opponent will be trying to make a triangle, and you have to block them until time runs out.
8. Win the defending round, and you have won the full match. Lose, and you have to start from the beginning.
9. You can also use special coins, unique counters found in the world that have some new ability, like being able to jump over other counters, or move them. You can pick one you've found before a round starts, and replace one of your normal coins with it. However, this costs you turns - as in, a game where you have ten turns to win will drop to eight turns if you use a special coin (or give your opponent more turns if you're defending).

Winning a game of Sebo against an opponent for the first time in Flintlock will earn you a bunch of Reputation, which is good if you're out to farm Flintlock XP and earn some of the best Flintlock skills - though you only get that reward the first time you beat them. These XP rewards go up as you encounter more challenging Sebo players across the course of the game, though the difficulty really does ramp up. And if you're having trouble…

Sebo tips and strategies

This shortlist of tips for Sebo will help you win matches more reliably, a set of basic principles and ideas to help formulate a winning strategy in either round.

• Attacking
  • Keep your coins gathered together where possible. Don't let your opponent create a wall between them.
  • A good strategy is to bring groups of coins together and have them meet in the centre of the board; it's harder for opponents to anticipate.
  • Don't play wildly and always move with intention - you never have many turns, so you need to use the ones you have.
  • Try and block off your opponents - if you can keep them on the right side of the board, you'll have the left side to operate freely.
• Defending
  • Split up your opponents pieces wherever possible - keep them divided
  • Backing them into walls and edges of the board marks it harder to move them effectively.
  • You're just out to buy time this time around - your strategy can be more fluid and short term than in the attacking round.
  • Try and hold the middle of the board, so your opponent is less free to cut across.

Where to find special coins for Sebo in Flintlock

Special Coins for Sebo in Flintlock are found in wells, usually in towns or villages occupied by enemies. Look for open courtyards and squares when entering settlements, then clear the enemies around it to interact with the well in the middle. If there's a coin in there, you'll be able to add it permanently to your collection. 

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