Paper Mario-The Thousand-Year Door – 8 Best Badges To Get In The Early-Game (2024)

One of the most important things players can find in a typical RPG is accessories. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door does not have equipment in the traditional sense, but it does have a way to boost Mario’s skills in a myriad of ways. They’re called Badges, and it’s a system that has transferred through most entries in the franchise.

Players can gain Badges in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door through various side quests and main missions. To equip them, players need BP which can be upgraded after leveling up. The more BP players have, the more Badges they can equip. So, for beginners, let’s go through a few standout Badges.

8 First Attack

Rogueport Badge Shop

• Defeat enemies easily in the field

First Attack should pop up in the Rogueport Badge shop after players defeat Hooktail in Chapter One. With this Badge equipped, players can defeat weaker enemies in a single hit. This can be done via a jump attack, a hammer attack, or an attack using Koops’ shell. The attacked enemy will turn into a coin thus defeating the obstacle in Mario’s path. It’s an easy way to avoid unnecessary turn-based battles. It is a shame players can’t earn Star Points this way, which is Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s equivalent to EXP.

7 FP Plus

The Great Tree

• Increase Mario’s FP by 5

FP Plus can be obtained in Chapter Two once players make it to The Great Tree in the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. They can find it to the far right of the screen, underneath The Great Tree’s massive trunk. This will increase Mario’s FP, or Flower Points, by five as long as it is equipped.

FP is how players can use character-specific abilities, which are usually granted by equipped Badges (for Mario at least). Badges like Multibounce, which use FP, are the easiest way to go through large numbers of enemies.

6 Happy Flower

Rogueport Badge Shop

• Restore some FP each turn

Happy Flower is another Badge that can be obtained in Rogueport’s Badge shop. This will restore some FP to the gauge after both characters act. It’s not a huge boost as FP will usually only regenerate one meter per turn, but it helps.

Sometimes, that’s all players may need to finish off a tough encounter or a boss fight in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It’s kind of like how Regen works in the Final Fantasy series, which regenerates HP at every turn.

5 Item Hog

Dazzle’s Badge Shop

• Chance to get items after battle

Players will find materials called Star Pieces hidden behind various backdrops in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. These can be exchanged with a vendor in the underbelly of Rogueport. Players can find this vendor, Dazzle, to the left of the first pipe entrance in town. In exchange for Star Pieces, players can gain a lot of rare Badges early on.

One Badge players should prioritize is Item Hog, which can increase the drop rate of items after battle. From healing items like Mushrooms to battle items like the POW Block, there are many reasons players should keep a diverse inventory in the game and Item Hog can help.

4 Multibounce

Shhwonk Fortress

• Jump on multiple enemies

The aforementioned Multibounce should be one of the first group-based attacks Mario can unlock. With it, players can jump on every enemy in a row for a small amount of damage which is a classic Mario trait of his. The damage may be small, but it adds up and can also help strategy-wise.

For example, jump attacks can bring flying enemies down like Goombas. Once grounded, characters may have a better advantage against them, especially Koops since he cannot jump. Multibounce can be obtained in the sewers of the Shhwonk Fortress in Chapter One.

3 Power Jump

Rogueport Badge Shop

• A powerful jump attack

Power Jump is the final Badge worth mentioning from Rogueport’s Badge shop. It’s an easy to master jump move with Mario which will concentrate his strength into one massive attack. It’s a good move to use against bosses like Hooktail which will fall easily to the might of Power Jump. Even a later boss like King Bowser can take a wallop from it.

The nice thing about Power Jump is that it doesn’t cost a lot to use in battle or to equip. Power Jump may be the final Badge worth mentioning from Rogueport’s Badge shop early on, but players should always check back here after every chapter as the inventory often changes.

2 Quake Hammer

Boggly Woods

• Knocks enemies off the ceiling or on their backs

Some enemies are impervious to damage in the game. For example, Buzzy Beetles, enemies that originated in Super Mario Bros. 3 and returned in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, are immune to hammer attacks; however, using the Quake Hammer attack via the corresponding Badge will deal damage. This attack will uproot certain enemies onto their backs, thus exposing their weak points like Buzzy Beetles.

Quake Hammer can be found in the Boggly Woods in Chapter 2.

1 Refund

Rogueport Pianta Parlor

• Get gold after using items in battle

There is a gambling parlor on the West side of town that will open up during the second chapter of the game. Gambling via certain mini-games can net players special tokens at the Pianta Parlor which can be exchanged for rare items. One is a Badge called Refund, which costs 60 tokens.

Players can exchange tokens for gold coins in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, so if they don’t want to gamble, they can fork over the equivalent of 180 gold coins. Refund will give players back gold coins after using items in battle which should save quite a bit of dough in the long run.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024)

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

May 23, 2024

Developer(s)

Nintendo

Genre(s)

RPG