How Should You Spend Your Free Time In The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy?

It wouldn’t be a game like Danganronpa without letting you spend some free time hanging out with your other oddball teenage classmates, and The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy delivers in spades on things to do during your Free Time segments that get you closer with your pals.

Whether you choose to spend your Free Time making gifts for people, practicing your combat in the Training Room, heading out to gather resources on expeditions, or spending time working on improving Takumi’s grades, there’s plenty of things to do during the Free Time segments in The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy.

What Can You Do During Free Time?

If you’ve never played one of the main series Danganronpa games, their influence can be felt in a number of ways here in The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, one one of them is with the option to spend free time roaming the school grounds and completing a number of optional activities either for or with your teammates.

When you’re between segments of the main story (which you’ll find yourself experiencing fairly often, since the game has multiple endings and you’ll likely be playing through it a couple of times), Takumi will appear in his bedroom and say something about having some time to himself. You’ll see the flash of the Free Time start screen, and from here, you’ll be able to choose an activity to pass the time, most of which will strengthen your bonds, grades, or stats in some way.

It’s often best to fast travel using the school map in your pause menu during these segments, unless you’d like to stop and chat with other characters in the hallway on your way to your destination or just look around a bit.

Have VR Battles To Practice For Combat

You were given access to the Training Room on Day 003, where Takemaru gave you a thorough explanation of what each machine in the room does, and the one you’ll use to spend your Free Time is the VR Battle Simulation arcade machine. Hiruko appears the first time you attempt to use it and fights alongside you, telling you that the enemies and teammates in the battle are AI and are used to practice fighting between major battles.

If you’re struggling with a particular element of combat or want to practice using other teammates, it’s never a bad idea to use the VR machine in the Training Room for practice. You’ll face different types of school invaders and quickly grow more comfortable in combat scenarios when it’s time to fight for real. This practice machine gives plenty of set scenarios for you to contend with, and you’ll keep rewards earned at the end of the fight as well.

Before you pop into the VR Battle machine in the Training Room, be sure to swing by the Gear Upgrade machine also in there – you can upgrade your teammates’ attacks and equipment, and doing so doesn’t consume your Free Time segment unlike most of the other options. You can also use the Garage to work on your teammate’s skills once you’ve unlocked it on Day 020.

Spend Time With Your Teammates To Improve Your Grades

After your teammates have agreed to fight for the cause and have used their Infusers for the first time to settle into their hemoanima and powers, you’ll be able to talk to teammates during your Free Time segments. These are referred to as Student Activities, and depending on who you spend time with, you’ll use what you learn from your time with them to improve one or two grades on Takumi’s report card, based on what kind of person that character is.

When you see a classmate with a green symbol above their head either on the map or when you come across them in the hall, it means they’re available to spend time with you during that Free Time segment. Choose to talk to them to pass the time, and you’ll be rewarded with the grade boost after a conversation scene with them and Takumi.

Make And Hand Out Gifts With The Gift-O-Matic

Once you’ve gained access to the Rec Room and Leisure Room on Day 010, you’ll work with Eito to learn how to use the Gift-o-Matic, a large machine that converts raw resources into gifts for your classmates, which will offer an additional boost to whichever subject they boost for your grades based on how much they like the item you’ve chosen.

You’ll need the resources on hand, as well as any rare materials, and the game will ask you to pick who to give your gift to. You’ll hand the present out right away, and after earning any additional grade points (if applicable), you’ll be sent back to your room and the Free Time segment will be over. Since you can’t stockpile your gifts to hand out later like in similar previous games, you’ll need to have a game plan.

Instead of taking random guesses, it’s best to ask around and figure out the best gifts for each teammate in The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. You’ll earn bonus points the first time you give them the gift, and it’s also what provides the biggest boost to their subject for your report card. Gifts the teammate liked are logged on their page in your report card.

Go On Expeditions To Gather Resources

Remember when you found those fire extinguishers in the Entrance Hall that Sirei told you could be used to temporarily get through the Undying Flames and out into the ruins of the world outside the Academy? He wasn’t joking – you can assemble a team of four students and explore beyond the Undying Flames during your Free Time segments. However, since the expedition will take all day no matter how long you’re actually out there in real-time, you can only leave for expeditions in the Morning time slot.

You and your team will wander around in a board game-style minigame, choosing options on chance cards to accumulate resources of all types for use back at school (for gifting or leveling up attacks). Not only are there resources out there, but you can find extra Battle Points if cash is your focus, the rare materials for gifts that require something unique outside standard resources, and even optional battles along the way. Just keep an eye on your HP and head back to school with your loot to convert it to usable resources and rest up to heal depleted HP.

Use The Library To Study

Another unlock after the Day 017 battle against the second Commander is the Library, in which you’ll find Eito and Shouma. Eito is excited to use the room to figure out better combat strategies, but Takumi can swing by during Free Time segments in the Last Defense Academy to read books for sake of raising grades.

Each book will require two segments to finish, but they pay out with a wealth of points for your grades on your report card. Additionally, there’s plenty of lore hidden within these books, so the curious should definitely make some time to read!

Sleep To Fast-Forward Through Time

Finally, while we definitely wouldn’t recommend doing so until you’re in later playthroughs and have a handle on all the Free Time options mentioned above, you can select the bed in Takumi’s bedroom instead of opting to head out at the beginning of Free Time. The game will ask if you’re sure you’d like to take a nap, and if you agree, you’ll automatically be forwarded to the next story event or Free Time segment, whichever comes first chronologically based on when you fell asleep.

For example, if you go to sleep in the Morning but there’s still Free Time in the afternoon, you’ll be woken up in the Afternoon and made to sleep a second time if you’re trying to skip the day. If you sleep in the Morning but there’s a story event happening that day in the Afternoon, Takumi will begin talking about it when he wakes up after that initial Free Time segment.