Commit to Bolt Barrage
Choose Quarterstaff, then Flourish Staff and Ilonica’s Spirit Staff. The final weapon replaces Normal Attacks with Bolt Barrage and prevents direct Grimoire casting. This is a different route from a manual spell rotation.
Choose one opening
The recipe prefers starting with Fire Bolt, Ice Bolt and Lightning Bolt. The alternative starts with Mouse Mage’s Pendant and Bicorn Pipe; then use Mage’s Coin to help find the missing Bolts. Collect all three Bolts plus the Pendant and Pipe before treating the engine as assembled.
Fruit Skewer and talents
For the three-Bolt opening, use Academy +2, Element +1, Sturdy banned and the adaptive drop bonus. Use Farmer Squirrel’s extra fruit to ban Wind Song. For the Pendant-and-Pipe opening, switch to Academy +3, Magic Engineering +1, Glacier +1, Ember +1 and Sturdy banned.
Invest 20 Willpower, then 20 Ingenuity, then 10 Wrath. Choose Elementalist as the Miracle. The recipe saves dice until after completing the floor-two Miracle and Anvil steps.
Build Academy before spreading out
Prioritize the Bolts, Bicorn Pipe and Academy. Mouse Mage’s Pendant supplies homing, so obtain it early even if other core pieces take upgrade priority. Work toward Academy 10 before filling the bag with unrelated elemental pieces.
Keep firing lanes and defensive space
Use Normal Attacks to fire the barrage and reposition between enemy patterns. Add elemental and critical support only after the core works. Preserve space for survival; an incomplete homing engine is much less comfortable.
When to pivot
If Ilonica’s Spirit Staff or the core Bolts do not appear, continue with a usable manual Grimoire setup. Do not take an endpoint that disables direct casting while expecting to keep a manual spell rotation.