Topic: Returnal

@Th3solution Thanks for the response man, and appreciate the tips!

"And so, to clarify, the astronaut doesn’t take up a consumable slot. It’s actually an artifact." - This is most helpful, as in a previous run I actually skipped the shop completely due to mistakenly believing that the astronaut I'd collected would have taken my 1 consumable spot...

Its comforting to see you agree on my take regarding malfunction risk... Part of what I love about the game is that element of risk associated with the cost/benefit of any decision. As you rightly point out, obolites are a very important commodity - but do you risk taking on extra 'unnecessary' rooms to farm, at the potential expense of integrity?! Ha its a great game for sure.

I would assume Returnal to get a GOTY nomination, and honestly would be great to see it win. Whilst I appreciate that the currency of said award seems to depreciate with each ceremony, I do think that Returnal is deserving of the accolade and perhaps in with a fair chance. I believe Sekiro won in 2019 (?) and surely that was more divisive upon release, and caused greater uproar regarding no "easy mode"?

But in short, I'm loving it - very punishing/challenging - but seems wholly achievable.

@CJD87 you can see what's in your consumable slot in the bottom left of the hud - there's a little box. And you can swap them out like you do with weapons so don't worry about picking up a consumable even if it's not something particularly great - you can always change it (or quickly use it) when you find something better.

@CJD87 Welcome aboard. Sounds like you are already loving the game so don’t need to sell you too much on that but it is awesome and only gets better.

Definitely at this stage the carbine will be your friend and can be a great weapon. If you read back a bit we talk about traits but generally the traits make or break a weapon. They have different levels and you will need to unlock those levels by using the weapon. When you unlock one it’s available for the rest of the time you hang on to that particular weapon and if the same weapon comes up on another run with that trait on it will already be unlocked.

Your proficiency level plays into how many points you get on a weapon against the bonus stats. So generally the higher proficiency level you are the better the weapons you find will be. Although I will say that just because you find a weapon with a higher proficiency level than the one you’ve got it doesn’t necessarily mean you should take it as the traits might actually not be to your liking. You’ll definitely realise this more as you go.

You will also find that you’ve got your favourites depending on your play style so it’s good to experiment. I would usually take a weapon that needed a trait unlocking in the early biomes so as to make subsequent runs easier and to see if I liked them or not.

Malignant items are another thing I was happy to gamble on earlier in the game. If I was in the first biome say then I’d just open any malignant items as the malfunctions weren’t always that bad and you had time to fix them. After that I’d pretty much leave them alone as they can be a curse if you are on a good run. We talked briefly about it on the last few pages as well but the parasites can work really well and if you find one where the con is higher change or malignant items or malfunctions will be worse then they work well with that strategy.

Hope that helps and good luck out there.

@CJD87 looks like everyone’s else has welcomed you while I’ve been asleep, but welcome to the club! The Carbine is a really good weapon, and will dish out lots of damage is given the right traits / used properly. I will generally not go for a malignant items, However if you find an artifact called Resinous Shield, it gives you an extra hit for a resin you pick up. If you get a malignant resin, it will cancel out the damage you could take from it.

@MatthewJP @render @Just_2_milky Thanks all for the warm welcome and solid tips! Hoping to beat Phrike in coming days.... will keep you guys posted on progress, wish me luck ha

@render Thank you a really appreciate it! @MatthewJP Well I don't know exactly. About 20 maybe? Is it possible to check it somewhere? I'm playing rather defensively if possible trying to separate enemies also since the sword is available I'm using it a lot. I'm pretty sure I will have a lot of problem going forward:)
Strange things happened. I saw an astronaut figurine hologram for a few second on a ledge then it disappeared. I went there but found nothing. did I miss the chance to pick it up?

@Tatarimokke no, astronauts in the wild aren’t the artifact, they are just there to mess with you/Selene. The only place artifact astronaut is in locked/malignant/regular chests, and in fabricators.

@Tatarimokke you can check your stats on one of the computers on the ship at the start of a run.
You can also return to the ship and sleep once per run in biome 1 if you are desperate for a little health.
You may also now have unlocked the daily challenge on another computer in the ship - a good way of getting 5 ether per day if needed

@MatthewJP @Just_2_milky Thanks I didn't know that. I have a look on daily challenge too.
Also best tactics againts drones in biome 3? They are causing me a real problem there. They are quick and coming in groups

@Tatarimokke I've met my match with the drones too, we're pretty much at the same point in the game now

@MatthewJP Oh cool! Good luck on them and let me know if you pass them through somehow!

@Tatarimokke @MatthewJP Easier said than done but try to get rid of them as quickly as possible. They will kamikaze-dive when damaged but not if you destroy them before they can do it. Their missiles are harder to avoid than most projectiles - if you can’t get behind something, you’ll have to dodge just as they’re about to hit you.

@Tatarimokke I try to get one fully down at a time, it works way better than taking them down as a group. The farther away you are from them the better.

@Tatarimokke @MatthewJP Yeah, not much to add on those drones. Most of us struggle against them, but yes, hitting them from a distance helps, although they come at you quickly once you get their attention. Try it use cover. And just timing your dash is about all the advice I can muster. Also, a good Lobber actually works well in Biome 3. Where you can shoot and dodge while it does continual damage. The splash damage from the weapon will also get a group as a whole sometimes. I didn’t like the Lobber at first, but grew to really appreciate it for Biome 3 and sections of future Biomes too.

Damn biome 3! Well that was a good run, over 3 hrs. Completely did biome 1 and ended up in 3 with 180% integrity, an astronaut, 2 small silphium and 2 large by the end of it. Still haven't seen the boss in biome 3.
I don't know what he's called but that 'iron man' thing - 3 times I faced him and he tore through my integrity....

@MatthewJP Iron Man thing? Oh… there is a really strong brute at about the halfway point, that’s right. Or are you referring to the climb up the tower? If I recall, he’s not present in every run at the earlier point, necessarily, depending on what route you take. In B3 there’s quite a few side paths that might be better to avoid as the risk/reward is heavy on the ‘risk.’.

But if you do run into him in one of the main areas in the mid part of the biome — I was able to cheese him a few times by backtracking (he follows you) to an earlier platform where there was a centralized structure I could just run and hide behind and do the whole ‘circle around and take pot-shots then retreat’ thing until he was dead. Of course with every run being randomized, your mileage may vary.

And hopefully it’s not a spoiler but in my opinion the hardest part of Biome 3 is the trek to the boss. If you can get to the boss in one piece, it not actually as bad as the first two (although it is definitely a very new challenge). So hang in there!

@MatthewJP ooh, they can be rough. The full suit ones would demolish me if I wasn’t moving or prepared for them. I’ve found that staying away from them works well, and you can dash out of the grappling hook move.

Anybody have any idea what the platinum image represents? The only things I can think of is the snake biting it’s tail (Selene shooting down her ship), or the circle the snake is in (the eternal cycle). All the other trophy images correlate to the trophy, but this one doesn’t.

I'm well aware that this news is 'small fry' compared to those that have progressed much further... but I can finally announce that Phrike is down (!).

Onwards and upwards through B2 now... Thanks again guys for the tips

(For those interested, I managed to get the Carbine to proficiency #4 and also scored big in the shop - securing the astronaut and also the large health pack. RNG on my side also, fairly short run to the boss... Could have probably cleared a few more rooms to farm ether etc, but felt I was strong enough for a quick shot at him. Phases #1 and #2 no issue, Phase #3 a bit of a challenge though!)

@MatthewJP @Tatarimokke Those drones, gotta love em!! I think I gave some tips on these the other day but early on I really struggled with them so totally know where you are coming from. I found one of the best things to use against them was Void Beam alt-fire as you can take a pack of them out with one use. When you get an absolute shed load of them all in one place though sometimes it's better just to get the hell out of there. My wife always dived into a side room and started picking them off one by one which seemed to work well for her. If you are going to dash then you definitely need to get your timing right and try and dash forward as then you will miss but bulk of the attack.

@CJD87 Well done on dispatching Phrike. Enjoy B2