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Try these Atomic Heart tips and tricks to help you learn the ropes of combat, exploration, weapons, Polymer powers, and more besides, so that you can face the robo-pocalypse. Atomic Heart is pretty light on comprehensive tutorials and explanations of things, leaving you to figure a lot out as all sorts of new systems, guns, and neuropolymer powers are dropped in your lap. Hopefully with these tips we can help flatten out the Atomic Heart learning curve so that getting around Facility 3826 and battling bots is much less of an ordeal. Here are our 9 Atomic Heart tips and tricks to ensure you can keep going - better Red than Dead.
1. Conserve ammo early on, but not at the cost of getting hurt
Ammunition is scarce, but not as scarce as you might think. Early on you'll be given a shotgun with limited ammo, but it won't be long until fresh shells and bullets become a little more prevalent. Being stingy with your shots is always good, but you shouldn't keep trying melee weapons and powers if it means you're getting bullied by angry crash dummies and losing health - because the only way to get health back is to burn up health packs that are as rare as ammo is, and definitely more valuable.
Later on you'll find yourself getting more ammo, as well as more ways of hurting enemies that don't cost you anything (such as your Polymer powers). However, until then you want to be a little more careful, and fire shots only when the alternative is a punch in the mouth.
2. Use NORA to upgrade, but also store, craft and dismantle
The oversized fridge with the aggressively sexual personality was… a creative choice, I guess, but NORA nonetheless serves numerous vital roles in gameplay - not just upgrades like the Atomic Heart sprint power or an enhanced version of the Atomic Heart telekinesis, but the option to store equipment and weapons to clear your inventory, craft new gear from the raw materials you've found, and even dismantle loot you don't need into components you can then use to build new things.
It's the last of these functions that's easy to sleep on, as there's such a variety of gear in Atomic Heart that while none of it is hugely abundant, you'll generally have an excess of something, even if it's just ammo for a gun you've been storing. Make sure to break it down to build better loot that you actually use - otherwise it's just wasted storage!
3. Look for yellow objects - it's the sign that things can be climbed on
As you explore you might see objects with a yellow tint, sometimes faded, sometimes not. While a lot of objects in Atomic Heart can be climbed up, yellow is the game shouting at you: "climb here!" It's likely not just a vantage point, but hidden areas with new resources and crafting blueprints. Admittedly, some of these require difficult platforming challenges, but they're usually worth it, especially for the player who wants to be well-equipped for what's ahead.
4. You don't need to dismember or damage bodies, just scavenge them
It's not clear from the beginning, but dismantling robots after you kill them doesn't grant more loot, so don't feel the need to smash their bodies with an axe unless there's a simple need to work off surplus aggression. All the loot you can get off enemies is accessible the moment they die, and won't be improved by mangling the scrap. In fact, considering that loot is always in a specific section of the enemy's body, you risk chopping away that section and losing track of it!
5. Scan around constantly - and for more than a moment
The Atomic Heart scanner is the first device you're given, and it's invaluable in a variety of situations, picking out nearby enemies, objects, bodies and lootable containers. However, it can be a bit… prickly and unreliable, especially if you're moving or enemies are standing still. For that reason, don't just quickly throw up the scanner for an instant, or you risk missing a lot of information - keep it rolling for a moment or two, then feel free to let it drop afterwards.
6. As a rule, you want to focus on melee, polymer powers, and suit-charged weapons
What do all those things have in common? They're free! Or at least, they don't cost anything more than regenerating energy. This links back to our point on ammo conservation; if you're never sure what to have equipped, we suggest picking out the Electro or Dominator, both of which are decent weapons that link to your suit and refill themselves over time - in fact we reckon that the Electro is one of the best Atomic Heart weapons. They shouldn't be the only thing you've got on you, especially considering that certain enemies are resistant to weapons like that, but it's a good starting point, and a good default setup.
7. Frostbite and Polymeric Jet are great starting points
By the way, the best powers to grab? Frostbite, which slowly freezes enemies, and the Polymeric Jet, which coats them in goo that empowers anything you do to them… such as freezing them, or hitting them with the default Shok power. So go in, hit any enemies with the Polymeric Jet, then switch to the other two powers. Frostbite will instantly encase them in ice, while Shok will escalate from a static zap to a deadly thunderbolt. You can even spray Polymer goo on the floor and then Shok it to create a zapping trap for bots to run into.
8. Stealth is an option… but not an easy one
Yes, there's technically stealth in Atomic Heart, but we don't recommend getting dependent on it. There are no visibility indicators, all your weapons are loud, there's no peek option for looking around objects, and all the enemies are both incredibly perceptive and move unpredictably, turning around and spotting you crouched behind a box fifty feet away. Don't get me wrong, that's not to say it's not worth trying, but you're not likely to deal with all the enemies in an area that way, most likely able to take out one or two before getting spotted while you're fiddling with one of the many Atomic Heart lockpicking puzzles. And speaking of being spotted…
9. Shok cameras and run!
Both in facilities and in the open world, the Dandelion Cameras are an issue, drawing enemies to your area. They spot you especially easily when you're outside, as the damn things are everywhere, and while the game suggests using thrown objects to distract them, we suggest just giving them a blast of electricity with your Shok power. It shuts them down temporarily, giving you the chance to just run past.
Now, you might wonder - why not destroy them altogether? The answer to that is: they'll get repaired. Little Pchelas (flying, bean-shaped robots) will come and fix any robot you destroy, dispatched by the robot assembly plant (the dome structures with holes in). They'll keep coming too, usually with another Pchela with a laser who will attack anybody who interferes with repairs. You can hold them off without too much trouble - but what's the point? They'll never run out, so it's much easier to just give the camera a zap with Shok and run ahead before it can pull itself back together.
