9 Cronos the New Dawn tips to help you stay alive in this time travelling survival horror

These Cronos tips come from my own experience trying to get through this tough survival horror. It's one of those games that doesn't always clearly explain things, so it can sometimes feel harder because it hasn't emphatically outlined things you need to know. Enemies are tough and take a lot of damage, and you don't have a lot of ammo and resources to fight back with. I've spent hours working out the best survival techniques, so here's my tips and guide overall for doing better in Cronos The New Dawn.

Quick tips for Cronos The New Dawn

1. Only use charged shots on enemies
2. Upgrade weapon charge times and inventory slots first
3. Fire fuel dispensers are infinite so always go back for more
4. Explore thoroughly to avoid missing ammo and resources
5. Craft items if you max out resources so you can pick more up
6. Always fight at a distance
7. Don't shoot acid polyps, get close, trigger them, and back off
8. Use stash boxes as much as possible to free up inventory space
9. Clear an area of enemies and resources before triggering objectives

1. Only use charged shot on enemies to kill them in Cronos

While Cronos casually mentions you can charge your shots, it doesn't really drive home the fact that it's the only way to actually damage enemies. If you fire normally you'll barely hurt them, chew through ammo and only have angrier, closer enemies to show for it. Save normal fire for blowing up gas cans and master aiming a charged shot at opponents heads for max damage and a chance to stagger them.

2. Focus on upgrading weapon charge times and inventory first

There's a lot of upgrades to think about and while damage and health might seem useful, you really want to decrease weapon charge time in Cronos to maximise your damage output against enemies. Using cores to get more inventory slots is also vital, as you barely have enough for the weapons, ammo, and other essential items you need, let alone anything you might find while exploring.

3. Fire canister dispensers never run out in Cronos, so keep going back to use them

Fire is an incredibly useful tool in Cronos, stunning enemies and burning up the biomass they use to get stronger. However, to start with you can only carry a single fuel canister, making it the sort of thing you end up saving and never using, in case you really need it later. There is no later. Use it now, knowing that the fire fuel dispensers never run out - if you have no fuel, they'll always give you some. So keep going back as long as you can, and use the fire to any clear bodies you find to make later fights easier. It might be a pain to backtrack, but as long as you can reach a dispenser you have infinite fire.

4. Check every corner for valuable resources and ammo

Because Cronos is a survival horror game, ammo, health, crafting resources and all the other stuff you need is in scarce supply. It can also be well hidden in the environment - tucked behind corners and not always showing up unless you get up close. Because of that, get used to wall hugging rooms as you scour them thoroughly to make sure you don't miss anything. You'll nearly always find some extra bullets or a healing patch somewhere you nearly passed by.

5. Use materials to craft things if you max them out so you don't lose anything

Materials occupy a separate part of your inventory, but still have a tight limit. If you find you can't pick up any more chemicals or parts, use them to make something you need. That way you'll get more ammo, health or fuel, and be able to replenish the resources. It's never clear when you'll pass a point of no return, so you don't want to leave anything behind.

6. Fight at a distance wherever possible in Cronos as you're not built for close combat

Even if it means awkwardly running away, try to keep a distance between you and any creature you're fighting. Because it takes time to charge your shots up to do any damage, you want a bit of room to get the time you need and line up your aim. You also have all the manoeuvrability of a lead barge, so if enemies get too close you just don't have the mobility to avoid damage easily.

7. Don't worry about shooting the acid polyps, trigger them by getting close and backing away to save ammo

It might be tempting to shoot the acid polyps in Cronos from a distance to avoid the corrosive green goop they spray out everywhere, but you do not have the ammo to spare for that. It might take a few goes to get the timing, but you can totally set them off by getting close and backing away before they explode. Walk up slowly and wait for a change in the noise they make - you'll soon be able to tell when they've passed the point of no return, letting you get out of the way before you take any damage from the blast.

8. Use stash boxes as much as possible to free up inventory space in Cronos

Because you start with barely enough inventory space to carry basic essentials, use the safe room stash boxes as much as possible in Cronos. It's even worth backtracking to dump off things like upgrade cores when you can, rather than lugging them to the next storage box (and also sell off any valuables you find). You can even think about leaving health and ammo behind unless you're desperate, as you'll usually find them, or the resources needed to make more, fairly quickly when you set off into a new area.

9. If you're near an objective, clear the area of resources and enemies before you trigger anything.

If you reach the area of a specific objective, don't do whatever it is straight away - so hold off pressing any buttons, opening any doors or crossing any thresholds, until you've picked up all the resources and cleared any bodies lying around. It's all too easy to trigger an attack and if there's ammo left on the floor, or biomass monsters can use to make themselves more powerful, you're just making things harder for yourself. Check thoroughly for any resources and use fire wherever possible to clear corpses (if you can backtrack to a fire fuel dispenser it's well worth taking the time to do it).

Hopefully, my experience playing Cronos will help you get a little further in The New Dawn. It's the kind of game where it gets easier the more you know, but leaves you to work things out. So, hopefully, a little help from someone who's already worked things out will be useful to you.

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