Scars Above is fairly standard as far as third-person action-adventure games go, but it does have some unique gameplay elements that set it apart from the rest of the pack. Combat rewards creative combos and a full rotation of everything in your arsenal, enemies hit hard, and healing is limited. Put it all together, and even simple fights can turn into dangerous challenges!
If you're just getting started on your adventure with Kate, keep these tips in mind as you go. They'll help you survive even the toughest battles, from the moment you make planetfall.
Elemental Combos Increase Damage
The game makes it clear early on that using the correct weapon type will heavily damage the mutant creatures that you encounter. This is especially true when you target weak points with a matching element. There's another aspect of Scars Above's elemental system that is just as useful, but you might miss it at first.
When an enemy is suffering from a status effect - on fire, frozen, and so on - hitting it with a different element will trigger a combo. This reduces the amount of time that the status effect lasts, but increases the damage from the shot from the new element. For example, if you freeze an enemy with the Cryo Launcher then switch to VERA, the electrical damage to the enemy will be increased at the expense of shortening the freeze duration.
Avoid Unnecessary Fights
Whenever you activate a pillar or resurrect at one, all non-boss enemies respawn. This means there's never a clear path between you and your objective; on the plus side, once you've been through an area you'll know what to expect on subsequent passes.
There are a handful of occasions throughout the game where new enemies will appear in areas you've previously visited - stay on your toes after completing objectives!
Unless an enemy is preventing you from leaving its area, there's nothing stopping you from just running past fights that you've already won on previous attempts. Doing so lets you conserve ammo and other resources for later challenges, particularly boss fights.
Use Pillars As Shortcuts
Kate always resurrects at the last pillar that you activated if she falls in battle. Any items - including key objectives - that you picked up before dying will remain in your inventory. In some instances, a powerful enemy will appear after you find a required item. You can skip these fights by dying on purpose and returning to the pillar!
Use Melee Kills For Quick Heals
Once you reach the second tier of the Xenobiology skill tree, you can unlock an ability that restores your Health with each successful melee kill. This will become a key part of your strategy, so be sure to take it as soon as it's available.
While it's not as effective as using one of your limited heals, restoring Health through melee can and will save you in certain situations. Arachnids will suddenly become a welcome sight, as they can be defeated with one or two strikes, effectively turning them into free healing items. Finishing off a Scorpioid after weakening it with ranged weapons is another great use of this ability.
Watch Your Stamina
Kate's a scientist, not a soldier - while her training for the mission makes her more than capable of holding her own, she's out of her element in combat. Running, dodging, and making melee attacks will all drain your Stamina, and you can't take any of those actions if your Stamina is depleted.
Stamina recovers quickly, but all it takes is a second of not being able to avoid enemy attacks to find yourself resurrecting at a pillar. Try to avoid mashing the dodge roll button and work to keep your Stamina above half during combat.