10 Remnant Tips & Tricks

Right, so about that minute mention of falling off cliffs — it might have a bit more truth than I'd like to admit. Although I am willing to take most of the blame (I tend to be looking up and forward, towards a brighter future), Remnant II is a randomly generated game, and I'm pretty sure there has been some foul play when it comes to its code.

By that, I mean that despite being random worlds every time, there are still nefarious positionings for everything hazardous. Most notably, unexpected dips that let you fall into the world, perishing at the hands of your own foolishness. Or rolling to get out of the way of an enemy attack and "deciding" you wanted to just respawn and take the quick way out. Or your friends pushing you off cliffs mercilessly because "that's just what you do"... Just be careful with those pesky cliffs.

So I have a confession to make that won't come as a shock to anyone at this point — in my first DARK SOULS run, I heavy rolled through the entire game. I didn't know anything about carry weight or rolling capabilities, I just thought that meant I was strong, powerful, and burly enough that I couldn't roll my way through things properly, but at least I was sturdy.

Thankfully, I may be a moron, but at least I'm an intelligent moron (and an oxymoron): I now pay attention whenever there is any sort of rolling system to ensure that I can actually... you know, roll, not mercilessly break my back under a ton of steel in the form of the biggest armour I could find and the thickest shield. This doesn't mean go at it naked (not that I didn't try), but at least ensure your weight is green, set to MEDIUM, even if it means removing your helmet to show your pretty, hundred-hour character creation marvel to the world.

Genocide in the form of vengeance, that's what I mean. Every enemy is worth shooting because resting at the crystals just gives you your ammo back, and you can get a lot of scrap and goods to upgrade your weapons. Some say I'm greedy and hoard stuff, I say I'm like a dragon and that I prefer the word "acquisitive".

You'll want to be able to upgrade your new favourite weapon (which happens every other world, really) to as much as you can so it's relevant enough to shoot some enemies. Especially if you have bad aim, as at least you'll be able to deal enough raw damage that you can kill them eventually before they kill you.

Every enemy has a weak spot, and that means that you're going to want to shoot in that general area. I learnt this when a friend suggested I try to focus my fire and did that "vaguely gestures at the enemy" — although I know it was meant to say I should stop missing as much, I took it as a positive and that they were telling me to look for weak spots.

It's simple, really: if you see red, it's good. It's a good philosophy to have in life, too! If you are shooting enemies and get red numbers, it means you have successfully slapped them in their Achilles' heel, their unarmoured parts, their exposed bits. Might as well deal just a bit more damage and make the dying happen faster, this time, make their dying happen a bit faster.

While my usual fighting style is professionally known as "Panic Dodge Rolls Until He Runs Out of Stamina and Then His Friends Do the Rest of the Work and Tell Him to Wait Until the Next Crystal Because It Takes Too Long to Get Back Just For Him to Die Again" (it's a work-in-progress, but let's call it PDRUHROSTHFDROWTHWUNXCBITTLGBJFHDA for now), the general better idea is to... well, not.

PDRUHROSTHFDROWTHWUNXCBITTLGBJFHDA proved useful in my runs because my friends were a capable bunch, but generally, you'll want to learn what might be the best approach for some worlds. Even individual sub-areas can have favourable playstyles, like favouring fast-shooting weapons over one-shot kills for overwhelming compositions. This mostly applies to single-player and those that don't want to take the piss out of their friends, but it's still relevant.

Once you've finally killed everyone (your friends included, in some cases — screw you, Gerard), you'll find your pockets should be relatively full of scrap. This is basically the currency of the game that you'll want to use to upgrade everything.

Run around Ward 13 and speak to the vendors to find a slew of things to use. From suspiciously named items that I'm pretty sure I'm too innocent to understand but am 99% certain are drugs to healing items and even extra upgrade materials, there is a reason to try to make your acquaintance to everyone in the hub. They'll like you. Or, at least, your never-ending pockets.

I have partaken in my fair share of Fashionsouls in my day, and although Remnant II really didn't want me to do that, I did my hardest to. This meant I became a sack of meat and a burden to everyone, but there is one thing that I could comfortably change whenever I damn well felt like it: my rings.

It may not change my appearance to suspiciously resemble me in my emo phase back in the day when I told my parents it wasn't a phase (sorry mum), but it does change your stats and give you passive abilities — useful passive abilities. These can make your build stupidly strong, so always pay attention to what bling bling you have available at any given moment.

Some of the bosses in this game are control-yeeting levels of rage-inducing, and that means that you're going to want to take a second to go outside and smell the roses. Or, in my case, mute the chat, run to the bathroom, and cry a couple of tears as I listen to "Bullet For My Valentine" to remind myself of easier times.

Take a break — I mean it. Go out, take a breather, and smell the fresh air that your character wishes they had without the pungent odour of your blood and tears in the world. Remnant II is a great game that sometimes encourages the idea of going into the boss room and letting them hammer you to the ground because you just can't be arsed to fight anymore, and at that point, it might be worth to log off, boot Sims 4, and then mercilessly drown them so they feel the helplessness you once felt.

You know, despite the ruthless name-calling that I endured from my friends (I don't know if I even want to call them that now, though they claim its "banter" at the expense of my confidence), I never genuinely thought I was stupid until I encountered the second archetype. 

After spending 10 Trait points, you can actually find an item to give to the weird oracle atop the tower that gives everyone the creeps — this is called an Engram, and it unlocks various Archetypes you can choose to slot and get new passives and abilities.

Remnant II is a delightful title with so many things to try that it's a sin to stick to the same thing for too long without at least experimenting a little. From weapons to skills to Modifications and Mutations, there is just so much you should try that isn't stubbornly sticking to everything you've found and refusing to change from it.

I recommend trying everything at least once; healthy advice for both in-game and out-of-game — this is why I should be your go-to journo henceforth: I drop essential life lessons. If you get a new weapon, try it. If you get a new Modification, try it. A new skill? Try it! A new clothing item...? If you filled it in with "try it", you are wrong and clearly did not pay attention to the Fashionsouls section of the article — did you learn nothing?!