Atomfall isn’t the most combat-heavy game in the world. There aren’t exactly bosses galore to go and fight, but you will have your work cut out for you against gangs of Outlaws, groups of Druids, and hostile Protocol Soldiers (as well as their brutal robot friends). There’s also rats. Lots of ‘em.
It also just so happens that these aggressive groups hang out in areas you’ll no doubt want to explore, and can quickly overwhelm you if you’ve not planned accordingly. To help you with not succumbing to an untimely death, here are some Atomfall combat tips.
Unlock the Gunsmith Skill to upgrade your weapons
Your guns cannot be upgraded in Atomfall until the Gunsmith Skill is unlocked, and if you’re using firearms throughout the game, it’s pretty important you save up some Training Stimulants and unlock this via your Skills menu.
Upon unlocking the Skill, you’ll be able to upgrade your guns via your crafting menu, using two copies of the same gun, as well as some gun oil and scrap. Melee weapons cannot be upgraded, but fortunately, they come with a set of their own Skills that make melee combat pretty powerful.
Unlock Melee Skills, especially if you enjoy stealth
If you’re a fan of stealthing your way through camps or enjoy melee combat in general, the Melee Skills that slowly become available to you in Atomfall are pretty good. Both Quiet Movement and Quiet Takedown are great to have, allowing you to stealthily approach unaware enemies and quickly take them down without alerting anyone nearby.
A personal favourite Skill, however, is Kill Momentum, which gives you a small melee combat buff whenever you successfully melee kill someone. This is great for when stealth goes wrong and you’ve suddenly got seven Outlaws on your tail, allowing you to slice through the pack much quicker.
Don’t underestimate Stims and Painkillers
Bottles of Combat Stim or Painkillers are really useful and if you find their recipes around the map in Atomfall, they’re also easily craftable. While I don’t recommend using them constantly, as you want to manage your resources carefully, they’re good to drink before entering hostile areas such as Skethermoor Prison or the Druid’s Camp, where there are lots of enemies.
Combat Stim provides a melee buff, which is particularly great if you’re looking to preserve ammo – or simply don’t have any left – while Painkillers will give you a defensive buff, protecting you from incoming attacks a little better. On top of that, the Buff Duration Skill will increase the length of the effects that a Combat Stim or Painkillers provides, while the Gut Health Skill ensures that any food you consume also grants a damage resistance buff.
It’s also worth noting that there are some Skills to unlock that will help with your defenses, such as the Thick Skin Skill, which reduces incoming melee damage. There are also multiple Conditioning Skills to unlock that can improve your resistances against Burn, Bleed, Poison, and more.
Just be wary that Training Stimulants aren’t infinite, so prioritise the most important skills to you first before opting for additional resistance to status effects, as there are consumables that can help with this – such as the Burn Salve or Antidote – in the meantime.
Take on enemies one at a time
If you’ve been unfortunate enough to wind up dying in Atomfall, which happens to the best of us, you’ll find that the game sometimes reminds you to take on one enemy at a time. This might seem obvious, but it can be pretty easy to get overwhelmed by multiple Outlaws or Druids at once, or to get carried away when attacking them.
Try luring one or two enemies away from the group and repeat this process. Additionally, try to do this while out of sight of any ranged attackers! If you can take ranged fighters down first, that’s great, but these guys tend to keep more of a distance from you compared to melee-using foes, who will run after you.
Keep stocked up on cloth and alcohol
This is another Atomfall combat tip that might seem obvious, but as you progress further into the game, it can be easy to lose sight of the basics: cloth and alcohol. Having as much cloth and alcohol that your backpack can possibly hold is a good idea, because you never know when you may need to craft a bandage in a pinch. The Deep Pockets Skill is a good investment, too, because it allows you to carry more ammo and crafting supplies.
A good rule of thumb is that if you’re going to an unexplored area, try and have a couple of bandages or First Aid Kits on you, or failing that, at least make sure you’re stocked up on enough materials to craft some bandages. The last thing you want – which happened to me in the Medical Tunnels – is to wind up stuck in an infectious area because you don’t have enough HP to leave. While I didn’t have cloth in this instance, I did fortunately have enough materials on me to craft a Strange Tonic, allowing me to save myself from a very unfortunate predicament.
Don’t hesitate to simply run past, Dark Souls style
Look, we all want to explore everything and kill everyone when it comes to video games like Atomfall, but sometimes, we have to put pride aside so we can get our overarching job done. What I’m saying is, don’t hesitate to run past something if the end – such as a big door leading to another area, or your quest objective – is in sight.
You can always come back later after having a moment of respite, or cup of Tea, which is something you can literally do in Atomfall.
Use your throwables
Throwables, such as grenades or molotovs, are easy to neglect in Atomfall, but they’re pretty great for catching groups of enemies off guard or for quickly taking down Ferals.
Pair your use of throwables with skills such Throwables Radius and Throwables Damage, which improve the area of effect and damage output respectively, and those molotovs or bombs are going to make lighter work of heavily-guarded camps or areas.
For more on Atomfall, take a look at where to find all Atomic Batteries in the game, where to find the Church Cellar Key, and how to activate all Radio Towers for Joyce Tanner.