Atomfallis a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, sprinkled with some nuclear panic. It’s a game where you aren’t guided by the hand with map markers, and the game allows you to carve out your own path, for better or worse.
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This leads to some awesome emergent gaming moments, and a sense of true player autonomy and freedom. A rarity in gaming today. But, this does mean that a lot of players will be left stumped by various aspects of the game, and may need a little helping hand.
Well, allow us to extend that hand, and let us guide you through the early stages of your time in Wyndham. It’s a hostile and punishing place, but with these tips, you’ll be able to hit the ground running.
10Make A Beeline For The Village
The Quarantine Zone
While there is no wrong way to explore inAtomfall, there are definitely places that are more beginner-friendly and more lucrative without the danger of getting your head blown off.
One such place is Wyndham Village, one of the last bastions of civilized society in the quarantine zone. So, for that reason, you can walk around, further leads, and gather supplies without any worry of picking a fight.
There are some lucrative self-contained leads, like the one found at St Katherine’s Church, the bakery, and the tea room. Plus, you’ll be able to avail of Morris the trader, too. In short, it’s a great way to jump-start your adventure, so be sure to head here ASAP.
9Get One Of Every Weapon Type
Guns Galore
In the early stages of Atomfall, you’ll be completely defenseless against the various outlaws that roam Slatten Dale, and silent takedowns and fisticuffs will only get you so far.
So what I would suggest is that you get a selection of weapons fast, and considering that ammo is scarce in this game, having various weapon types that take different ammo is damn near essential.
You can carry four large weapons alongside small weapons that fit in the standard inventory slots. So true to find a shotgun, pistol, rifle, SMG, and melee weapon at your earliest convenience.
8Visit Molly The Trader
Bargains To Be Had
On the subject of gathering weapons and other lifesaving items, it can be risky to search for them in the wild, as this usually means you’ll need to get into a firefight and battle against the odds with no guarantee of the loot being worthwhile.
However, you can trust that traders will have something that will be of use, and Molly the Tinker is easily the best Trader you’ll encounter for quite some time.
Alongside some essential basics such as a Metal Detector and a Torch, Molly will also stock ammo, an Atomic Battery, and a Shiv Recipe.
You will need some decent items to offer for trade, but if you’ve gathered a few, this is an essential pit-stop before you head to more dangerous areas.
7Unlock Deep Pockets & Gunsmith
Essential Skills
There will only be a selection of skills available to players from the start of the game, and you’ll need to find Training Stimulants and Training Manuals to unlock the others. However, if you need any incentive to do that, the second tier of the Survival category of skills should be more than enough.
This includes two of the most game-changing skills on the roster, Deep Pockets and Gunsmith.
Gunsmith is a skill that allows you to collect spares of the rifle you currently own, and you can use these rusty or stock models to upgrade to a stock or pristine model. Which usually means better range, recoil, and damage depending on the weapon of choice.
Then as for deep pockets, this is a skill that allows you to carry more crafting materials as standard. This, in turn, allows you to have access to more crafting options in a pinch, which can really turn the tide when you need to heal or need a throwable to take out a gang of enemies pinning you down.
There are other skills that are also worth unlocking, but I would try to locate a Crafting manual as soon as possible and take full advantage of these early.
The quickest way to get a Crafting Manual early is by siding with Morris Wick when completing the St Katherine’s Church lead.
6Keep Everyone Sweet
Choose A Side When You’re Good & Ready
As you explore Wyndham, you’ll get to know the major movers and shakers in the quarantine zone. These major characters, minus a few, represent the various factions you’ll encounter, and before credits roll, you’ll be forced to side with at least one of these people if you want to escape.
However, what the game doesn’t tell you is that, up until rather late in the game, you can effectively play all sides so that you always come out on top.
You can agree to help everyone, say exactly what they want to hear, and avoid having one character come into contact with another. Which, if you do, ensures that you can effectively save scum your way to all the endings at the game’s close.
Plus, it often means that you’ll avoid unnecessary fights and navigating areas of hostility. For example, help Mother Jago and the Druids will mean you no harm, and help Captain Sims to gain free passage in Skethermoor. Just say what you need to say, you don’t have to mean it.
Knowledge is Power
As you might have gathered from the lead system that replaces standard quest markers, Atomfall wants the player to do a lot of the detective work for themselves, which means that you’ll need to channel your inner Scooby-Doo and search for clues. Of which there are plenty in the form of written notes and documents.
Some of these automatically further your lead and hint at your next point of interest to check out. However, we want to stress and almost all notes are beneficial, as even the miscellaneous notes could have coordinates, or key info that leads you to something interesting.
In Atomfall, knowledge is power, and a lot of this knowledge will be garnered by reading the notes you find. So, make sure you’re in a safe space, and then sit down for some light reading. You never know, it might just turn a cold lead hot in an instant.
4Hotkeys Are Essential
Quick Draw
One thing that I cannot emphasize enough when it comes to combat is that, due to the menu not pausing time, any time spend static while menuing is dangerous.
This is why hotkeys are essential in this game, as hopping from one weapon to the next in your standard menu is a cumbersome and often fatal task. But if you have some of your favorite items assigned to a directional button, you’re able to swap on the fly while staying aware of your surroundings.
My two cents would be to have a rifle, a pistol, a melee weapon, and bandages as your loadout, as this gives you enough versatility to handle most situations without needing to menu. However, mileage may vary based on your playstyle, so experiment to see what works for you.
3Don’t Rely On Autosave
Save Smart, Save Often
By default, Atomfall will Autosave every three minutes while you are out in the wild, and will also save after key story events and when you enter new areas. It seems like a pretty steady cadence, but my advice to you is to not rely solely on the Autosave feature.
Due to the punishing nature of the game, and the fact that your situation can change in an instant, it’s best to try to sense danger, save your game, and then take a controlled risk knowing that you have a safety net in the form of a save state to fall back on.
This can also avoid Autosave purgatory, as you could get unlucky and have the game save right as you’re about to die, putting you in an endless loop of pain you can’t escape.
In short, take control of your save points, and you’ll find that you come out smelling of roses more often than you don’t.
You can change the frequency of automatic autosaving in the options menu.
2You Can Kill Everybody (Or Nobody)
Be Chill, Or Mercilessly Kill
In true Fallout New Vegas fashion, Atomfall boldly allows players to kill everyone or no one within the game. This means you can do a genocide run, a pacifist run, and everything in between.
The game never makes this explicitly clear, but unless you are an active threat to a faction, as long as you give them a wide berth, they won’t cause you harm.
This means you can avoid fights provided you don’t trespass where you aren’t permitted, and on the flip side, if you have the skills to pay the bills, you can annihilate everyone in sight by shooting and asking questions later.
1Avoid Dangerous Areas Until You’re Ready
Gear Up Before You Go
My last tip for newbies would be to make sure you are well stocked with ammo, skills and gear before you go about trying to clear the more dangerous areas of Wyndham.
There are more densely packed and deadly areas of each region that players should only explore if they feel they are in a good place to do so. These include the likes of Skethermoor Prison, The Interchange and the Druid Castle.
All of these areas are jam-packed with enemies and will test your abilities to the limit. So, explore the lesser areas of the game first, complete some more rudimentary leads, build up your reserves and then, when you’re feeling confident, conquer the tougher areas.
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