Hyper Light Breaker’s early access is here, and with it comes droves of brand-new Breakers who will embark on their adventures in the Overgrowth. For those new Breakers, there are a few things to know that will help with your endeavors. Some of these are more obvious than others, but they’re all essential to keep in mind if you want to make it through the two Crowns, or bosses, currently available in the game.
The general loop of the game, as explained inHeart Machine’s EA Launch release, is “Prepare for run in Cursed Outpost > go into Overgrowth > explore and get Prisms to unlock Crown gates > Use the Extraction point / Telepad to evacuate the Overgrowth when things get tough > fight Crowns > End Cycle > repeat!” Following this cycle will get you through as many runs as you’d like, but to get here, you’ll have to be savvy enough.
10Short Runs, Play It Safe
Greeding For Loot Will Kill You In Any Roguelike; HLB Is No Different
Every time you enter the Overgrowth at the beginning of a Cycle, your map will be chock-full of Blades, Rails, and other upgrades to pick up.It can be tempting to go headlong toward the juiciest-looking items on the map, but this is a pretty surefire way to die quickly.Like the other Heart Machine games,Breakerisn’t afraid to kill you and will be unrepentant about doing so.
For your first few runs per Cycle, ignore the Crowns completely until you’re ready.
To maximize the value of your earlier runs, plan out quick runs when you first load into the map.Pick one or two upgrades that are on your way to the extraction point and head straight there.This will allow you to start working on your build without putting too much pressure on yourself to survive anything tough. The less time you spend in the Overgrowth, the better, as staying longer will increase the world’s level and become more dangerous.
9Don’t Be Afraid To Throw Away Holobytes
These Are The Most Dynamic Tools To Craft Your Build
As you play, you’ll notice that Holobytes drop surprisingly often, and you should take advantage of this high-ish spawn rate to really hone in on a build. to do this, you’re going to have to throw some away.You can (and should) replace Holobytes with new ones mid-run, allowing you to improve your build through more synergizing Holobytes.
As of the initial release, the system for replacing Holobytes with one another is non-functional. It will instead replace the Holobyte you’re removing with a copy of itself. This, however, shouldn’t stop you from picking up new Holobytes as you play.
To work around the Holobyte bug, you can delete the Holobyte you don’t want out of your inventory by hitting Escape, then pick up the new one. It’s clunkier but lets you grab new upgrades.
It’s easy to get attached to your Holobytes and gear, but remember thatBreakeris a roguelike; you’ll lose your gear eventually, so get the most value you can out of it while you still have it.
8Build Intentionally, Not Whimsically
Rarer Gear Is Cool, But Not Always Better
If you’re anything like me, your eye is often attracted to the shiny, high-rarity item in any upgrade screen, but this can spell your doom in roguelikes likeBreaker.Most roguelikes reward thought-out build crafting over “stronger” upgrades, andBreakeris no different. Rather than going for the rarest or coolest upgrades and Holobytes,take a moment to consider what will suit your other gear best.
For instance, one of Goro’s SyComs guarantees a critical Rail shot every time 20% of the Rail’s battery is expended. This means that Holobytes that scale off critical hits are more useful than ones that increase Blade damage, even if the bonuses the latter type gives are bigger. With this SyCom, it will be more useful to grab Holobytes that take advantage of dealing critical damage.
Generally, this is how build crafting should be done in any roguelike, but any well-balanced game maintains an equilibrium between fun and challenge.Breakeris forgiving enough that high-level players will be able to get away with silly, un-optimized builds.However, thought-out builds will always have an easier time facing the challenging Crowns that dominate the Overgrowth.
7Clear The Map, Then Go For Crowns
Even If You Have The Prisms, Save Them For Later
If they’re skilled enough, Breakers will be able to face Crowns pretty early on in their Cycles, as early as the first run. However, this doesn’t mean facing the Crowns right away is the wisest choice. While grabbing Prisms that are required to open the Crown Gates does take some skill, it doesn’t mean you’re ready for the Crown fight itself.
Instead, spend a few runs picking up upgrades andfarming Bright Bloodto build up your equipment before you face any bosses.This will allow you to refine your build more before facing the harder enemies thatHyper Light Breakerhas.Unless you’re looking to make already difficult boss fights even harder, don’t beeline for the Crowns.
6Don’t Go Alone, Find Other Breakers
BreakerSeems To Play Best With Three
While there is no in-game voice channel inHyper Light Breaker, it does play best with three total Breakers in the same lobby. When running with others, the attention of the enemies is split away from you, giving you more room to breathe in intense situations. Additionally, your allies can aggro bosses and make fights go faster, as it doesn’t seem like the amount of health that enemies have scales with the number of players.
Thankfully, Heart Machine’s officialDiscordhas a huge community of players, and there are likely to be tons of people looking for groups to play with in the game as well.you’re able to join an open lobby by talking to the robot manning the help-desk-looking area in the Outpost.Find a group you can collaborate with to lessen the strain of exploring the Overgrowth independently.
5You Can’t Swim, But The Hoverboard Can
Use The Hoverboard To Reach Water-Locked Areas
Every once in a while, you’ll spawn on a map that has upgrades on the islands surrounding the main landmass. Newer Breakers might despair that these upgrades are unreachable, but they’ll be relieved to know that they are, in fact, reachable.Using the hoverboard, Breakers can glide over the water’s surface to reach almost every corner of the map.
This ability doesn’t limit itself to the exterior portions of the map, either. You can skate across the river valleys between the main landmass sections as well, eventually circumventing them entirely if you have enough stamina. This is the only limiting factor when it comes to your hoverboard; you can only ride until your stamina runs out.
4Core Stat Upgrades Are Nice, But Impermanent
Unless You’re Playing Lapis, Save Your Cores For Permanent Progression
Cores are a material currency that is pretty rare inBreaker,and they can be used in two ways: temporary, per-cycle stat upgrades and permanent upgrades with PB (Pherus Bit). Unfortunately, the per-cycle upgrades are pretty much a waste of Cores until you’ve got all five permanent upgrades unlocked,as they reset once your Cycle is over according to the tooltop on the currency. As Cycles go so quickly, unless you’re planning on going all the way, it’s better to use Cores to increase your permanent stats.
It seems that these SyCom stat upgrades are permanent on release; however, this contradicts the Core tooltip. It’s yet to be seen whether this is a bug or just a bad tooltip, but for now, they’re here to stay.
One of Lapis' SyComs allows her to get extra upgrades to her core stats whenever she uses Cores to upgrade. This means that she benefits more from Core stat upgrades thanall the other Breakersdo, but even so, Cores are so rare that it’s still not a great use of your resources.
PB offers tons of good upgrades, but to be able to spend Golden Rations, you’ll need to unlock each Tier using a certain number of cores.These upgrades offer things like Medikits, increased stamina, and other really useful improvements.Once you grab some more helpful upgrades from PB, you can use your Cores for the temporary SyCom upgrades.
3Healing Is King
Starting With No Healing Is Tough; Here’s How To Get Started
When you first drop into the Overgrowth, you won’t have any way to heal yourself other than byparrying attacks inHyper Light Breakerand picking up Medigems, which both only heal around 5HP. This isn’t much, but thankfully, there are other ways to get HP back. The first is unlocking Medipacks, and the second is getting lucky Holobytes.
Medipack slots can be purchased by spending Golden Rations with PB and then crafted at the beginning of each run from Medigems.These packs can be used to heal 75 HP or revive a downed ally at full health, but no matter how you use them, being able to heal on command is so helpful. you may also spend Medigems at Shrines to craft Medipacks on the run, but this is both more expensive and more limited.
Hyper Light Breaker Steam Reviews Are In & The Verdict Is Less Than Favorable
Hyper Light Breaker has launched into early access today, and the Steam reviews are rolling in with a less-than-favorable verdict on the gameplay.
Occasionally, you might run into a Holobyte that offers healing as one of its perks.If a healing Holobyte works even slightly with your build, take it.One such upgrade that offers healing for every critical hit you deal is the only reason I beat the first Crown, and it is one of my go-tos any time I can get it. While this Holobyte is less useful for those who don’t rely on critical hits like Vermillion can, it’s still immensely helpful to have healing on demand.
2Pick Your Battles
You Don’t Have To Take Every Fight
There are tons of enemies that spawn in the Overgrowth, and it’s just not realistic to fight them all. Particularly in the earlier runs where you spawn far from the extraction point,you’ll have to run away from fights if you want to survive long enough to extract.This will allow you to live to your next run, though you will miss out on some Bright Blood.
ensure to stay focused on whatever short-term goal you’ve set for your excursion. If your goal is to grab two Prisms to prepare for your next run at the Crown, do so and get out, maybe grabbing some upgrades while you’re at it. Staying focused will prevent you from taking unnecessary damage and maybe even dying, which saves both time and sanity in the long run.
1Not Every Run Has To Be About Win Cons
Sometimes, Survival Is Enough
In the same vein as staying focused, setting reasonable goals for yourself as you enter each run is important. If you don’t have a weapon you like, you should focus your run on hunting one down. The same goes for the other pieces of equipment in your loadout, but the name of the game is not biting off more than you can chew. Like inRisk of Rain 2, the world state gets more and more hostile the longer you stay,so you benefit from shorter runs.
Not only will shorter runs mean you deal with less radiation and enemy drops, but you’ll also be able to upgrade your equipment more often.Hyper Light Breakeris a game that won’t hold your hand; it’s a hard game, and some lessons are best taught through dying to your own mistakes. Follow these tips, and pay attention to what works for you; this roguelite has yet to be solved, so the only “right” way to play is the one that you enjoy most.
