If you've ever wanted to take to the streets of Paris for some challenging combat and exploration, Steelrising has you covered. This soulslike title sets itself apart both aesthetically and mechanically in some surprising ways, making it a compelling experience for both genre vets and newcommers. Let's take a look at some useful tips to get you started in Steelrising so you can live to see another day in alt-history France.
You can adjust the difficulty via Assist Mode
One of Steelrising's most unconventional additions is an Assist Mode, which allows you to tailor the difficulty of the game to your preferences. Using a few sliders, you can adjust damage reduction, stamina (endurance) regeneration, and more. You can even opt to keep your anima (experience points) after death, should you wish to make things feel a bit more like a standard role-playing title. These toggles are all completely optional, though it's worth noting that they will disable certain difficulty-related trophies and achievements.
Grenades are extremely powerful offensive items
Soulslike games tend to feature a selection of optional utility items, but many of them can be limited in their usefulness, meaning players often ignore them in favor of going all-in with traditional weaponry. However, Steelrising's various grenades buck this trend and can be exceptionally powerful items to keep on hand. They can be thrown very quickly, with some sporting high damage potential and others building up helpful status effects on foes, allowing you to turn the tide of an otherwise challenging fight.
You can find grenades while exploring, but the most consistent way to keep them stocked is to purchase them from the Boutique at your carriage or any Vestal. You'll find which elemental grenades work best for your playstyle, of course, but the incredible physical damage you can cause with Explosive Grenades makes them worth keeping around for almost any build.
Frost is your friend
As mentioned above, you can apply status effects to your foes to turn the tides of battle. These can be built up by using elemental grenades or certain melee weapons imbued with specific elements. While every element can be detrimental to your opponents, few are as efficient and grant you as much opportunity as Frost. By building up enough Frost on an enemy, they'll freeze for a while--plenty of time for you to safely charge up your heavy attack or a strong special move for some massive damage. This is particularly good against bosses, as well as fast-moving enemies that can otherwise wear your endurance down quickly from so much dodging.
Don't be afraid to use your Ordinary Oil Vials
Your primary source of healing comes from your Oil Burrette, which can be upgraded a number of times and recharges uses every time you rest at your carriage or a Vestal. However, you'll commonly come across Ordinary Oil Vials, which can only be used once and will slowly heal your health over time, and they're more common than you may initially expect. While you certainly shouldn't overuse these unnecessarily, don't be afraid of popping them during boss fights or other concerning scenarios, as you'll find quite a few of them by exploring or by purchasing them at the Boutique for 100 anima.
Unlock all of your module slots before upgrading one
You'll start the game with one module slot open, which will allow you to equip a Level 1 Module of your choice. To unlock more and upgrade previously unlocked ones, you'll have to find Module Keys, which are scattered around the levels in specific locations or purchased in limited supply at the Boutique. You can upgrade each module slot multiple times to allow you to equip higher-tier modules, but you're unlikely to have a meaningful supply of Level 2+ options until a decent way into the game, so opt to simply unlock all of the module slots before bothering with any upgrades to one of them. Doing this will allow you to equip a total of four Level 1 modules pretty early on, then you can focus on upgrading to your personal needs from there.
Equip the compass and use it frequently
Like most soulslike games, Steelrising's level design features a relatively linear main path with an ever-growing series of shortcuts looping you back to points of interest. However, you'll often have more than one quest at a time, be it main objectives or side content to look for, so you'll want to be able to identify where to go for each. Early in the game, you'll receive a Compass, which can be equipped to your Quick Access Belt and used at any time to show you quest icons, giving you insight about which direction you should head. This can also be useful for helping you find the path back to your carriage so you can leave the level when you're ready.
Expect to farm a lot
Leveling up your character and weapons in Steelrising gets costly pretty quickly, and it can sometimes feel as if enemies don't award you with as much anima as you'd wish. When you add in the fact that you'll need to use a lot of your anima to purchase various items like healing vials, grenades, Module Keys, and necessary upgrade materials, you may find yourself having to spend a considerable amount of time farming to make it all happen. Throughout the game, expect that you'll need to find a Vestal near some fairly easy-to-defeat foes, take 'em down, then rest to reset the area repeatedly until you've managed to accrue enough anima to take care of what you need to do.
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