Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden — 5 Best Tips for Beginners

Developer Don’t Nod returns with their ever-so-invigorating, choice-driven adventures. In Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, you have the power to send lingering spirits to the afterlife or banish them to ‘hell.’ Don’t worry, you’ll have the proper guidance to ease you well into the banisher profession. But even then, you’ll want to know a few essential things before diving in. 

At its core, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden bestows upon you the burden of deciding the fate of the people you meet. It sends powerful ghosts, specters and scourges your way to put down your sword and elemental powers. Further, you’ll need to explore the atmospheric 17th-century world for clues and resources. So, how can you make the most of your experience? Here are the Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden—the best tips for beginners you want to know beforehand.

5. Watch out for Glowing Rings

For any game, you want to keep a lookout for subtle clues the developers leave out for you. In Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, for instance, you have glowing rings (often accompanied by a sound effect) on the right hand of either Red or Antea during exploration and combat. These often suggest which character you should use for an activity nearby that requires your attention.

If you see the glowing rings switch to red, it means that you need to use Red to access a ritual site nearby.

You need to search for a red ring on the ground and interact with it to pull up the ritual menu. It could also mean that there’s an item nearby that you need to pick up. However, if the glowing rings change to green, it usually means you need to switch to Antea to reveal a hidden item only she can see or perform a manifestation to clear a path forward.

Alternatively, when the glowing ring switches to red during combat, it means that you need to prepare for an incoming attack. It’s more like a warning sign to prepare to perform a dodge, block or parry to avoid taking damage. Moreover, watch out for Antea and Red’s Bane Rings. When they glow, it often indicates a nearby location of interest. Alternatively, when Red’s Bane ring starts to glow during combat, it can be a warning sign that spectral matter may be nearby.

4. Explore for Useful Resources

Exploration is a significant part of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden’s gameplay. It’s a means to discover valuable resources hidden throughout the atmospheric environment. While you won’t spot plenty of resources, there are many secrets to uncover and resources to scoop up. Watch out for question marks that often indicate valuable resources like treasure chests. 

Locked chests will need you to explore some more for a key. Cursed chests, on the other hand, require you to find three items to lift the curse. In any case, keep exploring for new gear and equipment. In return, you’ll unlock new abilities and passive skills to help in combat. 

As a rule of thumb, you should pick up everything. You’ll need every resource you can get for upgrades and rituals. Fortunately, the game makes it easy for you to spot resources; simply watch out for a glow. In the end, it’s better to have too many resources than not enough. 

3. The Choices You Make Matter

It’s true, the choices in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden can really send you down a rabbit hole. At least all the brain-racking you’ll do will have a significant impact on the story. It’ll influence the fate of the people you meet and even whether Antea herself survives or not.

You’ll essentially choose whether to ascend a lingering spirit to the afterlife, banish it to eternal suffering, or blame the living, sacrificing them in Antea’s favor. And while some haunting cases will be clear-cut, others will have gray areas that require you to take a moment to think carefully and extensively about what to do.

Speaking of haunting cases… 

2. Make Solving Haunting Cases Your Best Pal

The fabric of the game is the haunting cases you’ll solve. They’re side missions that intertwine heavy themes of loss and sacrifice. You’ll investigate haunting cases, interview the parties involved, including spirits and the living, find clues, and collect evidence to support your case. Once you’re done, you’ll summon all parties to deliver the final reckoning. 

But while some haunting cases will test your morals and make you emotionally invested, they’re worthwhile. Many of them are optional but do go out of your way to complete as many as you can. If not for the experience, then to earn skill points and essence. These unlock new abilities in your skill trees that help in combat. Completing haunting cases also contributes to the larger story arc, making sense of the game’s vision.

1. Understanding the Rituals 

Finally, you’ll need to perform rituals as part of your banisher duties. Knowing which ritual to perform is essential. Sure, you won’t get punished when you perform the wrong one, but you do lose resources. 

Here’s a quick overview of the rituals in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and their use cases.

• Harken – Reenacts a memory to learn from the past, often when compiling clues for your haunting case.
• Make Manifest – Commands a ghost or specter to appear before you, often to interview or fight them as part of your playthrough.
• Summon Scourge – Summons a scourge, which is a more powerful specter. Unlocks much later, after your first ten hours or so.
• Unbound – Used to lift the curse on Cursed Chests, though it unlocks later in the game when you find all three items required for a cursed chest.
• Void Travel – It lets you access or leave a Void Breach site but unlocks much later in the game.

So, what’s your take? Do you agree with our Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden—best tips for beginners? Are there more tips we should know about? Let us know over on our socials here.