Scars Above: 5 Best Tips for Beginners

Scars Above is a neat sci-fi action-adventure that follows protagonist Kate’s journey into the unknown. When a giant foreign pyramid appears on Earth, Kate and her crew of scientists are asked to investigate the anomaly. But, when they try to make contact, they’re rudely blasted off into space. 

Kate comes to a foreign planet. This place crawls with all kinds of monsters, and her crew is nowhere to be seen. A lot of questions linger on the players' minds as they navigate this mysterious planet. Without mastering Scars Above’s unique gameplay elements, it could mean getting stuck here forever. Not to worry, though, as these Scars Above best tips for beginners hold the key to surviving the toughest boss battles, and returning safely home.

5. Experiment With Elemental Damage

Elemental damage is such a huge deal in Scars Above. It actually makes up most of the combat. In essence, Kate gets a hold of a variety of weapons that are pretty much like guns. However, instead of shooting bullets, they shoot different elements like electricity, fire, ice, and, eventually, acid.

Now, the first thing to know is that not all enemies are vulnerable to the elements. They can either withstand certain elements, or be vulnerable to them. So, you’ll definitely want to confirm whether you’re using the right element that inflicts the most damage on the monsters you fight. Of course, you’re likely to inflict heavier damage if you target an enemy’s weak points. So, once you find a matching element, target the weak points, and you’re good to go.

The second thing is experimenting with various elemental combos to see which ones deal the most damage. For instance, if you hit an enemy with ice, it’ll freeze them. You can then trigger a combo by hitting them with a different element, say electricity. However, note that while the latter element increases the elemental damage dealt, it comes at the expense of shortening the effect of the former.

The last thing to note is that you’re free to create combos with the environment itself. So, let’s say you encounter a swarm of enemies in water. You can fire electricity rounds at them to deal even more damage. Or, you can shoot fire into the water to create a hole where enemies fall into and get frozen over. Or, plenty of other clever ways you can experiment and amplify damage dealt.

4. Watch Out for Your Stamina

Kate’s stamina is tied to her prowess as a scientist, not as a soldier. Consequently, her stamina while running, dodging, and attacking enemies tends to drain much faster than usual. Once her stamina runs out, you can’t attack or defend yourself.

Fortunately, your stamina refills quickly. However, if you happen to be taking more attacks than you can handle, it’s easy to find yourself respawned at a pillar. To avoid dying too much, watch out for your stamina while in battle, and aim to maintain it at more than half at all times.

 If you start to run low, try to increase your stamina in the various ways available, like load management, which increases your stamina for running.

3. Explore, Always

Exploring is not an option in Scars Above. It can so easily make the difference between winning and losing. Especially since Scars Above doesn’t follow the usual “level up to gain skill points” recipe of other RPGs. Instead, Kate needs to level up by gaining experience as a scientist, essentially doing things like discovery and exploration.

So, if you want to level up, you’ll need to scan stuff and make new alien discoveries in the environment. A single scan goes a long way to gaining “knowledge,” so try not to miss even a single one. The more knowledge you acquire, the higher you level up, skill-wise. The same goes for unlocking new gear. 

At times, you may want to skid past the game, then backtrack to collect the valuable items or cross-check anything you may have missed. Scars Above isn’t so generous in that regard, so the only way is to explore diligently every step of the way.

2. Heal Thyself

Since you’re a scientist, you should have an easier time healing, right? No, wrong. Healing is quite limited. First, you’ll find a healing stimulant free to replenish at pillar checkpoints. As you progress, you start to increase your healing stimulant inventory, eventually coming across a fibre-based healing aid. 

Fiber is drained when you use a healing salve or an anti-toxin shot. Though, unlike the healing stimulants, you can’t replenish fiber at checkpoints, so remember to use them sparingly.

There’s a third ability you’re free to unlock upon reaching the second tier of the Xenobiology tree. This ability helps to restore your health after each successful melee kill. Although it’s not as effective as the healing stimulants, it sure is a welcome addition to an already limited supply. 

1. You Don’t Have to Kill Every Enemy

It’s inevitable to die a couple of times in Scars Above. After all, it’s potentially a tough sci-fi with unique gameplay elements you may not be used to. One “difficulty” aspect you may notice is that when you activate a pillar or die and respawn at one, all the non-boss enemies you may have already killed respawn too.

You could choose to test your skills and kill all respawned enemies again. If you die multiple times, you may find yourself stuck on repeat. Since it’s something you’ve already done before, it should come easily to you with each respawn. Though it may happen a few times, new enemies you’ve never seen before may pop up.

However, you don’t have to kill every enemy, especially if you’ve already fought them before. Simply running past them is more than an okay thing to do. Plus, it helps conserve your ammo, other resources, and your patience for later boss fights. Unless an enemy is literally standing in the way, there’s no reason to fight every single one.

So, what’s your take? Do you agree with our Scars Above best tips for beginners? Are there more tips you’d like to share with us? Let us know down in the comments or over on our socials here.