Saros leaves a lasting impression on players via its tenacious bullet hell gunplay, but (thankfully) it has also introduced quite a few accessibility changes and QoL improvements, making it more approachable than its spiritual predecessor, Returnal.
Make no mistake, Housemarque has still designed this game to be ruthless and unforgiving for veteran players, and to any newer ones jumping in for the first time, they’re definitely going to get their teeth kicked in, especially in the first two biomes or so.
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However, that’s exactly why I came prepared today to present to you my list of tips and tricks for Saros that I wish I had known sooner. And don’t worry, I won’t state the obvious in this, since this is all coming from someone who nabbed Returnal’s Platinum Trophy, set PR times in its Tower of Sisyphus mode, and has just Platinum-ed Saros as well.
8 Use Your Power Weapons Generously
Your MVP During Cornered Situations
Make no mistake about it, early on in Saros, you’re obligated to sparingly use your Power Weapon shots mainly because of your low-level stats correlating to a small gauge for that arsenal type. But once you’ve slowly leveled up Arjun’s Command attribute, it goes without saying that you should always try to spam this whenever possible, especially in denser crowd-control encounters.
Plus, always remember that the Shield allows you to absorb the blue projectiles or even the yellow ones if you’re quick with them. Soaking in a cluster of them will almost fully charge up your Power Weapon gauge, so make sure you take extensive advantage of the decimation that Power Weapons like the missile-shooting Prominence have to offer during tough situations.
7 Don’t Grab Every Single Artifact in the Early Game
Give In to the Illusion of Choice
I genuinely mean it, you’re not contracted to grab every single artifact that you come across, especially if they have Eclipse modifiers that may otherwise ruin your playstyle. More importantly, you’ll have a low number of Artifact slots early on anyway, so at that point, it’s best to pick and choose what benefits you since you can’t grab every single one you encounter.
Furthermore, some of the negative modifiers on Artifacts during the Eclipse state can be rather painful to take, such as the one where you can lose Lumenite on hits or even the one where enemy attacks get stronger with each successive hit. It’s better to take a gamble and not get them just in case you struggle with surviving in encounters.
6 Be Mindful of Your Attributes
Your Arsenal Scales With Them
Always keep in mind that Arjun’s three core attributes will directly influence some of the stats on his weapons, so if you’re dead-set on using a weapon that’s proportional to, let’s say, Resilience, focus on getting any artifact in your exploration that can boost this attribute.
Even with more advanced Artifacts, always be mindful that some of them can both increase and reduce a substantial value of the corresponding attributes, so having to prioritize which attribute you want higher can improve the efficiency of your weapons.
But even beyond that, try to prioritize the attributes as follows when getting them as drops from enemies or purchasing them in the Armor Matrix tree: Resilience > Drive > Command. You want more survivability from Resilience, and then Drive affects your Lucenite gain from enemies.
5 Don’t Worry Too Much About Corruption
The Game Lets You Cleanse it in Different Ways
Understandably so, Saros can make any player’s confidence crumble under the Corruption mechanic, which detains and limits your overall HP if you get hit by the yellow projectiles from enemies under the Eclipse state. However, I’m here to remind you that the game gives you plenty of options to cleanse this status effect, almost making it feel non-existent if you play your cards right.
Most notably, simply use your Power Weapon. Using it normally will clear a tiny portion of the Corruption, and if you grab some later nodes in the Armor Matrix like the ones that allow parrying to cleanse Corruption and your Shield to absorb some of those corrupted projectile damage, you won’t even have to worry about your HP getting gated.
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4 Use The Carcosan Modifiers
They’re Actually Game-Changing
Once you’ve gotten past the Shattered Descent Biome and have officially overcome the first two bosses in Saros, you’ll then gain access to the Carcosan Modifiers mechanic back at The Passage. These are essentially Housemarque’s way of introducing customizable difficulty sliders to Saros, where you can freely pick and choose between Protections and Trials. The only caveat is that you’ll need to balance the scale here right in the middle.
Each of these modifiers has a different threshold value depending on the effect, but for those who may struggle with the game, the damage and armor enhancement modifiers are worth it. Just be sure to balance them out with some negative modifiers like the Halcyon Removal or Lucenite Devaluation.
3 Always Tackle Nightmare Strands
The High Risk and Challenge is Worth It
If you remember the Containment Doors from Returnal, then prepare to have your grit and attrition tested once again in The Nightmare Strands of Saros. These are optional portals in biomes that activate under the Eclipse state and teleport you to an arena where you need to survive three different stages of enemies.
Now let it be clear that these are by no means a walk in the park. Especially the third wave, which spawns a bunch of major enemies and smaller ones that you won’t even have a second to breathe. But on the flip side, you’ll also equally be rewarded for your efforts in triumphing in these Nightmare Strands.
Among the rewards, you’ll likely find the Augment power-ups, which will greatly increase your maximum Power or HP. Plus, other bonuses here include Halycons, which are always valuable, and even a large chunk of Aether if you get lucky enough. So my point is, try to always take a gamble by attempting these, as the Nightmare Strands also serve as a personal skill check to test your awareness and reflexes.
2 Halycons Over Anything Else
Your Most Valuable Resources
Besides Lumenite, Halycons are the other permanent resource you’ll be able to maintain after runs. Compared to the former, these are scarcely found across the various biomes in Saros. You need to be mindful when spending these, as some of the upgrade nodes in the Armor Matrix end up requiring them to purchase them. One of the most important Halycon skills in the Armor Matrix will obviously be Second Chance, which allows you to gain a second life if you end up dying.
Whenever you get the option of picking between items, I strongly recommend picking Halycons over anything else that you may find during exploration. You can only find a limited amount depending on the biome you’re in, and the faster you accumulate these, the more you can spend on getting their upgrade nodes.
1 Adapt to the Environment
The Best Advice You’ll Ever Get
This is strictly speaking from personal experience; the one thing that helped me in both Returnal and Saros is using the environment to my advantage and learning not to constantly trail after enemies.
For the environment, essentially what I mean is to try using foliage and other obstructions to outmaneuver enemies. Whether it be constantly using a grappling hook point or even looping enemies in a pattern like a zombie horde shooter game, it will really help you out in tight situations, especially when fighting enemies in the Nightmare Strands.
And finally, always try to create space between you and the targets. Do not get greedy in hopes of finishing them. Get some breathing room and get completely out of harm’s way by dashing to the start of the area or repositioning. This will also ensure that you won’t get damaged at all, helping you convert that sweet Aether into Lumenite clusters instead.
8 Ways Saros Improves On Returnal
These are all the ways that Saros improves on Returnal.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
