Here are 15 tips to keep in mind and become an efficient Dawnwalker, starting with…

Always Check the Hourglass

Very quickly, it becomes apparent how precious time is as a resource. 30 days may seem like a lot, but between quests and other commitments, it can disappear very quickly. Explore to your heart’s content, but when committed to specific quests, always check whether they’re time-sensitive. Your journal is especially useful for this, since it indicates whether they require completion during the day or night via the sun and moon icons. Prioritize which quest to complete first rather than taking on several and hoping they remain available indefinitely.

Rescue Persons in Danger for “Free” Skill Points

Skill points are almost as valuable as time, so earning as many as possible is ideal. One of the quickest methods is to rescue people in danger. They’re littered throughout the map, day or night, and remain available. Even better, they don’t advance the deadline and immediately provide skill points for knocking some heads around.

Skills Cost More Than Skill Points

That being said, unlocking and upgrading abilities requires more than just skill points. They need – you guessed it – time. As a result, you should think carefully about whether an ability will actually be useful. Don’t be afraid to upgrade an often-used skill, especially if it provides an edge, but it’s not a bad idea to sit on a bunch of skill points and use them when the right ability becomes available.

Buy Shapeshift and Mercurial Fervor ASAP

If you want something immediately useful from the get-go, pick up Shapeshift and Mercurial Fervor. Shapeshift enables Coen to transform into a wolf at nighttime for quicker traversal. The latter boosts your movement speed during the day, which can make exploration feel better given the lack of mounts.

At Night We Live

Picking up Shapeshift serves another important purpose: Mapping the world. Since it’s only available at nighttime, use the opportunity to explore and check the world for different points of interest – the added speed comes in handy. You should also unlock Shadowstep for easily climbing structures at night, making it much more practical for scouting. As much as we would have preferred being able to transform into a bat and simply flying around at night, these two skills are the best alternatives.

Prioritize the Towers Early

Yes, The Blood of Dawnwalker features a well-worn open-world genre trope. And like in the classic Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed games of yore, they’re extremely useful and worth prioritizing. Upon climbing one – which Shadowstep also turns into a trivial task – they’ll unfog the map and reveal collectibles, activities (including the aforementioned people in need of rescuing and quests). Granted, they’re denoted by question marks, so you’ll still need to discover them first-hand, but that’s where wolf form comes in handy. If nothing else, treat these as a planning tool, giving you more agency over where things are on the map rather than blindly running around.

Reward vs. Time Investment

Now, you could set about clearing the map in the traditional open-world OCD fashion that would make you overleveled in no time (which isn’t exactly the case since time is a resource for upgrading skills). So you’re better off checking the rewards for different open-world activities and whether they’re worth clearing instead of trying to tackle everything, everywhere, all at once.

Unlocking New Sword Mastery and Witchcraft Skills

Earlier, we mentioned time and skill points, but other factors must be considered for new skills to even become available in the first place. You have three separate skill trees: Sword Mastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism. Sword Mastery and Witchcraft both require manuals. The former is bought or discovered, while the latter is found in ruins or with practitioners of the dark arts. Once again, exploration can be worthwhile just to find these, but make sure you have enough coin on hand, in case you run across a vendor selling them.

Vampirism and Corruption

Vampirism is a different beast altogether because it doesn’t require manuals. Instead, it relies on Corruption, which increases when drinking blood. To that end, you can bite and feed off enemies or animals to quickly increase Corruption, unlocking access to those vampire skills earlier. That’s another good reason to venture out and explore at night – more easily discovering prey to bolster your Corruption.

Control the Hungry

Whether you’re treating Vale Sangora like an all-you-can-eat buffet or act like a picky eater, it helps to keep Coen’s hunger under control. Failure to do so will cause him to enter a frenzy and feed on an NPC, whether you want to or not, sometimes even killing them in the process. This can become a problem during quest steps or important narrative events, so grab a quick snack ahead of time, just in case.

Avoid Killing Non-Hostile NPCs

There are games with failure states, and then there’s Dawnwalker, which lets you keep going, seemingly with bated breath to see how you can screw things up further. So despite the sheer freedom to kill nearly anyone, try to spare the quest givers lest you lose access to their content (and rewards) for the rest of that playthrough. And if you need to let loose now and again, at least save scum before doing so.

Omniattack and Omniblock

Don’t let all those years on the Path fool you into thinking Dawnwalker’s combat is the same. Blocking and parrying blows involve directional input, so you’ll need to read enemies carefully when attacking and defending. Alternatively, you can enable Omniattack and Omniblock, which automatically decide the attack direction and make it easier to get a feel for the mechanics.

Why You Should Master Directional Combat

So why even bother with directional combat in the first place? For starters, manually blocking in the right direction won’t cost stamina and timing it perfectly can stagger a foe long enough to unleash hell. In that same vein, directional attacks deal more damage. You’ll also unlock skills over time where critical strikes deal more damage with directional attacks. So treat Omniattack and Omniblock as a primer, but don’t let them become a crutch.

Choosing the Ideal Weapon

Coen’s skill lies in swordplay, but there are multiple options in that department (and a few non-blade weapons) to choose from. You’ll be tempted to choose the weapon that deals the most damage, but also consider the attack speed, especially with how important timing can be. Our advice would be to get comfortable with all types and learn them in the process, if only to find one that’s most comfortable.

Dismantle Brencis’s Court

Last but certainly not least – take down Brencis’s Court. Each member of the court – Ambrus, Bakir and Xanthe – is in charge of different facilities that ultimately make the big bad so strong. If you’re having trouble challenging him at any point, try targeting their facilities. This builds Infamy, causing Brencis to enact different measures to make life miserable (though it can also have benefits, like intimidating others in conversations). Challenging the court is optional, however, so if you don’t want to – or want to become stronger and face a full-power Brencis – have at it.

Don’t Over-Rely on Blocking

Blocking and parrying are central to combat in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, but though it’s easy to over-rely on holding down the block button at most times in similar games, we don’t recommend doing that here. Though you will obviously be blocking damage from potential incoming attacks that way, holding down block also depletes your stamina faster, which means your guard breaks quicker, leaving you more vulnerable. Instead, your focus should be on observing enemy movements and attacks and pulling out carefully timed dodges and parries- more on those in a bit.

Don’t Spam Attacks

Onimusha: Way of the Sword retains a lot of the DNA of the series’ older titles, but in modernizing the formula, it does also change the combat in some ways- such as making it more deliberate, precise, and skill based. That means spamming attacks won’t get you anywhere, especially on the combat focused difficulty mode. Enemies are prone to blocking and guarding against flurries of spammed attacks, which in turn also leaves you open to devastating attacks yourself. Instead, it is much more effective to try to find ways to break enemies’ stances in other ways. Speaking of which, one such way is…

Use the Environment

Your sword and your gauntlet are obviously your best and most effective tools in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, but using your surroundings to your advantage is also a great way to turn to tide in your favour in skirmishes. Whether that’s from getting enemies to crash into walls, leaving them dazed for a few moments, or using objects such as massive wooden boards, carts or what have you for both offensive and defensive purposes, environmental cues and objects can come in quite handy in the middle of combat- so pay attention and frequently scan your surroundings.

Parries and Deflects

Let’s get to the meat and potatoes of Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s combat- the parry mechanic, which is also one of the game’s brightest highlights. While it is obviously crucial to get the timing of perfect parries down if you want to get the best of your foes (especially the tougher ones), just as important, if not more so, is figuring out when to use parries and when to use deflects. While deflects, unlike perfect parries, don’t allow for immediate follow up attacks, they can be highly useful in other ways, such as redirecting or maneuvering enemies into environmental hazards or traps, or sending arrows flying back at archers- so choose wisely in the moment.

Issen and Issen Break

Way of the Sword adds another layer to its parry mechanics with Issen and Break Issen, which are a great way to be aggressive (which, of course, is always encouraged in Onimusha). In a nutshell, if you strike at an enemy with perfect timing at the exact moment that they are attacking you, your swords will clash and allow you to follow up with either one-hit kill attacks on weaker foes, or chains of deadly hits among groups of enemies. Issen chains can be a great way of thinning out large groups in particular, so try to single out weaker foes that allow for easier Issen opportunities.

Blaze and Reflex Gauges

Something else that you’re going to want to keep your eye on is your Blaze and Reflex gauges. Built up respectively through perfect parries and perfect dodges (or reflex dodges, as the game calls them), both are highly useful tools in combat. Once filled up, your Blaze gauge allows you to unleash deadlier and more devastating attacks, while the Reflex gauge lets you use more effective Reflex combos. When used right, both can be quite handy, especially in the middle of a tough boss encounter.

Don’t Leave Souls on the Field

Enemies drop souls constantly in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, but as longtime series fans will tell you, you should be very active in absorbing them as soon as you can. While it might be tempting to just leave them on the field with the intention of grabbing them later in one go, given how useful they can be (especially for healing and building up your armament gauge), it is highly recommended that you find the necessary windows where you can pause from attacking and defending and absorb the souls around you. During boss fights, bosses also tend to suck up souls that have been left unattended, and you definitely don’t want that happening.

Pick Up Items, Explore, Break Stuff

This should go without saying, but you should be grabbing any shiny blue items you can spot on the field, even from a distant. These are what you use primarily to power up your charms, which is one of several ways you can strengthen Musashi, while you’ll also find soul stones, healing items, and more, so yes, it’s definitely recommended that you explore environments to make sure you’re grabbing all the items you need. You’ll also often find barrels, boxes, and what have you scattered throughout the environment, and in true classic action game fashion, all of those are obviously smashable- and yes, you should smash those, because every so often, they will drop useful items for you to grab.

Special Vision

Your gauntlet also equips you with a special Vision, which is handy in exactly all the ways you would expect. Triggering this vision highlights various things of interest in your vicinity, including items, hidden paths, enemies, potential ambushes, environmental traps and hazards, and more. While spamming it isn’t helpful, we would recommend using your Vision every time you enter a new room or area to ensure you have a good idea of what’s waiting for you and what you need to investigate in your immediate vicinity.

Explore Kyoto

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a pretty focused and linear experience, but it does offer the room to explore every now and then, and when it does, you should definitely take up that option. The central hub for Kyoto in particular has a lot of opportunities for farming souls, earning rewards, finding items, and enhancing Musashi’s abilities, so exploring the city and its optional offerings is encouraged.

Don’t Ignore the Training Grounds

A couple of hours into Onimusha: Way of the Sword, you will gain access to the Training Grounds, which are exactly what they sound like- but though training arenas can sometimes be easy to ignore, here, we’d recommend making full use of them. Not only are they a great way of picking up and mastering the way tools you have at your disposal as a warrior in Way of the Sword, you can also replay boss fights, while there are also several rewards to be earned. Not all of those rewards are worth the effort, but some of them certainly can be, so we’d definitely suggest not ignoring the training grounds.

Return to Earlier Areas After Gaining New Powers

Several of Musashi’s abilities are useful both in battle and while exploring. The Strength abilty, for example, can smash through enemy shields, but it can also destroy Malice barriers blocking certain routes. Areas that appeared fully explored may therefore contain additional encounters, Power Stones, upgrade resources and hidden items once new abilities become available.

Mix Powerful Strikes into Your Offence

Rapid light attacks will not always be the safest approach, particularly against enemies that grow more dangerous as a fight continues. Byakue, for instance, becomes increasingly aggressive after being drenched in its own blood. A stream of weaker strikes can push the encounter into this more dangerous state without removing enough of its health.

Against such opponents, look for opportunities to land fewer but considerably stronger blows.

Use the Bow to Disrupt Bosses

The Bow is useful for much more than hitting distant enemies and solving environmental puzzles. During certain boss encounters, carefully placed arrows can interrupt especially dangerous moves and expose the enemy to further punishment.

Watch for vulnerable limbs or appendages whenever a boss begins charging an elaborate attack. When a boss prepares one of its most damaging moves, for example, shooting its tail severs it and inflicts considerable damage.

Use Combat Prompts as a Learning Tool

Optional button prompts indicate the most suitable response to an incoming attack, whether that means dodging, parrying or using another defensive technique. This makes them useful for more than simply reducing the game’s difficulty.

Consider enabling the prompts when facing an unfamiliar enemy or struggling to interpret its attack animations. They can help establish which visual cues correspond to each defensive response.

Upgrade the Medicinal Pouch

Increasing the capacity of Musashi’s medicinal pouch allows him to carry more recovery items into combat. This becomes increasingly important during the latter portions of the game, when boss encounters become difficult.

This Star Wars Zero Company guide is a tiered listing of the eight selectable Specializations to be found, in descending order from best to least useful in battle.

Soldier

The squad staple operator, Soldiers do a little bit of everything with some explosive Rocket fire as a cherry on top.

Brutal Strike is a rush attack for Melee Damage and Dazing enemies.

The Strength passive raises Melee Damage further, and lobs Grenades farther.

Armsmaster boosts Blaster damage as well as Grenade damage.

The Rocket Strike Ultimate fires an area-of-effect explosive rocket, with upgrades doing ever-increasing rates of base damage before eventually applying Vulnerable to victims as well.

Gunslinger

This class is all about multiple ranged attacks, for sweeping up as many enemies as possible within a single turn.

Quick Draw lets off a super-quick sidearm shot for 1 AP, but further penalizes the chance to actually land it. That penalty is lowered as the ability is upgraded, from 25% all the way down to 5%. Eliminating a target restores the 1 AP cost at its highest tier, potentially allowing for chain kills in a single turn.

Keen Eye raises Critical Chance, starting from a 6% bonus to a max of 18%.

Onslaught comes in really handy in conjunction with Quick Draw, as it adds an automatic +1 damage to the primary Blaster for each attack conducted within the same turn.

Open Fire is the Gunslinger’s Ultimate and begins with simply the ability to fire twice at enemies for 9 Advantage, with successive upgrades granting bonuses to hit chance, before topping off with a third shot at its highest tier.

Sharpshooter

This long-range specialist is a foundational element for any squad of operators, and is essential for reducing enemy ranks while outside their range.

Zero In improves accuracy, stacking Lethal, and raising both hit chance and Critical Chance, for 1 AP.

The Pick Them Off passive increases hit chance specifically during Overwatch, adding some bonus damage on top as well.

Sharpshooter Training grants an additional 10% hit chance to Blaster attacks, useful in a close quarters pinch.

The Sharpshooter’s Ultimate is the Precision Shot, which guarantees a Blaster hit plus does Critical Damage, for the cost of 6 Advantage.

Heavy

Essentially the tank class, the Heavy best serves as the operator that draws fire while other Specializations position themselves for their own attacks. A favorite foundational operator for permadeath or Beskar runs.

Taking attacks is how Unstoppable is triggered, which adds two stacks of Retaliation or counter-attack. This increases in potency with upgrades.

The Conditioning passive raises maximum Health, starting from four all the way to twenty points.

Heavy Armor Training raises Defense, but only by two points with no further upgrades.

A uniquely third passive in the form of Intimidating Posture really drives home the point of the Heavy’s primary purpose of attracting attention: Blaster attacks will Taunt the target, if the shot actually lands.

For 4 Advantage, the Bulwark Ultimate takes Taunting to its limits, drawing all the fire from enemies in the target zone, with another two points of Defense for the Heavy’s benefit, but only during that turn. At its highest tier, it also makes the Heavy Impervious and Immovable.

Assault

An ideal class for bold, decisive tactics if you want to take the fight right to the enemy.

Bull Rush to charge into enemies and deal Melee Damage while also Pushing them away, at a cost of 1 AP.

Increase initial movement by between 1.0-3.0m with the Fleet of Foot passive.

The Strike The Flanks passive lets them gain a bonus 20% Critical Chance versus enemies that are clear of cover.

The Sweeping Salvo Ultimate both damages and Disorients enemies caught within its fairly large cone-shaped attack area, at a cost of 4 Advantage. 

Scout

A support class, best paired with the Sharpshooter, the Scout is all about spotting enemies before they spot your squad.

Combat Recon assesses all enemies in the target zone, earning you one point of Advantage per threat, which will come in handy later.

The passive Tactical Timing is all about Advantage farming, with an ever-increasing chance to gain one point of Advantage for each enemy takedown.

The Spotter highlights any enemy attacked by the Scout’s Blaster.

The Ambush Ultimate consumes the entirety of all that Advantage you have been farming, at a minimum of four to trigger. In exchange, the Scout performs a surprise attack for a starting bonus of two Damage per Advantage, up to a maximum of five.

Medic

The healer class is a must-have in permadeath or Beskar modes, in order to mitigate the mechanic where three Injuries lead to irrecoverable death. Still, you may or may not have one of these in your squad based on choice of difficulty, and experience with the game.

Combat Stim actually buffs allies, starting with two additional damage and eight more points to Max Health, for just two turns, with the latter increasing over multiple upgrades. By the final tier, an ally will have three bonus damage and twelve more Max Health for the full encounter

Lifesaving Measures restores health by percentages, starting at a mere 5% all the way up to 30%.

The First Responder passive simply locks a Medpac to the operator without consuming a utility slot, and Rally fully restores an ally’s health.

The Morale Boost Ultimate gives both the Medic and allies in proximity four stacks of Morale for a start, eventually topping off at ten stacks through upgrades. Each stack restores two points of Health per turn, but a single stack is then discarded as the turn passes. Morale-boosted operators shrug off the hit chance penalizations from being injured as an additional bonus.

Scoundrel

Another support class that sets up other operators for success, the Scoundrel has a bevy of buffs to apply to allies.

For 1 AP, Identify Weakness causes the next hit on the target to be a Critical Hit, with upgrades simply improving range, until the last one which allows for an additional stack of Vulnerable.

The Never Play Fair passive increases Assist Damage by one point, all the way to five points by the end.

Scoundrel’s Instinct does Penetrating damage right through four points of Defense.

Easy Mark is the Scoundrel’s Ultimate and marks a target so that the operator can Assist the next ally that also attacks it. The cost of 7 Advantage is steep, but mirrors any Critical Hit done by the ally, as well as doing increasing Critical Damage on its own.

Those are all of the Specialization classes in Star Wars Zero Company as a tier list from the best to the least recommended.

This Star Wars Zero Company guide is all about the ten Personalities and what they affect.

The Bruiser

The Bruiser is a heavy hitter with a heart. Taciturn and reliable, they look forward to lending their strength to Zero Company.

Choose this if you find all the chit-chat annoying, and expect short comments at most. Works well with the Gunny, including on Dilemmas, where they are both all about strength and decisive action.

The Firebrand

The Firebrand is on the side of the people, and sometimes that means working for outfits like Zero Company. The cause needs credits too.

Expect a lot of sanctimonious declarations from this Personality, and more often than not too. Even in the Den they will have something to say. The Firebrand pairs well with the Mentor, especially on Dilemmas, but will often lock horns with the Rake and the Rogue.

The Gunny

Eccentric and inquisitive, the Gunny knows better than to believe anything any government tries to tell him. You can question the Gunny’s theories (and frankly, you probably should) but you can’t deny his skills.

The team realist, or skeptic at worst, the Gunny will keep the squad light-hearted with observational commentary. A good companion to the Bruiser, aligning with them on Dilemmas, and abiding by sheer brute force.

The Maverick

Young, dumb, and full of coaxium, the Maverick lives to fight. He’ll be the first to tell you he’s the best operator in the business and the last to back down from a challenge.

Brash and talkative to the point of annoyance, the Maverick can be tamed to some degree by a Professional or a Mentor, expectedly. 

The Mentor

The Mentor has been in the game long enough to watch crime lords rise and fall, governments crumble, and mercenary outfits turn to dust. She’s happy to share her hard-won wisdom with anyone who asks (and even some who don’t).

Perhaps the most interesting Personality to listen to, you might actually feel like you are missing out if you don’t hear an observation from them. Best paired with the Maverick or the Wildcard who tend to bounce all over the place, and will likely side with the Firebrand in Dilemmas, based on core beliefs.

The Professional

The Professional is all about the job at hand. Cool, competent, and matter-of-fact, they prefer to keep their personal life to themselves.

A great choice for clean, uncluttered dialogue during combat, as well as in the Den. Only the Bruiser comes close to the laconic lines of the Professional, and tone-counters the Maverick quite effectively. Will side with the Specialist in Dilemmas, backing a cool, clinical approach.

The Rake

The Rake is a street-smart former associate of a major crime syndicate. Although he still talks like an underworld agent, his loyalty is to Zero Company now.

A classic criminal archetype, expect a lot of nostalgic commentary, and a sense of been-there-done-that from the Rake. Will likely align well with the Rogue, while clashing with the Firebrand and possibly the Mentor in Dilemmas.

The Rogue

The Rogue is a woman for all seasons. Urbane, confident, and self-possessed, she’s an experienced con artist and operator whose deadliness is matched only by her charm.

The Rogue is a counterpart to the Professional in how slick and sophisticated they both come across, without a hint of panic in the field. Tends to align with the Rake in Dilemmas, favoring Credits over the ethics of the Firebrand and the Mentor.

The Specialist

The Specialist isn’t cheap, but they’re damn good. Expertly trained and highly experienced, they’re known for their clean, discreet work.

The Specialist might be hard to differentiate from the Professional, but they are a little more verbose while maintaining a business-like attitude. Will likely align with the Rogue and the Professional in Dilemmas as well, with that same business-like approach.

The Wildcard

The Wildcard just wants to have a good time. They got into the operator game on pure nerve and stay in it for the thrills.

Another annoyance in terms of attitude and verbosity, the Wildcard is even worse than the Maverick. In the same squad, you can expect a chaotic time, so best keep them well wide apart, with a Mentor or a Professional to keep them in line instead.

Those are all ten Personalities and how well they synergize with each other in Star Wars Zero Company.

This Star Wars Zero Company guide lists all ten Universal Talents and which Specializations they pair with best, while also including a very relevant eleventh Talent that is exclusive to Astromechs.

A Life of Labor

This Talent grants an increasing number of points in just Health and Defense at first, and then Melee Damage and Critical Hit Damage as well, as you upgrade it.

The default choice which is applicable to just about any Specialization since it covers the core attributes, but is probably best suited to Soldiers, Heavies, and Assaults.

Anticipation

Gaining a stack of Evasion is especially a boon to frontline Operators such as the Bruiser and the Scout, as it negates an incoming attack, but is consumed in the process. While costing 1 AP per use, upgrades will eventually grant up to three uses per turn, and then even allow it to be cast on an ally instead.

Support units can also benefit from this if they are accompanying a tank Operator, thus avoiding any attacks directed at them.

Cold Blooded

Cold Blooded is a damage and death-dealing Talent, uniquely existing outside other skills in its ability to make the next melee or ranged strike a definite Critical Hit, by applying one stack of Vicious.

The Sharpshooter is the most obvious choice for Vicious kills, but the Gunslinger would also benefit from guaranteed Critical Hits.

Costs 1 AP, and stacks a single Vicious just once per combat, but it can be upgraded to trigger more times per combat, and eventually to double stack. A stack is lost upon a successful hit, of course.

Espionage

Earning Intel Rewards through the Espionage Talent is an excellent addition to the field team, and probably best foisted upon a backline or supporting Operator.

If you have any aspiration of participating in Operations on the Galaxy Map at all, then you should try to amass Intel Rewards using this otherwise completely passive Talent.

Bear in mind that Intel Rewards from Operators with the Espionage Talent do not stack, meaning that it is a futile exercise to take two of them on the same mission.

Fortitude

If your frontline tanks are taking a beating, make lemonade out of it with Fortitude. This Talent jacks up the Operator’s Defense rating, starting fairly low before ending on +6 and a bonus ability to completely negate the injury penalty that usually affects chance to hit. Otherwise there would be a 10% penalty for every single injury, and that would have to be borne between missions as well.

Great for Bruisers, Soldiers, and Assaults, or anyone right on the frontline too.

Grit

A damage-absorbing Talent, Grit simply negates damage received by consuming a stack of Invulnerable for each successful incoming hit landed. At 1 AP per use, it also grants increasing points to Max Health through upgrades, before finally adding a second stack of Invulnerable to the mix.

Another one for Bruisers, Soldiers, and Assaults, or anyone right on the frontline too.

Sabotage

An Advantage consuming Talent for one, Sabotage sets off explosive hazards in the field, dealing opportunistic damage via just the environment itself.

Several Specializations can combine their abilities with this one, such as shoving enemies into explosives before detonating them. Soldiers can double up on explosive area-of-effects acts by combining the Rocket Strike with Sabotage.

While costing two points of Advantage it is initially limited to just one per combat, with upgrades eventually making it completely unlimited for rampant mayhem.

Taunt

Applying the Taunt Talent on a Heavy that already has a passive Taunt through Intimidating Posture might seem redundant, but bear in mind that the latter comes with the caveat of needing to actually hit targets and specifically with the Blaster primary only.

While costing 1 AP, and only ever allowing a single Taunt each turn, it will also reduce the taunted enemy’s damage output by as much as six points by the final upgrade.

And remember that it does not require a successful weapon hit, or even line-of-sight for that matter.

The Bigger They Are…

Save this for your really heavy hitters, so that they can contend with enemy heavy hitters. This Talent allows Operators to specialize in Elite and Boss killing, with bonus damage dealt from both Ranged and Melee Attacks.

Sharpshooters and Gunslingers that are already stacking other bonuses are the obvious choice for this Talent, and it applies to every single successful shot landed.

Thievery

As tempting as it may be to apply this Talent to multiple Operators in the squad, its boon of additional Credits on mission completion does not stack. Even still, a starting bonus of 150 Credits that eventually tops out at 300 Credits is nothing to scoff at.

With just one support Operator dedicated to farming Credits, you will be raking in the investment funds hand over fist for both your Den as well as any other expenditures throughout the course of the campaign.

Built-In Comlink

While technically not a ‘Universal’ Talent, being limited to Astromechs, this one makes them actually useful on-mission. The ability to give an ally AP, even a single point once per turn in the beginning is a massive boon. By the second upgrade it becomes twice per turn, and then immediately an unlimited number of times per turn after that.

Gunslingers and Sharpshooters will likely benefit the most from a support Operator with this Talent.

Those are all the Universal Talents in Star Wars Zero Company and the Operator Specializations to whom they would apply best.

This Madden NFL 27 guide is all about Evos and how to get them without spending a dime on Madden Points.

How To Get Evos For Free

The Ultimate Captain Evo is available right away, and allows you to evolve a single player of your choice, with an OVR ranging from 70 to 82.

Choose carefully, as the selected player is intended for evolution throughout your season.

Fortunately, you are not locked-in to whichever player you apply to, and a relatively token amount of 150 MUT Coins will allow you to essentially respec them to their original OVR, so that you can then apply the Evo to another player of your choice.

Bear in mind that while this unchainable Evo can be removed, it prohibits any additional Evos from being added.

An Evo is awarded for free by simply completing the free path of the Preseason Standouts Field Pass, and even that is easily accomplished through daily objectives and challenges that you would probably be grinding every day anyway.

The Training Camp Field Pass gives you a free Luther Burden III 76 OVR card, which has an Evo all its own. As a Training Camp item, the upgrade itself costs nothing more than 5 Training Points (TP). Be aware that the Evo cannot be removed nor can any more Evos be added.

A Premium 83 OVR Blueprint Evo can be had for 200 TP, or 25,500 MUT Coins.

A similar 82 OVR Upgrade Blueprint Evo can also be accessed by reaching Level 9 in the Pregame Access Field Pass.

The Store itself has free Evos on rotations, so always check back every now and then for more promotional items that cost zero real-world currency. The S1: 32 NFL Team Chemistry EVO is currently available to claim for free at launch.

If you happened to have pre-ordered the game, remember to open up all of your pre-order packs, as at least one of them has your 83 OVR Pre-Order Upgrade Evo. If you are eligible to receive it, you should see it with a lock icon among the available Evos under the Store tab of the Evolutions section.

Tips For Using Evos

While Evos are intended for boosting lower-OVR cards, you should avoid just needlessly throwing them away on players willy-nilly. The best choices are players that you would have overlooked for lacking in just one or two stats, while being about average in cost. The resulting stat multipliers applied with the Evo, would then have them running neck and neck with more expensive or overpriced players.

While attempting to assign an Evo to a player, always slow down and carefully note what the confirmation pop-up says regarding whether the Evo can be removed, and if additional Evos can be assigned. The warning clearly differentiates between ‘can’ and ‘can NOT’ for your visual clarification.

Remember that you can view all Active Evos, from the Active tab in the Evolutions section. You will need to select individual cards in order to see whether the Evo can be removed from the player it has been assigned to, or if it is permanently fused there. Any Coin charges applicable are clearly indicated, and tend to be quite low for the most part.

When you do strip a player of their Evo, all upgrades are reset. Skill Points are only reduced down to the intrinsic maximum of the item. Fortunately, any extra Skill Points are not simply lost, but will be stored for application to the next Evo assigned, assuming it too increases Skill Points above that base maximum.

Not a whole lot of Evos can be chained or stacked on the same card for a cumulative effect, at least not right now. This makes those Evos that do, extra precious, and so always be certain about assigning them.

The Premium 83 OVR Blueprint Evo and the 82 OVR Upgrade Blueprint Evo are two examples of chainable Evos.

That is everything there is to know about Evos and how to get some for free in Madden NFL 27.

This Madden NFL 27 guide lists the most widely accepted settings to adjust or toggle for a comfortable playing experience.

Passing Settings

Set Passing Type to Placement & Accuracy in order to have an accuracy bar that you can leverage for maximum manual control and perfect passing.

Turn off Passing Slowdown once you have a good grasp of the mechanics if you haven’t already, and it is of course purely offline anyway.

Set Pass Lead Increase to Small for tighter placement instead of random over-throws.

Reticle Speed should be in the higher single digits, ideally at 7, for the most thumbstick precision for the average player.

Catching Settings

Setting Offensive Timing-Based Catching to 5 yards spares you the dreaded timing meter in certain situations.

On the other hand, setting Defensive Timing-Based Catching to 10 yards gives you a nice wide window to act on interceptions.

Set Timing-Based Catching UI Feedback to On for a nice visual indicator of what to do and when.

Defensive Ball Hawk set to On will help out with defenders while tracking the ball in deep passes.

Other Settings

Auto Pass Protection ought to be set to either Base or Empty, but never entirely Off, for the slide protections.

Auto Flip Defensive Play Call set to On will make sure that defense aligns itself to the offense’s formation strength.

Switch Stick Delay set to Slight will help avoid unintentional player-switching in the heat of the moment, but with enough of a window to change if truly intended.

Coin Toss Choices

Kick should be your first choice in order to guarantee second-half possession with the former when you win the toss. 

Against Wind needs to be your second choice for coin toss losses, for the effect it has on field goals and passes.

Those are the best settings to apply in Madden NFL 27 for a smooth gaming experience.

This Madden NFL 27 guide lists every in-game currency and how to earn them quickly and efficiently.

MUT Coins

Madden Ultimate Team Coins are a staple of the Madden series, and are the free baseline currency you earn almost everywhere in the game. They are used for both buying standard packs from the in-game Store, and bidding for player cards in the Auction House.

The most reliable way to get them has always been through the completion of a variety of solo program challenges that rotate in and out over the course of the season, letting you earn more than enough to build a competent team if you are shrewd about it.

The Daily Objectives require you to login each day–which itself rewards you–and then perform short tasks for a relative pittance in Coins, but which will start to add up eventually.

Grinding solo seasons and head-to-head seasons online offers the highest returns for time spent in-game, and should be your go-to if you have neither the time nor the patience for challenges.

Limited‑Time Events that come and go are a great way to earn Coins, as well as Packs, and Tickets among other rewards, much of which can be traded away for even more Coins if you are so inclined. You will need to keep a weather eye out in order to participate in these within their specified window.

The Field Passes always have large lump sums of Coins to be unlocked along their tiered tracks. Also remember to complete free rewards within their specified time limit.

The Madden 27 Season 1 Field Pass expires on September 9, 2026 at 6:30 AM EDT.

The next expiry date to make a note of is on October 21, 2026 at 6:30 AM EDT, when some of the solo challenges will lapse, along with the Crystal Chemistry program possibly.

Completion of sets in order to dispose of the resulting higher-tier product is another staple of the economy. You will need to amass a lot of low-tier items in order to assemble something really worth your while, but you will have to be aware of an ever-shifting underlying market.

Quick-selling Platinum Cards yields a MUT Coin value that also forms the bottom price for a given card on the Auction House. They will never list for less than their Quick-Sell value.

True veterans of the series know that the Auction House is the ultimate source of all major MUT Coin income. Whether snapping up cheap, low-tier items in order to flip them for a small profit margin, or stumbling upon an undervalued high-tier card on auction, there is some degree of profit to be made.

Timing your trades are ever-important as you really want to capture the largest potential marketbase. This usually occurs on the weekends, Friday through Sunday. As for weekdays, they might have greater activity during the evening hours, east coast US timezone, when the playerbase finally gets home from work or school.

While the game itself is cross-play (except for the Nintendo Switch 2) at your discretion, the Auction House is not, and thus the player economies are segregated by platform.

Twitch Drops for watching Madden content broadcast live on the platform could potentially be a source for Coins, though it is currently known only to offer up Gridiron Tokens.

Never buy MUT Coins (as opposed to Madden Points) from online sellers, no matter how legitimate they may appear to be on the surface. EA Sports does not allow the exchange of Coins for cash or even Madden Points within their own ecosystem, let alone with third-party resellers. These entities grind for Coins using automated tools, which is in and of itself a violation of the terms and conditions.

Also prohibited is grinding for Coins within your own little circle of accounts in order to siphon it all off to your primary playing account.

Expect an EA account ban for violating these terms, one that effectively bars you from every other game you may own on that account as well.

Training Points

Training is a form of upgrade points, and is used to shape player attributes, unlock Chemistry slots on cards, and some very specific items in the Store.

Your source for these will be the Quick-Sell function on disposable items within your binder, with proportionately more Training being returned for higher OVR cards. These effectively destroy the item permanently, so be absolutely certain before making that final binding decision.

Season Tickets

Exclusively earned from leveling up the Field Pass, the free tier path should net you 10,000 Season Tickets throughout the season.

The paid premium track will only grant you around 7,000 Season Tickets in all.

Season Tickets can be exchanged for certain account-bound Packs.

Gridiron Tokens

Twitch Drops are a promotional tool that reward you with in-game items for watching content of the same title on the platform. In the case of Madden NFL 27, you simply have to link your Twitch and EA accounts together via the account settings in order to then begin accumulating watch time towards the progress meter.

Aside from Pack drops, specific streams broadcast by major partners will award you with Gridiron Tokens. These can be exchanged for account-bound Packs, as well as possibly a free Team of the Year player at some point over the next year, for 180 Gridiron Tokens.

You can group ten Gridiron Tokens together as a single Super Token.

Madden Points

The only premium currency to be acquired in the game, Madden Points are exclusively spent on Store items which are specifically priced for them. These include high-value bundles, cosmetics, and event Packs.

These cannot be swapped in any way, shape, or form, for MUT Coins, Training Points, Season Tickets, or Gridiron Tokens.

Discounted Madden Points packs may be available for purchase from third-parties, both official and unofficial.

That is every last thing to be known about the in-game currencies and economy in Madden NFL 27, and how to amass as much of them as possible.

Dodges and Parries

With Sophia stepping into the spotlight as Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy’s protagonist instead of the de Rune siblings from past titles, the gameplay this time takes on a much more combat centric approach. The central loop relies primarily on a parry mechanic that challenges you to find openings and break enemies’ stances to land your own deadly blows- which, as you may have guessed, means mastering both parries and dodges is quite crucial. While Resonance is not a particularly challenging game for the most part (especially on its default difficulty setting), the combat definitely flows much better once you have the timing for dodges and parries down.

Focus on Parry upgrades

Let’s stick with the parry mechanic for a little bit longer- it is, after all, central to the game’s combat. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy employs a (rather straightforward) progression system, allowing you to spend accrued Resonance Points to make purchases from a pool of a handful of combat upgrades. The options available here range from dodging to improving your kicks (more on that in just a bit) and more, but we’d recommend prioritizing upgrades to your parrying. You can increase your parry timing windows and eventually even become able to parry previously attacks that couldn’t be parried, all of which can give you quite a leg up in most skirmishes, especially against more challenging foes.

Kicking enemies is always effective (and fun)

One of the most fun mechanics in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy’s combat loop is the ability to kick enemies. It’s exactly what it sounds like- a button dedicated solely to kicking out at your foes. It’s useful, of course, in breaking their guard or stunning them for brief windows, among other things that become available as you progress further in Sophia’s skill tree. Best of all, if ever you see an enemy standing near a ledge – and that opportunity will often present itself to you – you can kick them into the abyss and to their deaths. So yeah, long story short, keep kicking people.

Your Grappling Hook is an excellent tool in combat

Sophia is a much more nimble protagonist than Amicia or Hugo from past Plague Tale games, with much of the gameplay centering around Uncharted-esque platforming sections, which also make the use of a grappling hook. But though said platforming sections are the grappling hook’s primary stage, it can also be quite an effective tool in combat. Sophia can use the hook to yank enemies toward her and open them up to attacks (though there are some that can respond in pretty deadly ways, so keep an eye out for that). Meanwhile, if an enemy happens to be standing in front of a ledge, you can use your grappling hook to pull them forward and watch them fall to their deaths.

Prioritize taking out the Archers

You’ll often find yourself facing groups of enemies in Resonance with varying threats, from brutes with larger pools of health and fast moving dagger wielders to spearmen who can attack from a range and more. Our advice, however, would be to make sure that at the beginning of every combat encounter, if you are faced with any archers in the arena, take care of them first and foremost. They are quick and easy to kill, but can be quite a nuisance from a distance when left unattended, especially when you’re trying to focus on other, bigger, and more immediate threats- so it’s usually best to just get them out of the way as quickly as you can.

There are ways to get the jump on your enemies

Resonance is not at all a stealth focused game, unlike the first two Plague Tale titles, but though there are no actual stealth mechanics to speak of, there are still ways for Sophia to get a jump on her enemies. For instance, if you’re approaching enemies who haven’t spotted you yet, you do still have the chance to land a deadly critical hit on at least one unsuspecting foe before the rest are alerted. Similarly, if you’re looking to get a drop on an unalerted group of soldiers, you can do just that by jumping and landing a mid-air critical strike on a foe. The game doesn’t really allow you to dispatch more than one or two foes quietly at a time, but you can still start out the way you so at least you’re facing fewer enemies in direct combat.

Farm Resonance points

Like its predecessors, Resonance is a pretty linear game with near constant forward momentum, but also like its predecessors, it does still allow for some farming opportunities every now and then. Occasionally, you’ll find yourself in comparatively larger and wider environments, with a fair few branching paths and optional routes to discover and explore. Doing so is definitely recommended, since that’s how you find enemies to take down, who also give you Resonance Points which is used to upgrade your combat abilities and more.

Keep an eye out for Tombs

One of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy’s best and most significant pieces of optional content comes in the form of tombs. These are large puzzle rooms where you have to solve elaborate light based puzzles, with the reward being an unlocked tomb that grants you a new sword. The puzzles are well designed and the rewards are pretty neat, so make sure you’re keeping an eye out for tombs to raid.

Choose your sword wisely

Speaking of swords, while there’s only a handful of them to find, each does offer its own unique advantage. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy isn’t big on customization mechanics, so don’t expect the combat experience to change too significantly based on which weapon you have equipped, but the perks that some of the swords bring can be genuinely useful- like giving you a boost in terms of breaking a foe’s guard, for instance. As such, it can pay to be attentive about which sword you’re using and how well it suits your preferred combat approach.

Keep an eye out for Theseus Charms

You will also come across several charms throughout the length of the game, with each enhancing Sophia’s combat abilities. From increasing parry windows to enhancing some of your attacks and more, charms can have a range of effects, which means it’s always recommended to explore environments thoroughly to find new charms. Most useful of all are Theuseus charms, which can be acquired by accessing Theseus’ memories. Each of these charms enhances Sophia’s focus bar, which in turn is tied to her ultimate attack, so make sure you keep an eye out for these charms- they can be quite useful.

This Mortal Shell 2 guide explains how Tarstone leveling is accomplished and how to get the Tarcores required to Temper them.

How To Farm Tarstone XP

The level 1 Tarstone XP bar requires 10,000 points to accumulate in order to reach level 2, and will take a great deal of grinding to accomplish. Fortunately, unlike Gloom, any earned Tarstone XP is not lost on death and is also automatically tallied for every kill, but only as long as the Tarstone is actively equipped.

For maximum effect, you should equip every Tarstone you possibly can to the upper limit of ten. This includes the four applicable to the Shell, and the two each for Ability, Combat, and Infusion.

Once a Tarstone reaches its maximum XP limit, any further Tarstone XP earned is wasted on it, as it does not carry forward to the XP bar of the next level. So be sure to swap them out for another unleveled Tarstone so as to avoid wasting your efforts. There is also another reason why you should be grinding Tarstones to higher levels even if you do not really want to make use of their abilities, and which will be touched on below.

As for actually farming Tarstone XP, this really is a matter of pure combat. So, find a Beacon with the most lucrative run of enemies that you can blast and cleave through as quickly as possible, and just keep resting at the Beacon in order to reset them, rinse, and repeat.

How To Get The Etching Needle And Upgrade Tarstones

Once you have filled a Tarstone’s XP bar at level 1, you can Temper it to level 2 proper at the Tarforge in the Marrow Keep. But this option is unavailable until you acquire the Etching Needle and give it to Franz the TarForge Smith.

The Etching Needle is located in a chest around the area where you battle the boss Magdalena, the Lady of the Woods. Beginning at the Sunken Bridge Beacon, run across the bridge into the sheep pen where the The Wandering/Tarblighted Shepherd miniboss is battled. Smash through the crates in front of the wood gate straight ahead, and then cross another bridge to find Ruk, as well as the Etching Needle chest.

Now wrap this up by taking it to Franz and unlocking the Temper Tarstones menu. Each Tarstone upgraded to level 2 will cost a hundred Gold Coins as well. Once done, the level 2 XP bar of 20,000 points is unlocked, allowing you to equip it for further Tarstone XP grinding in order to reach level 3.

Fully Tempering a Tarstone to level 3 adds another resource to the upgrade requirements: 6X Tarcores, aside from an increase to 150 Gold Coins.

How To Get Tarcores Fast

The only way to get the required Tarcores is by actively Tempering Tarstones at the TarForge. When you upgrade a Tarstone from level 1 to level 2, you also get a single Tarcore in return. With six Tarcores required to then upgrade a Tarstone from level 2 to level 3, you will need to grind XP and temper at least six individual Tarstones to level 2 in the first place.

And this is why it is important to farm Tarstone XP even for Tarstones that hold no particular interest for your build, initially at least. Equally important is efficiently swapping out Tarstones that have reached their maximum accumulated XP, just until you can head back to the TarForge and Temper them to the next level properly.

Fortunately, the Tarcore return on investment scales when you Temper a Tarstone from level 2 to level 3: you will receive three Tarcores back for the six that you spent in the first place. Now you only have to grind Tarstone XP and Temper another three level 1 Tarstones in order to accumulate enough Tarcores to Temper a single level 2 Tarstone. And so on and so forth.

This closed loop of Tarcores earned from Tempering Tarstones implies that you should be cautious and choosy about exactly which Tarstones you finally upgrade to level 3.

That is everything there is to know about upgrading Tarstones and acquiring Tarcores in Mortal Shell 2.