Biomutant is a very large game and it throws a lot of info and systems at you early on. Initially, it can feel almost overwhelming. But fear not, I’m here to help. And once you get a grasp of everything at play and how the systems sync in gameplay, you’ll hopefully come to appreciate it as I have. So let’s get you prepared for your journey.
Initial Settings and Character Creation
Biomutant features a game narrator which is very unique. How much you’ll enjoy it is a personal preference, but in the options you can turn it off completely, or dial it up so he talks more often. I highly recommend turning it up as it truly adds to the experience. Of course if you change your mind, you can adjust it at any time.
The initial setting for the UI size is very large, and you can’t turn off the on-screen shortcut for the radial menu (as of this writing). As such, I found it very beneficial to minimize the size of the UI so the screen isn’t cluttered.
The game offers Easy/Medium/Hard difficulties. Playing on Medium was rather easy with very little challenge after the initial areas. This is especially true if you plan to explore and complete a lot of the side content, thus unlocking late game items earlier in your playthrough. If you want any sort of challenge, I’d play on Hard from the start (and even that isn’t very difficult).
Character creation in Biomutant is a lot of fun and very detailed. Enjoy yourself, but have comfort in knowing that it is simply a starting point for your character. While your choices will determine your beginning stats and your specialization allows you to unlock specific bonuses, you are able to use any gear and weapons without any hindrances. You will also be able to increase any attribute by 10 every time you level up.
In many games, Luck is ambiguous and/or useless. However, here it offers meaningful bonuses as not only does it help you to loot rare items more often, but it increases your critical hit chance which can make a massive difference in combat. Don’t skimp on it!
Once you choose your look/size/fur etc….you can change it again in the future, but only via very specific locations and characters (which you have to discover later in the game). So make sure you enjoy the look in the mirror before you head out!
Core Looting and Crafting Principles
The loot system is very in-depth and rather unique. Here are the core things to understand:
- Rarity – unlike most games, purple is not rare and legendary isn’t the best. The full range in order is:
- Common (Purple)
- Uncommon (Green)
- Rare (Yellow)
- Legendary (Red)
- Relic (Pink)
- Ultimate (Uniques that are pink as well)
- Element – you can craft elemental weapons should you find the corresponding parts. These include Electric, Radioactive, Biohazard, and Cold.
- Quality / Material – also impacting the value and statistics of items are the quality of the materials its made from. From what I’ve seen, the max Quality rating is 7 and max Material rating is 12. You can upgrade these attributes via workbenches.
- Scrap – to craft/modify you need scrap. The are five types of scrap which you can get from enemies, by smashing towers around the world, and by breaking down items you no longer need. The max you can carry for each is 99.
- Modules – even if you don’t have an elemental weapon, you’ll often find modules that will allow you to fire a specific element for a brief time. These are single use consumables and can be activated through the radial menu.
Also unique is that you craft weapons (with the exception of a few specific missions which reward weapons), but modify clothes (which act as your armor). As you loot endlessly, you will find pieces that will allow you to craft both melee and ranged weapons to your heart’s content.
Depending on the power/rarity of each individual piece, it will result in an item with a star rating. The max rating is 10 stars, which are typically late game content consisting of all Ultimate/Relic parts.
Meanwhile, the clothes that you loot can be modified via the Craft menu which allows you to add Add-Ons that can further increase their stats.
After you gather a little bit of money, I recommend breaking down more items than selling. To build legendary or better items, you’ll need a lot of scrap, and it’s fun to experiment. Generally speaking, if you’re looting a lot you won’t spend too much money other than when finding a legendary or better item for sale (always good to buy when you find them at vendors).
There are 6 tribes in the game and each of them has a tribe weapon you can unlock should you conquer/align with them. If you want that special combat style (Bo, Nan-chuk, Bow/Arrow, etc…) you’ll need to complete their outposts and fort.
General Tips for Play
First things first, there is no limit to how much you can carry, no fall damage, and no ammo to collect. It’s very refreshing and allows you to focus on just having fun.
You can dual-wield both melee weapons and guns. Dual-wielding guns requires you to unlock it with a skill point. It’s easy to miss initially. You can find it under Wung-Fu, Ranged Combat, Dual-Wield Guns.
There is an active reload function in the game. As you are shooting, when you are down to your final few shots it will flash on the screen to hit reload before running out. Doing so will reload far faster. Also, some guns have an ability to give you further bonuses, such as fire rate or damage boosts.
In many battles you’ll fight a combination of small and large enemies. For the large enemies who walk on two legs (not the four-legged creatures), you can slide through their legs while attacking. Simply face them and hit the dodge button while in close proximity. If you time this right, you can continue to melee attack and repeatedly make them miss.
To activate Wung-Fu, you have to do 3 special moves/combos in a row without being hit. It will then give you the notification that you can activate it. It’s only active for a short time, but while active you can pull off massive combos for big damage.
If you see a bear standing in the open with a lantern, approach him. He activates the Mirage quests that provide a flashback to your character’s past. These will unlock the Automoton abilities such as the glider, health injector, damage boost, etc. Be aware that it doesn’t matter if you win/lose the flashback battles.
Throughout the game you will unlock different mounts. The general creatures you can ride don’t have attributes, but it’s fun to unlock different ones. However, only one is active at a time on the radial menu. You can change which is active by going to the Menu, Journal, and then tab over to Transport. Then simply select the one you want active.
Both the Kronkfist and the Klawbar (crowbar) can be upgraded which enables you to break through more walls and open more doors. There are side missions associated with each and again, I highly recommend doing them when you discover them. You never know when you’ll find an area you wish you could access.
Be on the lookout for splattered yellow paint on walls or cliffsides. This usually indicates the presence of handles which allow you to climb to other areas that can lead to hidden paths and special loot. Sometimes they will be the only way to complete a path for a quest too. They can sometimes be easy to miss, so look closely if you feel you are at the end of a path and aren’t sure where to go!
There are many elemental zones in the game that are unable to be traversed until your resistance to that element is high enough. You have two options. You can either put Bio Points into that specific element resist, or you can wear pieces of gear with that resist. In particular, you can get elemental suits that give you 100+% resistance allowing you traverse those zones uninhibited. These missions are referred to as “Pingdish” missions and you’ll want to find and complete them as early as you can. It’s worth it. You can activate them typically by entering an elemental zone and triggering a brief cut-scene which shows your character struggling.
Bio Points allow you to unlock specific abilities and increase your resistance. You’ll find bio containers throughout the world, but you can quickly gain more by finding sewers or specific biohazard areas. Certain enemies in these zones will give you a bio point for each one you kill, while bosses often give you multiple points.
Skill Points allow you to unlock attack types, combos, and perks. You’ll gain these as you level up, but you can also gain additional points for conquering enemy forts which you’ll find around the world. You’ll recognize these as they will come up as a side quest and require you to defeat a leader who acts as a mini-boss. After you defeat the enemies, you’ll find a room with high-end loot and a skill point.
Psi Points allow to you to unlock Psi abilities. You’ll gain these by finding totems spread throughout the world. Additionally, there is a totem inside every outpost. After conquering an outpost, simply make your way to the shop area and you’ll find the totem by the main gate before leaving.
Level cap is 50. At that point, you will no longer gain Skill Points outside of the bandit camps. Be aware that you will not earn enough skill points to unlock every perk, melee, and ranged upgrade. There are achievements/trophies tied to the melee and ranged upgrades so if you want those, prioritize them.
Beyond just impacting the story, your Dark and Light Aura rating will allow you to unlock certain abilities, too. Take note: even if you are working towards Maximum Light, you can still earn Dark Aura points. Achieving Maximum Light simply requires your ratio of Light to Dark to be high. With that in mind, even if going the Light path, I would highly recommend acquiring 30 Dark points so you can unlock the Skyspark Psi-Ability. It’s simply too much fun not to.
There are signposts scattered throughout the world that act as your fast travel points. Similar to Witcher 3, once you first use one you can then travel to it. At nearly every quest point, be it a main quest line or side character, you’ll find a signpost. Activate it before beginning a conversation or starting the quest. This will save you a lot of backtracking throughout the game.
A quick way to gain money is to search shorelines for clams. You can open them up and take their sphere. They range in quality, but some are worth 5,000+.
Ultimate weapons are usually at the end of major quest lines or vault treasure rooms. These weapons are extremely powerful and can give you a permanent advantage in combat. First, definitely search them out once you get later in the game. Second, you can modify them even further – they are not set in stone. Experiment with additional Relic/Ultimate parts and create something truly monstrous.
New Game Plus
The game does feature New Game Plus at launch which is excellent. Here’s what to be aware of before restarting your journey.
You keep your level, skills, abilities, Aura, and loot. Not that because loot isn’t truly “level-based”, you don’t immediately find better equipment the second time around. Your late game equipment from the first playthrough will still be better than new items.
You do not keep the mounts and special vehicles unlocked through the story.
All waypoints are reset, as are all of the characters you met along the way. Thus you’ll be spending a lot of time navigating the world again when you first venture out.
Unlike when first beginning the game, the second time around you are able to freely approach any of the six tribes. You can also approach them in any order you choose, and make different choices from your first playthrough.
Thanks. These are some really helpful tips. I usually get overwhelmed by new games with lots of systems, so this is perfect.
Our pleasure!