Biomutant is about surviving in a post-apocalyptic world full of monsters. It's also about revenge, with a story centered around the ramifications of his actions. There are also charming anthropomorphic characters. Tribal War. A few third person shots. Kung Fu. Ok, so Biomutant is about a lot of things at once. It's complicated, so you'll need a few Biomutant tips and tricks along the way.
That said, players shouldn't worry about jumping into Experiment 101's open-world RPG. Although Biomutant offers a ton of exposition, interesting (but somewhat confusing) gameplay mechanics, and a decent number of skills/abilities to sift through, the early moments should not be overwhelmed.
Our Biomutant beginner tips and tricks guide below is proof of that, as it offers some solid advice in hopes of alleviating some of the challenges early on.
Biomutant Beginner Tips and Tricks
Tip #1: Focus on Tribes
Biomutant's plot is segmented. The death of your parents, giant monsters called World Eaters, the Tree of Life – follow any of their breadcrumbs and you'll find some interesting stuff eventually. Forget all that. The only things you should focus on at the start are warring tribes.
At the start, you will have a choice of two tribes to align yourself with. It's either the honorable Myriad seeking peace, or the oppressive "only the strong should survive" Jagni. Regardless of which tribe you choose, the next step is to capture all outposts from the opposing side.
Why capture outposts?
There are several reasons why capturing outposts is more beneficial than tackling the other Biomutant main quests. For one, they are a good source of early XP. None of them are that hard to capture at this point in the game. A few battles, weak puzzles, and a few cutscenes later, and you've earned some extra experience points.
Another reason to head in their direction is that each outpost houses a yellow flag that unlocks fast travel. They will also lighten dark spots (fog of war), filling the map with important details over time.
A captured outpost will unlock merchants, upgrade stations, and special tribal equipment. This will allow you to buy and sell various items, as well as collect powerful (and otherwise inaccessible) weapons. And while it's possible to craft at any time, upgrading gear can only be done at a camp's crafting stations.
Basically, helping your chosen tribe will net more XP, loot, and fast travel locations than other main quests in the early hours of Biomutant.
Tip #2: Stay on the beaten path
Biomutant does a good job of balancing enemy encounters. You shouldn't encounter a super tough opponent when heading to or coming from a location related to an early quest. On the contrary, most of them will be pushovers. The pendulum swings strongly in the opposite direction once you venture off the beaten path.
Enemies of different sizes will make short work of the most dangerous biomes. Unfortunately, they are also not good at taking damage. Do you see a monster with a skull by name? Forget that. They can kill you with one shot.
It's best to stay close to areas near the first quests. Unless, of course, you're feeling brave...
Tip #3: Think outside the box
I know. I just said don't do that. What I meant was don't go exploring randomly (at least not at the beginning of your game). After capturing a few outposts and unlocking some decent loot, it would be beneficial to venture into the more dangerous regions of the map. Namely to obtain the environmental suits of Biomutant.
The five environmental suits and their locations are:
- Oxygen Suit – Dead Zone
- Combination Biohazard – Biohazard Zone
- Cold Suit – Cold Zone
- Heat Combination - Heat Zone
- Radioactive Suit – Radioactive Zone
Each suit makes it easier to traverse a specific biome – for example, the Heat suit will prevent you from dying in the sun-scorched regions of the desert.
To find them, you will need to visit these dangerous locations and unlock their corresponding quest; the game will send you to a pingdish (think radio tower) to 'ping' the location of a combination. Avoid high level enemies as you make your way to each suit.
These environmental suits aren't 100% necessary to complete most Biomutant quests, but they will make life easier in the long run. This was especially true for me when it came to dealing with the first World Eater. To take on the monster, I had to complete a quest that would reward me with the Mekton (mech) assault vehicle. Unfortunately, the quest failed and Gizmo was unable to lift the door that would allow me to pilot the vehicle into the Dead Zone.
The only way around this problem was to call the Mekton at my location. However, it only spawns in the Dead Zone. Luckily, my Oxygen suit kept me from dying of hypoxia long enough to summon the vehicle.
Tip #4: Sack Every Town
One of the benefits of Biomutant is that it notifies players of available loot. As soon as you enter a barren town/city, a tracker will appear displaying the number of hidden items in that area.
It can be a bit of a pain to search for items in every trash can, dresser drawer, and couch. I'd still recommend doing it, though, given how hard loot is to get early on, despite the recent patch improving drop rates. And with the tracker sharing the number of rare items in a given location, there's nothing stopping you from filling your pockets with goodies or great loot.
Tip #5: Develop your Wong-Fu
Being able to unlock new psi abilities and mutations is always a treat. Who wouldn't want to throw fireballs or spit mind-altering toxic waste? It's also a good idea to unlock resistance-based perks. That said, one thing everyone should do is develop their Wong-Fu.
Each time you level up, you need to unlock a new Wong-Fu combo for the weapons in your arsenal. Not only are these combos useful for taking out enemies, but they also cause “Super Wong-Fu Mode” – a powered-up state where you can inflict massive amounts of damage in seconds.
Biomutant's combo system is tied to its weapon classes. Edged weapons all use the same combos, eg. Because of this, it's easy to switch to a powerful weapon in a different class and lose access to previously unlocked combos and Super Wong-Fu mode. That's why it's best to unlock new combos for each weapon in your inventory as soon as you can. This way, no matter what weapon or blade you change, you will still be able to use Super Wong-Fu.
Tip #6: enjoy your stay
The world of Biomutant can be a fun place to visit. There is plenty to do and many sights to see. So get to the Tree of Life on your own or use one of our handy guides. Whatever you do, just make sure you're having fun doing it.
These are our Biomutant beginner tips and tricks to get you through your first few hours. For more on the action-RPG of Experiment 101, be sure to check out our other Biomutant guides.
