Weird West: Beginners Guide

Welcome, welcome one and all to the wonderful Weird West. Perhaps you saw this game and decided to give it a try, or maybe you read our review and decided to give it a look. Either way, we here at Robot Republic are here to give you some tips and tricks to make it in the West and become the best darn hero/villain you can be!

This guide will be split into three different sections, each focused on the different aspects of the game. Firstly we will look at combat, stealth and then the RPG elements. There's a fair amount to get into so let's get this wagon train rolling! (that is the last western reference, promise.)

COMBAT:

Combat is arguably one of the most important parts of Weird West and is certainly the thing that players will most engage with. However, there are a few things to take note of when starting that aren’t explained fantastically. So first things first, how does all of this work?

Shooting makes use of both a cursor and line of sight, however, the cursor will lock onto the enemies so the main focus should be on the line. For the most part, the line dictates where the bullet will travel but its main purpose is to let you know when something is in the way of your shot. This will take the form of a red dot when it will hit an object.

When it comes to combat in Weird West there are a few things to remember. The first is that your ammo is minimal in the beginning so you will be swapping weapons often to fight. This means that understanding distance and effect is important. For instance, the shotgun has a much smaller range than you’d expect and needs to be used fairly close to have any effect. The pistol is the most versatile in terms of range and damage and will have the most ammo available in the early game and should be the staple, but make sure to aim your shots rather than blasting as fast as you can.

Explosives are also in the game and using them is one of the best ways to clear a room, however, there are some tricks to them. There are numerous types of explosives to use, but all of them follow the same rules. Their main weakness is how long they take to explode and the AI will often try to move out of the way. The elemental explosives are much faster to activate but will do less overall damage to the enemies. One really important thing to note is that the enemies will throw their explosives and they will kill you quickly if you don’t get out of the way.

This leads to the next point, and it is an important one. Weird West is not an easy game by any means. The enemies will take you down fast if they can hit you, so staying in cover is important. The way to do this is to crouch near low cover and your character can take cover from it. While in cover you can aim and will only stand to shoot. However, the AI will try to move around your cover and if they do it can be game over.

Finally, you can take people onto your team and have them travel with you. These characters essentially work as an extra gun and a distraction but you can’t rely on them. You can equip them however you want, but you need to make sure to give them some healing items. The friendly AI is not great at taking cover and they will die if too many enemies focus on them and if they die they won’t be coming back. If you want to travel with a full team make sure to equip them with some armour if you can afford it, but don’t worry too much at first.

STEALTH:

Weird West allows you to choose how you can approach situations and one of the most viable options is stealth. However, doing so requires a few tricks and understanding the options available to you. One of the main things is knowing how enemies react to you and what you are doing.

When it comes to stealth you can see the enemies on the mini-map represented by red dots and their fields of view are represented by red cones. It’s pretty simple to understand and there’s quite a bit of leeway in regards to when an enemy will notice you. If they do see you a question mark will appear above their head. This question mark will slowly fill until it eventually turns red and they attack. However, this mark will fade if you stay out of sight for long enough.

You can elect to leave as many people alive as possible, but let's be honest here, you probably want to take them out. There are a few options available for you but the main ones are knocking them out or shooting them. Knocking them out involves sneaking behind them and grabbing them, it’s doable but not great if there is more than one enemy. Shooting is a bit more complicated but it can be done stealthily.

If you want to go pure stealth then you must get a bow as quickly as possible. The bow is silent and great for sniping the occasion all foe, but it won’t always be an instant kill. In truth, the best use of the bow is to make use of the environmental aspect of the game. For instance, if the enemies are standing in an oil spill, the bow is the best weapon to hit the lamp and set everyone on fire. You can also get a skill that lets the long rifle make a silent shot and this will be the best killing option available to you.

RPG MECHANICS:

So the RPG mechanics are one of the simplest for players to understand, but there are a few things to take note of. Firstly, we need to look at how the character levels up and gains new skills. There is no real levelling system in the game so your power is measured in three different ways. Firstly, you have the skills which are abilities you can activate in combat. These are upgraded using Nimp relics which can be found throughout the world (look for the purple glow). These skills are separated by weapons and a number for the character as well.

All of the skills are useful and each has a different use depending on the situation. The pistol has the most balanced, while the shotgun is more focused on damage dealing etc. Take the time to look at what you use and your playstyle and focus on that first. However, the High Noon and Silent shot skills are arguable two of the most useful, to begin with. One of the skills that you have unlocked in the beginning is the dodge skill and it is one you need to get acquainted with because it will be something you rely on as the monsters begin to attack.

The second thing to look at is the perks that are unlocked using Ace of spade cards. These cards can be found around the world (look for the orange glow) or given as rewards for quests. The perks are more focused on things like more health and better shop prices. It should be noted that the perks are tiered and each successive tier requires more cards. Ideally focus on health for the first few cards then look at getting the other based on what you need at the time.

The final aspect to look at is the gear you have and how it affects levels. As I said previously there is no levelling system in Weird West, so you need more powerful weapons to take on more powerful foes. You will find several weapons while exploring but focus on the rarer gear to get the best stats. Each weapon has different values for ammo and power etc so look for what works for you best.

Weird West is a game that truly promotes the 'play it your way' mentality and there is a lot here for players to explore. However, these tips and guides are here to give you a fighting edge on your journey and should help to keep you alive…at least for a while anyway.

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PLAY, OBEY, CONSUME.