Starlink: Battle for Atlas has everything it needs to be a great spaceship/sci-fi simulator. Seven huge planets, fast-paced space dogfights, aliens, and, of course, spaceships. The toys-to-life game brings a new twist to the genre with its modular approach. I've been playing Starlink for a healthy amount of hours and figured I might write up a few tips for fellow players. So, without any further delay, activate those thrusters and jump straight into the tips below.

Experiment with weapons

The Starter Pack nets you 3 types of weapons. In my pack, I got a kinetic, fire, and ice weapon. The kinetic weapon, effectively a machine gun, seems to be akin to "physical damage". The other two are self-explanatory, doling out fire and ice damage. However, when combined, they cause a deadly "elemental break" effect. The premise is simple, hit an enemy with the ice rockets to the point they gain the freeze status, then burn them with the flamethrower. The rapid change in temperature will cause additional damage to the enemy and, when your lucky (RNG) stars align, cause a critical hit. This is only one example of how weapons can be used in conjunction.



Use your special abilities

Other than the weapons you use to smite your enemies, you also have access to two utility abilities and one special ability. The utility abilities are dodge and shield. Dodge is an effective way to get out of the way of some nasty beam attack or hastily evacuate the area of an area-of-effect attack. The shield is a stationary skill that requires you to hold down a button to power it up, reducing or sometimes negating the damage you receive during battles. The last ability, at least for my pilot, is a massive AoE attack called "Orbit Strike". Pressing the left bumper will initiate a targeting zone on the ground and, after a few seconds, a blinding explosion will obliterate most, if not all the enemies in the immediate vicinity.



Don't hoard your Pilot Skills

As you play through Starlink, your pilot will gain experience and eventually level up, rewarding you with a Pilot Skill point. Hop on over to your main menu and select the Pilot Skills subsection to find the menus where you can spend your hard earned points. Abilities differ from pilot to pilot but usually offer the same improvements (more or less). Abilities like increasing elemental resistance, ability recharge rates and, increasing your damage by percentage, all forms part of these ability upgrades. It's nothing groundbreaking but it will allow you to refine your character and playstyle.



Scan all the creatures

The seven planets in Starlink all have their own biomes, terrain and, most importantly, creatures. These creatures range from small, cowardly creatures to massive, behemoth-like beetles. To scan a creature, get close enough and initiate the scan sequence. To complete the sequence, simply revolve around the creature and complete the circle. Not only will this net you some experience, but it will also add additional data on the creature to your computer. Scanning them tells you their name and history which is nothing important but a great distraction from all the shooting and flying.



Upgrade the Equinox

A sub-menu labelled "Equinox" is where you can upgrade and unlock some useful abilities for your command center, a massive ship that hovers in orbit, housing your crew mates and intelligence center. Under the Equinox tab, you can upgrade your inventory space, improve the defense of your allies, and upgrade your recharge rates. Alternatively, you can unlock fast travel and new mods for your spaceship. These upgrades and unlockable skills add yet another layer to the already wide spectrum of combat options.



Explore everything

Starlink boasts seven explorable planets but there is also the space between them - which leaves a lot to be explored. The space between contains forgotten spaceships to find and loot, while each planet houses several NPCs to rescue and talk to - in addition to their own fauna and flora for you to discover. Some of them give side quests, while other encourage you to explore certain areas. Each activity you complete has the chance of rewarding you items, experience, and currency. Explore, complete quests, and loot everything in sight to make the most of your time on each of the seven planets.



Starlink: Battle for Atlas is currently available and my review will follow in a couple of days. Be sure to check out this guide to all the physical components of the game, and read the five reasons why I am still excited about the game.