Tips and Tricks: Beginner's Guide to The Callisto Protocol

Welcome to Game8's beginner's guide and tips and tricks guide for The Callisto Protocol! Read on to see helpful tips that will keep you alive as you crawl your way out of Callisto.

General Tips for Beginners

Adjust Your Settings to Avoid Crashes Choose the Appropriate Difficulty Setting Learn the Basics of Combat and Survival Open the Inventory to Check Objectives

Adjust Your Settings to Avoid Crashes

It isn't a secret that the Callisto Protocol launch has been a bit rocky due to optimization issues (particularly on the PC). Before you hop on and brave the dead moon of Callisto, make sure you've adjusted your settings to address any immersion-breaking frame skips and game crashes.

Choose Between Survival Horror or Playing for the Story

While the game may indeed by geared towards survival horror enthusiasts, other players may simply want to play it to watch the story unfold. If you're in the latter party, make sure to lower your difficulty setting and follow the settings above for a stress-free playthrough of the game!

Difficulty Setting Differences and Best Difficulty Level

Learn the Basics of Combat and Survival

While the game may be hands-on during its opening sequences, tips will start becoming few and far between as you progress deeper into Black Iron Prison. Make sure to brush up on the basics using our detailed guides to avoid the frantic pace of in-combat tutorials.

Open the Inventory to Check Objectives

With the absence of a world map and navigation markers, beginners will sometimes end up lost and not knowing their next objective. If you find yourself in this position, you can simply open your inventory and check the top left corner of the interface to see your current objective.

Is There a Map?

How to Survive Black Iron Prison

Don't Be Afraid to Reload an Earlier Save Use the GRP to Make Combat Easier Remember to Stomp on Dead Enemies & Collect Loot Skip the Ammo and Go for the Upgrades Pay Attention to Small Details in Combat Manage Your Inventory Space Listen to the Music! Actually Shoot the Tentacles

Don't Be Afraid to Reload an Earlier Save

Don't be afraid to reload into an earlier save, especially if you find yourself struggling with your current checkpoint. If you find yourself needing more ammo or even just a better health pool before fighting bosses like Two-Head, then bite the bullet and reload an earlier save with access to a Reforge Station.

Sometimes, big adjustments like this can save you from having to brute force your way through a difficult fight. This is particularly true when tackling the game at the highest difficulty setting as you will find yourself dying and repeating sequences more than advancing the story.

Use the GRP to Make Combat Easier

The GRP (Gravity Restraint Projector) is your best friend in Black Iron Prison. Trivialize multi-wave fights and stronger enemy types by simply picking up your foes and flinging them off the map or at environmental hazards that guarantee an instakill (like spikes or fan blades).

To check how much energy your GRP has at any given time, simply hold down the aim button (RMB on PC) and check the blue bar on top of your health bar. This indicates how much energy you have left on the GRP.

GRP Upgrades and How to Get

Remember to Stomp on Dead Enemies & Collect Loot

Just like in Dead Space, remember to stomp on corpses to get loot. At higher difficulties, getting even a bit of health, ammo, or credits back after facing multiple waves of enemies will spell the difference between advancing or dying and reloading the entire fight.

Outside of combat, make sure to pay attention to chests, breakables, and alternate paths. These will usually reward you with an ample amount of resources and, in rare cases, brand new weapon schematics for more powerful weapons!

Skip the Ammo and Go for the Upgrades

When debating what to get at the Reforge Station, make sure to stay away from the ammo and health buy options unless absolutely necessary. The game gives you plenty of both, even when playing on Maximum Security, so save up those Callisto Credits and purchase better upgrades for your weapons instead.

One of the best starting upgrades you can get is for Jacob's Stun Baton called the Riot Control Swing. Spend 300 Credits to get a heavy baton attack that makes melee combat easier than having to rely on blockable light attacks.

Best Upgrades: What to Upgrade First

Pay Attention to Small Details in Combat

While combat may seem pretty straightforward, there are always a few tricks to take note of as you navigate the corridors of Black Iron Prison. Some of the following are tricks you can use to gain an edge during fights on higher difficulties:

• Aiming at enemies will have you shine your flashlight at them. This will sometimes cause them to flinch and shield their eyes, slowing down their movement speed by a small amount.
• Ranged attacks from the spitters can be blocked. Simply block as normal to minimize the damage you take from the hits.
• Dodging is as easy as holding left and right. You can keep holding down the button in either direction to automatically dodge even while mid-swing.
• Throwing an enemy off the map means you will not be able to stomp them for loot. This will be a double-edged sword at higher difficulties.
• If you are next to hazards, you can grip enemies using the GRP and have them simply touch hazards for an instakill. This consumes less energy than flinging them onto the hazard.
• Enemies can deal damage to each other. If facing a group of enemies in melee combat, make sure to let them approach from a single direction so they can damage each other during the fight.

Manage Your Inventory Space Until You Get the Upgrade

As with any survival horror game, inventory space in the Callisto Protocol is pretty tight. During majority of the opening chapters, you will be restricted to only 6 inventory slots, so make sure to keep an eye on how many injectors, ammo types, and valuable loot you have stashed away.

Inventory Upgrades Guide: How to Increase Your Inventory Space

Listen to the Music!

The in-game music is an indicator of a combat sequence. Pay attention to it especially when entering large, darkened areas of the Prison. If the in-game music starts being eerie, then that usually means an enemy is nearby. Once the music fades back to normal white noise (especially after wave battles), you'll know that you are probably safe.

Actually Shoot the Tentacles

While the game's advertising did a good job of showcasing this little tidbit of information, it must be stressed that you should actually shoot the tentacles. This will prevent late-stage enemies from mutating further, allowing you to conserve ammo and end the fights quicker.

All Tips and Tricks Guides

The Callisto Protocol Related Guides

The Callisto Protocol Guide & Walkthrough

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