Returnal Walkthrough Tips - Game Guide

In this article, we will tell you how easy it is to go through all the biomes, defeat the bosses and open the secret ending of Returnal

Since Returnal is a roguelike game and the world is largely randomized after you die, we won’t write about the exact walkthrough. Instead, we will try to answer some questions that may arise during the game, as well as give tips on how to overcome biomes and defeat bosses. We will also tell you how to unlock the secret ending.

Table of Contents

General Game Tips

Learn how many shots a damage over time weapon (energy blocker or rotspitter) takes to kill ordinary enemies. Sometimes just one hit is enough. This will allow you to deal with overheating much less often and pay more attention to evasion. Often you can shoot at an enemy and then sit in cover while the enemy slowly dies.
Also, weapons with periodic damage are tied to one simple tactic for clearing rooms from enemies. In Returnal, you can almost always hide behind doors. After shooting at the enemy, take cover in another room. Wait for the projectile of your weapon to stop attacking the enemy (or finish him off), and then open the door, take a few more shots and hide again. But be careful, opponents can fly in or teleport to you, and some attacks, like the expanding red circle, even reach behind walls.
In all biomes, except for the fifth, new stages of the house will be available for you to explore. But you do not have to explore the house immediately after the discovery of a new territory. Therefore, you can return to this part of the game much later.

When a house looks like this, it means you have to reach the next biome before you can return

Sometimes enemies do not appear immediately, but only as you move around the room. If you notice that only a few opponents have appeared, deal with them without moving too far forward. Even weak enemies, crowded around you, become a formidable force.
If you notice the presence of turrets in the rooms, try to separate other opponents from them to make it much easier to dodge.
Dash not only speeds you up and allows you to cover long distances, but also helps you avoid most enemy attacks. In fact, Selena becomes invulnerable at this moment, so feel free to slip through enemy shots. According to our observations, the dash in this regard does not work on purple attacks that cannot be touched.

Why do you need a reconstructor?

The device allows you to start after your death not from the very beginning, but by skipping a certain part of the biome. For this, you need to donate 6 units of ether.

Is it possible to take a second weapon in the game and change it during the passage?

Returnal is designed for the fact that the heroine will be able to use only one weapon in her hands. You can change it only if you return to those guns that were left lying on the ground.

What to do with data cubes and where to insert them?

You need to find a data converter that allows you to turn cubes into artifacts. You can find the first such device after defeating the first boss – Frika. Further, data converters may appear in many other places. For example, next to the fabricators.

How to break brown barriers?

To do this, you need the blade balancer artifact, which will help your melee weapon break these barriers. Spawns quite often on the fabricator.

How to get through the laser walls?

Just make a dash to get through this obstacle.

How to remove the parasite?

After defeating the first boss – Freaka, you will find a parasite extractor, which performs this function. Also, these devices are in some specific places in various biomes and additional rooms. You can also get rid of parasites with the help of the “sphere of extermination” consumable. By using the extractor, you will get some oboliths.

Where to find a hook to cling to brown balls and surfaces?

To do this, you need to open the second Crimson Desert biome and defeat the boss named Ixion. Only after that you will receive a hook.

How to return to Overgrown Ruins, Crimson Desert and Ancient Citadel in Ringing Ruins?

Attention, minor spoilers! When you defeat Nemesis, you will find that you have entered the fourth fight, from which further cycles begin. You will not return to the old locations until you defeat the final boss. You can find it at the end of the sixth biome – Deep Scar. After you see the end credits, the game is transferred to the fourth act, and a device will appear on your ship, which will take you to the very first biome:

Keep in mind that going to the starting locations and back starts a new cycle, so all your progress, with the exception of permanent items and ether, will be reset.

How to open additional slots for consumables?

After you defeat Frika and get the Crimson Key, use the Crimson Gate to enter the Desert Biome. Not far from the entrance there will be an alien prism, which will open an additional cell for consumables. The second such item for the third slot, according to our observations, may appear randomly. In our case, we looked for it in the fifth and sixth biomes.

How to get a lot of ether?

It is quite rare in the first three biomes. Guaranteed ether can be obtained for killing bosses (5 units) and passing tests outside the golden gate (1 unit). But starting from the fourth biome, this resource is much more common in the game world. We also found that the maximum amount is at around 30 units.

Tips for passing the first biome “Overgrown Ruins”

At the very beginning of the game, you will find a prologue tutorial, where there is nothing complicated. After your first death, the loop will restart and you will be able to explore the procedurally generated world. Near the ship, immediately forget about the passage on the right for a long time:

You can get there only after killing the boss of the second biome, so you have to go through the left door. Next, we will give some tips that will help you in the passage of the first biome.

The tentacles that pull you can help you reach heights that you can’t reach by other means. Carefully inspect the district where you find this creature.
Destroy statues with glowing eyes to earn oboliths:
Break walls with red veins that can hide useful items. Any weapon will work for this.

An example of such a wall

Kill purple flowers, which with some chance will allow you to get useful items. In some additional rooms, the values from this flora fall much more often.

How to pick up items that are located under water?

Forget about them until the fifth biome, where you need to find three keys and open the gate, behind which you will find the necessary equipment.

How to open locked chests?

Keys for them are generated randomly in all biomes, so sooner or later you will find them.

How to destroy red barriers and roots?

Explore the first biome and you will soon find a room with a Crimson Gate, where a melee weapon is lying on a corpse, which will solve your problem.

How to activate the crimson gate?

Defeat the boss of the first biome and you will receive a key that will allow you to activate the gate.

How to open the grates?

Usually, there is a button not far from them, by shooting it, you will get rid of the grate. Sometimes this button is well hidden, which will require you to carefully inspect the area.

How to activate translocators (teleports)?

In the first biome, go through the levels and find a device that will help activate teleports.

Overgrown Ruins Enemy Tips

Kerberonare lizard-like creatures. A very easy opponent. Keep your distance from them, as their ranged attacks are easy to dodge.
Strixis a kind of fly with tentacles. The enemy is not difficult, except that it is not so easy to dodge the laser. But you can anticipate this attack with the brown prep animation. Shoot the strix at this point and you will interrupt the laser attack.
One-Eyed Guardians. Immortal creatures that will attack you if you fall under their gaze. But shooting in the eye will blind the enemy for about 5 seconds.
Turrets. Nothing dangerous, but at first you won’t be able to destroy the ones behind the red barrier. Melee weapons (which you will find in the first biome), an alternative fire called “shieldbreaker” or special artifacts will help to deal with them.
Lamiadon. Bat-like creature. They are only dangerous up close, so keep your distance and shoot them. Hitting an enemy during the yellow animation will disrupt their preparation for an attack.
Mycomorphsare humanoid creatures that glow green. The enemy is quite dangerous. Stay at a distance and try to keep him in sight at all times to make it easier to dodge swift attacks. Also, spend alt fire specifically on mycomorphs and generally prioritize these particular opponents.
Titanopsis a very easy opponent, despite its menacing appearance. Keep a distance from him and dodge the creature’s jumps with jerks. Stay away from the Titanops as its melee attacks deal a lot of damage.
Kerberonicsare large lizard-like creatures that are very dangerous up close. Just keep your distance from them and shoot at the weak point.

Passage of the first house. Where to find the key?

We will talk about this aspect of the game separately, since at this moment Returnal is more like a point-and-click quest. To enter the house, you first need to find the key. Explore the Overgrown Ruins and you will soon find him.

Having managed to open the door, search the premises and interact with objects. First, inspect the folder on the table near the entrance. And going to the other end of the corridor, you can explore the photo. After going further from this place, try to open the door, but nothing will work.

Then go up to the second floor. You can’t open the door around the corner, so go ahead and inspect the cube on the floor along the way. Then go to the window and the passage of the house will be completed. The building will take on an abandoned look, and the next time you can go there only when you defeat the first boss and open the second biome. The house will again take on a renovated look, hinting at a re-examination of the building. You can return to the house in the third, fourth and sixth chapter, as well as during the opening of the secret ending.

By the way, after the first passage through the house, you will receive an astronaut figurine – an extremely useful item that will allow you to respawn on the spot once. In the new cycles, you can find an artifact either in the world around you, or produce a libre on a fabricator, where the item often appears.

How to defeat Frika (first boss)?

The boss’s attacks are very easy to learn, so dodging them shouldn’t be too difficult. Much more important is the preparation for the duel with Frika. To get started, stock up on enough Obolites to purchase a large First Aid Kit and an Astronaut Figurine from the Fabricator. This will seriously increase your survivability, making Frika not a serious contender.

Tips for passing the second biome “Crimson Desert”

You will be able to explore the house in the Overgrown Ruins again. You will still have the key to enter from the last time.
Energy Barrage is an extremely effective weapon in this biome. Thanks to periodic damage, it is able to kill ordinary opponents sometimes with one shot! This allows you to be distracted by other enemies, focus more on dodging, or hide behind cover from danger.

How to get through the red liquid without getting hurt?

You must defeat the fourth boss and enter the fifth biome – the Shattered Wastes. Next to the fabricator, you will find an additional room behind blue doors, where we were able to find a device for two playthroughs, which will allow you to harmlessly step on the red liquid.

Second pass at home

Once inside, examine the items on the table near the nearest door. Then go up to the second floor, go to the room near the window and examine the book on the shelf and the laptop on the table. Then go outside, go down and try to open the door. Return to the room where you were before and examine the toy octopus and the cube near the bed. Next, go to the place where the laptop was and examine the sheet of paper. After that, you will find yourself outside and you can pick up the artifact “music box”, which makes it easier to find caches.

Note : you may encounter a bug when the heroine is out of the house, and the game stops responding to controls. Personally, the installation of the VP9 codec helped us. The same solution allows you to get rid of black screens, which sometimes occur after starting the game or during the passage.

Crimson Desert Enemies Tips

Etherkat. A flying creature with a cube-shaped head. We advise you to constantly run to the left or right when fighting them, which will allow you to easily dodge the wall of energy balls.
Desert Kerberonyx. A lizard-like creature that is also the easiest to keep your distance from and constantly move sideways from its attacks.
Crimson Turret. A very easy opponent. Shoot the minelayer and hide in cover.
Archonact. Giant hammerhead creature. To defeat him, also try to run sideways and dodge his attacks in time. The brown shot seems to be the most dangerous, because it is too fast. Dodge it should not be too late, but not too early. You need to catch the moment when the attack preparation animation passes, which also has a brown color. After it, you need to notice the attack with lightning speed and dodge it in time – the easiest way is to make a dash forward. If you have an energy shield, shoot the archonact and hide behind cover.
Gorgolith. An armored monster that hides in the sand and immediately attacks when you approach. Stay away from him and shoot at the weak spot. It is especially effective to fight with him in places where there are shelters and a low ceiling, because of which the blue attack of the enemy may not reach you. From the brown beam, either take cover behind something, or move away from it in jerks.

Hidden Gorgolith

Excommunicated. Also keep a distance from him, and also immediately dodge when the enemy uses a teleport, because you can get under a very strong melee attack. It is better to kill the excommunicated first. Thanks to the teleport, the enemy is able to follow you even if you leave the door of another room. But this has some advantage – you can separate the cognit from a group of enemies and deal with it one on one (unless, of course, there are two of them).

How to defeat Ixion

His attacks are pretty easy to learn and don’t deal much damage. But the enemy himself is tenacious, so it is worth preparing for a protracted battle. As a weapon, an energy barrier is very effective, with which it is easy to clear both biomes. If you are interested in a faster preparation option, then accumulate 400 Obolites in the first biome and purchase a large first-aid kit and an astronaut figurine, if available. After that, move to the Crimson Desert and pick up a small first-aid kit at the beginning of the dungeon. Go through the biome and a portal will be available in front of the entrance to the temple, if you have already been at the very top once, from where it is easy and quick to get to the boss. But you can go into the first room of the temple, where you may find something useful at the very beginning.

This is what the portal looks like.

After defeating Ixion, you will receive the Icarus Hook, which will allow you to overcome chasms and climb to high places if there are brown points near them. From the arena with the boss, go towards the portal until you find an abyss where there are robots on the other side. Jumping over to them will take you to the third biome.

Tips for passing the third biome “Ancient Citadel”

Due to the peculiarities of local opponents, you have to move a lot. Therefore, use the hook more often and change the height, which will greatly facilitate the battles.
As a weapon, we also recommend using an energy blocker, and it will also be effective against the last boss.
After getting the hook, explore the early biomes, which will open up many new rooms. Also, once next to your ship, you can get to the Sisyphus tower through the right passage. This is a new mode where you need to fight with opponents, moving to new floors of the structure. You can also find out some additional plot details. But to complete the game, participation in these battles is not necessary.
After defeating the boss of this location and activating the device, you will be transported to the fourth biome without the ability to return to the first three! But after completing the game to the end (completing 6 biomes), the ship will be able to return to the old biomes.

Ancient Citadel Enemies Tips

Drone . One of the most dangerous enemies of this biome. We advise you to constantly move to the left or right side, so that it is easier to dodge enemy attacks. It is also best to kill the drones first.

Tripod . Weak creature that dies rather quickly. There are more dangerous versions with a shield and a laser attack, but she is also easy to kill.

Broken robot . Follows you and explodes near Selena. Just move to a height where these opponents cannot reach you.

Robot . A giant bipedal machine that is quite dangerous up close. Try to stay as far away from the robot as possible so as not to fall under the pulling ability (yes, this enemy is able to pull you off high ledges). If it is too difficult to fight this enemy, shoot them with a minelayer, and then hide in cover.

Bronemakhin . A large spherical robot, from which you just need to keep your distance.

Third playthrough at home

Next to the entrance, explore the room on the left and play the piano, then examine the TV. Returning to the corridor, inspect the phone near the mirror. Then go back into the room and sit on the couch. After completing the report, go out into the corridor and go to the astronaut. Then turn left and enter the portal. As a result, you will find yourself outside the house.

How to defeat Nemesis?

Proper preparation is also important here. As usual, stock up on oboliths in the first biome and buy items for healing and survivability. You can either clear the second biome completely, or pick up the first-aid kit at the beginning, and then get to the portal at the entrance to the temple, move to the top and reach the entrance to the Ancient Citadel.

In the third biome, reach the bridge (if you activated it earlier) and turn into the next room:

There is often a small first aid kit. After picking it up, you can cross the bridge to the citadel. If you want, you can carefully explore it, because there are sometimes quite a few fabricators here, including those with first-aid kits. Once you’re ready, go to the boss.

Most importantly, don’t stagnate. Constantly run around, because a laser attack is especially dangerous when an animation with four beams appears in front of it, which is a preparation during which it is better to do a dash, or you can dodge with a run. Also feel free to fall down from the edge of the platforms, which also sometimes helps to avoid damage. After defeating the boss, examine the device and watch the cut-scene.

Tips for passing the fourth biome “Ringing Ruins”

This biome is not much different from the very first one, so we won’t give too much advice. The fourth boss is also quite simple. As usual – the better you clear the biome, the easier the battle will be. Instead of purple flowers, there will be cocoons here, which we advise you to destroy, because sometimes, especially in additional rooms, you can get a lot of valuable things from them. We also remind you that you will not be able to return to the old biomes before defeating the sixth biome boss.

Ringing Ruins Enemy Tips

Gyropod. Reminiscent of drones from the past biome. Just try to constantly run to the side, which will make it easy to dodge their attacks.
Ringing turret. Shoots a homing beam. Before firing, the turret keeps a close eye on you. But the beam itself only slowly follows Selena. We advise you to constantly move, which will make it easy to dodge the shot.
Protostrix. Her blue beam is easy to dodge. But the main danger lies in the massive red attack. We advise you to keep an eye on protostrixes and kill first of all the one that prepares the most unpleasant shot. A weapon with damage over time can destroy this enemy with one shot. A good tactic is to shoot each of the protostrix once, which with a high chance will prevent a red attack. If the enemy used this strike, dodge dash through the borders of the expanding circle.
Trichosoid. The simplest opponent despite its considerable size. Those behind the barrier, hit with melee weapons in between enemy attacks.
Strix uterus. Armored large creature with a dangerous beam attack. The same technique was used by the third boss – Nemesis. Therefore, dodge the beam at the moment when you see the preparation animation. The strix uterus does some damage, but you will soon break its defenses. We advise you to use cover, because with a large group of enemies you may not notice the enemy beam itself.

Fourth passage of the house

Once in the room, examine the spaceship on the table, the drawing, and the astronaut figurine. Then examine the toy walkie-talkie on the cabinet shelf. Leave the room, go downstairs and examine the phone near the mirror. Then go into the room on the right. After entering the kitchen, examine the radio near the microwave oven. Next, sit on a chair. After telling the story, go to the exit, go up to the second floor and go into the room near the window.

After the cut-scene, you will be outside and will be able to pick up a new artifact – “two-way radio”. The item is very useful, because the ether in the fourth biome is easily obtained, and increased protection will come in handy in the future when you meet very strong enemies.

Tips for passing the fifth biome “Broken Wastes”

In our opinion, the most difficult biome to complete, which must be completed in one cycle in order to collect three keys. Therefore, first of all, collect all the most valuable things in the Ringing Ruins – take a first-aid kit, an astronaut figurine and aether in order to activate the reconstructor in the Broken Wastes next to the fabricator. We also advise you to increase the protection of Selena, because the opponents in the fifth biome hit very hard.

In the fabricator room, explore the additional room behind the blue passage:

There you will find a device that will allow you to move through the red water. This will allow you to explore as many places in the Ringing Ruins as possible and get much more valuables.

Here we also recommend using a damage over time weapon in the form of an energy blocker or a rot spitter. Before moving on to the Broken Wastes, stock up on an extra 150 Obolites, which will allow you to purchase a first aid kit from the Biome Fabricator, which is always located at the very beginning.

Broken Wastes Enemy Tips

In fact, enhanced versions of old opponents are waiting for you. One of the most dangerous are ice drones . Constantly move to the side and destroy them in priority. Weapons with damage over time can destroy a drone with one hit, so you can quickly take out a whole group of such opponents.

Another extremely dangerous enemy is the ice excommunicated . Keep a close eye on their teleports and immediately dodge, trying to get as far away as possible, because the enemy can use a whole combination of blows that can instantly kill Selene. When you see the excommunicated, we immediately advise you to look for devices for the hook in order to break the distance between you and the enemy as quickly as possible.

Tips for passing the sixth biome “Abyssal Scar”

Despite the fact that the biome is under water, the gameplay of the game will not change much, and new items and opponents are also waiting for you. In fact, you need to find another device that will allow you to shoot glowing balls and summon platforms:

These same spheres can be found in earlier biomes

After that, you need to find the key and defeat the final boss.

Abyssal Scar Enemy Tips

Anomos. Weak creature that dies from one shot. But usually there are a lot of anomos, and their attacks are quite swift. Therefore, rapid-fire weapons or weapons with massive damage are effective against them.
Deep trichozoid. A creature that summons anomos. Must be killed as soon as possible.
Deep Archon. A very dangerous creature that can shoot projectiles that can cause a suit to malfunction. When using weapons with periodic damage, you can shoot at the archonact, and then hide in cover, which will allow you to survive the battle with the least losses for yourself.
Typhonops. A giant creature with tentacles. Also beware of the red shots that cause crashes. As usual, damage over time weapons and the use of cover will make Typhonops fights much easier.

Fifth playthrough at home

It opens in the sixth biome, because in the fifth, according to our observations, the house is not available. Once inside, examine the room to the left of the entrance, where you will find a cube on the floor and a vinyl player on the bedside table. Go out into the corridor and approach the astronaut. Once in the children’s room, inspect the wooden castle and the chair near the table. After getting out of the room, go downstairs and go into the dining room. There, find a toy octopus under a chair near the dining table. Go out into the corridor again and go to the room near the entrance, where you need to inspect the TV. Once on the second floor, interact with the telescope by the window. As a result, you will find yourself outside and will be able to pick up a new artifact – a children’s watch, whose effect is similar to the astronaut figurine.

How to defeat Ophion?

As usual, you will need thorough preparation, and you can still choose an energy blocker as a weapon, which can deal quite a lot of damage to the boss, and it will also simply clear the fourth biome with it. To begin with, we advise you to completely clear the Ringing Ruins in order to collect as many oboliths as possible for the sake of first-aid kits, astronaut figurines and protective buffs. Then head to the ice biome and pick up the free first aid kit first. Then you can dive into the depths and pick up another first-aid kit at the beginning.

We advise not to fight, but to run past the monsters to the area after the fabricator, or even to the boss itself. The monsters do too much damage and the cost of a mistake can make you spend a lot of first aid kits.

If you decide to run past all the opponents, we advise you to look at the map and mark where the doors are. It is sometimes difficult to find them in the rooms yourself.

Arriving at the boss itself, we advise you to move as far as possible and constantly move left and right. Watch out for the tentacles, the impact of which will summon an expanding mass attack. To damage the boss, shoot at the glowing orbs until red growths appear on the boss’s body – these are what you need to attack, but be careful, because in the later phases these points will appear on other parts of Ophion’s body.

On the second health bar, the boss will start using his hands – with them he attacks the space in front of him and, like tentacles, summon expanding purple circles. The boss itself is simple and you will master it quickly. After defeating Ophionom, the game will be over, but you can continue to explore Returnal and unlock another ending.

How to open the secret ending?

After defeating Ophion, you will be able to return to the old biomes, which we talked about at the beginning of the guide. Explore all six locations, where one fragment is hidden in each. Then explore the house again and, after obtaining the keys, once again defeat the last boss of the sixth biome. After that, after jumping into the hole, go behind the sparkling headlights to find the car, opening which you will find out the true ending of Returnal.