Stellar Blade is the latest must-have PS5 exclusive. While it gives you plenty of opportunities to feel like an awesome android, it’s also not afraid to shrink you down to enemies that deal serious damage if you don’t pay attention and play carefully.
Taking a cue from notoriously challenging games like Dark Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Stellar Blade may be a very implacable lover. Even the enemies and bosses early in the game can present a difficult challenge, and there are some useful mechanics that aren’t fully explained.
I’ve spent a couple dozen hours with this fantastic PS5 action game, and after racking up the credits, I know exactly what it takes to see Eve’s adventure through to the end. Below are the top Stellar Blade tips I wish I’d known before beginning my journey through the game’s post-apocalyptic Earth.
Before I delve into my (hopefully helpful) tips, it’s worth noting that these tips are specifically for newcomers who need a little help. If you are a more experienced or intermediate player looking for strategies to defeat the game’s final bosses, this is not the guide for you.
Stop, stop and stop some more
Let’s start with a pretty obvious (but absolutely vital) tip. To be successful at Stellar Blade you will need to familiarize yourself with its parrying mechanics.
In most Souls-style games, you can neglect parrying in favor of dodging or moving away from danger. In Stellar Blade, however, if you can’t parry consistently, you won’t get very far. Initially, you parry the defense by performing a guard move with the L1 button, and the goal is to press the button a fraction of a second before an enemy’s attack connects with EVE.
Practice makes perfect
Figuring out Stellar Blade’s stopping time can be a bit tricky, with some players even accusing the game of suffering from input lag (a decision that the says the game director It’s intentional). So if, like me, you’re struggling to get the perfect time, make sure you spend some time practicing in the training area.
In the well-lit training room, you can hone your skills and get a good idea of when you need to put your guard up to make a perfect save. During my playthrough, I spent about 20 minutes getting comfortable with consistent parries. I can’t overstate what a huge difference this made to my combat skills.
You can access the training area through skill terminals located in the control camps. Simply approach the terminal, open the “Skill Settings” menu, and click the square button to enter the dedicated training space.
Make the perfect stop easier
If you’re still having trouble parrying even after spending some time in the training room, there’s a fix that makes this fundamental mechanic a little more forgiving.
In the Survival skill tree, there is a skill called “Focus Boost” that makes the time window for a perfect parry a little more generous. This skill costs two SP points and I recommend unlocking it as a matter of priority.
In the same skill tree, there is also a skill called “Reflex Boost” that makes performing a perfect dodge a little easier. Make sure you unlock this as soon as possible as well.
Never stop scanning
Stellar Blade is a real visual treat on PS5 with plenty of eye-catching sights to behold. That said, don’t get so distracted by the pretty graphics that you forget to use your drone companion’s scanning capabilities as you explore the world.
Clicking on the DualSense’s touchpad will send a pulse that highlights all sorts of useful things, from nearby loot chests to enemies. The cooldown on this skill is very short (and you can shorten it even further through upgrades), so you need to scan at every opportunity. This ability will ensure that you don’t miss any unusual upgrades and can also alert you to the presence of enemies around the corner.
Select these useful settings
Head to Stellar Blade’s settings menu (located inside the pause menu) and you’ll find a couple of useful options that I recommend you activate.
To start, make sure you enable “Auto Loot Items.” Eve will now instantly absorb all glow orbs from defeated enemies and open chests without you having to tediously collect them.
I also recommend changing the length of Eve’s ponytail from the default long to short. You might think this is purely a cosmetic change, but you’ll find that the longer ponytail swinging wildly in all directions during combat encounters can be quite a distraction. Be brief and it won’t bother you.
Don’t be afraid of Story Mode
Unlike some games that take inspiration from the Souls series, Stellar Blade offers two hard modes (technically it offers three, but the third is unlocked after completing the game for the first time). These are normal mode and story mode. While I recommend playing the game on the default Normal mode, don’t be afraid to switch to Story Mode if you’re having particular trouble with a difficult p or boss.
Even players who don’t want to take the “easy” path to success can use “Story Mode” as an effective tool for learning enemy patterns. For example, I had trouble with the game’s final boss, but I was able to beat it on Normal after doing a couple of practice runs on the easiest difficulty. The added indulgence of Story Mode allowed me to understand how best to counter the boss’s many devastating moves and combos.
Just make sure you don’t accidentally defeat a boss in Story Mode if you want to beat the game in Normal Mode, since you can’t reload a previous save.
Explore ‘The Wasteland’
After a few hours of playing, you should reach Xion. This city serves as humanity’s last sanctuary on an Earth overrun by alien enemies. The location serves as a hub that you will visit frequently. It’s also where you’ll discover the game’s first open area: The Wasteland.
You may be tempted to go straight to the next mandatory mission. However, resist the temptation to move on and take the time to explore The Wasteland. There’s plenty of loot to find in this sandy space and also side quests worth completing.
If you want to be prepared for the tough enemies that await you in the depths of Stellar Blade, you should set aside at least a little time to tackle some optional objectives and get stronger.
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