Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a massive game with dozens of enemy types and quite literally hundreds of collectibles. It’s a lot to take in at once, especially as you try to decide what to focus on while playing through Cal Kestis’ new adventure. Before you jump in, we have a few early tips and vital mechanics that you should know, which will make everything in Survivor just a bit easier.
5. Wait to Explore
Exploration is a huge component of Survivor, and everywhere you go you’ll see optional paths, locked chests, hidden areas, and more. While it can be tempting to run off the beaten path, you’re much better off simply following the story for roughly the first half of the game. Survivor has a lot of abilities you’ll unlock that lets you explore more, and the story does a good job of looping back through previous areas once you unlock a new ability.
If you want to maximize your time you should at least wait until you get the Force Lift and Force Slam abilities, as well as the one that lets you jump through green barriers. There are a few abilities after that, but those three will let you explore the bulk of Survivor’s environments.
4. Always Chat at Pyloon’s Saloon
Pyloon’s Saloon functions as your home base in Survivor, and you’ll unlock it early on in the second chapter. There are a handful of NPCs that hang out in the saloon and by completing certain rumors you can recruit even more. Between story beats you should constantly be returning to the saloon and exhausting the dialogue with every NPC inside, as well as near the building.
The NPCs you meet have fantastic little stories to tell, and really help flesh out the world and lore of Survivor. That’s not the only reason, however, as talking to NPCs will, more often than not, unlock new rumors and sidequests, like rare monsters to fight or High Republic Meditation Chambers to explore.
Each time you return to Koboh, if there are new conversations, you’ll see a prompt pop up on the screen. That’s your cue to return to the saloon and have a few chats.
3. Mount Up
One of Cal’s big new abilities allows him to tame wild animals and use them as mounts, or to fly short distances. Both Koboh and Jeddha have animals scattered around their environments, but you can actually call your mount at any time, anywhere, by simply pressing the R1 button.
On Koboh, pressing the button will summon a Nekko, which are particularly great for reaching high ledges or platforms. If you find yourself stuck on how to reach an area, consider trying out the Nekko’s double jump ability.
2. BD-1 Can Hack Enemies
BD-1 gets his own new abilities in Survivor, and one of these is the Electro Dart, which is primarily used to power conduits that open doors or puzzles. It has a secret second use, however, as it can instantly hack droid enemies that you’d normally need to weaken in battle first. There are a couple of catches, however.
The first is that you’ll need to have unlocked the respective hack ability for each droid. For example, if you want to hack a B2 Battle Droid you need to purchase the upgrade from Caji’s story in Pyloon’s Saloon. The second catch is that you can’t use the Electro Dart when you’re in the middle of battle, so you’ll need to use it before enemies spot you. Still, it’s a good way to get a leg-up on large groups of enemies.
1. Invest in Resilience
There are a lot of skills to choose from in Survivor, between five different Lightsaber stances and a wealth of Force Powers. If you really want to hold your own in battle, however, you should fill out the Resilience tree first, which will bump up Cal’s health and stim recovery, as well as a few other helpful perks.
One of the most useful skills in this tree is the Power of Friendship, which makes each stim restore some Force on top of health. This skill alone can help ensure you’re always able to use Force abilities in combat.
