The top 5 ‘Redfall’ tips to help you jumpstart your game

“Redfall” is deceptively simple but the gameplay is surprisingly deep as you fight an army of vampires, cultists and mercenaries. The developers at Arkane Studios Austin throw players into that meat grinder without too much explanation.

The campaign can be difficult at first as players’ powers are severely limited, but over time, they level up and amass better weapons. Here are five tips to make that process run a little smoother:

1. Choose your hero wisely: “Redfall” offers four playable characters at launch, and each hero offers their own distinct brand of gameplay. Whomever you chose, you’ll be attached to them through the campaign, so it’s best to choose wisely. Players can’t switch their hero on the fly and continue the story. Each hero is tied to their own campaign, and if you decide to play multiplayer, the host is the only one that retains the narrative progress.

That means if you beat a boss with your buddy and she’s the host, you’ll have to do the same on your account for that specific protagonist. Personally, I spent a few hours with each character before finding a playstyle I could stand for a long campaign. It takes about two or three hours or so to get all the abilities, but even then, there are perks that alter each of them dramatically.

2. Here’s a quick overview of the heroes: Who is the best character in “Redfall”? That depends. Each hero represents a different playstyle and they come with two special moves, an ultimate and several distinct perks. They each have the same base stats with the offense determined but weapons, but it’s their powers that make them feel different. Players can upgrade them as they level up. Here’s a rundown of the protagonists to help you choose:

Layla Ellison — If you like running and gunning, she’s the one. Her powers allow her to absorb damage. The umbrella blocks bullets and that’s helpful if you’re overwhelmed by a squad of Bellwether mercs. She can then hurl the shield at foes. Her Lift power summons a phantom elevator that lets players jump higher almost as if they’re on a trampoline or launchpad. It’s good for exploration and perks can help her boost her attack power while lifting off. With all this running and jumping, she does have bonuses that increase her durability to certain attacks and hazards.

Her ultimate attack is a summon that brings her vampire ex-boyfriend to the fold and he rips through enemies quickly.

Jacob Boyer — He works as a scout in a squad. His raven lets him detect enemies ahead and his cloak lets him sneak into areas and collect better intel. In combat, the raven can be upgraded to do damage while the cloak gives players time to collect themselves and heal if players are overwhelmed. His perks focus on damage-dealing and rewards those who can nail headshots.

His ultimate is a phantom rifle that acts almost like Cassidy’s ultimate in “Overwatch.” Players can upgrade the attack so that it heals him with the damage dealt.

Devinder Crousley — For me, he’s the most enjoyable character to play because his powers are versatile. He can translocate, which essentially gives him the ability to teleport. The caveat is that he can only reach areas where he can throw the teleporter. It allows him to reach out-of-the-way roofs or hard-to-reach rooms blocked by walls. His Arc Javelin deals an area-of-effect attack, that’s great in narrow hallways that players run into in vampire nests or buildings. His ultimate attack creates a large area of effect blasts that hurt vampires, and when upgraded, it can heal players. His powers actually mesh well with “Redfall’s” other female protagonist.

Remi de la Rosa — She has a pet robot called Bribón, and players can use it to create distractions or opportunities for ambushes. Players can do things like lure vampires to an environmental hazard like exploding barrels, Dev’s AOE attack or pools of oil. She can also toss C4 for big blasts. She can even attach the explosive to Bribón to a create a robot suicide bomber though the mech is essentially invincible.

If you like gameplay that focuses on pet interaction and some creativity, then she’s the one for you. Her ultimate turns Bribon into a healing station and her auxiliary perks allow her to carry more medkits than other characters.

3. Carry weapons for different times of day: In “Redfall,” the freaks vampires come out at night and that makes it more dangerous. With more danger lurking about it, it’s good to switch out your weapons to those geared toward killing fanged menaces. That means UV lights, flare guns, and Sawfish (aka stake gun). These weapons aren’t effective against humans, but they deal tons of pain to vamps. I especially like the UV gun. Again, it’s highly effective and has one other benefit …

It would have been great for Arkane Studios Austin to give players a quick swap on the fly so they don’t dig through menus in the middle of battle.

In general, I like running with assault weapons or shotguns because they’re actually good against both vampires and humans, plus they have bayonets at the end so they can finish off vamps. That’s something that the sniper rifle doesn’t have.

4. Save those guaranteed named weapons for later — Players will come across named weapons every once in a while. They’re rare, but in the first part of the campaign, players will have two chances to get guaranteed orange-tiered guns. I would advise that you save these weapons toward the end when you’re more powered up and ready to move to the next chapter. Be sure to head over to Wheeler’s Sporting Goods. (It has the shopping basket on the map. Be sure to bring lockpicks.) The gold-tiered weapon is tied to your level so it will give you a leg up for the next part of the game.

The other guaranteed gold-tiered weapon may come during a mission at the lighthouse. Try to do that one toward the end of the first chapter.

Unfortunately, you can’t upgrade weapons over time in the game.

5. Use the UV gun to destroy the red mist: Players will run into these annoying obstacles everywhere in the game. How do you get rid of red mist in “Redfall”? Players will need a UV beam gun and plenty of health. If you look inside the red mist, players will see a statue. After spotting it, all they’ll have to do is shine UV light on the statue for a few seconds, it will turn into a brittle stone and players can punch it so that the red mist evaporates. It’s yet another reason to keep a vampire weapon you at all times.