Avatar Frontiers of Pandora beginner’s guide – our best 15 tips and tricks

After some Avatar Frontiers of Pandora tips and tricks? Though Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is a visual treat, its jungles are teeming with flora, fauna, and the gun-toting RDA, all out to harm you. Emerging from the facility after a 15-year slumber can be a shock to the system, so to help you navigate those first few hours we’ve pieced together tips and tricks gathered from our own time with Ubisoft’s latest open-world adventure.

If you’re after more granular guides beyond our Avatar Frontiers of Pandora beginner’s guide, check out all the Ancestor skills locations and how to power field labs. And if you haven’t already, read our Avatar Frontiers of Pandora review for our thoughts on surprisingly faithful and enjoyable homage to the movies.

Seek out Tarsyu saplings and Tarsyu flower

Tarsyu saplings and Tarsyu flowers grant skill points and Ancestor skills, respectively. Ancestor skills are unique abilities such as dampening fall damage and a mid-air jump.

Conveniently, Tarsyu flowers are marked on the map as soon as you enter the jungle, even in fog-covered areas you’ve yet to explore, which makes finding them easier. We recommend hoovering up those close to the Resistance HQ early on, then waiting until you unlock the ikran flying mount to connect with the rest.

As for Tarsyu saplings, these also appear on your map, but only once you’ve discovered the area they’re in. Fortunately, there are plenty dotted across the map, notably in the starting Kinglor Forest. You can toggle discovered saplings on and off by bringing up the map and tapping the corresponding key (R on PC). This helps with tracking down those you haven’t collected or connected with yet.

You don’t earn XP

Unlike similar open-world games in the same tradition as Avatar Frontiers of Pandora, you don’t earn experience from killing RDA and aggressive wildlife or for completing quests. Instead, your skill level, or Combat Strength as it’s called in Avatar Frontiers of Pandora, is determined by the gear and weapons you’ve equipped, with better gear granting a bigger boost to your level. You can view your Combat Strength in the Character tab in the menu. 

Call you ikran during a free-fall

Other than adding some cinematic gloss to your playthrough, you can call your ikran during a free-fall from, say, a floating island. Your ikran will swoop in to save you from certain death. The mechanic can also be used tactically to escape or retreat from enemy attacks, for example.

Fly into insect swarms and catch fish to recharge your ikran’s stamina

Speaking of your ikran, fly into insect swarms to restore your ikran’s stamina instead of feeding them. Later on, you can unlock several skills that allow you to skim low above deep bodies of water to catch fish and recharge your ikran’s stamina. These are found under the Memories of the Rider branch of the skill tree and are called Aerial Fishing 1, Aerial Fishing 2, and Aerial Fishing 3, with the latter two increasing the amount of energy gained.

Distract RDA patrols with your ikran

Another tip relating to your ikran: they can be used to distract RDA patrols, useful if you want to avoid a fight and make a swift exit. If you’re taking a stealth approach, the same mechanic can be used to throw off patrols and allow you to sneak through. This is particularly useful when disabling RDA Outposts teeming with enemies to clear out pollution in the surrounding area. Alerting them all by going in guns and bows blazing usually leads to a swift death screen.

Keep a reserve of spare parts

As you explore RDA facilities, namely RDA Outposts and Field Labs, you’ll come across crates, which when looted give you spare parts. Gather these whenever you get the chance as they can be used to either craft special ammunition, typically for guns, or traded at the Resistance HQ for gear, crafting materials, designs, and ingredients for cooking.

Mark plants and animals

This is our favorite of the Avatar Frontiers of Pandora tips and tricks we picked up. When you’re searching for a specific type of plant or animal for crafting or clan contributions, head to the Hunter’s Guide in the menu and pin it. Now, when you use your Na’vi sense, the selected plant or animal will glow gold. You still have to travel to the right area, but this makes finding it a lot easier.

✓ Tip

Follow scents to track down wildlife

If an animal darts off into the jungle, fire up your Na’vi sense and then pin the scent trail. Following the trail will lead you straight to the creature.

Pick skills for your preferred playstyle

Though Avatar Frontiers of Pandora’s skill tree isn’t all that extensive, there are enough options to cater your choices to your playstyle. If you prefer a stealthy approach, then invest skill points into the Hunter skills; for those that prefer a head-on style, then Warrior skills are the way to go. We do, however, recommend sinking a few points in the Survivor branch, especially in skills like Vigor and Large Healing Pouch. For a more in-depth dive, check out our dedicated best skills in Avatar Frontiers of Pandora guide.

Offload unwanted items at Clan Contribution baskets

As you explore the Western Frontier, you’ll pick up a huge amount of crafting materials, ingredients, and gear. Not all of it is useful and before long you’ll hit the capacity limit and be looking to get rid of some of them. Instead of dropping unwanted items, offload them at Clan Contribution baskets at Na’vi camps and larger settlements. You’ll be putting them to good use and gaining valuable Clan Favor in the process. For example, at the Shaded Grove in the Shadow Wood, all you need to do is hand over a single Blaze Fruit.

Remember to use clan favor

As you take on story quests, wrap ip side quests, and complete Clan Contributions, you’ll earn Clan Favor, which you can spend in exchange for all types of goods, including designs, crafting materials, weapons, and other gear. This is done with various NPCs in major settlements like the Hometree in the Silk Woods.

Status effects disable Na’vi sense

Pandora is littered with hazardous plants, many of which will give you a short status effect like burns or toxic gas if you get too close. When this happens, your Na’vi sense will be temporarily disabled, so do your best to learn to recognise dangerous plants and avoid them. Additionally, RDA soldiers will occasionally chuck throwables that can cause status effects, notably flash grenades, with again the same Na’vi sense- dampening effect.

Crafting material quality

The quality of crafting materials obtained from plants and wildlife depends on the time of day, location, weather conditions, and how you harvest them. These factors determine the quality of the item. Clean and merciful kills offer better animal resources while plants need to be extracted by moving the analog stick (or mouse) in the right direction (the one where it doesn’t shake) before picking them up.

Unlock the Expert Ammunition Crafter skill

With only a set amount of ammo you can carry at one time, you’ll be replenishing your stocks regularly when playing Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. To make the process a little less tedious, we recommend investing in the Expert Ammunition Crafter skill as early as you can. The skill allows you to craft double the amount of base ammunition in one go.

Upgrade SID hacks at the Resistance HQ

You can extend the hacking range of the SID with appropriate mods sold at Resistance HQ. Talk to Rajinder in the Living Quarters, then scroll down to the Armguards Mods section to find several options available in exchange for spare parts. We recommend the Shielded Relay Bracelet, which extends the SID hacking range by 6 metres or, if you’re low on spare parts, the Signal Relay Bracelet that extends range by 3 metres. 

Slow down and marvel at Pandora

Popping on our rose-tinted glasses for a minute here, we recommend slowing down and appreciating Pandora’s sights and wildlife every once in a while. It’s a beautifully crafted and varied world, arguably one of the game’s greatest strengths. Forget the main quest and busy work for a few minutes, and explore freely. You’re more than likely to stumble into something surprising, and if not, you’re almost guaranteed a stunning vista.

With these Avatar Frontiers of Pandora tips and trick you should be well prepared to take on the RDA and stay alive out in the jungle. For more Avatar guides, check out three ways to earn Clan Favor, how to ride the Direhorse, and how to get merciful kills in Avatar for higher quality materials and meat.