7 Flintlock The Siege of Dawn tips and tricks

✓ At A Glance

• Parry with your axe and pistol to remove enemy shields quicker
• Pick up side quests from The Coffee Shop and the Camp
• Liberate Hamlets to get more Healing Flask
• Collect Enki feathers
• Abuse Prime build-up
• Get the Dodge Attack, Deflection, Taunt, and Poised Shot skills early on

Self-described as a Souls-lite, Flintlock The Siege of Dawns isn’t the most challenging game inspired by FromSoft’s well-entrenched design choices, but it still isn’t easy going by general video game standards. 

If you’re just starting out on Nor’s adventure, figuring things out can be a tad daunting. To help you hit the ground running, we’ve pulled together seven tips and tricks from our time playing through the game. We’ve also covered the best weapons and best skills, if you fancy a gander at those as well.

Parry with your axe and pistol to remove enemy shields quicker

Armoured enemies are a right task to deal with because you’ll only chip away at their health bars with standard attacks. To dispatch them quicker, you’ll want to use both your axe/hammer parry and pistol parry to stun them, follow up with a critical attack, and strip them of their armour or shield. This leaves them exposed, on an equal footing with standard mobs, making them much easier to defeat.

Pick up side quests from The Coffee Shop and the Camp

Though you can storm through the main story quest, some of Flintlock’s best moments and detours play out in Sapper and side quests. You can pick up side quests at Coffee Shops by selecting Rumours when chatting to the owner. Sapper quests are available from the group that gathers around your Camp as your progress through the game. Each of the crew has their own unique Sapper quest for you to play through.

Liberate Hamlets to get more Healing Flask

Aside from the fun of clearing out the resident bandits and their leader, liberating Hamlets grants you access to Coffee Shop. Interact with the limby barista after freeing the settlement and you’ll get an extra Healing Flask. You start with only a handful so it’s well worth going out of your way to take on Hamlets whenever you spot one. The first is found in Mudfish in the Three Peaks.

Collect Enki feathers

Other than a chatty companion to keep your company as you explore Kian, Enki is a crucial component of Nor’s combat toolkit, inflicting powerful curses on enemies, restraining them with the right skill upgrades, and even dealing physical damage. But, he starts out with only a few curse charges and they replenish quite slowly. To mitigate this, you’ll want to seek out and recover Enki Feathers whenever you can. They’ll allow his curse attacks to build up more Prime and he’ll use his passive abilities more often. You can grab the first one just north of Gavel Gate in Three Peaks.

Fill up an enemy’s Prime metre whenever you can

The Prime gauge, which appears once Enki has cursed an enemy, acts as a stagger metre in Flintlock. Fill it up and you’ll stun enemies for a few precious moments, then you can get in a critical attack for massive damage. Better yet, as you invest in the skill tree, Prime will chain between enemies, allowing you to chew through even large groups of enemies in no time. Abuse Prime whenever you can. It’s by far the most powerful combat mechanic in the game.

Explore to snap up new weapons and gear

Though make it quite comfortably through the full game with Nor’s starting gear, it’s well worth picking up new weapons and gear. They broaden her fighting skills and offer some novel ways to dish out damage and chain together her toolkit in inventive ways. They appear mostly in chests scattered around Kian, typically off the beaten path in optional areas. It’s, therefore, well worth taking detours and exploring to score the best loot.

Get these skills early on

Flintlock has a pretty extensive skill tree covering powder, magic, and steel. They range from beefing up your combat abilities to improving Enki’s curses and enhancing your firearms. In the early game, you’ll want to invest Reputation as soon as possible into these skills:

• Dodge Attack – Allows Nor to perform a quick follow-up melee attack after a successful dodge.
• Deflection – Nor can deflect enemy projectiles back at them after a successful axe or hammer parry.
• Taunt – Enki will draw the attention of enemies when you’re facing groups, giving you useful breathing room.
• Poised Shot – Nor can perform an interrupt parry attack with her pistol just before an enemy attack hits, opening the door for a critical strike and increased damage.