Everspace 2 is a pretty unique game that takes the classic action-RPG formula and combines it with elements from old-school space shooters. The end result is a title that’s markedly different from its predecessor in all the best ways possible. Instead of a mildly interesting roguelike, this time around we got an exciting open-world space RPG with engaging combat and a banger soundtrack.
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While Everspace 2 may seem straightforward at first glance, the game has quite a few features and mechanics that are easy to miss, especially if you’re new to the genre. There’s no need to worry, though, because we’ve put together a list of valuable tips and tricks that will help you kick your adventures across Cluster 34 on the right foot.
Invest In Tractor Beam Upgrades Early On
You can’t go a minute without looting one thing or another in this game, be it weapons, resources, consumables, or various other items. When you first start off, you won’t be able to pull in more than one item at a time to your ship and that's going to get a bit annoying after a while. Luckily, that will no longer be the case once you upgrade your tractor beam.
The upgrade can be unlocked from Dax and costs a fair amount of resources and credits, but the price is well worth it. The tier one upgrade increases the range of your tractor beam while the tier two upgrade will enable you to pull multiple objects at a time. Out of all the upgrades offered by Dax, this is definitely the best one and will save you a ton of time in the long run. The upgrade also has a third tier, which increases the tractor beam’s speed, but that one isn't nearly as useful, so feel free to take it or leave it.
Wait To Dismantle Items
Speaking of loot, you’ll find so much of it in Everspace 2 that you’ll often need to get rid of some in order to make room in your cargo bay, i.e. your inventory. This can become a bit of a problem when you’re out exploring and don’t have access to a station where you can sell your extra loot. Now, you could store some of your stuff at your homebase if you’re in the area or, and this is usually the better option, you could dismantle it for resources.
It's worth keeping in mind that you won’t be able to dismantle any items until you acquire a cargo unit. If you try to do it before acquiring one, the item will simply get destroyed. In addition to allowing you to dismantle items, cargo units also increase the size of your inventory, so they’re quite valuable needless to say. It’s also worth pointing out that you can only dismantle weapons and modules. Things like consumables and commodities can either be sold or destroyed.
Store Commodities For Later
If you love Freelancer you’ll appreciate Everspace 2’s inclusion of commodities. The trading system in this game is a bit more simplistic, but it’s still a welcome addition regardless. While exploring Cluster 34, you’ll inevitably come across a wide variety of commodities, ranging from small arms and mining equipment to medicine, clothing, ramen, and more. It’s very tempting to immediately sell these to the nearest vendor given your limited cargo space, but that’s not necessarily a great idea. Or at least not always.
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Trading in Everspace 2 is based on the basic principle of supply and demand. As a result, pretty much any commodity sells better in some systems than others. You only need to hover above a commodity to find out if it’s worth selling in the current system. If it’s not, you can store it in your homebase until you find yourself in a system where the commodity does sell well. Once you get a sense of how the market works, you can buy commodities for cheap from one system and sell them for a profit in another.
Buy Armor Plating ASAP
The hull, the shield, and the armor are your ship’s three lines of defense. While you won’t have to worry about acquiring a shield early on, you’ll need to complete a few quests for Dax before he’ll give you some armor plating. Alternatively, you can simply buy some instead and beef up your defenses as soon as possible. This is especially important if you’re playing on higher difficulties where every hit from an enemy ship hurts big time.
As it happens, you’ll find trading outposts in two out of the three places Dax sends you to during the mission The Edge of the Universe. Namely, Union Bridge and CETO Outer Rim. The trader on CETO Outer Rim is a little bit off the beaten path, but just look for The Flying duch*ess, and you’ll find her there. You’ll receive a waypoint showing you the way to The Flying duch*ess as soon as you enter the sector.
Energy Damage vs Kinetic Damage
There are only two types of damage you need to worry about in Everspace 2 – energy and kinetic. Armor plating only protects against energy damage while shields only protect against kinetic damage. The vast majority of weapons in the game inflict both types of damage in various amounts. Generally speaking, every weapon deals significantly more of one type of damage than the other. It’s always a good idea to have at least one dedicated kinetic damage weapon and one dedicated energy damage weapon ready to go, so you can switch things up on the fly depending on what sort of enemies you’re facing.
Every now and again you’ll come across some more specialized weapons that only deal one type of damage. These tend to be secondary weapons and include things like corrosion missiles and EMP missiles. Weapons like these have additional effects that can be used to your advantage. For instance, corrosion missiles deal damage over time while EMP missiles temporarily stun targets. Make sure to read the weapon’s description before using it, so you’ll know exactly what it does.
Undiscovered Site, Unknown Signal, & Distress Call
Even though Everspace 2 has a lot going on for it, the exploration leaves a lot to be desired. Star systems are compartmentalized into small instances instead of being true open worlds and many of the optional ones are not really worth exploring. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to tell which of them are worth looking into based on their type. The three main types are Undiscovered Sites, Unknown Signals, and Distress Calls. Only those first ones are always worth exploring.
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Undiscovered Sites appear on your map as you progress through the story and usually contain side quests, interesting puzzles, or some sort of worthwhile reward. Sometimes all three. You also get a Mainframe Component whenever you complete one, so they’re definitely not to be ignored. As far as Unknown Signals and Distress Calls are concerned, these are typically small instances you can visit mine a few resources or do some busy work in exchange for a bit of loot. You’ll trigger tons of these while traveling from place to place, and they’re essentially just radiant quests, so you won’t miss out on much by ignoring them.
Use AOE Weapons For Mining
While you can craft most types of items by using parts acquired after disassembling your extra loot, you’ll also need specific resources to craft components like power cells and wiring kits. Resources are also needed to unlock companion perks and can be mined from asteroids found all over Cluster 34. Mining in Everspace 2 is pretty straightforward since you just have to point and shoot, but you’ll want to use AoE damage if you want to do it effectively.
Shooting at a mineral node with a flak cannon or a missile will release all the resources found within, allowing you to collect everything in one fell swoop. Mining using most other types of weapons is time-consuming and quite frankly boring. If you’re close enough to the mineral node when it blows up you don’t even need to use your tractor beam because all the resources will automatically be picked up by your ship. Just don’t stand too close because you’ll risk blowing yourself up in the process as well.
Listen For Cloaked Containers
There’s nothing more satisfying than solving a difficult puzzle and unlocking access to a container full of goodies. Or is there? Well, what if I told you Everspace 2 has containers so rare and valuable that you can’t even see them? Just as their name indicates, cloaked containers are practically invisible until you’re right next to them and are therefore very easy to miss. But just because you can’t see them that doesn’t mean they can't be found.
Unlike other containers, these ones don’t show up as a little icon in your HUD to notify you of their location, but they do emit a beeping sound you can follow. The sound is accompanied by a flashing visual cue, however, the cue is very faint so you’re better off trying to track them down by sound alone, which gets increasingly louder as you approach the source. Once you’re close enough to the source of the signal, look around carefully and you’ll eventually spot a transparent, barely visible container just waiting to be looted.
Keep An Eye On Equipment Sets
Set bonuses are a staple of fantasy RPGs, but it just so happens that Everspace 2 has them as well. Equipment sets are not very common in this game so you’ll want to hang onto every set piece you can find, just in case you come across other pieces later on. Some sets only have two pieces while others can have up to five and every item in the set tends to have the same rarity.
The first set you’re likely to come across is Union Eclipse, which gives you 30% more damage for 5 seconds whenever you switch primary weapons. Remember that you can increase both the level and the rarity of an item via crafting so don’t throw away set items once you’ve over-leveled them. You can always upgrade them later.
Use Your Jump Drive
Combat in Everspace 2 can get pretty hectic even in the early game. Of course, you have plenty of tools at your disposal to make up for the fact that you’re always outnumbered, including warfare devices, an ultimate ability, consumables, and more. But even with all that, you may still find yourself in situations where you’re simply overwhelmed by enemies, and that’s precisely when the good old jump drive comes in handy.
Fleeing from combat might seem shameful, but it gives you the chance to fight another day. The cruise drive is also worth considering whenever you want to make a quick getaway, but if you want to make sure no one can follow you, the jump drive is the way to go. Just keep in mind that the drive will charge much slower while you’re under attack. Make sure to use the engine boost and some clever evasive maneuvers while you’re charging the drive to increase your chances of making it out in one piece.
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