Overview
A quick guide for beginners to help them handle combat and progress in the main game. Plus level one walkthrough.
Introduction
I am hearing a lot of how some beginners are frustrated by the difficulty of the main game. Someone jumping right into the main game before getting used to the controls and combat would have a hard time. If you’ve beaten the arena all the way through expert you are probably wondering why you can’t beat the first enemy you meet easily. That’s because you are probably using a weak weapon like your torch. It’s actually very simple to progress in the game.
The controls are explained ingame, go to “Settings” followed by “Controls”, there is a Quickstart Guide. In combat mode A/D sidesteps, W/S moves forward/back, so just track your facing, you can hit the spacebar to reorient the camera behind you. Just hit spacebar when you need to, there’s no need to keep your mind on it and use it constantly, nor should you be trying to avoid using it. Non-combat movement is similar to Resident evil 1/2 (left/right turns), right click where you want to face, advance with W and add shift to run. I play with “hold movement” for dash and “tap movement” as steps.
There’s two ways around the combat in the main game:
1) Evade enemies and gear up first.
In resident evil 2 you start with little ammo and should dodge around the first enemies you meet.
In Exanima you start off with no armor, so most edged weapon hits build up red damage on you.
You can avoid fights till you pick up better gear. Most enemies don’t turn aggressive unless you linger close to them, so you can run past them.
2) Git gud.
The AI is actually stupid and not that hard to beat. You’ll realise this if you play the game enough, that the game is actually pretty easy. It doesn’t seem that way when you are new. I can spoil you with what the experienced players figured out below, but it’s best you experience the game and enjoy your own achievement.
How to beat the AI in combat
1) Wait outside the enemy’s range and hold still, let the enemy come in range for his attack. You should be facing your enemy, your mouse cursor on him or in his direction.
2) The enemy starts his attack. Tap back to dodge it.
3) Make your attack while the enemy is recovering from his missed attack.
(Try to get your distance right, either hold still or tap forward. In an unusual case such as a cleaver wielder against your bill, you may need to step back as you attack.)
4) Your attack either hit or missed. Back off out of range. Return to Step 1).
The trick to Exanima is catching distance and timing, which means you should only move as much as necessary.
Example:
Enemy swings at you, you dash back, the attack misses but you are probably too far to counterattack quickly. Just tap back and step to evade the strike. The attack misses and you are closer to counterattack.
Continuing the example, you are attacking where you perceive an opening, the enemy is recovering from his attack. You press forward and attack, your arm smacks into the enemy and you do no damage. Maybe you only needed to step forward(tap) instead of dash forward while attacking. Or just stood still to attack. Or even step back and and attack, in cases of extreme reach differences, such as the bill versus the cleaver.
Ideally you want to hit with the tip of your weapon, it’s the end of the swing and does the most damage.
That should be enough to get you pretty far in the main game. You should always note your surroundings, whether there is enough space, light or if there are obstacles in your way. A tall character does have better reach and would probably have an easier time than a short character. The harder enemies wield weapons with better reach/speed that make openings harder to catch, just stay patient and watch for your openings. As you explore and pick up better armor and weapons, the game gets a lot easier, so don’t get discouraged!
Walkthrough for the first level(0.6.1.9)
Update: Played through level one on 0.6.1.9. Some zombies have new hairstyles, the level is practically unchanged, guide is still relevant.
I recommend creating a tall character for more reach. In the starting room pick up and equip your torch, head to the barrels in a corner and pick up a barrel lid for a shield. Leave the room, at the cross junction turn right, pass through the arches. Go through the door on the right and pick up a metal bar out of two near the door.
Open the next door on your left.
[link]There’s a zombie with a hatchet. You can avoid a fight or kill him. If you choose to fight, you can drop your torch on the ground for light while using the metal bar.The hatchet is fast and will cause red damage so you should fight cautiously, attacking only after you’ve just evaded his attack and immediately dodge back after making your attack to avoid retaliation.
Old vid where I beat him with torch and barrel lid, it’s harder.
Pick up his hatchet if you kill him. There is a chest to loot in the room. Leave the room and turn left to continue down the passage.
You will reach three closed doors. Enter the one on the left and close the door behind you. There are three wandering zombies in the area to dodge around or fight. Head straight forward and there is a metal bar near the wall light.
[link]Head left, go through a door and pick up a compass.
[link]Leave and open the door to the north to loot a chest in a small dark room.
[link]Open a door to the south, inside there is a zombie with a sledgehammer which you can kill pretty easily with your metal bar. Advance till you reach a chest to loot.
Leave and head north, then east through a doorway. Exit the room through another door east of you. Ignore the north passage and head east. There are two small rooms, in the first leather gloves can be found on a table. In the second room there is a machete.
[link]Retrace your steps and head down the north passage till you reach a door. Enter and close the door behind you. There are two wandering zombies in this new area, one is armed with an axe but he is still pretty easy to beat with a metal bar. Head west, then north. open the first door to the east, there is a chest in this room. Leave, head north and open the door to the west. Inside there is a chest of drawers in the northeast corner. There is also a key beneath the edge of a low table.
[link]Use the key to unlock the door to the west. Double click the key in your inventory, and then click on the door. Inside is a chest to loot. Return to the passage and head north to reach three doors. Proceed through the door on the north. Advance till you reach a door to your south. Inside there is a key on a table to pick up.
[link]Return to the passage and continue east. Enter a large room to the east and loot a chest in it. Leave the room and head south. Enter the first doorway to your west. Near a desk is a chest. Take the south exit. Head straight south, turn right and you will reach a door you close behind you towards the south. Go through it, backtrack to the cross junction near the starting room.
At the cross junction take the west passage. Unlock the door you reach with your key. In the new area is one wandering zombie armed with an axe. To the southwest there is a closed door. Inside is a rather aggressive zombie to kill. There is also a barrel that holds a rusty sword.
[link]Exit the room and head north through a doorway. Turn right and head east till you find a chest to loot. Return to the cross junction and head south. Unlock the door with your key. In the new area there are a few wandering zombies. Enter the west door on your right. Drop your torch in the corner. Arm yourself with the barrel lid and sword. Open the door to the south.
[link]Inside is a zombie armed with a metal bar to kill. recover your torch and loot the chest inside. Leave and head eastwards till you reach a door. There are containers inside to check. Check another small room in the next door to the south for loot. Continue south and there is a bill on top of a shelf. Go through the doorway to the south and find a chest to loot. Retrace your steps and take the south passage. Advance till you reach a gate and some levers. There are vambraces on a crate to pick up.
[link]Pull the rightmost lever down to unlock the closed gate. Proceed northwest to a closed door. Equip your sword and torch. Pass the door there are two zombies in a long dark passage. Kill them and loot a key off the zombie who was armed with an axe. Unlock the door at the end of the passage with it.
Inside the next room there is a zombie armed with a bill to take out.
In the new room, unlock the door in the northwest corner with your key. There is a lever to the east to pull and unlock the gate next to it. Head through the northwest door first. Unlock a gate with a lever and head north. Use your bill to kill two wandering zombies in the area. Go to the northwest corner of the third cage on the left. There is a two handed sword in the fourth locked cage that you can grab.
[link]Exit north, go around the cages heading northwest. You will find a desk and a chest to loot. The desk holds the key to the previous locked cage but you don’t need it. Retrace your steps and head east through the gate. Turn left and enter the doorway to the right. There is a chest nearby.
[link]Return to the passage and head south till you reach a closed door at the end of the passage. Inside, the first three rooms on your right contain a leather vest, boots and two chests. Behind a door to the southeast is a small room containing two zombies and a chest.
Take the east exit, there will be a chest to your right. Beneath some wooden trays is a glowing blue jar, it is used for healing so pick it up. Exit east. On your left is a passage with a sign marked with skull and crossbones. Ignore it for now and enter the door to the east.
In the new area there is a chest and a strongbox. The strongbox can be kept in your inventory and it holds a key to unlock a nearby room that contains a chest to loot. I think the strongbox is rather glitchy in 0.5.3.1, it turned some keys I kept in it into other items when I moved to level two. Return to the skull and crossbones sign and proceed down the passage.
You are now in the puzzle section of level 1.
Puzzle section of level one
1st puzzle:
Pull a lever, open a gate. Right. Continue down the passage till you get to an archway to the east on your right, go through it and proceed till you reach a closed gate.
2nd puzzle:
Pulling the lever not only opens the gate but it will also temporarily close some trapdoors and make the pitfalls to the northwest passable. Pull the lever and quickly run northwest down the passage over the trapdoors before they open again.
Run as fast as you can by holding right click away from your character, while holding shift and W as well. Take your armor off if it slows you down.
3rd puzzle:
Pull the lever and run through the gate to the northeast before it closes.
4th puzzle:
Grab the cover from the box nearby, move it before the lever. Click and drag it, drop it and move your character, then click-drag it again, etc. While dragging it use keys A and D to turn the object.
Pull the lever down. Drag the cover and use the S key to angle it upwards. Drop the cover on the lever to weigh it down.
[link]Proceed till you reach two levers opposite each other.
5th puzzle:
You want to get both levers up for a moment to unlock a gate. Drop a plank on one of the levers.
Pull the lever upwards and the plank props it up. Pull the other lever upwards. Enter the nearby room and press the large button on the wall and proceed to where there is a line of four levers.
6th puzzle:
From right to left, quickly pull down the four levers on the west wall, then pull up the lever on the south wall. You don’t have to be dragging the handle part of a lever mechanism to pull it. A gate to the north opens up if you succeed. Head through it and pull the lever inside to keep the four trapdoors ahead raised.
7th puzzle:
In the area you’ll have plenty of planks and two trapdoors. Pick the wide planks and place two of them next to each other to form a bridge across each trapdoor. Place a broken table on each pressure plate, you need to activate both pressure gates to open a gate to a small room. Pull the lever inside and the first gate closes while another opens. Proceed and advance past the two bridges you built.
8th puzzle:
Go through an arch to the south and grab a stool and chair. Place the stool near the first lever. Place the chair on it’s back with it’s legs pointing towards the lever. Pull the lever down and drop the chair close to the wall against the lever.
[link] [link]Use a nearby wheelbarrow to weigh down the second lever.
[link]Pull the third lever, run to and pull the fourth lever and run though the gate to the west before it closes.
9th puzzle:
It’s a little maze, head through a west arch, then a south arch, proceed till you reach a gate-lever to the west.
Go through it and ignore the next west gate-lever. Go through a north arch, turn left and go through a south arch. Go through another arch to the south, followed by a west arch. There is a gate-lever to the north.
Go through the gate lever and then left through a west arch. Go through one more north gate-lever and you are through the maze.
10th puzzle:
Think of the 9 buttons as your numpad. Enter 2486, next 1793, and finally 5. The gate opens, loot the chest of drawers and the two reinforced chests. Proceed through the gate-lever and go to level two by activating the double doors ahead. If you’ve turned on early checkpoints, you’ll get your first checkpoint.
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