Overview
Some tips to get you started.
Getting Started
Welcome to the guide.
– Navigate to C:Users<yourPCnameHERE>DocumentsMy GamesHellgate. There should be a Logs folder. Right-click the folder, and set it to read-only. For some reason this version of the game creates log files reaching sizes in gigabytes. Setting the folder to read-only will prevent the game from doing so.
– Before you start playing, be sure to check the in-game Options. By default, some effects are disabled and most graphics settings are not set to their highest.
– However I strongly suggest to set your Texture quality to Medium. There seems to be a bug that’s causing many people framerate issues. Also the game is using a low resolution version of textures, so even if you select the ‘Very High’ setting, you won’t get any prettier textures anyway. It’s a game from 2007, deal with it.
– Owners of processors with integrated graphics be sure to check your AMD/NVIDIA control panel and set this game MANUALLY to use your powerful GPU. This game is old and sometimes it won’t recognize cards like GTX 900 Series properly. If that happens, you run the game once and it will work great, and then you exit game and run again, and it will try to use your iGPU. So make sure to force it to use your standalone GPU in the AMD/NVIDIA control panel.
– Consider using ReShade. There is another guide covering that, here on Steam.
Character tryout
There is a feature which allows you to check some of the endgame skills from your characters.
When you move past the Holborn Station, you will meet the main storyline NPC Murmur and next to him is an NPC named Stark. As soon as you reach level 3, go talk to Stark. He will give you a quest that basically teleports you to another dimension and into the future. When this happens, open your inventory.
You get free items which make your character really strong, but mainly these items give bonuses to a few skills. When you open your skill tree (K), you can drag those new skills into your bar and check them out. After you slay the demon boss and complete this quest, the items will vanish again.
You can use this feature to get a glimpse of how your gameplay as a character might look like, and you can decide which one to play then.
Quality of Life
There are two big QoL improvements you should use.
Hellgate London has a very cumbersome interface, where each time you click an item, a selection circle pops up and you have to choose wtf to do with the item. Luckily, when using Stash or when Buying/Selling, you can bypass this selection by pressing Shift+Right Click.
In case of a vendor, Shift-Right Clicking an item will instantly sell it to the vendor. When buying, it will instantly buy the item and move it to your inventory.
In case of your Stash, you can instantly move items between inventory and stash by using Shift-Right Click.
Instead of selecting to equip an item in the selection circle, you can just Left Click to pick it up and drop it on your character model in the inventory. It will switch with the appropriate item you’re wearing and put the worn item into the cursor.
These are additions from the korean remake and were not present in the base game of HGL. These work the same way as standard Analyzer items and the Dismantle option in your item selection circle. The catch is that these do it automatically. Below your inventory is a drop-down menu. When you have some of these Auto-items in your inventory, you can select a rarity from the drop-down.
For example, I selected Rare (blue items). Now, each time I pick up an item from the ground and have Auto-Dismantler in my inventory, the game will automatically Dismantle the item for me, if the item is Rare (blue) or lower quality.
If the item is Orange or higher quality, it goes into my inventory as usual and stays there.
Now if you also have Auto-Analyzers, it will automatically analyze the item that landed in your inventory. Analyzing is good if you don’t want to dismantle, because it raises the price of an item, so it will sell for more paladium at the vendor, and it also reveals the item’s bonuses, which were previously hidden.
It’s a tremendous help in managing your inventory and it lets you focus on the game itself.
Tips & Tricks
Here’s some good info which might not be obvious at first, that the tutorial doesn’t cover.
Generic
– You can equip special skills to your Mouse buttons too. They are not limited to basic attacks.
– There is a Sprint skill which every class can use. It’s located just below your skill tree, and you can put points into it and improve it!
– By default, only Sprint will show up as an useable skill for the Shift key. But you can change that on the skill tree screen. By using the small arrow next to a skill icon, you can set other skills to pop up for Shift-use.
– You don’t need a skill to dual-wield guns. You can fire two pistols at the same time by either clicking both mouse buttons at once, or by putting the dual-pistol skill into your skill bar.
– Some skills won’t function together with others. For example, Hunter’s Tactical Stance is removed when you use Rapid Fire.
– Some skill effects can be interrupted. For example, Hunter’s Tactical Stance gives you the bonuses even after you get hit with a Shock condition, but a Stun condition will remove the effects.
Class-specific
– Templar passive Auras need to be activated first. Put them on your skill bar as any other skill, then use it to activate the aura – the button will light up. Using it again will deactivate the aura. You can also check your buff icons (on the right side under the minimap) to see if your aura is active or not.
– You need a skill to dual-wield swords (Blademasters). If you don’t have it, your character will always attack with the left-hand sword, even if you’re using the “attack with both hands” skill.
– You can break barrels, propane tanks, wooden crates and square paper boxes to get loot. There are also chests that can be opened.
– Randomly a passageway might spawn on any map. When it happens, you can see the portal icon on your minimap when you get near it. It’s usually pretty short extra map and always worth exploring.
– You can disable the system messages in the chat window and change its transparency to make it disappear completely. Pressing Enter at any time will make it visible again.
– The Achievement skills that give passive bonuses go into slots on the same screen. At first, you can use two slots – the first one and the one with a star on it. More slots are unlocked as you progress through the story.
– There is another pop-up button on your skill bar, the Ctrl key. By default it offers the use of consumable items, provided that you have such items in your inventory. When your mana is low, it will offer Mana Injector. When moving around, it will offer an Adrenaline Pill (speed boost). When getting low on shields, it will offer a Shield Booster (shield restoration).
– You have three weapon swap slots, by default bound to F1 – F2 – F3 respectively. You can use different weapons and switch between them quickly. Your attacks go into a short cooldown each time you swap weapons.
Troubleshooting
– Apparently for some Windows 10 users the game might not want to start. If this happens, go into the Steam folder and find hellgate_sp_x86.exe file. Right-click the file, go to Properties, switch to Compatibility tab and check the “Disable full screen optimizations” option.
– Some Windows 10 users are experiencing issues with particle effects – when an elite/boss dies, your FPS drops like crazy, then fixes itself again after few seconds. Or a smoke cloud makes your game stutter. To fix this, you go into the Steam folder, find hellgate_sp_x86.exe. Right-click the file, go to Properties, switch to Compatibility tab and set Compatibility mode to Windows 7.
That’s all
Now go, play and enjoy the game. It’s a great game and I’m glad it’s back and won’t go away.
Post your own Tips and Tricks in the comments!