Mixing the best parts of the Mad Max universe with the familiar feel of Oregon Trail and The Banner Saga, Skyshine’s Bedlam succeeds at being a creative and taxing strategy adventure game. It’s also incredibly hard, and any new group of pilgrims leaving Byzantine needs to be armed with the best weapon of all: knowledge. The trail to the Aztec City is drenched in blood (mostly mine) and hopefully these tips can prevent the same from happening to you.
1. Upgrade your Dozer
It’s very easy to get caught up in all of the decision making and Cyborg slaying in the wasteland. The sort of shenanigans you can quickly find yourself entangled in can be overwhelming. Don’t let it draw you too far in, at least without stopping into your vehicle screen first.
Each vehicle has rooms that can be upgraded using Power Cells. These rooms do things like lower the amount of Cells needed to use auxiliary weapons in battle, or lower the amount of Meat expended when moving from point to point. If I had to suggest anything, it would be to invest heavily in lowering the amount of Crude it takes to travel first, as running out of Crude on the road means instant death. The more you upgrade the efficiency of your finite item usage, the more POI’s you can explore at less of a risk.
2. Frequently check POI’s
Speaking of, you should be checking out Points of Interest as often as possible. The little exclamation marks between big stops can provide your crew with opportunities to gain resources or valuable crew members. They could also lead to ambushes and sudden death. But so can the rest of the game, so don’t let that scare you too much.
Just be mindful of your resources. It costs less per click to get to travel off of the beaten path, but it still costs something. Exercise responsible wandering.
3. In battle, diversity is key
In battle, things can get hairy quickly. As time goes on, and the world becomes more aware of your presence and influence, you will find yourself outnumbered and outgunned more often than not. It’s easy to get caught by something crazy, and usually the best answer to numbers is tactical diversity. This is where you many classes come in.
Deadeyes have a long range, and should be utilized as cover fire for everyone else. Frontliners have a short range and low damage, but can move quickly and have a high life total. Trenchers and Gunslingers exists somewhere in the middle, with moderate ranges and decent power, as well as admirable movement speeds and life. The best way to get the most out of everyone, is to use a little bit of everyone. They do a good job of having the right answers to any situation, while covering up for each others weaknesses.
4. Special characters are your frenemy
There exist in the game special crew members that can be courted onto your caravan by multiple means. Many of them can be picked up in events during the trips to POIs or other random occurrences. They are often warriors, but sometimes just passive NPCs that can have a specific counter effect on an event that usually ends poorly without them. For example, I picked up a Frontliner who lead a small group of travelers, all of which I invited into my caravan. When people were getting rowdy and talking about revolting, I sent her to quash the beef, and it worked like a charm. Without her, I’d have to just let it go or kick people out of my Dozer.
Some characters start as bosses to be felled in the field, but have a change of heart after you beat up on them a bit. It’s tempting to hold a grudge after one of them takes a giant hammer to a couple of your team members, but it’s important to remember the value of their large life pools and damage outputs compared to your teams. It’s almost always worth making room for them.
5. Field resources are your only friends
During battle, not only will enemies and terrain be littering the field, but so will be groups of resources. Meat, Power Cells, and Crude are sometimes just hanging around during a shoot out, and capturing these things may be just as important as killing the enemy.
It’s hard to make a decision like that in a game where it’s so easy to lose a unit to stray fire, but it’s often the only way you will know for sure that you’ll get a boost to your supplies. The road it harsh, demanding, and (mostly) random, so capitalize on gains whenever you feasibly can. I’ve traded more than one Frontliner‘s life for a box of Meat in the past.
If these helped, let us know on Twitter @CurseGamepedia. And don’t forget to check out our Bedlam Wiki for any other info you’d need.