Atomic Heart is the kind of FPS that throws a lot in your direction. Lots of things rushing to you, trying to kill you. Robots, organics, you name it!
Other things it throws are weapons. And energy weapons. Melee weapons that you can slash or swing. And then there are the powers!
You have access to a variety of skills that each does a different thing. Most of them are offensive. You have a defensive shield. And two other trees are dedicated to passive boosts.
This article isn’t about ranking the skills. Rather, in this one, I’ll talk about the most useful upgrades you can find in the trees. Granted, the trees are pretty linear, so you’ll get most of them anyway.
During the game, you'll be using Neuropolymer to upgrade your powers. These can be obtained by killing enemies. Even though you have an infinite amount of them. What's important is which one you get first.
15. (Greedy Guts) Energy Management
While Energy regenerates on its own, melee combat speeds it up greatly. It’s a pretty fun cycle. Slash some enemies. Shoot some energy bullets. Repeat.
This upgrade will shorten parts of that cycle. Since you will gain energy faster using melee weapons, you can switch to using energy more often.
That being said, this one’s very expensive. You’ll probably be in the late game by the time you get it. Still, it’s worth every bit of Neuropolymer.
Greedy Guts Details:
- “Melee attacks restore more energy to the recirculation chamber.”
- Cost: 146.
14. (Increased Power) Mass Telekinesis
It’s fine to lift your enemies into the air and do some damage. Until you realize the limitations of your powers.
At its base form, Mass Telekinesis only lets you lift the lighter enemies. Anything heavy and it taps out.
But that’s where this skill upgrade comes in. Now you can pretty much lift them all. And drop them to their doom!
Increased Power Details:
- “Significantly increase the power of the Mass Telekinesis neurokinetic unit, allowing you to lift heavyweight enemies.”
- Cost: 144.
13. Absolute Zero (Frostbite)
Frostbite is a pretty cool ability. On the surface, you just shoot ice and do some damage. But when used tactically, you can get a lot out of it.
For example, you can keep your enemies frozen. When you’re surrounded, it lets you slow down the pace. But it can get better.
With this upgrade, enemies take damage for every second they’re frozen. This makes it easier for you to deal with anything that’s coming your way.
Absolute Zero Details:
- “Cryogenic freezing at extreme temperatures deals damage to frozen targets every second.”
- Cost: 104.
12. Diffuse Spray Head (Frostbite)
So Frostbite is good for freezing enemies, right? But is it really useful when you’re surrounded? Kinda, but it can do more.
This upgrade essentially increases the area of attack. You spray out ice in a cone shape. In other words, more enemies get frozen.
This is very useful when you’re surrounded. And otherwise, it’s still handy when enemies are rushing towards you.
Diffuse Spray Head Details:
- “Allows you to spray cryopolymer in a cone-shaped area.”
- Cost: 48.
11. Neuro-Polymer Air Defense (Polymer Jet)
Polymer Jet is this weird power that lets you shoot out Neuropolymer. I swear I’m not making an innuendo. Though the game might be.
Anyway, this goo has uses. You can use it to slow down enemies. Or combine it with other things to deal some damage.
But what I love the most is jamming those airborne critters. You know what I’m talking about. Those drones are annoying and they deserve nothing better!
Neuro-Polymer Air Defense Details:
- “Increases the viscosity of the combat polymer so it can slow down rotors to down airborne enemies.”
- Cost: 85
10. Med Unit Feedback (Polymeric Shield)
A shield is a very useful tool. Keeps you from taking damage. And Polymeric Shield is even better, since it basically lives in your gloves.
But you know what’s better than blocking damage? Yeah, it’s regenerating your health.
That’s what happens when you use this upgrade. When you use the shield, a small part of the blocked damage feeds your health bar. Neat, right?
It costs a lot, though. So it might take you some time to earn the required Neuropolymer. But it’s worth it!
Med Unit Feedback Details:
- “Polymeric Shield redirects part of incoming damage to the med unit, restoring your Health.”
- Cost: 124
9. Kinetic Reflector, Neuro-Polymer Reflector (Polymeric Shield)
You know what’s better than a shield that protects? It’s one that attacks! Queue the memes!
Jokes aside, these are some handy skill upgrades. Kinetic Reflector takes your enemy’s melee attacks and doubles them before sending it back to the attackers.
You have the same thing going on with Neuro-Polymer Reflector. Except this one reflects the ranged attacks. With these two upgrades, you will be ready to take on a lot of big bads.
Kinetic Reflector Details:
- “While active, Polymeric Shield doubles incoming melee damage and reflects it back to the enemy.”
- Cost: 98.
Neuro-Polymer Reflector Details:
- “Polymeric Shield reflects all ranged attacks back to the enemy.”
- Cost: 98.
8. Wild Boar, Musclehead, Athlete (Character)
If your energy is important, then your health is doubly so. I mean, you literally die. And then it's game over. We can't have that.
Enemies deal a lot of damage, so literally every little bit counts. You'll be scrambling to heal yourself most of the time anyway. At least now you can panic a little less.
The health upgrades come in various stages. I recommend at least getting Wild Boar first. The others are further down the tree and will require some time anyway.
Wild Boar Details:
- “Increases your maximum health.”
- Cost: 37; 110; 165.
7. Electrization (Shok)
Shok is the first ability you'll unlock. That's enough reason to upgrade it during the early game.
But unlike the other abilities, it's always equipped. It can be used at the tap of a button. So it's something that you'll always find useful.
Electrization lets you stun enemies. You probably already know how tense the combat is. Every second counts. Stunning an enemy might buy you the time between life and death.
Electrization Details:
- “Shok electrifies enemies.”
- Cost: 32.
6. Energy Density (Energy Management)
Energy is very important. You'll build it up during melee combat and use it when using energy weapons. It's essentially free ammo that deals a lot of damage. But it also runs out pretty quickly.
This upgrade essentially extends your energy meter. So you can store more. Which means that during combat, you will be able to deal far more damage before running out.
The highest one will cost you a bit, but until then you should focus on the lower tier variety. You can get by without the last one for a bit. But during the late game, it is absolutely essential.
Energy Density Details:
- “Adds another Power Cell to the recirculation chamber.”
- Cost: 0; 34; 104
5. Chain Lightning, Extended Topology, Full Contact (Shok)
Shok is a very useful ability. You won't use it to open doors after the first couple times. But you'll definitely use it to stun or damage enemy robots. So it's only natural to improve this tree.
Chain Lightning lets you damage more than one enemy. The lightning bolt will bounce from one enemy to the next one, making it even more useful. Everything I said about stunning enemies and buying time applies here as well.
Extended Topology and Full Contact are extensions of this power. They will make the Chain Lightning bounce for more enemies and do more damage.
Chain Lightning Details:
- “Part of the discharge bounces and deals damage to an additional target.”
- “Secondary targets hit by chain lightning receive full damage.”
- Cost: 69; 75; 95.
4. Forced Fall Acceleration (Mass Telekinesis)
There’s just something about lifting your enemies into the air. Like using the force as a Jedi. Or a Sith, depending on how you view yourself.
The default version of Mass Telekinesis lifts them up alright. But it doesn’t really do much else. It’s great to take them out of the equation for a second though.
With this upgrade, they will fall hard. And they will take damage! And that’s what we want.
Forced Fall Acceleration Details:
- “The neurokinetic unit can now accelerate dropped enemies, causing them to take damage when they fall.”
- Cost: 70.
3. Second Wind (Character)
Dodging is absolutely essential in Atomic Heart. Your enemies are going to come at you with everything they have. And if you don't move out of the way, you'll take massive damage.
But you can't spam dodges. There’s a recharge period between every little dash, and it’s frustrating.
With this upgrade, you can perform a second dash. This is a massive help when fighting. Especially against fast opponents. Or bosses. Like the twins.
Second Wind Details:
- “Your excellent physical ability grants you an additional dodge charge.”
- Cost: 38.
2. Sleazeball (Character)
Dodging has a specific way of working in games. When you dodge, most games make you invincible. So you don’t take damage. That’s why they work well in games, and not so well in real life.
But not all games do that. Case in point, Atomic Heart. Not only do you have to time your dodges, but you’ll also have to get the distance right.
With this upgrade, that changes. I've already stressed how important dodging is. Now your dashes will make you invulnerable. Combined with Second Wind, you'll get a massive advantage.
Sleazeball Details:
- “Shields you from all damage while dodging”
- Cost: 62.
1. Juggler (Character)
Some FPSs auto-regenerate your health. Others don’t. Atomic Heart falls in the second category. Meaning you’ll be using your medkits to heal yourself.
The problem is it takes two hands to do that. Unless you’re healing after things have slowed down, you’ll be in hell.
With Juggler, you'll be able to use them one-handed. With your free hand, you can keep hatcheting or shooting enemies. It makes a huge difference.
Juggler Details:
- “You can use a Neuromed capsule with one hand.”
- Cost: 87.
