Well Dweller is a large and challenging Metroidvania experience just begging to be thoroughly explored, so it’s a good idea to know what you’re getting into before diving in. So, whether you’re new to the genre or simply want to know what to expect when setting off on this adventure for the first time, we’ve compiled some useful tips for getting started in Well Dweller.
Turn on the Minimap
As a Metroidvania, you can be assured that Well Dweller features no shortage of labyrinthine areas to explore. While you can open your map at any time for a good look the overall world, the game’s minimap is turned off by default. If you go to the Gameplay menu, though, you can toggle on this feature to provide an extremely helpful minimap at the bottom right of your screen. This makes finding exits or identifying rooms with locked sections significantly easier by cutting down on how often you need to open the larger map.
Buy the Glass Eye Trinket ASAP
As with many Metroidvania games, Well Dweller features a plethora of well-hidden secrets throughout its dense, maze-like world. As you’re exploring, you’ll occasionally notice paths hidden behind certain walls that house a variety of useful items ranging from pots containing some extra currency to worthwhile trinkets and more. If you buy and equip the Glass Eye Trinket from Looter in your tent, these hidden areas will be made translucent any time you’re nearby one. This means you won’t have to go around testing strange-looking walls for secrets any more.
Also Buy the Weathered Coin, Then Upgrade It to Max
While we’re talking about trinkets, make sure you also buy and equip the Weathered Coin from Looter as soon as possible. This trinket will cause enemies to give you more currency upon death, allowing you to build up your savings for future purchases much more quickly. It’s a good upfront investment that will payoff dramatically by the later stages of the game.
Additionally, once you gain the ability to upgrade your trinkets, prioritize upgrading the Weathered Coin to further improve how much currency you obtain from slaying foes. With the trinket enhanced to its max tier, you’ll be overflowing with currency in no time.
Let the Map Station Guide Your Way
It’s perfectly acceptable to want to figure out everything for yourself, including where you need to go next. But Well Dweller is a massive game that requires you to travel back and forth between its numerous locations, which can make manually tracking where to go next very difficult. That’s where the game’s map station comes in, providing you with an easy way to track both main goals and collectibles.
You’ll gain access to this map station during the opening hours of the game and can access it at any time from within your tent. The map on the right allows you to use your currency to buy a marker showing you your journey’s next main location. Meanwhile, the map on the left lets you purchase the location of any missed collectibles in rooms you’ve already visited. So, return to the map station frequently for updates on what to do next and what you may have overlooked.
Hit Your Flaming Vessel For Easy Kills
Very early in Well Dweller, you’ll gain access to your ranged attack, an item known as the Flaming Vessel. Essentially a Molotov cocktail, you can toss the Flaming Vessel at your foes to deal high damage, which can often kill lesser enemies in a single hit. However, while you can’t manually aim this attack before throwing it, you can make almost certain it hits a nearby enemy by using your melee weapon like a bat right after tossing it out. Hit the Flaming Vessel, and it’ll fly at the closest enemy you’re facing, exploding in their face and dishing out some fiery hurt.
You’ll have to keep attacking with your melee weapon (or making use of specific trinkets) to refill your Flaming Vessel meter and earn additional tosses, though, so make each one you throw count.
Play Your Way By Customizing the Game’s Difficulty
Well Dweller has a simple but fantastic suite of assist options that allow you to tailor your gameplay experience. Beyond the simple ability to choose a difficulty, you can open the Assist Options tab in the Gameplay menu to adjust various modifiers, including increasing your outgoing and incoming damage to make combat more approachable, or increasing the amount of time you have to complete the game’s challenging time trials.
Perhaps the best assist in the menu, however, is a toggle that lets you hold down the L1/LB button to heal rather than engage in the default healing mini-game, which requires you to perfectly time the button press to pull off a heal. Toggling on this assist can make tense boss battles especially more manageable, making it a worthwhile switch even if you’re playing on harder difficulties.
