The breakneck speed of the combat in Returnal can be a lot to handle at first. Players may find themselves struggling to stay alive. With such an emphasis on survival, it can be easy to miss the game's brief tutorial about Adrenaline, a feature that is almost necessary for players who want to bring their gameplay to the next level. Understanding Adrenaline is fairly easy, but maintaining it and mastering its use will take quite a bit of focus and practice. Nevertheless, this is a worthy endeavor, especially if players want to beat the game's challenging bosses like Phrike, Ixion, or Nemesis.
Avoiding damage is important in any game that features combat, but games like Returnal take this to the next level. The Adrenaline feature gives players powerful boosts as they defeat enemies without taking damage, ramping up the benefits up to five times for skilled players that can maintain maximum Adrenaline.
Returnal: What Is Adrenaline & How To Increase It
Centered at the bottom of the screen, players will notice a heartbeat line with a number underneath it. This is Selene's Adrenaline, measured from 0 to 5. To gain Adrenaline, players must kill enemies without taking damage from any source, including enemy attacks, traps, and even environmental hazards like Returnal's red floor rooms.
It takes three enemy kills in order to increase Adrenaline by one full point, meaning players will need to get 15 kills without taking damage to max out their Adrenaline at 5.0. Taking damage from any source will immediately reset Adrenaline back down to 0, but each full level of Adrenaline provides Selene with a cumulative boost.
Returnal: Adrenaline Level Boosts
Each level of Adrenaline comes with a buff to Selene that stacks with all the other Adrenaline buffs and has its own corresponding symbol. The buffs are as follows:
- Adrenaline Level 1 - Enhanced Overload: Increases the size of the Overload bar, making it easier for players to quickly reload.
- Adrenaline Level 2 - Enhanced Vision: Allows Selene to see enemies and doors through walls.
- Adrenaline Level 3 - Enhanced Melee Attack: Lowers the cooldown for Selene's melee attack, allowing her to melee mo
- Adrenaline Level 4 - Proficiency Rate +50%: Increases the rate at which players earn Proficiency with weapons by 50%.
- Adrenaline Level 5 - Obolites +50%: Enemies will drop 50% more Obols.
It's easy to see how these Adrenaline buffs can enhance Returnal players' gameplay. Enhanced Overload will keep Selene's guns reloaded and her damage high, while Enhanced Vision helps players stay aware of enemies during hectic battles. Enhanced Melee Attack is great since the sword in Returnal does a lot of damage, and Proficiency Rate and Obol increases are always welcome. Maintaining Adrenaline Level 5 will require that players are very careful, but the reward is definitely worth it.
Returnal is available now on PS5.