Wolcen, like any other dungeon crawler, is full of complicated systems. It can be hard, especially for a casual player, to get a good grasp on a single one of these let alone all of them at launch. The good news is we have some Wolcen tips that are easy to overlook or miss during your first few hours with the game.
Tab Activates the Map Overlay
If you’re feeling a bit lost and aren’t sure where to go you can make your minimap larger. While there’s no dedicated map page, if you hit Tab, the game will overlay the map above your screen. It’s similar to Path of Exile, Diablo, and even Warframe in that way.
Skills Are Item Drops & Have Levels
Okay… The game does sort of tell you this one, but it’s not incredibly well-explained. That’s why we wanted to highlight it: active abilities drop from enemies and can be purchased from shops. You don’t just choose and unlock them as you go. The good news is that your character can eventually collect them all, even if they don’t necessarily fit your build. Each one also has its own individual level, growing stronger as you use it. Grab any Enneract you see around and play with them a bit — just to see if the random skill is to your liking! At the very least you’ll get some Primordial Affinity to level them up in town.
Left Alt Highlights All Loot
Worried you’re missing some loot on that busy screen? Hold the left Alt key. The game will highlight everything on-screen for you! Holding this turns on the items’ display titles, coloring them by rarity and making them easier to find. This is especially useful since Wolcen gets incredibly crowed with enemies, objects, and special effects over time.
Willpower & Rage Are A Balancing Act
One thing the game doesn’t really tell you from the start is how Willpower and Rage work. Keep these in mind when deciding what class to pursue. Rather than being two different resources, they’re more like a balancing act. Look at your “mana bar” the next time you cast a spell. See how the purple stuff drains and a beige bar fill in its stead? That’s Willpower and Rage at work. To get Rage, you need to auto-attack. Abilities that consume Rage convert some of it back into Willpower. The reverse is also true.
More importantly, this matters when it comes to the time between battles. If you’re anything like me, you take your time between encounters, looking at your loot and upgrading your skills. The entire time you’re doing this, your Rage pool is falling and Willpower is building. That’s great news if you’re focused on Willpower abilities (magic spells and the like). It’s essentially like your mana bar refilling in other action-RPGs. But if you use Rage, you’re better off moving from fight to fight as quickly as possible. Otherwise you’ll be left with no Rage and only be able to us a basic attack to start off the next encounter.
More Wolcen:
- Wolcen Edric Boss Guide – Tips for Taking Down the Act 1 Boss
- The Intro to Wolcen Feels Like a Game Punching Above Its Weight
- Wolcen Bow DPS Builds Guide – Best Perks, Skills, Armor
Death Isn’t the End
You’ll probably discover this on your own eventually, but dying once isn’t the end in Wolcen. You have three revives to use up before it’s truly game over and back to town with you. So don’t freak out if you come close to dying. As long as you return to town at the next warp point, you’re all good! Those charges will fill back up and you can go back to fighting mobs.
You Can Stack Gems
Though an item may only have one slot for gems, at time of publishing, it’s actually possible to insert more gems than you have slots for. This is great if it’s an item you really want, but unsocketing them will still cost you a good chunk of gold if you do want to get them back out.
Dodge Rolling is Super Useful
Try the space bar! You might have noticed some stamina orbs on your HUD. This is the number of times you can currently dodge roll. While the game does mention the ability to dodge, it doesn’t really drive home how important it can be against certain bosses. If you’ve played an MMO like Final Fantasy XIV, you might be familiar with “threat markers” that show where an enemy is about to launch an area-of-effect attack. Wolcen bosses have the same thing; red shapes that appear on the ground and warn you of incoming attacks. The dodge roll is a super useful way to get out of those zones before eating a big hit.
And that’s it for now! We’ll be sure to add any more tips we come across during our time with Wolcen. If you have any tips of your own, leave them in the comments below!
