Keep an Eye on Gas and Blade Durability
One of the aspects of Attack on Titan’s gameplay that will take the most getting used to is resource management. You use gas to move about the world quickly, and your blades become dull over time as you use them. Thankfully, you can swap out empty gas canisters and dull blades, but you have to keep an eye on their meters to know exactly when to do so.
You can find both meters on the lower, left-hand corner of your screen. Next to your characters icon you can find a blue meter, and a segmented gray meter. The blue meter represents your gas, and the other represents your blades. Once you see them hit the red, it’s a good time to find some cover and swap them out. Keep in mind that you’re completely vulnerable when doing so, and the action can’t be cancelled once you begin.
Don’t Go For Limbs If You Don’t Have To
This goes hand in hand with the previous tip. You need to keep your resources on your mind at all times if you hope to survive through Attack on Titan’s many missions. Blades only grow dull as they are used for attacks, so if you’re attacking something for no reason, you’re wasting your blades.
If you see no yellow diamonds on a Titan (which signify resources), and that titan is slow enough, just go straight for the kill. Limbs can be a hassle if you’re dealing with certain abnormal Titans, or one that is too fast. They can also be required targets if they’re a ‘defensive’ titan. Don’t worry though, these will be highlighted, and you’ll see an “X” over the neck. If none of those situations are what you find yourself facing, though, save your durability for a Titan that matters.
Complete Side Missions
Side missions will appear on your map as green exclamation points, and you can spot them from a distance by looking out for green smoke. These tend to be fairly easy, usually requiring you to slay an over-eager Titan, or to escort a fellow soldier to a marked location.
The benefits of completing these missions are increased Mission Rating, companions during your current mission, resources, and items to help you along the way. It’s a good idea to take advantage of everything that each mission throws at you, especially later on in the game. Attack on Titan can become quite difficult as you reach the final chapters, so be a hero and save some friends, it’s worth your time.
Stock Up on Items
Scattered around missions are Logisticians (marked on your map as white chests). These special soldiers exist for the sole purpose of stocking up your items. When you first start a mission, you’ll have a few of each item available to you (not counting canisters, you only get one of those for some reason). Still, those are finite, and if you find yourself relying on items as part of your play style, then you’re going to want to always make sure you have some.
Locate these Logisticians as you traverse the battlefield and interact with them by pressing Circle/B. They’ll give you one of each item in your inventory, unless it’s maxed out of course. You can also find stray items scattered around the field that are dropped by killed soldiers. These will pop up on your map with an icon representing what they are.
Upgrade Your Gear
Between missions you will be taken to camp. Here is where you can interact with NPCs and choose your next activity. You’ll also find a vendor here called the Equipment Supply Station (appears as a blade on your map). Talking to this soldier will bring up a menu that allows you to develop, fortify, or modify equipment. You’ll want to become close friends with this person, as they will help you dominate tougher Titans down the line.
You can use the materials and Regiment Funds you acquire from playing through the game to improve your Scabbard, Blade, and mobility gear. Your upgrades can alter the strength of your gear, durability, speed, and resource management. It can often spell the difference between a successful mission and an embarrassing death.
Go for S-Rank
S-Rank is the top rating you can get for an Attack on Titan mission. It sounds like an unreachable goal, but it’s actually fairly simple to obtain. When playing a mission you’re graded on three things, missions complete (referring to side missions), Titans subjugated, and time. The only real worry is the Titan subjugation parameter. You’ll usually have to clear out most, or all titans in a field before completing the mission. This isn’t particularly difficult, but if you get stuck on a single titan you run the risk of going over the time parameter.
However, you’re actually given a pretty decent amount of time. From what we’ve seen, smaller maps put an invisible timer of 10 minutes, while larger maps clock it at around 15. That’s more than enough time to make your rounds killing everything.
You’ll want S-Rank because it grants you a bonus material reward at the end of the mission while no other rank does. Also, you’ll earn bonus experience based on your performance, so S-Rank will see you leveling up faster.
Survey Missions
After you unlock Levi and complete his first mission, you will then be able to access survey missions back at camp. The soldier who hands these out is marked on your map with an orange newspaper icon. The missions vary from simple targets to escorting to defense. They range in difficulty but provide the same types of rewards that story missions do.
If you find yourself stuck on a particular story mission, use Survey Missions to gather materials, earn experience, and increase your funds. You can then tackle that previously insurmountable mission with ease.
Everything You Do in Expedition Mode Counts
Expedition Mode is Attack on Titan’s multiplayer mode. While you won’t be able to go on story missions with friends, you will be able to complete Survey Missions and Expeditions with some help. The best part is that everything you earn – experience, funds, materials, etc. – counts towards Attack Mode, the game’s single player portion.
That means you can play with your friends and earn a ton of valuable resources that will help make the solo missions a lot easier. You can even use your leveled up characters.
These tips should help you breeze through the war to save humanity. Just keep an eye out for hungry Titans whenever you’re flying about.
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