Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora tips and tricks for beginners
Everything I wish I knew before tumbling through Pandora
Looking for tips and tricks on Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora? Ubisoft's sprawling RPG set within the world of Pandora is, well, confusing at times. Although the world is undeniably beautiful, it's hard to tell the flora apart and know which are used for crafting and cooking and which are just out to kill you.
Luckily, we've gathered a nifty little guide of top tips to make your life a little easier as you navigate through the vibrant hues of Pandora. This includes things like map navigation, how to get different currencies, gathering materials and other useful tidbits. See below for our top tips of things we wish we knew about Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora beforehand.
Know your waypoints
As you explore Pandora, active quests will be marked on your map with a blue light. When in Na'vi vision, you'll be able to make your way towards the general direction of the quest by following this blue pillar of light.
The issue is that it sort of blends into the surroundings, so make sure you flit between Na'vi sense and the map view to make sure you're going in the right direction. It may seem like a fairly obvious tip, but the game doesn't really explain what the different light pillars are.
Likewise, the pink/purple lights on the map indicate the location of Tarsyu Flowers, where you can gain access to Ancestor skills. These are a worthy pursuit if you're looking to increase your skillset.
The Hunter's Guide is actually useful
This is a two-in-one tip. Firstly, make sure you inspect absolutely everything. Pandora is lush, bright and beautiful but it's difficult to know which plants are useful and which are just set dressing.
Every time you inspect a plant whilst in Na'vi vision, it will add an item description to your Hunter's Guide, which can be accessed via the main menu. This guide will tell you where to find each of the fauna and flora entries, very useful when you're a couple of hours into the game and sent on a mission for a specific flower that you know you've stumbled across but can't remember where.
A handy trick with the Hunter's Guide, is that you can pin entries. This essentially makes them easier to find in Na'vi vision, a pinned item will be highlighted in yellow and make it much more easier to track down.
Everything is sepeatrated into biomes
Whilst there are three major clans and areas they inhabit in Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, these areas are then split into several biomes. This is important information as particular fauna and flora can only be found in specific biomes.
It isn't too clear in the tutorial, but you can actually trigger a biome map view by selecting the prompt on the bottom left of your map. This will highlight all the different biomes on Pandora, which will make it much easier for you when locating specific plants and wildlife.
There are two ways to recover health
In Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, there are two health systems to familiarise yourself with. The first is relatively simple, you'll have a health pouch, which when prompted in combat can fill your health back up. This pouch has two uses at the beginning of the game, when used you can replenish your pouch by picking Dapophet Pods.
You also have an energy meter below your health. In Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, you will naturally regenerate health, but this drains energy. If you want to kick start your regeneration instead of using your pouch for a quick fix, you do so by eating food. Cooked food will replenish more energy than raw ingredients. Just remember that fast travelling will also consume energy, so perhaps walk to waypoints if they're relatively close by.
You can also increase your maximum health pool by interacting with Bellsprig flowers out in the world. These are marked on your map, so make sure you stop by any Bellsprigs on the way to quest objectives.
Be friendly to get free stuff
Whilst out in the wilds of Pandora, you'll notice Na'vi out hunting or gathering supplies. Make sure you speak to them as they often give you free materials and even armour mods. Without an obligatory sidequest, this is a great way to get free materials and is a nice little taste of Na'vi community spirit.
Learn to spot key plants for travel
The first few hours of Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora can be a tad slow-going. You'll have to wait for an Ikran or Direhorse, which means you'll be travelling on foot for a while. You can make your life much easier by memorising certain plants that will excel your pace within Kinglor Forest.
Lift Vines will quickly become your bread and butter for getting to higher levels of the forest. There are also certain giant mushrooms which will expand your jump distance when pounced on. Additionally, there is a large plant called Mermaid's Tail which will launch you in the air across a far distance..
Crucially, Mist Blooms will give your Na'vi a handy little speed boost, which is especially satisfying when running along tree branches. Just look out for the blue mist to spot them.
A special shout out to Helicoradian, which although it isn't a travel plant like the other mentioned, is fun to touch and make shrink. If you see a field of Helicoradian make sure you run into it.
Everything has balance
Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora rewards players who embrace the Na'vi culture. You'll gain better resources from wildlife and plants that you hunt and gather cleanly. This means taking care not to damage plants when gathering fruit, and hunting animals with a bow instead of a gun. It's worth being patient to get a better reward, so remember to take care when gathering and aim for wildlife weak points in Na'vi vision.
It's also worth noting that young wildlife is relatively easy to find but adults and mature animals are much more elusive. These are worth hunting, however, as they yield better materials. If you kill often and without reason, you can get the 'Disharmony' condition which will lock your Na'vi senses for a time.
Investigation points can be a little convoluted
During many of the quests you'll be sent to find specific Na'vi with a trail to follow. Investigation points will be highlighted when in Na'vi vision but the quest won't automatically trigger the next clue to pick up.
Remember to interact with each clue, sometimes you'll have to link clues together by clicking on them in a certain order. Otherwise, the quest won't continue and it can get a little confusing.
Poisonous plants have benefits
Whilst you should firmly stay clear of many of the various poisonous flora of Pandora, some are worth taking a closer look at. For instance, you can craft poison arrows with Acrid Pods which can usually be found on rocks near sources of water.
The treacherous green egg-like plants should be avoided and will usually emit a particular noise when they are gearing up to burst. The local wildlife is not immune to these, I even witnessed a poison cloud taking down a Sturmbeest during my playthrough. It's always a great option to fire some arrows into these plants when RDA soldiers are nearby to decrease some of their numbers.
Animals that are either killed by other wildlife, poisonous plants or lightning strikes can still be harvested for materials, so be on the lookout when travelling, especially during a storm.
How to purchase items in Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
In Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora there are three major curerencies, Clan Favour, RDA Duty Rosters, and Spare Parts. Spare Parts can be found around abandoned RDA facilities, in green boxes and bartered with NPCs in the Resistance HQ.
Clan Favour is earned by completing missions for a clan and fulfilling requests at Offering Baskets. There is usually a basket in each clan camp, so it's worth visiting them and putting time into completing requests for Favour. Favour can then be traded with Na'vi merchants in return for rare crafting materials, weapons and armour.
RDA Duty Roosters are specialised currency you can trade with So'lek who is looking for information on certain RDA soldier's whereabouts. You can get RDA Duty Rosters from RDA outposts, as such they're rarer and harder to come by. When you have some, trade with So'lek at the Resistance HQ.
Additional tips
- You can equip new hairstyles and warpaint at Changing Stations in Na'vi camps, you usually accrue these as quest rewards.
- You can pet your Ikran, you'll receive one as the main story progresses.
- You can filter your Hunter's Guide to make navigation a bit easier.
- RDA ammo cannot be crafted but can be picked from defeated soldiers and within RDA bases.
- Fleeing from combat is always an option.
- You can pass the time at a fire within a camp to change the time of day or weather cycle.
- Flying into swarms can help refuel an Ikran's stamina.
- Don't forget there's a photo mode!
- Carol is an excellent name choice for an Ikran.
That rounds off our guide to the best Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora top tips for beginners. Hopefully, this will give you a helping hand as you take on the charms of Pandora and fight those pesky RDA soldiers.