11 Evil Dead game tips to help you keep things groovy
Use these Evil Dead: The Game tips and tricks to hold either humans or deadites at bay
Evil Dead game tips and tricks will help you earn victory against either those damned deadites or meddling human survivors, depending on your team. There's a lot about Evil Dead: The Game to work out once you start playing, from major mechanics to clever little tactics, but we're here to lay it all out clearly for you. Because Evil Dead: The Game has two very different experiences - playing as survivors and demons - we've split our tips into two halves. Read the first six for advice on being the survivors, and the ones after that for the best way to play as demons and deadites.
Evil Dead tips and tricks for Survivors
Survivors are tasked with casting a banishing spell from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis - the book of the dead - by completing a series of tasks. They have to find three pieces of a map, use the map to locate the spare pages of the Necronomicon and the Kandarian Dagger, then collect both of those, use the Dagger to defeat the Dark Ones, reveal the Necronomicon, then guard it from Deadite attacks until the incantation is complete and the game is over. Easy! With these tips you'll have it sorted before you can say Klaatu Barada… actually, how does that last bit go?
1. Take time to collect resources and weapons to stand a better chance
Speed is important here - the enemy is getting more powerful constantly and will eventually overpower the players - but if you don't take time to gather up some better weapons, it'll happen all the sooner. Go through buildings that are on your route to objectives, checking for consumables and better weapons. An upgraded Boomstick is worth checking for.
2. Use lights to manage fear and resources
Your torch reveals concealed items, but has a limited battery life. For that reason, we recommend using it selectively - when you're looking in buildings, or fighting Deadites in the pitch darkness. Otherwise turn it off to preserve power.
Then there's the fear mechanic. Fear is very dangerous when maxed out, but dwindles fastest when with allies or in light, so setting fires along the way is a good idea to keep yourself calm. Alternatively, you can look for existing fires and lanterns, but be warned - the game does draw a distinction between larger and smaller lights, which drastically change the pace at which fear is healed.
3. Stay with your allies and watch out for each other!
As any Dungeons and Dragons player knows, don't split the party! Not only is fear reduced when you stay together, but the camera angle means it's pretty hard to see behind you, meaning deadites can swipe at you without warning. A friend can help alleviate that issue, not to mention that when one of you gets possessed, you have to beat the soul back into them yourself, and it's done quicker if you're all together.
4. Level up your characters in and out of game
Players not only can enhance their characters mid-match by finding Pink F bottles, but can also enhance them permanently via the Collection section of the game menu between matches. This is definitely worth doing regularly - aside from enhancing basic stats, hitting certain levels will grant them new abilities and powers to make use of, some of which are incredibly good.
5. Check all of the grey area for map pieces
This one threw us for a while - when you're told to check a key location for one of the map pieces, what it actually means is to search the whole grey area on the map around that location. So if you're directed to a small shack, it might be in there - or it could be in the square mile of demon-infested woodland around it. Make sure you survey the entire area, looking at buildings, sheds and structures.
6. Everyone focus on boss demons
The most powerful deadites - Evil Ash, Henrietta and the Eligos - are all horrible nightmares to fight and the most powerful force the demon player has to throw at you. Each one is a tank capable of doing huge damage, and as such needs to be dealt with quickly. When one shows up, everybody should use all their most powerful attacks and weapons to end it fast. If you encounter one on your own, you'll probably die fighting it, so flee as fast as you can to friends.
Evil Dead tips and tricks for Demons
Compared to the complex laundry list of objectives given to the Survivors, the single demon player has only one objective - kill all the survivors, and maybe destroy the Necronomicon if they reach the final stage. To do this you have to spawn minions, set traps, possess fearful players and objects, and finally enter the battlefield yourself as some form of Deadite horror. Right now we'd argue that the odds are slightly weighted on the Demon's side, but that presumes you have full knowledge of your abilities and know the best tactical approach. We'll lay out those tidbits for you below.
1. Don't give the players a chance to recover
This is essential - players are constantly finding new consumables, healing themselves and progressing forward. Give them a chance and they'll undo all the damage and fear you've inflicted on them - so don't give them the chance!
As tempting as it is to just leave them for a few minutes and gorge on Infernal Energy, you'll be coming back to far beefier players. Chip away at them constantly, even if it's just minor threats, to ensure that they don't have a chance to fully recover from anything that happens to them. Generally softening them up means you'll have a far better chance of killing them all at key moments, and only peel away from the group when you have absolutely nothing left to hit them with.
2. Trigger your boss demon where Survivors can't avoid it
Because your boss demon is such a powerhouse, you want to make the most of it. Place it at points where they can't really leave, such as the Kandarian Dagger or Necronomicon encounters, where they have to stay close to key point. Drop one in the middle of the woods and they'll just flee, or use the greater space to fight from a distance. But if they need to stay close to a specific point, it makes it much harder to avoid the Eligos' incantations or Henrietta's rotting bulk.
3. Anticipate the players' movements and rig the areas ahead of them
Because players are constantly moving from point to point and you outpace them in your bodiless spirit form, it's a great idea to float ahead and set up threats. Proximity traps mean you don't need to be there to hurt them, but a well-placed tree possession can also send survivors flying - something you can't do if you're playing catch-up. Balancing this with the first point about not letting them recover isn't easy, but we advise never leaving them for more than thirty seconds or so. Constantly leave a trail of exploding breadcrumbs ahead of them, and you'll fulfil both conditions nicely.
4. Slow the players down to boost your Demon Level
While it's in the players' best interests to complete the match quickly, the more you hamper them, the more your Demon Level increases, making you more powerful and more of a threat. Once you're past 25, you're a real force of evil to be reckoned with. So using delaying tactics up until you can really go full Army of Darkness is a very valid strategy.
5. Possess the fearful before they can pull themselves together
Nothing upsets players like having one of their number go loopy. Survivors with a high fear rating can be temporarily possessed, and you'll want to do this the moment the option is available. Players know their fear can be used against them, and will generally try to lower it as a priority when it gets too high. Grab them quickly before they can, then focus on using ranged weapons - they're more powerful and you burn up limited ammo. Target another player and really go to town on them, trying to down them before you're beaten out of the possessed player and lose your chance for more carnage.
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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.