Atomfall Beginner’s Guide – Essential Tips for New Players

by Fernando Diaz / Articles, Misc. Guides / 31 Mar 2025

Jumping into Atomfall? That’s a whole different animal, set in a decently grim, nuked-out England. It can be a real grind at the start, so here are a few hard-won lessons that might stop you face-planting into irradiated muck quite so often while scavenging, sneaking, and avoiding that fetching nuclear glow.

Combat First:

Combat will mess you up. Seriously fights are pretty brutal… Getting ganged up on is pretty much game over. Your best move is usually to use dirty maneuvers to lure enemies around corners individually and use doorways to create bottlenecks. Utilize that kick… it’s really effective at pushing enemies back & opening up breathing space. Climb things. Break through windows. Anything to snap line of sight and give you an advantage.

Watch Out for the Little Irritations (Rats, Leeches, Etc.)

These swarm baddies are a nuisance early in the game. If you see their nest, destroy it, otherwise they just keep on coming. Easy tricks work: don’t loiter at ground level if rats are running around, and jump out of water quickly if leeches attach. Bonus tip: occasionally you can kite larger idiots into these swarms. Funny when it works.

You Can’t Be a Walking Hoarder.

Forget hauling everything like in some games. Your main stash is the Pneumatic Dispatch Tube in bunkers or the main hub (The Interchange). It’s got a 100-item cap; which sounds like a lot but fills up fast. Good news, tho : stuff like medkits or ammo stored there? You can still use ’em directly. Handy.

Handy Trick: The Flashlight Loot Spotter.

Stuff is concealed everywhere. Handy tip; turn on your flashlight. Loose items will faintly glow in the light -> making them much easier to spot, even in bright sunlight. Doesn’t work on containers, however, so you still have to dig around in those.

Think Stalker/Metro, Not Fallout.

This is important. If you’re imagining crazy adventures and VATS, you’re going to be disappointed. Atomfall is much more akin to those tense, atmospheric survival games like Stalker or Metro… it’s darker, resources feel harder to come by, and the exclusion zones are really lethal. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Regarding That Infinite Sprint Option…

There’s no fast travel, and parts of the map are large. If you delve into the advanced gameplay settings = you’ll discover a switch for Infinite Sprint. It’s not a cheat code – your heart rate still goes through the roof, which impairs your combat ability – but it makes traveling from A to B much less painful. Worth enabling, perhaps.

Atomfall PC Keyboard Controls Guide

Yeah, You Can Go Full Murder Hobo, But.

The game lets you kill basically anyone, merchants and quest-givers included. It’s usually smart enough to let you finish quests anyway, but here’s the kicker: generic baddies tend to respawn like crazy when you leave an area and come back. So going on a rampage against random guards might just make the zone harder later… Only named characters really change things long-term.

Toggle the Hold Actions.

By default many actions in Atomfall (like looting, opening doors and crafting) require you to hold the button. That becomes tedious fast. Jump into the options and locate ‘Use Hold Toggles’. Check it. Now everything is a tap. Much smoother. You’ll be grateful later.

Skills 101: Stimulants and Manuals.

You upgrade skills with Training Stimulants. These are usually tucked away – look in those crates with orange bars, wooden boxes on desks, that sort of thing. Really scour bunkers, some hide multiple stims. Skill Manuals unlock brand new tricks; keep an eye out for them everywhere – merchant stock, quest rewards, hidden corners.

Finding Your Way: The ‘Lead System’.

No huge, flashing quest pointers. Atomfall has a ‘Lead System’. You figure out where to go from notes, radio messages, and gossip. More immersive, I guess, but sometimes confusing. If lost -> try checking the options; there is an option to highlight main quest leads, which helps… and remember you can drop your own map markers (up to 20!!) to recall important locations.

You Don’t Have to Fight Everything.

Big one: There’s no XP for kills like in traditional RPGs. Progress comes from finding those Training Stimulants. So sneaking around enemies or simply running away is usually the intelligent decision… Saves ammo, saves health kits. Don’t feel forced to clean out every room.

Stealth is Definitely an Option (With a Catch).

Like sneaking? Good news, you can totally rock a stealth archer thing, or even chuck throwing axes/knives quietly. The big catch?? Arrows. You can’t craft ’em. You gotta find ’em / buy ’em (Casterfell Woods is often a good source). Run out? Remember you can usually throw and pick up melee weapons like axes.

Seriously, Get the Disarm Trap Skill.

Traps are everywhere and they sting. Learn the skill to disarm them relatively early. Why? Successful disarms will regularly reward you with free grenades/molotovs… Free boom is always appreciated, especially for crowd control. Makes this skill extremely valuable.

Crafting Isn’t Just for Fun – It’s Logistics & Bartering.

Backpack full again? See what you can craft. It frees up space, of course, but also, merchants often give you good value for crafted items. For instance; trading crafted items like shivs for needed supplies like revolver rounds, or even bartering towards a skill manual is smart playing. Pay attention to what merchants want and offer.

Don’t Get Tunnel Vision with Weapons.

Atomfall really wants you to use whatever works. Don’t decide you’re only using melee or only using rifles. Be flexible. If your shotgun approach isn’t working, switch to something ranged. If you’re wasting rifle ammo on weaklings, pull out a melee weapon. A decent setup might look like: a rifle for distance, a bow for quiet, a revolver for backup & a couple of decent melee weapons (one to swing & one you don’t mind tossing).

Fernando Diaz

Fernando is doing what he always did, sharing his honest opinions about games whenever he can. The difference is now he is writing and not talking about it.
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