Beginner’s Guide to Starting Absolum

Awakening in a Shattered World

Welcome, Awakened One, to the vast and fractured expanse of Absolum. This 2025 action RPG from Con Artist Games invites you into a world where forgotten magic clashes with advanced technology, and your choices shape not only your character but the reality around you. This spoiler-free guide will help you navigate the core systems and mindset needed to thrive in this demanding but beautiful world.

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1. Embrace the Dual Foundation: Flux & Code

Your power in Absolum stems from two conflicting sources, represented by two primary resource bars:

• Flux: The raw, chaotic energy of the world’s magic. It fuels your Arcanic abilities—elemental spells, reality-bending powers, and healing. It regenerates slowly or can be siphoned from certain enemies and ley lines in the environment.
• Code: The structured, logical energy of the world’s lost technology. It powers your Tech abilities—deployable drones, holographic shields, weapon enhancements, and scanner functions. It must be replenished by finding power cells or resting at safe Havens.

Beginner’s Rule: Don’t specialize in just one early. Experiment with a mix of basic Arcanic and Tech skills to handle a variety of challenges. Your starting choice influences your early tools, but does not lock your path.

2. The Dynamic Resonance System: Your Adaptive Skill Tree

Absolum does not have a static skill tree. Instead, it uses a Resonance Grid.

• How It Works: Abilities are not simply purchased. You find or earn Resonance Shards (for Arcanic) and Logic Cores (for Tech) in the world. Inserting these into your grid unlocks or enhances skills. Crucially, connecting shards and cores of similar types creates resonant pathways, unlocking more powerful, synergistic abilities.
• Early Advice: Look for natural synergies. Connecting a “Flame Bolt” shard to a “Thermal Conduit” shard might unlock “Searing Beam.” The grid is visually intuitive—follow the glowing connections.

3. The Fracture Scanner: Your Key to Exploration & Survival

Your wrist-mounted Fracture Scanner (activated with Tab or R1) is your most vital tool.

• Passive Scan: It constantly highlights interactive objects, loot, and basic enemy outlines.
• Active Pulse (Hold Scan): Emits a wave that reveals hidden paths, cloaked enemies, and the emotional resonance of objects (which can unlock lore and quest clues). Use it frequently in new areas.
• Environmental Analysis: It will tag exploitable weaknesses in certain enemies (e.g., “Volatile Core” or “Kinetic Shield”) and highlight climbable surfaces or fragile walls.

4. Combat Philosophy: Analyze, Adapt, Overwhelm

Encounters in Absolum are punishing for the unprepared but rewarding for the tactical.

• The Stagger Meter: Every enemy, including bosses, has a visible Stagger Meter (a blue bar under their health). Tech abilities typically build stagger, while fully charged Arcanic attacks or heavy weapons expend stagger for massive damage and critical effects. The core loop is: Build Stagger (Tech) -> Capitalize (Arcanic/Heavy Hit).
• Positioning is Everything: The arena matters. Use verticality, narrow corridors to funnel enemies, and destroy unstable environmental hazards with well-placed shots.
• No Health Regeneration: Health only restores at Havens or by using rare consumables. Your first major craftable item should always be a Mender Kit.

5. The Echo of Choices: A Truly Reactive World

Absolum’s narrative and world state react to decisions both large and small in a system called World Echo.

• Faction Disposition: Your actions are silently tallied. Showing mercy to stranded scavengers may open up new trade options later, while aggressive plundering might make their outposts hostile.
• Environmental Echo: Solving a major environmental puzzle (like restoring power to a district) can have visible, permanent effects on the landscape and which creatures inhabit it.
• Beginner Mindset: Play authentically. Don’t try to “game” the system on a first playthrough. The world is designed to remember.

6. Early Game Priorities: First 2 Hours

1. Master Your Scanner: Complete the introductory tutorial section that teaches active and passive scanning thoroughly.
2. Craft a Mender Kit: Gather Polymer Scraps and Bio-Gel from the starting area to craft your first healing item at a workbench.
3. Find Your First Two Shards/Cores: Before tackling the first major objective, thoroughly explore the “Derelict Crossway” area. You are guaranteed to find one Arcanic Shard and one Tech Core, allowing you to make your first meaningful build choice on your Resonance Grid.
4. Speak to the Cartographer: In the first safe Haven, find the NPC marked by a scroll icon. They will give you a quest to activate local Signal Beacons, which will permanently fill in your map—an invaluable time-saver.

7. Key Settings for a Smooth Experience

• Turn On “Exploration Hints”: In the Gameplay menu, this setting adds subtle environmental cues (like faint wind effects near climbable ledges) without being intrusive.
• Adjust “Echo Density”: In the Audio settings, you can lower the frequency of whispered “Echo” lore fragments if you find them distracting during tense exploration.
• Activate “Stagger Bar Always On”: A crucial accessibility/combat clarity option in the Interface menu.

8. Mindset: A Reclaimed World

Absolum is not about saving a pristine world; it’s about understanding and reclaiming a broken one. Progress is measured in cleared hazards, restored systems, and unraveled mysteries as much as in levels gained. Move with intention, scan everything, and let the resonant connections you build—both in your skills and with the world—guide your path.

The Fracture awaits. Watch your step, trust your scanner, and remember: in Absolum, every choice, every connection, echoes. Good luck, Awakened One.