Absolver Tips - Character Builds, Combat Styles, Beginner's Guide

Absolver, is the strategy fighting game from Devolver Digital, blending brutal martial arts with an expansive and intriguing open world to explore. Your reactions and understanding of the combat system in Absolver will be pushed to the limit from the outset of the game, so we've compiled this Absolver guide to help you on your way through this admittedly challenging game. We'll take a look at the three classes you cn choose from in Absolver, and provide some detailed Boss Guides for some of the harder enemies you'll be facing.

It's become something of a tradition for difficult games to give their players very little to go on at the outset, and Absolver continues this, merely teaching the player how to attack and block, and little else besides that. There's a class system as well as levelling in Absolver, all of which we'll explain just below.

Absolver Beginner's Guide

There's undoubtedly a lot to get your head around in the first few hours with Absolver. Firstly, we've put together a beginner's guide aimed at explaining all the systems and mechanics that players have to get to grips with at the very beginning of the game. After that, we'll present a more detailed Absolver guide, which explains some of more advanced techniques in the game such as combat stances, as well as some of the bosses you can find in the relatively open world.

• Absolver Classes Guide - Forsaken, Kahlet, Windfall
• Absolver Tips and Tricks
• Absolver Attributes Explained
• Absolver Combat Trials
• Absolver Marked Ones Strategy
• Absolver Kuretz Boss Guide
• Absolver Cargal and Kilnor Boss Guide

Absolver Classes Guide - Forsaken, Kahlet, Windfall

To begin with, let's go over the three main Absolver classes:

• Forsaken - The Forsaken can effectively parry attacks, meaning that this is probably a solid class choice for players that will be more reactionary and defensive towards their opponents.
• Kahlt - This class can absorb hits relatively well, and generally presents the most straightforward attacks and fighting styles that fighting game players are used to.
• Windfall - The Windfall class can avoid and sidestep attacks fairly easily, giving players a quick exit out of any hectic combat scenarios.

Absolver - Character Customization

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Absolver Tips and Tricks

And now for some fairly general Absolver tips and tricks, all of which will help players no matter which of the above classes you've chosen at the outset of the game.

• Stamina is everything in Absolver, and without it, you lose the ability to both block and dodge attacks. Always remember to have a bit of stamina left in case of an emergency.
• Building on this, don't button mash. It's easy to get stuck in a pattern of repetitive attacks in Absolver, but this can lead to your demise easily, as an opponent can merely wait for your stamina to weaken, and then go in for their own string of attacks.
• If you press the left trigger straight after doing an attack, you'll pull a 'feint' move, which baits you opponent to attack you, leaving them open for a counterattack.
• Don't forget the Combat Deck! The Combat Deck is where you can practice and customise your own combo moves, and select the buttons you're most likely to go to in the heat of battle.
• Stances can be fairly complex in Absolver, but they basically allow you to attack and defend from different angles. It's a bit of a rock, paper, scissors battle, and you'll have to analyse your opponent to see what fighting style their in, and which attack direction is going to get past their defenses.
• Don't be afraid to change up your equipment from the items you're familiar with. It pays to experiment in Absolver, and so you should definitely take any new equipment you get for a test drive when you first acquire it, even if you doubt you'll like it as much as your current gear.
• If you see a black circle with a white silhouette of a fighting stance to the right on your screen, it means you've learned a new fighting move. This can then be applied in the Combat Deck to your own unique combo.

Absolver - Stagger Combat Style

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Absolver Attributes Explained

As you defeat opponents you'll earn XP points, and these points can be saved up and put into six different attributes, which we'll explain below:

• Strength – Increases damage of strength-based attacks.
• Dexterity – Raises damage output of dexterity-based attacks.
• Vitality – Increases your maximum health.
• Endurance – Increases your maximum stamina.
• Will – Helps you recharge Shards faster.
• Mobility – Increases movement, mobility-based attack damage, and stamina recovery.

If you're a fairly experienced Absolver fighter, or if you just need some pointers for getting to grips with some of the finer details of the game, then consult the rest of our Absolver guide just below.

• By pressing T on the keyboard, or L1 on the controller, you can emote to players. Bear this in mind if you encounter another player out in the open world but you don't necessarily want to fight them.
• If you want to head to a special arena for a 1v1 player versus player fight, then find an altar and activate a Duel Scenario, in order to take someone down in a straight up fistfight.
• When you sometimes get hit by an attack, your fighting stance will automatically get changed by itself. This adds another layer of difficulty to Absolver, as you essentially have to get used to fighting in all four stances, or be very quick at changing your stance on the fly.

Absolver Combat Trials

Combat Trials are accessible after you've completed the main game, and allow you to take on far more difficult challenges than in the base game. The Combat Trials are mainly player versus player, but escalate into more difficult versions of standard boss characters in the game. Basically, if you want a bigger challenge, head to the Combat Trials to refine your fighting abilities.

Absolver - Launch Trailer

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Continuing on in our more advanced Absolver guides, below you'll find a series of guides dedicated to taking out some of the more difficult boss characters that can be encountered and fought out in the relatively open world of Absolver.

Absolver Marked Ones Strategy

Marked One are powerful enemies you will encounter while out exploring the world. They are not quite as difficult as Bosses, but will still give you a hard time if you are unprepared. You can locate them by heading to the Guidance Bridge, and looking for a stone slab with colored dots painted onto it. The yellow dots are the marked ones, with their locations shown on the map.

Defeating Marked Ones grants new powers, and there are six in total initially. They'll be your main concern for the majority of the game, so keep a note of where each one is located and hunt them down.

Absolver Kuretz Boss Guide

While the Kuretz boss might seem intimidating at the start, he's actually fairly easy to take down, provided you use the right attack methods. Firstly, Kuretz has a massive pool of stamina, which he uses to chain together some deadly attack combos. Back away from him whenever you see him begin attacking, as you don't want to get caught up in a combo.

However, Kuretz doesn't appear to block all that often, which actually leaves him open for a few small hits, as you're able to whittle down his health bar with small attacks that hit home. Don't get greedy though, one or two quick hits and then backing off is the best strategy to use when taking the fight straight to Kuretz.

This Absolver boss has a number of minions that he mind controls to fight you. These minions don't pose a huge threat as they have relatively low health bars, and you can use them to regain some health if you're in dire need. You should likely focus on Kuretz for all the time you can, but feel free to take out a minion or two if you need a little healing.

Absolver Cargal and Kilnor Boss Guide

I bet you'd thought the game was already pretty tough before hitting Cargal and Kilnor, well it's about to get even tougher. They'll both attack you at once and can quickly overwhelm you. there are some tips and strategies to keep in mind while fighting though, so follow these steps to gain the upper hand.

• Line them up, it'll be easier for you to hit both of them at once.
• Keep Cargal at the back of the line, that way they will do damage to each other when lashing out at you.
• They will both draw swords at 25 percent health, hit fast and often so that you can get them down before they get a chance to use flurry attacks with their swords.
• Note the staircase in the area, you can use it to recover stamina
• Focus on who is attacking in the moment, going for the other will usually result in damage taken from behind.

That's all we've got so far for Absolver. Make sure to check back on this guide for all the latest tips and tricks for Devolver Digital's innovative fighting game. Absolver was just added to Xbox Game Pass. For more details on the subscription service, and for a full list of games, head over to our Xbox Game Pass Guide.