Transistor

Transistor

468 ratings
How To Avoid Running Around in Abject Terror Like a Person Who Is Completely Covered in Spiders
By ate50eggs
Super basic combat tip that will prevent you from having a terrible time playing this game.
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Very Basic Combat Tips
Has this ever happened to you? You find yourself cornered by a couple of fetches, so you pop into Turn(). You hit them with Crash() a couple of times for revenge and then Jaunt() to the other end of the board just in time for a clucker to lay an egg right on you. You can't enter Turn(), you can't Jaunt() so you have to just sit there and take it while snapshots pummel you mercilessly.

You run around like an idiot for a second, then, before Turn() is even done recharging the stupid fetches have found you again and you have to do it all over, except with less health. Meanwhile there's a baby crying in the other room, something's burning in the kitchen and you have a load of wet laundry that needs to get switched over to the dryer before it gets that weird smell.

Classic right? Well don't uninstall, I'm here to help. Just do this:

1) Use Turn() sparingly
2) When you do use Turn(), don't feel like you need to use it all up

Here's why. The game has three major combat states:
1) Turn()
2) Recharging Turn()
3) Turn() Ready

The Recharging state is terrible. You never want to be in it unless you're safe. If you just used Turn() to fire off as many attacks as possible, chances are you are somewhere very unsafe. It's super fun to queue up a bunch of attacks and watch Red zip around messing dudes up, but like everything else fun in life, it's not good for your health.

It's better to spend most of your time in the Ready state. You can spam your powers like a beast and it costs basically nothing. Some of them will miss but who cares? They're free.

The other thing about Turn() is that the less stuff you queue up, the faster it comes back. So using it to fire off just one or two powers - or to move a short distance - can be totally worth it. You can even use it to fire off zero powers. Take a breather and plan your moves without queueing them and there's no recharge time.

Finally, not all parts of your Turn() are equal. The beginning is good for attacks, but by the end enemies will have moved and some things will miss. Don't doom yourself to awful, awful Recharge time for the sake of a flubbed attack.

I'm not saying this will solve all of your problems, and there are situations where loading up Turn() is a good idea, but combat will go a lot more smoothly if you avoid recharge time. Stay Ready, stay safe and transist it like a boss.

Boss fight spoiler:
When it comes to the final boss fight, ignore all of this advice. Hit Turn() like crazy. Turn like you are listening to that Beatles song about turning. Seriously, do you know the song I'm talking about? The word "turn" is like more than half of the lyrics







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Edit: 8/4/2014

Thanks to everyone for the great comments. A lot of commentors have shared neat builds that work well and involve using Turn() a lot. You should check them out!

I've seen a lot of reviews (some of them professional) complaining about the combat system. I wrote this for all the people who get frustrated and walk away from the game before learning how the different abilities interact. If you have a build that you like, you're already too pro for my advice. Transist on!

A lot of people have also noticed that I attributed a song incorrectly in the spoiler. How embarassing! I'm leaving it wrong for posterity.

43 Comments
Occam's Aftershave 12 Feb @ 3:35am 
To be honest, I never found a way to survive the final boss if I use Turn().
Cheesing him by spamming a homing stunlock offscreen was my "original" homegrown solution.
LucciaP 17 Nov, 2023 @ 2:24pm 
just got the game and i'm floundering around like a cat in water. this is super helpful, now i know what i need to do
MPO 24 Jun, 2023 @ 1:23pm 
Thanks, I was playing this game wrong, it kinda makes you want to do this sort of thing.
8ball 2 Jun, 2022 @ 1:29am 
i clicked just because of how great the title is but theres some really sound advice. hell, some of this is stuff i havent even employed in ~16 hours of playtime

this is a LOT more relevant if you're doing a lot of limiters in your playthrough and may sound really counter-intuitive but something that REALLY helped me out was putting Jaunt() on as an upgrade for another attack. if you're in that situation where you need to blast everything at once or you just want a bit more leeway in Turn() usage at the expense of mobility, having a way to actually fight back while recharging is invaluable, especially if you're using a build that's extremely turn-reliant like me.
chestill 3 Feb, 2022 @ 3:24pm 
If it's the one i'm thinking of, it was performed by The Byrds.
Liyang 5 Apr, 2021 @ 6:14pm 
> ate50eggs
Are those spider eggs? Because that's how you end up completely covered in spiders.
Šuljc 13 Jun, 2020 @ 1:15pm 
i came to the same things after all, but there were hard times before, especially with dogs involved.. argh, i hate dogs sometimes
Jikkuryuu 4 May, 2020 @ 8:22pm 
This is great advice!
Yenrei 13 Jan, 2020 @ 9:29pm 
Reminder: DO NOT USE LOAD AS A FUNCTION. Also, if you're like me and didn't grab Bounce() when it first appeared as a level up option, using Crash(Spark, Load) in tandem with Help(Switch, Purge) is a surprisingly low-effort way to deal with enemies that like to rush toward you, as it turns your Crash from a sad, arm-length line skillshot to a chad, conal CC cannon while Luna keeps those pesky ranged units at a distance, but in a favorable way,
bsabella 6 Jan, 2020 @ 4:08pm 
I know it's 6 years now... but for those who still struggle...

Use Help + Switch and Purge at the beginning of the battle BEFORE entering Turn... and let your dog charme your enemies, which will not attack you while taking damage over time (as you can't attack them being friends...)

Ping + Flood and Bounce will leach life FAST

Mask + Breach and your cooldown will end before the effect of Mask

Best defence Passive are Bounce, Crash, Flood and Tap