Basics

Basics

Ratchet & Clank isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, an intensely challenging game. However, we understand that sometimes, especially with the huge variety of weapons at your disposal, deciding how to go about things can be quite a quandary. Here are a few quick tips to help you get started. Keeping these things in mind will more often than not make any situation more manageable.

Health Packs for the Fuzzy

The health gauge in Ratchet & Clank is an awesome one. One of the most important facets of the health gauge (aside from the fact that it depletes as Ratchet receives damage) is that it features its own experience bar. This means the more Ratchet soaks up damage the more experience will be collected and eventually, Ratchet's maximum life is increased, fully restoring his health. If the situation becomes dire and you need health restoratives, search for blue orbs encased in metal boxes. These are called Nanotechs and replenish a certain percentage of Ratchet's health. Nanotechs are usually scattered throughout each level in ample supply.

Melee Combat

Before access to the Weapons Vendor opens for you, you pretty much have a very limited selection of weapons, chief among them is the Omniwrench with which Ratchet uses to smack things. This wrench is highly versatile in a variety of uses, including turning cranks, striking enemies at close-range and from afar, and generally just causing untold amounts of pain to the recipients of the blunt end of the weapon. To master it, you must learn of the different moves you can execute with the wrench:

Combo

SQUARE three times in a row

Hyper Strike

Cross to jump, then press SQUARE to slam down on the opponent.

Comet Strike

R2 to crouch and then SQUARE to fling the wrench out as a projectile.

Move List

You can access the full list of moves Ratchet is capable of performing by pausing the game and going into Options. Select Moves List and scroll down the list for a brief description and the button sequence for successful execution of the move. It'd be a good thing to know everything the long-tailed hero can do!

Smash Everything

Most of the objects within the environment are destructible. If you see something, hit it. Nearly a hundred percent of the time, the elicited response is the object breaking apart into a zillion pieces and Bolts or other things spilling all over the place. This is also the smart way to refill on ammunition, as many of the additional ammo can be freed from weapon crates, and find those hidden pieces of Holo-Plans.

Level Your Weapons

You'll find that your weapons possess a certain RPG element to them. The more use you get out of them, the more experience they will gain and thus grow more powerful. At level 5 (max), weapons will morph into something entirely different with a stronger hitting power and bonus aftereffects. Upgrading through continual use is automatic, although there is a way to manually upgrade your weapons. At the Weapons Vendor, you have the option to upgrade your weapons at the cost of a special ore called Raritanium. These shards of metal are not too difficult to come by, but as you unlock more and more weapon features maintenance can become quite a burden "financially" speaking.

The customization options are usually divided into several categories, including More Damage, More Ammo, More Bolts or Raritanium, etc. These upgrade options are positioned along what we'll call a "customization diagram. As you power up your weapons, you eventually are able to reach a question mark located somewhere on the diagram. This question mark usually turns out to be an intrinsic ability that you can add on to the weapon, such as a freeze or poison effect.

Invest some time in to building up your weapons, as the end results yield a bigger and badder kick with dazzling effects. Indeed, let your weapons do the talking and fry up some bad guys!

Weapon Crazy

You have a massive number of armaments at your disposal for a reason. There's no sense of redundancy between them. An electrically-charged rabid dog thing unfazed by your Shock Ravager? Blast it with the Shard Reaper instead. Shielded enemies easily repelling your attacks? Not a problem. Force feed them a couple Fusion Grenades. Each weapon or gadget holds some tactical weight, some more effective and interestingly than others. (A disco ball distraction—genius.)

Bolt Crazy

The jingle jangle of the Bolts is alluring indeed. You might be excited to know that Bolt-collecting comprises a huge chunk of the gameplay. Bolts are the only acceptable form of currency in the Polaris Galaxy and are in abundance. As such, you need anywhere from a couple thousand Bolts to purchase a weapon early on to upwards of 200,000 Bolts. So, if you can't provide the jingle, you'd best keep on steppin' (and collect more Bolts).

Air Ratchet

Can't quite reach that high ledge? No worries for Ratchet is always prepared. Crouch down with the R2 button, then press Cross and hold it. After the first jump, Clank, residing on Ratchet's back, busts out a helicopter move that propels Ratchet upward just enough to make reasonably tall places.