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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a big game in every way, and it can be a bit overwhelming for beginners. Though the tutorial section does a good job of walking you through the basics, it then cuts you loose into Ubisoft‘s massive world to figure things out for yourself. Though learning through trial and error is an option, exploring Pandora is much easier and more fun when you don’t have to sweat the small stuff. From choosing your setting and creating your character to crafting weapons and taking on RDA bases, we’ll teach you all the essentials you need to survive and thrive as a beginner in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – Taking Back the World
In Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, you play as a Na’vi captured by humans and recruited into The Ambassador Program (TAP). It won’t be long before your time with TAP comes to an ugly end, however. From then on you’ll be free to explore the action-adventure game’s enormous world, take on the RDA who are poisoning Pandora, and get to know the various tribes of the Na’vi. Frontiers of Pandora is an ambitious new IP, and there’s a lot for newcomers to learn.
Setting Up the Game
The first thing you’ll need to do before starting your adventure is determine some basic settings. You can always switch these up later from the main menu. Don’t worry too much about whether you’re making the right decision or not. There are two important decisions here. The first is what level of Combat Challenge you want. This is your basic difficulty slider, ranging from Low to Medium and then High. We recommend Medium for most players. If you want to focus on the story instead of combat, go with Low instead. If you’d prefer a challenge, pick High.
Guidance
The next big decision involves Guidance, which is short for how many UI hints you’ll receive about quests and important markers. If you want the classic Ubisoft experience, choose Guided. That will provide plenty of glowing quest markers to keep you going in the right direction. No more wandering around lost and confused. If you’d prefer to discover the game’s secrets and adventures for yourself, choose Exploration. That will remove most markers, placing the adventure in your hands. That will make exploring more difficult, but many players find it more satisfying.
Character Creation
Next, you’ll need to create your character. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora doesn’t have an extremely deep character creator, but there’s enough here to keep you busy for a while. The good news is these choices are all aesthetic. You won’t be picking skills or powers at this stage of the game. You can customize your character’s face, hair, skin, voice, and body type. You can also randomize them or tweak the details to your liking. Because these choices don’t affect your abilities, feel free to just make whatever kind of character strikes a chord with you.
Understanding the HUD
Understanding the HUD is a simple but important part of navigating Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. At the top of the HUD, you’ll find the compass. That’s convenient for keeping you on the right path as you explore. It also displays nearby enemies as red circles, so keep an eye out. In the lower-right corner of the screen, you’ll find the ammunition count for your currently equipped weapons. At the center of the bottom of the screen, you’ll find your Health Bar and your Energy Bar (below it). To the left of your Health Bar, you’ll see a series of dots indicating how many charges you have remaining in your Healing Pouch.
Quest Indicators
Outside of combat, you’ll also see your current quest and quest objectives listed in the top-left corner. Beside the name of the currently tracked quest is the Quest Power Level. It gives you a rough measure of how difficult the quest will be to accomplish. Ideally, you’ll want to take on quests of your own Power Level or lower. Higher-level ones will be much more difficult.
Exploration and Na’vi Senses
Pandora is a sprawling world, and navigating it can be tough initially. The map is divided into three major biomes, and in each biome, you’ll deal with a different Na’vi tribe: Aranahe, Zeswa, and Kame’tire. Getting further in their quest lines is the main way that you’ll advance the main story, so always pay attention to where the main mission is pointing you next. If you get lost or confused, remember to check your Journal from the menu. It has a brief synopsis of every quest you’ve picked up, and you can select a quest to be tracked automatically, making it much easier to find on the map.
Na’vi Senses
Your map is covered in the fog of war initially, but you’ll reveal more of it as you explore. One of your most important exploration abilities is your Na’vi Senses. Using Na’vi Senses allows you to highlight enemies, animals, harvestable plants, and collectible items. There’s no cost to using this power, so it’s a good idea to activate your senses briefly and take a look around whenever you enter a new area. You’ll need to use Na’vi Senses to follow mission-specific clues such as scent trails and inspect clues, but it’s also great in freeform gameplay. That’s especially true when you’re trying to gather crafting ingredients. Pandora has a ton of different plants, and Na’vi Senses makes it much easier to identify them when you’re still learning the ropes.
Crafting
Unlike the humans who use machines to manufacture everything they need, Na’vi craft what they need themselves. Crafting is a vital part of the game, as it’s how you’ll create new weapons, armor, and other useful items. First, you’ll need a recipe for whatever item you’re trying to make. You can get new recipes from an NPC at the Na’vi Resistance Headquarters or as a reward for completing certain quests and objectives. Once you have a recipe you can combine crafting ingredients at a workbench (found at HQ or in other settlements and safe zones) to make the item you need.
Tracking Ingredients
If you’re trying to complete a certain recipe but having a hard time finding the right ingredients, go to a workbench, select the recipe you want to work on, and track the ingredients. Doing so will pin the resources you need to find to the top-right corner of the screen, making it easier for you to remember what you’re looking for. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora also tracks vital information about the world for you, so if you’re not sure where to look, open the menu and check out the Hunter’s Guide and Encyclopedia. They’re great sources of info when you can’t quite figure out where to get the sticks for the arrows you want to make.
Combat Fundamentals
Combat in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will feel more or less familiar to Far Cry fans. You have a variety of Na’vi and human weapons at your disposal, and you’ll need them to take on the RDA as well as to hunt wild animals for resources. It’s an FPS, but you’ll need to do more than just point your gun at the enemy and pull the trigger if you want to do well. Soldiers are small and can be taken out with a single punch or arrow, but mechs and other large enemies will require special treatment. Use Na’vi Senses to reveal their glowing weakspots and target them for extra damage. Doing so is pretty much mandatory because fights can get nasty quick if you allow your enemies to stay standing for too long.
Ammunition
If you run out of ammunition you’ll have nothing but your fists to defend yourself with until you find more, so always keep track. You can craft more ammo for your Na’vi weapons such as your bow, even in the middle of battle, as long as you have the required crafting ingredients. It’s always a good idea to grab sticks from the Archer’s Thicket plant whenever you can so that you can always craft more arrows when necessary. Replenishing ammunition for human weapons isn’t so easy. To do so, you’ll either need to find it in a container or grab it off the bodies of your enemies. To avoid running out of ammo, try not to rely exclusively upon one weapon.
Skills and Ancestor Skills
As you complete quests or visit tarsyu flowers and tarsyu saplings you’ll gain skill points. As is true in other RPGs, these points can be spent to gain new abilities across multiple skill trees. Ancestor Skills represent a handful of unique, potent abilities, while general skills allow you to pursue a specific playstyle. Combat, stealth, and cooking buffs are all options. Early in the game, it’s advisable to invest in skills that increase your health and allow you to carry more arrows and other ammunition. Doing so will help out no matter what your playstyle is, giving you better survivability while you figure out what specific tactics work best for you. The skill trees are as follows:
- Memories of the Survivor (increased health and damage resistance)
- Memories of the Warrior (increased damage and ammo capacity)
- Memories of the Hunter (improved stealth and weakspot damage)
- Memories of the Maker (improved crafting)
- Memories of the Rider (improved Ikran abilities)
Tarsyu Flowers and Saplings
Visiting tarsyu flowers and saplings is a great way to build up your skills quickly. Because they’re scattered around the world, they also encourage you to explore. You can find their locations on your map, allowing you to locate them much easier, but only once you’ve explored the area and removed the fog of war. The pollution from RDA bases also obscures them. Make sure you clear out any human compounds before you go looking for flowers.
RDA Base Attacks
Along with tarsyu flowers and Na’vi villages, some of the most important Points of Interest on each map are RDA bases. These compounds represent humanity’s foothold on Pandora. Taking them out is a major part of your role in the Na’vi Resistance. These facilities pollute their surroundings, making hunting and harvesting resources pretty much impossible, so eliminating them is a top priority. Pay attention to the Power Level displayed by the name of each base, because if it’s much higher than your Power Level, you’re going to have a difficult time.
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The specifics of how to take down an RDA base vary a little from compound to compound. There are typically a few vulnerable machines you’ll need to destroy to take the place out. That might require you to flip a few switches or use your Systems Interrogation Device (SID) to sabotage machines with a quick hacking minigame. The stealthy approach is usually the best one because these compounds are heavily guarded. If all else fails, however, you can always try to shoot your way through.
Ikran and Direhorse Riding
Frontiers of Pandora is a big game. Exploring Pandora would take forever if you had to do the entire thing on foot. Thankfully, once you progress far enough in the story, you’ll get two other options: flying on an Ikran and riding a direhorse. Ikran flight is the more important of the two. It gives you access to floating mountains and other areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. Your Ikran loses Stamina during long flights, but you can restore it with food, so make sure to keep your Ikran well-fed. You can also customize your Ikran with various cosmetics and items. If you find your flight abilities lacking, you can even put points into special skills devoted to this activity.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora F.A.Q.
For those with more specific questions about the game, we’ve covered some of the most common. These frequently asked questions will get your journey through Pandora started the right way.
Is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Co-Op?
Yes. You have to complete “The Aranahe Clan” quest first. Once you do so, you will be able to play the game with a friend, as the game supports two-player co-op.
How Many Missions Does Frontiers of Pandora Have?
There are 31 main quest missions in addition to numerous side activities.
Is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Cross-Platform?
Yes, Frontiers of Pandora is cross-platform. You’ll be able to play with your friends regardless of which system they’re on.
What Happens When You Die in Frontiers of Pandora?
If you die you’ll be sent back to the last checkpoint or be allowed to Fast Travel elsewhere in certain circumstances.
If you want more advanced tips beyond what we’ve covered in our starter guide for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, we encourage you to check out the following guides:
Where To Find Bruise Moss in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
How To Get Bark in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Where To Get Swamp Hive Nectar in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
How To Get Shell Fruit in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
How To Get an Ikran in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Where To Find Canopy Root in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
How To Find the Ghost Strike Ancestor Skill in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
How To Find (& Kill) Thanator in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Complete Mission List for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
