Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Tips & Tricks to be a Banisher Worthy of New Eden

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden has been one of my most-anticipated titles ever since I came across it, and now that I've finally gotten the opportunity to try it, I am no less in love with it than I was before. Though it bolsters gameplay similar to my all-time favourite videogame God of War (2018), there are still a lot of unique mechanics to take advantage of, especially if you intend to tackle New Eden in its hardest difficulty. So without further ado...

#1 — Don't Spend Your Skills Needlessly

As you progress throughout Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and further advance the narrative, you'll unlock Antea’s abilities called "Manifestations", which are powers that she can use due to being a ghost. However, this isn't the only thing you'll get as you advance, as you'll also get a brand-new talent tree to choose from.

At first, I didn't know this, and I wasted one of my points on a skill I wasn't too keen on because I needed the extra backup, but all skill points are shared across trees, which means that you can keep a point until you unlock the next one to slot a bunch of them and unlock all of the newest skills (which tend to be the strongest, too).

Don't be afraid to overspend either, though — you can refund any skill you want at your leisure. It's a very forgiving talent tree system that lets you experiment, and it's part of its great gameplay and combat merits.

#2 — Pick Everything Up

New Eden is better described as an open-area map instead of an open-world one, which means that you can explore very easily without getting too lost (not that it won't happen — my wife likes to test the limits of being topographically inept). While you're out exploring, you'll find a slew of materials, all of which are imperative that you pick up.

The world is plentiful, filled with useable supplies you can use, and whether you get a couple hundred of a specific plant or not won't be too much of a hindrance (most of these are scattered throughout the path anyway). But once you've stockpiled enough, you no longer need to worry about being able to perform the right ritual (or picking the wrong one. Twice. Whoops!) or even selling them, as it'll be a good source of money.

#3 — Don't Worry About Checking the Spectral World

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is set up in a way that is similar to Lords of the Fallen, where you'll be able to explore two worlds that look different but share the same overall layout. By switching to Antea, you can enter the spectral realm and explore, even finding a slew of clues and hints that ghosts otherwise hide, which is a crucial part of your side quests, main quests, and exploration.

However, it's not something that you need to be anxious about — if you prefer New Eden from the eyes of the lovable Scotsman Red mac Raith, then you'll be able to do so just fine. Either you'll get a quote from one of the protagonists letting you know that there is something in the air or Red's Banisher rings will glow blue, indicating that you need to switch to Antea, which is a very intuitive mechanic that removes the stress of having to explore.

#4 — Destroy Breakable Items

This might be obvious for fans of gaming, but it's still an easily missable tip — there are a slew of items that you can break around the world, and within these, you can find materials that'll contribute to your stock. If you learn anything from everyone's favourite pointy-hatted protagonist, Link, it is that you should break everything around you. Even if they’re not pots. Or belong to you.

This tip is handy whenever you enter a new area, as these will then have the ability to spawn the new materials that appear with it, too. By breaking the items around the world, you'll save yourself from having to go out looking for stuff when you need to find material you otherwise wouldn't have, so keep an eye out for any decrepit-looking crates (or orange-hued crates).

#5 — Deplete All Points of Interest to Minimise Backtracking

Once you've already gotten past the prologue and dear old Antea has kicked the bucket, you'll be unleashed into the entire world of New Eden... or, at least the open area section that you can explore. From there, you'll find a couple of paths to take, though more will start opening up as you advance, including some that you can't do anything about until later on in the game.

Since you're already exploring because the map is relatively small in some places anyway, Red will mark spots (named Points of Interest) that have something important. These could be the ever-enjoyable (and challenging) Nests that give permanent bonuses or even quests, one of which was a mission for the next area I was heading to — to minimise backtracking, try visiting all your Points of Interest before you move on.

#6 — Always Use Antea's Spirit Energy

 

Moving on from gameplay and into the combat, one of the unique mechanics you'll be able to take advantage of is the capability to fight as both Red mac Raith and Antea Duarte, each having their own unique skills and what they attribute to the combat. It is best to approach battles in a joint way, where you'll fight as both of them depending on the situation, and it's always recommended that you deplete Antea's energy first.

Every time Antea makes an action, offensive or defensive, she loses her Spirit Energy, which is what she uses to interact with the outside world; once depleted, you'll be forced back into Red until she has recharged. Though it sounds like a bad idea not to have Antea there for emergencies, her unique battle system allows her to not take any damage (it depletes her Spirit Energy instead), which means that you can tank blows without running the risk of getting hit. And, there are a lot of skills that increase benefits depending on Antea's depleted energy; if you go for those, definitely do this.

#7 — Focus on Possessed Enemies

In any given encounter, you'll often be fighting a Spectre, which is the raw form of the spirits, and then the possessed enemies that they inhabit. Though you can interrupt some by warning of Antea and quick reaction time, it's impossible to stop this from happening consistently or some spawning in a naturally possessed state.

If you can stop an enemy from possessing a corpse around (likely by using your rifle), it is absolutely recommended, but if not, take advantage of Antea's extra damage to possessed targets. Once they're out, you can then kill the Spectre that was possessing it and then move on to the next. Though, if you want to save yourself some damage...

#8 — Banish Possessed Enemies (And Just Banish a OFTEN)

As you fight with Red, he starts increasing his Banishment bar, which, once filled, allows you to do heavy damage (think almost like an execution) to an enemy. This heavy-hitting attack is crucial in fights — more than you know — and it even has an entire build focused around it.

However, what they don't tell you is that if you manage to kill a possessed enemy with a Banishment, the Spectre within will be instantly slain. This can save a lot of time of having to fight groups of Spectres after they have possessed an enemy, as instead, you can get rid of them instantaneously and save yourself precious seconds of fighting. Remember that nothing happens if you miss a Banishment, either, as you'll be able to recast it right away!

#9 — Vary Your Fighting

You have a lot of choices to fight — you can use your endless rifle to deal damage, you can change to Antea, you can take control of Red, you can parry, block, dodge, counterattack, running attack, perfect switches, Banishment... The truth is, you'll be spoiled for choice on how to fight, but the best way to do it is to sprinkle in a bit of everything.

For challenging attacks to parry, take advantage of the dodge roll, as you'll have invulnerability frames (like in DARK SOULS!); use your Banishment freely or save it to defeat a tougher enemy; parry easy attacks; block whenever applicable; switch to Antea and take the offensive as Red... Every battle has a flow to it that you can follow, and as you learn and master the combat, you'll get better at taking advantage and going through enemies.

#10 — Have fun (and Experiment)

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you have fun, and that includes trying out new approaches and techniques to see what best suits you. There is a massive build variety that you can take advantage of and even various quests to explore and uncover. The gameplay is great and there are multiple endings to uncover.

You can also freely change your difficulty if you want to and reload whenever you feel you made the wrong decision. If you find it most fun to live with your consequences, do that, too! There is no right or wrong way to experience the game — what matters most is that you have fun.

---

There you have it! Some of the tips we found whilst playing on the hardest difficulty. If you have any more, make sure to drop them below — we can never have too many!