The biggest complaint I’ve heard from people is that they can’t get into the game since it’s too difficult. Like any game, it’ll become easier with practice. There are also many strategies and tips that’ll help you get further in your runs, and I’ll be covering some of those today.
This guide will focus on the early to mid-stages of your run, and will only cover tips that aren’t spoilers for the rest of the game.
These tips aren’t in any particular order, but if you follow them then you’ll have an easier time getting a good run.
Always carry water
The one thing that every Noita player should carry is a water flask. Back in the early days of the game, the player would start with a water flask. That’s since been changed to be a random potion, though a lot of times it’ll be a water flask.
If you’re new to the game, you might be asking what the benefit of a water flask is. The main reason to carry one is that you can spray it on yourself to put out fire and remove stains from your player.
All you have to do is spray it in the air and fly into it, or spray it on the ground and stand in it.
Another use is to neutralize certain harmful materials. Spraying it on lava will cause it to turn into rock, and spraying it into toxic sludge will make the sludge turn into water. No matter how OP you get, a flask of water will always come in handy.
If you don’t start with one, you need to get one as soon as possible. If the starting potion is something beneficial like Berserkium or Levitatium, chug the potion as soon as you spawn. If it’s something like Polymorphine, pour it out in a safe place on the surface, and find water down in the mines.
You’ve probably been killed by those ridiculously hard Fire Mages in the mines before, though you probably didn’t know that their weakness is water. Spray them with enough water and they’ll die instantly, giving you a total of 60 gold.
One useful trick is that you can spray water and other liquids through the ground above you. If you press your character into the ceiling and spray a flask upwards, the water teleport through. Use this trick to easily deal with those annoying Fire Mages.
Rebind your water and damage wands
One tip that I discovered after playing for a long time was that if you bind your main damage wand and water flask to an easier location, you can easily swap between them.
The easiest bindings for me are to the side buttons on my mouse, but you can use whatever works best for you.
This is extremely useful for quickly removing fire or harmful stains, and then swapping back to your combat wand to take out enemies. You’ll take minimal damage from stains, and be able to stop the enemies from dealing further damage.
Get at least 600 gold in The Mines
A mistake I made as a new player was to rush through the levels as quickly as I could, but it’s important that you take your time to farm gold and look for wands. It’s quite easy to get 600 gold, and if you stick around long enough you can most likely get more than 1,000 gold.
The reason I recommend 600 gold is that you can either reroll the perks twice, or reroll once and still buy from the shop. If you can manage to get more than 600 gold, definitely go for more than that.
By the way, you can throw the emerald tablet at enemies, and it makes a pretty powerful weapon. If you defeat an enemy with it, it counts as an accidental kill and you get double the gold, which makes it an amazing money maker.
Use bombs sparingly
In the mines, don’t use all your bombs as soon as you get them. Try to find alternate routes while exploring, and only use bombs to get items or if you’re completely stuck. If you want to make bombs more efficient, drink some Berserkium to double the blast radius.
Be careful though, that blast radius will make bombs insanely dangerous.
Get a digging wand
If you really want to progress in the game, get a digging wand as early as you can. One of the most common digging wands is the drill spell, which destroys softer ground.
Since it doesn’t use any mana, you can put that on your red wand for a great early game digging tool.
Farm gold in Coal Pits
The second area of the game is filled with thousands of gold just sitting there, and you can take advantage of it with the proper wands. A digging wand such as a drill works very well for this, as well as explosives until they run out.
The best spell for mining gold in this level is the Blue Energy orb, since it destroys the ground but not the gold. Farming tons of gold in this level will set you up to buy items or reroll the perk machine more times.
Always shoot treasure chests
If you haven’t been killed by a mimic before, it’s only a matter of time. Chests can sometimes spawn as mimics that will bite you when you get close. The easiest way around this is to shoot every chest you find. If it takes damage, you’ll know it’s a mimic.
Also, never be in the water with a chest when you shoot it. Mimic chests will always float in water, but a chest at the bottom can sometimes hold a lighting stone that’ll fry you instantly. Always shoot those from a safe place.
Know when to run from a fight
Sometimes you’ll get overwhelmed with an unwinnable fight, and if you don’t get out of there quickly you’ll lose the run.
Always have a place to retreat to if necessary, and if you encounter an extra tough enemy, find a safe place to attack them from.
I’ve lost way too many runs because I thought I could take on a horde of enemies
Get a method of healing
Besides the health increases, there are several other ways to heal yourself. I did an entire video on this, but it does contain a few spoilers. If you don’t mind spoilers then definitely check it out for ways to completely dominate your runs.
Take your time
One tip I can’t stress enough is to go through the game slowly and carefully. Though speedrunning the game can be fun, the main way to play is by methodically exploring and crafting powerful wands.
Spend a lot of time experimenting with wands in each Holy Mountain, and learn what every spell does. When you’re exploring a level, always take it slow and check every area for danger.
Don’t rush into fights with difficult enemies, but rather create a plan on how you’re going to beat them. The only way to get better at the game is to learn the mechanics slowly, and rushing through the game will only cause you to fail .
Drink Berserkium for more damage
If you find that your main wand is a bit underpowered, you can drink Berserkium to double its damage. This potion can easily turn the tide of any fight, and it can be used to make digging wands more efficient.
Always pick up a flask of it if you have room to spare, as it can come in handy when things get crazy.
Learn enemy behaviors
Learning how the enemies move and fight will only come with practice, but it’s essential to you having good runs. You’ll need to know the attack patterns of the shotgun enemies or spider enemies, or else they can catch you off guard and damage you.
One tip that helps me out is that when enemies are shooting at you, you should watch your character instead of the enemy. This lets you dodge enemy projectiles and avoid falling into harmful substances.
After learning how most enemies work, you’ll be able to avoid their attacks much easier.
Avoid destroying the Holy Mountains
This is a topic that I’ll probably make an entire guide on, but you should avoid destroying the Holy Mountains at all costs. These are the only places you can edit wands, and without it, you won’t be able to edit any new wands you find.
The key to creating powerful wands is being able to take spells off of other wands, and to experiment with different combinations.
For now, the easiest way to get out is to use Polymorphine or Chaotic Poly to move passed the trigger. It can be dangerous though, so always make sure that there aren’t enemies waiting for you on the other side.
There are many more ways to avoid it, but I’ll cover those another time.
Of course, you can always dig your way out with a Black Hole or Luminous Drill, though that’ll anger the gods. If that does happen, you can take out Steve using the statue on the left side of the Holy Mountain.
The Edit Wands Everywhere lets you edit wands without a Holy Mountain, and it’s the best perk in the entire game. Always pick it up if you find it.
Learn wand mechanics
Noita’s wand mechanics are extremely complicated, but they’re worth learning if you want to have better runs. After a while, you’ll be able to create overpowered wands that can one shot basically any enemy.
The key is to experiment as much as possible, though your experiments will often result in your death.
Only use health pickups when needed
Only pick up the health refills if you absolutely need them. Sometimes the smartest move is to leave them, take damage in the next level, and then return when you’re almost dead.
That can be risky though, so only save it if you have 50% health or more.
Explore the fungal caverns for wands
To the left of the Coal Pits, you’ll find a very dangerous area called the Fungal Caverns. Sometimes you can find very powerful wands here early game, so always check it out if you’re willing to take risks.
Conclusion
I could talk for a very long time about tips and tricks, but I’ll keep this post a little bit shorter. Part of the fun of Noita is finding out secrets for yourself, so definitely keep exploring and experimenting with the mechanics. You’ll be surprised with how many little details are in the game.
