Midwinter Entertainment's Scavengers is unlike other battle royale games in that it has a unique PvEvP focus in which players have to worry about environmental threats as well as other squads. You don't have to be the last team standing to win, either — you just need to board the dropship that comes at the end of the match and be alive on it when it takes off. These factors make Scavengers play much differently than other battle royales, and as a result, longtime fans of the genre will likely struggle to adjust. Don't worry, though, because we're here to help with valuable tips and tricks that will help you make it out of the frozen wastelands alive.
Form a balanced team composition
Before the match even starts, it's important that you and your teammates pick a good mix of characters that cover each other's weaknesses. For example, Tarik is a powerful sniper character, so pairing him with the close-quarters brawler Valora and a medium range character like Halden or Kali is a good idea. This gives your team effective and optimal ways to fight at all ranges.
You can make specialized team compositions work, too — for example, Valora, Cruz, and Jae would be a deadly close-quarters combat trio — but the risk of going with a setup like this is that you may be stuck trying to fight enemies or players outside of your effective range due to factors such as the location of the dropship or the roaming storms on the map. Therefore, it's best to be prepared for anything.
Don't be too aggressive (or passive)
One of the most important things to remember in Scavengers is that being too aggressive or too passive will ultimately make things much harder for you. Being too aggressive and trying to frequently attack other teams or constantly trying to assault AI strongholds for salvage will put a target on your back and make it difficult for you to avoid being overwhelmed by other players. However, if you're too passive, you may not be able to make it to the dropship in time before it takes off, and even if you do manage to get onboard, you probably won't have that much salvage.
Therefore, it's important to strike a delicate balance. If you spend several minutes fighting enemies or players, spend a few minutes lying low and scouting out the map to stay hidden. If you have thermal boosters or access to a good shelter, you can even enter a nearby roaming snowstorm to avoid visual and radar detection. On the other hand, don't be afraid to try to take down a boss or set up an ambush for other players if you haven't seen any action for a long time.
Make warming up a priority
While the threat of the cold weather may not seem too dangerous in Scavengers' early game, it can often result in your team's death in the later stages of the match as roaming storms become deadlier and approaching points of interest that have fires in them becomes riskier. Therefore, you should make a point to top off your warmth meter every chance you get. If your warmth runs out, the cold will begin to drain your health, so get toasty at every opportunity you can. Warming up doesn't take very long, so it shouldn't interfere with your team's battleplan much.
Additionally, you should always grab any thermal boosters you find while exploring the map. These items give you a temporary immunity to the freezing weather, which can mean the difference between life and death in some situations. Just make sure to save them for instances where you know that you won't be near a fire for a long time.
Use your abilities together
The special abilities that each character has are powerful on their own, but they truly shine when you use them in combination with one another. For example, one of the best ways to heal up in a firefight is to have Valora use her Aegis Shield ability to create protection for your team and then have Halden drop his Curative Aura inside of the shield to heal everyone. Another example of a good ability combination is to pair Cruz' Tailwind speed boost with Jae's Overshield, turning Jae into a speedy and tanky melee brawler.
It's important that you time your abilities well, however, as if everyone in the team uses them at a bad time, you may be stuck waiting on a cooldown right when you need your abilities most. Therefore, make sure you communicate to your allies when you want to perform an ability combo and see if they agree.
Don't rush to the dropship
While you may want to rush to the dropship as soon as it touches down, this is generally a bad idea. Not only will several other teams likely be able to see and shoot you as you head towards it, but being the first team into the dropship means that you need to worry about other players coming in after you from all directions. Even the best players will likely be overwhelmed by so many other people arriving at once.
Instead, I recommend making your way to the dropship slowly and carefully, taking great care to avoid detection as much as you can. Use cover to hide periodically and don't engage other players unless they spot you. This approach will usually let you reach the dropship undetected, which not only ensures that you'll be able to get in it, but also gives you an opportunity to catch some of the players inside of the dropship already off-guard. If you manage to take these players down, you'll likely get a ton of their salvage, which ill in turn boost your placement on the scoreboard. Just make sure that you don't take too long to reach the dropship, lest you get left behind.
Your thoughts
What do you think of these tips? Do you have any others that you can offer to new Explorers looking to win big? Let me know in the comments. Scavengers just might end up being one of the best multiplayer PC games as well as one of the best Xbox multiplayer games when it eventually releases on the console, so don't overlook it. It's out in Steam Early Access now, and is expected to come to Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One consoles, PS5, and PS4 later in 2021. If Scavengers doesn't sound like a good fit for you, however, make sure you check out our roundup of the best battle royale games for Windows PCs for other awesome alternatives.
Will you make it out alive?
Scavengers is an incredibly unique multiplayer survival game featuring PvE elements, deadly weather, awesome characters with powerful abilities, and more.
