Tips for getting started in Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Wolfenstein is back with a cooperative twist as B.J. Blazkowicz disappears and his twin daughters take up the Nazi-hunting mantle as they journey to Nazi-occupied Paris to rescue him. Youngblood is different than its predecessors in a few ways, not just that it focuses on co-op. We have some tips to help you get started and begin your reign of terror.

There are a limited amount of shared lives between Jess and Soph

Wolfenstein: Youngblood may be a co-op game, but you can also play it offline by yourself. Despite this, you'll always have a companion (whichever sister you aren't playing as) whether another player is controlling them or the AI. Because of this, you'll need to keep track of your Shared Lives.

Shared Lives are split between both characters. If either of you get knocked down and bleed out, this will cost a Shared Life. If all of your Shared Lives run out and you both die, you'll be placed back at the beginning of the level.

You can keep track of your Shared Lives by the icons surrounding your sister's portrait on the right side of the screen. Should one of you be downed, you'll want to help the other up, this way you aren't losing a Shared Life. It's similar to Borderland's Second Wind mechanic, except another player needs to revive you and it cannot be done by yourself. These can also be collected through Shared Life crates.

Revive your teammate as soon as possible.

Enemies have levels, don't expect to insta-kill everyone in stealth

Every enemy you see has a number next to their health bar denoting what level they are. The higher the level, the harder they are to kill. There are cases where you will not be able to insta-kill enemies, even in stealth, because you are much lower leveled than they are. You need to pick and choose your battles wisely. Luckily, there are abilities to help mitigate this issue somewhat.

Get the Supersoldat Hunter ability

Under your Muscle skill tree, you'll see an ability called 'Supersoldat Hunter.' Get this as soon as you are able to afford it after you've leveled up a couple of times. It enables silent takedowns on Supersoldaten, which are stronger Nazis that usually require a bit more firepower to kill.

Related to that, you can also throw melee weapons to silently take down enemies from afar. You do this by clicking the right thumbstick. It should be noted that you will not be able to throw your melee weapon right when you begin the game because it is your only one. You'll need to find extra throwable weapons before you can do this.

Certain enemies have different types of shields that can be depleted faster with corresponding ammo types

You'll notice that more powerful enemies have white blocks next to their health bars. These are their shields. Depending on what type of shield they have (hard or soft), you'll need to use corresponding ammo types to tear through them quicker. You can find which ammo type is better suited for a particular enemy by checking which icons it has next to it in your weapon wheel or at the bottom right corner of your screen. They will either be slimmer white rectangles or larger white squares.

Ammunition is pretty abundant, so don't waste your early skill points on abilities that boost your chances of finding it

You're able to purchase abilities that improve your chances of looting ammo off of corpses, but this is an unnecessary skill in the opening hours. Ammo is abundant through most levels (at least on Normal difficulty). You should find more than enough ammo off of bodies and in lockers without needing to resort to boosting your chances. And once you unlock the catacombs base later in the game, you can refill your ammo there. Don't waste your skill points on it.

Always be on the lookout for silver coins, life crates, and floppy disks

I touched on the Shared Life crates previously, always be on the lookout if you've lost one or more and are on your last life. Other items you should look for are silver coins and floppy disks. Silver coins are the in-game currency that you'll use to upgrade your weapons, another thing you'll want to do early and often. Floppy disks have door codes on them that can unlock secret areas of the map, which usually have a treat or two for those who can find it.

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Jennifer Locke

Jennifer Locke has been playing video games nearly her entire life, and is very happy Xbox is growing a stronger first-party portfolio. You can find her obsessing over Star Wars and other geeky things on Twitter @JenLocke95.