Saints Row as a franchise has gone through various phases when it comes to the tone of combat, humor, and general setting. Some entries lean a bit more into the wackiness, while earlier entries were a bit more on the serious side like we’ve seen from other GTA clones. The latest entry, titled Saints Row has a good balance between the combat of 2 and 3, which is something we’re glad to see. Here are 10 essential Saints Row Combat Tips to get you started.
Saints Row Combat Tips
These tips will ensure that you’re always a step ahead and are making full use of your arsenal. Keep in mind, that this isn’t exactly a difficult game, and in most encounters, you’re supposed to feel like a murder machine, but a few instances can be a bit hard, so these general tips will help you get by those.
Dodge Away
Yes, the fairly generic dodging tip, but it’s honestly super useful, especially against stronger enemy types. You can dodge in any direction, and avoid incoming attacks, and even gunfire. If you’re low on health or surrounded by a ton of enemies, dodging multiple times can get you out of that, which allows you to take a breather, and get some distance.
There is no stamina for dodging, so you can keep dodging without any restrictions.
Use the Pineapple Express
One of the first few skills you’ll get in Saints Row is the “Pineapple Express“. This one unlocks when you reach Level 2.
This is one of the best skills of the entire game, and one I kept using till the end. Once you have a Flow point, you can press the hotkey to grab an enemy, attach a grenade with them, and throw them at enemies for an instant explosion.
This is super useful, especially against multiple enemies.
Liberally perform Takedowns
Takedowns are a returning feature with a bigger incentive to use this time around. These are crazy combat maneuvers you can perform once your meter fills up during combat after getting enough kills. This meter shows up at the bottom middle of the screen.
Using this refills your health, and is a good way to ensure you’re never down on HP, especially against bigger enemies.
It’s always a nice idea to takedown someone before you’re dropped to low HP and have to start a combat encounter again.
Keyboard and Mouse Players PSA
If you’re like me and have always played Saints Row titles with your keyboard and mouse, this is something that I feel is absolutely essential. By default, your skills are tied to your middle mouse button, which you have to hold and then press 1/2/3/4 to perform. This is not good in practice and can break the flow of combat.
To fix this, I recommend binding 1,2,3,4 as the Quick Fire Skill(s).
Yes, this means that you’ll have to switch weapons using either the mouse scroll, or the weapon wheel itself, but it makes using skills very comfortable.
Equip Passive Perks
Next to your missions list are some challenges that involve various activities you can do in Santo Illeso. These unlock passive perks that can give you an edge when it comes to combat and more.
We recommend checking these out as well, and one of the earlier Perks you can grab is called “In The Flow“. This ensures that you retain one of the Flow Points until you’ve used it for a skill.
Don’t forget to upgrade your weapons
There are quite a few weapons in Saints Row, and you’ll be swapping those from time to time for ones you prefer. I found one that I really liked, and it’s the Idol Lite Pistol. It’s essential, however, to make sure you upgrade these as well.
The more you level up, the more you can upgrade weapons you own. These will boost all the stats, and if there’s one you really like, even from the early game, it’ll still be viable till the end.
To upgrade these, simply head over to Friendly Fire, and select your weapon. Here you’ll be able to see an Upgrade 1/2/3 option. Upgrading these isn’t usually that expensive, so you can do it for multiple weapons.
Unlock the Signature Ability of your weapons
We also recommend unlocking the Signature Ability of each weapon. These are unlocked after you fulfill the specific requirements of each weapon. For example, with the AS3 Ultimax Shotgun, you need to get “Triple Kills” once.
After that, you’ll be able to use this weapon like a fully automatic weapon, which is awesome for a Shotgun.
We hope our Saints Row combat tips were helpful. If you have any recommendations, please share those in the comments below.
