Styx: Blades of Greed is a return to hardcore stealth. The titular goblin, Styx, belongs in the shadows. Rushing into combat headfirst is just not how he operates.

Fortunately, Styx has a range of innate abilities to help keep him out of trouble, and can also unlock new powers that will aid in exploring the large environments of the Iserian Continent without alerting nearby hostile humans, elves, and other surprise threats.

Our Styx: Blades of Greed guide covers the eight essential things you need to know if you want to be the master of stealth, including which upgrades to focus on at the start.

 

Stay out of sight and sound

Footsteps will alert nearby people or creatures who will come to investigate the noise, so stay crouched when moving around. If you press 'V' to go into a cover position or grip the wall, you also automatically go into a crouching position.

You can also extinguish light sources, either by approaching one or throwing some sand at it from a distance, to reduce the chance enemies will detect you, even when facing your direction.

If that's not enough, Styx also has the innate ability to turn invisible. This costs Amber to use, and you will still want to crouch as you make noise even if nobody can see you.

If you do want to make the most of invisibility, then prioritise the following upgrades:

• Cost Reduction (2 Talent points): Amber consumption is reduced by around half so you stay invisible for longer.
• Consumption Interrupted (2 Talent points): After using one Amber point to activate invisibility, further Amber will not be used as long as you stay still.
• Silent Steps (3 Talent points): Your footsteps are completely silent when invisible.

Always be saving (or create a Cocoon back-up)

Although Styx: Blades of Greed autosaves at different points, don't be afraid to hit F7 to quick-save frequently. It might just save you the frustration of having to repeat areas because a slight mistake suddenly caused all nearby enemies to rush your direction. Just ensure you're in a safe space as well—although you won't be able to save at all if the enemy is on alert.

Another option is to spend 1 Talent point to unlock the Cocoon Crafting Recipe. Creating a cocoon requires 4 Solid Ambers and 4 Roabies Larvae, but once placed you can respawn from the cocoon if you die. You gain the Rebirth ability with this recipe as well, so if you find yourself in a tricky situation you can opt to respawn straight away. Later, you can spend additional Talent points so that you respawn with more health and Amber.

 

Highlight surroundings with Amber Vision

Press 'F' to activate Amber vision, which is incredibly useful for highlighting enemies and interactable objects. This also highlights an enemy's field of vision and the direction they are facing. Not all humans in the game are hostile—only characters highlighted in red. Those highlighted in pink will cower and not try to harm you, and they (usually) won't squeal on you either.

Amber vision also highlights objects in blue if they can cause a sound, so you can navigate a tight space without knocking anything over that might alert anyone's attention.

You can enhance Amber Vision with the following upgrades:

• After Image (1 Talent point): Keep certain elements highlighted for a while longer even after turning off Amber Vision.
• Keen Vision (3 Talent points): Enemies can be highlighted through walls.

Be a silent assassin and leave no trace

If you're going to take someone out, then do so quietly. Attack an unsuspecting enemy from behind to assassinate them, but hold down the left mouse button to make sure it is a silent kill. To avoid a body being discovered by another enemy, you can also carry and hide a corpse in a chest or cupboard, or even drop it over the edge of a platform.

When assassinating an enemy, look out for if they are carrying a health or Amber-restoring potion around their waist—these can be pickpocketed before killing the enemy, but not after.

It's not possible to assassinate armored or larger enemies by yourself, as you will only wound them. But if you see them eating or drinking while on patrol, approach the plate of food or flask and Styx can poison them. Then just sit back and wait for the results. 

Large enemies are too heavy to move once they have died but you can use an Acid Vial to instantly melt the corpse. If you have a Blueprint, you will also be able to unlock a recipe for crafting Acid Vials, which require 4 Acid Spores.

 

Unlock fast travel points

While you take the Zeppelin to travel to The Wall, Turquoise Dawn, or Akenash Ruins, you can also travel between different spots by unlocking fast travel points.

You must reach a fast travel point first and then pull a lever that lowers the bridge for the Zeppelin. If enemies are present, you'll need to kill them all in order to secure the area first.

While you'll actually be riding a balloon from one point to another, you can still move around while being transported. Look around your surroundings and you may find a shortcut to get to where you need to go next by jumping off your ride early! This also gets easier once you unlock the grappling hook and the glider at the end of Acts 1 and 2 respectively.

 

Best Quartz skills for a stealth master

Each Quartz that Styx absorbs provides him with EXP, which grants Talent points—but also eventually earns him Resonance points. By the time you are at the end of Act 1, you will have earned 1 Resonance point, which gives you the ability to unlock very powerful Quartz skills—Mind Control, Time Shift, Goblin Reflexes, and Flux Blast.

While you're free to unlock these skills in any order, Mind Control is the most useful and fun Quartz skill for a master of stealth. You can possess an enemy, either to move them out of the way of an area they've been guarding or to explore a heavily guarded area without the risk of being discovered yourself—although there's a limit to how far an enemy under mind control can move away from Styx's location. It costs 2 Amber points to activate each time.

With additional Talent points, you can make Mind Control even more powerful. Prioritize upgrading the skill in this order:

• Teleport on Target (1 Talent point): When an enemy is under Mind Control, press 'E' and you will teleport directly behind them, ending the ability at the same time. It's a great way for getting past a heavily guarded area using someone else, and the enemy will also be stunned for a few seconds after, so you can sneak away or assassinate them.
• Invisible Puppeteer (1 Talent point): Styx turns invisible while using Mind Control without consuming Amber, which means you don't have to be hidden away when using this skill.
• Suicidal Impulse (2 Talent points): You can make enemies under Mind Control jump to their deaths. It's an easy and darkly amusing way of getting rid of armored enemies, though if you have Teleport on Target, you can just push the stunned enemy to their doom yourself in a safe location.

Time Shift is another great Quartz skill for stealthy players as this will cause Styx to move super fast (or rather slow down time in-game while he moves at the same speed) for roughly four seconds. It's perfect for when you're in a tight spot and need a quick getaway. It costs 2 Amber points to activate each time.

If you do decide to engage an enemy, then they'll be too slow against you, making them an easy kill, though it's still recommended you deal with one enemy at a time rather than a group.

With additional Talent points, you can make Time Shift even more useful. Prioritize upgrades in this order:

• Slowdown Exploit (2 Talent points): Kills a normal enemy and allows armored enemies to be stabbed (removing their armor) even if they have already seen you. This will also end Time Shift, so performing an assasination on an armored enemy requires removing the armor first then waiting for the skill to cool down before reactivating.
• Time Shift Mastery (1 Talent point): The skill lasts for about two more seconds.
• Improved Slowdown (1 Talent point): Enemies move even slower when this skill is active.

Styx: Blades of Greed is available now on the Epic Games Store.