Here are some The Last of Us Beginner and New Player Tips submitted by grace. This gives you a bunch of helpful tips for starting out. Note that there are no spoilers in this list.
So The Last of Us is a pretty hardcore game.
I'm not even halfway through, but I've already devised some strategies that I think will help people get through the somewhat difficult early encounters. Share you own tips!
- Bricks are your friends. You can both throw them as a distraction and bash someone's head in quickly. If you do this out of sight of other enemies it can be a stealth kill, as long as no one is close enough to hear.
- If you're carrying a brick or bottle you can toss it at an enemy by hitting R1 when a green circle appears over them. This will stun them temporarily, allowing you to close in for the kill. This even works on clickers, although you need to have a melee weapon equipped to actually kill them.
- Fire + Clickers = good. Best way to kill large groups of them is to get them in one place by throwing something else them lighting them up with a Molotov. The sound of the Molotov breaking will also draw nearby Clickers, who will run straight into the fire.
- While we're on the subject, if you throw a molotov in a narrow space like an alley the fire will sometimes form a line straight across it, effectively making a deadly barrier. Be careful though because I've had Runners manage to get through without going on fire.
- You can reliably take out two Runners with a melee weapon, or a melee weapon and then fists when the weapon breaks. If you're fighting more than that, or two Runners and a Clicker, take out the third with a headshot and then let the two remaining come to you. Just make sure you get the first swing in or you might be in trouble.
- Pushing an enemy against an object in the middle of a four-hit melee kill will result in an instant death animation where Joel will bash the unfortunate victim's head in. This works with walls as well as horizontal surfaces and will dramatically shorten a fight.
- This game has a high degree of weapon sway, which means that headshots are not nearly as easy to pull off or reliable as you may be used to from other games. Don't try to take out enemies from a distance with a pistol, it probably won't work. Also, some enemies can survive multiple gunshots to the head. The "crown" of fungus on a Clicker seems to act as a kind of armour, as on multiple occasions I've ended up just shooting off the fungus instead of of killing the Clicker.
- Save your upgrade parts for your weapons holsters first. These allow you to carry multiple weapons without needing to get into your backpack. Later on you'll encounter multiple powerful guns and you'll be kicking yourself if you have to leave one behind.
If you would like to submit your own hints or tips for The Last of Us, please post a comment below. Thanks for visiting!