Atomic Heartās over-the-top abilities are great. Who wouldnāt want to be able to fire electricity from their hand or freeze things with a cryogenic jet? You could go ice-skating any day of the year. But thereās another ability, your scanner, which, while not an offensive power, shouldnāt be overlooked. So if youāre wondering how to use your scanner ability in Atomic Heart, hereās the answer.
Learning How to Use the Scanner Is Critical in Atomic Heart
To use your Atomic Heart scanner ability, you need to tap the right shoulder button, then tap and hold it. Or if youāre playing on PC and using a keyboard / mouse combination, hold down Left Alt. In both cases, when you let go of that button, your scanner ability will switch off.
It has a few uses. Firstly, you can see where everything of interest is, even through walls. That also includes enemies, so that should make it harder for them to get the drop on you. Some enemies may still spawn in, but you should be able to spot any that are lurking or patrolling.
Objects and areas of interest will be highlighted in different colors. Blue objects, for example, are containers that can be looted. Objects in white are electrical ā friendly robots, wires, some machines, and so forth.
What you should really be watching for is anything that shows up on your scanner as red. Those are enemy creatures ā robots, mutants, or whatever else they may be, they want you dead. But before you charge in, guns blazing, itās worth using your scanner to check out their vulnerabilities.
How do you do that? Move the crosshair over them and wait a moment. Youāll see a message pop up with their resistance ā or otherwise ā to certain types of attacks. The display will also let you know what loot theyāre likely to drop.
We donāt recommend doing this when theyāre striding murderously towards you, but if theyāve not seen you, go right ahead. You canāt do this after killing them because dead enemies donāt scan properly; you can only find out about their resistances when theyāre alive.
It may feel a bit like cheating, and thatās not just because you can see through walls. Your scanner ability has an impressive range, letting you see several rooms away. So if you donāt want to use it, apart from when a puzzle requires you to, thatās your call.
Regardless of how you choose to use it, thatās how you use your scanner ability in Atomic Heart.
Published: Feb 23, 2023 09:20 pm