Returnal: How To Unlock Atropian Blade Melee Weapon

Atropian Blade

At the beginning of the game, you are stuck with only a handgun. But as you play through the game you will reach a certain point where you can unlock permanent upgrades, Since the Melee Attack option in Returnal is Locked until a phase of the game. So in this guide get to know how to Unlock the Atropian Blade as fast as possible to expand your arsenal.

How To Unlock

You can unlock the Atropian Blade in the first biome called the “Overgrown Ruins”. Follow through your main objectives in the first biome which will lead you to the “Crimson Gateway”. When you arrive at your objective you will find a destroyed body of an Automaton on the floor. Press the interact button to go to a cutscene in which Selena picks up the Xeno-type blade weapon in her hands. Afterward, the Atropian blade would be permanently available in your inventory.

Uses Of Melee Attacks

The Atropian Blade serves as a heavy damage dealer. It also has many unique and useful advantages. The uses of the Atropian Blade are listed below.

• The Atropian Blade can be used to destroy the Red Shield Barriers.
• The Atropian Blade Also deals very high damage while offering a short range.
• It is useful to eliminate weak enemies quickly in one hit.
• Also useful to destroy barriers usually protecting turrets.
• Gives you reload time while you melee attack your enemies.
• Melee attacks can topple stronger enemies making them vulnerable.
• It can also be used to destroy red vine barriers that usually have health items or Obolites behind them.

Tips

You need to be careful of your movement while using the sword. After and during the melee attack, you are left vulnerable to the incoming projectiles. So you need to carefully time your attacks in order to save your health. It only comes with one attack pattern that can be initiated by pushing the square button.

Although the Atropian Blade deals massive damage the huge downside to the weapon is that you become prone to enemy attacks. So one important thing you need to do is to get used to the weapon. Quickly dashing after your melee attack saves you a lot of time. One sleek trick to learn is called sword canceling. In this trick what you need to do when your sword makes contact with the enemy you quickly press the dash button. This action takes you away from the enemy faster as it saves you the time when the attack animation plays out while still dealing the same amount of damage.

One more thing you should know is that the third level of Adrenaline boosts your melee damage. Check out this guide to learn more about it.

You can also acquire the Blade Balancer artifact which allows you to perform stronger melee attacks resulting in more damage dealt to your enemies. Having this artifact also allows you to break yellow barriers which grant you access to more items in the game.

Conclusion

Even though the melee weapon in Returnal is risky to use as it is a short-range weapon, It can become a strong and reliable weapon after combining it with certain buffs. The careful use of it and combining dash movement with the melee attack also results in a very lethal combination.

If you enjoyed this guide, Then check out some more of our guides on Returnal.

• Returnal Suspend Cycle: Full Guide
• Returnal Tower Of Sisyphus [Full Guide]
• Returnal All Xenotech Upgrades
• Returnal Ending and Secret Ending Explained