Deathloop multiplayer guide: Tips for surviving invasions

    
    Multiplayer in Deathloop pits Colt against Julianna. You can play as either.?
    Bethesda
    Deathloop has hit store shelves around the world, and it’s absolutely dope. Between its inventive combat system and its imaginative story, Deathloop is the best reason to own a PlayStation 5 yet. (It’s also out on PC, but only powerful rigs can handle it.) The game follows Colt, who wakes up to find he’s stuck in a timeloop. He has to kill a bunch of bad guys all within 24 hours to break himself out of the loop, all while evading Julianna, an assassin who’s trying to foil Colt’s plans.
    When you boot up Deathloop, you’ll be given two options. You can either choose to “break the loop” or “protect the loop”. The former is the single-player option, wherein you play as Colt and progress the story. The latter is multiplayer, where you play as Julianna and invade other player’s adventure.?
    When you’re Colt and playing a level with a Visionary in it, you’ll often see a message pop up on screen informing you that Julianna is on the hunt. All of the tunnels Colt uses to travel throughout Blackreef become shut, meaning you can’t escape. ?You can either try and get Julianna before she gets you — in which case you’re rewarded with weapons and a Slab upgrade — or hack a radio transmitter, which opens up your tunnels, and escape.?
    That Julianna is, in fact, another player. (Unless you turn Online Mode off, in which case it’s a computer-controlled Julianna.) As Julianna, your job is more simple: Kill Colt at all costs. Here are tips for Deathloops invasions, whether you’re the invader or the invaded.?
    Learn the maps, radio spots and spawn points
    This is an obvious one, so I won’t dwell on it, but knowing the maps is essential for success. Like every other shooter, multiplayer rewards you for quick reflexes and tight aiming — but more than other shooters, it rewards you for knowing the map.?
    First and foremost, you need to learn where the radio transmitters are in Updaam, The Complex, Fristad Rock and Karl’s Bay. They’re the same in every level no matter what time of day, so if you find them once you can find them all the time. This is essential for when you’re playing as Colt and being invaded, because Julianna always spawns near a radio transmitter.?
    Similarly, Julianna always invades Colt’s game relatively early into a level. When you drop into a game as Julianna, know that Colt is probably nearby the spawnpoint for that level at whatever time of day it is. Multiplayer is intimidating at first because the maps are so big, but once you realize that Julianna doesn’t just drop anywhere, and Colt is probably near one of his tunnels when you begin as Julianna, it becomes easier to orient yourself.
    As Julianna, use Eternalists to your advantage
    Here’s something you’ll probably learn the hard way when you’re playing as Colt: Julianna invades your game, you find her but, after some shooting back and forth, you find yourself fending off Julianna and surrounded by a group of hostile Eternalsits. It’s a surefire way to die.
    As Julianna, you should use that to your advantage. Once you learn where the Eternalists are, try to lure Colt there — or stalk Colt and alert Eternalsits to his presence (by pressing down on the D-pad when you’ve got him in your sights).?
    And there’s another way you can use the Eternalists: notice when they’re dead. If you’re trying to hunt down a stealthy Colt, you’ll often struggle to get sight of him. But if you see an empty area usually filled with Eternalists, it means Colt has been through — and may still be around. This is the same with gun turrets and alarm systems, which are hackable by Colt. If you see something shooting green beams, rather than the default blue, it means Colt is very possibly near.?
    As Colt, use your 3 lives
    You’re probably going to freak out the first few times Julianna invades your game — I know I did. But actually, the game is weighted to Colt’s advantage. Colt’s Reprise Slab gives him three lives, which gives him a hefty advantage over Julianna. This is especially true as the game progresses. Julianna starts off with better weapons, including a gnarly sniper, but your Colt will eventually get equally good weapons as you play through Deathloop.
    Julianna has to play it safe, because one death means game over. As Colt, though, you can be more bold because you’ve got lives to play with. I often bait Julianna when I know I have a life or two to spare. If you’re more patient than me, you’ll probably use those lives more wisely — but just know the numbers are in your favor.?
    
    Julianna.?
    BethesdaAether Slab is your best friend
    The Aether Slab allows you to be temporarily invisible. You can get it as Colt by killing Egor, who you can find at The Complex in the evening. Julianna gets more weapons, trinkets and Slabs as you level her up, and you’ll get the Aether Slab almost immediately. More crucial is the upgrade which stops Aether from draining your power if you’re standing still.?
    This is a game changer. All of the Slabs are extremely helpful, but this may be the most important for multiplayer. If you’re invisible in a high place, you’ll be able to look over much of the map and watch for any player movement, which is distinct from AI movement.?
    It’s particularly valuable for Julianna. When Colt has lives remaning, killing him will cause him to rewind to a few seconds before his death. In other words, he’ll respawn close to where you are. I’ve killed many Juliannas by letting them take a life and then, with their location now obvious, sprinting back to my place of death and gunning her down. As Julianna, Aether lets you counter this tactic. If you kill a Colt, become invisible and watch him saunter back to you.?
    As Colt, don’t run away from Julianna
    This isn’t a strategy tip for multiplayer, but it’s worth saying nontheless. When you’re beginning in Deathloop, you’re bereft of powerful weapons, Slabs and good trinkets. Killing Julianna nets you all three. You’ll get one of the Slabs Julianna has attached — sometimes you even get two — which will help you upgrade your Slab abilities quicker. This is of great use, especially in the first three quarters of the game where going out of your way to upgrade Slabs by killing Visionaries takes a lot of time.
    Similarly, Julianna will drop all her weapons if you kill her. This can get you access to her sniper rifle, but also a bunch of other great gear. Julianna’s weapons come with perks that you often can’t find in Colt’s story. So don’t run unless you have to — in other words, if you’ve already secured a Slab or great weapon you don’t want to lose.
    
    Colt can hack, Julianna can’t.?
    BethesdaAs Colt, hack everything
    Colt has a hacking device he can use to convert hostile turrets, monitors and (if you have the right trinket equipped) mines. Julianna has no such device, so gadgets you hack will target Julianna and she won’t be able to do much about it. As noted above, though, hacking things may tip Julianna off to where you’ve been and where you are.?
    As Julianna, experiment constantly
    You’ll get points for your Julianna play based on what do you and don’t achieve. If you look at Julianna’s Feats list, you’ll see the game rewards you for pulling off cool kills, like gunning down Colt while you’re sliding. As Colt, you get plenty of time to experiment tactics on computer-controlled Eternalists. You should bring that same trial-and-error tinkering to multiplayer. You’ll feel cool as hell, but also get more points — which will get you more weapons, trinkets and Slab upgrades.?