Hell Is Us is an action-adventure game set in the mysterious world of Hadea. You’ll rely on your Datapad to manage your Loadout, Inventory, Exploration, and Investigations while uncovering secrets. Side quests, known as Good Deeds, rely heavily on your memory and attention to detail — completing them rewards you with valuable items.
1. How to Use Healing Pulse to Recover Health
Healing Pulse is the core survival skill in Hell Is Us, and learning to use it correctly will keep you alive far longer than relying on consumables. Instead of just spamming Medkits, you’ll need to time this ability carefully after each hit to turn your attacks into healing.
1.1 How to Time Healing Pulse Correctly to Restore Health and Stamina
- Attack an enemy to deal damage.
- Watch the swirling particles appear around your character.
- The moment they solidify into a glowing ring, press the Healing Pulse button.
- If timed correctly, you’ll recover health equal to the damage you just dealt.
Tip: Because Medkits are rare, get into the habit of using Healing Pulse after every exchange. This not only restores health but also regenerates stamina when triggered at the right time, making it essential for both survival and sustained combat.
1.1 Stamina and Healing Pulse
Stamina plays a crucial role in combat. Triggering Healing Pulse correctly not only restores health but also recovers stamina, helping you keep up the fight. Compared to consumables, this is a faster and more sustainable recovery method.
2. How to Parry and Trigger Riposte
Parry in Hell is Us
Parrying is another essential combat mechanic.
- Face your enemy and press L1 (controller) or Alt (keyboard) just before the attack lands.
- A successful parry negates damage and drains the enemy’s stance bar (the segmented meter beneath their health).
- Draining the stance bar opens enemies up to a devastating Riposte (finisher attack).
2.1 When To Parry
- Not all enemy attacks can be parried.
- Red flash = parry opportunity – press guard for a perfect counter.
- Glowing red enemy = unblockable attack – dodge to avoid damage.
3. How to Generate and Spend Lymbic Energy
Lymbic Energy fuels your special abilities and charged attacks. You’ll see it as the white bar beneath your health and stamina.
- Weapon level determines the maximum amount of Lymbic Energy available.
- The higher your weapon’s level, the more energy you can store.
3.1 How To Gain Lymbic Energy
- Land hits on enemies during combat.
- Use consumables, Relics, and Defensive Gear like Lymbic Capacitors.
- The Heart of the Griffon Relic restores all Health, Stamina, and Lymbic Energy.
- The Pendant of Grief restores Lymbic Energy whenever you take a hit.
Pro Tip: Use a loop of heavy attack → Healing Pulse → follow-up attack → Healing Pulse to quickly restore both health and energy.
4. Best Drone Modules to Use (Gap Close, Crowd Control)
Drone Modules
Early in the game, you’ll unlock a Combat Drone with its own set of abilities powered by Drone Modules. There are 16 modules in total, divided into damage and defense types.
- You can equip up to 4 modules at once.
- Modules run on cooldowns, not Lymbic Energy.
4.1 Choosing the Best Modules
Using Drone abilities doesn’t use Lymbic energy but only has a cooldown. Here are the best damage and defense abilities to equip in your drone slots.
- Forward Charge and Whirlwind – strong offensive choices.
- Entropic Field – creates a protective shield against ranged attacks.
- Distract (default module) – lures enemies away for breathing room.
5. Talk to All NPCs for Good Deeds
There are 56 NPCs across 9 areas in Hell Is Us. Many are merchants or offer Good Deeds (side quests).
Completing these quests is optional for the main story but provides valuable rewards. It’s best to progress through the main narrative first, then return to finish exploration and NPC tasks.
5.1 Victor Gaz the Blacksmith
Victor Gaz, The Blacksmith
The first major NPC to unlock is Victor Gaz.
- Found in Acasa Marshes after asking NPCs in Jova about him.
- They’ll direct you to an outpost with a map leading to his location.
- After meeting him, Victor relocates to Jova’s forge.
Unlocking Victor grants access to:
- Weapon upgrades
- Lymbic Sphere and Glyph Imbuing
6. Weapon Upgrades & Glyphs: Spheres and Grades
Weapons in Hell Is Us can be attuned to one of five Lymbic Spheres: Neutral, Rage, Ecstasy, Grief, or Terror. This choice doesn’t affect the weapon’s base stats, but it does decide which Glyphs (special abilities powered by Lymbic Energy) you can attach.
- Rage weapons → Rage Glyphs or Neutral
- Terror weapons → Terror Glyphs or Neutral
- Ecstasy and Grief work the same way
- Neutral Glyphs (e.g., Chromatic Shield) can be slotted into any weapon type
To unlock and manage Glyphs, you’ll need to visit Victor, the blacksmith. He allows you to:
- Imbue your weapon with a chosen Sphere
- Slot Glyphs based on that Sphere
- Experiment with builds depending on the Glyphs you’ve collected
Tip: When choosing a Sphere, look at which Glyphs you already own. Picking the Sphere that matches your strongest Glyphs will give you the most options early in the game.
6.1 Different Types of Glyphs
Glyph types
Glyphs are power levels that you can use to enhance your Lymbic Weapons. These Glyphs are color-coded: Neutral (white), Grief (blue), Terror (green), Rage (red), and Ecstasy (yellow). Each Glyph also has three tiers: Default, Enhanced, and Elite. So, Glyph can only be slotted into the weapon that matches its color. Here are beginner Glyphs to use according to weapon types.
- Rage Spike – shoots a spike for ranged damage.
- Ecstasy’s Gluttony – pushes back nearby enemies (crowd control).
- Neutral Glyphs (e.g., Chromatic Shield) – usable with any weapon type.
6.2 Choose the Right Lymbic Sphere
Enemies in Hell is Us do not have any weakness against certain Lymbic Spheres. However, each sphere has its own set of Glyphs that you can use on that weapon type. These can be upgraded by visiting the blacksmith and imbuing them with duplicate weapons that share the same type. The effects of each type of Lymbic Sphere are as follows.
- Rage: Boosts attacking enemies
- Grief: Boosts taking damage from enemies
- Terror: Works with full HP
- Ecstasy: Helps when low on HP, less than 50%
Tip: Upgrade your weapon to Grade 2 at the blacksmith to use most Glyphs and activate a Lymbic Sphere type. At Grade 1, the weapons Lymbic Sphere will be neutral.
6.3 Weapon Levels and Grades
Weapons can be found throughout the world in Hell is Us, and there are multiple copies of the same weapons. Some weapons come upgraded and equipped with a Lymbic Sphere, so stacking on Glyphs can be helpful. Weapon levels will increase depending on how much you use a certain weapon. To upgrade your weapon, go to Victor and increase the Grades from 1 to 5.
6.3.1 How to Upgrade Weapon Levels and Grade
- Choose a weapon type you want to upgrade.
- Go to Victor, and use Lymbic Shards for weapon upgrades.
- Upgrade from Grade 1 to Grade 2 to select a Lymbic Sphere.
- Select from Lymbic Spheres like Rage, Ecstasy, Grief, and Terror.
- Attach the Glyphs to your weapon according to the chosen Lymbic Sphere.
The best strategy is to keep fighting to raise your weapon’s level, then return to Victor to upgrade its grade. This way, you’re always pushing the ceiling of its potential damage and energy capacity. By upgrading consistently, you’ll ensure no combat experience goes to waste.
7. How to Upgrade Defensive Gear
Upgrading Defensive Gear
Upgrading Defensive Gear increases your endurance, granting more health and stamina.
- Visit Gildas Brom in Vyssa Hills.
- Unlock access by opening the tomb in the Watcher’s Nest (marked by four blue emblem flowers).
- After climbing a ladder, you’ll find Gildas, who provides:
Guardian Detector
Sigma Amine Prism
8. Timeloops: Guardians, Detector, Prism
Timeloops are glowing rifts scattered across Hadea. Closing them permanently prevents nearby enemies from respawning and earns you rewards from Gildas Brom.
8.1 How to Complete a Timeloop
- Equip the Guardian Detector (given by Gildas in Vyssa Hills) to track nearby Timeloop Guardians.
- Defeat all Guardians linked to the rift.
- Use an Amine Prism to seal the Timeloop and claim your reward from Gildas.
Completing Timeloops not only makes areas safer but also provides valuable items that support your progression.
9. Good Deeds: Rewards and Timing
Good Deeds are side quests where NPCs ask for help, usually to recover or deliver items. While not essential for the main story, they often grant powerful rewards.
- Return to Gildas Brom once a task is complete to collect your prize.
- Check your Exploration Tab in the Datapad to see when rewards are ready.
10. Complete Good Deeds on Time
Good Deeds are time-sensitive. If you delay too long, you risk losing the reward — and in some cases, the NPC may face grim consequences.
To avoid this:
- Finish Good Deeds soon after accepting them.
- Prioritize side quests before advancing too far into the main story.
