Scott Pilgrim EX may look familiar, but it plays very differently from the older Scott Pilgrim brawler. The game is faster, the world is bigger, and systems like money, badges, equipment, progression, and movement matter much earlier than you might expect.
This guide covers the beginner essentials, including the best early character picks, money farming methods, combat basics, and the mistakes that can slow your progress.
1. Scott Pilgrim EX Beginner Tips You Need to Know First
Scott Pilgrim EX is not built like a simple arcade brawler where you just clear one stage and move straight to the next. It is a faster-paced open-world beat ’em up where you move through Toronto, pick up missions, find side quests, revisit older locations, and come across hidden areas, mini-games, and shops. That bigger structure changes how the whole game feels from the start.
The other big change is how progression works. Scott Pilgrim EX gives you more combat tools early, then pushes more of your growth into shops, equipment, badges, and stat upgrades. Instead of waiting for the game to slowly hand you everything, you are expected to build your character much earlier through money, gear, and better system knowledge.
That is why the early game usually goes much better if you focus on three things first:
- Pick one main character early.
- Be careful with money.
- Learn the universal combat tools instead of relying only on basic combos.
Scott Pilgrim
2. Best Character for Beginners in Scott Pilgrim EX
The game gives you seven playable characters right away, which sounds great until you realize they are not all equally easy to start with. Since progression is tied to each character separately, your first choice matters more than it might seem.
2.1 Best beginner pick: Scott Pilgrim
Scott is the easiest starting point for most players. He feels reliable, straightforward, and easy to understand, which makes him a strong pick if you want to learn spacing, movement, and combo flow without fighting against a more awkward kit.
Scott Pilgrim
2.2 Best strong early picks: Gideon, Robot-01, and Matthew Patel
Gideon Graves is one of the strongest characters to invest in early. His up heavy turns him into a huge threat, and his down heavy spinning slash works as a counter, which gives him a lot of value once fights start getting messier.
Robot-01 is great at controlling crowds. His grenade pressure can instantly dizzy enemies, and once you get comfortable with the arc, he becomes one of the best characters for managing bigger fights.
Matthew Patel is another strong early choice because his special can heal while dealing damage. That makes him much more forgiving than a lot of the roster, especially if you are still learning how to manage rough fights.
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- Robot-01
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- Gideon Graves
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- Matthew Patel
2.3 Harder early picks: Lucas, Roxie, and Ramona
Lucas Lee can hit hard and fits a heavier style, but he is also slower and can feel clunky if you prefer aggressive pressure and quick repositioning.
Roxie Richter and Ramona Flowers are harder to recommend for a first proper run. Their heavy attacks are more situational, and they can feel less reliable when you are still learning how EX handles enemy pressure and spacing.
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- Lucas Lee
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- Roxie Richter
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- Ramona Flowers
Tip: If you want the easiest start, go with Scott. If you want stronger long-term mains, Gideon, Robot-01, and Matthew are some of the best early investments.
3. What to Do First in Scott Pilgrim EX
Your first few hours matter more than they look. You can get away with messy fights for a while, but messy progression is what usually causes the first real wall.
- Pick one main character and stick with them.
- Reach Chapter 2 and unlock the Shopping Area.
- Buy your first farming badges at Honest Ex’s.
- Get comfortable with blocking, grabs, and Super Attacks.
- Start using the Movie Studio as an early money route.
- Turn on auto back attacks if the default input feels awkward.
Do those things early and the game feels much easier to settle into. Ignore them, spend money everywhere, and wander without a plan, and the difficulty starts showing up much faster.
4. How Character Switching and Progression Work in Scott Pilgrim EX
This is where a lot of early runs start going wrong.
Money, stats, and equipped badges do not transfer between characters. If you build one fighter up and then suddenly swap to someone else, the new character is going to feel much weaker until you start investing in them too.
Changing characters is also less convenient than some players expect. You cannot just swap from a normal menu. To do it, you need to head back to Scott and Ramona’s house in the Suburbs. Subspace Highways can make the trip shorter, but it is still a detour.
All the characters
That is why it is usually better to treat your first run like a real build. Pick a character, put your money into them, and avoid spreading your resources across the full roster too early.
5. How Shops, Equipment, and Badges Work in Scott Pilgrim EX
Badges are especially useful because they can change how efficient your run feels, particularly in the early game. The catch is that you can only equip two badges at a time, so those slots matter more than they might first seem.
Progression in Scott Pilgrim EX comes from a few systems working together:
- shops for direct stat upgrades
- equipment for build customization
- badges for farming and utility
- money for food, upgrades, and purchases
The game still lets you buy direct upgrades for things like strength and speed, but EX also adds armor and accessories like chest pieces, boots, and rings. That gives you much more control over how your character develops than the older game’s slower level-up structure.
Shop
6. Best Early Money Farming Methods in Scott Pilgrim EX
The early economy is one of the easiest places to fall behind. Since every character needs their own money for food, upgrades, and general progression, farming is not something you can ignore for long. Fixing your income early makes the rest of the game much easier to manage.
6.1 Best farming badges to buy first
Once you reach the Shopping Area in Chapter 2, head to Honest Ex’s and grab these badges first:
- Big Nickel — $14.95. Increases the value of enemy coin drops by 5 cents.
- Coin Block — $12.95. Gives 5 cents every time you land a perfectly timed Just Guard.
These are some of the best early badge purchases because they improve both passive income and defensive play at the same time.
Movie Studio’s Golden Key
6.2 Best early money farm location
The Movie Studio is one of the easiest and most reliable early farming spots. The exterior turnstile area and backstage dressing room can both spawn large groups of enemies, and the area stays useful as the story moves forward. If you want a simple route you can repeat without much setup, this is one of the best ones.
6.3 Fast money method with the Seventh Eleven dice minigame
If you want a faster way to make money, this is one of the best early methods to use. You will need to unlock the Seventh Eleven first, then repeat the Roll the Dice minigame for strong chest rewards.
- Go to the film set inside the Movie Studio.
- Break the wooden table on the far left to get a Golden Key.
- Take the key to the Shopping Area.
- Use it on the locked door beside the High Park entrance to unlock the Seventh Eleven.
- Go inside and pay a $1 coin to the Gobliin NPC to start Roll the Dice.
- Reach a score of 50 while avoiding score loss from the spawning hipster chicks.
- Use Young Neil if you have him, since his Assist can clear the screen and make the minigame much easier to manage.
- Open the reward chest when you finish, then repeat the minigame for more money.
Shopping Arena Location
This method is worth using whenever you need a quick cash boost, especially before bigger upgrade purchases start stacking up.
6.4 Best later money farm in Scott Pilgrim EX
After reaching Chapter 5, go through the No-Account Video store in the Shopping Area to enter the School, clear both floors, and break the trash can near the stairs to get another Golden Key. Use it on the central door to access the Dojo, then speak to Simon Lee to start Hell of Fighting 96 Guys.
You only get one clear per character, but the payout is big enough to give that character a major progression boost.
No-Account Video Store
7. Scott Pilgrim EX Combat Tips for Beginners
The biggest early combat mistake is treating Scott Pilgrim EX like a game where only the basic combo matters. It really does not. The universal move set is broader than that, and the game expects you to use movement, finishers, air options, throws, and GP tools regularly.
The shared move set includes your basic attacks and actions, but also options like Hop Attack, Land Attack, Back Attack, Spin Attack, Backstep, Quick Step, Super Attack, Quick Stand, and Wakeup Roll. Once you start using those tools on purpose instead of sticking to the same simple strings, fights become much easier to manage.
7.1 Most important combat habits early on
- Block less and move more.
- Use grabs against enemies that keep blocking.
- Spend GP to escape bad situations instead of hoarding it forever.
- Get comfortable with one or two movement tools that let you reset your position quickly.
Attack
8. How to Block, Parry, and Avoid Damage in Scott Pilgrim EX
Blocking helps, but it should not be the thing you lean on every time a fight gets messy. It cuts incoming damage, but it also leaves you rooted in place, which gives enemies time to crowd around you. In bigger fights, that can turn defense into its own problem.
A much better approach is to mix blocking with Backstep, Quick Step, repositioning, and parry timing.
8.1 How parrying works
Parrying happens when you throw out an attack that collides with an enemy attack, whether that attack is melee or projectile-based. A successful parry creates pushback and can either buy you space or keep you close enough to continue pressuring.
8.2 Why defensive movement matters more than blocking
Because blocking leaves you planted, the game rewards players who defend while moving. Backstep and Quick Step are often safer than sitting still and trying to absorb pressure, especially when enemies are attacking from more than one angle.
8.3 Which attacks you cannot block or parry
You cannot block or parry everything. Bigger enemies and bosses can have unblockable attacks, and if something cannot be blocked, it cannot be parried either. Sometimes the right answer is simply to move and reset the fight.
Block
9. How Hop Attack, Land Attack, and Back Attack Work in Scott Pilgrim EX
Hop Attack is one of the most useful utility moves in the game. It combines a quick aerial strike with a short hop, which makes it good for both pressure and parry timing. Since the hop is so short, it lets you stay active without giving up too much ground.
Land Attack comes out during the landing animation and slides your character forward while attacking. It creates solid hitstun and works well as a combo starter or pressure tool from the air, even if it does not break guards.
Back Attack is one of the least intuitive mechanics early on. It only works properly while you are already inside a combo sequence. If you try to do it from a neutral standing position, it often feels like the command just refuses to work. That is why turning on auto back attacks in the options is such a helpful early setting.
Ramona attacks
10. How Grabs, Throws, and Weapons Work in Scott Pilgrim EX
Grabs are one of your best answers to defensive enemies because they beat blocking. If something keeps turtling in front of you, grabbing is one of the fastest ways to force the fight forward.
10.1 Best grab follow-up for beginners
After grabbing an enemy, you can throw them right away or pummel them with up to three fast attacks first. One of the best general-use follow-ups is to pummel twice, then jump and throw the enemy into a nearby group.
10.2 Why throws are so useful
During most of the throw animation, your character becomes invulnerable. That makes throws great not just for damage, but for surviving crowded fights when things are starting to spiral.
10.3 Weapon tips beginners should know
Picking up a weapon replaces your normal attacks with weapon swings. You can also charge weapon throws by holding the input, which boosts damage and helps break guards. Weapon throw power scales with your Strength, and you can change the throw direction by holding a direction at the same time.
You can also catch thrown weapons with a well-timed grab, and if an enemy is holding you, rapidly pressing grab can break you free.
Throwing
11. How Super Attacks, Assists, and GP Work in Scott Pilgrim EX
Guts Points are one of the most important resources in the game because they power both Super Attacks and Assists. If you do not have enough GP, you lose access to some of your strongest defensive and utility tools.
11.1 Why Super Attacks Are So Strong
Super Attacks are not just there for extra damage. They are some of the best survival tools in the game because they make you invulnerable while the move is active, which means they can save you when a fight starts slipping out of control.
11.2 Best Ways to Use Super Attacks
- Break out of hitstun before a crowd locks you down.
- Use them as wakeup reversals when you stand up into pressure.
- Use midair supers to force your way back to the ground more safely.
- Spend them to reset bad fights, not only to finish combos.
Super Attacks are also unblockable, which makes them strong against enemies that like to play defensively.
11.3 How Assists Help in Tough Fights
Assists are GP-based support tools you can call in during combat. Depending on which Assist you use, they can provide damage, crowd control, healing, or utility. They are at their best when they help you steady a fight, lock down a farming route, or create breathing room when things get too crowded.
The real trap here is saving GP for too long. You do not want to burn it carelessly, but waiting until a fight has already fallen apart is just as bad.
Assist
12. Scott Pilgrim EX Stats Explained
The stat system becomes more important once you start spending real money on upgrades and gear. A few stats matter more than others early on.
12.1 Vitality
Vitality raises your maximum HP. It helps you last longer and makes it less likely that hits will leave you dazed, but it does not directly reduce incoming damage.
12.2 Strength
Strength increases the damage of your basic attacks and improves the damage and velocity of thrown objects and enemies. If you want the cleanest offensive boost, this is one of the best stats to invest in.
12.3 Agility
Agility improves movement speed, including your walk, run, and evasive options. In EX, it also increases critical hit chance, which makes it useful for both mobility and damage.
12.4 Guts Points
Guts Points are your resource pool for Supers and Assists. If that gauge is empty, some of your safest tools disappear with it, which is why GP management matters so much in tougher encounters.
Stats System
13. How Death, Checkpoints, and Guts Saves Work in Scott Pilgrim EX
EX handles failure differently from the older game. Instead of leaning on a classic arcade lives system, it uses checkpoints around the world to save progress and restore your state after defeat.
The game also uses GP as part of a last-chance survival mechanic. If your HP reaches zero while you still have GP available, you can enter an exhausted state instead of going down immediately. If you recover, some of that GP gets converted back into HP. In solo play, though, this is still a dangerous situation because enemies can keep pressuring you before you fully stabilize.
14. Why Exploration and Backtracking Help in Scott Pilgrim EX
Because Scott Pilgrim EX uses a larger world structure, older areas stay useful much longer than they would in a standard beat ’em up. The game regularly sends you back to earlier zones once new routes, tools, or quest progress open up.
That is why hidden paths, side quests, mini-games, and suspicious dead ends are worth keeping in mind. Scott Pilgrim EX rewards players who revisit earlier areas instead of treating every cleared zone like it has nothing left to offer.
Map
15. Hidden Shops and Palette Unlocks in Scott Pilgrim EX
If you want alternate palettes, there are two less obvious shops worth knowing about.
- Make-Up Room — located in the Movie Studio, just above the main path.
- Cold Topic — located in the Gothic Dimension above Annex Alley, which opens during the third main quest.
Both shops sell individual palettes for $9.95 and bundle packs for $19.95. They are not an early priority, but they are another good reminder that exploring properly pays off.
One of the hidden shops
16. Scott Pilgrim EX Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
A lot of early frustration in Scott Pilgrim EX does not come from the enemies themselves. It usually comes from habits that seem harmless at first, but end up slowing your progression or making fights much harder than they need to be.
Most of these mistakes are easy to fix once you know what to watch for. If your first run starts feeling rough, these are usually the first things worth checking.
- Spreading your money across too many characters.
- Ignoring farming badges in the Shopping Area.
- Trying to block everything instead of moving.
- Forgetting that grabs beat blocking.
- Saving GP forever instead of using Supers Attacks to survive.
- Assuming Back Attack works cleanly from neutral.
- Dropping bombs without hitting them to light the fuse.
- Treating older areas like they have nothing left to offer.
17. Best Scott Pilgrim EX Tips for Your First Few Hours
The opening hours go much more smoothly when you focus on a few practical priorities instead of trying to learn everything at once. You do not need a perfect build right away, but you do need a clear direction.
These early tips help you avoid wasted money, settle into the combat faster, and make the game feel much more manageable before the harder sections start opening up.
- Main one character first until your build feels stable.
- Push to Chapter 2 early so you can start fixing your economy.
- Buy Big Nickel and Coin Block before doing serious farming.
- Use the Movie Studio loop when you need safe repeatable income.
- Use Young Neil to make the dice minigame and crowd control easier.
- Practice one defensive movement option instead of relying only on block.
- Use grabs in crowded fights because the throw animation gives you invulnerability.
- Spend GP to prevent collapses instead of saving it for the perfect moment.
Robot-01
18. How to Get Better at Scott Pilgrim EX Early On
The best way to approach Scott Pilgrim EX early is to stop thinking of it like a simple arcade brawler and start treating it more like a system-heavy action RPG beat ’em up. Pick a reliable main, stabilize your money first, learn how defense and grabs really work, and start using Supers and Assists as survival tools instead of holding them for some perfect moment that may never come.
If the game feels harder than expected, it usually is not because your combos are weak. More often, the issue is your economy, your badge setup, or the fact that you are not using the deeper combat tools enough. Fix those first, and the rest of the game starts feeling much easier to control.
