Lost Light is NetEase’s latest survival shooter. You’ll join the Firefly force, a group of characters enduring a brutal post-apocalyptic world while uncovering the secrets behind the exclusion zone. It’s a dog-eat-dog-world out there, and it’s up to you to come out on top using your wits and survival skills. Lost Light focuses on realistic gameplay and detailed firearms customization, similar to what you’d find in PUBG Mobile and PUBG: New State.
Unfortunately, Lost Light doesn’t offer built-in controller support, so plugging in your favorite gaming controller won’t help you find an early foothold while playing. However, it’s best not to go in blind, which is why we’ve built this beginner’s guide to help get your feet wet. We’ll teach you how to get started by providing a basic rundown on the game’s modes, nifty settings that offer a more comfortable shooting experience, and some helpful tips and tricks to aid you through your first batch of missions/matches.
Getting started with Lost Light
Select between a male and female operator. You can customize your character, though the options are limited to your face and hairstyle.
Choose a nickname and input a reference code (if applicable). Once you’re done, sit back and enjoy the opening cinematic!
First tutorial mission
The initial mission teaches you the basic controls; you move your character with the left virtual joy-con and shoot by tapping the bullet button on the right side of the screen. Be advised that during this tutorial mission, you’re on a timer! Otherwise, the mission repeats if you don’t complete all the objectives before the timer reaches 0.
Follow the green lines and tap on the objectives. Once you’ve searched the objective, tap to pick up items. Tap on doors to open and close.
Tap on the zoom button to switch to first-person view (aim down sights) when your gun is fully loaded, or tap on the reload button to reload manually, which takes a second to finish. You can use hip fire, which keeps your character in the third-person view. See the two gifs comparing first-person to third-person.
Note: You can change your button mapping by tapping on the gear icon once you’re in the shelter.
To loot bodies, you’ll have to perform a finishing move. Tap on the body to collect their loot.
Your goal is to grab the wrench and reach the extraction point, which completes the tutorial, sending you towards the shelter. Welcome to the main lobby for the game!
Settings for Lost Light
Maximizing the performance requires turning down the graphics. Of course, controls can be tweaked since it’ll depend on your comfort level for mobile shooters, but below are some beginner-friendly options/settings to help get started.
Optimizing the performance
Navigate to Settings > Video. Select Standard and FPS on Ultra (if your device is overheating, set your FPS down to High or Super). Alternatively, if you select HD Graphics (assuming your device can handle it), you can squeeze out better performance by disabling shadows.
Controls and aiming
Navigate to Settings > Controls. Select Quick ADS and turn on enable Basic Aim Assist. Note: If you have never touched a mobile shooter, you can select Auto-Fire, but resources are scarce in a PvPvE game, and Auto-Fire will eat up too much ammo compared to the other shooting styles.
Choosing your sensitivity is a personal preference. Higher sensitivities enable faster retargeting, but you lose precision in your aim. Lower sensitivities mean retargeting is slower, but you can easily aim at the head/smaller hitboxes. The rule of thumb is to start at lower sensitivity for the best control over your aim, then gradually increase the sensitivity once you’re comfortable with your general aim.
Gameplay
Every facility is accessed by walking around the shelter; this is where you perform upgrades, modify weapons, recover your health, access the shop, and choose a mode/mission.
Game modes and objectives
Heidi’s main mission: In your primary story mission, Heidi will have specific objectives you need to complete. You’ll find a variety of missions and smaller tasks through Heidi.
Judas’ main mission: Like your main story missions, follow the objectives to complete Judas’ missions.
Abigail’s main mission: More objective-based missions to complete, just like your other missions found on the board, but expect to unlock most of Abigail’s missions after reaching higher levels.
Avril’s bounty: Your source for weekly and daily quests where you acquire experience and stash boxes as rewards.
Ranked (Deathmatch): You’re tasked to collect as many battle cards as possible by defeating enemy players, salvaging supplies, then extracting from the zone (after fulfilling the battle card conditions).
Custom lobby: Join or create custom matches intended for other players. Your main source of organized multiplayer content.
Tips and tricks
- Visiting Heidi’s Store for upgrades.
- Equip items on loadout and heal.
- Upgrade weapon modifications to enhance mobility, accuracy, range, and weapon handle.
- Manage your bag space while in the shelter by using batch sell.
- Upgrade your storage space.
- Replace equipment that has low durability.
- Don’t go in guns blazing; try to sneak around with crouch/check corners and rooms.
- New players should buy insurance (you can re-acquire lost items on a mission) before a mission.
- Open up your map and see where you need to go.
Firearm fanatics should apply
Outside the survival PvPvE modes, Lost Light delivers on weapon customization, almost to the point where the options are a bit overwhelming during the early game. But the endless possibilities mean you have complete control over your gameplay, giving you an optional break from dealing with randomized loot and loadouts for missions. Lost Light is a healthy alternative to your usual survival shooter and premium battle royale experiences; the game’s objectives put your survival skills to the test by forcing you to make tactical decisions and follow through with a plan of action. So if you’d like a new flavoring on tactical shooting, you should give Lost Light a go.
