Beginner's Tips and Tricks

The mostly spoiler-free list of tips and tricks below have been added by the very generous players of Cogmind.

General Gameplay Tips

Matter Storage Units do not need to be equipped in a Utility slot in order to fill up with matter. This is one of the very last features I added to the game before release as I was working on balance. I found it was really annoying to have to juggle utilities just to LOAD Matter Storage Units -- it was pointless micromanagement so I decided to have the game take care of it for you. ~Kyzrati

Unless you are running a very heavy set-up, flying/hovering is very useful. Being allowed to fly directly over other robots comes in handy when stuck in close quarters or when being swarmed. Be careful however! Propulsion/Flight Units use a lot of energy and produces staggering amounts of heat, so be sure to keep some Heat Sinks with.

If you are able to shut-down a robot due to your weapon's Disruption statistic, simply bump into the bot while it is shut-down to rewire it as an ally!

When going into the mines there will almost always be Mining Lasers scattered around the stairs leading to the mines. It is highly recommended to take at least one of these in case of a cave-in, which would most likely result in you having to self-destruct.

External References

• "Survival Tips" included in the game manual (spoiler-free).
• leiavoia's New Player Strategy Guide (major-spoiler free).
• Valguris' quick guide to the early game (spoiler free).
• Sherlockkat's general tips for surviving the early game (spoiler free).
• Beginner's Guide to Flight Hacking, pre-Factory (spoiler-free).

Videos

• "Cogmind: Pwning the Early Game", how to reliably crush the first few floors (also an intro to the interface)