Developed by Cyanide Studio, Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is an action RPG where you play as a werewolf. It’s a pretty fun game if you’re looking to delve into your inner werewolf spirit and some bloody violence.

You will definitely need a lot more to go about it, so here’s a quick spoiler-free guide about the ways of the (were)wolf in digital form.

What Is Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood About?

While the game is based on White Wolf Publishing’s tabletop role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse and part of the larger World Of Darkness franchise, you don’t need to have any prior knowledge the understand the story and plot in Werewolf: The Apocalypse- Earthblood.

The biggest appeal is simply letting loose as a werewolf. I’m actually genuinely surprised why there aren’t more games that you can play as a werewolf. Only The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim really comes to mind. Players assume the role of Cahal, an eco-terrorist werewolf who fights an evil and greedy megacorporation called Endron/Pentex.

Werewolf: Apocalypse – Earthblood is linear in nature, but there’s a lot of exploration you can do & sidequests you can tackle around the hub levels. The major collectibles in the game are spirits (more on that later).

Engaging in dialogue and conversation is another major gameplay mechanic, but it isn’t as thorough. The meat of the gameplay is still the combat. There are two major mechanics; combat and stealth. In the game, you’ll essentially go from room to room or area to area with groups of enemies and you can either go stealth or go full-on werewolf mode.

With that out of the way, here are some tips to make you get ahead as alpha wolf.

Play This Game On Hard

First and foremost, the game will ask you what difficulty to choose. Usually, most gamers (including me) would go for Normal difficulty. However, in this case, normal is quite frankly closer to easy. Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood’s default difficulty is meant for fresh action game players.

If you’re used to action games, we would suggest taking Hard difficulty if you’re looking for a challenge. You won’t die a lot (or at all) in Normal mode, even during any of the boss battles in the game, with the sole exception of the final boss. And even that was only the one time. If you follow our combat tips, you can definitely be the alpha werewolf there is.

You Can Cheese Through Anything In The Game By Following These Combat Tips

While there are three forms in the game, the only form you’ll engage in combat with is the Crinos form, which is the titular werewolf. Combat in Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood contains a bit of depth: you have two different stances and the ability to transform into a more powerful form, Frenzy.

Players can change stances simply by pressing a button at any time; R2 on the PS4/PS5. Normally, the Agile stance is faster but weaker, while the Heavy stance is stronger (both in attack and defence) but slower. As seen above, the game also claims that the Agile stance has faster Rage regeneration but that’s not the case, especially when you’ve upgraded and unlocked certain abilities in the skill tree.

First, let us explain what Rage is for. In combat, Rage is used to execute special moves like Healing, Leaping and others (all of which are executed by pressing the L2 button with another of the face buttons like Cross or Circle). The Rage meter can be increased by doing combos in combat, doing stealth takedowns, or drinking flasks. Players can accumulate up to a total of eight Rage slots (once you’ve upgraded it), one of which will deplete when using a special move.

There’s another important meter called Fury. When completely filled, Cahal will enter a Frenzy mode, which is the most powerful form in the game. It has the benefits of both Agile and Heavy stances and is basically a super god mode like Dante’s Devil Trigger in Devil May Cry.

Here’s the fastest way to gain Fury, which will allow players to spam Frenzy mode in a very short time:

• First, unlock the Heavy stance special move Rush, which costs one Spirit Point. This special move/attack can be used by pressing L2+Circle, which uses up one Rage slot.

• Then, unlock the Unstoppable Warrior node, which costs three Spirit Points. Unlocking this will enable players to accumulate Fury simply by using Rush. Trust us, this is the fastest way in the game to increase Fury and get access to Frenzy mode.

• That’s it. In every battle, just accumulate Rage and spam the special move Rush. Executing Rush around three times will result in a full Fury meter. Then, simply unleash Frenzy mode and cut everything in front of you like a knife cuts through butter.

Check out our combat tips in action in the video below:

Upgrade Skills Related To Penumbra Vision And Finding Spirits First

There is one skill in the game’s skill tree that you absolutely must unlock before anything else; even the two skills I mentioned above in the combat tips section. Unlocking Spiritual Link for only one Spirit Point is important because it is vital to easily gain more Spirit Points to unlock more skills, but also to obtain the hardest trophy in the game.

The most important mechanic in Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood is the Penumbra Vision. It’s the game’s equivalent of Assassin’s Creed‘s Eagle Vision. It allows players to see through walls to see glowing enemies and objects such as vents, cameras and reinforcement doors to sabotage.

But the Penumbra Vision doesn’t just do that. It has another important non-combat/non-stealth use. Penumbra Vision is used to as a sort of third eyesight to find Spirits of Gaia throughout the game’s hub levels. Finding these Spirits and interacting with them requires Penumbra Vision, but they’re located randomly around the game. Even without Penumbra Vision, players can notice these hidden Spirits by finding plants or little statues that glints. There are 100 of them in the game, and after completing the game, I only managed to find half of them because I realised one thing too late; that this one skill can help me pinpoint their location easier.

Most importantly though, these Spirits will give you Spirit Points, which is required to unlock skills in the skills tree. The only other way to gain Spirit Points is by completing story missions and side quests, and there aren’t enough Spirit Points to accumulate just by doing those. Even after finding 51 of these Spirits, there were still several nodes I didn’t manage to unlock on the skill tree at the end of the game.

You can check out two different Spirits you can find via the Penumbra Vision below. Only the first type gives you Spirit Points, while the second type doesn’t. To distinguish them, only the second type will speak to the player.

With the Spiritual Link skill, you can see where the Spirits are located by using Penumbra Vision. They are at the white spots in your Penumbra Vision. If you don’t have the Spiritual Link skill, you’ll have to get really close before you can even see these Spirits.

See those white spots? Spiritual Link allows you to see where the Spirits are located.

The Best Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood Skills (Not Related To Spirites)

The skill tree in this game gets to the point when it comes to action games. It won’t be possible to unlock every skill by the end of one playthrough (unless you find every spirit in the game), so here are the best skills you should unlock first in no particular order.

Of course, these should come after unlocking the three upgrades we mentioned: Spiritual Link, Rush, and Unstoppable Warrior.

Electric Bolts

Unlocking this for only one Spirit Point is important because it lets you disable cameras, reinforcement entries (where enemy reinforcements come from), and most importantly, turrets. Turrets only come into play in the second half of the game, but they do insanely high amounts of damage with their rapid-fire silver bullets. And you know what silver bullets can do to a werewolf, right?

You can only disable turrets by shooting them with an Electric Bolt or by getting to a computer terminal, which requires stealth to reach.

Release The Wolf I And Release The Wolf II

If you want more Rage slots, you can unlock Release The Wolf I (costs one Spirit Point) and Release the Wolf II (costs two Spirit Points). It’s always nice to have more Rage slots, which means more chances to spam Rush or other Special Move.

Regenerative Metabolism

The only way to heal and restore health in this game is to use the special move Healing, which uses one Rage slot. Unlocking Regenerative Metabolism will ensure that your health will keep restoring when you do more combos.

Strength Of Will

If you’re following my combat tips above, then you’ll want to prioritize the Heavy stance and with Strength Of Will (which costs two Spirit Points), you will increase your defence and total health. This makes the Heavy stance even more of a tank.

Weaver Surge

Like we said before, the only way to heal is by using the special move Healing, but if you get into Frenzy mode quickly enough with my combat tips, Weaver Surge (costs only one Spirit Point) will trigger automatic healing in Frenzy mode, making it even more OP.

Taste For Flesh

After unlocking Weaver Surge, you should unlock Taste For Flesh (costs two Spirit Points). Every hit in Frenzy mode heals your Crinos, which essentially makes you almost unstoppable at this point, especially considering how fast and powerful Frenzy mode is.

Incorruptible Fury I And Incorruptible Fury II

Incorruptible Fury I (one Spirit Point) And Incorruptible Fury II (two Spirit Points) will make your Frenzy mode even stronger. The former will make it so that no enemy attack can interrupt any of your attacks, and the latter will prolong your Frenzy mode, as every hit will generate Fury. It’s theoretically possible, then, to make Frenzy mode last an entire combat encounter when this skill is unlocked.

You Can Re-Spec Your Skills And Gain All Spirit Points Back At Any Time Without Any Cost

There are two major hub levels in Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood . We’re pointing that out because, in both areas, there’s a way to completely re-spec your skill tree at any time without any cost.

In the first major hub level (the forested area), you can reset your skills by speaking with the Guardian Spirit named Yfen (the huge tree creature in the image above).

In the second major hub level (the desert), you can reset your skills by speaking to the Red Talon leader Onawa (the scary lady in the image below):

There is also a smaller hub level in between two of these major hub levels, but we won’t spoil what it is. You’ll be spending only a short while there compared to the other two major hub levels; it’s worth pointing out.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood Stealth Tips

Here’s an important thing to understand about Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood. Yes, the game teaches you to be stealthy in the early tutorials like how to use the crossbow and execute takedowns. But by and large, stealth is almost always optional, and you can just go diving into beast mode without any real consequences.

The only negative consequence of getting discovered during stealth is that enemy reinforcements will arrive, though this just means more meat bags for you to cut down are a badass werewolf. Which is really the whole point of an action title like Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood.

There’s no morality system to worry about; thankfully. This game is more action than RPG, so go nuts and create havoc tooth and claw. Having said that, here are some tips if you want to be good at stealth:

• Remember, the main purpose of stealth in this game is primarily to increase the Rage meter and whittle down enemy counts. Every Takedown and Crossbow kill will add to the Rage meter.
• If you get caught during stealth, always remember to quickly press R1 (on PS4/PS5) and turn into a werewolf to take advantage of the element of surprise.
• If there’s no way to sneak past a group of enemies, search for a hidden vent or room with a computer terminal.
• A computer terminal can be used to deactivate cameras and turrets, as well as unlock locked doors.
• It’s easier to sneak around unnoticed in the Lupus form so always go for that during stealth (instead of the human form).
• Don’t forget to utilize Penumbra Vision at any time to find vents, cameras, and enemies. Wolf wallhack vision is fun!

The Game Doesn’t Teach You This, But You Can Bark In Lupus Form To Attract An Enemy’s Attention During Stealth

You can press the Down directional button on PS4/PS5 to bark in Lupus form in order to attract the attention of an enemy and get them to come to you. This makes stealth easier and less frustrating, in case you don’t play well with sneaking around as a good boy.

There Are Two Endings, But No New Game Plus Options

Werewolf The Apocalypse Earthblood has two different endings, based on the final choice that players make at the end of the game. However, there is no New Game+ to make you replay the game with all of your skills. So if you want to see the other ending, you may need to load a previous save file.

Disclaimer: this post is sponsored by Nacon.