Saros Shattered Rise Guide: Biome 1 Tips & Strategies

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Housemarque, the team behind Returnal, is back with Saros, a new game that feels very similar in style and difficulty. Like its predecessor, Saros starts with a challenging area called Shattered Rise. This mountainous region on the planet Carcosa serves as an introduction to the game’s mechanics and quickly tests your skills.

Saros’s fast-paced, bullet-dodging gameplay is heavily inspired by Returnal, but it adds a key new feature: an energy shield that can protect you by absorbing certain enemy attacks. The game, especially the first level, Shattered Rise, seems built around mastering this shield, even if you’re already familiar with Housemarque’s previous work. Shattered Rise can be quite challenging, so we’ve included some helpful tips and strategies to help you reach Saros’s first big boss, the Prophet.

Shattered Rise Enemies & How To Fight Them

When you begin playing Saros in Shattered Rise, remember that losing battles – even against normal enemies – is a normal part of the game. Each time you’re defeated, you’ll start in a new area with different challenges. Understanding the levels and enemies of Shattered Rise is key to being ready for the final boss.

This guide details the enemies you’ll encounter in Shattered Rise, including how they act and the best strategies for defeating them.

  • Custodian
    • Fires slow-moving, blue projectiles (corrupted after eclipse), and often try to slowly close distance in groups
    • Mostly fodder, but can complicate fights when shielded
  • Guardian
    • Stationary, sometimes shielded
    • Useful to take out first so you can begin kiting other enemies
  • Flexion
    • Flies, fires homing projectiles
    • Flexions can appear suddenly and unexpectedly, so listen for their telltale shriek
  • Vessel
    • Flies in packs, explodes in your vicinity
    • Always kill Vessels first, before they can close the gap and deal a lot of damage
  • Eclosion
    • Very fast, spawns pods
    • Target pods first, then close in on the Eclosion, which can’t attack by itself
  • Osteomaw
    • Very fast, charges to attack from close range
    • Osteomaws have a lot of health, so they’re best kited around the arena as you deal with other threats first
  • Sunflayer
    • Mini-boss, wide range of attacks
    • Keep your distance and use cover, shielding when it fires blue projectiles so you can retaliate with Prominence (pull L2 all the way down, then fire)

Once you understand how combat works in Saros, the enemies in Shattered Rise are fairly easy to manage. They follow predictable patterns, have straightforward attacks, and don’t move very quickly. Throughout most encounters, it’s best to stay as far away from enemies as possible. You’ll have enough time to react to their attacks, and there are plenty of walls you can hide behind. Generally, avoid standing still during fights – the targeting system makes it easy to stay locked on, so focus on dodging and shooting consistently.

Focus on perfecting your approach in each area to reach the final boss with full health and maximum adrenaline. Avoiding damage is crucial for both. The repeating sections of Shattered Rise are ideal for practicing how to deflect Saros’s shield – when you see blue projectiles, hold the R1 button to absorb them. Absorbing enough blue projectiles allows you to unleash powerful attacks (specifically Prominence in Shattered Rise), which are essential for defeating mini-bosses and the Prophet.

Which Items To Take In Shattered Rise

Shattered Rise only offers four weapons: the Ricochet and Eruptor Handcannons, the Tactical Rifle, and the Smart Rifle. While all four are usable, your choice usually comes down to what you prefer (I personally like the Eruptor Handcannon). However, if one weapon is significantly upgraded, that’s a big factor. As you progress with the Armor Matrix skill tree, you’ll unlock better weapons, and it’s often worth equipping one that’s a few levels above your current favorite, even if you don’t love how it feels.

Collecting artifacts in Shattered Rise works similarly. You can carry up to 10 at the start of Saros, and you likely won’t fill up your inventory in the first area, so it’s usually best to pick them all up. Avoid artifacts with harmful effects – specifically, anything that lowers your maximum health or integrity if you plan to fight the Prophet, and I don’t recommend taking those that increase your dash cooldown. You only need to skip collecting artifacts if you intend to rush through the entire area after activating the eclipse, though this isn’t always required.

How The Eclipse Works In Saros’ First Biome (& How To Take Advantage Of It)

To succeed in Saros and progress past Shattered Rise, understanding the eclipse mechanic is crucial. About halfway through the first area, you’ll reach a large, ruined hall where the path forward requires being pulled into a portal by ghostly hands – it’s similar to encountering Gloom Spawn in Tears of the Kingdom. When the eclipse starts, the world of Carcosa transforms: enemies become stronger and attack with corrupted projectiles, you can discover improved artifacts, and the benefits of your Lucenite accumulate faster.

Before you unlock the shortcut to the boss room, you’ll have to play through the eclipse part of Shattered Rise every time. The best way to get through it is to keep your distance from enemies, lead them away from you one by one, move around a lot, and hide behind objects when you can. After you unlock the shortcut, the eclipse section becomes optional, and it’s a good way to start experimenting with more advanced character builds in Saros.

To start, keep completing eclipse rooms to earn more Lucenite. If you’re finding the Prophet difficult, focus on unlocking all the nodes in your Armor Matrix. Once that’s done and you’re ready to fight the Prophet, tackling more eclipse rooms becomes a trade-off. You can choose to skip most of them and fight the boss with what you have, or try your luck with the rooms for potentially better gear, though this carries the risk of temporary stat penalties from corruption.

It’s easy to feel stuck in Saros because you’re constantly revisiting the same areas, but improving your strategy is more important than making obvious progress. Prioritize avoiding damage, and consistently upgrade your items, especially in Shattered Rise. The initial areas are meant to teach you how the game works, and there are always new story collectibles to find as you strive for a perfect run to defeat the Prophet.

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2026-04-30 01:53