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Unlock all Prospectors early

To unlock new characters in Wildgate, you will need to earn the first tier of that character’s corresponding Adventure. Adventure’s function is like battle passes, but without the need to spend real world money, with XP earned from matches unlocking tiers. The locked characters are the reward for the first tier of their Adventure, so you can quickly unlock all of the Prospectors, giving you more options to figure out which character best fits your playstyle.

Know your role, but be flexible

Each Prospector excels at a different part of the game, whether it’s repairing the ship, defending against incoming boarders, or boarding an enemy ship yourself. While you will want to focus on your particular specialties, the small team sizes of four people mean you need to take on more than just your role. If the ship has taken a beating, instead of rushing to board your enemy, maybe focus on making repairs first. If you are low on resources, go grab more if you can. The main priority for your team can shift rapidly, so be flexible.

Check the board for match specific hazards

Before a match of Wildgate starts, you spend a few minutes in Lucky Docks waiting for everyone to load in. While you can fly around or just wait for the match to start, you can also check out the large board in the area. This board is shown briefly right before the match starts, but it lists any match-specific modifiers, like loot quality, for levels, or any other hazards that should be aware.

Keep an eye on ship resources

In each ship, typically near the engine below the ship controls, there is a machine where you deposit ship resources, fuel, ice, and ammo. That machine also has a screen, which lists your current resources. This info isn’t listed on the UI anywhere; instead, it is visible from the different areas on the ship that use the resources, ammo on turrets, ice on the engine, and fuel when piloting. It’s important to always have an abundance of each, since you can quickly run out of resources, especially in the middle of battle. In terms of stockpiling, you want to make sure you have a healthy amount of ice and ammo at all times. Fuel is essential for using boost, but running out mid-battle isn’t as devastating as running out of the other two resources.

Split early-game activities

At the start of a match of Wildgate, you are always positioned near an easy PvE objective when you first start. While it can be tempting to have all four players rush in, to complete it as fast as possible, you should instead split activities. Two or three people should focus on completing the objective, while the remaining team members should focus on two tasks. The first is using the scout drone to scan and mark more POIs, so you know where your next objective is, and on collecting some ice and fuel rocks, to create an early game stockpile.

Pick the Prospector that best fits your playstyle

There are seven different Prospectors in Wildgate at launch, and they specialize in different activities. Adrian has a Jet Pack, which boosts him through space at a much faster speed than other characters, making him great for exploring space and collecting resources. Sal’s passive lets their Multitool extend to a second target, great for repairing the ship. Each character has passive abilities that make them better for certain tasks, so you should pick one that best suits your style.

Watch high-level players play the game

In professional sports, players will often review film of not only their own performances, but other teams as well. The idea is that when detached from the actual game happening, you can analyze different aspects a bit more closely. While that might seem a bit intense for a multiplayer game that you aren’t a professional player in, the general idea still works. Twitch is the simplest way to find other people playing, so you can watch and learn new techniques, or from the streamers’ own mistakes.

Prepare to be boarded

The most chaotic part of any Wildgate match is ship combat, when you and your opponents are blasting away at each other, causing parts of the ship to explode and fires to start. While it’s easy to get wrapped up in the chaos of trying to keep things under control, you need to prepare for enemies to board you. The time to kill in Wildgate is quite low, and there is a 12-second respawn timer. It can be quite easy for an enemy to come aboard undetected, and if they spot you first, you are going to lose that gunfight most of the time. If you can coordinate to keep one person on guard duty during a fight, that can save you from a quick team wipe by an enemy boarder.

Close the door behind you

A simple tip, but an important one, is to close doors behind you when you leave the ship. Doors cannot be opened from the outside, so if an enemy wants to enter your ship they will need to destroy a door, which typically requires being loud. Ship doors do not close behind you when you leave, and there are tons of doors on each ship, making it easy to forget about an open door, leaving you open to attack. You wouldn’t leave your home without closing the door, would you?

Most items can be teleported back to ship

Outside of the Artifact, which can be collected to win, most items can travel with you via teleportation. This is key to quickly looting a PvE area after completing the objective. There can be between 6 to 12 pieces of loot, ranging from turret upgrades, ship modules, resources, and special weapons. The vast majority can travel with you, so teleporting back to the ship to drop it off is the most efficient way to loot, even if your ship is parked right next to the entrance.