Cronos: The New Dawn – Best Upgrades To Buy First

Mastering Cronos: The New Dawn requires strategic allocation of two distinct upgrade currencies that follow different acquisition patterns throughout your journey.

Energy serves as your primary weapon enhancement resource. You’ll find this material abundantly scattered across environments—typically positioned on shelves, within containers, or occasionally dropped by defeated adversaries. Unlike Cores, Energy maintains consistent availability, making it suitable for gradual weapon improvement as you progress.

Cores represent the premium upgrade currency with significantly limited availability. These rare materials power critical survival upgrades including suit integrity (health), inventory capacity expansion, Torch Fuel enhancements, and Pyre item improvements. Successful Core acquisition demands thorough exploration of optional pathways, particularly areas secured by chainlocked doors, and consistently interacting with the feline inhabitants hidden throughout the game world.

Many players underestimate the scarcity of Cores during early gameplay, leading to suboptimal upgrade decisions that hinder progression. Unlike Energy, Cores cannot be farmed through enemy elimination, making each discovery particularly valuable for long-term survival.

Your initial upgrade decisions in Cronos: The New Dawn establish the foundation for your entire playthrough. Limited resources force careful prioritization between immediate survival needs and long-term capability development.

Temporal Shell – Inventory Slots and Suit Integrity

Cronos: The New Dawn presents significant inventory management challenges that can dramatically impact your survival odds. The constant dilemma of whether to sacrifice ammunition for valuable vintage items, prioritize healing supplies over utility tools like bolt cutters, or manage limited carrying capacity creates persistent strategic tension throughout your adventure.

Early investment in Inventory Slot expansions alleviates this pressure by providing flexibility in item management. However, balancing this with Suit Integrity upgrades becomes equally crucial during initial hours when unfamiliar game mechanics and enemy patterns lead to frequent health depletion.

The optimal approach involves alternating upgrades between these two systems each time you accumulate sufficient Cores. Once you achieve 200 health by completing the fourth Suit Integrity enhancement, shift focus entirely to maximizing Inventory Slots. This strategy prepares you for the abundance of collectibles, additional weapons, and essential items encountered in later game stages where expanded carrying capacity becomes indispensable.

A common mistake involves over-investing in health at the expense of inventory space, creating logistical bottlenecks during critical exploration sequences when multiple key items must be transported simultaneously.

Sword MK-1615 (Handgun) – Stability and Charge Speed

While Firepower upgrades might seem appealing for the Sword MK-1615 handgun, most standard enemies require only 1-3 precision headshots regardless of damage enhancements. This makes Stability improvements significantly more valuable for consistent target acquisition and combat effectiveness.

Enhanced Stability reduces weapon sway and accelerates reticle recentering after firing, dramatically improving your accuracy during tense encounters. This becomes particularly important when facing agile opponents or when environmental hazards complicate aiming precision.

Complementing Stability with Charge Speed upgrades creates a formidable sidearm combination. Faster charge times enable quicker maximum-damage shots when enemies rapidly close distance, providing crucial windows for repositioning and avoiding damage.

Advanced players should note that maximum Charge Speed investment allows for rapid successive charged shots, effectively turning the handgun into a precision tool for methodical enemy elimination while conserving ammunition.

Hammer PROV-2030 (Shotgun) – Firepower and Charge Speed

The Hammer PROV-2030 shotgun serves as your primary damage-dealing weapon against formidable opponents and grouped enemies. Unlike the handgun, this weapon benefits tremendously from Firepower enhancements, transforming it into a devastating tool for boss encounters and crowd control situations.

Prioritizing Firepower upgrades ensures the shotgun maintains its role as your tactical problem-solver when confronting challenging scenarios.

Parallel investment in Charge Speed remains equally critical for the shotgun. Even with substantial upgrades, charge times remain considerable, but every fractional reduction provides valuable seconds where you remain vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Strategic shotgun usage involves positioning enemies into favorable groupings before unleashing fully charged blasts. This approach maximizes the weapon’s area denial capabilities while conserving precious ammunition reserves.

Beyond initial upgrade priorities, experienced players should develop sophisticated resource management strategies that account for the game’s evolving challenges and opportunities.

Mid-game transitions require anticipating upcoming enemy types and environmental challenges. Allocate resources toward upgrades that address specific forthcoming obstacles rather than generalized improvements.

Boss preparation demands specialized upgrade allocation. Before significant boss encounters, ensure your shotgun Firepower is maximized and consider temporarily reallocating resources if necessary to overcome particularly challenging opponents.

End-game loadout optimization involves understanding how your upgrade choices interact with late-game weaponry and equipment. Some advanced weapons benefit disproportionately from specific upgrade types, creating opportunities for specialized builds that excel in particular scenarios.

Resource forecasting becomes increasingly important as you progress. Map out expected Core acquisition points and plan upgrade sequences accordingly to minimize downtime between capability enhancements.

For players seeking comprehensive tactical approaches, our Class Guide provides additional strategic frameworks applicable to resource allocation decisions in challenging games like Cronos: The New Dawn.

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