Saros Beginner Tips – Essential Guide for New Players

TL;DR

• Learn the three projectile colors first — blue absorb, yellow dodge, red parry.
• Always pick up Lucenite fast — it disappears and you lose a chunk of it on death.
• Upgrade Drive first in the Armor Matrix to earn more Lucenite every run.
• Always take the higher Proficiency weapon even if it is not your favourite.
• Use Overdrive and Power Weapons immediately — do not save them.
• Running earlier biomes before a tough boss raises your Proficiency and makes every fight easier.
• Eclipse artifacts with bad downsides can be skipped — you will always run out of inventory room.

Saros is a roguelite bullet-hell shooter from Housemarque, and it does not ease you in gently. New players will die a lot in the early hours. That is not a flaw — it is how the game teaches you. But going in with even a basic understanding of its systems makes a huge difference in how quickly things click.

This guide covers the most important things to know before you start, from combat basics to upgrade priorities to how runs actually work. If you are further along and struggling with Overlord fights, our full guide to beating all bosses in Saros goes deep on every fight.

Understand the Three Projectile Colors First

Everything in Saros combat comes back to this. Enemies fire three types of projectiles and each one has a different correct response. Learning this early is the single biggest improvement you can make.

• Blue projectiles — Absorb them with your Soltari Shield (R1). They charge your Power Weapon and are actually useful. Never dodge blue when you can absorb.
• Yellow projectiles — These deal Corruption, which lowers your maximum health. Do not absorb them. Dodge sideways or jump over them.
• Red Nova projectiles — These are the most dangerous. You cannot dash through them. They must be parried with R1 at the right moment or avoided entirely by repositioning.

Almost every death in the early game comes from misreading a projectile color under pressure. If the colors are hard to distinguish on your screen, go into settings immediately and change them. Saros has colour-blind and UI colour settings. Do this before your first real run.

Do Not Stand Still — Ever

Arjun is not a tank. He cannot absorb hits and trade damage. The game is built around constant movement, reading what is coming at you, and responding correctly. Standing still to aim is one of the most common mistakes new players make.

Smart Guns — weapons with the Autohit property — are ideal for beginners because they do the tracking for you. The Smart Rifle is the best early pick for players still learning the dodge rhythm. Its primary fire chips enemies while you move and its alt-fire sends homing projectiles that find targets on their own. You can focus entirely on staying alive and the weapon handles the rest.

For a full look at how every weapon works, see our guide to all Main and Power Weapons in Saros.

Always Take the Higher Proficiency Weapon

It is tempting to stick with a weapon you are comfortable with. Do not. If a new weapon has a significantly higher Proficiency than the one you are carrying, take it. At one level of difference you might be able to justify keeping your favourite. At two or three levels of difference, there is no scenario where the lower Proficiency weapon is the better choice.

Proficiency affects how strong a weapon is and how many traits it can carry. A higher Proficiency weapon with traits you are unfamiliar with will almost always outperform a comfortable lower Proficiency weapon with no traits. Learn to adapt.

The same logic applies when rerolling containers. If you are about to enter a boss room and the weapon drop feels weak, use an Acolyte’s Wager to reroll before committing. Acolyte’s Wagers refresh every run, so use them. Do not save them.

Use Overdrive and Power Weapons Immediately — Do Not Hoard Them

New players hoard their best tools for the “right moment” and then die with everything unused. Saros punishes this. Use Overdrive the moment your bar fills. Use Power Weapons as soon as you have a window. The game gives you these resources to spend them, not to save them.

At the start of most boss fights there is a short window before the first attack. That is when Overdrive and your Power Weapon do the most work. Burning both immediately on spawn can push a boss down by 30 to 50 percent before the fight even fully begins.

The same applies to stagger. When an enemy’s stagger bar fills and they enter a weakened state, switch to your Power Weapon and melee immediately. That is the damage window. Missing it by being conservative is a wasted opportunity every time.

Pick Up Lucenite Fast — It Disappears

Lucenite is the main currency in Saros. Enemies drop it when they die and it appears as glowing yellow shards on the ground. It does not stay forever — if you leave it too long it disappears. Move toward it as soon as a fight clears.

That said, do not sprint into danger just to collect a small amount. If picking up a few shards means taking damage that ends your run, leave them. The risk is not worth it. As you progress, you can unlock Armor Matrix upgrades that make Lucenite stay on the ground longer, which helps a lot in hectic fights.

If you die during a run, you lose a portion of your collected Lucenite — around 50 percent at the start of the game. Unlocking the Lucenite Saver upgrade in the Armor Matrix reduces this penalty. It is one of the more important early upgrades if you find yourself dying often.

How the Armor Matrix Works

The Armor Matrix is the permanent upgrade system in Saros. You access it through Primary in the Passage hub. Every upgrade you buy here carries over between runs. This is how you get permanently stronger even after dying.

There are two currencies for the Armor Matrix. Lucenite funds most upgrades and comes from enemy drops and exploration. Halcyon is rarer and used for the high-tier purple upgrades including extra Artifact slots and Second Chance. Handle Halcyon carefully — do not spend it on low-impact nodes.

The three main stats are Resilience (max HP), Command (shield and Power Weapon capacity), and Drive (how much Lucenite you earn from enemies). Drive is the most important stat to upgrade first. More Lucenite per run means faster Proficiency growth during a run and more Armor Matrix upgrades between runs. It is a compounding advantage that pays off quickly.

After Drive, unlock Second Chance as soon as you can. Second Chance revives Arjun once per cycle after death. One free revive can save an entire run. It is one of the clearest high-impact upgrades in the whole tree and costs Halcyon — which is exactly what Halcyon is for. For a deeper look at how upgrade resources interact with your runs, check our guide on what to do with Halcyon Primary Upgrades in Saros.

Expand Your Artifact Slots Early

Artifacts are the items you find during runs that give you buffs and modify your build. You can only carry a limited number at a time. More Artifact slots mean more options, more flexibility, and a better chance of holding onto a healing Artifact when you need one.

Expanding Artifact Slots costs Halcyon, which is why protecting your Halcyon early matters so much. Do not waste it on small upgrades when Artifact Slot expansions give you so much more long-term value.

You also have Acolyte’s Wagers that let you swap out weaker Artifacts for something better mid-run. Review your Artifact setup before tough fights and replace anything that is not helping your current situation. These wagers refresh every run — use them freely.

How the Eclipse Works

As you explore biomes, you will encounter points that trigger a solar Eclipse. This makes enemies tougher and reduces the number of blue projectiles they fire. It also changes how Artifacts work — post-Eclipse Artifacts come with a negative effect alongside the positive one.

Sometimes triggering the Eclipse is required to progress. Other times it is optional. If your health is low or your equipment is weak, you can skip it when it is optional and continue more safely.

Before the Eclipse activates, all upgrade pickups are fully positive with no downsides. Take everything offered before the Eclipse — there is no reason to pass anything up. After the Eclipse, pick Artifacts based on how bad the downside is, not how good the upside is. You will run out of Artifact inventory before you run out of options, so being selective about bad downsides is the smarter approach. A downgrade that jams your weapon on hit or increases your dash cooldown can end a run faster than a strong upside can save it.

Do Not Return to the Passage Too Early

The Passage is the main hub where you spend Lucenite on the Armor Matrix. It is tempting to go back after every run to spend your earnings. But leaving a biome costs you temporary Proficiency gains and your current Artifact stack.

If your goal is to beat the next boss, keep pushing forward. Only return to the Passage after a good resource haul or after clearing a boss. Going back too early means starting the next run weaker than you would have been if you had stayed in the field longer.

If you are stuck on a boss, run through earlier biomes first instead of retrying the same fight over and over. This builds Proficiency well above what a single biome can provide, gives you more Artifact slots to fill, and often completely changes how a boss fight feels. See our full boss guide for phase-by-phase advice on every Overlord.

Do Not Ignore Your Melee Attack

Arjun starts with a melee attack and it is easy to forget about it in the middle of all the gunplay. Do not. The melee punch is strong and it is not just for emergency situations.

Melee is required to get through red energy doors and to remove red energy shields from enemies. Against enemies that close distance on you, dashing in, punching, and dashing out is an effective pattern. It is also the fastest way to deal damage during enemy stagger windows.

Some wall types in biomes can only be broken with specific tools. Our guides on how to break orange walls and how to get past yellow barriers explain those mechanics in full.

Halcyon Is Worth More Than You Think

Halcyon is rare and its purple glow makes it easy to spot. It is almost always found in secret or hidden spots rather than from enemy drops. The temptation is to spend it as soon as you get it. Resist that.

Halcyon unlocks the most impactful upgrades in the Armor Matrix — Second Chance, extra Artifact Slots, and key Command nodes. Spending it on small nodes early is a common mistake that stalls your progression for several runs. Save it until you can afford the upgrades that actually shift how your runs feel.

Explore Fully Before Going to the Boss

Saros marks the main story path with a scannable gold-flag icon. You can always find the critical route. But side rooms and off-path areas contain containers, Aether, Lucenite, Halcyon, and Artifacts that make a real difference by the time you reach the Overlord.

Clear as much of a biome as you can before challenging its boss. More exploration means higher Proficiency, a better weapon, more Artifacts equipped, and more healing items collected. A thorough run through a biome is almost always better preparation than rushing the golden path.

Some paths are gated behind abilities you have not unlocked yet. Going back through earlier biomes with new tools opens up areas you missed the first time and gives you extra Halcyon and Lucenite for the Armor Matrix. Our complete biomes guide covers what is in every area.

Aether Heals You — Never Leave It Behind

Aether is the only healing item in Saros. It glows bright green and comes in small, medium, and large sizes. The size determines how much health you recover.

If you are at full health when you find Aether, do not ignore it. Press Triangle to convert it into Lucenite instead. It is not a huge amount, but it is always better than leaving it on the ground.

Healing in Saros does not work the way it does in most games. There are no regeneration mechanics outside of specific Artifacts. Every piece of Aether you find is precious. Prioritise collecting it whenever you see it, especially before boss rooms.

Check Colour Settings if Projectiles Are Hard to Read

Saros released with UI colour settings specifically because the three-colour projectile system is so central to combat. If blue, yellow, and red are hard to distinguish on your screen — or if you have any colour vision difference — go into settings and change the colours to something that works for you.

This is not a minor quality-of-life fix. Misreading a red Nova projectile as a blue one and trying to absorb it instead of parrying it is an instant punish. Getting the colours right before you start saves a lot of frustration.

Quick Reference — Things Not to Forget

• Blue = absorb. Yellow = dodge. Red = parry or avoid.
• Lucenite disappears fast — collect it immediately after fights.
• Upgrade Drive first in the Armor Matrix, then Second Chance.
• Acolyte’s Wagers reset every run — use them before boss rooms.
• Before Eclipse, take all upgrades freely. After Eclipse, judge by the downside, not the upside.
• Melee is strong — use it on stagger windows and to break red shields.
• Do not go back to the Passage mid-run unless you need permanent upgrades and have earned enough Lucenite to make it worth losing your Proficiency momentum.
• Halcyon is for Second Chance and Artifact Slots first. Everything else can wait.

More Saros Guides

• How to Beat All Bosses in Saros
• All Main and Power Weapons in Saros
• Saros All Biomes – Complete Guide
• Saros Attribute Volatility Explained
• Saros Nightmare Strand Explained
• How to Unlock the True Ending in Saros
• Saros Complete Trophy Guide
• How Long to Beat Saros
• How to Unlock the Grapple in Saros
• How to Unlock Eclipse Threads in Saros
• How to Open Locked Containers with Carcosan Keys
• Honorarium Sigils in the Desecrated Fortress