Arcane powers | Upgrades SR: Gat out of Hell Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Arcane are six special abilities, to which you gain access early in the game. Four of them are used in combat, other two serve mostly for transport. Every combat power have three Elements, which are its modifiers. Every one of them have their set of upgrades as well. Power upgrades improve their range or regeneration speed, while upgrading Elements increases their power and gives some special bonuses.

In order to improve Arcane you must collect Soul Clusters that are scattered through the city and reach sufficient character level. Most of upgrades cost 10 Soul Clusters, some of them 15. Many of them is divided to levels as well. It especially affects such characteristics like power and regeneration speed.

Blast

Basic combat power and one of two that are used during flying. When used, your character shoots a bullet. It happens quickly enough that you can fire it during a shoot-out and won't feel any bigger difference. So it is a great addition to conventional weaponry, but you must take bullet speed in consideration. It is possible, that before it reaches destination, your enemy will be standing someplace else. Thanks to upgrades this power has greater range and recovers more quickly. At one time, only one bullet can exist. If you use Arcane again, the first bullet will disappear (Soul) or explode (Shadow). Wait until first Blast stops working and only then throw another one.

Stone element transforms enemies hit into stone. It affects demons and vehicles as well, but lasts only for few seconds. Petrified enemies are easy prey, especially after upgrading. It is very useful when fighting better armored enemies or a greater number of those, when you need to catch your breath. It should be used against running away vehicles as well.

Soul shoots a homing missile. This bullet can phase through walls and floors while heading toward enemy. It hits one target, immobilizes it and deals damage. Thanks to upgrades, after killing the first target it jumps towards the next one. The bullet flies towards the closest living creature, which means it can hit completely different demon than you presumed. This Arcane attacks vehicles drivers as well, making takeovers easier. It is good for larger battles, when you don't have the time nor need for more precise aiming.

Shadow immobilizes all targets around the hit area. Enemies can move, but they are greatly slowed and cannot shoot. Additionally, enemies caught in the trap are receiving damage, and the trap itself explodes after few seconds. Enemies can run away from the area of Arcane, but only if you caught them while they were running or driving. Similarly to Stone it works on vehicles as well. Very useful power when fighting groups of enemies. It deals large damage, which can be even further improved with upgrades. But it require precise aiming. All it needs is enemy getting one stop out of its reach for the trap to stop working on him.

Summons

As name suggests, it summons backup. It will work till a summoned creature dies or you summon another one. You can use only one type of summoned creatures at once. It is an ability that is worth using at the beginning of battle and then changing to something else. Summoned creatures should be used as an decoy and treat them like a temporary increase of the amount of your hit points. Bullets that will hit your summons, won't harm you. Upgrades lowers the time needed for regeneration of ability and they make summoned creatures explode when they die. Very useful when facing large groups of demons.

Imp element summons exploding creatures that you surely are familiar with. You can summon one of them at a time, after upgrades even four at once. They can be upgraded so that they will be on cold fire and they ignite nearby enemies. They introduce a lot of chaos into the battlefield, but they can be very useful when facing large enemies or groups of lesser ones.

Tower makes you summon a tower. It hurts enemies that stand in the place where it shows and attacks with spikes those that are close. Thanks to upgrades, it can shoot rockets at airborne targets as well. It is stationary, so it won't do much when enemy gets outside its reach. If you have trouble with flying enemies, you can use it. Otherwise, you can ignore it.

Titan summons your personal Legionnaire. He is strong, resistant, and thanks to upgrades he can attack with jump and knock down many enemies at once. Sadly, he works alone, so he can be easily defeated by bigger groups of enemies. Still, he is a valuable backup on the battlefield. You should use it interchangeably with Imp, depending on your current needs.

Stomp

Your character hits the ground with all his strength, causing a shockwave. For obvious reasons it works only on enemies that stay nearby. Upgrades improves its reach. No matter what element you choose, this power is most useful in case of surroundings or melee combat. Its greatest weakness is reload time. Before your character hits, enemies can ignite you or cause an explosion. In such cases the ability won't work. And it counts as use, so you must wait for reload. For that reasons, using this ability on the middle of combat requires good reflexes and some luck.

Force element deals damage to all enemies surrounding character. In basic version damage is dealt only to weaker enemies, but thanks to upgrades it can affect stronger enemies and vehicles as well. After upgrades it can throw enemies away, not only knock them down.

Vacuum sucks enemies toward your character. Enemies sucked into the vortex receive damage, and if they survive they are thrown away. Thanks to upgrades this power can collect surrounding health kits and Wages, and affect stronger and heavier enemies. Very risky ability, since it can drag items on fire. Vehicles destroyed by it are torn apart and their parts are thrown around. It is good if you like risk. Otherwise, it is better to choose one of two other elements.

Holy strikes surrounding enemies with a holy light, that deals damage. Thanks to upgrades it can stun and cause explosions of those that are killed by it. Very useful ability, especially after upgrading. With a bit of luck you can dispose of very large group of enemies with it. If you want to use the stomp arcane, Holy will probably be the best choice for you.

Aura

After activating this ability works on enemies that are near the character and on the character himself. Consider it a temporary bonus chosen by yourself. Thanks to upgrades activating Aura makes your character move faster.

Coldfire element sets are enemies near your character on fire. Upgrades makes your character flameproof, adds freezing enemies to setting them on fire and gives to some of your bullets powers same as in aura. Element very useful in melee combat, after upgrading it is worth to use it on other situations as well, such as when fighting with Grenadiers or Archdukes.

Vamp sucks life from nearby creatures and transfers it to you. After upgrading, enemies killed with this element transform into citizens of Hell, which after being killed drop additional health kits. One of better auras, useful in every combat. After upgrading it makes your character near invincible. Sadly, it works on everything except summoned demons, so it hurts your allies as well.

Worship makes enemies surrounding you stop shooting and fall on their knees. Flying creatures drop their shield or land. Upgrades makes this power work on stronger enemies and makes your worshippers increase your damage. It is a useful ability since it excludes some enemies from battle, like very hard to catch Shadow Demons. On other hand, it makes the battle last longer. You can play with it for a while, but if you want to use Aura, better choose one of two others.

Super Sprint

This ability allows you to run with great speed. You can use it during combat to knock down enemies or quickly retreat. Upgrades increase your speed and reduces the loss of stamina.

From all available upgrades, Reduced Damage is useful as long as you won't run at full speed. In that case, some bullets will stop hitting you. Unstoppable is necessary if you plan to run through streets. Throwing away vehicles can be used in combat as well, for example to knock over tanks. Haste is good if you lack time or don't have enough space to accelerate. You won't use Lava Running too often, since it is better to fly over lava than run on it. Shield will be needed to unlock other upgrades. Wall Running allows you to collect many Soul Clusters that can be found on building walls. Additionally, climbing is easier and much faster than flying up.

Flight

A flight with the help of angel wings. After learning the rules of flying it will allow you to get to practically every place on the map. In combat, this ability is useful mostly to run away or getting out of range of enemy weapons. It can be use to bomb enemy with powers from safe distance.

Of all upgrades, you should definitely invest in additional Flap charges, thanks to which your flight will last longer. Efficiency reduces consumption of stamina during the flight. It is very important at the beginning, not so later in the game. Stamina Recovery allows you to recover stamina after landing. It is useful, but only until you buy third level of Efficiency. Hover allows you to use powers while hanging in the air. Very useful in many situations. Launching Jump allows you to make additional jumps in the air. It depletes the flaps, but can be helpful in some situations. Maneuvers allows you to avoid bullets shots from Spires. Very important upgrade, especially if you fly through the city a lot and haven't removed the launchers yet. Nimble helps you in maneuvering and for that reason should be bought. Power is necessary, and Stability is useful always and everywhere. Especially if you haven't disposed of all Spires yet or you're fighting large enemies like Archdukes.