The Last of Us 2: Best starting tips The Last of Us 2 guide, walkthrough

Best starting tips: how to start playing? Difficulty level, resources and supplies, exploration, enemies, combat, saves, weapons, dogs.

Last update: 19 June 2020

This page contains a set of starting tips for The Last of Us 2. In our guide you can find various tips and hints on, among others, keeping your character alive, eliminating enemies in effective way or performing activities and tasks that can speed up the development of your hero (and get better equipment).

• We advise you to select a high level of difficulty
• Save your resources and supplies for later
• Carefully search and explore every area
• Use the Listen Mode to locate enemies
• Save the game manually from time to time
• Don't start fighting with enemies if you have low health points
• Don't get caught by any clicker
• Hide in the tall grass
• Don't make loud noises - monitor the generated noise level
• Use bottles and bricks to distract enemies
• Rely on dodges during melee combat
• Replace or repair depleted melee weapons
• Look around during battles with human enemies
• Watch out for traps
• You can enter some buildings by breaking a window
• Use all supplements and scavenged parts that you come across
• Keep a safe distance when fighting against Shamblers
• You can easily distract tracking dogs

We advise you to select a high level of difficulty

The Last of Us 2 is not a very demanding game in terms of difficulty level. For a better level of immersion, we recommend you to choose a high level of difficulty. This will make it necessary to be more vigilant and avoid making mistakes during your confrontation with opponents. Also, such approach can have a very positive impact on building the proper atmosphere and enhance the overall gameplay experience.

It is worth noting that no trophies are associated with the difficulty levels and that you can change the difficulty settings at any time you want in the options menu. You don't have to worry about getting stuck due to some extremely difficult battle. For more information, please check the separate page of our guide - difficulty levels and saving the game.

Save your resources and supplies for later

The higher the difficulty level, the less number of supplies you may find. You can't afford to waste ammunition and use bombs or Molotov cocktails frequently. You can't replenish your supplies quickly and you have to spend extra time for searching the area.

Try to use as little supplies as possible during mandatory battles - rely on silent assassinations with Ellie's switchblade (it is indestructible),, aim at your opponents' heads in case of direct confrontations and fight from behind the cover so as not to get hit and lose health points.

Carefully search and explore every area

The game forces you to quickly complete a mission's objective only in exceptional cases. In the vast majority of situations, you can search the area peacefully. In locations with no enemies, you can immediately decide to explore. In locations full of opponents, you may only explore the area after winning the combat and before moving to the next area.

When examining the location, look for items lying in plain sight, and for loot hidden in various containers that need to be opened first. By doing so you may find, among others, ammunition, medicine, crafting materials, new weapons and gadgets, or collectibles. Most of these things can make it easier for you to continue playing, or make your controlled character stronger.

For more advice and tips on exploring the environment, check the separate page of our guide - Exploration.

Use the Listen Mode to locate enemies

Listen Mode, which was available in the first part of TLoU is considered as playing on cheat codes by some players. However, if you have such a feature, then it seems to be wise to use it during the game. This mode significantly reduces the risk of sudden detection by an opponent that you have not been able to locate by relying on traditional reconnaissance.

For the record, the listen mode (hold down the R1 button) consists in scanning the area which reveals the silhouettes of live opponents and monsters through walls. You can easily determine your opponent's position and current direction. You can use this knowledge to bypass the enemy or to plan a surprise attack. It's worth adding that you can gradually improve your listen mode - check the Best Passive Skills page and the Character Development and Equipment chapter of our guide.

Save the game manually from time to time

If you want, you can rely entirely on the auto-saves of your in-game progress - the game operates on several saving slots. Manual saves allow you to protect yourself more effectively from potential larger failures. You can use them to protect yourself in case if you have left a large unexplored location prematurely. Also, you can use saved games to repeat larger fragments of the game in order to use lower number of supplies as you replay the chapter or stage.

You can create multiple manual saves. We have discussed the whole mechanism in more detail on another page of our guide - Difficulty levels and saving the game.

Don't start fighting with enemies if you have low health points

The health bar in The Last of Us 2 is not self-regenerating by default and you have to keep that in mind as you run-through the game. If you start a battle while playing a severely weakened character, then she may die even after receiving one successful hit (from a firearm, for example) or after receiving one successful strike during melee combat.

The health bar appears in the lower right corner of the screen, next to the ammo status. Lost health points can be recovered by using first aid kits. The latter can be found in the game world or crafted. You may also come across candy bars which can restore a smaller amount of health points.

You can find more details about healing a character on a separate page of our guide - Healing and how to restore a character to full health.

Don't get caught by any clicker

Clickers are types of monsters well known from the first part of The Last of Us. These creatures also appear in the sequel and are just as dangerous - your character will die immediately after being caught by a clicker.

There are various ways of behavior after you come across these monsters. For example, you can avoid these creatures at a safe distance, silently execute them with Ellie's switchblade (unlike the blade from the first part it won't deteriorate or get destroyed) or, as a last resort, kill them in direct confrontations before they manage to catch Ellie - you can use firearms or try out a melee combat. In locations where other monsters are wandering around, it's a good idea to deal with clickers at the very end of the battle or exploration.

For more advice and information about clickers, please refer to another page of our guide - Clickers - how to defeat them and avoid them? .

Hide in the tall grass

Starting from Seattle you can come across grassy areas, full of tall grass and bushes. Your character can hide in the grass, but it does not provide complete protection against detection. You can't count on being virtually invisible to your opponents in the high grass, as in case of Horizon Zero Dawn.

Crouching in the grass makes it difficult for opponents to detect your character, but an alarm may still be triggered after some time. You can partly reduce the problem by lying on the ground in the grass - simply switch to prone position. This allows you to get very close to your enemies, but unfortunately when you're crawling you can't use any type of silent assassination or silent attack. In such cases, you can only rely on your firearms. Once you get close enough to the selected opponent, re-select the crouch in order to use a silent attack.

For more information about hiding and avoiding alarms please check another section of our guide - Combat and sneaking.

Don't make loud noises - monitor the generated noise level

In The Last of Us 2 you can easily be detected by generating noise, for example, by moving too fast and you may be spotted in a crouched position. This is particularly important if you fight against clickers, which are blind but have a very sensitive sense of hearing. Try to only partially tilt the left analog knob so as not to move at the maximum movement speed.

The surrounding area can also be easily alerted by the sounds of battle or even due to single gunfire. In some battles, expect the sudden appearance of the infected, who will be lured by the sounds of the ongoing battle. To reduce the generated noise, use a switchblade/shiv and silencers - the latter have been described in more detail on a separate page of our guide - Weapons Silencer - how to get it?.

Use bottles and bricks to distract enemies

Distracting opponents by using thrown bottles or bricks has two main uses in the game. First of all, you can draw away enemies to secluded places, especially those who are spread out in the entire area. After that, they won't be able to call for help or get spotted by their companions.

Throwing items is also useful if you plan a trap and you can count on the best results during battles with monsters. For example, you can set up a mine-trap somewhere and then throw an item at it or wait for the infected to gather around the place of the bottle/brick landing spot and throw a Molotov cocktail at them, setting the whole group on fire.

In areas where live and infected enemies appear simultaneously, you can also use throwing items to trigger fights between both sides. You can wait for the victory of the people and/or infected and take care of the survivors or take the opportunity to sneak past the fighting groups.

Rely on dodges during melee combat

If you have to take part in a melee combat with a live opponent or a monster, it is very important to perform flawless dodges which can be activated by pressing the L1 button - you must of course press the button at the best possible moment, that is, not too early and not too late.

After each successful evasive action, start pressing the melee combat button to inflict damage with the switchblade, melee weapon or fists. Don't exaggerate the number of attacks and be ready to perform another perfect dodge after your opponent has prepared for a counter-attack.

Replace or repair depleted melee weapons

In The Last of Us Part II , Ellie is able to use an indestructible switchblade. While playing as Ellie, take advantage of the fact that there is no such restriction here. Therefore you can silently eliminate all clickers by attacking them from behind without any limits.

Ordinary and common melee weapons (like axes, baseball bats, hammers) are unfortunately durable to some extent - the number of white rectangles next to the weapon icon informs you about the number of remaining attacks. You can solve this problem in two main ways - regularly swapping weapons after you find new ones while exploring the game world or use the Melee Upgrade crafting project. The latter will allow you to repair melee weapons to their full glory and increase their damage rate. This patent has been described in more detail on a separate page of our guide - Melee weapons - are they indestructible?.

Look around during battles with human enemies

Battles with live enemies can be very different from fights against infected ones - the latter will usually charge towards your character just after they notice you. Living enemies may attempt to use a flank attack and this creates a high risk of unexpected damage.

After attacking a group of living opponents, don't stay behind the same cover all the time, but change your location several times. Help yourself with a listen mode that can highlight moving enemies. If you're travelling with Dina, she can also keep you informed of opponents appearing in other places and it may give you a brief moment to react.

If you're looking for more advice, please visit another page of our guide - Combat and sneaking.

Watch out for traps

You'll encounter traps for the very first time on your way to a TV station building in Seattle and the picture shows an example of them - these are mines connected to strings and touching any of them will detonate the explosive charge. This obviously means immediate death.

Remember to carefully and slowly walk through the locations filled with traps in order not to miss any mine or other sort of trap hidden in high grass. You can also use traps against the infected - throw the items towards the spot with a trap (or just let yourself be seen on purpose) and wait for the monster to approach and detonate the mine. You can also disarm trap by yourself from a distance, throw bottles at them or fire at them with any weapon.

You can enter some buildings by breaking a window

It's a valuable tip if you're planning to explore all locations in 100%. Some buildings in the game are locked and the key to the door cannot be found. Fortunately, there is an alternative solution - some shutters and sites can be smashed (above picture shows a nice example of such passage).

The best way to break the glass is to use a melee weapon - it will not be damaged in this way. Alternatively, you can use some throwing object (brick, bottle) or shoot with any weapon - these methods are recommended if you cannot get close to a window (e.g. when it is located above your reach).

For more tips on exploring available locations please refer to the Exploration section of our guide.

Use all supplements and scavenged parts that you come across

In The Last of Us 2 you can:

1. Unlock new passive skills - this can be done by distributing and spending Supplements found in the game world. In addition, you can find new Training Manuals to access the new skill trees.
2. Upgrade your weapons - This is done by collecting Scavenged Parts. Use them to get weapon upgrades in the workshops that can be found in the game world. Each weapon has several possible improvements to buy - such as aiming scope, larger weapon magazine or improved accuracy.

In conclusion, try to find as many supplements and scavenged parts as possible through careful exploration of the environment. Check other pages of our guide - Best Passive Skills and Weapon Upgrades - How and where can I upgrade my weapons?. You will find there, among other things, tips on what passive abilities and weapon upgrades you should buy as first.

Keep a safe distance when fighting against Shamblers

Shambler is the name of a new kind of infected enemy in The Last of Us 2. Shambler's unique attack is an explosion that releases a cloud of poisonous gas - you must avoid it at all costs, as getting within the range of this attack can seriously weaken your character or even lead to death.

If you spot a Shambler preparing to release his poisonous fumes, then you should run away from this enemy as far as possible. We advise you to use firearms and traps to attack these monsters. More details and tips can be found on a separate page of our guide - Shamblers - how to defeat them?.

You can easily distract tracking dogs

Starting from the second day of your stay in Seattle, you'll come across hostile dogs accompanying some of your opponents. One of the unique features of dogs is their ability to track down Ellie's scent (it is visible in listen mode).

You can make them lose their trail by moving far away from them, but there is a much simpler method - you can distract the tracking dog by throwing an item. The animal will stop following Ellie and instead focus on exploring the area where the thrown item landed.

For more information and advice on how to deal with hostile defensive dogs, check a separate page of our guide - Dogs.