Tips/Tricks

Discover essential tips and tricks for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, including control customization, combat strategies, enemy weak points, and efficient Green Energy collection.

Absolutely mess with the controls in the early game to find out what's right for you. If you've played modern FPS games, the default Dual Sticks will probably be the way to go.

Remember that the Spring Ball function exists in this game. Flicking your controller upwards to jump can make things a lot easier than trying to master Bomb Jumps.

Honestly, I was surprised at how effective the basic beam is in a lot of situations. Simply hammering away at the fire button can add up to more damage over time than you'd think.

Along those lines, be aware that some enemies have weak points. Try to aim for the head on enemies even if your lock on targets its center. For Grievers, they are vulnerable in their glowing chest.

Speaking of enemies, when you empty a room of enemies, they will respawn, but only once you get at least two rooms away, so you can go to one room nearby and come back and nothing will have repopulated. Similarly, if you just run through a room without fighting, returning to that room will see everything in the exact same place as you left it.

When exploring, listen for a low-pitch hum in the background in certain areas, as these indicate items to pick up. You may not be able to get them right away, but it may be worth to drop a marker on that spot on the map so you come back later.

On the same idea, remember where Scout Bots are once you find them, and then make sure you activate them as soon as you can once you get the Thunder Shot. These will go right ahead and mark every item on the sector they're in. There's a total of six, including one in Sol Valley. They make scouring areas go a lot quicker.

The small enemies may be little more than a nuisance, but remember to use them for picking up health/ammo, as well as any crates in the area.

Green Energy Tips

As Green Energy can be collected largely in Sol Valley in varying amounts throughout the game, and you can choose to spend more or less time between major objectives collecting it, I think it'd be best to drop a couple of hints about how and when to do so.

• First and foremost, note that you will not have access to all the Green Energy right away. Not only are some deposits gated behind certain weapon/suit upgrades, but some of the basic deposits in the desert don't show up until after you've done certain story elements in the game. In essence, after every Teleporter Key you pick up, a new batch of Green Energy appears on the surface of Sol Valley, with the desert fully "populated" after the fifth Teleporter Key, so even if you wanted to get a giant amount of Green Energy early in the game, you're pretty much locked out.
• With that in mind, I'll just state that the first Green Energy reward is what I'd call the most essential. Once you get that, you can de-prioritize the remaining rewards until after getting the fifth Teleporter Key. Or not. It's up to you.
• The most efficient way I've found to clean up Green Energy deposits on the surface is to aim at it with your Vi-O-La so that you smash through the largest deposits first. You may get lucky and the "shockwave" from that collision takes the entire deposit, including the small parts that might be a few more feet away.
• To get the first reward as quickly as possible, the surface deposits likely won't be enough. You'll need to add some of the bundles found in the Shrines. I suggest raiding the Ring of Thunder Shrine, the Ladder of Thought Shrine, and the Source of Spring Shrine. Even if you can't complete the Shrines, you get a fair bit of Green Energy from there. You can, without much difficulty, get the first reward right after earning the Fire Shot.
• After that, the largest source of Green Energy comes from the large boulders dotted around the desert, and you can't destroy these until you get Power Bombs very late in the game. Once you get those, use them to blow up the boulders and you'll fast track towards completing the full meter.
• After you fill up the "diamond" meter for Green Energy, you'll notice it will fill up again for a second run. The important thing about this is that there are no in-game rewards for getting 100% Green Energy, which is every last crumb. There are some Gallery items to be unlocked for it, though, but all the useful rewards will be done after the fourth.