SPRAWL zero Abilities: Bullet Time, Shield and Rushdown

FIVE’s cybernetics come in three augments. There are no skill points, currencies or trees. Under The Mayo’s review describes “a simple, unintrusive, linear progression” of upgrades “handed to you at key moments”. All three draw on the same adrenaline meter.

Adrenaline and health stims

• Adrenaline recharges slowly on its own.
• Most of it comes from stims, pickups that restore both health and adrenaline. You find them in occasional crates, but mostly enemies drop them when you kill them with an ability active, or when you are low on health.
• MAETH’s demo update cut the stims dropped by enemies killed with an adrenaline ability from 3 to 1, so abilities pay for themselves less than they did in the June demo.
• Worth A Buy found that enemies killed during Bullet Time have “a high chance of dropping first aid kits”. Killing a group in one Bullet Time window is the main way to refill.

Bullet Time

Slows everything down. While it is active your bullets curve and magnetise to enemies in front of you (MAETH’s weapons diary), and Under The Mayo notes it also raises damage: “pop this thing and fire the shotgun once.” It is the core ability and drains adrenaline fast.

• Bullet Time I is the first ability: 98.3% of players have it, more than finish level 1.
• Bullet Time II lets you act closer to real time while enemies stay slowed, so you get several times more shots in per activation (Worth A Buy). On the unlock curve it lands during level 4, Adusta Terra (44.9%).
• Some players on the Steam forum ask for a way to turn off the aim help Bullet Time adds. There is no toggle yet.

Gravity Shield

Catches incoming bullets and throws them back. It is the answer to drones and to the Seraph gunship: a developer confirmed that reflecting a Seraph’s fire to kill it is intended.

• It does not protect against fire or electrical damage (the director, in IGN’s gameplay showcase).
• The demo gave it to you early. In the full game you do not have it in Buried; it arrives in level 3, Domination (developer reply, and 66.2% of players have Gravity Shield I).
• Gravity Shield II absorbs far more projectiles. It falls between Maeth and Eden on the unlock curve (16.8%).
• Under The Mayo’s advice: raise it when enemies flash red just before firing, not whenever you get hit. Holding it up while nobody shoots just drains adrenaline.

Rushdown

A charge with a moment of invincibility that ends in a devastating punch. It breaks enemy shields, which is why it is the standard tool against the shielded hammer-wielders.

• Rushdown I sits on the curve inside level 5, God’s Light (31.0%).
• Rushdown II chains into several punches. It lands around level 8, Acrophobia (14.0%).

Overclocked and augment-free sections

The achievement Overclocked (“Obtain the max level of all abilities”, 11.6%) means the last upgrade arrives by the end of The Spire. At least one section, shown in God’s Light, has Silas switch your augments off entirely, and Flexin85 describes another where you lose weapons and abilities while a Colossus hunts you. Expect to fight with guns, fists and the environment for a while.

How the unlock points were worked out

MAETH has not published an ability schedule. The level estimates above come from reading each ability medal’s global unlock rate against the level-completion rates on Steam: an ability owned by more players than finished level N but fewer than finished level N-1 is picked up during level N. The one point stated by the developers (the Shield arriving in Domination) matches the method. See the achievements page for the raw numbers and the levels page for the order.