Returnal Adrenaline Explained: Levels, How to Increase

Given how hostile the alien environments of Returnal can be you’ll need every edge that you can gain over your enemies. One way to level the playing field is to make use of the Adrenaline system. It allows you to gain bonuses as you fight, making you do more damage and giving a boost to certain systems. Here’s what you need to know about Adrenaline in Returnal.

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Returnal Adrenaline Explained

Adrenaline is activated after you’ve killed three enemies without taking damage in Returnal. This will get you to level one, giving you a boost to your overload skills. For each set of three enemies you kill you will move up a level, with five levels maximum to trigger. If you take a single hit you will lose all Adrenaline bonuses.

Adrenaline Levels

There are 5 levels of Adrenaline you can gain in Returnal. Here’s what each one does:

• Level 1 - Enhanced Overload (Overload bar increases in size)
• Level 2 - Enhanced Vision (See enemies and doors through walls)
• Level 3 - Enhanced Melee (Melee cooldown decreased)
• Level 4 - Enhanced Proficiency (Proficiency Rate increase)
• Level 5 - Enhanced Obolite Collection (Radius increased)

Each level you reach will stack on top of the rest, meaning you should try to make gaining adrenaline a priority. Level 4 is particularly useful, boosting your Proficiency.

How to Increase Adrenaline

To increase your Adrenaline you will need to kill enemies without dying. The shield pickup is great for this, as are any upgrades that let you take additional hits without damage. There are certain pickups that may increase the rate of Adrenaline gain, and some that grant additional bonuses as you accumulate levels.

That’s all you need to know about Adrenaline in Returnal. For more help with the game visit our guide on beating red shielded enemies. Once you’re done there head to our controls page.