High On Life Beginner Tips - Guns, Scanner, and Upgrades

High On Life by Squanch Games is a mature single-player first-person shooter/action-adventure about becoming an intergalactic bounty hunter with a set of talking weapons. This guide focuses on base-game first-clear fundamentals: using every gun, following objectives without getting lost, surviving fights, and keeping DLC and completion cleanup separate.

Content warning: ESRB rates High On Life M for Mature 17+ with Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs, and Violence. This guide stays non-graphic and focused on player actions.

This is not a full walkthrough, boss guide, bounty route, upgrade-location guide, Luglox map, achievement guide, or High On Knife DLC guide.

Essential Tips

1. Swap Guns When the Fight Changes

Each talking gun is a tool, not just a different voice.

Do not stay on one weapon because it was the first one that felt comfortable. Some enemies are easier to pressure, interrupt, crowd-control, or reach with a different gun. When a room starts feeling slow, switch weapons before assuming you are underleveled.

2. Use Unlimited Ammo Aggressively

Your guns are not asking you to count bullets like a survival game.

Once you have a gun, keep firing, swapping, and using abilities instead of saving ammo for a perfect moment. Your real limits are positioning, reload rhythm, enemy pressure, and ability timing.

3. Let the Info Scanner Reset Your Direction

Getting lost costs more time than checking the route.

Use the scanner whenever a bounty area bends back on itself or the objective marker feels unclear. It is also useful during cleanup because scanning can help point out nearby loot targets.

4. Clear the Fight Before You Chase Chests

Loot is easier to collect when nothing is shooting at you.

Luglox chests, pesos, upgrades, and side pickups are worth noticing, but do not tunnel on them during combat. Win the room, scan again, then search corners and side paths before moving on.

5. Treat Enemy Drops as Survival Resources

Health and shields are part of the combat loop.

If you are low, do not only backpedal and wait. Keep moving, finish safer enemies, and pick up dropped resources so the room starts turning back in your favor.

6. Buy Practical Upgrades Before Cleanup Luxury

Movement and survivability upgrades make the whole game smoother.

Health increases, dodge access, fuel improvements, slide tools, and traversal upgrades all help more than hoarded money. Exact shop routes can wait; on a first run, prioritize upgrades that let you live longer, move better, or reach more space.

7. Practice Knifey Deflects Without Forcing Them

Some attacks can be reflected, but not every danger needs a parry answer.

Use Knifey deflects when the timing and projectile are clear. If a room gets chaotic, return to movement, cover, weapon swapping, and enemy cleanup instead of fishing for a risky deflect.

8. Change Difficulty When Learning Stops Being Useful

The best first-clear setting is the one that lets you learn the game.

If every room turns into repeated deaths, lower the difficulty and focus on gun roles, scanner use, and upgrade habits. If fights feel automatic, raise it and make yourself use the full arsenal.

9. Return Later With Better Movement

Not every visible thing is meant to be cleaned up immediately.

High On Life gives you movement and traversal tools over time. If a chest, path, or platform looks awkward, mark it mentally and move on. Coming back with more tools is cleaner than wasting a long stretch trying to force a jump or route too early.

10. Keep High On Knife Separate

DLC content is not base-game progress.

High On Knife adds its own content and should be handled as a separate guide. If a weapon, bounty, location, or package note only appears after installing DLC, do not treat it as part of the base-game first clear.

Combat Priorities

Situation	First Move	Why It Helps
One gun feels weak	Swap weapons and test another ability	The room may be asking for a different tool
You are low on health	Keep moving and finish safer enemies	Drops can stabilize the fight
Enemies are grouped	Use abilities and weapon roles, not only basic shots	Crowd pressure gets easier when you vary tools
Projectile is readable	Try a Knifey deflect	Reflected attacks can punish without spending time chasing
Objective is unclear	Use the Info Scanner	It prevents wandering through cleared space
Chest appears during a fight	Clear enemies first	Searching while pressured wastes health

Exploration and Upgrades

1. Scanner: Use it for objectives first, then for nearby cleanup once the room is safe.
2. Pesos: Spend them on practical upgrades instead of waiting for a perfect list.
3. Health and shields: Keep collecting drops during fights; do not assume recovery will happen for free.
4. Movement tools: Revisit earlier spaces after new traversal options open up.
5. DLC boundaries: Treat High On Knife weapons, bounties, and package content as separate from this base-game route.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not use one gun for every encounter - Different rooms reward different weapon roles and abilities.

2. Do not save ammo that does not need saving - Collected guns have unlimited ammo, so pressure matters more than hoarding shots.

3. Do not ignore the Info Scanner - It is the fastest way to recover when a bounty space loops or branches.

4. Do not chase Luglox chests during active combat - Clear enemies, then scan and search.

5. Do not skip every upgrade purchase - Movement and survivability tools reduce friction across the whole playthrough.

6. Do not force deflects in messy rooms - Knifey is useful, but movement and weapon swapping are safer when timing is unclear.

7. Do not treat DLC notes as base-game instructions - High On Knife content should be routed separately.

8. Do not start completion cleanup before you understand traversal - Later tools make older areas easier to revisit.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Guns	Swap often and use each weapon’s role instead of staying on one favorite
Ammo	Keep pressure up because collected guns do not require ammo hoarding
Navigation	Use the Info Scanner whenever the route or cleanup target is unclear
Survival	Turn enemy drops and practical upgrades into momentum
Scope	Keep base-game advice separate from High On Knife DLC and exact completion routing