Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Beginner Tips - Weapons, Raritanium, and Collectibles

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart by Insomniac Games is a fast action-platforming shooter about hopping between dimensions, swapping weapons constantly, and turning collectible cleanup into stronger gear. The PC version was developed with Nixxes Software and published on Steam by PlayStation Publishing LLC, while the PS5 product is listed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

This guide covers first-clear and early-cleanup fundamentals rather than a full walkthrough, all-collectibles route, ranked weapon tier list, trophy route, or PC performance comparison.

Essential Tips

1. Rotate Weapons Instead of Maining One Gun

Weapon use drives weapon levels, and higher levels open more upgrade potential.

Do not treat the first comfortable weapon as your whole build. Use the weapon wheel, cycle through newer tools, and give low-level weapons enough combat time to grow. A balanced arsenal is safer than one overused weapon with everything else underleveled.

2. Break Crates and Loose Objects for Bolts

Bolts are the basic economy for buying new weapons.

Smash crates, sweep side spaces, and break environmental objects as you move. You do not need to grind every corner on a first pass, but skipping obvious breakables slows weapon purchases and makes Ms. Zurkon visits less useful.

3. Treat Raritanium as Upgrade Fuel

Raritanium is for weapon nodes, not general spending.

When you find Raritanium caches, turn that material into upgrades at Ms. Zurkon instead of letting it pile up. Upgrade grids improve weapon stats, and higher weapon levels reveal more nodes.

4. Build Toward Gold-Cell Bonuses

Special upgrade cells are worth planning around.

On the weapon upgrade grid, do not only buy random cheap nodes. If a gold-cell bonus is visible, buy the surrounding nodes so the special bonus unlocks. These bonuses can change how a weapon behaves, not just raise a number.

5. Keep a Crowd-Control Option Ready

Some fights are easier when enemies are interrupted or thinned out.

The Topiary Sprinkler is officially named as part of the arsenal and is also called out by a weapon-upgrade guide as a strong arena helper. Pair control tools with direct-damage weapons so you can stop a swarm, reposition, then finish targets safely.

6. Use Movement as Defense

Rift Apart expects you to fight while moving.

Use double jumps, gliding/running, Phantom Dash, battlefield rifts, and walls or corners to manage incoming fire. In Challenge Mode, protecting the bolt multiplier matters, so movement mistakes cost more than health.

7. Do Not Over-Clean Before the Map-O-Matic

Heavy cleanup gets easier after the pirate gauntlet side quest reward.

The Map-O-Matic shows hidden collectables, so it is usually better to keep moving through the campaign and return with better tools than to scour every early map blindly.

8. Collect Armor for Bonuses, Not Just Looks

Armor bonuses are passive once collected.

You do not need to wear a full set visually to benefit from its acquired passive bonus. One, two, and three pieces improve a set bonus from 5% to 10% to 20%, so armor pods are practical upgrades as well as cosmetics.

9. Prepare Resource Armor Before Challenge Mode

Challenge Mode rewards cleaner economy planning.

Before starting Challenge Mode, prioritize the sets that improve bolts, Raritanium, and XP: Carbonox Advanced, Lombax Praetorian, and Captain Starshield. Those bonuses help the next run snowball faster.

10. Save Gold Bolt Cheats for Cleanup

Gold Bolts unlock fun options, but many are late rewards.

Gold Bolt unlocks include cosmetics and cheats, with major cheats such as infinite health and infinite ammo near the end of the Gold Bolt unlock list. Treat those as cleanup and replay tools, not as a first-clear plan.

Combat and Upgrade Tips

1. Open fights with space in mind: Enter arenas looking for rifts, corners, and routes before you empty your first magazine.
2. Use control before burst damage: Turn dangerous groups into manageable targets, then switch to heavier damage.
3. Spend Raritanium on weapons you actually use: A scattered grid across weapons you ignore will not help the next hard fight.
4. Level newer weapons early: The longer you wait to try a new tool, the more likely it is to lag behind your core kit.
5. Keep automated weapons purposeful: Automated tools can thin crowds and reduce pressure, but do not rely on them as your only source of progress.
6. Protect the Challenge Mode multiplier: Small enemies can build it quickly, but one hit resets it, so survival and positioning matter more than greedy attacks.

Collectible Cleanup

Category	Why It Matters	Beginner Habit
Gold Bolts	Unlock cosmetics and cheats from the menu	Grab obvious ones, then clean up with Map-O-Matic help
Armor Pods	Add armor pieces and passive set bonuses	Enter pocket dimensions when you find them
Spybots	Track toward the RYNO-related reward path	Check every planet route and late-game space carefully
CraiggerBears	Full-set trophy collectible outside the main collectibles menu	Look in story spaces before leaving a planet hub
Blizon Crystals	Count toward a full trophy-relevant set	Recheck dimension-shift paths on Blizar and Cordelion
Zurpstones	Tied to Sargasso’s Trudi activity	Finish the activity deliberately instead of mixing it with random cleanup
Lorbs	Savali side cleanup with partial trophy relevance	Keep them separate from main story progression
Glitch Challenges	Small hacking challenges with trophy relevance	Finish available terminals before final cleanup

The first cleanup rule is to separate “found on the way” from “planned sweep.” Take collectibles that are directly in front of you, but save the exhaustive sweep for when the Map-O-Matic and traversal upgrades make the map easier to read.

PC and PS5 Feature Notes

Rift Apart has different platform strengths, so choose settings based on where you are playing:

Platform	Feature Scope	Practical Habit
PS5	SSD-based fast loading, DualSense haptics, adaptive triggers, 3D audio, ray tracing, dynamic 4K/HDR, and a Performance Mode targeting 60 fps	Pick graphics/performance and controller settings before long sessions
PC	Ultrawide support, unlocked frame rates, ray-traced reflections and shadows, DLSS 3, FSR 2, XeSS, Temporal Injection, Reflex, DLAA, scalable graphics options, mouse/keyboard, controllers, and wired DualSense support	Test visuals, input, and performance in early areas before relying on one setup

Do not assume PC and PS5 behave identically. The same guide fundamentals apply, but graphics options, input behavior, ultrawide framing, controller feedback, and performance tuning need platform-specific checks.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not buy only one kind of weapon - Different enemies and arenas reward different ranges, firing patterns, and control tools.

2. Do not leave new weapons unused - A late-start weapon can feel weak simply because you never leveled it.

3. Do not spend Raritanium randomly - Work toward useful nodes and gold-cell bonuses instead of scattering upgrades without a plan.

4. Do not skip obvious crates and breakables - Bolts and Raritanium support the whole weapon economy.

5. Do not ignore armor pods - Passive armor bonuses help even when you choose a different visual outfit.

6. Do not full-clear every planet before getting better cleanup tools - Map-O-Matic-guided cleanup is more efficient than blind sweeping.

7. Do not face-tank Challenge Mode for faster kills - Losing the bolt multiplier costs more than a cautious dodge.

8. Do not forget platform settings - Check graphics, performance, input, and controller options before judging how the game feels.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Weapons	Rotate the arsenal so more weapons level naturally
Bolts	Break crates and objects to fund purchases
Raritanium	Spend it through Ms. Zurkon with gold-cell bonuses in mind
Armor	Collect pieces for passive bonuses even if you do not wear them
Collectibles	Save exhaustive cleanup for Map-O-Matic and better traversal
Challenge Mode	Protect the 20x bolt multiplier with movement and positioning
PC/PS5	Tune platform settings early and avoid assuming parity