Highguard has been out for just over a day at this point, and players from all sides of the shooter space are still trying out new things and attempting to learn the ropes of one of the more interesting FPS games released in recent times. The game does have a pretty decent tutorial, and the core gameplay loop is fairly straightforward to understand, but below the surface, there are a lot of different mechanics, techs, and additional details that can be incredibly valuable to the success of a player during a match.
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Some of these things are obscure tooltips that many players might have missed or undervalued, while others are seemingly not mentioned within Highguard, meaning that many people could go play for dozens of hours without ever realizing they exist. For those wanting to level up their game, it is incredibly important to understand and make use of all these different tricks, as they can quickly turn an average player into an exceptional one.
While we will highlight some things that are not directly touched upon by the game, the main focus is on mechanics and tricks that are more important than they might seem.
Good Defense = Offense
Dishing Out Damage Even On The Back Foot
Details:
- Damage dealt to the enemy base on a successful defense
- Losing the Shieldbreaker isn't everything
The primary gamemode of Highguard revolves around a slight variation of attack and defense. One team manages to grab the Shieldbreaker and push to the enemy base, while the other team has to be ready to fight back and hopefully make it through the offense. That initial loop is pretty easy to grasp, but where the mode differs is how the defenders can actually make some ground on the enemy's base, without ever even touching it.
By successfully defending against the onslaught of attacks, the defending team gets rewarded with a nice chunk of damage on the enemy base, which can either even up the scoreboard, begin a comeback, or win the entire match in itself. Knowing this information adds so much more importance to a successful defense, as the benefit isn't just staying alive, but can potentially be the team's win condition.
Don't Underestimate The Movement Tech
Scaling Every Surface Imaginable
Details:
- Wall climbs, and momentum carries
- Seamless transition to ziplines
Movement is a pretty vital part of any good shooter, and in Highguard, that fact remains true. It is one thing to have a good shot, but if the other player can use their footwork to gain an advantage, even seemingly winnable fights can turn the other way in a matter of moments, purely due to some techy movement.
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One of the biggest aspects for players to start using is wall climbing, which is something every character has access to right from the start. Beyond just a mantle, this lets players scale much taller structures than they would otherwise be able to, and while there is still a limit, the potential is pretty crazy. Players can also get sneaky with their mount usage, quickly hopping on and off to increase their mobility and quickly close the gaps on enemies that would otherwise feel pretty damn safe.
Animation Cancels
Getting Straight Back Into The Action
Details:
- Reload cancels
- Chaining movement alongside swap animations
Good FPS players are always on the hunt for new ways of optimizing their gameplay, and a common way of achieving this is in the form of animation cancels. It doesn't matter if it's to cut out a reload animation, speed up utility, or to help with traversal; shaving a few extra seconds off of every fight can drastically improve the player's chance of winning, and Highguard has plenty of examples where this kind of tech works incredibly well.
For starters, there are quite a few different cancels that players can do when mounting and dismounting that can reduce their downtime significantly and help them to keep moving. The movement options continue, as players can easily leap to ziplines and remove the awkward pauses, with very little input needed, which can let them go from ground level to a higher position and be ready to shoot before anyone can even react.
Loot Gathering & Repeating
Simpler Than It May Seem
Details:
- Fast mining strategies
- Simplistic loot loop
The looting mechanic in Highguard is pretty interesting, and it is very important to understand how it works. The in-game resource Vesper governs what weapons, armor, and utility that players can purchase within the match, but they don't have an infinite amount of time to go mining. Therefore, it is important to master the timing of the swings and understand that after a successful chain, they can then instantly finish off the next one with a powerful blow.
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When it comes to the actual item chests, things are much simpler than they appear. The two categories are outlined right at the start, being red for guns and blue for armor, yet the hunting is even more streamlined, letting players gear up almost instantly without needing to spam more boxes for better items. The only time they need to repeat the looting is at the start of a new phase, as that's when the tiers increase and when players should get back out there and grab the next level to improve their overall power.
Don't Ignore Supply Drops
An Extra Boost At The Start Of A Round
Details:
- Higher-tiered loot
- Priority objective to fight over
The tutorial of the game covers a lot of fundamentals about the game, but something it doesn't mention is supply drops. These loot containers appear randomly throughout the match and actually contain an exclusive red tier of items that are significantly stronger than the others.
Many players will be too busy looting and mining for resources to even think about grabbing the drop, but considering how quick it is to nab and how good the rewards are, it is almost a no-brainer to focus on it whenever the sound cue plays. As players get better, the focus on it will become stronger, but it is still best to always think about it during that prep phase to give the team a significant boost.
Distinct Traders
Different Loadouts Across The World
Details:
- Higher-tiered loot
- Priority objective to fight over
The shop mechanic in Highguard is one of its most distinctive aspects. Rather than just buying a loadout at the start of every round and acquiring resources through kills and objective plays, players can instead spend their hard-earned money at any point in a round at one of the traders scattered around the map and in the bases.
The more important detail is that the traders actually have distinct inventories from the ones in the spawn, meaning that certain guns might be tucked away at a far corner of the map, forcing players to go out of their way to grab a cool new sniper or a hefty shotgun. Also, as the match progresses, the shop tiers gradually rise over time, so even if players are happy with their loadout, they should always look to bump it up as soon as they can during the looting phase or any other moments of quiet.
Armor Vs Helmets (And The Need To Constantly Improve Them)
Check Those Finer Details
Details:
- Head protection vs additional health
- Minor advantages for higher-tiered gear
Defensive stats often take a backseat to the damage numbers, as players don't really care how much punishment they can take so long as they can dish out plenty themselves. Highguard handles armor in a very specific way that is split into two categories: resistance and HP. The actual chestplates that players grab throughout a match provide them an effective boost to their overall health pool, with the higher tiers providing even more survivability from a purely health-based perspective.
Helmets, on the other hand, provide damage resistance solely to the head, which makes them equally important to prioritize when going into a fight. Like everything else, the tiers of these items only go up over time, and if players aren't paying attention, they can suddenly lose an otherwise favorable gunfight, purely due to the enemy having spent a few extra seconds looting for that slightly better gear.
Highguard
- Released
- January 26, 2026
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Wildlight Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Wildlight Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Action, Multiplayer
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
