The Wasteland is a harsh place to survive, especially for new players. You’ll need to pair your survival skills with excellent hand to hand and vehicular combat prowess if you have any chance at survival. Luckily Max is already a pretty tough hombre, but he’s not invincible and the enemy’s ranks are relentless in their pursuit and numbers. If you’ve just been dropped into the desert with nothing but your wits and a car, here are some beginner tips you may find helpful.

Collect All the Scrap You Can

Scrap is used for absolutely everything in Mad Max. It’s used to upgrade your car, it’s used to upgrade your abilities, and it’s used to perform “quick fixes” of your ride if you’re in a tight spot. Having a plentiful supply of Scrap will ensure you’re ready to take on any challenge, be it on foot or on four wheels.

We’ve compiled a list of the most effective ways to gather scrap in this handy guide. Check it out for more info!

Don’t Waste Ammunition

Seriously, you can only have 2 or 3 shots on you max until you upgrade the ammo belt later on in the game. Save your ammunition for the really tough enemies. Ammunition is also a scarce drop, giving you an additional reason to conserve it.

Make Sure You Have Water

As you can imagine water gets a little scarce in the Wasteland. Top up whenever you can so you’ll always have an extra bar of health waiting to be restored. There’s nothing worse than getting half way through a story mission or camp battle and only having a sliver of health left.

You can refill your canteen at the various water collection stations you’ll find along your journey. Just look for the water droplet symbol on the mini-map.

Go to Griffa Whenever You have Points to Spend

You use Griffa points to upgrade things like maximum health and how much scrap you pick up from scrap drops. It’s important to use these points whenever you have them because they will make your life a whole lot easier in the long run. Putting some points into bonus scrap drops early on will allow you to maximize your scrap gathering power throughout the entire game.

When in doubt, put points into maximum health.

Destroy Camps As Early as Possible

Camps are great because they not only reduce the influence over the area when destroyed, they will provide you with a regular income. For every camp you liberate you will receive an additional 20 scrap every ten minutes of game time. Taking over these camps early will maximize the amount of scrap you get in a play session, leading to more upgrades earlier.

Prepare to Counter

The melee combat in Mad Max is pretty straight forward once you get the hang of it. Groups of enemies won’t attack you all at once so all you have to do is focus on one enemy and be ready to tap the “counter” button when one of the others comes in for a shot. So long as you hit the counter button in time the bad guys can’t touch you.

There are tougher opponents that can’t be countered however. These guys will have a flashing red symbol above their head before they strike. To avoid their attacks use your roll to get out of the way. After that you can keep on pummelling.

Master the Harpoon

Your harpoon is great for dismantling enemy vehicles. Bring up the targeting reticule and then tear chunks of the enemy ride off at your leisure. Once you’ve got enough armor off you’ll be able to target weak spots like the gas tank, wheels, and even the driver.

For lightly armored cars it’s often best to focus immediately on the driver for a quick finish. This is especially useful if you’re just on the way to another mission and have no time for a lengthy road battle.