The Overgrowth is the procedurally generated wilderness inHyper Light Breakerthat you must conquer if you want to beat the game. Naturally, it’s swarming with enemies, bosses, and all manner of environmental traps. But, it’s also peppered with hidden treasures and weapons as well. Navigating it with ease is key to your success.

At first glance, however, knowing where to start in the Overgrowth can be tricky, especially on your first few runs. What should you prioritize? And, more importantly, what should you avoid? This guide has everything you need to know to navigate the Overgrowth like a champ and make your way successfully to the Abyss King.

Hyper Light Breaker’s UI Loadout screen showing various items and stats with different powerups.

Hyper Light Breaker is currently in Early Access, meaning this information is subject to change with the release of the full game.

How To Prepare For The Overgrowth

Before diving headfirst into danger in the Overgrowth, it’s important tomake sure you have the right loadout.Of course,the right loadout means different things to different players.

But,your loadout will determine the type of runyou’re going to do in the Overgrowth. Strategically speaking,your runs should fall into one of three categories.

A map of the Overgrowth in Hyper Light breaker showing various icons and a map legend.

Resource Gathering

If your loadout is looking a bit thin, focus your run on gathering new Rails, Blades, and other resources in preparation for your next run.

Prism Hunting

Once you’ve got a decent loadout, head for Prisms to take on deadly foes and begin unlocking Crown arenas.

Crown Rush

With a good loadout in hand and the right amount of Prisms, you’ll find it’s time to take on the map’s Crowns, which are Hyper Light Breaker’s bosses.

As you start Hyper Light Breaker, prioritize resource-gathering runs first before throwing yourself into heavy combat situations.

A Breaker in Hyper Light Breaker in combat with an Assassin character in a snowy backdrop.

How To Navigate The Overgrowth

When you first land in the Overgrowth,you’ll see several icons on the map.

If this is your first run in a new cycle,the game’s UI will also show you where the Crowns are, or the map’s bosses.

One of the crowns, or bosses, in Hyper Light Breaker, a monster in a large colosseum.

Here’s a breakdown of all the iconsand what you’ll find at each location.

Enemies or traversal puzzles guarding a Prism.

The word “success” in bright green lettering, indicating a successful extraction in Hyper Light Breaker.

Buy supplies like Amps, Armor, or Medkits here.

New amps and more for your loadout.

New armor and more for your loadout.

Typically, Materials or other resources.

What Should You Do First?

Now that you have a basic understanding of how to read the map, you might be wondering: what should I do first?

Hyper Light Breaker’s tutorial tells players thatPrisms are the primary objective.This is true to an extent,but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the only thing worth doing.

Though Prisms are important, you shouldn’t head straight to them.

While some Prisms are earned simply through exploring, most Prisms are earned after a difficult combat challenge.

Usually, these items are guarded by the most fearsome enemies on the map. That means, going in empty-handed to earn a Prism is never a good idea.

So, what should you prioritize?It all depends on your loadoutand what you’re struggling with. Depending on what your Breaker already has, here’s what you should prioritize.

What To Prioritize

Prioritize locations like Equipment to find new Armor to shore up your defense.

Or, hunt down Medigems and converting them to Medkits at Shrines. This will help ensure your survival.

Look for new weapons at Rail and Blade icons.

You can also head to Utiltity areas to find Amps which can aid you in combat.

Head to Stashes to find Materials and other Resources to help upgrade your Breaker back at the Cursed Outpost.

Additionally, though not marked on the map, look for hidden Drop Down Labs (glowing purple platforms) to find Golden Rations which help upgrade your Breaker.

Each Crown has a certain Prism prerequisiteto access it. In order to defeat all of the map’s Crowns, you’ll need to get every Prism.

But,once you’ve gotten enough Prismsto tackle a certain Crown,that doesn’t necessarily mean you should head straight for them.

In boss fights, there are often additoinal smaller enemies running around the arena. It’s a good idea to have an Amp that offers backup firepower to deal with these enemies.

Make sure you havea good Rail, a good Blade, and a decent Holobyte loadoutas well. It’s also a good idea tomake sure you have at least one Medkit on you.

When To Extract

Real heroes know when to throw in the towel. That’s not to suggest that you should extract right away, butstay too long in the Overgrowth and you may live to regret it.

That’s why it’s important toextract early and extract often. Runs can be only a few minutes long if you desire.

Here are someexamples of times when it’s a good idea to extract.

The Danger Meter is found in the upper left corner of the hub, and goes up the longer you stay in the Overgrowth. The higher this meter goes, more enemies will spawn in addition to random events.

Remember, if you extract,you get to keep all your collected resourcesandyour weapon durability won’t decrease.But,if you die, you’ll lose a life in the cycleand lose resources.