Atomic Heart becomes very different after the opening hours, where you’re trapped in a vast underground complex. Once you reach the surface, you’ll have to contend with even more enemies. Robots respawn constantly due to deployed repair drones, and cameras can raise the alert level to call in reinforcements whenever you’re spotted. Exploring on the surface can be incredibly dangerous, and if you’re not watching your back, you can easily get ambushed by wandering enemies. That makes sneaking into houses for valuable loot difficult.
Luckily, there is a way to disable the infinite enemy problem. By located security towers, you can find and unlock HAWK Relays, which can be hacked to disable every robot in a large area. That includes security cameras. The drones will eventually repair the HAWK Relay and reinstate all those security measures, but disabling the relay does give you a temporary time where you can fully explore the grounds without worrying about any enemies at all. Even the biggest robotic bad guys are disabled. It took us an inordinate amount of time to figure out how this process works, so check out these steps to make your life way easier, way sooner.
More Atomic Heart guides:
All Vavilov Complex Blueprint Locations | Testing Ground 1 Puzzle Solutions | How To Use Cartridge Modules | How To Increase Inventory | Testing Ground 1 Guide | Testing Ground 2 Guide | Testing Ground 6 Guide | Testing Ground 8 Guide | Testing Ground 9 Guide | Testing Ground 10 Guide | Testing Ground 11 Guide | Testing Ground 12 Guide
How To Disable Security | Open-World Exploration Tip
After escaping the Vavilov Complex, you’ll have to explore an open world that’s incredibly dangerous. Enemies are literally everywhere — and more will drop in if you’re caught on camera. If you’re sick of sneaking around, there’s a way to disable all enemies in a region.
Before getting into that, let’s explain how Repair Drones and Security Alerts work.
- Drones will fully repair anything in range of the HAWK tower. Anything in this area will be eventually repaired by drones.
- After destroying an enemy, the robot will glow blue. This means a repair drone will be deployed to fix it eventually.
- To avoid raising an alarm, you only need to avoid cameras. Enemies will not raise your alert level. You can make as much noise as you want.
- To avoid cameras, use [Shok] to temporarily disable them. Upgrading [Shok] effectiveness range is incredibly useful for avoiding enemy fights and disabling cameras.
With enemies everywhere constantly hounding you, fully exploring a region can be difficult. Unlocking doors with puzzle locks is a pain when enemies are on your tail. To avoid a long fight, you can temporarily disable everything in an entire area for many minutes. It won’t last forever, but by disabling everything, you’ll make exploration so much easier.
- How To Disable All Security & Enemies In A Region:
- Use the scan function. Scan any camera — a line will appear, pointing toward the linking tower. The HAWK Relay is a structure that watches over an entire area of the map.
- Follow the line and look for a tower. Stand on the circle at the base of the tower to ride the lift up and into the tower.
- Hack the terminal inside to gain access to all the security cameras in the region.
- Use a camera with a view on the HAWK Relay. The HAWK Relay is a white structure with a locked door. From the camera, you can interact with the relay and unlock the door.
- After unlocking the door, you can then travel to the HAWK Relay and hack it. Hacking the relay disables all security cameras and enemies in the entire region. Even the enemies will be out of commission.
NOTE: You must complete your first open-world mission for Granny before you gain the ability to hack HAWK drones. After leaving the Vavilov Complex, Granny will contact you on the radio after exploring and finding the exit. She’ll give you an upgrade to your hacking ability and a blueprint.
Disabling enemies and security in an area is very useful, especially this early in the game. You won’t be able to do it right away, but if you’ve left the open-world village area, you’ll be able to start hacking terminals. Start doing this as early as possible to make exploring the open world much less dangerous.