Let It Die: Learn How To Survive (For Free!) With 12 Beginner Tips

Let It Die might be F2P, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend real-life cash to make progress. Survive the Tower of Barbs with our 12 beginner tips designed to help new players understand every element of Let It Die.

Let It Die is another fever dream from Suda 51, the Japanese weirdo behind Killer 7, Killer Is Dead, and many more games with “Die” or “Kill” in the title. Let It Die strays from the formula, focusing on gameplay over story, though there’s still plenty of twisted moodiness to be found.

The central location of Let It Die is a massive tower called the Tower of Barbs, and your goal is to reach the top as you butcher everyone (and everything) in your way.It isn’t easy — actually, it’s pretty tough. Tough enough that we thought a beginner’s guide is the best way to bring new players up-to-speed. Keep scrolling to find our top tips to help make the first few hours of Let It Die easier.

More Let It Die tips, tricks & guides on Gameranx:

#1: Learn Your Opponents’ Patterns Before Attacking

Let It Die is all about bloody combat. As you explore the Tower of Barbs, you’ll encounter enemies that come in three types; Screamers, Haters, and Tubers. Just about any weapons will work, and your Weapon Mastery progress is saved across all character — you won’t lose Weapon Mastery progress if you die. What weapon you want to learn is all up to you, but before diving into combat with an opponent, you’ll always want to observe.

Screamers are basic undead. They use the same weapon classes as your Fighter.
Haters are undead player characters. They’re extremely dangerous and will use Rage Moves. Be very careful when approaching a Hater!
Tubers are a different species altogether. These robotic monstrosities appear in many forms throughout the tower.

Tap [R3] to lock-on to an opponent. Stay back, and watch their attacks — for instance, a Screamer with an Iron Hammer equipped will often swing twice. Enemies with Red-Hot Irons will pause after thrusting the weapon forward, and Firework Launchers fire their slow-moving projectiles periodically.

Always watch an enemy to see what it does, and how it attacks. After it completes an attack or a combo, strike back! Attacking a Screamer, Hater or Tuber will temporarily stun them, allowing you to complete a combo. Often, you’ll get a chance to enter into a second combo before they can fight back.

#2: Died? Don’t Worry! There Are 3 Ways to Recover

Death is common in Let It Die, but don’t worry — it isn’t the end of the world. If you die, you’ll lose access to your fighter and all the equipment that fighter clone was carrying. But you can still recover. There are three ways to bring your undead fighter back.

Spend (1) Death Metal. These are rare and cost real-world money. If you die, you’ll get a chance to spend a Death Metal for an instant revive.
Use the Fighter Freezer and select “Recover” for 6,000 Kill Coins. This will teleport your lost fighter (and all the gear in their inventory) back to the Fighter Freezer.
Defeat the Hater-ized Fighter on the floor where they died. Return to the floor and defeat the Hater-ized version — they’ll randomly spawn somewhere in the area.

While Death Metals are the most convenient way of coming back to life, they’re not the only way. You can still continue your progress with any lost Fighter by spending Kill Coins at the Fighter Freezer, or braving the dangerous heights of the Tower of Barb to bring your Hater-ized Fighter back to the fold.

#3: The Waiting Room — Everything You Need to Know

The Waiting Room is where the magic happens. You’ll want to check into the Waiting Room daily for rewards. Open the Reward Box and the Uncle Death present near the escalator to grab plenty of prizes. Some of the best R&D stuff might come directly from these free resources. Here’s a short list of all the services the Waiting Room offers:

Check The Reward Box Daily
Collect Your Present From Uncle Death Every 20 Hours
Level Up At Mingo Head
Bring R&D Blueprints to the Shop
Heal At the Arcade Portal Fountain.

Mingo Head can only raise a Fighter up to Level 25 in the first section of the Tower of Barbs. Standing in the center of the fountain will heal your fighter up to 100%. There’s also the elevators — you’ll notice there are two elevators. One costs Kill Coins to use, while the express gold elevator is only available to those with a subscription to the Express Membership. The cost to travel in the regular elevator is pretty low, so there’s really no need to spend real-world money to travel.

#4: Go Prepared — Why You’ll Want to Purchase R&D Items

Unlocking items to purchase at the shop isn’t so easy. You’ll need R&D Blueprints, crafting materials, and SPLithium. SPLithium is obtained by completing quests or defeating Haters. If you have enough of everything, you can unlock R&D projects — after the timer runs down, you’ll be able to purchase fresh items from the shop.

Why is buying from the shop important?: Items purchased from the shop have 100% durability. Armor and weapons will last much, much longer if purchased from the store compared to items found in the tower.

Items are expensive when you buy from shops, but you’ll find there’s no reason not to spend up a storm. You have a 40,000 Kill Coin storage limit, and any points you earn beyond that limit will be permanently lost. There’s no reason not to spend Kill Coins at the store if you’re already at the limit. Buy better items and store them to free up space in your cash storage before going on another expedition in the tower.

#5: The Fighter Freezer — Buy More Fighters!

At the start of the game, you’ll have access to three Fighter slots in the Fighter Freezer. There are different types of Fighters available in the Depot — All-Rounder, Collector, and Striker. You’ll want to get one of each type. New Fighters are available to purchase for 1,000 Kill Coins each.

All-Rounder: 20 item slots and normal stats.
Collector: 30 item slots and normal stats.
Striker: 18 item slots and increased strength.

Don’t just grab 3 Fighters — you’ll want to use them, too! A Level 1 Fighter is no match for a Level 25 Fighter. Try to swap Fighters so no one falls far behind. If one of your Fighters become a Hater, it’ll be difficult to get them back without equally-tough alternates to choose. The Fighter Freezer is also where you can spend 6,000 Kill Coins to restore a lost Fighter.

#6: Beware Mid-Bosses — Don’t Rush In Without Preparing

Mid-Bosses are dangerous opponents you’ll find on certain floors on your quest to climb the Tower of Barbs, but you’ll never have to enter a boss battle unprepared. While on the map, look for areas marked with a skull icon. That denotes that a mid-boss is located on that floor. If that wasn’t enough, floors with middle bosses are covered in blood. It’s impossible to miss.

Look for unique rooms with open gates — large chambers are usually easy to spot, and boss arenas are always associated with a specific boss.
- COEN appears in an open subway terminal waiting area.
- JIN-DIE spawns inside a large area with pillars and a high ceiling.

Before rushing into a mid-boss, return to the Waiting Room. Drop off valuable blueprints and crafting materials, sell your junk, grab some healing items, and purchase fresh armor from the shop. It’s all worth it in the end.

#7: Listen For Animals — Croaks, Squeaks and Hisses

Speaking of healing items, the most common you’ll find in the Tower of Barbs are beasts. These wild animals scurry about, making loud (and distinct!) sounds. Frogs croak, rats squeak, and scorpions hiss loudly wherever they are located. Smash open wooden crates and look in every corner to spot these guys.

To catch a beast press [L3] while standing still to crouch. While crouched, approach a beast and press [X] to grab them. You can place the item in your inventory or eat it on the spot for a quick health boost.
- Not all animals are easy to catch. To grab a scorpion, stand over it (not crouched!) and press [X] to stomp it. After two stomps, the scorpion will be stunned. While stunned, you can crouch and collect it.

These healing items are extremely valuable, and the more you find, the longer you’ll last as you explore the tower. As a bonus tip, toss animals into fires to cook the item for an instant upgrade. Learn more about cooking, and where you can get lots of healing items in the next entry.

#8: Need Healing Items? Raid 1F TAMARA (And Cook!)

Low on healing items? 1F TAMARA is the first floor in the game, and the first two rooms are populated by 2-5 frogs, ripe for the picking. All you have to deal with are a couple of Mk. 1 Tubers — some of the easiest, slowest enemies in the game. No problem, right? Even a Lvl. 1 Fighter can handle this run.

For an added healing bonus, take your Frogs and throw them into a fire. Cooking a frog will upgrade them — instead of Restore HP (S), they become Restore HP (M).
- To cook a frog, select it from the quick-select item menu (Upper Right Corner of your HUD) by swiping on the PS4 controller touchpad. Once the frog is selected, press on the left side of the touchpad to prepare a throw. Press X to throw.
You’ll find a cook fire in the waiting room, next to the dancing Mushroom Magistrate.

There are more cooking locations — basically anywhere you find a fire, you can cook your beasts or mushrooms. Often it leads to an upgrade, but any mushrooms meant for causing damage (explosives, poison, etc) will be less pleasant.

#9: Sneak Up On Enemies For A Devastating Suplex

Let It Die might not look like a stealth game, but utilizing stealth will help immensely as you progress up through the tower. To enter stealth mode, press [L3] to crouch. Your movement will be quieter, and enemies won’t attack as long as they don’t see you. If you spot a Screamer or a Hater patrolling that hasn’t spotted you yet, try sneaking up behind them.

If you sneak behind an opponent, press [X] to unleash a devastating suplex. Press [X] while standing over a grounded opponent to stomp. If you’re above an enemy that hasn’t noticed you, crouch and press [X] when the prompt appears to unleash a hurricanrana from above.

This is, by far, the safest way to deal with Haters. These tough opponents usually patrol, making Haters a perfect target for powerful sneak attacks. Wipe them out before a fight even begins.

#10: Save Rage Charges For Multiple-Enemy Encounters

See that meter next to your health bar on the HUD? That’s the Rage Meter — you’ll be able to save up to three Rage charges. Holding [Triangle] and pressing an attack button [L2 / R2] will unleash a powerful Rage move. Don’t waste these precious charges against middling Screamers or Tubers.

Rage Charges give your Fighter armor, meaning attacks won’t interrupt a Rage attack. That’s why Rage attacks are perfect for groups of multiple enemies. Dealing with two or more enemies at once is very difficult in Let It Die, and Rage moves are the only safe way to stun groups — if you don’t have explosive mushrooms.

Rage attacks are also a perfect solution for tricky Haters. Like you, Haters also have Rage charges, so if you’re worried about an instant death attack, a preemptive Rage attack can save your bacon.

#11: Accept Quests For Extra Rewards At The Arcade

From the Fountain in the Waiting Room, you can access the Arcade. This strange area offers hints, backstory entries, and the quest menu. Quests will unlock as you reach new floors in the Tower of Barbs and you can accept up to 10 quests at any given time.

Quests are small tasks / challenges you can complete while exploring the Tower of Barbs for bonus rewards. While quests aren’t required, and you won’t get amazing gifts for completing them, they’re still worthwhile challenges to accept. Many of these quests are easy to complete. For example: kill 10 Haters, kill 30 Tubers, or collect 5 frogs.

#12: Direct Hell Service — You Don’t Need to Spend Money!

The final piece of the Let It Die puzzle is the “DH Service” market. This is where most of the F2P elements appear, and where you can spend real-world money to buy Death Metals, the currency of the DH Service store. DH Service is accessed from the pause menu in-game, and there are six features you can use.

Access Playstation Store (Used to purchase Death Metals with real-world cash.)
Convert Death Metals (Converts Death Metals into Kill Coins.)
Expand Storage (Trade 2 Death Metals to expand the Storage Chest by 10 slots.)
Use Express Pass (Become an Express Member, giving you access to extra rewards and the gold elevator.)
Auto-Renew (Select to auto-renew your Express Membership with any Express Passes you possess.)
Currency Details (A breakdown of all your currently held currency.)

The thing is, you’ll never need to become an Express Member to survive. The only useful feature in the DH Service menu is “Expand Storage” — those extra storage slots are absolutely worth 2 Death Metals. Don’t worry, you’ll earn new Death Metals as you log in daily or during special events. You’ll never need to spend a cent on Death Metals in Let It Die… unless you really want to.

After about 10 hours of playing Let It Die, I wish someone explained some of these mechanics to me. If there’s something we missed, let us know in the comments! Until then, see you in the Tower of Barbs, fighter.