All Anacrusis perks are worth getting, but the best perks are game-changers that'll ensure you're beating back ETs long after any normal person would've gone down. Supplied by the regular Matter Compiler devices dotted around The Anacrusis, perks are powerful, if tragically temporary buffs that improve your abilities, add new ones, or help nullify alien attacks, depending on which ones you grab. That's why we've put together this list of what we think are all Anacrusis perks (though we'll add more if we discover them) for you to check out and look through, as well as some of the best perks to choose.
All The Anacrusis perks listed
As mentioned, this list is one we think is comprehensive, but we'll be sure to update it if we discover any more along the way, or if more are added in future updates. We've listed perks in alphabetical order, but after this we'll talk about the best ones for you to get, and where you can get them.
- Adrenaline Booster - move faster, take less damage and deal increased damage after using a health booster.
- Auto Charge - moves one shot from your ammo reserve into your gun, every few seconds.
- Blaster Amplifier - blaster shots affect a larger area.
- Blaster Upgrade - shots fired from the Blaster will have a larger range.
- Bounty Protocol - killing a marked enemy grants ammo for your primary weapon.
- Burstfire Pistol - fire three-shot bursts with your pistol.
- Charge Extender - primary weapon and pistol hold more charge between reloads.
- Criticality - enemies killed with critical hits explode.
- Defensive Goo - standing in goo protects you from damage.
- Fast Healing - use health scanners and revive downed allies faster.
- Fire Resistance - take less damage from fire.
- Goo Immunity - you are no longer slowed by enemy Goo.
- Goo Nullifier - move at full speed while on Alien Goo.
- Grenade Amplifier - Area of Effect for grenades is larger.
- Healing Goo - deploying goo grenades grants temporary health to nearby players.
- Health Extender - increase your maximum health by a small amount.
- Marked Protocol - pinging a special enemy grants a burst of adrenaline.
- Rescue Adrenaline - move faster, take less damage, and deal increased damage after an ally is downed or incapacitated.
- Reserve Extender - carry more ammunition for your primary weapon.
- Revive Adrenaline - take less damage and deal increased damage after you are downed or incapacitated.
- Penetrating Plasma - Plasma Rifle shots go through multiple enemies.
- Pulse Amplifier - the area of effect for your pulse is larger.
- Pulse Extender - gain an additional charge for your pulse.
- Pulse Extender 2 - gain another additional charge for your pulse.
- Pulse Recycler - Your pulse recharges faster after an ally pulses near you.
- Pulse Screen - after using pulse gain a protective screen that blocks one hit.
- SMB Tracking Rounds - shots fired with the SMB automatically track nearby targets.
- Special Charge Extender - special weapons come with more ammunition.
- Target Protocol - automatically ping special enemies while aiming down sights.
- Temp Health Stabilizer - temporary health decays much slower.
- Weapon Handling - switch weapons faster and move at full speed while aiming down sights.
- Weapon Stabilizer - all weapons have less recoil.
Best Anacrusis perks
The best perks in The Anacrusis are difficult to pick - those that are tied to specific equipment tend to be a little more powerful, but they're also, by their nature, more contextual and harder to make use of. Boosting your SMB is a good idea, especially considering it's one of the best Anacrusis guns, but if you have to drop it in the middle of a fight and grab a Blaster when your ammo runs dry, that perk becomes useless to you.
It's also important to remember that perks seem to reset at safehouse checkpoints, so creating a full-on build doesn't really seem viable at times, and that some perks are only unlocked as options when you have others (such as Pulse Extender and Pulse Extender 2). With all this in mind, here's some of the better perks for you to look out for, ones that we found useful when thick in the melee.
- Bounty Protocol - killing a marked enemy grants ammo for your primary weapon.
- Criticality - enemies killed with critical hits explode.
- Health Extender - increase your maximum health by a small amount.
- Marked Protocol - pinging a special enemy grants a burst of adrenaline.
- Rescue Adrenaline - move faster, take less damage, and deal increased damage after an ally is downed or incapacitated.
- Penetrating Plasma - Plasma Rifle shots go through multiple enemies.
- Pulse Amplifier - the area of effect for your pulse is larger.
- SMB Tracking Rounds - shots fired with the SMB automatically track nearby targets.
- Special Charge Extender - special weapons come with more ammunition.
How to get perks
Perks are only unlocked when you find a Matter Compiler, boxy little devices hidden around each level that are marked by the holographic question mark suspended over them. Each player who interacts with one will be presented with three random perks to choose from - you pick one, and you'll have it added to your character. You then can't use the Matter Compiler from that point (though other players can have their turn to get a single perk out of it too).
Matter Compiler are hidden about the levels, sometimes obvious, sometimes in smaller cubbies that you'll have to search for. But they do make a noise you can listen to which helps track them down. Make sure to ping one when you find it so all your teammates can use it too and sprint for it - at least as much as an Anacrusis sprint is possible.
