Stop Dying in Far Far West — 6 Tips That Actually Keep You Alive on Nightmare
Essential tips for new Far Far West players: life steal priority, movement chains, equipment leveling, cactus turret builds, and electric wisp combos. Gathered from 3 playtests worth of experience.
YEEHAW! A new horde shooting, rooting, tootin, and joker card looting western shooter by a small dev team has hit Steam and somehow it's peak. Evil Raptor has been running play tests for quite some time, and finally on April 28th, Far Far West dropped for everyone. If you're looking for a game to try this weekend, here's everything you need to know to fill those big boots.
Why This Game Hits Different
With satisfying movement and tons of builds, it genuinely feels like a breath of fresh air. The guns are all fun (except one — you'll figure out which). There's a roguelike element partnered with the gameplay and tons of Jokers to switch up styles. Spells combo with each other to clean the undead with ease.
There's not really a word I can use other than "passion" to describe this game's existence. Not every dev can put love into their game AND show it. There's so much in here, and it feels great to play.
Think Deep Rock Galactic's mission structure with cowboys and robots. Gunfire Reborn vibes but with way more build variety.
Tip #1: Survivability Is Everything
Survivability is number one in a horde shooter. If you're starting the game, staying alive can be tough. Here's how to make leeway:
Max out life steal on your secondary. I don't care what secondary you pick — the number one tip is to max out life steal on it. If you don't have a reliable way to get your health back, you are in for a big surprise. It sucks without it.
If things are looking rough, you can always fall back on old reliable to give you that pinch of HP you need.
Tip #2: Movement Is King
Movement is key in Far Far West. You can bunny hop and chain multiple jumps and dashes together to keep yourself safe. If you can get your timing right and keep above and out of reach of enemies, you're going to survive more than most.
Use your spells for mobility too — the impulse grenade is hard to take off once you get used to it. You can ride waves across the map.
Tip #3: Use Everything — It All Levels Up
Everything you have gets stronger the more you use it. Use all your guns, and if your spells are off cooldown, make sure to fire them. You'll unlock more perks for each weapon, your character, and spells if you frequently use your equipment.
Don't just main one weapon — rotate through your kit to level everything up.
Tip #4: Cactus Turrets Are Slept On
The cactus turret is real helpful. You can have up to two at a time and imbue them with elements:
- Acid damage turrets melt groups
- Fire damage turrets for sustained burn
- Even a 5% chance to proc electric on your turret can chain into insane combos
It distracts enemies, deals damage, and farms XP for you. Plants vs Zombies build, essentially.
Tip #5: Electric Wisp Is a Nuke
Wisp plus electricity is a freaking banger. When your wisp procs electric, it becomes a nuke. If you throw it on an enemy in the air, he becomes an aerial drone — that's cool as hell.
Also discovered: the game doesn't turn enemies into bullet sponges on higher difficulties. Their stats stay the same — they just get harder mechanics. That's how you design difficulty properly.
Tip #6: Life Steal Secondary (The #1 Tip)
I'm saying it again because it's that important: max out life steal on your secondary weapon. This is the single biggest tip for new players. Without reliable healing, Nightmare difficulty will eat you alive.
Your secondary is your safety net. Primary for damage, secondary for survival. Build around this and everything else falls into place.
Quick Summary
| Priority | Tip |
|---|---|
| 1 | Max life steal on secondary weapon |
| 2 | Learn bunny hop chains for movement |
| 3 | Use ALL equipment to level everything |
| 4 | Try cactus turrets with element imbues |
| 5 | Electric wisp = free nuke |
| 6 | Spells off cooldown = spells being used |
Far Far West is a cornerstone of the horde shooter genre, and thankfully it just came out with devs planning to add even more. Go to your local Steam shop, hand the cash over, and enjoy yourself a great cowboy spell-slinging western.
