Top 10 High-Yield Tips for Sand Land (Vol. 1)

[DjMethod]

After beating the game this week, I wanted to pass on some tips, strategies, or general advice that I believe can significantly enhance or improve your overall gameplay experience. This is both for beginners / those starting out, and for anyone else still playing through the game.
 

These are not exploits or hacks or even ways to cruise through the game. They are simple clean tips or suggestions to make the game easier, more fun, or to run more smoothly. 
 

_____________

 

1. Tap X whenever selecting a vehicle from on-foot to skip the animation and not have to walk around to the car door and have to press triangle to get in. 
 

2. Always follow the trail / the beaten path. This game presents itself as an exploratory game, but unfortunately the best rule of thumb to be successful in getting around, finding treasures, etc. is to always follow the paths the developers have predetermined for you. This is not Breath of the Wild where if you think it, you can get to it. Instead, it is full of invisible walls and buggy traps for your character and can make for a pretty miserable or frustrating time. The sooner one accepts this, the better their experience will be exploring this game. You can be stubborn and find your way, but I have found that the game punishes you far more than rewards you for this. Even the most hidden treasures in the game are along secret paths that are obvious and distinct, you’re not going to find them behind that obscure rock or cliff. Not in this game. So this is an attempt to save you some of that headache / trouble. 
 

3. Whenever you pick up a “lost property” item (item with magnifying glass), take a screenshot. Better yet, make a note of it somewhere. The game has no way of inventorying these items (wild… I know 😒). And since you can give them back to their owners so easily by simply interacting with an NPC without knowing they’re the owner, you don’t want to regret it later if you forget what you have or haven’t picked up. 
 

4. Make multiple save files. The game can be kind of buggy. Trust me. I ended up using all 15 save file slots, but I would say at the very least make 3+ and rotate through them. Don’t just rely on the autosave. It’s not enough if you ever need to go back further. 
 

5. Whenever you see a Radio Tower in the distance, take the time to just go and unlock it. You’ll end up going for this trophy anyway but if you leave it for last, you won’t be able to use your map much. It’s an extra 30-60 min of gameplay total that is worth it and improves the experience by opening up your map significantly. 
 

6. For the best gameplay experience, don’t rush through the game. This isn’t Mega Man X. The story/characters is one of the best parts of this game. Some missions can go to some pretty emotionally dark places, and others are quite beautiful. It is rewarding to savor this aspect and take your time with it. Everyone will play how they want, but this is my suggestion after having finished the game.
 

7. Try the Lango’s Diary treasure hunt without a guide. This game has a few genuinely challenging treasure hunts, such as Lost Property items and Lango’s Diaries. Trying to find them without a guide is a unique experience (not the treasure chests—you can always get those maps when they’re available). Whenever you decide it has become too hard, you can always look it up. This suggestion is not for everyone, but for those who like looking for a challenge, to see: how far can you get? How many can you find? The Lango’s Diaries, for example, each have subtle clues as to where the next one or one before it may be. You have to pay close attention and you can actually figure it out. I know this because that is how I found 95% of them before the guides came out. And the one I was missing lined up with all the clues I had from reading the diaries. It is fun IF you’re up for it, so just know that’s there. And if not, again you can always just look up guides. 

 

8. Notable upgrades to look out for:

- Tank (special): Large Cluster Missiles. Install as soon as you find it. Starting off with this special makes fighting off enemy hoards generally so much easier. If you can’t find it in the wild, I believe it can eventually be bought at the Battle Stadium. - Tank (primary):  Any gun that says “Battery” and says it fires two missiles at a time in the description. Mythical 75mm Battery+ has been my favorite. It just destroys everything. 
- Jump-Bot (EX Chip): Charge Jump Enhancer. Self-explanatory…Very useful for getting around!

- Hovercraft (special): Travel Beacon. Can be bought from the treasure maps dude for 1 Gold Coin. This is incredibly useful for various things like grinding Bounty Hunter missions that are in the middle of nowhere, where you have to go back and forth (if you decide to do this for cash or parts), so you can just fast travel back after redeeming the bounty. Also whenever you do redeem a bounty, go to the Merrick location, because he is closest to the fast travel spot there- you just turn right and jump over the fence. 
- Auto-Bot (any vehicle): Can be clutch for some of the Ranked missions, like Epi Mech 3.0. 
- Vehicle Blueprints: Rule of thumb is always buy one whenever you see it. Most of them are only sold in that one place. 
 

9. Save some of your buddy Skill Point upgrades for Ann. This isn’t that much of a spoiler imo but she eventually joins your squad. Her Vehicle Repair skill is basically free life and second only to Thief’s Item Picker skill (which you should spam whenever traveling). 
 

10. When you’re in the later stages of the game and/or you’ve seen all the cutscenes, I highly recommend to turn the voices off in the Options menu. Their dialogue cycle is incredibly repetitive and can grow mind-numbingly irritating. Whoever chose to make it run every 30 seconds is truly sadistic and wants to watch the world burn. Anyway, just turning it off can improve your gameplay experience significantly. Another alternative is to press L1+X or any other buddy skill command whenever they start talking again if you’ve already heard it a million times. It interrupts and cuts the dialogue short so you get another 30+ seconds of peace and quiet.

 

______
 

I don’t plan on making a 2nd volume, but I just put that in the title to look professional lol. Please feel free to add any other high yield pointers and thanks for reading