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Ori And The Will Of The Wisps guide: 20 tips for beginners

Find your feathered friend with our guide series

Dave Irwin avatar
Guide by Dave Irwin Former Guides Writer
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Ori And The Will Of The Wisps is looking to be just as whimsical and sombre as Ori's last adventure in the blind forest. We've collected our top 20 tips for all parts of Ori's new adventure to get players of all skill levels up to speed. We've also linked to all our other articles in our Ori And The Will Of The Wisps guide series. So whether you are wanting to complete side-quests or trying to beat a boss, we've got the info you need.

Note: All the articles in this guide series refer to specific boss fights and other secrets hidden within. You have been warned. 

Contents

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps guide

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps is a singleplayer 2D platformer where there's a massive world to explore with secrets hidden within, you must fight or flee from massive monsters, and undergo a fair bit of backtracking to old areas to uncover new routes.

Beginning not too long after the events of Ori And The Blind Forest, Will Of The Wisps begins when Ori and his adoptive family bring an owl fledgling they named Ku into the fold. Ori and Ku bond quickly, with Ori fixing Ku's wing so she could fly. But not too long after both take to the skies, they are separated as a gust of wind dislodges Ku's feathers. Ori now must find his owl friend in a strange land.

This set of Ori And The Will Of The Wisps guides will give new players our top 20 tips to help get started playing the game, as well as more in-depth guides on all of the hidden collectables, boss fights, and steps you need to take to complete quests. It also now has guide links for all the major boss fights of the game.

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps guide

Tips for exploring

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps follows the same sort of trend as the previous game when it comes to exploration and secrets. We've put together a list of some things you should keep in mind while leaping over the spikes and clambering on platforms.

  • 1. Collect as many Spirit Light Orbs as you can. It's the main currency of the game and having lots of it can help with buying Spirit Shard upgrades.
  • 2. Try to find Lupo when you are in a new named location. He’ll sell you a map that helps with navigation for the area you are in, even showing collectables.
  • 3. Look for glowing areas in the scenery, twig blockades, or crumbling walls. You may find that attacking them will open up new hidden pathways to unlock new secrets.
  • 4. It’s also worth jumping towards pitch black areas, as they may reveal hidden platforms containing secret items.
  • 5. Break green hanging fruit to heal life without needing energy or blue slugs that hang on ceilings to restore Ori’s magical energy.
  • 6. Dark water will hurt Ori, so don’t try to swim unless you really have no other choice.
  • 7. Be patient and plan difficult jumps in advance. Sometimes you'll need to observe everything around you before the path becomes obvious.

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps guide

Spirit shard skill tips

Mobility has always been something that Ori has excelled at, but in this new adventure there are a bunch of new tricks that he can use to navigate the land, once he's communed with the corresponding spirit tree. Once you've got them though, there's some extra manoeuvrability that is not explained in the short tutorial that is shown once you unlock that ability. Here are some useful tips explaining the extra bit of mobility these skills give you.

  • 8. You have a double jump not long after getting the Spirit Edge, but you can also find a dash that can be used after the first or second jump.
  • 9. The arrow when using the Bash ability is the direction that Ori will go in. The enemy or projectile you’re grappling onto will go in the opposite direction.
  • 10. If you use the Bash ability after a double jump and a dash, you’ll regain that second jump and the dash.
  • 11. Don’t forget that you can climb up solid walls with the Sticky ability. Use it to get to higher places.
  • 12. The grapple can also be used to reach certain platforms, but the catch is they only latch on if they have moss on them.
  • 13. When aiming the grapple ability, there is a little blue circle which indicates where you will latch onto.

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps guide

Combat tips

Ori is by no means defenceless. He has various spirit-based abilities that he can use. We will be going into a lot more detail on the various combinations of Spirit Shards you can use in the Ori And The Will Of The Wisps builds (COMING SOON) guide, but for now, some combat tips.

  • 14. Ori can perform a combination of attacks that can hit enemies multiple times. This is done with the Spirit Edge by pressing the equipped button repeatedly.
  • 15. By holding different movement directions when attacking, Ori can perform different attacks. If jumping while holding down and attacking for example, Ori will swipe his blade beneath him.
  • 16. For enemies that jump, you can use the Bash ability to take the momentum out of their jump and open them up for a counter attack.
  • 17. When using the Spirit Arc, you’ll see if an arrow will hit an enemy or a target that affects platforms if hit when it lights up with a blue circle.
  • 18. Use the environment to help you in combat. Knocking most enemies into spikes or water can deal lots of damage to them.
  • 19. Some enemies come in different colours. Red ones tend to send out shockwaves for example.
  • 20. Using combat shrines will churn out enemies in waves. Lights will turn on after every wave defeated. Finish all the waves to win a Shard Slot upgrade for that shrine.

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps guides series

Those Ori And The Will Of The Wisps tips should be enough to get you started. We also have a bunch of guides readily prepared below that cover all sorts of things, from the locations of certain collectables, builds for Ori's skills, and boss fight/chase sequence guides.

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps bosses

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