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Best upgrades to buy first in Evil West

Billy Givens
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We don’t get a whole lot of western-themed action titles, but if that’s your thing, Evil West is finally here to deliver. This fast-paced action title is set in an alternate timeline where cowboys are forced to face off against vampires and other supernatural foes. As such, you can expect that it’s packed to the brim with some unique weaponry and exciting ways to beat down those opponents. If you’re looking to put up the best fight against them, however, you’ll need to find Bucks scattered around each level that will allow you to buy upgrades for your arsenal.

There are quite a lot of upgrades to choose from in Evil West, but be aware that they don’t come cheap, so you won’t have an opportunity to buy all of the available upgrades early on. Instead, you’ll need to consider which upgrades will meet your needs the best and improve your chances of survival. Here are the five that we think you should pick up first.

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Further reading

Free Bullet

As you’re fighting enemies, you’ll often notice that they will charge up certain attacks and briefly reveal a weak point. During this time, you can dish out some extra damage and interrupt their attack with a well-placed shot. This is why it’s of vital importance to pick up the Free Bullet upgrade as soon as you possibly can, as it’s one of the most useful in the entire game. This upgrade will refund any bullets fired at weak spots, meaning that you can just keep firing at weak spots without running out of bullets. This is particularly helpful against large enemies who will sometimes require upwards of four rifle shots to their weak points in order to interrupt them. Don’t pass this one up under any circumstances.

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One Bullet Shy

Your Revolver is likely to be one of your most-used guns, as it can be fired rapidly to let you dish out decent damage while on the move. At the beginning of the game, it will have only six shots – as expected from a revolver – but you don’t have to settle for normal. You can pick up the One Bullet Shy upgrade early on to increase the size of your Revolver’s magazine by one extra bullet. While that may not sound like much, you might be surprised at how often that one additional shot might be the difference between finishing off an enemy or having them overwhelm you – especially on harder difficulties.

One Bullet Shy upgrade is highlighted

At the Ready

You’re going to spend a lot of time in Evil West being surrounded by hoards of enemies, so you’ll need all of the help you can get in the AOE department. Because of this, your shotgun is a huge help when you find yourself swarmed. Unfortunately, you can only use it once before it goes on a fairly lengthy cooldown, so you have to make your shots count. Definitely consider snagging the At the Ready upgrade when you can, as this will increase the cooldown speed of the shotgun by 20%, allowing you to use it more often to take down those large groups of foes.

Do Not Disturb

You have a few options for healing, including health pickups that drop from enemies and a medication dispenser you can activate on a cooldown for a burst of health. That latter feature is an important one, as it may be all that stands between you and a swift death if you’re unable to pick up any health from foes. You can improve your chances of survival in tense encounters even further by grabbing the Do Not Disturb upgrade, which will provide you with five seconds of invulnerability after using your medication dispenser. This is extremely helpful when you need a moment to reposition out of the center of a hoard or if you want a few extra moments to wail away on an enemy without ramifications.

Big Gun

While all of the armaments you’ll be unleashing on baddies in Evil West are immensely useful, one of the most used and effective options will be your rifle. It plays a vital part in interrupting enemy attacks at range, and it dishes out some pretty great damage in general, so you’ll likely make good use of it any time you’re not beating up a creature with your gauntlet. With the rifle being such an important part of your kit, make sure that you pick up the Big Gun upgrade whenever you can, as it will increase the gun’s damage output by 20%. That’s a decent amount of extra hurt that you’ll appreciate – even if your opponents won’t.

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Billy Givens
Billy Givens
Gaming Writer
Billy Givens is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. His work can be…
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