As a Ranger working towards saving the wasteland in Rage 2, Nanotrite abilities make the job both easier and a lot more fun. Four of the abilities are unlocked in the opening sequence, but the other seven need to be uncovered from Arks scattered throughout the wasteland. None of these abilities are required, nor do they unlock from playing the story missions. But trust us, you want to unlock these to have the best and most versatile experience. Here’s how to unlock all powers in Rage 2 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
If you want to have even more fun in Rage 2’s wasteland, check out our guide for unlocking flying vehicles and our guide on where to find all the weapons.
Focus
- Location: Starting ability
Focus is one of the four starting skills you get during the opening sequence. In combat, you can press and hold L1/LB to highlight enemies. It’s also used to open Arks, repair your ride, and interact with various objects around the wasteland.
Constitution
- Location: Starting ability
Basically your shield, Constitution is the ability that weakens incoming fire and allows Feltrite to heal taken damage. It also regenerates some health, but not all of it, over time.
Overdrive
- Location: Starting ability
Steroids, pretty much. Overdrive kicks you into high gear, allowing faster movement, increased damage, and health regeneration. The Overdrive meter fills by killing enemies and can fill even quicker when you rack up combo kills.
Dash
- Location: Unlocked during the first mission
An incredibly useful skill, Dash is essentially a hyper-dodge. Tapping L1/LB lets you quickly move in any direction to help dodge incoming fire. While you can dodge forward and backwards, dodging left or right is typically the best play. When squaring off against large bosses and mini-bosses, Dash is a virtual necessity to remain unscathed.
Shatter
- Location: Junkers Pass Ark (Twisting Canyons)
Located in the heart of the Twisting Canyons, Junkers Pass Ark is one of the easiest Arks to gain entrance to in the game. Enemies are rated at a level two out of ten, so you can head there before you even complete the second story mission to unlock a useful Nanotrite ability: Shatter. Like all Arks, you must first clear out the surrounding area before using Focus to open the Ark door.
While you can melee enemies with your weapon when up close, you’re not going to do a ton of damage. Sure, you can kill unarmored enemies with a swift hit, but sometimes it can take several hits. That’s where Shatter comes in. Holding L1/LB and pressing Square/X produces kinetic energy that shoves enemies through the air. The force of the energy often kills them before they even land. You have to be fairly close to use it, but you don’t have to be right up on them like you would for melee combat. Plus, it works a whole lot better.
Vortex
- Location: Quake Hill Ark (Twisting Canyons)
Northwest of Vineland in Twisting Canyons, on the edge of the map, you’ll find Quake Hill Ark. Like Shatter, you should grab this ability right after the opening sequence as you enter the open world. Enemy difficulty level is only at two, and there are barely any enemies at all. Quake Hill Ark is more of a platforming area than a fighting pit.
The Vortex Nanotrite ability has multiple functions. Holding L1/LB and pressing Triangle/Y creates a singularity that drags nearby enemies into its pull, shifts them around, and then spits them out. You can also use the created vortex to leap into the air if you want. Vortex is one of the best unlockable abilities, and it’s also really fun to use.
Slam
- Location: Earthscar Ark (Torn Plains)
After grabbing Vortex and Shatter, head north to the Torn Plains. Earthscar Ark holds an ability that will make your life as a Ranger easier, especially when multiple enemies are in close vicinity. Earthscar Ark is surrounded by level three enemies, which means you can grab the Slam ability very early on with ease.
A powerful punch from above, Slam rattles the dirt beneath you, knocking enemies off their feet. Often, at least early on, Slam kills all enemies in its wake. Hold L1/LB and press X/A to vault into the air and come down with a mighty blow.
Grav-Jump
- Location: Great Crack Ark (Broken Tract)
Another simple one to snag early on, Grav-Jump is located inside Great Crack Ark in Broken Tract. Great Crack Ark has level three enemies guarding it, so they will also be pushovers.
Grav-Jump lets you double jump, with the second jump feeling a tad floatier. There honestly aren’t many scenarios where Grav-Jump comes in handy, though. However, it’s nice to have the extra jump if you get somewhat careless and want a little insurance.
Defibrillation
- Location: Canyon Cove Ark (Broken Tract)
Also found in Broken Tract, Canyon Cove Ark has level five enemies to eliminate before heading inside. While it could be challenging to unlock this one before completing a couple of missions, the ability inside is quite neat.
Defibrillation lets you restart your own heart after going down (only once). You have to press the on screen buttons (two to four face buttons) at the right time to restore partial health. The more you level up this skill, the more health you can gain back from successful attempts. Defibrillation isn’t as good as having a fairy in a bottle in The Legend of Zelda, but it can really help during tough boss battles where you get too greedy and unceremoniously perish (until you restart your own heart, that is).
Barrier
- Location: Spikewind Ark (Broken Tract)
The last of the three abilities scattered across Broken Tract, Barrier can be found in Spikewind Ark. Level six enemies surround Spikewind Ark. In our playthrough, the difference between level five and level six felt pretty considerable, so be prepared. Once you clear the place out, you can enter the Ark and get your hard-earned reward.
The Barrier ability creates walls on the go to cover yourself from incoming fire. It even blocks explosions. Deployed by holding L1/LB and pressing O/X, Barrier can be a really useful ability as you reach the later missions and even more difficult Arks. Stronger enemies can blow you away pretty quickly, so sometimes regrouping behind a shield can go a long way.
Rush
- Location: Dealypipe Ark (Sekreto Wildlands)
Just south of the trade town Lagooney in Sekreto Wildlands you’ll stumble across Dealypipe Ark. Like Spikewind, the area surrounding Dealypipe is littered with level six enemies. Defeat them all and you’ll get an ability that makes Rage 2 feel even more like Doom in motion.
When sprinting, you can press L3 again to Rush, which grants a brief but pronounced speed boost. Rush can help you get close to enemies in a flash when wielding the shotgun or using melee abilities like Shatter. Running before using your standard melee also seems to inflict more damage, so Rush helps your plain old melee move perform better, too.
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