Okko The Exiled Beginner Guide: 10 Tips Before You Start
Okko The Exiled looks like a simple retro platformer and then quietly asks you to master two meters, a timing mechanic and a loadout screen. The developer posted a tips thread the week before launch because, in their words, they were not sure the tutorials explained everything. These ten tips pull that thread together with what launch-week players ran into.
1. If you play on a controller, turn Steam Input off first
The most common launch complaint is a controller that double-inputs in menus or leaves Okko refusing to move or jump. That is Steam Input and the game both reading the pad. Right-click the game in your Steam Library, open Properties → Controller, and choose Disable Steam Input. Full steps and the separate stick issue are in the controller fix.
2. Read the two bars in the top-left
- Red bar: Heartbeat / Focus Energy. Spent while Focus Mode is on, for extra damage.
- Blue bar: Dragon Break. Fills when you deal damage and fills faster when you take it.
Everything below comes back to these two.
3. Hit on the heartbeat
Okko’s heart beats when the round Heartbeat Timer reaches the 12 o’clock position. Attack on that beat and you land a critical hit. The developer’s own example: a Faun takes 4 normal hits, 2 timed hits with Focus off, and 1 timed hit with Focus Mode on. If enemies feel like sponges, you are not hitting on the beat. The combat guide goes deeper.
4. Toggle Focus Mode, do not leave it on
The Focus button switches Focus Mode on and off. While it is on, Heart Energy drains slowly and your hits do more damage. Timed hits refill Heart Energy, and so do the Heart Energy Totems you find in stages. Turn it on for shielded enemies and bosses, off while you are platforming.
5. Spend Dragon Break, especially on bosses
When the blue bar flashes, press Down + Special Attack (the projectile button). It is a huge hit, and it gets bigger once you level it at the Mercenary Shop in The Old Throne. Because the bar fills faster when you get hurt, a bad start to a boss fight often hands you a free Dragon Break.
6. Bounce on everything
The down-attack bounces Okko off enemies, skulls and other objects, which is how you reach higher ledges and secrets. Start the down-attack a little higher above a skull than feels natural: several launch players found it passing straight through when they started it late. A reviewer also recommends the D-pad over the stick for this.
7. Equip your Pacts
Pacts are passive charms bought from Mongravis or found in stages. Buying one does not equip it. Open the Inventory and slot it: you have 2 slots, a Pact marked | uses one and || uses both. More in how Pacts work.
8. Protect your currency
Dying costs part of the currency you are carrying. The developer cut the penalty for the full release and added Pacts that soften it further. Spend at The Old Throne before a boss you expect to retry. Details on the death penalty page.
9. Do not quit out of a stage at a checkpoint
Checkpoints only respawn you after a death. If you choose to exit to the world map mid-stage, the developer confirms, you start that stage over next time. Two Chinese-language reviewers learned this the hard way. The game does autosave: every time you enter a stage, and when you quit from the menu.
Bonus: three small things nobody tells you
- The info screen. Press View/Select to open it, then switch tabs to read Scrolls, which include the full Focus Mode and Dragon Break rules, your Abilities and your Pacts. The developer admitted the in-game tutorial does not point you there.
- Health only when hurt. Green bones and skulls heal you, but Okko only picks them up when he has taken damage, so you can leave them for later.
- What respawns. Gems and small chests come back when you reload a stage; the big loot chests do not.
10. Look for Deevols and come back for the Underground
Deevols are hidden collectibles. Gathering them opens the Underground: 20 short challenge levels, each a platforming section followed by a combat test. They are optional, but three achievements depend on them. See Deevols and the Underground.
Where to go next
- Follow the area-by-area walkthrough.
- Check what each boss needs on the boss list.
- Planning 100%? Start the achievement checklist.
Thanks. Noted on the Old Throne board.