ARES: THE IRON VANGUARD Tutorial Navigation and Combat Guide

To progress efficiently through early missions in ARES: THE IRON VANGUARD, tap active objective text in the quest tracker on the left side of your HUD to automatically path to your target NPC or objective marker. During combat encounters, swap between your available suits using the bottom screen icons to rotate skills and prevent downtime while high-impact abilities are on cooldown.

How to Auto-Navigate Quests

The built-in mission tracker minimizes travel time between story encounters and objective zones.

• Triggering Pathfinding: Tap the active objective description listed on the left side of the HUD. Your character will automatically run toward the active quest marker or designated NPC.
• Resolving Objective Blocks: If you lose track of your next goal in complex environments, tapping the tracker realigns your character with the main story route.

Relying on auto-navigation during the tutorial sequence keeps your progression steady without requiring manual map searching between quest steps.

Managing Real-Time Suit Swapping

Combat relies on active suit rotation to sustain offensive uptime and respond to incoming threats.

1. Watch Suit Icons: Monitor the suit selection icons aligned at the bottom of your screen to track switch readiness.
2. Rotate Cooldowns: Swap to an off-cooldown suit as soon as your current suit finishes its skill sequence. Switching prevents gaps in your attack patterns.
3. Prepare for Conditions: Early practice with mid-fight transitions builds muscle memory for later encounters that require specific elemental counters or targeted ultimate abilities.

Clearing Combat Objectives and HUD Cues

Defeating enemies is often only one part of completing a mission segment; interactive mechanics and defensive positioning dictate success.

• Environmental Interactions: Watch for marked prompts such as console activations or area captures. Clearing all hostiles will not advance the mission until you perform the highlighted interaction.
• Ground Attack Cues: Red danger indicators display on the terrain when enemies launch area-of-effect strikes. Dodge out of these highlighted zones before the attack fills to avoid unnecessary damage.
• Status and UI Cues: Keep your suit health and ability cooldowns visible while maneuvering, allowing you to maintain aggression without standing in telegraphed hazard zones.