Navigating through the different areas in Deathloop can be a lot of fun, especially with all the tools that Arkane Studios put into the world for the player to play around with. A particular type of item that truly makes the experience thrilling is the slab.
Slabs give the player unique powers that they can use to their benefit while trying to complete tasks on Blackreef. Deathloop allows the slabs to be used in almost any combination and there are specific pairings of the slabs that can really benefit the overall gameplay depending on how the player wants to approach it.
7 Fugue & Nexus
Fugue is a newly added slab after Deathloop received the "Goldenloop" update. It has the power to both blind and deafen the people that Colt targets. It can be found in the Garbage Disposal Facility in Karl's Bay during the Afternoon after killing the Garbage Collector, Gabe Chadjavich.
While inflicting this slab on other eternalists can be effective, it would be nice if it can affect many people at once. Combining this with the Nexus slab, which causes any damage or effect that one individual suffers to impact nearly everyone around them, players can use this combination to get by a bunch of eternalists with ease.
6 Aether & Karnesis
There are usually two approaches to handling situations in Deathloop. One is maneuvering through an area as stealthy as possible so as to not be spotted. Another is to go in guns blazing and kill everyone in sight. While players may have to choose, using Aether and Karnesis may give the best of both worlds.
The Aether slab gives players the ability to be invisible to sneak around people while the Karnesis slab grants the ability to lift eternalists into the air and fling them in a specific direction. This allows players to get close and swing people out of the way without people noticing who is the one doing the launching. Players can also use these slabs and may not need other weapons.
5 Fugue & Shift
Shift is an effective slab regardless of a preferred play style. It allows players to boost in a specific direction to reach areas that might be farther away to reach by normal means. For those who prefer to get by enemies quickly without being noticed, one of the best ways to do this is with this slab and the Fugue slab.
With the ability to take away an eternalist's senses, Fugue can completely remove an enemy from being able to detect the player and the Shift ability allows them to zoom by the enemy without them noticing.
4 Havoc & Nexus
Being able to knock out a ton of enemies by just focusing on one can be an incredibly powerful strategy when looking to take on anyone standing in Colt's way as he attempts to find clues about what is happening on Blackreef. This is why Nexus is so big for this kind of gameplay, and it would make sense that those looking to be a tank would also equip the Havoc slab.
When activated, Havoc temporarily increases the amount of damage that can be dealt while also decreasing how much health is lost during a battle. When placing Nexus over a group of individuals and then using Havoc to easily take out all of them at once, it makes for a very lethal combination.
3 Karnesis & Nexus
The Karnesis ability can be incredibly satisfying with the ability to levitate humans and throw them in any direction the player chooses. It also has some really fun upgrades, such as making the affected eternalists explode on impact or having them just float permanently in the air.
So what if players can just do this to a mass amount of people all at once? Combining Karnesis and Nexus can do just that. Upgrades for Nexus can even provide some serious benefits when mass-launching a ton of enemies, such as an upgrade that heals the player when the eternalists take damage.
2 Aether & Shift
Stealth is a massive part of Deathloop, even at times when players want to attack enemies as quickly as possible. Those who truly prefer stealth and don't want to cause a ton of issues will have the best time when using the forces of both Aether and Shift.
While Aether may only keep players invisible for a temporary amount of time, future upgrades include being able to stay invisible while standing still. This helps when trying to time attacks perfectly, and shift allows players to get away as quickly as possible after they take out a visionary.
1 Nexus & Shift
As noted on this list, Nexus and Shift are two of the most effective slabs that Colt and Julianna can wield throughout the game. So it makes sense that the two slabs when combined make for a solid recipe for those who like to go through an area quickly.
Nexus will allow players to get rid of an entire group of people with a simple attack and then get to the next destination in a quick manner by using Shift. Plus, the combined force of having the Dropkick upgrade on Shift and the Nexus activated on many eternalists is pretty effective.
Deathloop is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.