If you’re just getting started with Brigador Killers, there are quite a few systems that the game doesn’t explain particularly well. Movement, inventory management, vehicles, aiming, hubs, merchants, and even some basic combat mechanics can take a little time to figure out.
In this Brigador Killers beginner guide, I’ll walk you through the important basics so you can get comfortable with the game before taking on the more difficult missions. I’ll also cover useful settings, how the inventory works, how to use vehicles, and some advanced tricks that can save you trouble later.
Brigador Killers System Requirements
Before getting into the gameplay, make sure your PC is capable of running Brigador Killers.
The listed minimum requirements are:
- Operating System: Windows 10 or later
- Processor: 2.6 GHz or faster
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD Radeon 5770 / NVIDIA GTX 460 or better
- Storage: 4 GB available space
Linux is also possible, although it hasn’t been officially tested across Linux distributions.
Keep in mind that these are minimum specifications. You may run into performance issues if you’re using hardware close to the minimum requirements.
How to Start Brigador Killers
When you launch Brigador Killers for the first time, getting started is straightforward.
- Launch the game through your storefront or executable.
- Wait for the main menu to appear.
- Select NEW GAME.
- You’ll immediately begin the campaign.
One important thing to know is that Brigador Killers uses a single save for the campaign. There aren’t multiple save slots or separate campaigns like there were in the demo.
If you reset your campaign from the main menu, you’ll reset your overall campaign progress.
Mouse and Keyboard Are Recommended
Brigador Killers can be played with a controller or on Steam Deck, but the game is designed around mouse and keyboard.
I recommend using mouse and keyboard if you want the intended experience, especially once you start dealing with precise aiming and inventory management.
Controller prompts may also display incorrectly in some situations, with keyboard prompts appearing instead.
Brigador Killers Settings Explained
You can access SETTINGS from the main menu or press Escape during most parts of the game.
The settings are divided into several sections, including GENERAL, DISPLAY, BINDS, and CONTROLLER.
General Settings
The General tab contains many gameplay options.
Movement Settings
You can configure movement separately for:
- Tank Movement
- Mech Movement
- Agrav Movement
- Suit Movement
This lets you decide how different types of units respond to your controls.
Soft Aim Lock
Soft Aim Lock helps your aiming by assisting when your cursor gets close to an enemy.
You can also adjust the Cursor Lockon Radius to control how close your cursor needs to be before the assistance activates.
If you prefer completely manual aiming, you can turn this off.
Civilian Lockon
This allows target lock-on to civilian-tagged units.
It’s disabled by default.
Auto-Reload
When enabled, the game automatically reloads your equipped weapon when its magazine is empty.
Allow Reload Interruption
If enabled, firing your weapon while it’s reloading will interrupt the reload.
Toggle Controls
You can change several actions from hold-to-use into toggle controls, including:
- Crouch
- Sprint
- Weapon Ready
- Level Aim
Game Speed
You can adjust the gameplay speed from 50 to 100.
Display Settings
The Display tab contains both visual and performance-related settings.
Some useful options include:
- Display Mode
- Resolution
- VSync
- Lock Mouse to Window
- Directional Shadows
- Point Shadows
- Low Detail Normals
- Particle Effects
- Cull Offscreen Particles
- Particle Fade Time
If you’re struggling with performance, reducing graphical effects and particle settings is a good place to start.
You can also disable certain visual effects, including:
- Blood and gore
- Damage effects
- Aim cone
- HUD elements
- Various off-screen indicators
Changing Keybinds
To change a keyboard or mouse bind:
- Open SETTINGS.
- Go to BINDS.
- Left-click the action you want to change.
- Press the new key.
You can also assign multiple keys to the same action.
Hold Shift and left-click an existing bind, then press another key to add it.
To remove a bind, hold Left Alt and left-click the existing key.
Brigador Killers Movement Guide
Movement works differently depending on what you’re controlling.
The main movement categories are:
- Tank Movement — Betka, Rounder, Rolston
- Mech Movement — Coffin, Fork
- Agrav Movement — Sledge, Skate
- Suit Movement — Loyalist Kit, Carmine Rig, Mongoose Powersuit
- Wheeled Vehicles — Varlet, Rennpappe, Panel Van, Motorcycle
For most units, you’ll use WASD to move and the mouse to control your direction.
Wheeled vehicles work differently. A and D turn the vehicle left and right, while the mouse can be used for aiming if the vehicle has weapons.
Sprinting and Boosting
Hold Shift to sprint.
Depending on the vehicle, Shift can also boost it forward.
One important limitation is that you can’t fire weapons while sprinting or boosting.
Screen-Absolute vs Relative Movement
Brigador Killers lets you choose between screen-absolute movement and relative movement.
Screen-absolute movement works similarly to arcade twin-stick controls. Pressing forward always moves your character toward the top of the screen.
Relative movement, sometimes called tank controls, moves you in the direction your character is currently facing.
Try both and see which one feels more comfortable.
Camera Zoom
Use the mouse wheel to zoom the camera in and out.
This becomes particularly useful when you’re trying to see enemies or navigate larger areas.
Brigador Killers Inventory Guide
Press Tab to open your inventory.
Be careful when doing this during a mission because the game does not pause.
You can’t move or fight while the inventory screen is open, so don’t open it while enemies are shooting at you.
The inventory screen changes depending on what you’re controlling and what’s nearby.
Your Inventory
Your inventory is divided into three main sections:
GUN
This is where you equip weapons to your available weapon slots.
INV
This stores:
- Weapons
- Items
- Ammunition
MNT
This is where you place mountable containers such as backpacks.
Different items have different storage requirements.
For example, an item might have a stowage value of 4, meaning it needs a weapon or inventory slot with enough capacity to hold it.
Mountable items work differently because they use size categories rather than normal stowage values.
Moving Items Quickly
To move something between inventories:
- Left-click the item.
- Move your cursor to the destination.
- Left-click again.
You can also use Left Shift + Left Click to quickly transfer items.
If the destination inventory is full, you’ll hear a notification indicating that the item can’t be moved.
Selecting Ammunition Amounts
Hold Alt + Left Click on ammunition to open a slider that lets you choose the amount you want to transfer.
Equipping Weapons
Weapons stored in your inventory aren’t automatically equipped.
You need to move the weapon into one of your available weapon slots before you can use it.
Using Healing Items
Healing items can only be used from the inventory.
Hover over the healing item and press E.
Examining Items
Hover over an item and press F to examine it and view additional information.
Talking to NPCs and Interacting With Objects
When you’re close enough to an NPC, move your mouse cursor over them.
An interaction prompt will appear, usually using E by default.
You can advance dialogue using:
- E
- Spacebar
- Left-clicking the Continue button
The same basic interaction system applies to consoles, mission selectors, and other objects.
Opening Containers
Containers work slightly differently.
When you’re near an examinable container, press Tab to open its inventory and see what’s inside.
Brigador Killers Hubs Explained
After completing the introductory mission, you’ll start operating from a hub.
Initially, your hub mainly gives you access to the mission selector.
Interact with it to choose your next mission.
Completing missions advances your campaign, and completed missions are shown as grayed-out entries.
As you progress, your hub gains additional features.
Armory
The ARMORY is where you can permanently store equipment you’ve collected during missions.
It has four main categories:
- WEAPON — Firearms and throwables
- AMMO — Ammunition
- ITEM — Credits and healing items
- PART — Parts used by the Fabricator
The Armory is extremely useful because it lets you keep equipment between missions rather than carrying everything around with you.
Fabricator
The FABRICATOR lets you build vehicles using parts.
The available recipes appear on the left, while the required components are shown on the right.
You don’t need to physically carry the required parts yourself. The Fabricator pulls them from your ARMORY.
Gantry Pad
A gantry pad lets you permanently park a vehicle at your hub.
Once a vehicle is parked, you can interact with the nearby Armory to access its inventory.
Repair
If a gantry has a REPAIR console, you can spend parts to restore the parked vehicle’s health.
Salvage
The SALVAGE console lets you break down a parked vehicle and recover parts.
This is generally more efficient than destroying the vehicle during a mission just to obtain parts.
Important Hub Tip
When you leave a hub, vehicles that aren’t parked on a gantry and items left on the ground are automatically salvaged and deposited into your Armory.
So don’t leave valuable equipment sitting around expecting it to remain there.
Brigador Killers Merchants
Some missions have a merchant.
You can identify these missions from the mission selector.
Merchants don’t trade directly with you. Instead, interact with their shopping cart to view their inventory.
You’ll need credits in your inventory to purchase something.
Select the item you want and click Buy.
The merchant will then spawn a small crate containing the purchased item.
Merchant inventories can improve as you progress through mission phases, so it’s worth checking them again later.
More dangerous levels can also have merchants selling better equipment.
Brigador Killers Combat Basics
Combat is all about positioning, aiming, and understanding how damage works.
The green bar at the top of the screen represents your current health.
If there’s a blue outline around the health bar, you also have a shield layer protecting you.
When you take damage, both your health number and bar decrease.
If your health gets low enough, you’ll see a red ring around the edge of the screen.
Bleedout
If your health becomes critically low, you can enter a bleedout state.
Your remaining health will gradually tick down.
You need to heal, return to base, or otherwise recover before your health reaches zero.
Damage From Different Directions
Damage isn’t always the same from every direction.
You generally take more damage when hit from the side and significantly more when attacked from behind.
The same principle applies to enemies.
This makes positioning extremely important.
Death
If you die during a mission deployment, you’ll lose the equipment you currently brought into that mission and return to your hub.
So don’t take your best equipment into a dangerous mission unless you’re confident you can get it back out.
Brigador Killers Enemies and Detection
You’ll encounter everything from lightly armed enemies to heavily equipped infantry and armored vehicles.
Enemies don’t all have the same detection range.
An enemy that hasn’t been alerted but can currently see you may have a blue eye icon above them.
Once that icon disappears, the enemy becomes alerted and can attack you.
Gunfire and explosions can also alert nearby enemies, so firing a weapon isn’t always an isolated action.
Enemy Morale
Enemies have morale as well.
If you cause enough damage or eliminate enough enemies from a group, some may retreat to a safer location or even attempt to escape through an exit.
Enemies can also receive reinforcements during a mission.
This means you don’t always have to eliminate everyone you encounter.
Brigador Killers Vehicles Guide
Vehicles are a major part of Brigador Killers.
You’ll eventually gain access to several different types.
Wheeled Vehicles
Examples include:
- Varlet
- Rennpappe
- Panel Van
- Motorcycle
Tanks
Examples include:
- Betka
- Rounder
- Rolston
Suits
One example is the Mongoose Powersuit.
Agravs
Examples include:
- Sledge
- Skate
- Ball Motorcycle
Vehicle availability is limited early in the game, so don’t worry if you don’t have access to everything immediately.
How to Enter a Vehicle
Stand close enough to the vehicle and face it.
When the interaction prompt appears, use the assigned button to enter.
Press the same button again to exit.
Vehicle Health and Inventory
Vehicles have their own:
- Health
- Inventory
- MNT slots
For example, the Panel Van has significantly more carrying capacity than a character on foot.
This makes vehicles extremely useful for transporting weapons, ammunition, fuel, and other equipment.
What Happens When a Vehicle Is Destroyed?
If a vehicle reaches zero health while you’re inside it, you’ll automatically be ejected.
You can’t re-enter the disabled vehicle.
However, its inventory can still be accessed.
If the vehicle takes additional damage, it can be completely destroyed. Its contents will drop onto the ground along with some vehicle parts.
However, destroying vehicles this way isn’t the best method of obtaining parts.
Use the SALVAGE console at your hub instead.
Upgraded Vehicles
Some vehicles can receive upgraded weapon configurations.
For example, the Rennpappe can receive an upgraded weapon mount that allows it to equip weapons that would normally be too heavy for the vehicle’s basic setup.
The Fabricator is where you’ll build these upgrades.
If you want to return the vehicle to its standard configuration, take it to the SALVAGE console.
The vehicle can be stripped back down at no additional cost.
Vehicle Ammunition
Upgunned vehicles need ammunition stored in their own inventory.
Your character’s ammunition isn’t automatically shared with the vehicle.
If your vehicle needs ammo, you can either:
- Exit the vehicle and transfer ammunition through its inventory
- Park it at a gantry and access it through the Armory
Vehicles With Two Weapons
Some vehicles can carry two weapons simultaneously.
The controls can change depending on the vehicle.
For example, in a vehicle such as the Betka:
- Left Mouse Button: Primary weapon
- Right Mouse Button: Secondary weapon
This gives you considerably more flexibility during combat.