Dead Space Remake: Best Upgrades To Prioritize

Highlights

• Upgrade the RIG suit and weapons wisely to survive the horrors of the Ishimura in the Dead Space Remake. Invest in RIG suit and weapon upgrades using power nodes.
• Prioritize health upgrades to increase survivability against difficult enemies and prevent premature game endings. More health means more confidence in confronting Necromorphs.
• Focus on upgrading the plasma cutter, the best weapon in Dead Space. Invest in damage upgrades to easily sever limbs and conserve ammunition. The plasma cutter’s ammo capacity is also important to avoid being caught empty-handed.

Death lurks aboard the USG Ishimura in the Dead Space Remake. If Isaac Clarke and the player are to survive the grotesque terrors and horrors that are out to kill and desecrate him, then they will need to invest wisely in the upgrades of both their RIG suit and an arsenal of weapons that they will scavenge whilst fighting hordes of Necromoprh monsters in the Dead Space Remake.

There are plenty of upgrade benches throughout the USG Ishimura, and each can be utilized in Dead Space 2023 to make the player stronger against their monstrous enemies. To use the upgrade bench, players will need power nodes. This scarce resource should be the player’s priority of the player, due to it being the only way to get the best upgrades in Dead Space.

Updated on April 2, 2024, by Jake Fillery: With Dead Space (2023) celebrating its gory first birthday, there’s no better time to get back into the game and enjoy the frights that await Isaac Clarke on board the Ishimura. It’s one thing to want, but it’s another thing to need, and players are definitely going to need the best upgrades in Dead Space (2023) if they are to survive the necromorph hordes, and not jump out of their skin the next time one bursts from a vent or behind a door. With so many enemies in the Dead Space remake, Isaac Clarke can be given a boost of confidence from powerful weapon upgrades and hearty RIG suit upgrades, allowing him to become a necromorph-killing machine, so long as players know which upgrades to focus on first.

12 Suit Level 2

Purchased At A Shop For 10,000 Credits, Providing 18 Inventory Slots & 5% Boost To Armor

The easiest way to feel safer in Dead Space is to upgrade the RIG suit. This is a vital part of upgrading Isaac Clarke, not just through cosmetic additions to the suit, but through actual increases to his character. The RIG suit can be upgraded multiple times throughout the horrifying survival adventure, but the first one is going to make players immediately feel the difference whenever they are unfortunate enough to get hit.

The first upgrade to the suit is an utter blessing, as the increase to inventory slots allows players to carry more ammunition and health packs, ensuring their demise will not be so light, as there is nothing more tragic than leaving behind some gear because the inventory is full. The permanent boost to armor is also going to be a lifesaver, as the less damage dealt, the safer players can feel.

11 Health Upgrade

Increase Health to 225 (5 Nodes Required)

Staying alive is the player’s main priority in Dead Space. To do that, players will need to make sure that they have plenty of HP so that if they do get attacked, they will be able to walk it off or heal it back. Investing power nodes into the RIG Suit HP upgrades is beneficial, and means Isaac Clarke can withstand more deadly and frequent attacks.

As the game progresses, enemies will become harder to fight, and grow in numbers, leaving Isaac Clarke in need of more health to combat these monsters. Prioritizing health should be a central focus, as it will mean that players do not have to restart on death so much, and, on harder difficulties, it means players won’t have their game end prematurely. Having health upgrades will make players more confident in each confrontation with a Necromorph, and they won’t fear their enemies as much, considering their staggering health pool, further enhanced by their medical items.

10 Plasma Cutter – Damage

Increase Damage to 200 (6 Nodes Required)

The plasma cutter will be the first weapon that players find in Dead Space, and it will remain their go-to. It’s by far the best weapon in Dead Space and will be the best at taking out limbs in quick succession. It’s the iconic gun of the Dead Space franchise, and the Dead Space remake only emphasizes why that’s the case.

Players should invest heavily in the upgrade tree for the plasma cutter, and focus their points on the damage. By focusing on damage, players will be able to cut off the limbs of the Necromorphs more easily and with less waste of ammunition. In fact, the Plasma Cutter is easily the best weapon in Dead Space. There’s a trophy players can unlock where they only use the Plasma Cutter, and this is not entirely difficult, since upgrading the weapon will see them easily hack off the limbs of Necromorpsh with ease, especially with its cheap and affordable ammo always accessible to the player.

9 Kinesis Range

Increase Range to 30 (2 Nodes Required)

Kinesis is a fun mechanic in Dead Space and a true lifesaver. By upgrading the range of kinesis, players will be able to pull objects towards them that are further away. This can help them grab a consumable item that is further away or a throwable weapon that could save their life.

As players board the USG Ishimura, they will find an assortment of throwable weapons, from poles to vent fans and more. Players can throw these items at Necromorphs to damage them, and by having a greater range of kinesis, they will save ammo in the long run. By increasing the range, players can rip off sharp points of dead Necromorphs from further away, using an effective weapon to save ammo, or save their life if they have run out of said ammo.

8 Plasma Cutter – Capacity

Increase Capacity to 23 (8 Nodes Required)

There is nothing scarier than unloading a full clip of ammo into one of the many disturbing monsters in Dead Space and finding that there’s an empty click, and players need to reload before firing again. Running out of ammunition in the magazine can be the difference between life and death, which is why investing in the plasma cutter ammo capacity is a great idea.

It’s a decent upgrade to focus on, especially early game. Players may still be getting used to the firing mode of the plasma cutter, and a higher ammo capacity means more room to miss. Additionally, the plasma cutter will need the extra capacity when Necromorphs spawn in larger numbers. With the Plasma Cutter holding strong as the best weapon in Dead Space, players should invest wisely into it, and not waste Nodes on other weapons, even to experiment. Increasing the ammo count of the Plasma Cutter may be pricey, but it means more shots, and more safety.

7 Stasis Duration

12 Second Duration (5 Nodes Required)

Stasis can be a lifesaver, especially in situations where larger Necromorphs charge toward the player. Some instances will have players completely overwhelmed, and they won’t be able to react as fast as John Wick to take them out. Luckily, there is a Stasis Duration upgrade, which will permit players to freeze and slow their targets for longer than normal.

Slowing targets for a longer duration is great. It will give players time to reload, get out of the tight corner they find themselves trapped in, or even provide an opening of attack. Players definitely should not ignore the Stasis Duration upgrade.

6 Stasis Energy

6 Energy Points (3 Nodes Required)

Using Stasis can be expensive, and players might not always have a Stasis station or a consumable on hand to keep them using it. Luckily, the Stasis Energy upgrade will help, as players will effectively double their uses of stasis, providing them with more window of opportunity to use this life-saving skill.

Stasis Energy is one of the best suit upgrades in Dead Space, and for good reason. Isaac Clarke will have a better chance at survival if he doesn’t run out of Stasis, so using this upgrade will mean players can use fewer Stasis Modules, and have more chances of not getting trapped.

5 Stasis Zone

2.25 Size Upgrade (3 Node Upgrades)

Early on in Dead Space, players will obtain a Stasis Module. This ability allows players to effectively slow time, causing a time dilation that makes objects and people move at an extremely slow rate. Players can use stasis on Necromorphs, which makes them move incredibly slowly. This makes them easier targets.

Upgrading stasis should be another priority of the player, as Stasis can be upgraded in different ways. Both ways are useful. Players can extend the time dilation of stasis with upgrades, meaning enemies are slowed for a longer period of time. They can also extend the radius of stasis, meaning more enemies are stunned in a certain vicinity.

4 Plasma Cutter – Rate Of Fire

225 RPM (3 Nodes Required)

Cutting off limbs is perhaps the easiest and fastest with the trusty plasma cutter. However, it can be even quicker if players invest in the rate of fire upgrades. By investing power nodes into this specific tree, the rate of fire for the plasma cutter will feel like a precise machine gun that melts through Necromorph limbs like butter.

The initial firing rate for the plasma cutter is reasonable, but slow. With an upgraded one, players won’t have to worry about getting stabbed, bitten, or worse, as the Necromorph charging forward will be a corpse again in no time thanks to a faster rate of fire.

3 Plasma Cutter – Heat Accumulator

Damage Over Time (11,000 Credits, Chapter 3)

In the Dead Space Remake, the Heat Accumulator can be bought from the store in the Control Room once players reach Chapter 3. By taking this upgrade to the bench, players will be granted a power node and an extended upgrade path, as long as they have the 11,000 credits to purchase it.

Despite the price, the heat accumulator is well worth the fee, as it applies damage over time to each shot. This means that each shot on target with the plasma cutter will eat away at the Necromorph’s limbs, and make killing them far easier.

2 Force Gun – Subsonic Oscillator

Gravity Wells Cause Damage Over Time, Purchased From The Store For 12,000 Credits

Whilst the Plasma Cutter may be the best weapon overall, the Force Gun definitely deserves a chance to shine. The sheer impact from this weapon can tear the skin off of Necromorphs, leaving them in a vulnerable state for players to break their bones and limbs with another shot from a different weapon. It’s a great support gun for the initial burst of damage, and the Subsonic Oscillator makes it even better, albeit, situational.

With the Subsonic Oscillator, players can add a damaged stack to their Gravity Well attack. This can deal some great damage if players have the ammo, as the concept of placing an enemy in a weaponized stasis will really help to keep those hordes at bay, especially if they have a tendency to lunge and stab at Isaac. The Force Gun is a great weapon in the right hands, so don’t be scared to give it a chance with the upgrades out there.

Increase Asteroid Cutter Projectile Radius For 12,000 Credits In The Store

Another somewhat underrated weapon that deserves some love is the Contact Beam, and the relatively easy upgrade of the Supersymmetry Tether will allow that secondary fire mode to have an extra push when it comes to tackling enemies through the increase of the projectile radius, ensuring more of an area will annihilate.

The secondary fire of the Contact Beam can happily take out groups of enemies with a few shots, and it’s an essential weapon against stronger Necromorphs that won’t go down easily.