Before too long in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, you’ll be sick of the sight of creeping ivy. These weeds crop up frequently, preventing you from exploring various paths in this RPG with a very similar level structure to 2018’s God of War. Since it’s a Metroidvania you can always backtrack and clear the creeping ivy later down the line, but much like the destructible rocks, you need to know exactly how to get rid of it if you want to explore all New Eden has to offer. Here’s what you need to know about clearing creeping ivy in Banishers.
How to remove creeping ivy
To put it simply, you must unlock the Ensnare ability to get rid of creeping ivy in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. Until you get your hands on this ability though, creeping ivy is only ever in the way of optional routes, so it isn’t mandatory and you can backtrack in future. As is the case with all of Antea’s abilities, you need to progress through the main story until you unlock Ensnare.
However, you will be playing for quite a while before Ensnare reveals itself. I finally got it after around 18 hours of playtime, after deciding on Fairefax Haskell’s fate in The Harrows during The Inkwell quest. Your objective will be to simply rest at shelter, at which point Red and Antea will engage in conversation and Ensnare will unlock at the end of their chat.
When you do eventually unlock Ensnare, you’ll also get your hands on the Ensnare skill tree, containing some of the best skills in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. In combat, Ensnare is Antea’s only ranged ability, and while it doesn’t deal much damage, it is a huge boon when you need to take a moment to heal or back off as it stops enemies firmly in their tracks for a short while. Dealing damage to them will speed up how quickly they free themselves though.
To remove creeping ivy with Ensnare, you must aim and fire it at the blue heart of the roots. Before you do though, follow the trailing roots and identify the glowing orange orbs, because these must be shot by Red with the rifle. As soon as you hit the blue one with Antea, you’ll automatically switch back to Red and will have mere seconds to take out all of the orange orbs to make the creeping ivy disappear.
Typically, creeping ivy hides collectibles such as cursed chests, tough enemies including nests, elites, and scourges, and sometimes void breaches. Backtracking and solving all of the creeping ivy on the map is essential for 100% completion, and it becomes mandatory in a few late-game quests.
Make sure you also check out our Banishers guides, such as which oath you should pledge to Antea along with the decision for Ben and Jacob’s fate in The Flesh Is Weak, the very first Haunting Case you’ll encounter.
