Marvel’s Wolverine: 10 Things the Game Doesn’t Tell You

Marvel’s Wolverine on PS5 is a pretty straightforward action game, but there are still a bunch of small systems, useful upgrades, and quality of life tricks that are easy to overlook. Some of them make combat noticeably better. Others help you get more out of skins, challenge rooms, collectibles, and New Game Plus.

Here are the details I would want to know early on, especially if I was jumping in for a first playthrough and wanted to avoid leaving useful stuff on the table.

Key Takeaways

• Unlock Healing Strike and Charged Stagger Leap early to make stagger opportunities far more useful.
• Spend crafting resources on skins because each unlocked outfit contributes to maximum health bonuses.
• Complete Last Stand at Cold Pines for Mutation Strands and skins unavailable through ordinary unlocks.
• New Game Plus raises the level cap and lets late-game abilities shine across a full replay.

Table of Contents

• 1. Prioritise Healing Strike and Charged Stagger Leap
• 2. The Nightmare Cabin Has More Going On Than It First Seems
• 3. Spend Resources on Skins Instead of Hoarding Them
• 4. You Can Remove the Cowl From Many Suits
• 5. A Quick Suit Re-Equip Repairs Torn Clothing
• 6. The Scent Trail and Item Senses Cannot Be Fully Disabled
• 7. Nightmare Challenges Give You Mutation Strands, and Some Give Exclusive Skins
• 8. Photo Mode Lets You Control Wolverine’s Damage Level
• 9. Smash XP Crates, but Do Not Obsess Over Every Single One
• 10. New Game Plus Is Available From Day One
• The Best Early-Game Approach

1. Prioritise Healing Strike and Charged Stagger Leap

Wolverine combat is violent, fast, and often pretty button-mashy, but a couple of skills add some actual decision-making to the chaos. The first upgrade I would unlock is Healing Strike.

Enemies build stagger when you punish them, knock them into walls, and keep pressure on them. Once an enemy is stunned, a meter appears around their head and they become vulnerable to a finishing attack. Normally, that finisher lets Wolverine go to town with the claws and build Rage.

With Healing Strike unlocked, you get another option. Press Triangle near a stunned enemy and Wolverine performs a heavy finishing stab that restores a substantial chunk of health. You sacrifice some Rage generation, but the heal can be a lifesaver when the fight is getting messy and you are close to burning a Last Stand.

That creates a nice little push and pull in combat:

• Use standard killing blows when you want Rage quickly.
• Use Healing Strike when survival matters more than damage momentum.
• Stagger enemies consistently so both options stay available.

The second skill worth getting early is Charged Stagger Leap. Triangle is already your best tool for closing distance, but holding it charges a more powerful leap that inflicts far more stagger damage. Against weaker enemies, it can stun them immediately.

The loop is simple and extremely effective: charge the leap, stagger the target, then decide whether to cash in with a Rage-building finisher or a Healing Strike. Those two upgrades made combat much more interesting for me than simply mashing through every encounter.

2. The Nightmare Cabin Has More Going On Than It First Seems

As you progress, tendrils lead to doors that bring you back to Logan’s strange dream nightmare cabin. These rooms are home to optional combat and traversal challenges, and they also let you revisit unlocked memories and lore.

There are two easy-to-miss things worth checking in the cabin.

First, look at the fireplace mantle. It displays the hidden whiskey bottles you have collected during the game. The character menu tracks the collection too, obviously, but seeing the actual shelf fill up is way more satisfying.

Second, interact with the bed to revisit missions. It also gives Logan the chance to recreate that classic lonely Wolverine pose that has become a meme over the years. Put him in one of the classic suits and it is basically perfect.

3. Spend Resources on Skins Instead of Hoarding Them

If you played a lot of Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, you might be used to saving resources until there is a specific suit you really want. Do not do that here.

Resources found in environmental crates unlock Wolverine skins, but skins are not purely cosmetic. Each suit contributes towards health percentage bonuses. The more outfits you unlock, the more maximum health you can build, eventually reaching 200% health at full progression.

So, smash the obvious resource crates as you travel through each area, then spend those materials whenever you have enough. There is no real reward for sitting on them, and an early health boost can make a much bigger difference than saving up for later.

4. You Can Remove the Cowl From Many Suits

This is a small one, but people care about Wolverine costumes, and rightfully so. In the skin selection screen, press Triangle to remove the cowl on supported outfits.

The prompt is there in the corner, but it is easy to blow past. Some suits look better with the mask, some look better without it, and it is just a nice option to have when you are putting together your preferred Wolverine look.

5. A Quick Suit Re-Equip Repairs Torn Clothing

Wolverine regenerates after taking enough damage, sometimes showing off the adamantium skeleton underneath. It is a cool effect. The problem is that his clothes can remain shredded even after the flesh grows back.

Most cutscenes appear to restore the outfit automatically, but not every single time. If you want Wolverine to look clean while exploring, there is an easy fix:

1. Pause the game.
2. Open the character or skin screen.
3. Equip another skin.
4. Re-equip the suit you were using.
5. Return to the game.

That refreshes the costume immediately. The game does offer a lore explanation for why his clothing can return, but if the giant holes in your favourite suit are bugging you, this is the practical answer.

6. The Scent Trail and Item Senses Cannot Be Fully Disabled

One of the bigger conversations around Marvel’s Wolverine is how aggressively it points you in the right direction. Wolverine’s scent trail can appear as a bright blue route, even in situations where the path forward is already pretty obvious. His sensory effects also highlight hidden crates, meaning exploration can become almost automatic if you follow every visual cue.

At the moment, you can adjust the colours used for these markers, but you cannot completely turn the scent trail or hidden-item senses off. There are plenty of settings for difficulty, gore, colourblind options, interface adjustments, and QuickTime events, but the core guidance effects remain part of the experience.

QuickTime events have their own settings too, although many of them still autocomplete if left alone. Insomniac has said it wants to further refine the player experience based on feedback, so that could change later. Right now, though, it is worth knowing what the settings do and do not let you change before you go hunting through menus for an off switch.

7. Nightmare Challenges Give You Mutation Strands, and Some Give Exclusive Skins

The nightmare rooms are worth doing even if you are not chasing a perfect completion run. Reaching ranks in these combat and traversal challenges awards Mutation Strands, which feed into Wolverine’s progression.

More importantly, the Last Stand at Cold Pines challenge has exclusive cosmetic rewards at its higher tiers. The skins earned there cannot be acquired through the usual suit-unlocking methods.

If you have been skipping challenge doors because you assumed they were just optional score attacks, do not skip that one. The rewards make it worth the time, especially for anyone who wants the full costume collection.

8. Photo Mode Lets You Control Wolverine’s Damage Level

Photo Mode is stacked, as it should be. There are lighting controls, poses, frames, backgrounds, and even an action figure mode that shrinks the character down for silly little staged shots.

But the standout detail is the damage slider. You can increase or reduce the damage on Wolverine’s character model by percentage, changing how much exposed flesh and skeleton detail is visible.

It is absolutely a feature for the gore sickos, and I mean that affectionately. The level of deformation is one of the more impressive visual details here, and the slider lets you get close enough to appreciate just how gnarly the model work gets.

9. Smash XP Crates, but Do Not Obsess Over Every Single One

XP crates are all over the place. Their appearance can change depending on the environment, but the basic idea is the same: break them for extra experience and keep moving.

They are useful, especially early on, but you do not need to scour every corner of every location to progress properly. I missed a number of crates while playing normally and still unlocked roughly 95% of the skill tree by the end.

My advice is simple:

• Break XP crates when you see them.
• Do not turn every mission into a slow, obsessive crate hunt.
• Trust that normal exploration will provide most of what you need.

There is enough XP out there that you can get very close to a fully developed Wolverine without treating every corridor like a checklist.

10. New Game Plus Is Available From Day One

For anyone who finishes the campaign and wants to keep slicing through everything in sight, Marvel’s Wolverine includes New Game Plus from the start.

This is where the game’s combat can become more interesting, because additional abilities become available late in the first run. New Game Plus lets you use that expanded toolkit throughout the full story rather than only near the end.

The level cap also increases, giving you a proper reason to continue building your character, finish remaining unlocks, and go all in on the Wolverine power fantasy. If the first playthrough is about learning the systems, the second is where you can really break them open.

The Best Early-Game Approach

If you only take a few things from all this, make them these: unlock Healing Strike and Charged Stagger Leap early, spend suit resources instead of hoarding them, complete the nightmare challenges, and do not stress about collecting every XP crate.

Marvel’s Wolverine may not hide an enormous amount of complicated systems, but the small details do matter. Knowing where the exclusive skins are, how to clean up damaged costumes, and when to trade Rage for health makes a first run smoother and a lot more fun.

Marvel’s Wolverine Tips FAQ

What are the best early skills to unlock in Marvel’s Wolverine?

Healing Strike and Charged Stagger Leap are the best early priorities. Healing Strike restores health after staggering an enemy, while Charged Stagger Leap builds stagger quickly and can instantly stun weaker targets.

Do Wolverine skins have gameplay benefits?

Yes. Unlocking skins contributes towards percentage-based maximum health upgrades, with the fully upgraded bonus reaching 200% health.

Can I turn off Wolverine’s blue scent trail?

No. The game allows colour adjustments for sense markers, but the scent trail and hidden-item senses cannot currently be fully disabled.

Does Marvel’s Wolverine have New Game Plus?

Yes. New Game Plus is available from day one, raises the level cap, and gives you a chance to use additional late-game abilities throughout another full playthrough.