No Return

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No Return is a roguelike survival mode that appears exclusively in The Last of Us Part II Remastered.^[1]

Gameplay[]

No Return pits players against a series of challenges set in various locations from The Last of Us Part II. There are four challenge types: Assault, where the player must survive multiple waves of combat; Capture, where the player must loot supplies from a guarded safe; Holdout, in which the player and an AI companion face a swarm of infected; and Hunted, where the player must survive against endless enemies until a timer runs out. Each run culminates in a boss fight against one of six unlockable bosses.^[2]

Runs[]

Standard run[]

Standard runs are available from the start and consists of a series of randomized combat encounters, culminating in a boss fight. Death is permanent; acquired weapons, items and upgrades are reset, and a new randomized map is generated for every new run.

As the player complete Challenges, more mechanics will be introduced to the Standard run; including Gambits, Dead Drops and additional encounter types. The boss at the end of a run, starting with the Arcade Bloater, will remain the same until it is defeated, in which the newly-unlocked boss will take its place. After the Rat King is defeated, the boss will permanently change to be randomized.

Custom run[]

Custom runs are unlocked once a single run has been played and allows the player to make adjustments to game modes, enemies, mods and more. Certain adjustments, such as being able to play with a maximum of 6 mods in a single encounter, are only available in Custom runs.

Daily run[]

Daily runs are unlocked once a total of nine runs have been played. The player can only make one attempt at the Daily run per day, and the run will be abandoned if not completed within 24 hours. Every player shares the same randomly generated run and their final score will be uploaded to the Daily run Leaderboard. A PlayStation Plus subscription is not required to appear on the leaderboards.

Unlike in Standard or Custom runs, the player can only choose one character and this character will cycle between each Daily run. The determined character can be chosen even if the player has not unlocked said character.

Playable characters[]

There are a total of twelve playable characters in No Return:

Game modes[]

Assault[]

In Assault, groups of enemies from a randomly selected faction will spawn in several waves. Their initial knowledge of the player's position varies per encounter. It is recommended to use the downtime between waves to heal and resupply. A supply cache will appear after completing each wave, which can be located by using listen mode.

Hunted[]

In Hunted, the player must survive against continuous enemy reinforcements until the timer runs out. Enemies are aware of the player's initial location when they spawn in but don't always know exactly where they are. Supplies can be found around the map from the start of the encounter.

Capture[]

Unlock the safe being guarded by a group of enemies from a randomly selected faction before the timer runs out. If the safe is not opened by the end of the timer, it will lock, restricting additional rewards such as parts, supplements, ammo, and crafting materials. In this case, the player must kill all enemies in the level in order to progress.

Holdout[]

In Holdout, the player must protect their AI-controlled ally against a swarm of infected for the entire duration of the encounter. It is recommended to set up defenses, such as trap mines, by using supplies in the area. The encounter, and subsequently the run, will fail if the ally is killed. Once a specific number of enemies have been killed, a bloater may spawn as the final enemy.

Challenges[]

Category	Challenge	Unlocks
Bosses	Defeat the Arcade Bloater.	Theater Infestation boss
	Defeat the Theater Infestation.	Rattler Captain boss Rattlers faction
	Defeat the Rattler Captain.	Garage Bloater boss
	Defeat the Seraphite Elite.	Rat King boss
	Defeat the Rat King	Randomized bosses
Ellie	Complete 2 encounters with Ellie.	Character: Dina
	Upgrade all Perseverance skills as Ellie.	Skin: Plaid
	Kill 4 enemies with Molotovs in one encounter.	Skin: Rain Jacket
	Collect every gun in one run as Ellie.	Skin set: Savage Starlight
Abby	Complete 2 encounters with Abby.	Character: Lev
	Gain 50 health from melee kills and attacks in one encounter.	Skin: Vintage Naughty Dog
	Upgrade 3 melee weapons in a run.	Skin: Bomber Abby
	Complete an encounter with all melee kills.	Skin set: Badlands
Dina	Complete 3 encounters with Dina.	Character: Jesse
	Kill 4 enemies with trap mines in one encounter.	Skin: Hangout
	Craft 10 times in a run.	Skin: Casual
	Craft a health kit, Molotov, trap mine, and stun bomb in a run.	Skin: Patrol
Lev	Complete 3 encounters with Lev.	Character: Yara
	Get 7 kills with explosive arrows in one run.	Skin: Santa Barbara
	Craft 20 arrows of any type in one run.	Skin: White Shirt
	Complete an counter with all bow kills.	Skin: Abby's Jacket
Jesse	Complete 3 encounters with Jesse.	Character: Tommy
	Purchase 10 items from the Trading Post in one run.	Skin: Festival
	Kill 3 enemies with pipe bombs in one encounter.	Skin: Patrol
Yara	Complete 3 encounters with Yara.	Character: Mel
	Complete a Seraphite encounter as Yara.	Skin: Safehouse
	Defeat 3 Seraphite brutes.	Skin: Aquarium
Tommy	Complete 4 encounters with Tommy.	Character: Joel
	Kill 5 enemies in one encounter while zoomed in with a scope.	Ally: Tommy
	Complete a run with only your initial gun or guns.	Skin: Patrol
	Complete an encounter where every kill is a headshot.	Skin: Sweatshirt
	Complete an encounter without missing a single shot.	Skin: Winter
Mel	Complete 4 encounters with Mel.	Character: Manny
	Craft 8 health kits in a run.	Skin: Aquarium
	Heal 80 health with one health kit.	Skin: Seattle
Joel	Complete an infected encounter as Joel.	Ally: Joel
	Kill 6 enemies using the same gun without reloading in an encounter.	Skin: Casual
	Kill 3 enemies with shivs in one encounter.	Skin: Salt Lake City
	Hit 5 enemies with a bottle or brick in one run.	Skin: Winter
	Complete a bloater boss encounter as Joel	Skin: Boston
Manny	Fully upgrade any gun.	Skin: Winter
Manny	Kill 5 enemies with incendiary shotgun shells in one run.	Skin: Firefly
Core	Play 1 run.	Feature: Custom run
	Play 2 runs.	Feature: Gambit challenges
	Play 3 runs.	Feature: Dead drops
	Play 5 runs.	Game mode: Holdout
	Play 7 runs.	Game mode: Capture
	Play 9 runs.	Game mode: Daily run
Gambits	Complete 1 gambit.	Gambits Tier I
	Complete 3 gambits.	Gambits Tier II
	Complete 6 gambits.	Gambits Tier III
	Complete 9 gambits.	Gambits Tier IV
	Complete 12 gambits.	Gambits Tier V
	Complete 15 gambits.	Gambits Tier VI
Mods	Complete 3 encounters with mods.	Mods Tier I
	Complete 6 encounters with mods.	Mods Tier II
	Complete 9 encounters with mods.	Mods Tier III
	Complete 12 encounters with mods.	Mods Tier IV
Jackson	Complete all challenges for Ellie-aligned characters.	Gun Skin: Moth Weapon Skins
Seattle	Complete all challenges for Abby-aligned characters.	Gun Skin: Wolf Weapon Skins
Part I	Complete 5 Gambits.	Character: Marlene
	Complete 3 dead drops.	Character: Bill
	Complete 5 gambits in one run as Marlene.	Skin: Salt Lake City
	Complete 3 dead drops in one run as Bill.	Skin: Western

Hideout[]

Planning board[]

No Return board — The planning board. Unselected paths display as burnt Polaroids.

The planning board is used to pick and continue to the next encounter. On Encounters 2 and 4, the player will have the option to choose between two branching paths, with the unchosen one becoming unavailable afterward. The choices also determine which skill branch the player may receive after completing the encounter. Using the board to view each encounter available, the player will also be shown the rewards, mods, and game mode of each one.

Trading post[]

Main article: Trading post

The trading post is an in-game store the player can access while they are in the hideout. It is possible to buy firearms, melee weapons, explosives, crafting recipes, and medkits from the trading post using credits gained after completing an encounter. The trading post is locked when first starting a run, requiring the player to complete the first encounter before being able to use it. If the player doesn't like the randomly generated selection of items offered by the trading post, they may use three currency to re-roll the trading post for new items. Most playable characters can only refresh the trading post once in between encounters, but Jesse can refresh the trading post infinitely.

Gambits[]

Kill the highlighted Brute using only melee attacks
Kill an enemy wave without taking any damage
Kill an enemy while holding another as a hostage
Get 3 kills from prone
Feed a grabbed enemy to clicker

Mods[]

During a run, some encounters have mods that add special rules and mechanics that can drastically alter the gameplay, either working in favor of the player or handicapping them. Mods for an encounter can be viewed on the planning board or from the backpack menu. New mods can be unlocked by completing challenges. Mods that benefit the player result in a slightly decreased score multiplier if they complete the encounter, while mods that handicap the player and/or benefit the enemy faction increase the score multiplier.

Mods can be customized or disabled during a custom run, including changing the maximum mod count and adjusting which Photo Mode filters are used.

Name	Description	Unlock requirement
Enemies Drop Bombs on Death	Enemies leave behind a pipe bomb that detonates after 3 seconds.
Melee Kills Restore Health	Killing an enemy with a melee attack will restore some health.
Time Slows on Headshots	Successful headshots will slow time for 2 seconds.
Low Health Damage Bonus	While at critical health, damage dealt by the player is increased by 200%.
Photo Mode Filters	Filters normally only seen in Photo Mode are present in this encounter.
Tripwire Traps	Tripwire traps are placed throughout this map. Thread with caution.
Increased Enemy Health	Enemies in this encounter have increased health.
Decreased Enemy Health	Enemies in this encounter have decreased health.
Increased Enemy Speed	Enemies in this encounter have increased speed.
Crafting Gives Bonus Parts	Crafting gives bonus weapon parts.
Thick Fog	This encounter is covered in a thick fog.
Vaulting Boosts Movement Speed	Vaulting increases your speed for a short time.
Temporarily Unlock All Recipes	All crafting recipes are unlocked for this encounter.
Melee Attacks Set Enemies on Fire	Melee attacks set enemies on fire.
Long Shot Damage Bonus	Long range shots have their damage doubled.
Stealth Kills Boost Movement Speed	Stealth kills increase movement speed for a short time.
Stuns Restore Melee Durability	Performing stuns on enemies restores melee weapon durability.
Distractions Attract Enemies	Distractions will draw enemies to your location.
Reloading Discards Ammo Left	Reloading discards any ammo left in a magazine.
Long Guns Locked	Long guns are unavailable for this encounter.
Invisible Enemies	Enemies are invisible except in listen mode.
Pustule Rain	Pustules will rain from the sky, leaving behind spore clouds.
Molotov Rain	Molotovs will rain from the sky, leaving behind flames.
Time Limit	This encounter must be completed before the time limit expires.
Mirror Mode	Perspective is mirrored while active.
Mystery Encounter	Encounter information is hidden from view.

List of levels[]

There are twenty levels in No Return:

Brewery
Forest
Gas Station
Gondola Station
Hardware Store
Hospital
Houses
Jackson
Logging Camp
Motel Lobby
Nest
Office 1F
Office 2F
Overlook
Overpass
Resort
Restaurant
School
Shipping Yard
State Street
Subway Station
Supermarket
Streets
TV Station

Bosses[]

There are six boss levels in No Return:

Arcade (Bloater)
Theater (Theater Infestation)
Resort Farm (Rattler Captain)
Garage (Bloater)
Stripmall (Seraphite Elite)
Hospital Basement (Rat King)

Scoring[]

Performance[]

Encounter Completion - 100 points awarded for completing an encounter (200 points for boss encounters).
Time Complete - Points awarded for completing an encounter quickly. Completing an encounter in under 3 minutes gives a perfect 100, and decreases by 1 point for every 5 seconds beyond that.
Enemies Killed - 10 points per enemy killed (only in Hunted game mode).
Ally Damage Taken - Points awarded for protecting your ally. Your ally taking no damage grants a perfect score of 100. For every point of damage they take, a point is subtracted from your score.
Damage Taken - Points awarded for avoiding damage. Taking no damage grants a perfect score of 100. For every 2 points of damage taken, 1 point is subtracted from the player's score.
Accuracy - Points are deducted for each bullet fired and missed, starting from 100.

Bonus[]

No Ally - 20 bonus points for completing an encounter without an ally.
Start in Combat - 20 bonus points awarded for Assault encounters where waves start in combat.
Gambit Complete - 10 bonus points awarded for completing a gambit.
Multiple Kills - 10 points awarded for killing multiple enemies with a single crafted item or gunshot.
Stun - 5 bonus points awarded per enemy stunned. No points are awarded for stunning the same enemy more than once.
Stealth Kills - 5 bonus points awarded per stealth takedown or kill with a silenced weapon.
Melee Kills - 5 points awarded per kill with melee.
Headshots - 5 points awarded per headshot.
Kills with Hostage - 5 points awarded per kill while grabbing and holding an enemy hostage.
For Emergencies Only - 50 bonus points for completing an encounter without ever firing a weapon.
Make Every Shot Count - 30 bonus points when All kills are head shots.
Safe Captured - 50 bonus points for capturing the safe within time (Capture mode).
Wolves Never Look Up - 50 bonus points for finishing a WLF encounter unseen.
Unseen Apostate - 50 bonus points for finishing a Seraphites encounter unseen.
Unratteled - 50 bonus points for finishing a Rattlers encounter unseen.
At Least They're Predictable - 50 bonus points for finishing an Infected encounter unseen.

Multipliers[]

Difficulty - The base score multiplier is determined by the difficulty settings.
- Very Light: 1.00x
- Light: 1.20x
- Moderate: 1.50x
- Hard: 1.80x
- Survivor: 2.00x
- Grounded: 2.50x
Mods Active - Mods that give the enemies an advantage will increase your score multiplier. Mods that give the player an advantage will slightly decrease their score multiplier.
- Distractions Attract Enemies, Photo Mode Filters: +0.30x
- Mirror Mode, Thick Fog: +0.50x
- Increased Enemy Health: +1.0x
- Long Shot Damage Bonus: -0.05x
Map Mode - More difficult game modes provide a higher score multiplier.
- Hunted: +0.2x
- Holdout: +0.2x
- Boss: +0.5x