R.E.P.O. Overcharge mechanic, explained

I bet you’re so proud of yourself reaching double-digits after building those muscles so you can lift and slam every R.E.P.O. monster—but semiwork has had enough. The strength meta is shifting, and it’s time to adapt, or it’s out to the Disposal Arena for you.

Developer semiwork announced on March 28 that a new, explosive mechanic will be added to R.E.P.O. If you were wondering exactly how this works, you’ve come to the right place. Here is everything you need to know about R.E.P.O.’s Overcharge mechanic so you don’t accidentally self-destruct in the late-game.

What is Overcharge in R.E.P.O.?

Overcharge is a new addition as part of R.E.P.O.’s first big update. Initially shown under your Health and Stamina stats, the Overcharge mechanic functions around the grab feature and your cursor. Every time you hold or pick up a monster, a red circular meter will start to fill, encompassing the cursor. Leaving this to fill has explosive repercussions that only impact you. A beeping sound and red bolts of electricity will warn you when you’re too close for comfort. Ignoring this results in an implosion, where your semibot flies into the air in Tumble Launch fashion. It’s similar to Self Destruct (in the menu), but the Overcharge explosive only deals 20 damage. But it’s damage you cannot afford to take.

semiwork declared on May 9 that Overcharge will be implemented from level 10, with a new feature added to the game every 10 levels to increase difficulty, but also remain relevant to the R.E.P.O.‘s lore.

How does Overcharge work?

The Overcharge gauge doesn’t have a universal timer attached to it. Rather, the gauge fills at a different rate depending on which monster you’re picking up. Basically, the smaller the entity is, the longer you can grab hold of it. This means upgrading your strength is still relevant, but it’s not top priority anymore, for the old strat will no longer work. You can, however, still upgrade your strength to full, to pick and pull monsters off the map. But this is only relevant from level six onwards.

Here’s how long you can hold onto monsters for, regardless of your strength:

Monster	Seconds
Animal	5.50 seconds
Apex Predator	11 seconds
Banger	Overcharge won’t hurt you, the Banger will break free of your grasp instead.
Bowtie	5.50 seconds
Chef	5.50 seconds
Clown	3.70 seconds
Gnome	Overcharge won’t hurt you, the Gnome will break free of your grasp instead. The gauge will continue to fill however if you’re picking up multiple Gnomes within quick succession.
Headman	3.70 seconds
Hidden	5.50 seconds
Huntsman	3.70 seconds
Mentalist	5.50 seconds
Reaper	3.70 seconds
Robe	3.70 seconds
Rugrat	5.50 seconds
Shadow Child	11 seconds before Shadow Child disappears (Overcharge shouldn’t hit max).
Spewer	11 seconds
Trudge	3.70 seconds
Upscream	5.50 seconds

As you can see, the monsters are divided into three categories based on their size and threat level:

• Small (low threat): Apex Predator, Shadow Child, and Spewer.
• Medium: Animal, Bowtie, Chef, Hidden, Mentalist, Rugrat, and Upscream.
• Large (high threat): Clown, Headman, Huntsman, Reaper, Robe, and Trudge.

You should no longer try to slam monsters to the ground unless they’re small and meager. Based on our experiments, any attempt to kill larger, more deadly enemies like the Headman, Robe, and Clown will always result in Overcharge. The Trudge is back to being an unbreakable, unkillable force. We’ve discovered you can only successfully slam a medium monster to the ground up to four times, based on having the relevant strength needed to pick that monster up.

At the time of updating this article, there isn’t a way to increase/upgrade your Overcharge stat.

Conclusion

The small team at semiwork is tired of seeing semibots rushing around the labyrinths, acting like R.E.P.O.’s final boss. Realizing there’s no real value in the weapons if you upgrade your strength stat to max, completing levels in this nightmarish world has quickly shifted to picking up monsters and throwing them off the map. But this is no longer a viable option as relying on the strat will only get you killed.

You will still be able to pick up and throw enemies off the map should a death pit, acid, and lava pool be nearby, but slamming monsters that take over three hits to kill will likely backfire on you. Semiwork hope this change acts as an incentive for you to rely more on R.E.P.O.‘s arsenal, as the guns have received an accuracy and ammunition buff, now at a much lower Service Station cost.