Returnal Guide | How to Destroy Energy Barriers

Here's a guide to destroying Energy Barriers in Returnal.

Game Guide by Ragib Rawnak on Nov 28, 2025

While moving through the first biome, Overgrown Ruins, you encounter two barrier types. You may not know how to pass them in your early runs, which brings you to this guide.

Returnal, Guide, How to Destroy Energy Barriers

Overgrown Ruins Energy Barriers

During your time in Overgrown Ruins, you see blue energy barriers across paths and entrances. You cannot open them with a switch, a button, or any action you perform early in the game. These barriers require the Atropian Blade, a melee weapon found later in this biome.

Until you collect the Atropian Blade, there is no method to break these barriers. You cannot move forward in the main path of the game without this weapon, so the game leads you toward it naturally.

If you attempt to walk into a barrier, nothing harmful happens. The barrier pushes you back, signaling that you cannot pass in Returnal.

When you obtain the Atropian Blade, return to the barrier and press Square. This breaks the barrier and lets you continue along the route.

Returnal, Guide, How to Destroy Energy Barriers

Circular Barriers

After moving deeper into the game and reaching the second biome, Crimson Waste, you encounter circular orange barriers. These barriers often surround an item resting inside them. You may try to break them using the Atropian Blade, but the blade alone does not open them.

To break these circular barriers, you need the Blade Balancer. This item expands the function of the Atropian Blade and lets you destroy the orange barrier type in Returnal.

You can find the Blade Balancer randomly during your runs. You may also purchase it from the shop in Overgrown Ruins, though it does not appear every cycle.

Once you have the Blade Balancer, return to the circular barrier and use your blade to break through it in Returnal.

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