Here’s Where To Find The Fire Shot And Its Upgrades In Metroid Prime 4

Eight years since its announcement, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is finally out. The latest game in the first-person shooter series brings a new set of abilities for Samus Aran and shakes up the structure of its world in a major way. But like any Metroidvania game, a few key items are essential to opening paths to new levels, so you’ll need to know where to find them. One of the most crucial abilities you’ll find earlier on is the Fire Shot. It not only gives you a powerful new ability to use in combat, but also clears the way to both optional rewards and plot-critical new areas.

Since it’s not entirely obvious, here’s how to unlock Fire Shot and all its upgrades in Metroid Prime 4.

How to unlock Fire Shot

For the most part, you’ll find Samus’ new abilities just by following the game’s main path through five major levels, but you have to go a little out of your way to unlock Fire Shot. Once you gain access to Samus’ motorcycle in the Volt Forge zone, you’ll be free to explore the world of Viewros at your own pace. To save yourself some time running into dead ends, make your first stop the Flare Pool, a zone in Viewros’ southeast corner. You won’t actually be able to complete this level yet, but it’s where you’ll pick up an item called the Fire Chip.

Inside the Flare Pool, you’ll be led along a corridor through a few rooms. The first time you come to a door on the right, it will lead you to another hallway with a connected save room. Save here if you want, but the real treasure is in a room at the end of the hallway. Here you’ll see some wrecked machinery, including a dangling crane with the Fire Chip inside, which you can knock to the ground. Pick up the Fire Chip, head back to the Fury Green base camp where Myles MacKenzie will have taken up residence by this point, and you’ll get access to the Fire Shot.

Where to find Charged Fire Shot

On its own, the Fire Shot lets you ignite enemies to deal damage over time, but it also has two upgraded versions. The first is the Charged Fire Shot, which uses three pieces of Shot Ammo to launch a volley of more powerful projectiles.

From the entrance to Fury Green, head due north, where you’ll soon find the entrance to the Ladder of Thought Shrine. You can use Samus’ psychic abilities to open the shrine, where a short puzzle leads the way to the upgrade.

In the Ladder of Thought Shrine, you’ll see a door on a high ledge, with two low platforms in front of it. Use the Fire Shot to clear the webs from the area, then use the psychic ability to slightly lift one of the platforms. Jump on, lift the second platform a little higher, then leap onto that. Repeat this process until you can reach the high ledge, and you’ll find the Charged Fire Shot through the next door.

Where to find Super Fire Shot

For even more firepower, you can pick up the Super Fire Shot upgrade, which launches a stream of burning projectiles to do massive amounts of fire damage, at the cost of even more Shot Ammo.

You’ll find the Super Fire Shot upgrade in a shrine close to the Ladder of Thought Shrine, but you’ll first need to gain the Ice Shot ability to unlock the shrine. Fortunately, the Fire Shot is the key to opening the Ice Belt zone in the northwest, where you’ll gain the Ice Shot. When you’ve earned that power, head to the north central region of Viewros, where you’ll find the Rings of Stone Shrine.

Once you can unlock the shrine, its puzzle is extremely easy. Here you can activate a series of rings that rotate in the air, protecting a central target. By this point in the game, you’ll also have the ability to the Control Beam, which launches shots that let you change their direction as they fly. Just steer a shot through the twirling rings to hit the target and you’ll open the way to the Super Fire Shot.