Half-Life: Alyx: Complete Guide

A player-first guide to Valve's VR Half-Life: comfort and movement settings, gravity gloves, weapons and upgrades, resin and fabricators, enemy tactics, chapter outline, achievements (including the gnome), Steam Frame standalone play, and the Workshop.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the September 2026 updates (Steam Frame standalone support, 14 Sept; stability fixes, 17 Sept; volumetric fog fix, 25 Sept). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

What's new (September 2026): On 14 September 2026 Valve shipped a major update adding Steam Frame standalone gameplay: an ARM64 port, foveated rendering, depth reprojection for smooth play at lower framerates, plus desktop performance improvements, one tick less latency on hands and simulated objects, fixed cross-platform cloud saves on Linux, and fixed Linux subtitles. Follow-up patches on 17 September (launch and workshop tools fixes, Proton validation errors) and 25 September (volumetric fog rendering) followed. Content is unchanged.

Quick Start

Pick a comfort mode you can play for hours. Teleport, Shift, and Continuous movement are all supported. Try Continuous if you are comfortable in VR; Teleport if not.
Loot everything with gravity gloves. Point at an item, pull, flick your wrist, and catch. It's the core interaction.
Resin is your upgrade currency. Spend it at Combine Fabricators (upgrade stations) on weapon upgrades.
Keep health syringes on your wrist pocket. Your left wrist shows health; syringes (Health Pens) heal over a short injection.
Store items in wrist pockets. Two quick-access slots hold grenades, syringes, or anything you want.
Reload manually. Magazines come from over your shoulder; learn the reload motion for each weapon.
Cover your mouth near spores. Coughing gives your position away.
Play a few minutes in the first areas to calibrate height and grip. Settings let you adjust height and seated mode.

Comfort and Settings

Setting	Options	Tip
Movement	Teleport, Shift, Continuous (head- or hand-oriented)	Continuous is the most immersive; Teleport reduces nausea
Turning	Snap or smooth	Snap turning is easier on the stomach
Height / seated	Adjustable	Seated play is supported
Hand	Primary hand selection	Swap if you are left-handed
Accessibility	One-handed mode and other options	Check Settings before starting

Supported hardware: any SteamVR-compatible headset (Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Meta Quest via a PC link; note that Microsoft has dropped Windows Mixed Reality support from current Windows 11 builds) and, since September 2026, Steam Frame standalone.

Core Mechanics

Gravity gloves ("Russells")

Point at an item, pull the trigger or grip to lock on, then flick back to pull it toward you.
You can snatch grenades out of the air ("Deadliest Catch") and loot items off living soldiers ("Combine Harvester").

Health and healing

Health is shown on the back of your off hand.
Health Pens (syringes): press into your body to heal.
Health stations: some walls have Combine health stations you can use to heal.

Multitool puzzles

The multitool lets you hack Combine devices: holographic sphere puzzles, laser-path puzzles, and tracing circuits through walls. Take your time; they do not usually have timers.

Resin and upgrades

Resin is scattered in the world. Combine Fabricators let you spend it on weapon upgrades. Every weapon upgrade is optional but permanent for that run.

Weapon	Upgrades (examples)	Best first upgrade
Pistol	Reflex sight, Burst fire, Bullet reservoir, Laser sight	Reflex sight or bullet reservoir
Shotgun	Laser sight, Grenade launcher, Autoloader, Extended magazine	Grenade launcher
SMG (Rapidfire)	Reflex sight, Laser sight, Extended magazine	Extended magazine

Resource management

Ammo, resin, and syringes are limited but not starved if you search well. A few habits make a big difference:

Check every drawer, crate, and trash bin. Supply crates can be broken open with your hands ("Smash and Grab"). Corpses carry loot too ("Dead Giveaway").
Look up and behind things. Resin and ammo are often tucked on high shelves or behind furniture, reachable with gravity gloves.
Upgrade one weapon at a time. Finishing the pistol's key upgrades early pays off because you will use it the whole game.
Keep one syringe on your wrist at all times. Healing mid-fight is slow, so start before you are nearly dead.
Don't over-hoard grenades. A grenade in a doorway saves more ammo than it costs.

Puzzle types

Puzzle	How it works	Tip
Holo sphere	Rotate a holographic sphere to line up points	Move your head around it rather than twisting your wrist
Circuit tracing	Follow power wires through walls with the multitool	Trace from the device back to the source
Combine locks	Hack a lock's pattern	Stay calm; most have no timer

Weapons

Weapon	Role	Tip
Pistol	Precise, plenty of ammo	Headshots on Combine; reliable all game
Shotgun	Close-range power	Save for Zombies, Antlions, and emergencies
SMG (Rapidfire)	Energy weapon for crowds	Great against groups late game
Grenades	Area damage	Arm and throw; can cook
Xen grenade	Summons Xen fauna	Situational; snatching one from its resting place earns "Xen Lootism"
Tripmines	Traps	Hack them with the multitool ("Safe Trip")

Enemies

Enemy	Threat	How to handle
Headcrab	Latches on your face	Shoot early or rip it off and throw it
Armored Headcrab	Armored shell	Shoot the exposed underside when it leaps
Zombie	Slow melee	Headshots; shotgun up close
Barnacle	Grabs from the ceiling	Watch ceilings; shoot or avoid
Antlion	Swarms	Shoot the legs; close their holes
Combine Grunt	Standard soldier	Headshots; shoot the gas tank on their back ("Pro-Pain")
Combine Ordinal	Squad leader	Kill first; it directs the grunts
Combine Charger ("Combine Heavy")	Armored, heavy shotgun, forearm shield that blocks bullets and can flash-blind you	Keep your distance; it has to drop the shield to shoot, so hit the head or unarmored thighs then, or flank ("Indirect Approach": kill one while its shield is up)
Combine Suppressor	Heavy machine gun	Use cover
Jeff	Blind, hunts by sound	Move slowly, cover your mouth, throw objects to distract

Jeff (Chapter 7)

Jeff cannot see; noise is everything.
Cover your mouth near spores to prevent coughing.
Throw bottles to distract him.
Don't break glass or knock over objects near him.

Chapter Outline

Chapter	Title	Notes
1	Entanglement	Tutorial and City 17 streets
2	The Quarantine Zone	Entering the Quarantine Zone; first Zombies and Barnacles
3	Is or Will Be	Early firefights and upgrades
4	Superweapon	The mystery deepens
5	The Northern Star	A dark hotel
6	Arms Race	Industrial areas
7	Jeff	Stealth against Jeff
8	Captivity	Tough fights
9	Revelations	Story reveals
10	Breaking and Entering	Approaching the Vault
11	Point Extraction	The finale

A full playthrough is long for VR; many players take 12-15+ hours.

Achievements Worth Planning

There are 42 Steam achievements. Some to plan:

Achievement	Requirement	Tip
Gnome Vault of My Own	Carry Gnome Chompski (or the gnome fridge magnet) all the way into the Vault	Grab it in Chapter 1: the magnet is on Russell's fridge and the gnome sits on a couch behind a fence outside the lab. Neither can go in a wrist pocket or backpack, so carry it by hand for the whole game and set it down close by before fights. Don't leave it at the hotel entrance in Superweapon; it won't carry over to The Northern Star. You must be holding it as you enter the Vault's beam
Freshly Squeezed	Test your grip on a headcrab heart	Squeeze anything squishy you find
On a Roll	Interact with the playground somehow	Poke at any playground you pass
Mazel Tov	Smash 50 glass bottles	Happens naturally
Combine Harvester	Loot an item off a living soldier with gravity gloves	Pull grenades or ammo off belts
Deadliest Catch	Intercept an incoming enemy grenade with gravity gloves	Practice in combat-heavy chapters
Indirect Approach	Kill a Combine Heavy while its shield is up	Flank
Pro-Pain	Kill a grunt by shooting its gas tank	Aim at backs
Safe Trip	Hack a tripmine with the multitool	Use the multitool on a live tripmine
Good Grub	Feed the snark	Give it food when you meet it

Chapter select exists, so missed achievements can be done later.

Workshop and Developer Commentary

Workshop: Valve includes Source 2 tools (Hammer) so the community can build levels and campaigns. Hundreds of maps and mods exist, from short puzzles to full campaigns.
Developer commentary: added in November 2020; replay the game with Valve developers talking about design decisions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Picking a movement mode that makes you sick. Switch settings rather than pushing through.
Fumbling reloads under fire. Practice reloading in calm areas.
Ignoring resin. Upgrades make later fights much easier.
Wasting shotgun shells on Headcrabs. Use the pistol.
Coughing near Jeff. Cover your mouth.
Forgetting wrist pockets. Keep grenades or syringes ready.

Advanced Tips

Lean around cover. Physical movement works in VR; peek instead of stepping out.
Grab ammo mid-fight with gravity gloves.
Throw objects at enemies to distract or stun them.
Shoot Combine in the head. Headshots end fights quickly.
Use shotgun grenades against groups.

Steam Frame Notes

Standalone play on Steam Frame uses foveated rendering and depth reprojection to keep gameplay smooth at lower framerates.
Cloud saves work across platforms, including Linux (fixed in the September 2026 update).
If you run into launch issues, the 17 September patch addressed several launch and workshop tools issues.

FAQ

Do I need VR to play Half-Life: Alyx? Yes. It is VR-only. Any SteamVR headset works, and Steam Frame supports standalone play since September 2026.

Is Half-Life: Alyx connected to Half-Life 2? Yes. It is set between Half-Life and Half-Life 2 and ends with a major story reveal.

How long is it? Many players take 12-15+ hours.

Can I play seated? Yes, seated mode is supported.

Does it get new content? No new campaign content; the 2026 updates are technical (Steam Frame support and fixes).

What's the best movement mode? Continuous for immersion if you are comfortable; Teleport for comfort.