Assists & Accessibility

MIO: Memories in Orbit does not use a traditional Easy / Normal / Hard slider. Instead, optional Assists live in the settings menu and gently reduce friction without removing exploration or boss pattern learning. You can toggle them on or off at any time.

No trophy penalties: Using Assists does not lock achievements or trophies. Play the way that lets you finish The Vessel.

How to Turn On Assists

Open the pause / Settings menu.
Open the Assists (or Accessibility) tab—exact label can vary slightly by platform build.
Enable any combination of the three options below.

You can change Assists mid-run—for example, leave them off for exploration, then enable Ground Healing only for The Crucible.

The Three Assists

Eroded Bosses

Each time a boss defeats you, that boss becomes slightly easier on the next attempt (often described as dealing a bit more damage to them / making them more brittle). The effect stacks across deaths and caps after many attempts (community guides commonly cite up to roughly double damage after ~15 deaths).

Best for: Story bosses, Shii, and optional hard fights when you are learning patterns but do not want an infinite wall. Patch 1.2 improved reliability of this assist across more boss + checkpoint combinations—see Updates.

Pacifist

Regular enemies will not aggro until you hit them first. Bosses are unaffected. Ideal when you want to focus on platforming, map cleanup, or runbacks without constant combat pressure.

Best for: Backtracking for collectibles, optional areas, and reaching Network Gates after a death.

Ground Healing

Stand still on solid ground for a few seconds (often listed as about 5 seconds) to gain a temporary, non-stacking shield / armor layer. Moving or taking damage interrupts the recovery.

Best for: The Crucible and other brutal platforming gauntlets—pause after a near-miss to restore a buffer instead of dying and restarting the whole segment. Pair with modifiers like Gratitude if you have them for Crucible runs.

Recommended Combos

Stuck on a boss: Enable Eroded Bosses only. Keep learning the fight; the assist slowly closes the gap.
The Crucible / Flowing Steps unlock: Ground Healing (and optionally Pacifist if combat distracts you). See How to reach The Crucible.
100% cleanup: Pacifist for map traversal; turn Assists off again if you prefer full challenge for remaining bosses.

Assists are intentional design—not "cheating." The developers emphasize exploration over punishing rematches. Use them if the alternative is quitting.

Looking for a trainer or cheat codes? We do not recommend third-party tools—see Codes, Cheats & Trainer and use Assists instead.