Bloodborne - GOTD edition

[Qazimod]

9 minutes ago, Hexx said:

I use the cane. I use the cane for everything. Cane is LIFE.

 

Guidance/Rally sorry?

 

When you take damage from an enemy part of your health bar will turn yellow before depleting. If you strike back during this time you can regain some of the yellow health. This process is known as rally. "Guidance" is the name of the caryll rune that boosts rally potential. Caryll runes are the things you equip at the "Memory Altar" indoors in the Hunter's Dream.

 

It basically means that you can make a few more mistakes if you don't mind staying on the offence, and it saves you having to chug vials at times when you really need them (like OoK.)

[Davros sock drawer]

I'm having just as much trouble with LtfV on NG++ as I did on NG (I skipped him on NG+). First phase is fine, it's that lava spewing, fist smashing final phase I just can't handle. 

 

Here's my win against OoK though. LHB for phase one, Saw Cleaver and Old Hunters bone for phase two. 

[Quest]

Upgraded my weapon and smashed up that first boss, I did. Maybe the fifth attempt or something, which came as a surprise. Thought I was gonna be trying it forever.

 

Anyway, I forged ahead and now I have quite a lot of blood echoes and insight and I don't really know what I should do with them. I levelled up a bit, as that seemed like the right thing to do but someone will probably tell me I'm doing it wrong. I dunno. This game confuses me but I absolutely adore it so far.

[Davros sock drawer]

There's no wrong way to spend your echoes per se, but putting them into VIT and END will help at the start.

[Hexx]

From a recent noob who's now official the greatest hunter ever.

 

Vit/End - Health and Stamina - both good bets and won't be wasted.

 

Str/Skill are largely weapon states - different weapons will scale with one or both of them by a different factor. Might be worth a point or two while you experiment with different weapons. 

 

Bloodtinge - Basically gun power (and a few other weapons)

 

Arcane - Toys, some guns, so "odder" weapons.

 

I'd personally suggest ignoring Arcane and BT atm as they seem to be the basis for special and "planned out" builds early on. Str/Skill are good bets early on while you settle on a weapon. You may "waste" some points (e.g. Skill if you later go with a pure Str weapon) but the effect will be slight.

 

Vit/End are "never" wasted if you change your mind on a weapon

 

 

 

[Qazimod]

For most of my runs I spread my level up points between Vitality, Endurance, and one of the other four, but this means making an early decision on whether you want to use slow but heavy weapons, fast but weak weapons, whether you want to improve gun attacks or try some of the more exotic weapons with their high arcane requirements. Also bear in mind that most Bloodtinge and Arcane weapons will deplete quicksilver bullets as you use them, which can be a problem if you're out of bullets and haven't improved Strength or Skill. (Even so, I've completed the base game only levelling up Vitality, Endurance and Bloodtinge, so you aren't completely doomed with that kind of character...)

[bagapeas]

LtFV is driving me nuts.  Gets me every time in the final form.  I always seem to get trapped under multiple blows and just can't get away.  Would go off and do something else but I have about 80k of echoes in there now after all the multiple attempts and in my frustration I've almost lost it to the executioner at the entrance.  I'm sure I'll get there.  Was trying to get co-op but I haven't been getting any matches and haven't had my insight returned afterwards either so getting expensive

[Andy XC]

16 minutes ago, bagapeas said:

LtFV is driving me nuts.  Gets me every time in the final form.  I always seem to get trapped under multiple blows and just can't get away.  Would go off and do something else but I have about 80k of echoes in there now after all the multiple attempts and in my frustration I've almost lost it to the executioner at the entrance.  I'm sure I'll get there.  Was trying to get co-op but I haven't been getting any matches and haven't had my insight returned afterwards either so getting expensive

What about summoning an NPC?  If you wear the rune (can't remember the name [it is from the new covenant]) then normally there are summon signs for NPCs.

I'm quite impressed with the additional summons in the game (I played it at release) they seem to be quite an abundance of them even in the chalice dungeons  (I can't remember seeing them at release).

[robdood]

Or go grab your echoes then Bold Hunter's Mark out of there!

[RareBirds]

Didn't get to play last night, so an extensive session this evening - working my way through the Research Hall. Such a good area, but combined with my first real "Oh fuck this" moment when I got stuck on the one of the ladders coming down from the rafters and then after about 45 seconds it just killed me. Ignoring the 95k or so blood echoes I had (and which I later got back) it was more that the reveal of the level got screwed as all of a sudden I was at the bottom of the hall, there were no longer any stairs going up etc - felt like it should have been something cool I discovered working my way back down to see how it all fit together and instead it was just annoying and bullshit at the fact it killed me due to bugginess. Still one bug in all the time I've been playing isn;t bad going by modern game standards (and given the size and complexity of the game). 

 

Popped back to the dream to spend all those echoes and when I came back Secret Si was here again: 

 

Spoiler

Telling me that if I want to know the real secret I should go and kill Maria at the top of the tower. I like this guy, something tells me he's all right. 

 

[Hexx]

OoK is really getting to me (level 105). So many different combos or chains of moves with such massive hit boxes. Ridiculously easy to get effectively one shotted as you get trapped - and done of the later AoE is seemingly impossible to avoid without luck.

 

Spent about 1.5 hours on him and best attempts are 25%ish. Couldn't tell you really want I did different from my dead in 5 second times.

 

Coupled with running out of blood vials (yey! I forgot about that bullshit idea) and it's really geting annoying.

 

Either gonna have to go farm (for levels and vials) or chalice. Neither of which are particularly appealing. Proper downer ending (well if I get lucky soon ;)) to what had been great DLC. 

 

 

[Coltrane]

Hmm, I can see that RTVS is going to be a bit of a pain. I tried to solo her the first two times and was very close to winning on the second fight. Third fight, I summoned another player to help and they must have died about 10 seconds after the fight starting - killed by one of the spider brood. Err, thanks then!

 

It's a strange fight because it looks deceptively easy but it doesn't seem to be in practice, especially when she spams that ice crystal AoE attack. I reckon I'll do it tomorrow though, solo or otherwise.

[RareBirds]

Ah Bloodborne, I can't stay cross at you for long. 

 

Figure I'll have a quick 10 minute play before bed - go through the door I assume the boss Secret Si told me to kill will be through and there's something else entirely:

 

Spoiler

Living Failures

 

Nothing too taxing and down on the first attempt, but a nice way to end the evening. Although having said that, thinking about it some more, their origin is pretty depressing. 

[bagapeas]

7 hours ago, dood said:

Or go grab your echoes then Bold Hunter's Mark out of there!

 

I wish I'd read this before completely failing to parry the executioner and getting quickly turned into mincemeat on the steps!  I usually run past him but the NPC got distracted so decided to join in.  I'd not thought about the bold hunter mark.  I'm sure I tried them on an earlier boss fight and they were greyed out so I just assumed they didn't work there.

 

Still, the night ended on a positive as I decided to go down the well in the hamlet and managed to get the 

Spoiler

rakuyo.

 

It was a close call though.  I thought I was game over when one of them picked me up and thought he was going to just swallow me whole, like the one in the main area.  I was mashing the buttons like mad though so I don't know if that made any difference or not.

 

Now to decide whether to bang my head against the wall of OoK or LtFV tonight.  I've been closer to getting OoK so maybe his turn tonight.

 

Still a great game and feel sure i'll be giving NG+ a go and try a few different things.  

[bagapeas]

6 hours ago, SuperMBo said:

Ah Bloodborne, I can't stay cross at you for long. 

 

Figure I'll have a quick 10 minute play before bed - go through the door I assume the boss Secret Si told me to kill will be through and there's something else entirely:

 

  Hide contents

Living Failures

 

Nothing too taxing and down on the first attempt, but a nice way to end the evening. Although having said that, thinking about it some more, their origin is pretty depressing. 

 

That seemed like a walk in the park to me too but for the first couple of times but

Spoiler

I kept getting caught out by the meteor showers by being on the wrong side of the pillar.  Would get wiped out before I could get out of the way.

 

Research hall is such a good area and the DLC overall has been excellent and quite a challenge.  Just frustrating sometimes when you can't get the hang of bosses and just want to get on with exploring.

 

I always like how the game seems to stretch out your comfort level when exploring and carrying increasing amounts of echoes and then rewards you with a shortcut so you don't have to go through it all again.

[KartoffelKopf]

6 hours ago, Hexx said:

OoK is really getting to me (level 105). So many different combos or chains of moves with such massive hit boxes. Ridiculously easy to get effectively one shotted as you get trapped - and done of the later AoE is seemingly impossible to avoid without luck.

 

Spent about 1.5 hours on him and best attempts are 25%ish. Couldn't tell you really want I did different from my dead in 5 second times.

 

Coupled with running out of blood vials (yey! I forgot about that bullshit idea) and it's really geting annoying.

 

Either gonna have to go farm (for levels and vials) or chalice. Neither of which are particularly appealing. Proper downer ending (well if I get lucky soon ;)) to what had been great DLC. 

 

 

 

Stick up a vid of one of your attempts so we can see where you're going wrong. 105 should be ok. 

 

OoK has a pretty long recovery time from when he jumps at you. I ended up abandoning trying to interrupt him and just dodged into him and then a very quick charged R2 as he recovered. 

 

 

[Quest]

What's the spoiler ettiquette in here? Initialisms for boss, character and place names? Specific discussion of those things in spoiler tags?

 

Anyway, onwards I went after beating the first boss. Now I'm at the second and took off half its health before I walked into a column and he got me. Going to have another crack later, but I have a few questions...

 

Spoiler

What does summoning Alfred do, other than the obvious of him helping with the fight? Can he die? I don't want him to die.

Can I kill that machine gun chap? I tried once and it didn't end well, and I'm leaving the other hunter below well alone.

 

[Davros sock drawer]

Ooh, hang on. Who was the first boss you fought? Was it FG?

[Quest]

Ummmm...yeahhhhh? I didn't realise there were others I could fight at that point.

 

Where is the other?

[Mike S]

2 hours ago, Nequests said:

 

 

  Hide contents

What does summoning Alfred do, other than the obvious of him helping with the fight? Can he die? I don't want him to die.

Can I kill that machine gun chap? I tried once and it didn't end well, and I'm leaving the other hunter below well alone.

 

 

I can't answer the summoning question as I didn't summon but, yes...

Spoiler

...you can kill the machine gun guy but not from the front. The hunter below can be dealt with easily if you lure him to the little set of steps closer to the tower on which the machine gunner sits. Once there it's easy enough to kill him with easy,  fairly cheap, hits by staying below him.

 

FG is a challenging boss, the other boss is easier and, although optional, I always considered it the first...

 

[Quest]

Ah, I thought FG was the first. I'm currently near BSB, but might pop back and see if I can get the other.

[Coltrane]

Talking of hunters:

 

Spoiler

The hunter in Byrgenwerth was proving a bit of a pain last night so on one attempt I ran back to the start of the level with her chasing. Didn't intend to, it was just a spur of the moment thing. So I got back to the forbidden grave and re-entered Byrgenwerth, hoping to sneak up on her when she was walking back. Turns out I didn't need to as just inside the entrance I ended up picking up about 10k blood echoes which I assume was from her. God knows how she died but maybe one of the other 'inhabitants' ate her, lol.

 

[Davros sock drawer]

Hunters do interact with other enemies depending on the circs, so she was probably got by one of those bugs. I'll have to try that myself and see.

 

 

[Hexx]

3 hours ago, Nequests said:

Ummmm...yeahhhhh? I didn't realise there were others I could fight at that point.

 

Where is the other?

 

At the end of the bridge - Cleric beast. As you run from the Lantern towards the lift to FG, there's a house you can go inside and upstairs to get onto bridge. Head left (you can fight or run past mobs

 

3 Activities open to me - OoK and Well are rock hard. MWN I'm thinking will be easier but don't want to do until post DLC.

 

Otherwise I could do Challices - Think I've opened up a number of different trees so might get so graphical variety. I do dislike how....boring the set of dungeons are. The combat is fun but it's missing something without the fantastic level design.

 

What's Arcane Haze? I need lots and have none (and can't buy)

 

 

[Davros sock drawer]

3 hours ago, bagapeas said:

 

I wish I'd read this before completely failing to parry the executioner and getting quickly turned into mincemeat on the steps!  I usually run past him but the NPC got distracted so decided to join in.  I'd not thought about the bold hunter mark.  I'm sure I tried them on an earlier boss fight and they were greyed out so I just assumed they didn't work there.

 

 

 

I racked up 125k yesterday just by doing so many bloody run-backs to LtfV. In the end I had to Bold Hunter's Mark out, even though that's not even half a level in NG++, as I still think of that as being a lot to lose.

 

Can't beat the firey fucker though. Hardest boss in the game for me, mainly for that final phase, but also because the run back is such a pain having to wait for the fireball to do its thing, and then the Executioner. Annoying.

[RareBirds]

She is the second highest cause of my deaths in game - spent ages trying to use the stairs and furniture downstairs to LoS the arcane attack etc. In the end I got frustrated and just went really aggressive attacking her upstairs and it was so much easier. 

 

That's been my general path in the game - the ease with which you can die means I'm really cautious in new areas / new bosses but I actually have so much more success when I'm agressive and toe-to-toe with the enemies. 

[Davros sock drawer]

1 minute ago, Hexx said:

 

 

Hidden Content

 

 

3 Activities open to me - OoK and Well are rock hard. MWN I'm thinking will be easier but don't want to do until post DLC.

 

Otherwise I could do Challices - Think I've opened up a number of different trees so might get so graphical variety. I do dislike how....boring the set of dungeons are. The combat is fun but it's missing something without the fantastic level design.

 

What's Arcane Haze? I need lots and have none (and can't buy)

 

 

 

Check the upgrade bench. If you've got the Arcane Haze extractor you can create it there.

 

Have you been absolutely everywhere else in the game?

Abandoned Old Workshop?

[Coltrane]

5 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

Hunters do interact with other enemies depending on the circs, so she was probably got by one of those bugs. I'll have to try that myself and see.

 

 

 

Yeah that's what I assumed. Did make me laugh though.

 

Also, I don't have the Old Hunters expansion but right near the Lunarium door I had the option to:

 

Spoiler

Summon Damian of Mensis. I tried it, not expecting it to work as I didn't have the Old Hunters bell. Was a bit surprised when it said:

 

'You ring the Old Hunters bell..' and Damian appeared. Er, ok! Is that supposed to happen? It says you can't summon unless you have the expansion and I definitely don't have it!

 

Took him to one of the fights and he was quite useful at picking off the spider adds with arcane magic while I cut a path to Rom.

 

[Hexx]

7 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

 

Check the upgrade bench. If you've got the Arcane Haze extractor you can create it there.

 

Have you been absolutely everywhere else in the game?

Hidden Content

 

 

Nah. So there's an item I've missed.

 

I've been there yes - didn't get the AHE though. Might recheck.

 

I think I've been everywhere I know of (the last place I'd left unexplored was the other end of the blood river...awfully dangerous cave. But AA and GG? Interesting!)

 

I think when the DLC was released, they patched loads of stuff in "for free" for everyone - so that might be the summon you mean

 

[Coltrane]

10 minutes ago, SuperMBo said:

She is the second highest cause of my deaths in game - spent ages trying to use the stairs and furniture downstairs to LoS the arcane attack etc. In the end I got frustrated and just went really aggressive attacking her upstairs and it was so much easier. 

 

That's been my general path in the game - the ease with which you can die means I'm really cautious in new areas / new bosses but I actually have so much more success when I'm agressive and toe-to-toe with the enemies. 

 

Yeah I tried all sorts of methods, including dancing round the stairs, kiting her around the courtyard and even got her trapped in a corner downstairs and thought I had her stunlocked but she killed me with a slither of health left. In the end I don't mind cheesing because I thought she was a bit OP really. That arcane AoE she does has a big range and I know you can interrupt it but she's pretty damn fast and wayy stronger than that other hunter in OY.