melmer

Bloodborne (Dark Souls 2 successor (Dark Souls successor (Demon's Souls successor)))

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Yeah I've played all of them, though I haven't finished DS2. I just killed the cleric lady boss this morning, which may have been a mistake because I apparently hadn't done an "optional" area called... something alley? I say "optional" because that seems to be the only place to get an item that lets you use powerups at the altar in Hunter's Dream.

 

Anyway I still don't feel like I know where the hell I'm going or what I'm doing (perhaps because I played UP TO the lady cleric months ago on someone else's PS4, so I've forgotten the entirety of the first couple of areas) so if anyone wants to hook up with me and at least lead me through to the right areas, I'd definitely appreciate it.

 

 

I believe you are looking for Charnel Lane, which you should be able to access at any time. Facing towards the door that had Vicar Amalia, go left, and you'll find the path.

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Has anyone done a skill build? I'm finding it so difficult, my character does shit for damage. Each fight lasts 10x longer than if I went for the strength build I used last time. 

Not to mention the threaded cane is such a piece of shit. I feel like I need to either find a way to get a new weapon or just give up on this build entirely. 

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How far in are you? I did a skill build on my first playthrough and eventually settled on the daggers you can get from Eileen. If something were to happen to her, you could buy them early...

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The big things about skill builds is, for one, skill weapons tend to do a lot of damage but they do it with a lot of individual attacks. So you need the end to back it up. I'd say at least 25. And second if you're good at getting off visceral attacks for fans of the genre consistently then you've basically won the game as skill also ups the damage of VAs after 18 points. It can get pretty absurd. Also the Threaded Cane is the weapon I beat the game with my first time so I would hardly call it a piece of shit. It is quite hard to use though. If you have the DLC you may want to rush to the Beasthunter Saif. Or give the Reiterpallasch, Rifle Spear, or Saw Spear a go.

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On my second playthrough, Eileen met with an unfortunate end during her first duel, which allowed me access to her blades early on.  The whip is pretty underwhelming to start with, but isn't terrible once it's upgraded and you understand that it's two forms have different bonuses versus different enemies.  I never finished that playthrough, so I never played around with the Burial Blade to see how it fared.

 

But, the real treat for me on that playthrough was the Reiterpallasch (which can had fairly early).  Normal physical gems buff it's pistol shot and fire paper buffs both the sword and pistol (unless that's been patched out, but I'd hope not).  It also means you can carry a non-gun weapon in the left hand, like the flamesprayer, which gives you instant access to three types of attacks, which can be fun and different. 

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I'm at BSB. Honestly, I don't find the skill build fun until you come across some good weapons...like the reiterpallasch or twin blades. 

 

I switched back to my main to do the DLC. It's pretty cool, but I think what I've learned from replaying Bloodborne, is that I prefer Dark Souls. Initially the excitement of a new game had me, but coming back to it doesn't feel as good as coming back to a Souls game.

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I've been using the Beast Cutter on the strength build I started for the DLC, which is basically

the Threaded Cane, but for strength.

Smashing the hell out of things with the transformed version's R2+R2 attack is a treat. You can pancake so many enemies onto the ground by just doing that, and it has quite a bit of range on it.

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I dislike how the DLC weapons aren't already upgraded. You have to invest so much in the to see if you even like them. 

 

On the bright side, I killed Ludwig. What a great fight! I came out of that with 3 blood vials left. All I want is that damn sword bow. Where the hell is it?!

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I've reached Byrgenwerth in my DLC playthrough, and

is it just me or is this Rom easily the worst boss in the (base) game? Such a slog, especially since there's not usually anyone around to co-op with. (probably because it's not a very fun fight)

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After the first boss I'm not really enjoying the DLC. Don't really know why, maybe I'm just not in the mood for this kind of high difficulty at the moment.

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Huh, I got back into it. I don't know why, but it just seems like I hate slow weapons now. I used to be all about big lumbering things that I could take off huge chunks of health, but now I like to get in, slice and dice, then get out. The only problem is...upgrade materials. 

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I beat 2 more DLC bosses last night. It makes me sad that this game has fallen off the radar on here, while Dark Souls lasted forever. I can't decide whether Bloodborne is the best or the worst game in the Souls universe. I get so much satisfaction from the mechanics and the world, but I have zero desire to play through it more than twice, which is just unheard of in a souls game.

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If I still had access to a PS4, I'd have at least played through the DLC and messed around some more, but even then, it still didn't give me the urge to replay it like earlier Souls games did.

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One of the things that kills it for me is the lack of multiplayer (I really, really hate the having to pay for plus system). Another is the oppressiveness of the atmosphere and in general rather wearying brown colour palette. Finally, the lack of build variety and difficulty of getting upgrade materials means there's very little to try out.

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Everything you've said is entirely valid (except the oppressive atmosphere- it is a souls game).

Maybe I should get into the multiplayer after I finish the DLC. I pay for ps+ because it pays for itself in the games I get from it.

The lack of builds I didn't think would bother me, as in dark souls I only ever play melter builds. Can't stand casting.

The lack of variety in the environment is probably the biggest factor. It's all dark. It's all grey and brown with the occasional change. It makes it feel a bit samey as you progress.

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I'm gonna get the DLC eventually but I'm a bit too broke at the moment, and busy too for that matter. I like the game a lot, it just didn't get under my skin the way I'd hoped.

Maybe I'll even do the chalice dungeons one day (never even set foot in one).

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Having now been away from both Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne for a significant amount of time... I definitely prefer Bloodborne in nearly every way. I intend to go back and replay it eventually, doing the DLC, etc. Or maybe I'll continue my NG+ run until I can get the beast claws. Those look like a lot of fun.

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I much prefer the medieval fantasy aesthetic of Dark/Demons' Souls, but the rolling is super dumb, Bloodborne's dodging is fantastic. The victorian/lovecraft/beast horror thing isn't really done often in games, and I think it's going to be hard to top Bloodborne if any one else tries it, since FROM fucking nailed it, and I think being unusual is a point in favour. 

 

I'm really looking forward to Dark Souls 3, can't wait to get back into the knight armour. 

 

The Chalice Dungeons are possibly the worst thing about Bloodborne, I find them completely tedious. Also the multiplayer seems much harder to actually do. I spent many afternoons helping people with bosses in DS2, waiting only a few minutes between each summon. I rarely get summoned in Bloodborne, and when I do, the host seems to just die as I breach the fog gate.

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I dunno about the dodging man. Bloodborne plays well, I just don't think it plays (no pun intended) to the strengths of that combat system, which I mean in a broad enough sense to encompass all four games. You have significantly more i-frames, the stamina cost of dodging is low enough that you can chain probably a dozen dodges, recovery frames feel faster which lets you escape stun locks, you can stun lock most enemies just by mashing R1 etc. Basically, the game is less punishing. I think that was the intent too, and I also think that's why people who didn't like Dark Souls' combat like Bloodborne's. The downside is that when you die it often feels more like an action game death, maybe your timing was off, compared where a Dark Souls death where you see it coming five seconds in advance because you know you made an error in judgement.

 

I also think the faster combat system is what led them to include so many grappling enemies, which I think are universally bad. That's how they make enemies feel threatening, by removing your ability to dodge, or those hunters that are mechanically unfair. I know some people consider them the highlight of the game, but it feels like bullshit in a way other Souls games don't when one shot from their gun takes off half your health and a shot from yours on them does chip damage.

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Bloodborne just feels faster paced overall to me, which is something. (At least, faster than Dark Souls. I've played neither Demon's nor Dark 2.)

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I was initially referring to the fact that rolling looks dumb, while dodging looks cool. The dodge is what made the game feel like I was playing Bayonetta. For you that's a negative, for me that was a huge positive. 

 

I also love that the healing mechanics push you to be aggressive. My usual play style in Dark Souls was to turtle up every time I came across a new enemy. Shield up. Poke if there's a clear opening. Learn how the boss moves. It meant I one shot a lot of bosses, because I was able to take my time and figure them out, without really being in a lot of danger. Bloodborne forces you to be up close and aggressive, if you pull back, most of the time the boss will have some sort of long range attack that can reach you if you spend too long trying to heal up.

 

Maybe I'm misremembering, but couldn't you stun lock most enemies in Dark Souls just by spamming R1? It's been a while since I've played it, I'm probably thinking of DS2.

I think overall I prefer Dark Souls, but Bloodborne has some fantastic aspects that just separates it out from the others. 

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Everything you've said is entirely valid (except the oppressive atmosphere- it is a souls game).

I don't find the Souls games to be oppressive at all. Because all civilians/civilisations are already dead and you're mostly investigating places where everything's gone to hell way before you ever set foot on the scene.

Bloodborne is to me oppressive/depressing, the Souls games are more tragic/fascinating. It's being mid-apocalypse vs. archaeology.

Maybe it's just that the relative modernity of Bloodborne's setting makes it more depressing to me than the Souls game's escapism into fantasy. Or just that horror tropes never really connect with me.

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That's... interesting, haha. The oppressive atmosphere is usually cited by people as one of the biggest reasons people like Dark Souls so much.

 

(I'm not one of those people.)

 

I also don't think Bloodborne was all that oppressive, if I'm honest. Mostly just off-putting and surreal and often gross. But that's why I liked it, because it actually did something for me, visually, unlike Dark Souls, which feels sterile and stereotypical (except for the DLC area, which was fucking fantastic). X:

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