Bloodborne Catch-all

I haven't tried the axe yet. I actually really like the saw cleaver, but have been experimenting with some other weapons. I think the Saw Spear's closed form has decent reach compared to the Saw Cleaver's closed, but the open Saw Cleaver has range, speed, and a decent hit box whereas the Saw Spear just has reach but inferior speed and a weird hit box.

Ultimately Ludwing's Holy Blade is probably the most versatile I've found so far.

Did you perhaps find the tiny music box?

ccesarano wrote:

Did you perhaps find the tiny music box?

The what now?

Also f*ck Gascoigne omfg.

I love the giant sword.

The saw cleaver really comes into its own late game and in low level runs when you get more comfortable fighting everything up close and then dashing out. It can be an R1-spam DPS monster similar to the falchion in Dark Souls, esp. if you are using particular buffs.

Spoiler:

Beast Blood Pellets

merphle wrote:
ccesarano wrote:

Did you perhaps find the tiny music box?

The what now?

Also f*ck Gascoigne omfg.

Spoiler:

There's a young girl in Central Yharnam at one of the windows who is looking for her mum, who went looking for her dad. It turns out her dad is Gascoigne. The girl gives you a music box if you agree to go look for them. The music box can be used to stun Gascoigne a bit, though it only seems to work once after he transforms. You also want to be careful not to use it too long before he transforms or its effects will be minimized later.

You have to get to her from the sewers. Do you remember the "pit" with a horde of those crawly things, an item at the center of them? There's a ladder up to a wooden platform that should then have a really tall ladder upwards. From there you'll have crows on your right, and a bridge on your left leading to a house with revelers and a fatty standing outside another house by a ladder. Go up the ladder and you'll reach a gate, but the window to your right will have the little girl. You'll hear the music box when you're getting near. This also opens up a shortcut, naturally.

If you continue to have trouble, this video might help provide some pointers. Things rarely work out as well for me as they did him, but it made at least half the fight with Gascoigne easier for me to handle solo.

And in case it helps further, look for lanterns by windows/doors to know if there's anyone there to talk to, and be sure to return through Central Yharnam after some Cathedral Ward exploration to talk to people there further.

psu_13 wrote:

I love the giant sword.

The saw cleaver really comes into its own late game and in low level runs when you get more comfortable fighting everything up close and then dashing out. It can be an R1-spam DPS monster similar to the falchion in Dark Souls, esp. if you are using particular buffs.

Spoiler:

Beast Blood Pellets

So interesting thing about the spoiler:

Spoiler:

I don't use Beast Blood Pellets at all. I should probably use the ash more since I'm relying on bullets a decent amount, but it seems like the damage dealt there isn't really the point.

ccesarano wrote:
Spoiler:

You have to get to her from the sewers. Do you remember the "pit" with a horde of those crawly things, an item at the center of them? There's a ladder up to a wooden platform that should then have a really tall ladder upwards.

Ah, damn! I know exactly what you're referring to. I came to that location from both directions, saw that ladder from the platform partway up, dropped down to kill those things and get the items, and then neglected to climb the ladder.

Now I just have to remember how to get back there. I feel like I know almost every inch of the DS games, but the layout of Bloodborne isn't sticking with me - and that might be part of the reason why I haven't been able to really get into the game. I don't know if it's all of the clutter and "messy edges" throughout Central Yharnam that's throwing me off so much, or what.

I can't make a comparison in that regard, especially since my first time through Yharnam was in co-op. It took me a while to have a solid mental map in my head, but I've developed one for most of the game now. Granted I've played through it nearly twice, so, that helps, and Central Yharnam ends up being a good location to run back and just grind blood vials out when your storage is low.

I don't know how many other areas are actually as big and maze-like as Central Yharnam is. I feel like they wanted to use it to really introduce the player to the world and what to expect, but it's a lot more condensed than it first seems. Perhaps part of it is also because you register the path you took more than the shortcuts, of which there are a TON to unlock on Yharnam.

FWIW

Spoiler:

Beast blood pellets are not a thing that I would expect people to use a lot in a regular playthrough. They are handy if you really need a damage buff but are otherwise sort of obscure and weird. I used them a lot only in a masochistic low level run that I did because I hate myself.

Father Gasshole is dead. It took me many tries, including getting him down to about 5% health twice in a row and both times when I smacked the button to give myself a quick epipen injection, nothing happened. Plenty of blood vials available, but nothing happened and I died. Does dodge-rolling take precedence over administering self-health? Maybe I might possibly could have done a dodge before the health kicked in...? But who cares, that dude's dead and I'm not (for now). Onward!

I attribute moments like that to From Jank. There've been times where I'm completely out of a roll animation or something, hit the button, and then... nothing happens. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it's usually pretty devastating.

The majority of my single player time with Bloodborne has been great, but if I ever do a solo run of the campaign again I'm pretty sure I won't bother with The Old Hunters. It isn't all bad, it has a lot of moments that feel better balanced for just one player, but I'm getting a bit exhausted with it. It doesn't help that I'm roughly 25 levels lower than when my buddy and I tackled and completed it, and that I got as far as I have is a bit of a testament to how much I'm getting better at the game. But man, it just does not feel balanced to be played anywhere before the game's very end, or through co-op.

There are better plays than me that can enjoy this content solo, no doubt, but for me, I have no reason to go back through it.

You might need stamina to be able to heal.

I get what you are saying about the DLC ... as a counterpoint I'll say that for me The Old Hunters might be the best set of areas From ever did. Certainly three of the four bosses there are among my favorites. But I have an obsessive streak about this game (and DS1). I can see how you could bounce off of the content.

Edit: Oh. I agree that it's "end game" sort of content ... the fact that you can get there early is misleading. Although it's handy to get upgrade materials if you want them.

The Old Hunters DLC is definitely end game content. The recommended level for the DLC, when taken into consideration with the recommended levels for each of the base game areas, definitely puts it one of the last two things you'll tackle.

FROM did the same thing (in terms of giving access to the DLC early) with Dark Souls 3 as well. The first DLC there could be accessed as soon as you get to the cleansing chapel, but you'll be a good 40-50 levels below recommended if you try to tackle it then.

But as you say, it's a testament to the power of knowledge that you CAN tackle the DLC in both games at massively under-level and still do... ok. In Dark Souls 3, I got to the final boss of the first DLC at least 20 levels early before I just couldn't get through it.

Localgod54 wrote:

It's fun lurking and watching you play through for the first time, ccesarano. If I ever play my PS4 again, I'll load up the dlc and give it a go. I'm afraid it will be difficult though, after a long hiatus. Ah well. Maybe I can convince Spikeout to tackle it with me even after all this time.

Yes.

I'm basically 99% complete on solo. I've done everything but the following:

Spoiler:

Defeat the Orphan of Kos
Defeat the two Beluga Whales (as my pal and I call them) to get Rakuyo
Defeat Mergo's Wet Nurse

Which means I was able to:

Spoiler:

defeat Laurence

easier than it takes to get that one weapon I really want. I tried the Shaman Bone Knife only to discover that it doesn't last very long. I might honestly pull my buddy in for the rest of the Old Hunters content just because I honestly don't enjoy the challenge it is representing at this point. Most of the fights in this game I felt satisfied for pushing through, but

Spoiler:

Laurence

himself didn't really feel that satisfying in the end. Maybe I'll go at the final boss of it solo, but for that weapon? Nah. Not worth the headache, blood vials, and quicksilver bullets.

Nonetheless, glad I at least tried. For me, the base game is enough to replay, and I have no reason to return to the Old Hunters in a solo run through.

I found Amelia.

I actually found the area a few days ago, but noped away before going inside, and went exploring down the right path to the side of her area first. I was pleasantly surprised that I killed the two NPC Hunters without too much trouble, and then walked into a strange circular room with a metal platform in the center... and didn’t walk back out. So I tried the path to the left, into the spooky scary graveyard, and unlocked a new bonfire. Or whatever they’re called in BB.

And THEN I got myself properly obliterated by Amelia.

If you open three of the gates you can summon yourself a helper. However, it's also helpful to have killed everything on the way there since your assistant has a tendency to Leroy Jenkins to every foe in sight and could use all their own blood vials on the way to Amelia.

Yeah I saw the helper summon. Need insight to use it?

Just one, yeah. You should have some from prior boss fights and zone discovery. If not, just pop some Madman's Knowledge and you'll have some additional insight in no time.

I may have spent all of my insight buying the Gascan armor set, before realizing that I wasn't keen on that set's stat delta from what I was already wearing. I wish the shop UI was a bit better at showing how a given piece compares to what I'm already wearing.

I have a bit more insight now, from saying "hi" to Amelia Bedelia. I'll probably try the fight solo a few more times just to get a feel for it, before considering bringing in an NPC buddy. Also I spent an insight to buy the White Soapstone equivalent, so I might see if I could get myself summoned in to help someone else, so I can learn her moveset. Does Jolly Cooperation reward with insight in BB -- is it farmable that way, or is it only the "hard" insight items that are farmable?

Edit: Yes. Getting summoned and beating their boss does indeed reward with insight. Did that, then summoned a PC and NPC, and took down Amelia.

Keep in mind that the more players there are for a boss, the more health it has. So sometimes it's better to limit to just one additional companion rather than three, as if both companions die on a really tough boss then you'll be left alone to tackle the remaining health with a major damage handicap.

Most of the time you should be fine, though.

Equipment in this game is weird. There's so much of it, and yet none of it is meant to be "better" armor than anything else. Not really. It's all about what sort of resistances or defenses you wish to emphasize. I have a well-rounded armor set I keep equipped, but during certain moments I'll just dig for whatever gives highest Frenzy resistance or highest Poison resistance. Going up against an enemy with a powerful gun? Get that Blood defense up.

To that end, Gascoigne's armor has its uses, but I only got it after some other armor would be more worthwhile. Ultimately I feel like the armor variety is more there for fashion purposes than actual pragmatic reasons.

Absolutely nailed it re: armor. It's not like Dark Souls, armor is really only about resistances and fashion.

The only time I ever wore armor for its function in Dark Souls was to tank Four Kings. For the most part, I think using armor in Dark Souls for its supposed function is a mistake. Mobility and reading tells usually get you much better results. I'd say that is also true in Bloodborne, and is helped by the fact that the dodges in that game use much less stamina than they do in the Souls games.

NSMike wrote:

The only time I ever wore armor for its function in Dark Souls was to tank Four Kings. For the most part, I think using armor in Dark Souls for its supposed function is a mistake. Mobility and reading tells usually get you much better results. I'd say that is also true in Bloodborne, and is helped by the fact that the dodges in that game use much less stamina than they do in the Souls games.

Depends.. wearing heavier armor with poise in DS will mean that your slower weapon swings will hit more often since you won't get poise broke as easy as light armor.

And wearing heavy armor if you're doing a dodge build is right out.

Early on finally getting to this game. Been having a blast going through. I've been mostly helping folks in old Yarnham for now and going after the blood starved beast. So nice to have the feeling of exploring a souls world full of terror and excitement.

Holy shortcuts and ladders Batman!

The only Souls game I didn't finish. Thinking about giving it another shot.

Every time this thread gets bumped, I reinstall.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Every time this thread gets bumped, I reinstall.

Accountability buddies?

Did you go to the gym play Bloodborne this week?

Is there a way to coop with friends or just randos?

PSN I am HobearGWJ

Stele wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Every time this thread gets bumped, I reinstall.

Accountability buddies?

Did you go to the gym play Bloodborne this week?

I've played it four(?) times now. My accountability buddy would ask if I played something other than Bloodborne this week.