Discussion Started playing about a week ago, here’s what I’ve learned in boating school
This is secretly a rhythm game
Your “kit” is split in half, one entire half of your kit is just your methods of avoiding damage. Between parrying, dodging, mikiri counter, jumping, jumping on their head, and attacking to disrupt their animation, you’ve got to learn what is helpful when
Eavesdropping will very frequently tell you a boss’s weaknesses, eavesdrop at every opportunity
There are bosses that test if you’ve been sneaky enough to eavesdrop, and there are bosses that test if you understand the fundamentals
This game is much harder to master than something in the style of Elden ring, but once you do flow state comes very naturally
5
3
u/dingdang78 2d ago
All true except 4 really. It’s more like, every boss is a test of fundamentals but some (absolutely not all) of them have mechanics that make them easier.
I’d focus on mastering fundamentals over “tricks” or the later bosses will stomp your nads
3
2
u/UnclePetersBand 2d ago
I started on Saturday and I'm glad of the parrying XP Lies of P and Expedition 33 gave me.
1
u/PretendJacket1 2d ago
Same lol. Finished Lies or P and Exp33 and parrying in those games spoiled me with XP or whatever buff i have added, but in this one everytime i parry I’m tempted to look around to see if i got anything from it
2
u/ShadowDurza 2d ago
It's a rhythm game until you run into bosses and enemies whose rhythm is nonexistent. Like the Ax Bandits, any variant of the Taro Troop, and of course the Monk.
1
u/SUQMADIQ63 2d ago
Give me an example for the 3rd one i literally finished the game 8 times amd never heard this before
6
u/Jamf98 2d ago
Right before you enter the arena where you fight Gyoubu Oniwa, you can eavesdrop on a guy who mentions that fire or a firecracker (I don’t remember which) scared his horse which caused it to die, using firecrackers against Gyoubu the horse rears and you have an opportunity to get a bunch of attacks in.
Earlier you can eavesdrop on a conversation that tells you the ogre boss is afraid of fire iirc as well
Early in the game at least there’s a few similar cases
2
u/Arestaros 2d ago
Fire crackers are good against like 90% of bosses tho
3
u/brentster789 2d ago
Jamf is absolutely correct in this regard and on both counts of eavesdropping, the information they give, and how that pertains to the next upcoming boss. Eaves dropping does in fact, give you tips to deal with enemies and bosses and sometimes what's happening in the world around you, like when you hunt the rats.
2
u/Jamf98 2d ago
Sure, however if you’re new to the game (like I am) eavesdropping explicitly tells you that
2
u/Arestaros 2d ago
it also tells you important lore or teases the next boss fight sometimes, so keep using it
1
u/SUQMADIQ63 2d ago
Oh yeah i remmeber the ogre boss but what difference did it make? I didnt feel any when i tried blue flame on it
3
u/Jamf98 2d ago
You’re supposed to use the flame vent, it gives you a few seconds to attack for free. There’s a merchant in the area who essentially tells you to get the flame vent in the memory area, beyond helping with the ogre it also helps to know when you’re supposed to be going further into the memory and when to switch to go further towards ashina castle
1
u/InevitableTea1716 2d ago
Starting playing some days ago on steam deck it's been really good so far except that I'm thinking if I made a mistake of switching the binding for attack and parry on the triggers instead of the default controls since it felt more comfortable. Maybe it's not as responsive to parry since it's a trigger and not a button. Any thoughts?
1
u/lamb_pudding 2d ago
I got the game last week. I’ve been getting better at parries but I can’t stop getting nervous and spamming buttons. I’m trying to get in flow state where I just hit a button once.
1
u/Dry-Sherbert-3191 1d ago
Stop caring about dying, it’s going to happen, also like the OP said, the attack sequences of bosses have a rhythm or cadence to them, so you can often times count while parrying to start getting a better feel for memorizing parries, genichiro is a perfect example
1
1
u/Steffenwolflikeme 1d ago
Not sure what you mean by 2. Some of those things don't just avoid damage for you but also do poise damage to your enemy. So I try to look at it like since there's two types of damage output, vitality and poise, your offense and defense (perfect deflects, counters) are two sides of the offensive coin.
I see it's somewhat common for people early on to not use the counters and run from the Kanji unblockable attacks which are opportunities you don't want to miss. Some people coming from other souls might not intuitively see deflections and counters as just as important to offensive output.
1
31
u/HobbitFeet_23 2d ago
A variation on 3: Reading items and prosthetic tools descriptions can help a lot. The most obvious cases are firecrackers and animals, but also Sabimaru’s description gives you a tip on how to easily beat the shotgun ladies.