*** The Official Bloodborne Thread ***

[iv-tecman]

Grinding out levels is not going to make any part of this game significantly easier. In all of the souls games, level makes a negligible difference, which is why you can see so many videos of people clearing the previous games at level 1 with no gear without ever taking a single hit of damage (they'd die if they did).

It's going to give you a very slight boost in HP and damage but that won't be enough to compensate for not knowing exactly how and when to dodge/strike the boss or normal enemies. You shouldn't need to level up at all in order to clear the first boss, it just takes practice. Honestly, I found the start of this game significantly easier than say the first level of Dark Souls.

You're an hour or less into a 40-80 hour long single player game, so you won't be finding much out about the story yet.

I wrote a really long post as a reply to tecman a couple of pages back that explains how you need to approach these games. They may not be for you, but rest assured if you have the patience to stick with it, you'll find it to be one of the best gaming experiences available today. You'll also realize that your dying is not due to bad luck or needing to grind out levels, it's simply that you weren't doing something right or you got overzealous. This game has almost zero RNG in it, it's entirely based on skill and experience, that unfortunately comes with a very steep learning curve.

See I also read grinding was pointless. I've gone to a guide to tell me how to beat the cleric boss, and now I feel even more a cheat as actually what the guide told me was like, oh ffs is it really just a matter of doing something so simple.. Sure. Skill is needed but what I read was like when you learn how to open those child safety bottles. Complex at first. But once you learn the method simple really.

So tomorrow I'll have another go, I'm going to create a new character and sod the grinding..

 

[JDR82]

Had a first go at father Gascoigne, died when he had about 1 hit of health left due to rolling into an area off stones and trees, will get him tomorrow, also saw what looked like an enormous wolf at the end of a sewer but knew better than to walk straight into that.

 

[dakaiez]

See I also read grinding was pointless. I've gone to a guide to tell me how to beat the cleric boss, and now I feel even more a cheat as actually what the guide told me was like, oh ffs is it really just a matter of doing something so simple.. Sure. Skill is needed but what I read was like when you learn how to open those child safety bottles. Complex at first. But once you learn the method simple really.

So tomorrow I'll have another go, I'm going to create a new character and sod the grinding..

It is pointless, you can be super high level and still get destroyed for not dodging and hitting at the right times. I've seen your posts and if you played the other games you'd have been a little more prepared. It is a fun game for the right people, some people can't hack it and others can.

For me it's easily GOTY so far, although i think Witcher 3 will also be a contender. I've died and lost well over 80k+ souls in the last few days, but oh well it's part of the game and punishes me for dying so i just get on with it. Just need to study fights and die to get used to how they pan out, killed the first boss on 3rd try, 2nd on 1st and 3rd on 3rd try then like the 4th boss on 2nd and 5th on 2nd too.

I sit back, watch how they move and notice a pattern and then try and get a few attacks in before dodging, normally works but still times i get caught and die.

 

[Davey_Pitch]

I just don't understand how this could be fun. The reviews read like its the holy grail of gaming. I've found it so far to be frustratingly repetitive and very strange in its ways.

I understand making a game a challenge. But sod battling through challenging sections to then die.

And I cannot believe the insight point I got vanished after I tried to summon help , I rang the bell to help with the cleric boss, no one answered. I had to move forward as before long some wolves would have made me their next meal and entered the fog without help died and my insight point gone. Result. A sleeping doll in hunters dream. Yeah totally enjoyed that..

And. When the doll was awake and I farmed. If I got cocky you'd soon see your stash of echoes gone.

Ok sometimes you can get that stash back by hunting the bugger down that killed you and earn um back by killing him. But erm hmmm lovely system.

Brutally hard game. Yet I just don't see how being so punished is fun. I have read loads online to try and help me, I understand some aspects , I also understand the blunderbus allows you to stun enemies when they are mid attack and I press r1 to leash a lethal attack , actually I did find this fun .... But the whole game hasn't clicked at all. And like you I'm searching to see what all the critics see...???

If that's how you feel I don't think you'll ever "get it" to be honest. To those of us who love the game, it's that challenge that we love. We love spending the time learning the attacks of the enemies. We love spending the time exploring the levels, opening up shortcuts we didn't know existed. We love dying because we took a wrong turn and went into an area that's far more difficult than we're ready for. We love the challenge of trying to regain 10k of souls because we stupidly fell off a ledge. We love the buzz we get when the game clicks, and enemies become easy and bosses go down like a cheap whore. We love the grind for souls because we desperately want to level up to use that cool new weapon we found.

If you don't think you're the same, then sell the game now while you'll get the most money for it. It's not a game for everyone, that's been true about the Souls games right from the beginning,

 

[point decay]

I still do not get this game. What is the point of the first level where you try and beat hordes near a bonfire, then wolves on a bridge and some huge thug. To then go through a fog. Meet a huge cleric beast it kicks your ass. And... Back to hunters dream. Result. All those you've killed reappear so due to thinking. Sod this. Already killed them all, I'll run past the lot. Enter fog gate. Get a cleric boss kicking. Back to hunters dream.. ????

Erm really? I fail to understand this. Just isn't providing a sense of progression. Just an endless battle with respawning hordes , wolves and beasts which actually for the first level you don't even need to engage in battle as you can just leg it past the lot to reach the first boss.

I'm failing to get this... Seems unfair my hard battles are wasted once reach an end of level boss, as amazingly the level resets and the hordes , wolves, baddies are in the same places, doing the same things..

Game has become run as fast as you can, avoid the hordes. Learn the path to the big bad boss and hope to defeat him...erm hmmm pointless progression rewards this feels like.

And where is the story? Is there one?

I felt exactly the same, have you opened the shortcuts? they really made a huge difference to me.

 

[dakaiez]

If that's how you feel I don't think you'll ever "get it" to be honest. To those of us who love the game, it's that challenge that we love. We love spending the time learning the attacks of the enemies. We love spending the time exploring the levels, opening up shortcuts we didn't know existed. We love dying because we took a wrong turn and went into an area that's far more difficult than we're ready for. We love the challenge of trying to regain 10k of souls because we stupidly fell off a ledge. We love the buzz we get when the game clicks, and enemies become easy and bosses go down like a cheap whore. We love the grind for souls because we desperately want to level up to use that cool new weapon we found.

If you don't think you're the same, then sell the game now while you'll get the most money for it. It's not a game for everyone, that's been true about the Souls games right from the beginning,

Exactly how i see it, like i said earlier lost 40k souls in the forest earlier. I'd normally run back but took the hit as it was super long way back and i forgot to get the shortcut. I swore as you do, then just thought sod it, as i got cocky fighting the mobs and underestimated one and he grabbed me and insta-killed me. I found that fun, others won't so if dying and redoing stuff constantly isn't fun, this game is most definitely not for you.

 

[Davey_Pitch]

So after you die for the hundredth time and do you keep the xp from killing each time or is it reset

Still playing the first section and I'm dying a lot

You don't earn xp, everything is paid for with Blood Echoes. You use them to level up your character, to pay for weapon upgrades, to buy new armour, everything. You lose them when you die. If you make it back to your blood stain without dying, you can get those Echoes back again.

 

[Davey_Pitch]

Grinding out levels is not going to make any part of this game significantly easier. In all of the souls games, level makes a negligible difference, which is why you can see so many videos of people clearing the previous games at level 1 with no gear without ever taking a single hit of damage (they'd die if they did).

Not quite true IMO. For an expert player, or someone with a lot of Souls experience, grinding out levels isn't really necessary. For a new player to the series, grinding out levels can make a massive difference. Putting 10 levels into Vitality for example can make a huge difference in how long they can survive for. Putting some points into a Endurance will let them keep swinging away whereas a more experienced player will instinctively manage it better. New players need those levels.

 

[iv-tecman]

I felt exactly the same, have you opened the shortcuts? they really made a huge difference to me.

Oh like i said above. I resorted to a YouTube guide. And it has actually showed me how shortcuts work, and how to down the cleric boss. I'm a bit ashamed to have watched it but I sorta got desperate...

I'll try again tomorrow. I intend to restart and see if I do better after watching the guide. I didn't even know you could assign items to be used with square button. Doh. Tjet might help. And I didn't know you could run faster , or lock on to enemies and it changes how you dodge... The YouTube guide was like ffs. And I bet all this was in those notes that pop up from the ground..

 

[[ui]ICEMAN]

Oh like i said above. I resorted to a YouTube guide. And it has actually showed me how shortcuts work, and how to down the cleric boss. I'm a bit ashamed to have watched it but I sorta got desperate...

I'll try again tomorrow. I intend to restart and see if I do better after watching the guide. I didn't even know you could assign items to be used with square button. Doh. Tjet might help. And I didn't know you could run faster , or lock on to enemies and it changes how you dodge... The YouTube guide was like ffs. And I bet all this was in those notes that pop up from the ground..

Did you not read my huge reply to your post about 2-3 pages back? I explained all of that to you after you asked about it.

 

[iv-tecman]

You don't earn xp, everything is paid for with Blood Echoes. You use them to level up your character, to pay for weapon upgrades, to buy new armour, everything. You lose them when you die. If you make it back to your blood stain without dying, you can get those Echoes back again.

Blood stain? I thought the bugger who killed you had your echoes??

 

[Davey_Pitch]

Don't be ashamed about watching YouTube videos for help, I've done it in the past, especially with Demon's Souls. If you're new to the series so much of how to play the game will feel foreign and wrong. Asking for advice or watching videos for help is the right thing to do, especially if you feel it's a game you should be able to enjoy.

 

[Davey_Pitch]

Blood stain? I thought the bugger who killed you had your echoes??

Sometimes they do, sometimes it'll be on the ground. I don't fully understand why it changes, it probably depends on who kills you, whether man or beast.

 

[iv-tecman]

Did you not read my huge reply to your post about 2-3 pages back? I explained all of that to you after you asked about it.

I didn't get it till I watched the YouTube video. And yeah I fully understand your post now. Sorry you did make a good effort. But seems my lazy mind responded better to a more visuals guide.

The first level is more then I thought... Well from the video I watched.

 

[Davey_Pitch]

I spent about 3-4 hours just exploring the first area, opening up all the shortcuts and getting a few side missions. I'm sure I've still missed a few bits as well.

 

[[ui]ICEMAN]

I didn't get it till I watched the YouTube video. And yeah I fully understand your post now. Sorry you did make a good effort. But seems my lazy mind responded better to a more visuals guide.

The first level is more then I thought... Well from the video I watched.

No worries, I just wanted to make sure you read it that's all!

Davey's right, watch as many videos as you like and read as many guides as you want. It will get easier and you may start to appreciate what makes these games so spectacular once things start working out for you.

 

[kinger8938]

Must admit I'm feeling pretty much exactly this way. After finding out that in order to level up at all you need to reach the 1st boss. I just run past everyone, made it to him and got butchered. Just spent the last couple of hours grinding to try and level up. It has made things a bit easier, I haven't tried the boss again yet.

Still waiting for the story.

I really am trying to get into this game, after all, surely all the reviews can't be wrong.

Given a rest for the night as the all the grinding is getting very repetitive.

The story is there in this and the souls games but its just not forced down our throats with cutscenes etc. rather its in the enviroment, npc conversations and item descriptions which i find really engaging and different

 

[iv-tecman]

No worries, I just wanted to make sure you read it that's all!

Davey's right, watch as many videos as you like and read as many guides as you want. It will get easier and you may start to appreciate what makes these games so spectacular once things start working out for you.

Oh no too right you took the time to write it. So I read it. But the YouTube video showing the travel to the first boss and the method showed me a lot. Its still got a learning curve like a cliff.

I've never played a game where the tutorial is die. And its your fault you died so work it out if you don't want to die. Gawd knows what the bigger bosses must be like if the first one makes me quince in pian and suffering

 

[[ui]ICEMAN]

I finished it earlier today including all of the optional bosses and honestly, it gets easier in some ways. There are some tough fights yes, but often for a newbie, the first couple of bosses are always the worst until you've figured things out. Even things like weapon choice can make a huge impact on how easy the game is for you, not because of its damage but because each weapon has a different moveset and therefore a totally different play style.

You may find another weapon that suits you far better (or not).

 

[fez]

The witch of hemwick was way too easy. Far easier than the 4 bosses before.