Topic: Bloodborne Tavern: Impressions, Help, Discussion Board

@ThereThere hello mate, I recently just finished a blind playthrough and a plat playtrough(first From Softwaregame for me as well). It's loads of fun and by loads of fun I mean very palm sweaty and frustrating at time doing a blind playthrough and can get a little confusing and even though I managed to stumble through and complete it, as a total noob to these types of games I felt like I really did it an injustice by not fully understanding what I was doing 🤣

Anyway in my Plat playthrough I found a guy on YouTube fightincowboy, an absolutely fantastic and brilliantly in depth walk-through which makes it so easy to actually get the plat, he even has a few "cheeses" to defeat certain bosses and some very useful and handy tips for leveling.(you could literally make your self as op as wanted around the half way point of the game with one of his "hacks")

I know people say these games are best played blind but I enjoyed my plat playthrough much more because I felt like I actually under stood alot more about builds and what was going on.

@ThereThere grind away buddy… grind away. I think if the genre grips you, your subsequent souls-likes can be played more organically… but this is your first one, so get through it any which way you can 👍

@ThereThere For me, just finishing the game without summoning help felt "legitimate" by my own standards, even if it meant I was a bit over levelled.

@ThereThere yeah I very much had the same feeling as in I was worried I would get to a point of banging my head against a wall, but honestly the relief after you do beat that boss that gives you trouble is worth it, you all of a sudden realise how much your hands are sweating after the adrenaline runs out 🤣

But using the walkthrough guide from the guy on YouTube allowed me to get to grips and a better understanding of the mechanics and the game as a whole. I also didn't just go at the same boss 20 times as my frustration would just grow and grow but I found if after 4 or 5 times if I had a break even for an hour I'd go back and with in 2 or 3 attempts I'd get it. So sometimes knowing when to have a rest is a big point to enjoying these games(in my case anyway)

@ThereThere Great advice given so far from everyone and I’ll just chime in with a ditto to what’s been said and add a few personal points.

I tried and fell off Dark Souls 1 by trying to go blind; I lasted about 4-5 hours. But with Bloodborne I accepted advice, searched YouTube videos, etc and was able to finish it without having to summon help from any NPC’s or online players and my experience with the game was simply fantastic. One of my favorite PS4 games, hands down. I did exactly as you described it — somewhere between ‘blind’ and ‘full informed guide following’. Probably little more toward informed than blind, but I mostly explored around areas on my own and tried bosses once on my own, but was quick to search a boss guide at the first inkling of frustration. There are a ton of difficult encounters, so if you try to suss them all out on your own it will definitely take a large amount of intestinal fortitude. So for me it made the game so much more enjoyable to use a few tactics suggested online. There’s no shame in it.

After running past the enemies in the first area, getting to Cleric Beast and dying, and waking up the doll to open up the ability to use echoes and level up (awesome advice from Kyle, who I think was actually the person who encouraged me to do the same a couple years ago), I also spent many hours just grinding that opening set of enemies over and over and gradually leveling. Once you’re able to level up your weapon that helps a lot too, as I recall. But yes, as a newcomer, I spent so much time in that early area until I could just routinely mop the floor of those guys and then I was able to beat the boss. If memory serves, there’s a wolf or two on that bridge too and they were probably the biggest challenge in that area besides the boss… I might have run past those on my eventual run which got me over Cleric Beast. My memory is fuzzy on it though.

Regarding Cleric Beast (and many enemies in general), well timed dodge rolling is pretty key, and you’ll eventually learn to maximize your I-frames (the timing which you’re invincible during a roll) and also learn to overcome the instinct of rolling away from the enemy because often the best strategy is staying close to them and rolling toward the enemy when you dodge. Each boss is different but that was a souls mechanic that took some “unlearning what you have learned” as the Master Yoda famously taught. 😄

Toward the middle of the game I read about a good farming spot to farm echoes and grind levels and I used that area endlessly until I was a fair bit overpowered. The further in I got the more open to using the game’s mechanics against itself I became. So I often cheesed enemies, for example by hitting them through walls, because they were doing that to me! And I think it’s been said many times but grinding and over-leveling is the game’s ‘easy mode’ so it’s all part of the design — might as well take advantage of it! 😄

Bloodborne is so good. Keep at it @ThereThere

@ThereThere Personally I rarerly grind to the extent of makong my character OP in these games as I prefer the challenge and strategy of overcoming the tougher foes.

And that is not me turning my nose up at grinding, more power to you if that is what find enjoyable.

One thing I always do is if I'm close to levelling up and about to face a boss, is to then grind a bit so I don't lose all my hard earned blood echoes.

@ThereThere just one more tip on the cleric beast, I think he’s weak to fire. During central Yarnham you should have come across some oil and fire bombs (they may be called something different)… so a couple of well place throws (first hitting him with the oil and second hitting him with the fire) will give you a nice head start.

@ThereThere
Glad to see newcomers to this game even if it's been 7 years after release. Wish I could become one again too btw, so I could discover this gem once more One of the best games ever made, definitely the best on in From Software's repertoire.
That being said, welcome to Yharnam!
Gonna chime in here with my 2 cents... some of the little things I've learned in my ~600h time with this game.

Step 0.... read up. What you can, when you can, not all at once because you need the practice too... Only a bit each day. Some beginner's guides, some tips and tricks, some fighting techniques, best build for beginners etc...
Step 1... You will die in this game. A LOT. Get used to it, in your mind. There is no way to play this game without dying, understand it, let in sink in, accept it.
It's not a failure here, not a shame if you do. There is NO BB player out there that has not died in this game more times than he can remember, that has not lost blood echoes by the thousands in the process, no matter how tough they act like.
Each death is an opportunity to learn more, to try again, and again, to learn a bit more each time. It WILL add up in the end, you'll see.
Step 2... patience, "grasshopper", patience.
Don't rush into enemies, like one usually does in other genres, that will get you dead here.
Pick one away from the crowd using pebbles, kill him, pick another, kill him, etc.
You can use the gun to that effect, but that will make noise, and may get the attention of more enemies than you can handle.
If 3-4 enemies turn from the crowd to come your way, don't get cocky and try to face them! You're not there yet. Right now it will be like trying to win a car race before you learn how to drive properly.
Turn back 30-50 steps, turn a corner, go back to a room you've already cleared... until they stop chasing you... (because they do that in this game as opposed to others). Then try again to move forward, to pick only 1 from the crowd... maybe 2 at a time if you really feel you can take them on.
Step 3... derived from 2... study each enemy's movements. Try to learn when how they move, to remember what their hits are, how long it takes for their hits to land, when the hit animation stops and you can land a hit.
How long it takes for one of your hits to land. When during the animation of an enemy you must dodge or you must hit.
It seems like a lot to take in, but it takes longer to read than to execute.
This can only be learned by trying. You will hit, you will miss, you will most likely die many times, but you will learn. Bit by bit, hit by hit.
And you must do this "study" for each new enemy type or boss, until you learn them all. And you will, have no fear, by the time the credits roll you will know most of them...
Step 4... Parry. This is one of the most important combat techniques you must learn if you plan on finishing the game and DLC. And one i didn't pay enough attention to during my first playthrough... and because of it Lady Maria put an actual end to my first character after 22 repeated failures... gave up the game for like 3 months... then I came back to take revenge
You can parry with your gun during an enemy's hit animation, in a specific time interval between when the animation starts and when it stops.
In some enemies that interval is very short, in others is as long as the animation. It's up to you to try to parry and learn for each enemy when during their hit animation you can stagger them.
Once you stagger an enemy... it's visceral hit time baby! (hit R1 close to enemy when it's staggered)
One of the heaviest most damaging attacks you can land in this game. This is what the parry is used for.
Step 5... Farm. I understand that there are players out there that have an affinity for games like this one, and like to play without upgrading, leveling up, etc.
I for one recommend to keep yourself a bit overpowered. Not too much though, because it will make the game too easy...and you'll be sorry you did that, trust me, I know... did that with my second character, in order to take my revenge on Lady Maria... I didn't leave Yharnam until I was level 40 (yeah! f..king crazy I know), farmed Hypogean Gaol and Forbidden Woods dozens of times each, and got to around clvl 180 before I faced her... sufficed to say she died in the first round that took about 1-2 minutes max.... kicked her ass so hard I instantly felt sorry I wasted so much time leveling up, when there was no need to
Step 6... Use a proper build and stick to it For you as a beginner, until you learn the game, I recommend the Strength build, with Fire or Bolt papers on the side for bosses weak to one of them. Search for this build online, to learn where to properly allocate the echoes, and what blood gems to use later on.
In your 2nd character though, definitely try the Arcane build. This is the one that will get you all the way to the Platinum. And the most fun to play with.

Ok, enough for now. There is a lot more to say, but you also need to play.
So go farm Yharnam.
Btw you know how to cheese the 2 Werewolves on the bridge? From the Central Yharnam Lamp go through the gate and.... ummm no... here's a 10 minute video instead, easier that writing, more useful to you than reading

@Shinnok789 Lol, I completely forgot about the cheesing of using the doorway against the werewolves on the bridge. I remember doing that over and over as a good early farming run.

(An excellent list of sound advice there by the way.)

@ThereThere ****ing YASS!!!! Well done buddy… now, forever onwards!

@ThereThere every new boss will pose a different challenge (and you have another one coming ‘right’ up)… but they all have patterns regardless of how chaotic it all may initially seem. Once you start to identify a pattern, then you can start to make a plan on how to capitalise… dying is never in vain, as your subconscious is constantly analysing the situation and will be ready to provide a full report to your consciousness as and when it is ready 😉

@ThereThere well done, what level are you at? I am looking forward to your thoughts on the second boss 😂 I actually found him pretty easy compared to what I was told to expect. Sometimes you get lucky, I guess!

@ThereThere Well done dude, your first boss felled in the series. I would do a fair bit of exploring before going for the next boss as there is an item which will be useful.

It’s been fun catching up on this thread as other posts are bringing back lots of memories of the game for me and I still think it’s my favourite From game as I liked the aggressive combat style much more.

Great work on beating the Cleric Beast though @ThereThere ! The opening section of the game had a huge attrition rate for players so hopefully you can start to enjoy yourself.

It’s the only From game where I got to grips with the party mechanic though and it was well worth getting used to.

@ThereThere Getting stuck on the headstones was my biggest enemy with the Father Gascoigne fight. Iirc there are some stairs you can go up which will give you a bit more space to manoeuvre, which I found the fight to be a bit more manageable.

@ThereThere There’s an item you can get early game that makes the fight against Daddy Gazza much easier..

@ThereThere No problem.
Congrats for the Cleric Beast defeat, well done!
For father Gas you can use a few techniques, below there's a short video with some ideas... best visualized than written.

Parry is the way in this fight also, as he is very aggressive, just like that guy says... the more hits he spams, the more chances you get to stagger and visceral him.
Make sure you have all the items he listed (most of them you should already have), and give it a go.
You can confront him in the back of the area... from the fog wall the stairs are in the back on the right side.
There are no tombs to stumble into up there by the gate, you can dodge more freely.

3 pieces of general advice
1. Take a few seconds in a safe area to swing your weapon.
Count the number of hits you can make before you run out of stamina... there should be 4 or 5 at this point, depending of how much you invested in Endurance.
Always keep that number in mind. You can mentally count your hits as you make them, so you know when you are about to run out of stamina without taking your eyes from your opponent to look at the bars.
You should avoid using the last piece of stamina for a hit, and use it instead for a quickstep.
Many strong enemies and almost all bosses will follow up a series of 3-4 of your hits with an attack of their own, so you must have enough stamina left to get out of the way after a few hits.
It's helpful if you do this without thinking too much at what the enemy might do.
Do 2-3 hits, dodge.
Dance around your enemy, look for a new opening, get 2-3 hits in and dodge.
Rince and repeat.
Don't try to finish the combo or to get too many hits in, you WILL get hurt for this tactic.

2. Use the quickstep's invincibility frames to your advantage.
In Soulsborne games you can dodge through many attacks if you time it right.
This helps you do something you usually avoid doing in other genres: instead of dodging away from an enemy's hit, you can dodge through it, towards the enemy, and get to his back if you are close enough, and do some damage of your own before dodging away.
As opposed to other games, in Soulsbornes the back of the enemy is the most unguarded.
You can use that to your advantage especially in big, somewhat slower moving enemies, like the Cleric Beast, Vicar Amelia, Mergo's Wet Nurse, Ebrietas etc.
Get close to them, quickstep through their attacks usually around their right side, to get to their back, get a few hits in and dodge away.

3. The first playthough should be used to explore the game.
For example, don't stay in Yharnam for too long, trying to level up more to ease the fight with Father G.
The echoes you gain per enemy here, are not worth the invested time.
Besides, after Yharnam you will earn a lot more echoes per enemy, level up faster.
Also there are a LOT more areas to explore, a lot of secrets to find, weapons and secret areas...
So.... if somewhere during the first playthrough you get stuck in a tough boss fight, do what you need to get unstuck and move on.
There will be plenty of time in a new playthrough to beat each enemy by yourself 1 on 1 with no cheese or help, if that is important to you.
And speaking of this...

I will also leave here another video, sort of "Watch only in case of emergency".
If and ONLY IF you feel the fight with Father G gets too frustrating, give it a try.
Many have given up on the game because of this fight. He was especially made extremely aggressive, to reshape the mind of the players, to get them used to the idea of "overcoming seemingly impossible odds with patience, perseverance, skill and tenacity"

BUT... it doesn't mean it's black or white. Persevere for 10-20-30 tries until you finally kill a boss, or give up.
If you find can't beat Father G right now after 10-15 tries for example, there is a way to cheese him.
You can start watching from 00:50
You can also use it later on, if you want to level up fast a new character, and you don't want to spend too much time beating the same boss for the N'th time... nothing more to prove.

Do what you think is right for yourself.
Remember as a general rule to not give up on the game because of one boss fight, there are always ways around most of them (not all, but most). You can also get help from a friend or friendly NPC. You'll see later on.

BTW did you know Father G can help you defeat Cleric Beast? If you have 1 insight to spend, the summoning point is near the water fountain (near the first hulking Brick Troll you encounter in the game).
Now it's too late, the spawn point is no longer there if you arrive in the area before Father G boss fight.
But you can give it a go in a new playthrough.

You're doing great so far, keep going !

@ThereThere It’s worth trying 😬

@ThereThere eyy well done, you're set to finish the game now IMO!