maxfisher

Thanks for the tip. Those bastards had gotten me a ridiculous number of times and I knocked them out on my first try with lead elixir. It's making me question if/when I should be using the other potions.

After taking out the hunters, I knocked out The One Reborn on my first attempt by finding a safe spot next to his side where I could keep stunning him while using his body as a shield from the fire raining down from above. Then I popped over to the Upper Cathedral Ward and took out Celestial Emissary, which was another is-this-the-same-game-this-guy-is-a-pushover boss. I think I'm pretty close to the end game and will likely spend a couple nights on chalice dungeons and Martyr Logarius before moving on past the lamp from The One Reborn.

RichC2

Yeah it definitely isn't for everybody.

To note though so you'll never wonder again:
1. Running past enemies generally woulda kept you from dying, you only really need to take out a couple unless you're leveling up
2. Lamps show up when you kill a boss, opening gates and elevators make shortcuts to latter parts of the level to the same lamp / checkpoint (I mean, it takes about 30 seconds to get to Cleric Beast from that first check point in Central Yharnam once you open the left gate, and then maybe 2 minutes to get to Father Gas once you activate the elevator.)

I seriously do hope they get the load time down a little bit, improved but c'mon in this day and age that should be a thing.

Dan

Alright.
I'll keep it for a few more days.

RichC2

Hah if you're going to do that, just give in and watch a walk through of the first area. Seriously, while some of us love the ambiguity of the title it really can be too much.

maxfisher

I don't know how far you are in, but I was stuck at the beginning for several play sessions and just about quit. I gave in and watched a video of where to go to unlock the left gate in Central Yharnam and how to get to the Cleric Beast, which is required to start leveling up. That makes an enormous difference if you haven't gotten to that point. Before that, it's just an endless cycle of two steps forward, two steps back. Once you can level up, it starts to shift to two steps forward, one step back. And once it really starts clicking with you, you'll get to the point where it's a dozen steps forward, one step back. I'd never played a Souls game and Bloodborne is now easily my favorite title from this generation.

RichC2

You don't actually have to kill Cleric to start leveling, though I think he was the intended way to start (You'll find Insight elsewhere in the level.)

maxfisher

Just a minor point of clarification for Dan, if you progress to leveling via Cleric Beast, you don't have to kill him, just get to him and then die. If I'd got to him and thought I had to beat him at the starting level to progress, I probably would've quit. But yeah, you can also find Madman's Knowledge lying around Central Yharnam, though I can't recall if any of it is in places that are easier to get to than the Cleric Beast.

Unrelated to Dan's question, I've still found Central Yharnam to be my easiest/fastest option to load up on blood vials when I'm low or out. Last night I was doing such a run and got to the point where I lured the werewolves out and ran into the building they can't enter. At which point I thought, I'm over level 70, why in the fuck am I still running away from these assholes? I think that point in the game was so tense early on that it had never occurred to me to stop being overly cautious there, despite the fact that I've killed much tougher wolves in later areas.

RichC2

Yeah, I found the pigs by the Shadow of Yharnam almost always have 4 vials a piece for me.

K&AJones

Central Yharnam is still it for blood vials. The townsfolk are a hit or miss but the Ogres are usually good for (2) each though sometimes I've got those silly coins instead but the two wolves on top the bridge most of the time are good for (3) each. I would say typically from the two Ogres going left, thru the house, two wolves on the bridge and back to the central area clearing all the way to the Ogres banging on the door around (17-20) blood vials.....

fujishig

Yeah, that's what I was saying earlier, the beginning of the game is so tough without the ability to level or have the shortcut (and that damned shortcut is kinda tough to find, unless you just wail away at everything by default). But find that first shortcut, and it's like the world opens up, and you're not going past that damned bonfire for the 100th time anymore.

maxfisher

Yep, I usually run left, down to the ogres, back to the house and through it, to the wolves on the bridge, then back through and bridge ogre with crows to the Cleric lantern. I can do that in about 2 minutes and get 13 - 16 vials each time.

brkhrt7

You might want to check out this room again in case you overlooked anything

Dan

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I'm back in, at least for now.
I "found" the shortcut that eventually leads to the left gate when I was playing before, but I didn't follow down that path because I figured it wasn't important at the time. So, after reading all of the posts above, that was the first thing I did. That brought me through the house and back to the gate. Now that that's open, I've just been cycling through the ogres, the house, and the bridge, levelling up just a little bit. I died almost immediately at the Cleric Beast (of course), but I've watched a video showing how to beat him. I'm looking forward to the challenge, but I have a feeling it's going to take me a few thousand tries.

So... now I kind of "get" how this game works. I was totally lost and wasn't really willing to try again until you guys gave me some tips, especially about the shortcuts. I'm kind of addicted to racking up my blood echoes so I can level up, but I feel like (so far), it hasn't helped a ton. I'm only at about 18 or 19 now, and I'm focusing on Vitality and Strength, hoping that'll help me in defeating the Cleric Beast.

Thanks for steering me back in the right direction.

One quick question: When I chose my character at the beginning, I chose "Milquetoast". Is there any benefit to choosing the other character types? Does it change the actual difficulty of the game? Would I be better off, as a filthy casual, restarting as a different type?

RichC2

I remember the moment that gate opened and I was back at the Lamp, the game made so much more sense after that

Moltovs helped a lot for me on Cleric.

The classes are basically just different distributions of points afaik. So while you may end up a little stronger or weaker, I don't think it's overly substantial, well except Waste of Skin (which starts you on Level 4 instead of 10).

K&AJones

Those who still haven't got the game yet...it's $40.00 this week at Best Buy.....

maxfisher

Thanks for the tip! Not sure how I'm going to kill that fucking thing, but I definitely wouldn't have found it without someone mentioning to go back and look.

Dan

I killed Cleric Beast! Boy, was that satisfying! In all honesty, it only took me about 4 or 5 tries, but I spent a lot of time just wandering, leveling up, etc.
I also almost killed Father Gas on my first try. Failed miserably on my second try. 3rd time will likely be tonight.

So, yeah, I'm definitely into the game now and I'm keeping it. It's going to take me a long, long time to get through each "level" or whatever, as I typically only spend about 1 or 2 hours playing at a time, but this is my default go-to PS4 game for the foreseeable future.

RichC2

Glad you're staying on board, the first area by far took me the longest, the stages get longer as they go but as you get more accustomed to the game play, the quicker you tend to finish them.

But beating the bosses and finding the shortcuts/gates never gets less satisfying.

RichC2

So I started a new game, my level was too low when I beat it last time that NG+ was becoming a huge grind and just a tad tedious. Some thoughts:

1. Alright as much as I love the "no info" start to the game, it really is a little too obscure.

2. The game is waaaay easier now. What took me ages and 100 deaths I've done in 3 hours and maybe 6 deaths (just took out kinky Kelly and made it to BSB)

3. Still fun but exploring these lvls for the first time was an unrivaled experience.

K&AJones

Good going Dan....and yea taking down that first boss a big lift and Father PITA was a real thorn for me. And each area coming presents new enemies, new challenges and even tougher Bosses though many still say Father G at that stage was as tough as some of the later ones.

RichC2

I found Father G pretty easy both times on regular (using the Hunters Axe, double handed), but I can't beat him on NG Plus.

Maxflier

Did they ever fix the loading times on this game?

RichC2

They cut them down by like 33% but didn't eradicate them.

Dan

For the type of game it is, load times really should be much quicker, especially if you die and just want to respawn at the same lamp as where you entered. It's not terrible, I guess, but frustrating when I just want to jump to Hunter's Dream and back, while loading up on vials, Molotovs, etc.

Last night's update made things a bit easier.
600 vials in storage now, up from 99.
same for bullets, I think.
Insight bath is now open after you get 1 insight, not 10 (I'm at 8, and have no idea what insight does for me. )

I haven't re-attempted to kill Father Gas, but tonight's the night!

maxfisher

Finally took out Martyr Logarius over the weekend. If I had one complaint about the game, it'd be how bewildering the beginning is. But if I had a second complaint, it'd be how things sometimes feel like they come completely down to luck. I used the exact same strategy with Logarius probably two dozen times. I feel like I didn't really do anything different or better, but his attacks were just a little lamer that one time and I killed him. I'm having the same issue with Ebrietas. I've fought her 10 or 15 times and twice I had her down to a sliver of health, while the rest I haven't got her below 75%.

Unrelated, any tips for killing the version of Rom found in the chalice dungeon? The flamesprayer approach I used in the main game is not working at all. I'm able to get through the first two rounds by picking off its kids and then attacking, but the third round is slaughtering me every time.