LTTP: Bloodborne. Any Tips For a Beginner?

[digitalrelic]

So I've had a PS4 since launch, and I've played through virtually every worthwhile exclusive, with Bloodborne being pretty much the sole exception.

I don't know why I never gave it a chance; maybe the legendary difficulty felt a bit too daunting. Or maybe the 50-80 hour playtime felt like too much of a commitment. Whatever the reason was, I'm ready to give it a shot now.

I've never played a single Souls game. I've never played Sekiro. Bloodborne seems to be a pretty decent place to start with this genre. I adored God of War and The Witcher 3 is one of my favorite games of all time, but I know these games are vaguely similar at best.

What do I need to know before diving in? I plan on starting my playthrough in about an hour.

 

[InspectaDekka]

Survive.

 

[Transistor]

Pick the axe
Use the spin attack

That will help with a lot of early mobs

 

[Deleted member 4260]

Don't focus too much XP on bloodtinge or arcane on your first playthrough.

Master parrying and doing visceral attacks. https://www.polygon.com/2015/3/26/8...-stab-parry-riposte-jump-attack-break-shields

 

[GrayFoxPL]

Take your time and learn the game at your own pace.

When getting hit, hit back asap it'll let you recover life.

 

[Meatfist]

1) avoid the threaded cane on your first play through, axe/saw are fine
2) practice your parry on the brick trolls, it's an invaluable skill
3) dodge into enemy attacks rather than backwards

Enjoy! Im currently on Nightmare of Mensis

 

[Kinsei]

Pick the pistol instead of the blunderbuss as your gun.

Pick the starting melee weapon that appeals to you the most. All 3 are good.

Don;t worry about dying too much.

When you come across two werewolves on a bridge, look for away around them instead of going through them.

 

[Robsolete]

Just enjoy it mate. Pay attention to the lessons the game teaches you, you learn more from losing than winning and don't be afraid to get super aggressive with bosses, they hate that. They're big, loud and surprisingly agile in many cases but it's all a show to hide some massive weaknesses. Most importantly, if you feel you've hit a roadblock and are making no progress with an area/boss just go somewhere else. Guaranteed you'll never be short of options and by the time you get back to the roadblock you'll be much more able to deal with what it throws at you.

 

[Hanbei]

Do not pick the axe. Choose the Saw Cleaver instead. Watch your surroundings. Trust no one, not even yourself. One step forward, eight steps backwards. Have fun suffering and dying repeatedly.

 

[Spinky]

Accept before you even start that you're going to die a million times, and it's just part of the game. Try to treat every death as a lesson.

If I didn't already go in with this mindset I'm not sure how far I would've gotten.

 

[Slappy White]

Learn how to level up.

 

[Z-Beat]

Have fun, don't panic, take your time, keep on the offensive

 

[xChildofhatex]

1. Don't get frustrated, read item descriptions and be patient if a boss is steamrolling you because it probably means that either you're not learning their patterns or you're just being greedy when there's an opening for attack. If you find an item just before a boss fight, 99% of the time it means that you should use it during the fight.

2. Visceral Attack trivializes a lot of bosses but it works best on a Skill build.

3. There's no shame in using a NPC partner to help you with a boss whose patterns you're not able to read.

 

[Zukuu]

Pick the axe
Use the spin attack

That will help with a lot of early mobs

Click to shrink...

^

Hunter's Axe will carry you through the entire game and it's a starter weapon. Probably the best all-around weapon along with Ludwig's Holy Blade in the entire game.

 

[squidyj]

1. You want to dodge THROUGH attacks, not so much away from them.
2. Threaded Cane is challenging to use for a noob
3. parrying is a crucial skill
3a. When you parry, give a 10th of a second before you jam the button for a visceral attack. If you're too quick they won't be in the proper state and you'll just hit them.
3b. Parrying on flat ground is preferable to slanted ground, like stairs, if you do parry on stairs make sure to hump them real close and maybe to the side a bit to make sure you are lined up for the visceral.
4. You can perform backstabs by charging most attacks on most weapons, there'll be a flash and you'll do a powerful attack, if you hit the enemy's back it will stagger them like a parry
4b. Some weapons have special charge moves, for example in 2h mode the starting axe weapon will do a spin attack that knocks down enemies and does a lot of damage.
5. If you get knocked down or stunned jam that dash button to get back in the fight and not wind up punished to death.
6. Move slowly and keep your eyes open, you don't want to miss hidden passages or traps.
7. If things start getting way too hard it's possible you went the wrong way, double back and see if there is another path you could have taken.
8. Spend your echoes because if you don't you'll probably lose them
9. Get familiar with each weapon's entire moveset, you have your standard r1 combo, r2 combo, backstep attacks, running attacks, dash attacks, charged r2 attacks, switch attacks (start a combo and then switch modes on your trick weapon), and some weapons have a post-switch attack (switch and then attack).

 

[CannonFodder52]

Have fun. Don't view deaths as something all that significant. The game's difficulty has been overstated by marketing, the devs do try to make everything relatively fair and not cheap.

Start with whatever weapon looks cool to you.

 

[ichigoww]

Maybe some of these tips are obvious, but I'll put them here anyways:

- Don't be afraid to explore
- Learn to parry and to recognize enemy patterns
- After you're done leveling up, use your remaining echoes to buy vials/bullets.
- As with other souls games, you can totally beat the game with any weapon, but some make it easier than others.
- After a certain point in the game (you'll probably know when), it's more convenient to farm echoes and use those to buy vials instead of farming vials directly.

Have fun

 

[Snormy]

Weapon wise it is more important to find one you like the pace and style of. As you upgrade them all three starters are very strong and more than capable of reaching end game with.

Get used to the speed, reach, stamina consumption of your weapon. Learning when the attack and when not to is one of the biggest hurdles. As you explore you should take note how many combos smaller enemies take.

Shoot the small dogs to knock it over.

 

[Polioliolio]

Seconding the Axe and spin move. You can play the whole game enjoying that weapon.

I look back on my initial struggles, and for a souls veteran, and I was getting mopped by basic enemies. This game and any well designed 'challenging' game, is just asking you to learn the rules of play. Once you catch on, once you know what your options are you will hit the ground running. You don't need an easy mode. You need some patience and discipline to not just slam buttons and expect results, which is kind of how we've been trained to play games over the past 2 decades.

 

[NediarPT88]

If you want to make the game considerably easier:

- when leveling up put all your blood echoes in Vitality, the more health you have the more healing your Blood Vials will provide since they scale with this stat. It will also give you more margin of error when learning enemy attacks since you can tank more damage. Since in the beginning of the game you can't upgrade your weapons that much their scaling isn't great so you won't see much benefit by leveling stats like strenght/skill, while vitality makes a huge difference.

- before even facing a single boss you can find one of the best attires in the game, the Hunter Set, it's in the sewers. The entrance to that part of the sewers is hidden behind some breakable objects iirc, just explore and you'll eventually find it.

- pick the Saw Cleaver as your weapon. It's very fast, has the highest dps in the game together with the saw spear iirc and its transformation attack is probably the best in the game and can stagger some of the biggest enemies you'll face, abuse that move. I bet a lot of people will recommend the Axe because of the charged attack but I wouldn't do it, the weapon in general consumes a lot of stamina compared to the Saw Cleaver and is significantly slower even though it has better reach.

 

[Nemesis-T Type]

Go hard and fast.


And remember: A hunter is never alone

 

[UnsungVagrant]

Fighting without locking on is a useful skill.

 

[Strangiato]

^

Hunter's Axe will carry you through the entire game and it's a starter weapon. Probably the best all-around weapon along with Ludwig's Holy Blade in the entire game.

Click to shrink...

Completely agree with this. Two handed axe is just a monster of a weapon. Range for days and so much crowd control. Easy to hit through walls too.

Know that central yarnham is basically the game's tutorial and in a sense it's the hardest part of the game especially if it's your first Souls like it was mine. It was rough going at first but the game ended up my game of the generation so far.

 

[Kumomeme]

explore and unlock all shortcut first..dont rushing, take time to get used to the combat in meanwhile

 

[diablogg]

Pick the axe
Use the spin attack

That will help with a lot of early mobs

Click to shrink...

I got through the whole game with it on my first playthrough lol.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

Have fun! BB is one of my favorite games of all time.

1. Definitely get the DLC. Save it for the end of the game.
2. All 3 starting melee weapons (trick weapons as they're called) are perfectly fine, I personally prefer the cane.
3. You should master parrying with the gun. You can press up on the d-pad to get 5 extra quicksilver bullets for the cost of some health.
4. Instead of directly farming Blood Vials when you run out, it's usually better to farm echoes and use those to buy vials in the Hunter's Dream.

 

[Tahnit]

For your first run dont listen to anyone here or look up any guides. Just go in fully 100% blind. You will thank me.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Death is not a fail state, so don't treat it as such. Death is basically a mechanic that marks how well and much you've learned the level and enemy placements and patterns. Just internalize this and the game becomes significantly less frustrating until it clicks. When it clicks, you don't need to convince yourself of anything, it's a masterpiece.

 

[Era of not Yakuza]

The game rewards agressive playstyle
Dodge forward to the enemy. Play the chalices
The hardest boss fight I had was against one boss there. I only beat him after 2 weeks without touching the game. It wasn't after x consecutive trys

 

[Zaki2407]

You can't block in this game, so be aggressive.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Yeah, aggression is important in Bloodborne. For instance, being aggressive and attacking the opponent right after getting hit and losing your health lets you regain most of it, depending on how quick you are. Be aggressive, but don't be greedy. You'll be good to go.

 

[En-ou]

Spend time learning bosses and not waste your consumables like some people who do that then complain after. That way when you feel comfortable you can go for a kill and use consumables on kill attempts not learning attempts.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Spend time learning bosses and not waste your consumables like some people who do that then complain after. That way when you feel comfortable you can go for a kill and use consumables on kill attempts not learning attempts.

Click to shrink...

Ehhh... it's so easy to grind consumables that I'd rather advise OP use them as a buffer when learning, and then grind for them for a boss if necessary.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Play with Threaded Cane, one of the most beautiful and versatile weapon in Bloodborne.

Sure it takes time getting used to, but when you do, ohohohoh it's gonna be awesome. Besides, a respectable beast hunter should whip their enemies to death.

 

[Hey Please]

Prepare to fucken die. A LOT. The game has a difficulty spike right off the bat.

Also speaking of threaded cane, it is one of those weapons that in its altered state (whip mode) prevents users to from doing visceral attack post parry as well as charge attacks.

Small tip: The thing that will get you owned the most will also net you some of the more interesting items and outcomes- Exploration off of what may feel like the beaten path.

Also, the game ended up being too spooky for me and so be warned about that. Both Demon's and Dark Souls 1 are relatively mild when it comes to horror aspects (plus having a shield helped psychologically).

 

[Keizza]

Its the GOAT for a lot of people here. And it deserves that title.

 

[Deleted member 16908]

For your first run dont listen to anyone here or look up any guides. Just go in fully 100% blind. You will thank me.

Click to shrink...

going in blind is fun until you spend 5 hours on one boss, decide to look up help, and discover an easy trick that could have saved you from wasting all that time.

 

[Elandyll]

Bloodborne was my first Souls ever, and it currently is my gotg.

*Generally dodge towards attackers, not away
*Axe is a great starter weapon. Stagger (micro stun) is very important for beginners
*Concentrate your points on Vit (HP), Sta (endurance) and Str (damage) at first.
*Never overextend yourself on attacks: one hit, maybe two, pull back.. ALWAYS keep endurance to dodge/ roll away
*Learn to parry as much as possiible (firearm during attack, opening for a devastating visceral attack)
* Bloodborne rewards offense, after getting hit, you can regain hps. But do not let this leave you open for a multi hit combo.
* Geometry and tight spaces are your ennemies. Make sure you can roll/ dodge away.
*Some fights are meant to be very hard/ bordering on unfair, because they are stat/ skill gateways. It's nomal.
*The beginning will likely be harder than what follows. It will likely click, just keep with it, do not despair.
*There is an easy mode: leveling, and summoning help. Use it, abuse it if necessary.
*Many fights, particularly boss fights, have a trick to them. Remember that beasts do not like fire or serrated weapons.
*Enjoy the trip. Bloodborne's atmosphere and art design are imo second to none.
* BB rewards exploration. Shortcuts and hidden weapons/ armor sets wait in corners
* Spend your echoes whenever possible

Those are tips that I think will give you a good start :)

Enjoy!

 

[EchoSmoker]

Take advantage of the co-op. You can use the Small Resonant Bell to join other players and help them with bosses. This is the best way to gain Insight which you'll need if you want to summon help with the Beckoning Bell.

When I play these games I usually fight the boss, spend some time joining other players and helping them fight the same boss, then move on. I really recommend trying the bosses on your own first, but don't let yourself get too frustrated either. Summon help when you need it! Everyone is in this together.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Focus on Vitality for HP (your heal scales with your HP), and your preferred damage Stat, STR/SKL or both. Just remember visceral scales with SKL only, so STR focused character will have terrible Visceral, although their weaponry tend to stagger better.

Endurance is important but not a stat point that you should be focusing on. 20 is plenty. After you reach that point, invest more to Vit and STR/SKL.

SKL and Bloodtinge is also a good pair.

 

[roflwaffles]

The most important tip is to stop thinking of death as failure, but as learning.

 

[Citizencope]

People have issues just getting to the first checkpoint. Stay strong!
I spent hours grinding to make the game a bit easier for me.

 

[Pancho]

Don't get greedy with your attacks. There's no "shortcuts" in this game. You always have to wait or make an opening, going at it recklessly will get you killed real fast. Which is why I always said the difficulty of From Soft games is way overblown. It's more a test of patience and self-control

 

[Mzo]

Strong attacks can stagger. Learn when to use fast strikes and when to use big, slow swings that are stronger.

Insight is your level of knowledge and understanding of the arcade secrets of the world. You need at least 1 to be able to see the things that let you even level up. You'll have to kill a boss or find and use the skull of a crazy person to get it. The more you have, the more some enemies can hurt you. It's a balance.

 

[RiOrius]

Pick the pistol instead of the blunderbuss as your gun.

Click to shrink...

Can you explain this a bit? I've never gotten a good answer on what the difference is between them...

 

[Hey Please]

Can you explain this a bit? I've never gotten a good answer on what the difference is between them...

Click to shrink...

Shorter response time and longer range. Useful for reaching parts of at least one boss that I know of, allowing for staggering and subsequently using visceral attack.

On the downside however, lack of spread means it is not an effective effective weapon for keeping some distance between you, the player and other hunters.

 

[Nairume]

If you aren't confident in how well you are going to take to the more advanced mechanics, go for the axe and abuse the spin attack that causes a lot of enemies to stumble. I went from that to Ludwig's Holy Blade (which you can get early enough) to the Whirlgig (which is available if/when you can start the DLC) without ever actually learning to parry effectively and I stormed through the game much more easily than I expected.

 

[Vic Damone Jr.]

Git gud.

Open your mind's eye to the possibilities of the universe. There's more than what meets the eye.

 

[Kinsei]

Can you explain this a bit? I've never gotten a good answer on what the difference is between them...

Click to shrink...

Faster shot time and longer range makes getting parries with it much easier.

 

[Sheepinator]

Run to the first boss. Seriously. It'll start the level up process.

https://youtu.be/bCd2aQuDLB0