New Player: What's with the hitscan enemies?

[Dexcat]

(TL;DR version: I don't know how the game expects me to deal with hitscan enemies. Is there something I'm missing?)

Look, I know. Fast-paced classic shooter. But it feels like, even on a moderate difficulty, hitscan enemies take half your health within the first few frames of them spotting you. Which, in cases like enemies being behind a door, can be before they're even visible to you.

Originally posted by My Inner Retro Enthusiast:

Always be moving and strafing!

I still seem to get shot anyway, no matter how I move about. Even if there's some trick to it, I don't always have room to move.

Originally posted by My Inner Adrenaline Junkie:

Just shoot them first!

That only really works if they can all be hit by the same hitscan shot, which doesn't really work if they're spread out even slightly. And your AoEs like dynamite and the flaregun alt have noninstant travel speeds, which means trading damage. And that can only work for so long.

Originally posted by My Inner Wannabe-Tactician:

Bounce dynamite around corners!

Doing that helps, to an extent. But, disregarding the fact I would need foreknowledge of enemy positions, I still end up with situations like:

• Bounce dynamite around corner
  
• KABOOM
  
• Satisfying gore spray
  
• Wait a few moments, hear nothing
  
• Corner peek real quick
  
• Get killed immediately

Originally posted by My Inner Pessimist:

Just stop playing if it's that much of a problem!

But the rest of the game is so good, though!


So what's the deal? Is there something I'm fundamentally missing? Or do I just have to "deal with it" and "get good"?

[Sigvuld]

I don't know HOW much this will help, but, if you haven't, check out Civvie 11's "PRO BLOOD" series. I picked up a lot of habits from watching him that became muscle memory for me.

For me, the way I deal with cultists is making aggressive use of cover. If you corner-peek, they'll likely spot you, and as soon as a cultist spots you and you run out of their line of sight, they'll start moving towards you. Always keep this in mind and prepare to react to where they could possibly be the next time you poke around that corner. Rapidly peek around cover to pop them with the shotgun's alt-fire, which is usually an insta-kill when I do it, for example.

Another thing, and an actually rather important thing: REMEMBER TO CROUCH. Alternate between standing and crouching if you want, but hitting the floor when you spot cultists and start approaching them is, in my personal experience and seemingly in Civvie's, totally necessary to take them out without being riddled with bullets before you can.

It also, of course, depends on the difficulty you're playing. I always play on the medium setting, one step below what Civvie plays on, and watching his tactics helped me a whole bunch. Besides that, really, it's all about taking them out before they have much time to murder you, for me. Keep the difficulty moderate, for now, to get some hefty practice in.

Oh, and keep your reflexes sharp, those are obviously super important, because duh!

I'm the furthest thing from a Blood expert, but, I hope this helped at least a bit.

[Dexcat]

95% of my classic FPS history is playing Doom, so yeah, crouching doesn't pop into my mind as a knee-jerk reaction. Thanks.

[Sigvuld]

I was the exact same way, actually. The crouching being actually important, for once, was a real wrench in the works for me, but it became muscle memory after a while. Hope you're having an easier time now. \o/

[Disrupt]

Absolutely gotta crouch and duck and weave while peeking.
Punish enemies around corners with almost any weapon. Get to know the arsenal inside out and what to use on each enemy type.
Look for secrets to keep health boosted and maintaining armour is an absolute must.
Keep those doctors bags for clutch moments.
Don't be ashamed with quick saving couple of times per level, this game does drop some harsh traps on newbies.
Expect to die around every corner.

[Doomsdayman]

I do have to say they are the reason why the game is hard. When you reach "The Haunting" E2M5 the level feels so easy because there are no cultist.

[Dexcat]

So I tried the crouching thing and that only made the problem worse. I feel like I'm caught in a "moth and lamp" situation where I just want to enjoy the nice thing but I only end up bashing my own head in.

[Enker-Zan]

Also get in the habit of chucking bombs around corners and rooms. 9/10, there is something hiding there.

[Disrupt]

Originally posted by Dexcat:

So I tried the crouching thing and that only made the problem worse. I feel like I'm caught in a "moth and lamp" situation where I just want to enjoy the nice thing but I only end up bashing my own head in.

I've completed the game on WD multiple times in the past. It's very doable and definitely not as hard as people make it out to be. Episode 1 is the most cruel though.
The combat is the combat, there isn't some kind of fix or trick to get around the fact the cultists serve their purpose in the roster of enemies. Good luck!

[Dexcat]

Originally posted by Disruptr:

Episode 1 is the most cruel though.

Okay, that wasn't a possibility I had considered. What the hell?

[Sigvuld]

You have a special copy of Blood afflicted with the blackest of magics if crouching made cultists worse for you. It almost sounds like you're standing stock still while trying to shoot at them, considering how quickly you say you die. I'm gonna assume you're not doing that, though, because I highly doubt you are.

Overall, there's no "trick" to cultists (that I, an inexperienced Blood newcomer, know about), because they're literally just hitscan enemies. Kill them before they kill you, and get faster at blowing them away if they're quicker to attack you than you are them while you're on difficulties lower than Well Done. That difficulty and Extra Crispy are the ones where their reactions are instant. Use those corners!

You really should get some more practice in, because I don't experience this problem, and I only even knew Blood existed after Civvie's series on it. I'm terrible at old-school FPS but I'm doing just fine. If I can do startlingly well, so can you.

No "get gud lol" here, either. I mean it - practice. Check out Civvie if you haven't, watching his gameplay helped me a bunch.

Originally posted by Dexcat:

Originally posted by Disruptr:

Episode 1 is the most cruel though.

Okay, that wasn't a possibility I had considered. What the hell?

Episode 1 is the most cruel for starters because you have the thinnest arsenal.

[Dexcat]

Either I'm trapped in some alternate hell dimension or I'm being trained wrong as a joke.

[Liam Neeson Punching Wolves]

Yea, never liked that about this game.

[Darkthus]

Cultists don't attack while they are under fire. So use the Tommy Gun on them, and they won't shoot back, since they are trying to seek cover.

[Doomsdayman]

Originally posted by Disruptr:

Originally posted by Dexcat:

So I tried the crouching thing and that only made the problem worse. I feel like I'm caught in a "moth and lamp" situation where I just want to enjoy the nice thing but I only end up bashing my own head in.

I've completed the game on WD multiple times in the past. It's very doable and definitely not as hard as people make it out to be. Episode 1 is the most cruel though.
The combat is the combat, there isn't some kind of fix or trick to get around the fact the cultists serve their purpose in the roster of enemies. Good luck!

Personally I think the hardest episode is Cryptic Passage. They put a lot of cultist around corners and those machine gunners seem to have higher accuracy.

[Useless NPC]

You guys know you can bind a third person chase camera right? (Checking corners is simplified with this trick)