Valbrace items

[Sojiro]

Is there any way to know what the items do in Valbrace? Is the Gambeson better than the Leather Armor, for example?

Also, how do weapons work with stats? After finally getting enough STR to wield the Longsword I was happy to upgrade, but it takes so much stamina it ends up doing much less damage than the Rapier. Do heavier weapons get easier to use with more STR? Or do you need more CON?

[PlantMurderer]

I don't have much insights on this game but you can clear Valbrace with only the Rapier and the Heal spell with little difficulty. The Strike spell makes it one step easier.

If you want the cherry, make sure to replace the rapier with the secret weapon at some point. You can look at the guide if you're okay being spoiled on how to acquire the weapon (I certainly was).

[some guy]

rapier is op! i havent figured out the weapon scaling yet but i sold the long sword and switched to spear at some point. i think rapier is still better on base stats.

[fakename]

All I've figured out so far is that high CON feels good to me because it makes you move faster, and because of that I'm never going to use high level spells cause I'm not taking WIS.

Gambeson is better than leather, but the only way to find this out is by trying to sell them. So I guess you can do that on a run where you're pretty sure you're going to lose.
Weaker armor lets you move faster and use less stamina, though. Maybe that would synergize better with a heavier weapon, I'll try it at some point.

[PlantMurderer]

Originally posted by fakename:

All I've figured out so far is that high CON feels good to me because it makes you move faster, and because of that I'm never going to use high level spells cause I'm not taking WIS.

Gambeson is better than leather, but the only way to find this out is by trying to sell them. So I guess you can do that on a run where you're pretty sure you're going to lose.
Weaker armor lets you move faster and use less stamina, though. Maybe that would synergize better with a heavier weapon, I'll try it at some point.

You absolutely don't need to overthink it, you can go STR only and have an easy time: the different mechanics are mostly surface level.

[fakename]

Originally posted by PlantMurderer:

Originally posted by fakename:

All I've figured out so far is that high CON feels good to me because it makes you move faster, and because of that I'm never going to use high level spells cause I'm not taking WIS.

Gambeson is better than leather, but the only way to find this out is by trying to sell them. So I guess you can do that on a run where you're pretty sure you're going to lose.
Weaker armor lets you move faster and use less stamina, though. Maybe that would synergize better with a heavier weapon, I'll try it at some point.

You absolutely don't need to overthink it, you can go STR only and have an easy time: the different mechanics are mostly surface level.

What's the point of this comment? I'm not interested in being directed to the most powerful strategies to complete the game in a rush like it's a shopping item on a checklist. The game is interesting and I'm exploring it.

[Sojiro]

I can't really afford to completely forget about WIS because I want to be able to use Major Heal and Fly and such...

Also, I got the red sword and ... it seemed to be worse than the longsword? It eats a ton of stamina and doesn't do that much damage. You have to do this whole quest for the Red Knight (don't even get me started on how annoying it was to discover what to do with the coin) to get it, so I thought it'd be amazing.

[PlantMurderer]

Originally posted by Sojiro:

I can't really afford to completely forget about WIS because I want to be able to use Major Heal and Fly and such...

Also, I got the red sword and ... it seemed to be worse than the longsword? It eats a ton of stamina and doesn't do that much damage. You have to do this whole quest for the Red Knight (don't even get me started on how annoying it was to discover what to do with the coin) to get it, so I thought it'd be amazing.

It's amazing actually, just play around with it. It's got 2 special skills.

[Sojiro]

So I noticed it sometimes fire a beam, and sometimes not. Having full life or mana doesn't seem to affect this. I've never managed to hit an enemy in the backrow with this, but I assume it should work on flying enemies.

Also, you can do a sort of charge attack? But you can't move while you charge and you cannot decide how long to charge for. You can't hold it until an enemy gets in range, or release it early if one comes too fast. It has a very limited horizontal range, so I've found it very difficult to nail anyone with this. They have to be moving towards you, you start charging at the exact right time, and then hope they don't stop walking before they get there. Being a fraction of a second too early means you miss, and too late means they hit you for free.

I've noticed that while it mostly attack straight ahead, it can do a sweeping strike to the sides. I have had no success in figuring out how to make it happen.

Is there something else? Do you have tips on how to make use of its features? Because after spending an hour experimenting, I haven't managed to get anything useful out of it, beyond the very high crit damage.

[PlantMurderer]

Originally posted by Sojiro:

Is there something else? Do you have tips on how to make use of its features? Because after spending an hour experimenting, I haven't managed to get anything useful out of it, beyond the very high crit damage.

BEAM: Honestly not sure how it works either, fairly sure it's related to having full-HP or close to (+ mana to spare). It's supposed to hit flying enemies, useful for the final boss.

CHARGE: it's the same effect as my favourite spell, Strike. You only need to charge for something like 1s for the effect to be applied when released. That alone makes this weapon the best tool to have on hand.

SWEEPING: Never noticed it.

[Ottfried]

I focused on strength in my playthrough. I noticed the stamina cost going down with more strength. So meeting the minimum for a weapon might not be enough for it to be effective.

Also heavy armor got easier to use and mitigated the slowdown

[Zalugar]

Originally posted by PlantMurderer:

I don't have much insights on this game but you can clear Valbrace with only the Rapier and the Heal spell with little difficulty. The Strike spell makes it one step easier.

I just did Floor 3 and unless I'm missing something, the Pierce spell (I assume that's what you meant) is extremely lackluster even for a WIS build.

I also only started focusing WIS because the rapier just easily beats out every other weapon I've tried up to 9 STR. Partisan was especially disappointing since enemies in the backrow will just block so I have to wait for them to get up front anyway.

[Nick]

Originally posted by fakename:

Originally posted by PlantMurderer:

You absolutely don't need to overthink it, you can go STR only and have an easy time: the different mechanics are mostly surface level.

What's the point of this comment? I'm not interested in being directed to the most powerful strategies to complete the game in a rush like it's a shopping item on a checklist. The game is interesting and I'm exploring it.

Same type of person that reads the entire guide and 100% spoils everything for themselves before even bothering to play it. Some people don't want to actually play the game, they just want to be able to say they beat it. It's really REALLY weird.

[PlantMurderer]

Originally posted by Zalugar:

Originally posted by PlantMurderer:

I don't have much insights on this game but you can clear Valbrace with only the Rapier and the Heal spell with little difficulty. The Strike spell makes it one step easier.

I just did Floor 3 and unless I'm missing something, the Pierce spell (I assume that's what you meant) is extremely lackluster even for a WIS build.

I also only started focusing WIS because the rapier just easily beats out every other weapon I've tried up to 9 STR. Partisan was especially disappointing since enemies in the backrow will just block so I have to wait for them to get up front anyway.

Strike breaks a defensive stance.

[Zalugar]

Originally posted by PlantMurderer:

Strike breaks a defensive stance.

Considering how easy it is to bait the AI into not defending and stun-locking them to death is, I still don't see myself using it. I'd rather keep the MP for utility.

[P4wn4g3]

Strike must be a spell from another game. The piercing spell from this game is Pierce, and it's really not very good. It's easy to bait enemies. Rapier + Speed up is the way to go, and yeah I don't see how the red star sword is going to ever be enjoyable to use. Maybe if it could actually shoot consistently.