Grind Does this help or not ?

[achipalachau]

Good morning.


Since I'm not very good at video games, if I fight enemies non-stop in an area to increase my stats, will that help me move forward better?

Or is there level scaling in the game and so I'm screwed?

[Lightbearer]

If you consistently fight enemies, upgrade your stats and equipment, and follow the "normal" progression path you should be fine. The enemies in each area are fixed at a specific, invisible level. They do not universally grow stronger as you level up, so enemies in the starting area will always stay weak.

A problem several people have run into is trying to tackle later areas while being under-leveled. Unfortunately, the game does not signal this in a super clear way. So, to not spoil anything, I'd advise you to completely avoid the frozen area accessible via the Manor (your hub) until you have the air dash.

If you want to know what stats to invest in the best weapon in the game, in my opinion, is The Rift of Blood, which at +10 scales off Dex (B), Str (C), and Mnd (D). Although you're really better off investing in Dex and Mnd (if you want to use magic, which you should). I didn't invest in a single point in Instinct.

[achipalachau]

Thank you very much for the quick response.

I always play melee characters, normal sword or swordfish (2 hands).
And I usually dodge (roll) instead of having a shield.
Which weapon and especially which statistic do you recommend?

[Little_Ghost]

Yes and no at the same time. Additionaly to the traditional levelup system with stats , there are some kind of key items wich you will receive after killing a boss (not mini boss).

That items give you a permanent HP and SP increase , so the only really important upgrades are weapon enchancment (including
the scaling stat for this weapon dex/str/mind/instinct) and new tools for exploring.

Of course there are ways to overlevel , but just spending a few more tryes to understand and kill boss will be less time consuming.

Also if you find yourself struggling too much with boss there is a huge probability that you wandered into the wrong location, so try a different route , and dont forget to always upgrage your weapons if you have the chance.

Good luck out there :)

[Little_Ghost]

Originally posted by achipalachau:

Thank you very much for the quick response.

I always play melee characters, normal sword or swordfish (2 hands).
And I usually dodge (roll) instead of having a shield.
Which weapon and especially which statistic do you recommend?

About dodgerolling , it would seem that there are no i frames , meaning that you can evade only by outspacing so yeah the positioning is important.

(There are also air dash and backstep and it seems that this dodge options
actually have i frames but I am not 100% sure)

The weapons are all good , I spend my first playthrough with Ethereal Great Blade and pure strength build and now testing dex build with Scythe and there are a little dps difference but at the end of the day there are no critical advantage or disadvantage.

I didn't use magic yet , so there is nothing I can tell you about it.

[MadTing]

Originally posted by Lightbearer:

the game does not signal this in a super clear way.

Not really so, for example after beatin' dr. ridley I went for a icey location instead of going back to the statue with a ring acquired and I found out that enemies are waaaay too tanky as they needed like 3 full combos with my weapon +2 upgraded and having 20 strength, so I decided to recall where else I could go.

[Lightbearer]

@Ryu, totally agree and I did the exact same thing. But, the number of posts on this board of people 1) persisting on going through these areas or 2) bashing the game because they're level 30 fighting level 60 enemies. I guess it's not intuitively obvious to everyone that "you should not be here" and wanted to make sure the OP knew in advance.

[achipalachau]

Thank you all very much for the information and advice.

I'm still waiting for a few more reviews to decide on the purchase and also on which stat to go up next depending on my weapon.

[Lightbearer]

And, OP, all of the weapons in the game are viable and many scale off multiple stats. One of my initial concerns was picking the "wrong" stat to prioritize. You'll have plenty of time to course correct and there are several solid STR weapons, but The Rift of Blood had everything I wanted in a weapon -- large reach, fast swing, great special, quick charge attack, etc. The Ethereal Great Blade and Scythe were my other favorites.

Re: Magic, I used it throughout the game as secondary damage. There is a low MP ice spell that can freeze/slow enemies for crowd control and a massive fire tornado that is great for larger enemies. Play around and see what combination of things works best for you.

[achipalachau]

I notice The Rift of Blood is well received and therefore can we have it quite early in the game or rather towards the middle or end of the game?
And is it hidden?

Because I guess the best weapons in the game are the ones that have to be hidden, right?

[Lightbearer]

The Rift of Blood is hidden in the Osseus Fortress area. You have to find 4 golden goblets and a secret room will unlock. I don't recall, but I think you can get all 4 before you have the air dash. However, one of the goblets requires the air dash to get *out* so you can potentially lose all your souls. There are several topics on this particular oversight.

I'd argue it's the best weapon in the game (for me) and you'll see just about everyone using it on the current crop of Youtube boss videos, but I can see a case being made for other weapons. I used the whip during the early game, but it's power just drops off once you get the Ethereal Great Blade and can 1-shot enemies.

[TheBarbaryGhost]

Originally posted by Lightbearer:

If you consistently fight enemies, upgrade your stats and equipment, and follow the "normal" progression path you should be fine. The enemies in each area are fixed at a specific, invisible level. They do not universally grow stronger as you level up, so enemies in the starting area will always stay weak.

A problem several people have run into is trying to tackle later areas while being under-leveled. Unfortunately, the game does not signal this in a super clear way. So, to not spoil anything, I'd advise you to completely avoid the frozen area accessible via the Manor (your hub) until you have the air dash.

If you want to know what stats to invest in the best weapon in the game, in my opinion, is The Rift of Blood, which at +10 scales off Dex (B), Str (C), and Mnd (D). Although you're really better off investing in Dex and Mnd (if you want to use magic, which you should). I didn't invest in a single point in Instinct.

I wouldn't say "completely avoid", but go there and check out how long it takes to defeat the first few mobs, and if you find you can take them down in 3-5 hits, you should be at a good level to farm those zones. Just don't stray too far from the checkpoints. That's what I did when I was stuck on the Edward boss in the catacombs, for a bit. Actually OP if you can find the room with those flying ice ghost ladies, you can farm that one room for a massive payout (just don't aggro more than one ghost at a time). And their is a checkpoint just past that room.

[TheBarbaryGhost]

Originally posted by Little_Ghost:

Originally posted by achipalachau:

Thank you very much for the quick response.

I always play melee characters, normal sword or swordfish (2 hands).
And I usually dodge (roll) instead of having a shield.
Which weapon and especially which statistic do you recommend?

About dodgerolling , it would seem that there are no i frames , meaning that you can evade only by outspacing so yeah the positioning is important.

This is not true at all. There are definitely iframes when dodging, but they seem to only activate at specific points during the animation. I'm not entirely sure, but it seems like if you dodge or roll (I think it alternates), then you get the most benefit from iframes at the beginning and ending of the animation. I need to research it a bit more, but that seems to be what I'm seeing.