DOTD Recommended Level

[Pastytastic]

I've just started DOTD and enemies in the first area are taking so long to beat. DOTS was incredibly easy with +7 gear and going from level 160-200. With most enemies melting with grabs, sign of the cross and god of wind 3. I'm getting a few +8 and +9 drops, so doesn't seem like my gear is too far behind and should be back above this after a few missions. But am I missing something? Are the enemy stats for DOTD a huge jump from DOTS? Thanks for help with anything I'm missing!

[cybercybercybercyber4]

its normal. exactly the same thing will happen to you in dotw and dotn.
its just your gear not yet being adapted. your perception will change once your gear actually is adapted. youll reach around +13 within the first 2 regions if i remeber correctly.

i typically started every circle playing the mystieries one night castle on the second region to get my gear on par. youll also level up a lot now.

[orthostatic]

Favor for the Blacksmith in starting region is pretty quick, has a good distribution of "loot-bag" enemies, most of which are very easy to fight solo with room to maneuver. I just farmed my proficiency achievements using that mission (from 0 to 120,000) and found it very amenable for this purpose.

Quick level, easy fights, and lots of Ippon Datura cores.

[Frozen Dervish]

According to the spreadsheet DotD is an almost 2x boost to enemies hp over Strong as well as further damage reduction and damage.

For DotD I'd recommend farming Point of No Return for the Genryu set smithing text. Crafting it and getting a corruption weapon. This should easily carry you through Wise if you keep upgrading your armor. You can even add some Magatsuhu Grace pieces when/if you get them.

Heavy armor is a huge boon moving forward as it reduces tremendous amounts of damage. As is Omyo buffs such as Barrier. If you remain with light armor you should practice being perfect as enemies moving forward will easily 1-shot you. Also souls such as Shuten Doji are great for a permanent 20% damage reduction if you use amrita on hit onmyo buffs.

[Pastytastic]

Thanks all, sounds like I just need to grind a bit to start with to level up my gear a bit more. Hopefully afterwards enemies will start going down more quickly again afterwards. I'm pretty comfortable dodging around enemies with B agility using Master Swordsman Armour (hopefully with some damage reduction from this!), but looking for anything to help boost damage output a bit so the fights don't drag on for quite so long.

[Fraktal]

Confusion. Poison or Paralysis with stacked “melee damage vs X”.

My fav build so far, tonfa w/ high health regen via Amrita on hit and extraction talisman doesn’t deal that high of damage. But obliterates Ki easily (purity) and makes fights relatively smoother.

[cybercybercybercyber4]

to kill off those red dudes faster, i just poison them with a poison shell unless they are immune.
red dudes have increased hp and poison damage scales with enemy hp => red dudes cry in their corners.. Still not the fastest method but you wont need to adapt anything.

[Pastytastic]

Nice, time to start using gallnut broth a lot more and level dexterity for a bit. Thanks!

[defnotj4]

dotd is the first real build check. beyond that, i'd say needing to unleash the wrath of a full blown combo on a trash mob isn't that far off from the intended curve.

something others haven't said: use those yokai abilities more. my rule is if you have enough anima to use a yokai ability, it's a good time to use a yokai ability

and in regard to your question about what level, don't worry about it. if you're gear is up to date, you're good to go. you shouldn't need more +value than what's dropping on the ground, though soul matching a couple levels further doesn't hurt