Good spirit combos? (Google info is usually outdated)

[Jonny Friggin Panic]

I'm looking for some good spirit combo insight, mostly in the early game; I just got Silva and unlocked the dash and Last Rites. A lot of the info I find using Google is outdated, referring to pre-nerf and pre-buff opinions of various spirits, and I'm looking for more recent insights. I THINK I'm relying on an overly-standard set of spirits and making things harder for myself, but I'm not really sure which other spirits are effective under what circumstances.

For instance, I'm relying HEAVILY on Gerrod (big hammer guy) for a variety of things; he hits hard, his first attack is slow but his second hit is almost instant, he depletes enemy stamina fast (altho does that actually matter? They seem to recover almost instantly), and the sweep of his attacks, ground and air, is wide enough to hit enemies above him through platforms.

At this point, though, I'm having trouble closing with ranged enemies, like the hanging spiders that shoot three homing shots. I do have Eleine, but she has limited uses and, while ranged and homing, her shots only go about a half-screen. She seems to deal more damage overall than Merchant, though. And, if I can get close enough, Gerrod knocks them down. He's also useless in water.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get a better idea of the more unusual spirits. I can see Floral Sorceress being useful; she deals several hits and can hit things above me, but she needs me to be RIGHT THERE. I can't get a good sense of Fungal Sorcerer's cloud effectiveness. I can see the Archer's aerial effectiveness, but then I need range AND upward angle. Siegrid's pretty cool, especially the air attack, but doesn't seem to do a lot of damage. And Elder Crypt Keeper seems really random. It also doesn't help that most of them have EXTREMELY limited uses.

Some opinions on all these spirits and practical use for them would help. I've toyed with upgrading a few, but, moving forward, I'd like to have a better idea who is worth advancing and who can stay behind in the current state of the game.

[iriyap]

Don't use Gerrod, he's just too slow and will get you killed, Silva is much better, I used her as my main weapon for most of the game. Her regular attacks are reasonably fast but still stagger, and her special (Last Rites) is a half-screen wide AoE with tons of i-frames, invaluable in boss fights or when you're swarmed.

The other important spirits would be:
- Eleine, your main ranged attack, there's nothing better or more optimal.
- Floral Sorceress, immediately guard breaks most enemies and one shots aerial enemies (due to fall damage).
- Western Merchant, the best familiar, basically free damage in boss fights if you can spare the slot.
- Forsaken Fellwyrm and Fungal Sorcerer, these two create toxic clouds that deal damage over time, which can add up to rather high DPS in some boss fights where the boss doesn't move much.

Umbral Knight is still ultimately the best weapon just pure DPS wise, but he requires special upgrade materials so you can't upgrade him fully until the final area/NG+. Also, keep in mind that you can't fully upgrade all spirits in one NG cycle, so don't waste materials on mediocre ones.

[Mizufluffy]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von iriyap:

Don't use Gerrod, he's just too slow and will get you killed, Silva is much better, I used her as my main weapon for most of the game. Her regular attacks are reasonably fast but still stagger, and her special (Last Rites) is a half-screen wide AoE with tons of i-frames, invaluable in boss fights or when you're swarmed.

I can for the most part agree with Gerrod vs. Silva but Gerrod definitely has his uses. Gerrod is good for hitting enemies through walls in some areas, his special shout can break the things that open some paths, and can be used to open shortcuts early, and there is a certain late game area and boss fight where I found Gerrod to be extremely useful.

As for the other ones, Eleine is definitely a great one. It's been a while since the last time I played but I believe my first set had Silva, Eleine and Headless Defender (the one who counters), and then Gerrod and two others (can't remember who) in the second set. I was also using Umbral Knight a lot but unless you can find his upgrade materials then it might be better to concentrate on someone else instead.

I wasn't really a fan of Western Merchant myself. It easily attacks nearby enemies even when not needed, shots often hit walls, changing set makes it go away so you are very much limited to two other spirits while using it, and so on. I guess my main issue was the lack of control I had over the Merchant.

If I could choose five spirits to use throughout the most of the game, they would most likely be Silva, Eleine, Headless Defender, Umbral Knight and Gerrod. The 6th would be depending on the current situation.

I don't say that others are bad, and I've watched some playthroughs where other players are using spirits different from those who I prefer, and are successful at using them because they fit better to their playstyle.

[douglasduck]

To add to the Silva hype - I found her charged aerial attack to be one of the best for attacking flying enemies - it has good range and spread and is fantastic when paired with the healing relic. It also pushes you up and back a little each time and is vital for reaching certain areas (you can do two swings after each jump, double jump and aerial dash). Silva's charged attack can also destroy the floating mines which take no damage from normal attacks.

Don't worry too much about the limited uses for spirits - I usually found one or two uses per enemy was needed at most and respites are not actually that far away most of the time. Eleine especially has enough uses that I never ran out when using her.

Siegrid might feel slow and weak but note that Lily is free to move and attack while Siegrid is still spinning, so think of it as additional damage while you attack normally. If you pair with Silva it is quite easy to knock enemies down, although I preferred to knock the bosses down first before using Siegrid to guarantee the hits.

Personally I didn't like Forsaken Fellwyrm - it makes it hard to see what is going on in the cloud.

Archer is very useful for the one area with lots of large flying enemies but wasn't useful afterward so only upgrade if you think you need it right 'now'. Floral Sorceress is a generally good pick since it is one of the few attacks that can hit downwards as well as up.

As a general rule though just upgrade your spirits if you think they are helping you - you can always try them out first before upgrade to check their usefulness - I found a lot of them just never felt worth using over simply attacking with Silva or Julius.