Why is this game so stupid difficult?

[Smirkel]

Playing on only difficult 2/5 and the first boss Werebeast is absurd. I put all my points into the Warrior tree (20 or so points so far) , using 2h sword, each swing takes like 3 seconds and does 0.1% of his health bar. Wtf am I missing? The other enemies all take a dozen hits to die too. Why can i do NO damage in this fking stupid game?

[Valden21]

Are you using followers? Are you upgrading your equipment via crafting, or just by buying new equipment? Are you putting any points into the non-combat abilities? I also recommend that you start putting points into the Pyromancer skill tree, as one of its abilities allows you to add fire damage to your weapons.

[Ritter in Rot]

You can also try the BBF Skills mod. It makes the warrior more vaiable and compete to the ranger. Also some other skills where buffed to make them more usable.

[Doc_Simulac]

Originally posted by Ritter in Rot:

You can also try the BBF Skills mod. It makes the warrior more vaiable and compete to the ranger. Also some other skills where buffed to make them more usable.

Thanks for the heads up on the mod.
My beef with this game is the gank mobs...
1 on 1 just about any enemy is cake. But the game loves throwing mobs specifically put together to screw you.

[Smirkel]

https://undergroundgamereviews.blogspot.com/2023/07/bound-by-flame.html

[rmp]

It helps to put your companion into defensive mode.

[Doc_Simulac]

I guess I'll post this for any new players that end up frustrated and happen to find this...

You do damage in this game as stated by others by upgrading weapons. That means attaching runes to said weapons that give you boosts in either damage or critical strikes...this is only part of the strategy... Then you actually deal the damage by learning the timing for the parry using the double-handed swords. Once you learn this, you will see that using the warrior stance can be similar to the rogue stance.
Only instead of constantly dodging backwards and then flinging forward and attacking like the rogue... Your character will basically become a flurry of swings and dodges... It's within these dodges that you will find your critical attacks that deal heavy damage to the enemies... The better you get at this timing. The more of these you can get in a row and basically it seems to stack critical damage to your attacks as long as you can continue uninterrupted.

[Celendrin]

Dr_Simulacrum 11 Feb @ 6:41pm 
    
I guess I'll post this for any new players that end up frustrated and happen to find this...

You do damage in this game as stated by others by upgrading weapons. That means attaching runes to said weapons that give you boosts in either damage or critical strikes...this is only part of the strategy... Then you actually deal the damage by learning the timing for the parry using the double-handed swords. Once you learn this, you will see that using the warrior stance can be similar to the rogue stance.
Only instead of constantly dodging backwards and then flinging forward and attacking like the rogue... Your character will basically become a flurry of swings and dodges... It's within these dodges that you will find your critical attacks that deal heavy damage to the enemies... The better you get at this timing. The more of these you can get in a row and basically it seems to stack critical damage to your attacks as long as you can continue uninterrupted. "

-- Thank You for this post !!

You've done two very important things with this post besides just helping people out with this specific game --

- You showed that sometimes (very often over-looked 'hidden gems'..) games have mechanics that aren't obvious at first but when understood they drastically change the flow of the game and open up whole new gameplay potentials people weren't expecting

and

2 - that there is more to gaming than the 'souls-like' combat obsession people have, that is basically a mindless 'roll in' - hit - roll out, run around, rinse repeat

" Only instead of constantly dodging backwards and then flinging forward and attacking like the rogue "

this is all people know how to do nowadays, roll away, roll forward, attack, roll away, roll forward, attack, etc etc

Somewhere people got souls combat confused with actual good combat,

and maybe a game like this tried to implement some actual skillful combat instead of the dodge / run / hit repetition nonsense

Thanks again

[Doc_Simulac]

Originally posted by Celendrin:

Dr_Simulacrum 11 Feb @ 6:41pm 
     Thanks again

You're very welcome.
I think getting labeled as a "souls-like" was the worse thing to happen to this game.
It's no surprise it was steamrolled by the critics and ignored/forgotten by potential players.
It's actually a linear ARPG in the most classic sense.
The irony is that I'm actually terrible at the RPG mechanics implemented into soulsborne and souls-like games. I'm not good at the "builds" they wan't you to create.
This game was relatively simple and straight forward to me.

My 1st playthrough was with the rogue because I didn't yet understand the warrior stance...it was a tedious playthrough too say the least. It's only after I went back and committed to the warrior stance that I started learning it's intricacy. I feel the warrior stance is more complimentary to the game than rogue.
With all that being said...The final boss in this game is literally broken...the fight is obnoxious and tedious if you don't employ a well documented (cheese) tactic that includes trap bombs.

DS was just too cryptic in it's builds for me. I had a buddy that just walked through it with a heavy tank shielded build with an overpowered weapon...no dodges no parry just tank and smash...lol

Right now I'm enjoying The Surge 1...it also has a fairly straight forward system of combat and upgrades.

[Finoderi]

Originally posted by Celendrin:

You showed that sometimes (very often over-looked 'hidden gems'..) games have mechanics that aren't obvious at first but when understood they drastically change the flow of the game and open up whole new gameplay potentials people weren't expecting

No, it's pretty obvious and even explained in the game. Some people are just dumb.
It's a Spiders game, many of their games have similar mechanics and require some learning and experimenting instead of brainless button mashing.

[Finoderi]

Originally posted by Smirkel:

https://undergroundgamereviews.blogspot.com/2023/07/bound-by-flame.html

What a pile of trash.

[Finoderi]

Some advices for those who didn't play Spiders games before.
1. As @rmp already said, it really helps to give your companions an order to defend themselves. They will draw attention of enemies and able to survive for some time. It will allow you to eliminate enemies one by one.
2. If you didn't master parry/dodge, you don't want to face more than one enemy at the same time. If two enemies are interested in you simultaneously, either run away, reposition Vulkan on a battlefield or use a trap. And another trap until you face no more than one enemy.
3. Learn to use parry/dodge to deal with two enemies at the same time without much effort.
4. If you are atacked by three enemies, run away or use a trap. If you are attacked by four enemies, you will be dead pretty soon, so just relax.
5. Don't forget to use a crossbow and don't forget to buy/craft bolts for it. But keep in mind that crossbow is useful in emergency situations or to finish off almost dead enemies, not as a main weapon.
6. Magic can be useful but only if you learn how to use it and have lowered spell cost and fast mana regeneration.

These advices are pretty much universal for other Spiders games as well - Mars: War Logs, Technomancer and even Of Orcs and Men to some extent. Just replace a crossbow with a gun. Also Mars: War Logs has grenades which are overpowered and allow you to wipe off several enemies with ease.