Best First Upgrade?

[Jack Ketch]

I was really hoping that the second Dash Upgrade would help my game, but apparently it doesn't do what I thought it did. (Is it only projectile immunity while dashing? really?)

If I were to restart the game what is the best first upgrade?

Currently struggling in the East against some rolling plant monsters. And dying a lot.

[K▲IYOTE]

Yes, only while dashing. That should have been obvious from it being a dash upgrade. :P

Charged sword attack and multidash are your first stops. After that I'd get projectile reflection, then the bomb, then projectile absorbtion dash. After that is up to you.

[cremaster6]

infinite dash and projectile immunity while dashing are two of the best upgrades, for sure. it's also a good idea to get one bomb slot and increase the ammo for the gun you get for defeating the north boss, as it's very useful for both bosses and crowd control.

[Javerlin]

Get chain dash. That's the only upgrade you need-need. Then get sword deflection. Then charge sword attack. Get a bomb at any point after chain dash. Then get immunity while dodging. The. Finish up with the two dash attack upgrades. Leave the gun upgrades till last. I find them pretty much. Useless.

[Shiverskill]

Dash Chain seems to be the one a lot of people recommend. The dash poke is good for getting an enemy away from you while dealing good damage if you hit another enemy or something. The dash slash is good for getting through enemies while still doing damage. Health upgrades are nice to just have some more life support. Bombs can be used for preemptively striking the enemy. Charge slash does great damange but requires you to be smart with deploying it. Sword deflection is great for West and just anyone that shoots things at you.

[!?!]

Get the bomb. It's cheap, does 3 damage to a giant area and you have unlimited bombs on a cooldown so you'll never not have it if you're stuck in a room.
If a random battleroom tries to ♥♥♥♥ you by trapping you in a microscopic space and just dumps 10 enemies on you, you can ♥♥♥♥ it right back.

Next stop is the first dash upgrade so you don't gas out after dashing and can actually move.

You'll also want a gun upgrade on the shotgun since it's the only gun worth using.
At least with a controller it is.

[BostonCrab]

So, here's my advice after about three playthroughs. Chain Dash is your first, always. It's just too good, and is by far the biggest change you'll give to your character's mobility (and therefore their survivability). Second upgrade largely depends on the zone, but you're pretty safe going for either Deflect Strike or Deflect Dash. With Strike, you pretty much wipe out the ninja's and gunmen in the East and North by reflecting their projectiles right in their faces, but if you want an upper hand on those flame-tossing frogs, then the Dash will get you safely within striking range.

Personally, I get more bang for my buck with animation cancels, shooting my pistol and slashing the sword right after, and then you can even cancel that sword animation with a chain dash to both dodge an enemy hit and then be right back in their face. In the beginning, you'll want to prioritize safety, and these three upgrades are by far the most important in ensuring you'll live to fight another day.

After these, go nutz. Bombs, extra medkits, fancy new attacks, whatever you want. Practicing these techniques, along with animation cancels (seriously give it a go, it'll change your life) is the best way I find of running this game.

Edit: For that rolling plant monster you mentioned, remember that he only has six health. Wait until he rolls past you, then hit him three times, then wait for him to do it again (he has a big animation for when he's about to do it). He'll be dead if you hit him with two full combos, or just give him a few pops with your pistol to finish him off.

[Qu4ntumZero]

Chain dash is my vote for best first upgrade. Gets you around the game faster and offers more mobility when evading enemies.

[<:)]

i went with deflecting projectiles with your sword, since aiming the gun is annoying and has limited ammo. You can use enemy projectiles against any enemy. I've rarely used chain dash in combat; usually a single dash is enough to escape a bad situation. Given that, the slash dash is nice to carve a path out of a swarm.

[GSrevolution]

My first upgrade was the charged sword slash. But the fast dash become very important later on, so I would make that my first or second upgrade if I were you. After that I recommend the projectile deflecting upgrades. The rest doesn't matter so much.

[arbor daze]

Sword deflection really comes in handy, especially on one boss. I bought the charge attack and never use it, so I'd avoid that thing. Dash shield is helpful, too.