Once you learn reflection it gets easy.

[Giiti]

NG++ No damage clear
https://youtu.be/qesd6rpzkao

[Anatolius]

I tried it on Maluca for an hour and gave up - it's too difficult to get the timing even for a single attack, not to mention whole roster of moves, since reflection doesn't trigger momentarily like brink guard,

[Giiti]

DLSS OFF,NVIDIA Reflex boost Required. The timing of reflection can also be determined by sound.

[Lynfinity]

Originally posted by Anatolius:

I tried it on Maluca for an hour and gave up - it's too difficult to get the timing even for a single attack, not to mention whole roster of moves, since reflection doesn't trigger momentarily like brink guard,

A huge payoff for a difficult learning curve. Makes perfect sense, I reckon.

[Wyrtt]

Originally posted by Lynfinity:

Originally posted by Anatolius:

I tried it on Maluca for an hour and gave up - it's too difficult to get the timing even for a single attack, not to mention whole roster of moves, since reflection doesn't trigger momentarily like brink guard,

A huge payoff for a difficult learning curve. Makes perfect sense, I reckon.

But at what cost?
I spend 5 hours learning how to reflect Viper moves.
Could maybe probably sometimes reflect 80% of times in phase 1 and 2.
And than entirely new moveset in phases 3 and 4 happened.

As soon as I stopped bothering with reflections I wiped floor with a boss in 2 tries.
And next 5 bosses died fast as well.
Brink and hear piercer in the middle of boss combo deals more dmg and stuns boss as well.

But you need 2-3 reflections to depleate boss stamina while dealing zero dmg. And you get what? 5 seconds to use combo and brutal attack?

[Lynfinity]

Originally posted by Wyrtt:

Originally posted by Lynfinity:

A huge payoff for a difficult learning curve. Makes perfect sense, I reckon.

But at what cost?
I spend 5 hours learning how to reflect Viper moves.
Could maybe probably sometimes reflect 80% of times in phase 1 and 2.
And than entirely new moveset in phases 3 and 4 happened.

As soon as I stopped bothering with reflections I wiped floor with a boss in 2 tries.
And next 5 bosses died fast as well.
Brink and hear piercer in the middle of boss combo deals more dmg and stuns boss as well.

But you need 2-3 reflections to depleate boss stamina while dealing zero dmg. And you get what? 5 seconds to use combo and brutal attack?

It sounds like you're treating Reflection as a total replacement for your other defensive options, which it is not. Pick a few moves that you can reliably reflect and now performing said moves will be a disaster for whoever you're fighting.

And there's a whole skill tree for Reflection that:

- Allows you to deal damage on successful reflections;
- Decreases damage taken on failed reflections;
- Increases "parry" window;
- And decreases activation time for said parry window, allowing Reflection to be a little bit more reactive.

[Anatolius]

Nah, it's still not worth the effort, like Two Dragons Sword from Lies of P.
Sure, you'll kill boss quicker in the end, but the time you spent learning to parry his attacks is probably way more than if you just played normally.

[Lynfinity]

Originally posted by Anatolius:

Nah, it's still not worth the effort, like Two Dragons Sword from Lies of P.
Sure, you'll kill boss quicker in the end, but the time you spent learning to parry his attacks is probably way more than if you just played normally.

Up to a personal preference. That's why Reflection is an unlockable skill and not something you get innately - you can absolutely shred through every boss without it (which is what I did on my first playthrough as well), but if you get the hang of it... hoo boy.

[DarkNinjutzu]

Originally posted by Lynfinity:

Originally posted by Anatolius:

Nah, it's still not worth the effort, like Two Dragons Sword from Lies of P.
Sure, you'll kill boss quicker in the end, but the time you spent learning to parry his attacks is probably way more than if you just played normally.

Up to a personal preference. That's why Reflection is an unlockable skill and not something you get innately - you can absolutely shred through every boss without it (which is what I did on my first playthrough as well), but if you get the hang of it... hoo boy.

- I got slaughtered a lot but now I got the hang of the reflexion timing, Perfect parry - 0.5 sec = reflect !
I play the lance, it is nice perfect parry and insta hit as a reward, and the slow motion attacks with reflection, then you rock the boss.
I am the type of player, if I don´t rock the boss in 2-3 minutes then I rather die, retry than hanging on and kill it softly.

The game has many valid playstyles, regarding the skill descriptions, but I favour only hard parry/ reflection punishes, the other stuff is for other gamers.