(Help Wanted) Tips for newbies

[tigerhours]

Hi all,

I have played for a few hours & like this game but, I don't understand all the things your can do in regards to getting better weapons & levelling up.

Can you give any tips for us new guys?

[Catgirl Rika]

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/611500-way-of-the-samurai-4/faqs is a great source!

[No' Name]

Basically "Easy" mode hands out crappy weapons, Normal mode has people worth challenging, but a lot of people dont' "Recommend" it. However the NPC's in normal mode carry exceptional weapons.

Most of the tips given are simply start on "Easy" mode, and find a weapon which you like, and or style which you like, then proceed to upgrade the weapon from the blacksmith.

I personally on the Console version started off on Normal mode, didn't have much difficulties due to playing the previous Way of The Samurai games. Basically if you can get the "Pushing" and or "Pulling" mechanic down, Normal mode is going to be a cakewalk for you regardless of your weapon(s).

However, easy mode is definitely one of the better ways to go. If you manage to kill a "Special Character", ones with Blue/Red/White Names above their heads, their weapons automatically start of with sub-par stats on "Easy" mode, these in my opinion, are the weapons you should aim to upgrade.

My personal opinion though, I'd aim to kill an NPC called "Melinda" her weapon by far has the longest reach for swords in the game, it's almost on par with that of the reach of a spear. I personally love her weapon (The Centurion) probably one of, if not my most favorite Swords in Way of the Samurai 4, the length/reach alone is enough for me. I'm prettysure another Npc named "Kogure" has almost the same type of reach on his weapon, but Melinda's is still the best weapon in terms of "Reach" for a sword.

But it basically comes down to the mechanics of the game. Once you learn how to properly "Pull" and "push" while enemies are blocking, nothing is going to be difficult for you. That is coming from someone who has played the hell out of the entire series.

[ChevyNoel]

You should make a couple of your own charmed weapons. You get charms on weapons by forming lines the way you would in tic tac toe. It is a lot easier to get 2x or 3x of the same charm, rather than different charms on the same weapon. One weapon should be life and death, which heals you, so you don't have to use food all the time. On the weapon you use in combat, you will probably want either able-bodied (durability decreases significantly slower), or big shot (huge damage bonus with guard breaking attacks... I mean huge, it is easily the fastest way of defeating normal opponents and bosses).

[Nauya]

I feel Melinda's line of weapons is just a tad shorter than Akiga's weapons. (Yes, NPC's have more than one weapon, they have a stronger version on higher difficulties that shows up occasionally).

Anyway, tip wise...

Aim for a Life&Death charm on any weapon ASAP, even with just one single L&D charm, you'll never have to eat food again.

Find a style that suits you the best, the sooner the better. I personally prefer the Iai style you get from Kogure, Kasshin Iai. Of course, learning a bunch of them will help later when making your own style.

Try to flesh out the timeline, do the choices in the story you haven't, it'll help you determine what will lead to a better run... Or you can just look up the best way to progress through the story for respective endings.

Find a weapon type you like, not just Katana vs Spear vs Gun, but also on the size of the weapon. Bigger swords have an easier time distancing and reaching your opponents yes, but they also tend to friendly fire more easily, this is a huge problem on missions that require you to escort or keep a specific NPC alive because you can accidentally end up killing them instead.

If you want to aim for unlockables, try to get a good weapon and style you like first and then do some runs where you try your best to be a good samurai (no looting or kicking bodies, no random killing, don't walk around all over the place with your weapon drawn, don't make "embarrasing decisions" in conversations like blurting out something perverted or drawing your sword mid dialogue.)

Don't diss unarmed combat, with a good martial arts style, like the one from Moro, you can kick some serious ass with all the grapples and forced animation attacks, not to mention, if your currently equipped weapon has any charms, most will still take effect while fighting unarmed, like Life&Death.

As for higher tier methods... You should really look them up, it's hard to explain easily here. There's already a detailed charm guide for weapons out there and also plenty of methods people have devised to grind out certain things in the game, be it money, repaired points on a weapon for the Unbreakable Title, or otherwise.

That's all from the top of my head, the only other thing I can say is to have fun and keep trying new things, because there's plenty of new things to keep trying in this game.

[tigerhours]

Thanks for the reply's! I will try out the things you have mentioned. Did know most of that stuff.

Cheers

[Nasami]

Don't die, don't go up to the victor's podium and live the way of the samurai.

[ChevyNoel]

Originally posted by Nasami:

Don't die, don't go up to the victor's podium and live the way of the samurai.

That last part reminds me... don't kick/search bodies. They drop junk and it greatly decreases your samurai rating. The exception to this is bodies of unique or main characters. Kick them a few times as they will drop good things like unique styles.