How to properly prepare for BBI?

[Lobstersaurus]

Can someone please explain to me how you are supposed to prepare for BBI?

I seem to get face rolled every time I try to attempt it. Currently, I'm lvl 57 and playing on hard mode (last time I tried was lvl 50).

What gear should I be using when going into BBI for the first time? Currently have a 3 Star Queen's Clothing equipped to my character.

[Corlain]

It would be better to be at level 120 or something like that. It's possible to do it earlier, even straight from level 1, but it can be hard to fight anything. You can run past most of the enemies and try to find better equipment in the chests if you want to.

[ikenienoyoru]

rusted daggers, rusted sword, 2 sorcerers with high fulmination. should have no problems with basic monsters anyway. bigger monsters and carnivores, just slow them down, give your sorcerers time to cast, done. queens clothing is fine. lot of potent greenwarish and large shrooms are good anyway. i guess that should do it. you'll level fast from killing the carnivores. you'll still be better of with rusted daggers and stuff (3starred or dragonforged) (ranger morbidity augement does help too) for a longer time, until you yourself can do reasonable damage. before that, just wait for your sorcerers to cast. maelstrom is especially good against condemned gorecyclops, also dark bishop, cursed dragon is taken down by a lot of bolides, gazer requires you to climb though, death just run.

you could also go ranger at your level, get dragons glaze (moonbeam gem) and use periapts, then you yourself should be able to deal reasonable damage, tenfold flurry. or you yourself play sorcerer, but then you level as sorcerer and that sucks pre lvl 100. or mystic knight, if you have the right stats, 3starred almace and great cannon can do some damage, but still, sorcerers are faster and easier.

daimon could be very hard relying on sorcerers though. also you got no reason to get to bbi post daimon for a longer time, biggest reason is when you want to power level, because then you might want to use blessed flower black abbey in post daimon. but cursed dragons are fine as well.

bla.

just read now about hard mode, afaik it doesnt change bbi besides stamina drain and stagger resistance. dmg multiplier normal base game 1x, hard mode 4,5x, bbi is around 2,25 or 2,5 anyway, no matter which difficulty. so you'll level fast. just pick vocation you want to level, hunt carnivores, no need to defeat gazer and move on, wait for high fulmination, until you are level 100, then .... well, you decide. if hard mode considerably makes bbi monsters have even more damage than in normal mode ...... well ...... idk. you can still do it i guess, just some more reloads when you die, eventually your sorcerers will succeed and you'll level up.

as for equipment, there are quests in order to get nearly full immortal and trophy set on bbi. or you just run for it, defeat gazer, defeat dark bishop, the chest at dark bishop has a very good chance on bbi armor 2 & it respawns, so you just loot that a bit. might as well run through the next part of bbi and loot some chests there, can get more armor 2 and weapon 2.

then just go for it and try to dragonforge it through baiting a cursed dragon. also defeating the dark bishop has the basic cursed dragon dragonforge chance. for the latter version you just have to run for both void keys, no fight required, strider or ranger for gazer, climb, kiss, skull split or 10fold the cannon, done. dark bishop is easiest with 10fold flurry or maelstrom. after that it's just running and savescumming chests. no fights required, if you do it right, i believe.

[Huggles the Cat]

You're at a perfectly acceptable level. Know that some enemies are not manditory and are only there to provide extra challenge for experianced or crazy players (the giant condemed goreclops is one of those optional challenge fights). Remember that running is sometimes the best or only option. If you are in post game or near post game, just bring some of your stronger pieces of equipment an upgrade them if possible.

[Lobstersaurus]

Originally posted by Mr.Huggles:

You're at a perfectly acceptable level. Know that some enemies are not manditory and are only there to provide extra challenge for experianced or crazy players (the giant condemed goreclops is one of those optional challenge fights). Remember that running is sometimes the best or only option. If you are in post game or near post game, just bring some of your stronger pieces of equipment an upgrade them if possible.

Can you actually beat that cheapo Grim Reaper that one shotted me in the beginning? He just disapeared when I came back into the room...

Also I figured out to not mess with the condemed goreclops, he kicked my butt too. (I was having a lol, smacking him around until he broke free. :V)

[Lobstersaurus]

Originally posted by ikenienoyoru:

Snip...

What's exactly is the immortal set, stat wise? Completing the BBI story line has an armor reward ?

Is the stuff in BBI at different tier levels?

[ikenienoyoru]

its for fighters and warriors and mystic knights and pieces of it are rewards for completing some notice board quests, without the coat, thats bbi armor 2 (like the rest of the immortal set).

if you've leveled all the way as sorcerer you might want to level at least the last part to 100 as fighter. just look at stat growth in the wikia, fighter gains 21 hp more per level and 3 def, so difference sorcerer lvl 56 and figher 56 is like 1000 hp and 150 def. maybe something like that would help keeping you from getting oneshotted, too.

also arisen gets targeted by ai more, so you as sorcerer are not likely to get a big spell of, though at rotunda / black abbey / ward of regret, also duskmoon tower to the left of entrance to vault of defiled truth, yes, there you could get big spells of yourself. but if you don't play the sorcerer you can distract the bigger enemies and basically disable them completely through rusted weapons, which inflict torpor, once upgraded to level 3. so pawn sorcerer might get there spells of. also fulmination needs one dude to get close to enemy to deal damage and if it's the sorcerer himself sorcerer will get stunned out of the spell.

[Lobstersaurus]

Oops.... completely forgot I didn't even mention my build in any of my posts, silly me.

My stat plan for me and my pawn is thus:

Stat Planner Dragon Dogma:

Fighter
1-10

Warrior
11-45

Assassin
46-90

Magic Archer
91-100

Magic Archer
101-150

Assassin
151-200
..........................................
Level 200
HP: 4070
Attack: 781
Defense: 382
ST: 3735
Magick: 318
Magick Defense: 298
..........................................
PAWN: Stat Planner

Fighter
1-10

Fighter
11-30

Warrior
31-50

Sorcerer
51-100

Sorceror
101-200
..........................................

HP:4060
Attack: 396
Defense: 297
ST: 2970
Magick:708
Magic Defense: 468

..........................................

Currently following out the build I made, I am lvl 58 on both my Pawn and my main character. Feel free to criticize my build, as I'm just a noob.

[BurlsoL]

Doing BBI on Hard before level 100 is not particularly suggested. Regardless of equipment you will end up being 1-shot by most enemies due to having less than 600 physical defense and 3000 health. Much of this is because of the way that damage is calculated in hard... where even glancing damage (what happens when you have more than enough defense to resist a hit) will end up doing significant damage due to damage being multiplied AFTER being reduced by defense (reason why bats and snakes can kill at low levels).

Even in normal difficulty, you'll want better than queens clothing. A full set of armor (what is available at endgame) and dragon or everfall weapon dragonforged is strongly suggested for your first run through. With less than this, you will need periapts for attack and occasionally defense in order to deal meaningful damage to the more difficult enemies. Depending on class, you'll want to avoid most or all the necrophage type mobs (garm, death, eldar ogre, cursed dragon) as well as anything big like a gorecyclops. Until you have a dragonforged level 2 weapon or better, you will pretty much need periapts in order to deal any noticable damage, regardless of skill used. At level 70+ this is not as much of an issue (depending on build and strategy), but at lower levels the statistics are just not with you; even if you try blast arrowing your way through, most larger enemies have enough defense that they won't take much damage from <1000 attack power.


Best suggestion I can offer is to clear through the main game on hard, then start ng+ on normal breezing though. Use the Dragon fight on normal to dragonforge a full set of equipment, then tackle BBI in normal mode. Come back to BBI in hard mode when you're level 140+ and wearing a decent combination of silver or gold rarified equipment.

As for your build, not sure why you're going with magic archer when you've been primarily physical attack focused. Most MA skills work off magic attack. MA stat growth is fairly poor on magic attack, to where you're usually best off doing atleast 30 levels before 100 as a sorc to get enough magic attack (the augments from sorc help too).

[Richard]

Rusted Bow 3 star or higher will help out greatly...topor is a game changer even if you are a climber. If your assassin is a climber, makes runs in the Midnight Helix for lvl 3 noveltys until you get adhesion and oppotunism.

Pick your mobs apart first and try fighting one at a time against higher enemies. Throwblasts and explosive barrels lying around help. Use the terrain to stay out of harms way.

If you want to level a bit more before proceding: Once i was able to use a Moonbeam Gem to get the Dragon's Ire, I used my Assassin to kill/rekill a Cursed Dragon in the Duskmoon Tower. Use Pilgrims Charm for double the already double exp and you will pull 3 levels per kill. Stay on top of the rock in the upper right of the map or behind the pillar back there as well by the chest...he can't get back there. Once he is dead, grab the loot and run out the void door then run back in; he will usually respawn. Repeat. I used conquerers peripets and large mushrooms to keep the damage and attacks going. This will allow you at even a low level to quickly gain massive levels prior to first mandatory fight on BBI.

[Lobstersaurus]

Thanks for your advice, I've already lowered to game to normal and am working on completing to story again for some dragon forged weapons and armor.

[ikenienoyoru]

i'm a noob at hard mode myself, just about to start it and look at bbi, but it could take a while. also i have best gear possible, one account is lvl 200, other lvl 80 or what. never heard of damage multiplier this way (what i heard, still, normal game 1x hard 4,5x, bbi 2,5x anyway), but thinking of it it doesn't even make sense. go with dmg multiplier of 2, which doesn't exist, but easier math, dmg x 2 - def = and (dmg - def) x 2 = ..... i mean the latter is lower, isn't it? i know that on normal, bbi has dmg x 2,5 and i read (and i read a lot about ddda) that on hard it's the same, just stamina drain & stagger resist.

with your build, you can do what you want and see how it goes. i don't mind. i actually think your build, both ones, is very good. i like your first 100 levels, lots of hp & assassin brings sta, lots of physical attack, but nothing for magic attack. i think after 100 sorcerer has the best stat growth, it's tedious, but especially on hard with blessed flower at black abbey 2, which contains 5 living armor, gorecyclops, 2 lesser drakes as especially noteworthy spawns, i guess you might lvl from 100 to 200 in about 12 hours or so and then you're done and can play what you want, what, for bbi, if you're only interested in pawn training, would be magick archer. but my own lvl 200 is mostly assassin & some fighter, so more or less the same build as yours and with blackwing bow & 4 x magic rebalancer i can kill everything post daimon easily, all alone, so.

about stats, i recommend hp & sta, then attack & magic attack, and def, but that's already all there is, besides mdef, which is useless.

also plan in the savior ring and finding at least one decent master ring should be possible. bla.

armor, just look up the wikia, it's good. search for bitterblack armor 1 & bitterblack armor 2 and look what you can get. each page also lists possible ways to get that gear (some are sold, some can be found in chests (actually only true for weapons)).

just dragonforge it (what could be troublesome at your lvl) (rusted daggers & 2 or even 3 sorcerers with high bolide should work though) and rarify as far as you can. after some attempts you'll see that dancing around the dragon's feet (and gorecyclops) is pretty safe, especially when rusted. actually all items (besides vile wakestone) required for rarifying can be gotten pre daimon, the trick is either post game and the special dragons, or the whatever of scant mercy .... you have to restore the rift stone, kill living armor, enter riftstone, exit, the first dragon should spawn, you need the unique horn drops and the unique scale drops & 1 supple dragon pelt, if you don't get it, reload. then enter riftstone, exit, next dragon should spawn aso asf. as far as i know they only spawn once. and just enter bitterblack sanctum and exit & you'll have strigois there, get a bloodred crystal.

the next armor stage is armor 3, it doesn't go any further. you need like 30 armor 3 in order to get savior ring. you only get armor 3 post daimon (all in all), 1 for killing daimon, 1 in a chest, 2 in midnight helix. takes some time. in the end i think armor 3 is gimmicky, so it's alright to use armor 2 most of the time. also trophy set very fine bonuses (magick attack, carry weight, stamina).

so just look up bitterblack armor 2 & the trophy things, for your build. everything's there, on the wikia. if you need money, condemned gorecyclops, fine.

bla. if you are post dragon you already have dragons vein, they're very good. with warrior fighter assassin and all the augments you should be able to deal a bit damage with them, gold rarified. but rusted daggers & sorcerers rule bbi early on.

i don't know why you should run past the carnivores, they give the best xp at this stage & fulminations kills them asap and they can almost do no damage when rusted torpor, so. if you have a chance to dragonforge something, first priority: rusted daggers, no joke.

[ikenienoyoru]

Originally posted by Lobster in the Shell:

Thanks for your advice, I've already lowered to game to normal and am working on completing to story again for some dragon forged weapons and armor.

that's very sad and shouldn't have been necessary.

[BurlsoL]

Originally posted by ikenienoyoru:

Originally posted by Lobster in the Shell:

Thanks for your advice, I've already lowered to game to normal and am working on completing to story again for some dragon forged weapons and armor.

that's very sad and shouldn't have been necessary.

Certain enemies in hard mode can deal over 4k damage when you have 900 physical defense in hard mode. It's poorly balanced, meanwhile you're earning twice as much exp so are leveling quicker than you're progressing through the areas. On the first playthrough, hardmode isn't particularly viable unless you're running past most encounters (and subsequently missing most the loot). Not everyone wants to go through cheesing everything with blast arrows or high bolide.

[ikenienoyoru]

Originally posted by BurlsoL:

Originally posted by ikenienoyoru:

that's very sad and shouldn't have been necessary.

Certain enemies in hard mode can deal over 4k damage when you have 900 physical defense in hard mode. It's poorly balanced, meanwhile you're earning twice as much exp so are leveling quicker than you're progressing through the areas. On the first playthrough, hardmode isn't particularly viable unless you're running past most encounters (and subsequently missing most the loot). Not everyone wants to go through cheesing everything with blast arrows or high bolide.

and what do you want to do then, post daimon, when you run past everything in the first part? run again? and why is high bolide cheesy? with regular weapons, you do damage or you don't, if you do, it's easy. with framae blades i down a cursed dragon in 15 seconds, is that not cheesy?

and which enemies are you talking about? well, i'm about to finish ng++ and start in hard mode and see, then i'll post what i see, but i read everywhere that dmg multiplier doesn't change for bbi. i know of bbi normal mode that some can do like 2000 dmg when you have physical def 900 (and it's a physical attack), though. i hope you're not talking about eliminators when they pin you, though.

[Lobstersaurus]

Originally posted by BurlsoL:

As for your build, not sure why you're going with magic archer when you've been primarily physical attack focused. Most MA skills work off magic attack. MA stat growth is fairly poor on magic attack, to where you're usually best off doing atleast 30 levels before 100 as a sorc to get enough magic attack (the augments from sorc help too).

Only reason I went MA, is to boost my Magic Defense.