Advice

[Thunderdrake3]

I really don't know how to put this... I'm not very good at this game. I die a lot. Also, once I'm aiming, it seems like I have to fire a shot and can't stop aiming until I do. Can anyone give me advice on how to survive more than a few encounters?

[Pugware]

The aiming thing was just implemented in the latest update because so many were asking for it, the menu display is incorrect and you will always fire upon releasing the aim key.

To deal with enemies easily turn your flashlight on, you'll notice they turn blue for a second before attacking. If you shoot them while they are in this state (you don't have to have the light on for it to work it will just highlight the correct timing.) you can shoot them and they will kneel down. When enemies are kneeling if you walk up close (make sure your body connects with theirs) and press the attack key you`ll deliver a stab with really high dmg.

The other but harder way is to parry enemies, all enemies can be parried, timing it may be hard at first but once you get it its really easy. Have your guard up and press the attack key when the enemy attack should land. This might take time to master but the results are once again a kneeling enemy open for a high dmg stab.

Another good attack is the running stab, I seen players who barely got hit using it. Just press the attack key while holding the running key, and you slide across the screen dealing high dmg.

Yet another thing to help is the rolling attack, press the attack key while rolling to cancel rolling and deliver an uppercut with high dmg.

---All the above have much higher dmg ratio than your basic attacks that gains dmg as you combo it.

A general advice is to bait enemies.

-------------------------------------------------------Enemies------------------------------------------------------------

---The Maids have a very large window before attacking when you can shoot them, so they should never pose a problem. You can also just roll through them and attack from behind as they are locked into their direction at the start of an attack.

---The Gardeners are a bit tougher because they can throw a small but super fast attack out if you hang to close, but they will mostly use their jumping attack, after wich they are stuck in place for a second, shoot them and they will kneel. Again bait them, their jump has a maximum range.

---The Gunners can be easily tricked by just avoiding their Z depth, they will not attack or can be attacked unless you are in the same depth as they are, this means they are easier to handle in crowd fights since they can be ignored for the most part. Once they are in your Z depth they will lock in place, AND direction to shoot, after which they always reload, shoot them at this moment to make them kneel.

---Hysteria enemies (lady with big scissors) can be shot to kneel when they are screaming, one stab and a few hits should be enough to finish her. When she attacks roll through it, not from it. same principle as the maids. If you cant parry her that is.

---The Butlers are surprisingly the easiest enemy to be frank because they will kneel on their own! Now the flame spewing teleportation is scary at first but easy to dodge because the moment they jump you know where they will come down, roll away, or even run away and you`ll be out of range when they land. You will see them kneel down on their own, so if there are no flames around or you can take the hit rush in and stab them.

---The Black Cloak enemy is harder, but very predictable. roll through it put a hit or two in and should be done, this enemy is not final so its not the fairest.

---------------------------------------------Monsters below-----------------------------------------------

---The Monster Maid is really easy to deal with, when she pushes her tentacles down to spawn a static tentacle shoot her for the kneel, or just parry her basic attack. Or use the same roll through to attack back method with the normal maids.

---The Monster Gardener (big eye guy) he has the most annoying attack where he flips your screen, fear not because its 100% avoidable. raise your guard and it will have NO EFFECT whatsoever. Other than this its the same as the gardener only the shooting window for kneeling is smaller.

---Monster Gunner this one is a tough one, keep it on the screen always so you`ll see when they bend backwards this is when they will use the lightning bolt attack, you MUST roll or run to avoid this, there is no guarding it. Their other attack is the same principle as the gun but wider Z range.

---Monster Hysteria, she is a new addition but should be very easy. Her one attack is easily avoided by simply running, or rolling away, the flashlight will tell you when to shoot her.

--------------------------------------------------Parry lesson--------------------------------------------------

What I see players do is try to spam parry, when facing a multi hit enemy like the maid, hysteria or bosses, they try to spam the parry key, ending up parrying nothing.
This is because if you miss the first parry, and than just spam it as fast as you can you`ll timing will be off for the remainder of the attack chain! (unless you are lucky) This is a guarantee!

So if you miss the first parry, leave a tiny gap of time before trying again while still holding the guard up.



This is all I could come up for now, generally keep in mind the power of the rolling, and don't roll from danger but through it.

I hope this helps, I`m not very good at writing guides.

[Thunderdrake3]

Thank you for writing this for me. I think it will help. Maybe the tutorial should be longer, introducing these things? Without asking, I never would have known this.

[Pugware]

Yeah the tutorial is short and basic, especially since its a very recent update to even have one. Most of this can be figured out, but there are obvious things missing from the tutorial like how the flashlight highlights critical timing.

[Thunderdrake3]

I can't seem to execute the running stab, but that's probably my fault. Do they have to be kneeling?

Also, once I raise my gun, no button on my keyboard will make it lower. Even firing all my shots won't make it lower. I did like it the way it was, if my vote means anything.

[Pugware]

Oh the gun should lower I`m looking into it right away.

If you are on the keyboard the running stab might not work due to windows settings, the sticky keys thing I think, I will move the keys around soon because of this and a few other issues.

Edit; the gun issue is a BUG fixed it, update is LIVE.

[Thunderdrake3]

Thank you for being so friendly and helpful. :)

[Thunderdrake3]

I would suggest a difficulty setting. You've been building this game for a long time, and throughout you've probably gotten very good at fighting these enemies. Not all of us have trained our reflexes that much, and some of us just aren't very good but still want to enjoy a good game. I know it might be a ways down the road, but a difficulty setting that simply lowered the health and damage of enemies would make the game more enjoyable to some of us, including me. Right now I can't even survive a butler+maid fight. I don't want to have to spend hours of practice before I'm good enough to live through combat and actually explore the game. Also, a easier save feature would be really appreciated. Why can't you just have your own watch? That way I wouldn't have to run back to Waltham every time I achieved a minor victory, only to have all the rooms filled again. Goin back to Waltham should be a different save feature separate from your watch, one that refills your stuff but resets the rooms.

Some questions: Why does the watch tick backwards every time I die? Do I lose Yth stones when I die?

[Pugware]

You don't lose yth stones when you die. You loose something else represented by the clock`s position, but that's a hidden mechanic, and not detrimental.

The game auto saves, all items and upgrades you get, and in fact all vitae saves every time you see the little clock in the bottom left corner. So you don't loose anything you manage to pick up, only lose vitae and any over the maximum healing items when you die.

I can easily implement a difficulty option it would take a day or two only. I`ll think about it.