So, I suck at the game, any basic tips?

[Fel]

I went to the guides section but it's surprisingly empty outside of late game farming, how to find "hidden" verses and how to skip cutscenes.

I know I should probably not be afraid of using items for the first time around until I get used to the controls enough to no longer need it, that witch time is OP (provided you don't miss your dodge timing of course) and that I should try to use more varied combos, but those are not exactly helping me improve all that much and even chapter 2 and 3 are already kicking my sorry behind.

I thought that maybe I missed something really obvious since I am still just playing on normal, so this seemed like the best place to ask for small tips from the players that are good at the game.

[mdesaleah]

Hold a button to keep firing after the move is done.

[SenMithrarin85]

All I can really say is practice makes perfect. and the combo score works completely different to dmc. It doesn't reward variety, but rather the length of the combo. equip the guns to the hands and feet and hold the punch/kick buttons and after the initial attacks, you'll shoot bullets and get more damage done.

A good tip I've found is the verse staright after Luka's introduction can be exploited for well over 80000 halos if you keep the combo going. torture attack anything that carries a staff and once in witch time, use grab the staff and use the kick button attack for it (which will makes you spin around and hit for a wide area) get enough enemies in this and your combo score will rocket. if the combo doesn't break at all, say hello to a ton of halos

two good accessories are the moon of maha kalaa (which allows you to block/parry attacks by pushing the direction of the incoming attack) and selene's light which allows you to go into witch time when you take damage.

the former is great for enemies that can't be witch timed and against jean too.

[Fel]

Oh, that's why my first time in chapter 1 and 2 where I mostly spammed punches got me a higher score than the second time where I tried to vary combos to the point where I was switching between the sword and the guns.
I am assuming that the sword is a pretty bad thing for combo then, especially the charged iai?

[mdesaleah]

Originally posted by Fel:

Oh, that's why my first time in chapter 1 and 2 where I mostly spammed punches got me a higher score than the second time where I tried to vary combos to the point where I was switching between the sword and the guns.
I am assuming that the sword is a pretty bad thing for combo then, especially the charged iai?

Nope. The other weapons are also useful for higher ranks. The game detracts points if you’re spamming the same moves over and over.

[Fel]

Wait, I'm getting conflicting informations now, one person tells me variety isn't rewarded and a different person telld me that reusing the same combo gives less points.

I am not going for the highest score or anything but since the earnings are at least partially tied to this I kind of want to be sure.

[mdesaleah]

Originally posted by Fel:

Wait, I'm getting conflicting informations now, one person tells me variety isn't rewarded and a different person telld me that reusing the same combo gives less points.

I am not going for the highest score or anything but since the earnings are at least partially tied to this I kind of want to be sure.

What the other person said is incorrect. You can see for yourself, using the same attacks over and over lowers the score you earn in the little chart on the right of the screen. The game rewards variety.

[Fel]

I went back to do the chapter 1 (with the enrage accessory since I bought it thinking it would be bringing more enemies rather despite the description being clear) and got about 4 times the best combo score I managed before mostly thanks to holding the button to get some gun fire.

Holding after the third kick and during the punch-pause-kick did so much work on the enemies around me that I am questionning why I previously thought the "hold to fire your guns as well" was just a funny gimmick to down the small flying heads.

[Setnaro X]

It's funny you mention that there are no guides that details on how to get better at Bayonetta because I've attempted to write out a beginner's guide myself but I've had little time to finish it. There are some details I've written out that might help you out, so I decided to open the incomplete guide up for the public. Maybe you'll find something good there.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=973369913&searchtext=get+better


But as for this topic, I think a lot of people are forgetting some important things that are worth bringing up here, and it's why you're getting mixed messages. First off, try to avoid button mashing. It's one of the biggest mistakes you can do in this game. Trying to button mash your punches and kicks expecting something different to happen is a big mistake. Instead, learn about your branching combo sequences. It is absolutely important to learn that every combo has a big finisher, in the form of an ability called WICKED WEAVES. It is essentially those giant fists and feet that you see Bayonetta summon.

Almost every combo will end with one of these bad boys. So the focus here is try and dish out as much wicked weaves as you possibly can, because not only are wicked weaves hella strong, but they can also stun and shove even the most stubborn enemies around, and its effect on that is DOUBLED when you're in witch time. Not only that, but performing a wicked weave will RESET your score reduction which occurs whenever you are repeating the same moves over and over.

That's why you're getting mixed messages here. Under technicality, doing a variety of moves won't help with your score, but that's only if your "variety" is just random punches and kicks that don't surmount to finishing moves. In reality, it is very much important to mix up your moves as each branching combo has special types of wicked weaves worth performing. Some can do uppercuts, some can slam enemies down. Just keep experimenting.

Here's a nice combo flowchart I designed to help you get a basic understanding of the simplest branching combo paths Bayonetta can. There's way more moves Bayonetta can do outside this one, but this one is a simple structure that you can use to help get better.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1364394124

Once you start getting the hang of Bayonetta's combo sequences, you can move on to learning how to dodge offset. A video guide was made for this that's easier to watch and learn than to simply read the guide here lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOVVmm4KOm4

[mdesaleah]

Dont worry about dodge offsets yet. I purposefully didnt mention it because you shouldnt worry the first time you play.

[Setnaro X]

Yeah, dodge offsetting isn't a SUPER necessary move to master at an early game although it does help. Just learn more about Bayonetta's combo structure first before moving on to the advanced stuff, like I said.

[Fel]

Wait, on top of being bad at the game I also can't read a list of 18 guides in the basics (when removing the language), great...

I am kidding of course, thanks for pointing this guide out.

On the wicked waves I have noticed that some combos even allow you to do more than one of those at the end, I can't remember well which one does what yet but the most helpful one I found was one that is a strong forward punch followed by a stomp that manifests above the enemy no matter where he happens to be, it is (which is great for new players since you can end up with noone in range by the time you reach that point of the combo).

I am also face-palming myself for the first encounter with the face with the twin dragons in chapter 1, I was just remaining at the start, geting witch times and holding X, making the encounter lengthy and boring when you can get more damage off with holding the button and if you go to the bridge and dodge the "bite" you can even land a full length combo, dividing the time needed for that fight by about 2.

On the plus side I am not getting any "this is the game's fault, such dumb design decisions" vibes from this game unlike with the devil may cry series (and particularly the "reboot") so I'll probably slowly get better as I play for a bit every now an then when I have some time and want some action.

Thank you for your answers, it really helped a lot already and I have a lot of things to try out and perfect outside of "stop taking those hits when you know they are coming".

EDIT: More face-palming, I just noticed that I can buy health upgrade for the low price of 30k each, I have been running on default health (+1 from collecting 2 hearts) for all this time when I could have upgraded my health quite a bit...

[md2501]

As mentioned already dodge offset is an absolute must in this game for higher difficulties, it will allow you to combine defense and offense into one. I would recommend getting comfortable with this technique asap, it's very good, and I strongly believe that dodge offsetting is the way the game is meant to be played since it requires you to hold down the attack button, and all weapons have useful charge properties. Personally, I was forced to learn it when I was getting destroyed by Jeanne on Hard.

Also, when a fight goes terribly wrong, you can always exit to the main menu (not chapter select), press Continue and the game will put you right before the last fight you had. This will help you get way better ranks.

If you are going to replay the game, note that you can press RT+Select to skip the cut-scenes without going into the pause menu.

[Fel]

Well, I still suck but I did manage to clear a few more chapters, heavily relying on healing items and the "witch time when you get hurt" accessory.

I still can't get that dodge offset to work most of the time but I am seeing more and more occurences of "wait, if I had done this combo instead I could have done this or that", and I am still having fun despite getting demolished, so all in all I am getting my money's worth^^

[md2501]

Practice dodge offset with Punch Kick Punch. It should be easy enough as long as you get in the habit of holding down the attack button. This video might help you, the first ten minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwA5Hw3jC-0

[69InsomniacMoth69]

mash all the buttons