Bloodborne, the PS4 exclusive and spiritual successor of the FromSoftware's Souls series, has already earned the unsurprising reputation of being unforgiving. I watched player after player succumb to the horde within about ten minutes of the alpha demo showcased at the PlayStation booth on GDC 2015's show floor.
Now consider that these players are all developers who have better video game experience than most, some of which said they loved Dark Souls and watched a few people play the demo before they had their turn, and well, let's just say you're probably going to die a lot in Bloodborne. These five tips, which I learned through careful observation and my own playthrough of the alpha demo, may not save you from dying, but it will pull the odds more in your favor and protect you from failing due to carelessness.
1. Think Like Dark Souls, Don't Be A Chump
Just like its Souls predecessors, Bloodborne loves to trick players and bait them into a false sense of security. Is that what seems to be a corpse laying face-first in the cobblestone road? Nope, it's an enemy who's about to wake up and hit you with a pointy pitchfork from behind. Is that a glowing item in the middle of an alleyway? Well, there's an enemy just waiting to leap from the shadows while the item description pops up.
There will certainly be times when you have to learn the hard way, but it helps to be actively cautious. Being gung-ho and running toward what seems to be a single monster in a dead-end is an easy way of getting ambushed. Instead, pan the camera around, throw a pebble or two to test the waters, and suspect everything and everyone. If something looks like it's too good to be true, it probably is.
2. No Shield Doesn't Mean No Defense
The developers at FromSoftware have been forthright about the absence of the shield, which can be close to being a security blanket in the Souls series. They've taken out the shield not just because it makes more sense given the time period, when firearms would have normally made plate armor and shields rather obsolete, but it will force players to be more active and engage enemies. While that means the defense game is more difficult than just holding up a shield, that doesn't mean you need to go looking for a fight and mash the attack button repeatedly. That will get killed more often than not.
Instead, Bloodborne is all about proper spacing. When enemies attack, they typically stop to swing their weapons, during which you can sidestep, circle strafe, dodge to the side, or if you're a bit more courageous, roll forward. Locking onto an enemy and then circling behind them is a great way to land a riposte for heavy damage. Moving forward and then quickly moving back as a feint is great for baiting an enemy into an attack, leaving the enemy wide open for a counter.
3. Save Bullets
On the subject of counters, Bloodborne introduces the new countershot to your arsenal, whereby you can fire your gun (remember to lock-on or might fire blanks) right when an opponent is about to land its attack. This will not only stun the enemy, but allow for a high-damaging follow-up that deals heavy damage and tends to make the enemy crumpple to the floor and be vulnerable for several seconds.
Along the way, you'll pick up lots of quicksilver bullets as loot from corpses, but don't waste ammo or countershots for regular grunts. It's far better to learn how to kill standard enemies just my learning the mechanics of the game, and saving the countershots for more devious beasts like the agile werewolves or massive-sized foes. In fact, the werewolves were responsible for most of the deaths I saw at the booth, but they're extremely vulnerable to a single shot of a firearm.
4. Pull, Pull, Pull
Getting surrounded is the first thing you want to avoid in Bloodborne, particularly if you're playing it solo and without any help. If there's a group of more than two enemies, perhaps even five enemies travelling in patrol, it's better to use a pebble to distract one of them. Pull that enemy or maybe two, and you'll have a greater shot at clearing all of the enemies. Don't be afraid to pull enemies into areas where you have the advantage or at least know the terrain. I mean, they're not putting up a fair fight, so you shouldn't either.
They'll usually all give chase too, so sometimes it's not a good idea avoiding too many enemies if they might gather together and swarm you at once. Bloodborne rewards patience and not getting too cocky, even if you've beaten the enemy type many, many times before.
5. Prioritize Ranged Attackers First
So far, your character doesn't have a strong way to deal with ranged attackers and, while you're flustering about fighting against a crowd of foes, the ranged rifle-wielders won't hesitate to pelt you with bullets that deal a lot of damage if left unchecked. Using your own firearm against them usually doesn't dish out that much damage either, so it's best to find a way to sneak behind them, have them blast you while there's an object in the way, and get close enough for the kill. Either that or throwing a molotov cocktail for an instant kill with fire. Worse case scenario, you can dodge the bullets (which are rather slow) by rolling to the side. Be careful, though, since they tend to have a strong range of sight.
6. Speed and Combos Are King
The demo build had various character builds to choose from, including one with a swort sword and a giant hammer. It's completely fine swinging a giant weapon, though it's more of a challenge than anything else since they're so slow that a mishit will leave you open very easily. That said, using a larger, two-handed weapon can be useful if you're facing a foe with stagger-resistant armor and who can only be knocked off-balance with several swipes of a hammer.
However, most of the time, using a lighter weapon that has a lot of sweeping range is the better option, as they usually have a combo that can stun foes with each hit. Enemies carrying polearms and the like tend to have slower swings, so if you both attack at the same time, you will have priority. By combining the weapon's light attacks with its special transforming strike, the combo can usually be extended even further. And hey, if you miss your attack, your recovery rate will be much faster and will give you a chance to escape more easily.
