MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
I played some more lethal.
At first I was all this is easier man.
But then I realised I don't actually never take hits. I usually take one or two hits in most random encounters. Because the game has been so easy I've gotten sloppy.
I don't even bother to dodge spears anymore I just parry them, and now the parry window is tighter so sometimes I miss.
I died twice in my first two random encounters.
Now when there's a lot of people or things start getting hectic I don't hesitate to bust out the ghost tools. I've started getting pragmatic about it. More ghost like.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited July 2020
Spear guys are probably the games singular main threat until you unlock the stance ability to autoparry them and yes, this can also get you a perfect parry depending on when you attack. Then they may as well no longer exist. Later on in ACT III
The god damned archers pick up poisoned arrows just to make me hate them even more than I already do.
I thought about switching to Lethal, but I'm currently content to just get through the rest of the game. I actually want to finish Shadow Tactics next and after that, I intend to start playing Vampyr or Control. One nice thing about playing this game and Sekiro in Japanese is I've realized "Kage-sama" isn't the name of the antagonist of Shadow Tactics, but rather a title "Shadow Lord". This was quite the revelation to me.
MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
It's mostly spears that kill me yeah. Not solo or anything, but when there's a massive group, and one decides to slide in out of nowhere. You just kinda have to start being practical in large group engagements, which I like.
Also they attack faster, and with less delay. Parried one and tried to do the charged up kick but it had already started another attack so I ended up parrying that instead of landing the kick. I didn't charge it for long.
And some of their attacks were already fast.
The tougher enemies like Ronin and Mongol Leaders also seem much more likely to dodge.
Oh and cos enemies die faster you actually get less resolve overall, so even though I'm basically covered in resolve bling bling charms I am not guaranteed all the resolve abilities I can eat.
Hard was a joke. This is making me think.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
Yo so I just fought the Duel in the Drowning Marsh.
Analysis inside
The short dodge to option select still works on this enemy, with a small wrinkle. He gets a second attack after many of his unblockables, which you gotta avoid with a second short dodge.
Attacks as follows:
Double unblockable Sword draw to slash: You have to short dodge twice in quick succession. Then punish with a heavy attack. When he puts sword away just walk at him then dodge left twice.
Long spinning sweeping unblockable mud splash attack, then normal slash: You can either dodge roll away, or do a short dodge to the left then parry. However if you short dodge too early it will track and catch you at the end of your short dodge, so you have to watch for the cue of his long spinning turn. The slash afterwards can be parried. Also its important to dodge this attack left because if you dodge far enough to the left it can whiff completely even if you screw up your dodge. That's why I say dodge left for all attacks, to make it easier. (Obviously for other attacks if you are going to get cornered you might need to dodge to another side or away, but for this one you do need to dodge left so try not to get cornered. Roll dodge into the center if you have to.)
Note: this attack is hard to dodge because he's throwing mud at you with the tip of his sword, and the mud has a hitbox. That's why you gotta dodge left, to avoid the mud splash completely. If you manage to avoid the sword slash the mud itself does low damage even on lethal, so as long as you parry the followup and avoid getting hit by the actual sword during the unblockable you should be ok to get clipped by the mud a few times. You can still parry or dodge the followup even if the mud hits you.
Quick overhead unblockable: short dodge left, then either attack quickly or prepare to short dodge left again since he can use a second slower unblockable attack (you can interrupt this if quick).
Sprinting overhead unblockable slash: he roars for this one as he sprints at you. I don't think this one has a second unblockable, so you can dodge left then punish. He can do this at close range sometimes, so try to always keep space so you can tell the difference between this and the quick overhead unblockable. (Ok he sometimes does a second unblockable, so be careful of that. I think its when he's low on health?)
Normal combos (doesn't matter which one): short dodge left then parry second hit.
Unblockable shoulder charge (like jin's sprinting O charge): just dodge left then punish, he doesn't get a second unblockable.
Double kicks: Rare, but he can do the double kick attack from the moon stance. Dodge left then block second hit. Not sure if you can parry this? You can short dodge twice to avoid both hits. He recovers quickly but you'll do some stance breaking damage if you punish with heavy attacks in stone stance. And I mean, you are in stone stance right? Be in stone stance.
So you don't have to guess which one to parry or dodge on the first attack. You can always dodge first, then afterwards you have a lot of time to register if it was an unblockable or a regular combo.
But then I realised I don't actually never take hits. I usually take one or two hits in most random encounters. Because the game has been so easy I've gotten sloppy.
I don't even bother to dodge spears anymore I just parry them, and now the parry window is tighter so sometimes I miss.
I died twice in my first two random encounters.
Now when there's a lot of people or things start getting hectic I don't hesitate to bust out the ghost tools. I've started getting pragmatic about it. More ghost like.
Random encounters kill me more in lethal mode than anything else.
It's the confidence lol
Also that drowning marsh video is fucking ridiculous.
Chance on
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
But then I realised I don't actually never take hits. I usually take one or two hits in most random encounters. Because the game has been so easy I've gotten sloppy.
I don't even bother to dodge spears anymore I just parry them, and now the parry window is tighter so sometimes I miss.
I died twice in my first two random encounters.
Now when there's a lot of people or things start getting hectic I don't hesitate to bust out the ghost tools. I've started getting pragmatic about it. More ghost like.
Random encounters kill me more in lethal mode than anything else.
It's the confidence lol
Also that drowning marsh video is fucking ridiculous.
It actually took quite a few tries on hard until he did all the attacks I wanted. I had several no damages I just threw away. It was worse on lethal since he died so fast so I didn't bother with trying to demonstrate anything.
"You lived your life in a castle. Heh, it made you soft!"
"Then why is this your tenth death?"
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Just started this today. Only a few minutes in but damn this is a good looking game. Playing with English subs just to make it more authentic. Also playing on easy because there are no difficulty related trophies.
Spear guys are probably the games singular main threat until you unlock the stance ability to autoparry them and yes, this can also get you a perfect parry depending on when you attack. Then they may as well no longer exist. Later on in ACT III
The god damned archers pick up poisoned arrows just to make me hate them even more than I already do.
I thought about switching to Lethal, but I'm currently content to just get through the rest of the game. I actually want to finish Shadow Tactics next and after that, I intend to start playing Vampyr or Control. One nice thing about playing this game and Sekiro in Japanese is I've realized "Kage-sama" isn't the name of the antagonist of Shadow Tactics, but rather a title "Shadow Lord". This was quite the revelation to me.
I just finished getting the platinum in Shadow Tactics earlier this week! Really good game.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
I am at the point where I am just cleaving through everything with ghost weapons, assassinations etc. I am in full on murder all of them horribly mode now.
Even at this pace I still keep finding more things to do!!!
Hopefully another good session away from finishing now.
Just started this today. Only a few minutes in but damn this is a good looking game. Playing with English subs just to make it more authentic. Also playing on easy because there are no difficulty related trophies.
Spear guys are probably the games singular main threat until you unlock the stance ability to autoparry them and yes, this can also get you a perfect parry depending on when you attack. Then they may as well no longer exist. Later on in ACT III
The god damned archers pick up poisoned arrows just to make me hate them even more than I already do.
I thought about switching to Lethal, but I'm currently content to just get through the rest of the game. I actually want to finish Shadow Tactics next and after that, I intend to start playing Vampyr or Control. One nice thing about playing this game and Sekiro in Japanese is I've realized "Kage-sama" isn't the name of the antagonist of Shadow Tactics, but rather a title "Shadow Lord". This was quite the revelation to me.
I just finished getting the platinum in Shadow Tactics earlier this week! Really good game.
Just curious, how hard would you describe that platinum as? I kinda want to play Desperados 3, but I also need me more Tanuki.
ButtersA glass of some milksRegistered Userregular
So I am pretty early into this game and playing on hard move and I am really struggling with some of the side mission. I tried the Legend of Tadayori quest and
I could not get past the onslaught of Mongols after recovering the armor. I was able to take down the wave after the initial archers once or twice but the wave after that was just overwhelming. There are so many archers and dodging them while keeping Yamato from getting touched by the melee brutes is just too much. I only have two gadget weapons (kunai and sticky bomb) and no sword arts yet. Just a couple points into the first two stances. Am I taking this quest on too early? Will I get some other skills to make this quest manageable?
So I am pretty early into this game and playing on hard move and I am really struggling with some of the side mission. I tried the Legend of Tadayori quest and
I could not get past the onslaught of Mongols after recovering the armor. I was able to take down the wave after the initial archers once or twice but the wave after that was just overwhelming. There are so many archers and dodging them while keeping Yamato from getting touched by the melee brutes is just too much. I only have two gadget weapons (kunai and sticky bomb) and no sword arts yet. Just a couple points into the first two stances. Am I taking this quest on too early? Will I get some other skills to make this quest manageable?
You need to kill the archers as they spawn to keep things manageable. If you get too many archers its over. Get your bow out and kill them as they run into position, before the melee guys get to you. Later on you need to shoot the new archers as well, a tip is to walk sideways while aiming at them. They're shit shots, and will often miss at range. Keep any nearby melee guys busy with a kunai or sticky bomb and whip out the bow to take out archers. Don't be too scared of dudes trying to kill the hostage. They take a little while to actually do it. You don't have to instantly panic if you see the icon, you can finish up shooting an archer or take the time to get away from or finish killing a melee guy nearby first.
Concentration is massively, massively useful, especially with the tadayori armor since it gives you back some if you get a headshot. That is one skill point that will immediately make that fight much easier. I also recommend dodge roll to help you make space to disengage from a melee fight to get to a hostage killer if necessary. Dodge roll away then sprint around the enemies to get to them.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
So I am pretty early into this game and playing on hard move and I am really struggling with some of the side mission. I tried the Legend of Tadayori quest and
I could not get past the onslaught of Mongols after recovering the armor. I was able to take down the wave after the initial archers once or twice but the wave after that was just overwhelming. There are so many archers and dodging them while keeping Yamato from getting touched by the melee brutes is just too much. I only have two gadget weapons (kunai and sticky bomb) and no sword arts yet. Just a couple points into the first two stances. Am I taking this quest on too early? Will I get some other skills to make this quest manageable?
Yes and yes.
Early game focus on getting a few Ghost levels and the important skills
-kunai should be your 1st ghost weapon
-smoke bomb 2nd but dealer's choice
MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
I wouldn't say that. They're difficult quests but you should be able to complete it as soon as you unlock it, since afaik you need the tool required for that fight (bow) to actually start it, no?
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
I wouldn't say that. They're difficult quests but you should be able to complete it as soon as you unlock it, since afaik you need the tool required for that fight (bow) to actually start it, no?
Look just because we can doesn't mean we should recommend it to everyone. Dude's havin' trouble, let's get him some toys to play with.
@Butters also! Once you get your bows, use them on bears and pigs. With the charm of inari equipped, you'll get vastly more predator skins - which you need to upgrade your capacity for kunai, smoke bombs, sticky bombs - all the good shit that makes Jin monstrous. You have to actively go out and court your upgrades in Ghost - they don't all come knocking like skill points.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
I would recommend Mizu-no-kami major charm as a priority early game if you are having any kind of trouble with melee or archers. It doesn't just improve parry, it also improves dodges.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
I am at the point where I am just cleaving through everything with ghost weapons, assassinations etc. I am in full on murder all of them horribly mode now.
Even at this pace I still keep finding more things to do!!!
Hopefully another good session away from finishing now.
Just started this today. Only a few minutes in but damn this is a good looking game. Playing with English subs just to make it more authentic. Also playing on easy because there are no difficulty related trophies.
Spear guys are probably the games singular main threat until you unlock the stance ability to autoparry them and yes, this can also get you a perfect parry depending on when you attack. Then they may as well no longer exist. Later on in ACT III
The god damned archers pick up poisoned arrows just to make me hate them even more than I already do.
I thought about switching to Lethal, but I'm currently content to just get through the rest of the game. I actually want to finish Shadow Tactics next and after that, I intend to start playing Vampyr or Control. One nice thing about playing this game and Sekiro in Japanese is I've realized "Kage-sama" isn't the name of the antagonist of Shadow Tactics, but rather a title "Shadow Lord". This was quite the revelation to me.
I just finished getting the platinum in Shadow Tactics earlier this week! Really good game.
Just curious, how hard would you describe that platinum as? I kinda want to play Desperados 3, but I also need me more Tanuki.
If you follow a YouTube playlist that shows you how to get every badge it is not bad. Takes around 10 to 15 hours tops and is maybe a 3 or 4 out of 10. Doing it completely on your own? That's going to suck real bad. Probably 50 or 60 hours and a 6 or 7 out of 10. I played through the entire game on hardmode blind just so I could get the full experience, then went back and picked up the rest of the badges following the videos. I will freely admit that is the first game like that I have ever played but my in game time for the final level on hardmode was just shy of 3 hours.
Also the YouTube video showed me a neat trick you can do with Tanuki where you constantly move him a bit and make him howl again to slowly drag enemies around.
I would recommend Mizu-no-kami major charm as a priority early game if you are having any kind of trouble with melee or archers. It doesn't just improve parry, it also improves dodges.
Oh God yes that's huge. I'm never taking it off on Lethal. It makes the game feel right.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
I would recommend Mizu-no-kami major charm as a priority early game if you are having any kind of trouble with melee or archers. It doesn't just improve parry, it also improves dodges.
Oh God yes that's huge. I'm never taking it off on Lethal. It makes the game feel right.
I just double checked and its only perfect dodges it helps but, I mean, it's great anyway.
edit: Also if you are having real trouble the samurai armor from masako's questline is an incredibly potent defensive armor on hard. It is how that meme video is even working. You take less damage, you have more health, and you get resolve back when you take damage, which can be used to heal.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
The Tadayori Mythic Quest was difficult, but in retrospect, I feel like that's mostly because you get it so early on, and simply lack experience with combat mechanics more than anything else. Unlocking additional tools and Stances would certainly help, but it's perfectly doable from the moment you get them. My advice would be to
rush to the enemies as they spawn and quickly dispatch them with your sword, rather than trying to engage them with your bow. Fight them away from your Ally as much as possible, rather than letting them surround him. Occasionally, enemies will break off and try to execute him; don't sweat it too much, because they take forever to actually hit the guy.
Am I the only one that stalks groups of enemies out in the wilderness, sometimes 6 to a pack with a couple on horseback, and you're just about to start picking them off via assassination. Then you fiddle around in your pockets and realize you have a literal bomb. So you throw it into the middle of the pack and watch as 6 dudes and 2 horses literally just collapse in a heap of death who moments ago had no idea you were even there.
Then, back in reality, you literally think of yourself of as a complete monster.
I would recommend Mizu-no-kami major charm as a priority early game if you are having any kind of trouble with melee or archers. It doesn't just improve parry, it also improves dodges.
Oh God yes that's huge. I'm never taking it off on Lethal. It makes the game feel right.
I just double checked and its only perfect dodges it helps but, I mean, it's great anyway.
edit: Also if you are having real trouble the samurai armor from masako's questline is an incredibly potent defensive armor on hard. It is how that meme video is even working. You take less damage, you have more health, and you get resolve back when you take damage, which can be used to heal.
I did pick up that armor but
The final part of the Tadayori quest I couldn't beat puts you in that armor. I assumed I have to wear it for that part.
I think with that quest in particular I wasn't doing enough damage. I hadn't upgraded my Katana yet and most of the melee enemies take too many hits before they're dead.
I would recommend Mizu-no-kami major charm as a priority early game if you are having any kind of trouble with melee or archers. It doesn't just improve parry, it also improves dodges.
Oh God yes that's huge. I'm never taking it off on Lethal. It makes the game feel right.
I just double checked and its only perfect dodges it helps but, I mean, it's great anyway.
edit: Also if you are having real trouble the samurai armor from masako's questline is an incredibly potent defensive armor on hard. It is how that meme video is even working. You take less damage, you have more health, and you get resolve back when you take damage, which can be used to heal.
I did pick up that armor but
The final part of the Tadayori quest I couldn't beat puts you in that armor. I assumed I have to wear it for that part.
I think with that quest in particular I wasn't doing enough damage. I hadn't upgraded my Katana yet and most of the melee enemies take too many hits before they're dead.
Change difficulty to Lethal - they'll only take 2 hits.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited July 2020
So duel enemies will clash swords after you pass a health gate usually 25% damage taken but they can have multiple.
Anyway I noticed that if you start a dance of wrath and the first or second hit triggers the health gate sword clash you'll finish the remaining wrath strikes after the clash is over.
Which I found rather funny.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited August 2020
You can exploit that as well, getting someone down to their first near crosses swords moment and hitting wrath stance. The last two hits will go through before they can do a thing once the conversation stops and with the right armour, you can annihilate their stance right into the third etc.
Means every duel is only the first 1/3 and you basically instantly win once you get there with at least six resolve. This only doesn’t work on hardier duellists, but is hilariously overpowered on lethal difficulty from what I can tell.
Playthrough 2 : Expert UI & Lethal is going very weird, progression wise. I'm clearing towns in Toyotama but I still don't have fire arrows yet.
I wondered why and then I realized I had just never talked to Ishikawa after he gave me the short bow. (Sigh) fine. I'll do another archery mission with that sour old man.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
I wanna' say I'm proud of all of you for not making a joke out of it but I'm definitely not too proud to point out that Jin's polished posterior has been viewed over sixteen million times.
So far.
Now that seems an interesting number to me. There are 18 hot tubs in the entire game. If 16,000,000 hot tubs have been sat in - and we care to estimate very low and say that each block of 18 represents 1 completed playthrough, that's approaching 900 thousand playthroughs. And there's no way 100% or likely even 60% are completed playthroughs, so for some reason, to me, the hot tub number says Ghost is sellin' gangbusters. And I know it was at launch, but... well anyway.
On an unrelated note I am also struck by 15.5 million photos taken. And then I'm like "wow people would rather sit there and take a screenshot of this game than sit there and write a shitty haiku via the game" (14.2 million).
Edit: y'know what woulda' been better? Make it like the onsen.
Choose between two things you'd like to know Jin's reflections on, and then Jin sits there and comes up with a pretty-decent poem written by someone who does this shit for a living and was commissioned to write 36 hey-that's-actually-pretty-good haikus based on this story.
Oh and then give me a plain straw hat in various states of wear instead of a headband. Or put stats on the headgear. But don't do that because I want to keep my current hat tbh.
Chance on
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
I would recommend Mizu-no-kami major charm as a priority early game if you are having any kind of trouble with melee or archers. It doesn't just improve parry, it also improves dodges.
Oh God yes that's huge. I'm never taking it off on Lethal. It makes the game feel right.
I just double checked and its only perfect dodges it helps but, I mean, it's great anyway.
edit: Also if you are having real trouble the samurai armor from masako's questline is an incredibly potent defensive armor on hard. It is how that meme video is even working. You take less damage, you have more health, and you get resolve back when you take damage, which can be used to heal.
I did pick up that armor but
The final part of the Tadayori quest I couldn't beat puts you in that armor. I assumed I have to wear it for that part.
I think with that quest in particular I wasn't doing enough damage. I hadn't upgraded my Katana yet and most of the melee enemies take too many hits before they're dead.
Change difficulty to Lethal - they'll only take 2 hits.
Lethal is 100% the way to play this game. I actually have to think, strategize, use all my available tools, and be better about my dodges and parries. I didn't have to do much of that at all on Normal. Bonus: it feels really satisfying (and looks cool!) cutting down enemies in a single strike or two.
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited August 2020
I had a fight before where I lazily charged a group and went to leap off the horse but somehow messed up the input and got shot off it by a flaming arrow that took 80% of my health. I had no resolve and was on fire.
I recovered as the melee dudes were closing in and instantly started sprinting in a giant circle away from them until I was in the clear (arrows whistling past where I was since they can't shoot a perpendicular sprint) then triggered concentration and took down both archers. Started sprint circling again and looped back around to toss a kunai at the remaining three melee guys, and took them all down.
Nothing to be proud of or anything. Kunai are op. Concentration is op. I didn't fight anyone in a stand up fight. It was a slaughter.
But lethal mode made me switch into fuck all of you mode and use those tools.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Well yeah but kinda' all the quests are. "We're not in cages any more" is the happiest ending anyone tends to get lol.
And as someone who for years and until very recently was caring for an elderly relative with dementia, yeah that one... that one hit a little harder than the rest.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
This is not a happy time for anyone.
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Yo so I just fought the Duel in the Drowning Marsh.
Analysis inside
The short dodge to option select still works on this enemy, with a small wrinkle. He gets a second attack after many of his unblockables, which you gotta avoid with a second short dodge.
Attacks as follows:
Double unblockable Sword draw to slash: You have to short dodge twice in quick succession. Then punish with a heavy attack. When he puts sword away just walk at him then dodge left twice.
Long spinning sweeping unblockable mud splash attack, then normal slash: You can either dodge roll away, or do a short dodge to the left then parry. However if you short dodge too early it will track and catch you at the end of your short dodge, so you have to watch for the cue of his long spinning turn. The slash afterwards can be parried. Also its important to dodge this attack left because if you dodge far enough to the left it can whiff completely even if you screw up your dodge. That's why I say dodge left for all attacks, to make it easier. (Obviously for other attacks if you are going to get cornered you might need to dodge to another side or away, but for this one you do need to dodge left so try not to get cornered. Roll dodge into the center if you have to.)
Note: this attack is hard to dodge because he's throwing mud at you with the tip of his sword, and the mud has a hitbox. That's why you gotta dodge left, to avoid the mud splash completely. If you manage to avoid the sword slash the mud itself does low damage even on lethal, so as long as you parry the followup and avoid getting hit by the actual sword during the unblockable you should be ok to get clipped by the mud a few times. You can still parry or dodge the followup even if the mud hits you.
Quick overhead unblockable: short dodge left, then either attack quickly or prepare to short dodge left again since he can use a second slower unblockable attack (you can interrupt this if quick).
Sprinting overhead unblockable slash: he roars for this one as he sprints at you. I don't think this one has a second unblockable, so you can dodge left then punish. He can do this at close range sometimes, so try to always keep space so you can tell the difference between this and the quick overhead unblockable. (Ok he sometimes does a second unblockable, so be careful of that. I think its when he's low on health?)
Normal combos (doesn't matter which one): short dodge left then parry second hit.
Unblockable shoulder charge (like jin's sprinting O charge): just dodge left then punish, he doesn't get a second unblockable.
Double kicks: Rare, but he can do the double kick attack from the moon stance. Dodge left then block second hit. Not sure if you can parry this? You can short dodge twice to avoid both hits. He recovers quickly but you'll do some stance breaking damage if you punish with heavy attacks in stone stance. And I mean, you are in stone stance right? Be in stone stance.
So you don't have to guess which one to parry or dodge on the first attack. You can always dodge first, then afterwards you have a lot of time to register if it was an unblockable or a regular combo.
So when I got to the drowning marsh duel I followed the nearby fox, first, and then I wrote the haiku first and then I fought the duel and I won. But I was thinkin' about this video and I decided that would be a fun little mountain to climb so I reloaded the save.
Took me about a half hour. The first time I did it, I accidentally killed him with Dance of Wrath. Second time I was like "not enough perfect parries." This one I'm happy with.
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At first I was all this is easier man.
But then I realised I don't actually never take hits. I usually take one or two hits in most random encounters. Because the game has been so easy I've gotten sloppy.
I don't even bother to dodge spears anymore I just parry them, and now the parry window is tighter so sometimes I miss.
I died twice in my first two random encounters.
Now when there's a lot of people or things start getting hectic I don't hesitate to bust out the ghost tools. I've started getting pragmatic about it. More ghost like.
I thought about switching to Lethal, but I'm currently content to just get through the rest of the game. I actually want to finish Shadow Tactics next and after that, I intend to start playing Vampyr or Control. One nice thing about playing this game and Sekiro in Japanese is I've realized "Kage-sama" isn't the name of the antagonist of Shadow Tactics, but rather a title "Shadow Lord". This was quite the revelation to me.
Also they attack faster, and with less delay. Parried one and tried to do the charged up kick but it had already started another attack so I ended up parrying that instead of landing the kick. I didn't charge it for long.
And some of their attacks were already fast.
The tougher enemies like Ronin and Mongol Leaders also seem much more likely to dodge.
Oh and cos enemies die faster you actually get less resolve overall, so even though I'm basically covered in resolve bling bling charms I am not guaranteed all the resolve abilities I can eat.
Hard was a joke. This is making me think.
Analysis inside
Attacks as follows:
Double unblockable Sword draw to slash: You have to short dodge twice in quick succession. Then punish with a heavy attack. When he puts sword away just walk at him then dodge left twice.
Long spinning sweeping unblockable mud splash attack, then normal slash: You can either dodge roll away, or do a short dodge to the left then parry. However if you short dodge too early it will track and catch you at the end of your short dodge, so you have to watch for the cue of his long spinning turn. The slash afterwards can be parried. Also its important to dodge this attack left because if you dodge far enough to the left it can whiff completely even if you screw up your dodge. That's why I say dodge left for all attacks, to make it easier. (Obviously for other attacks if you are going to get cornered you might need to dodge to another side or away, but for this one you do need to dodge left so try not to get cornered. Roll dodge into the center if you have to.)
Note: this attack is hard to dodge because he's throwing mud at you with the tip of his sword, and the mud has a hitbox. That's why you gotta dodge left, to avoid the mud splash completely. If you manage to avoid the sword slash the mud itself does low damage even on lethal, so as long as you parry the followup and avoid getting hit by the actual sword during the unblockable you should be ok to get clipped by the mud a few times. You can still parry or dodge the followup even if the mud hits you.
Quick overhead unblockable: short dodge left, then either attack quickly or prepare to short dodge left again since he can use a second slower unblockable attack (you can interrupt this if quick).
Sprinting overhead unblockable slash: he roars for this one as he sprints at you. I don't think this one has a second unblockable, so you can dodge left then punish. He can do this at close range sometimes, so try to always keep space so you can tell the difference between this and the quick overhead unblockable. (Ok he sometimes does a second unblockable, so be careful of that. I think its when he's low on health?)
Normal combos (doesn't matter which one): short dodge left then parry second hit.
Unblockable shoulder charge (like jin's sprinting O charge): just dodge left then punish, he doesn't get a second unblockable.
Double kicks: Rare, but he can do the double kick attack from the moon stance. Dodge left then block second hit. Not sure if you can parry this? You can short dodge twice to avoid both hits. He recovers quickly but you'll do some stance breaking damage if you punish with heavy attacks in stone stance. And I mean, you are in stone stance right? Be in stone stance.
So you don't have to guess which one to parry or dodge on the first attack. You can always dodge first, then afterwards you have a lot of time to register if it was an unblockable or a regular combo.
Left is your left.
edit: Was wrong about health gate.
No damage demonstration on Hard and Lethal
Random encounters kill me more in lethal mode than anything else.
It's the confidence lol
Also that drowning marsh video is fucking ridiculous.
"You lived your life in a castle. Heh, it made you soft!"
"Then why is this your tenth death?"
I just finished getting the platinum in Shadow Tactics earlier this week! Really good game.
PSN:Furlion
Even at this pace I still keep finding more things to do!!!
Hopefully another good session away from finishing now.
Just curious, how hard would you describe that platinum as? I kinda want to play Desperados 3, but I also need me more Tanuki.
Concentration is massively, massively useful, especially with the tadayori armor since it gives you back some if you get a headshot. That is one skill point that will immediately make that fight much easier. I also recommend dodge roll to help you make space to disengage from a melee fight to get to a hostage killer if necessary. Dodge roll away then sprint around the enemies to get to them.
Yes and yes.
Early game focus on getting a few Ghost levels and the important skills
-kunai should be your 1st ghost weapon
-smoke bomb 2nd but dealer's choice
-heavenly strike (mythic quest)
-bow (ishikawa quest)
-long bow (mythic quest)
-Ronin attire (ronin story quest)
-charm of inari (major charm)
-bow (Ishikawa quest)
Important skills to spec:
-Parry #1 no question
-the first skill in Water Stance (unlock your next 2 stances ASAP)
Remember to find a town with a blacksmith and get your sword upgraded. First thing's first - get the Charm of Inari.
That is incredible.
I really need to figure out how to easily share my couple of bug videos.
Look just because we can doesn't mean we should recommend it to everyone. Dude's havin' trouble, let's get him some toys to play with.
@Butters also! Once you get your bows, use them on bears and pigs. With the charm of inari equipped, you'll get vastly more predator skins - which you need to upgrade your capacity for kunai, smoke bombs, sticky bombs - all the good shit that makes Jin monstrous. You have to actively go out and court your upgrades in Ghost - they don't all come knocking like skill points.
What. The fuck I'm blogging this lol.
If you follow a YouTube playlist that shows you how to get every badge it is not bad. Takes around 10 to 15 hours tops and is maybe a 3 or 4 out of 10. Doing it completely on your own? That's going to suck real bad. Probably 50 or 60 hours and a 6 or 7 out of 10. I played through the entire game on hardmode blind just so I could get the full experience, then went back and picked up the rest of the badges following the videos. I will freely admit that is the first game like that I have ever played but my in game time for the final level on hardmode was just shy of 3 hours.
Also the YouTube video showed me a neat trick you can do with Tanuki where you constantly move him a bit and make him howl again to slowly drag enemies around.
PSN:Furlion
Oh God yes that's huge. I'm never taking it off on Lethal. It makes the game feel right.
I just double checked and its only perfect dodges it helps but, I mean, it's great anyway.
edit: Also if you are having real trouble the samurai armor from masako's questline is an incredibly potent defensive armor on hard. It is how that meme video is even working. You take less damage, you have more health, and you get resolve back when you take damage, which can be used to heal.
Then, back in reality, you literally think of yourself of as a complete monster.
How dare you not walk up to them and challenge their entire crew to an honorable duel.
I did pick up that armor but
I think with that quest in particular I wasn't doing enough damage. I hadn't upgraded my Katana yet and most of the melee enemies take too many hits before they're dead.
Change difficulty to Lethal - they'll only take 2 hits.
Anyway I noticed that if you start a dance of wrath and the first or second hit triggers the health gate sword clash you'll finish the remaining wrath strikes after the clash is over.
Which I found rather funny.
Means every duel is only the first 1/3 and you basically instantly win once you get there with at least six resolve. This only doesn’t work on hardier duellists, but is hilariously overpowered on lethal difficulty from what I can tell.
I wondered why and then I realized I had just never talked to Ishikawa after he gave me the short bow. (Sigh) fine. I'll do another archery mission with that sour old man.
So far.
Now that seems an interesting number to me. There are 18 hot tubs in the entire game. If 16,000,000 hot tubs have been sat in - and we care to estimate very low and say that each block of 18 represents 1 completed playthrough, that's approaching 900 thousand playthroughs. And there's no way 100% or likely even 60% are completed playthroughs, so for some reason, to me, the hot tub number says Ghost is sellin' gangbusters. And I know it was at launch, but... well anyway.
On an unrelated note I am also struck by 15.5 million photos taken. And then I'm like "wow people would rather sit there and take a screenshot of this game than sit there and write a shitty haiku via the game" (14.2 million).
Edit: y'know what woulda' been better? Make it like the onsen.
Choose between two things you'd like to know Jin's reflections on, and then Jin sits there and comes up with a pretty-decent poem written by someone who does this shit for a living and was commissioned to write 36 hey-that's-actually-pretty-good haikus based on this story.
Oh and then give me a plain straw hat in various states of wear instead of a headband. Or put stats on the headgear. But don't do that because I want to keep my current hat tbh.
Lethal is 100% the way to play this game. I actually have to think, strategize, use all my available tools, and be better about my dodges and parries. I didn't have to do much of that at all on Normal. Bonus: it feels really satisfying (and looks cool!) cutting down enemies in a single strike or two.
I recovered as the melee dudes were closing in and instantly started sprinting in a giant circle away from them until I was in the clear (arrows whistling past where I was since they can't shoot a perpendicular sprint) then triggered concentration and took down both archers. Started sprint circling again and looped back around to toss a kunai at the remaining three melee guys, and took them all down.
Nothing to be proud of or anything. Kunai are op. Concentration is op. I didn't fight anyone in a stand up fight. It was a slaughter.
But lethal mode made me switch into fuck all of you mode and use those tools.
Y'know why lethal mode works here and couldn't in any other game like this? Loads.
It's okay that I missed the parry on the last of those three bandits and he got me twice and I died, because *poof* I'm back like Hotline Miami.
I should look into that. I'm usin' it a lot more on lethal.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Well yeah but kinda' all the quests are. "We're not in cages any more" is the happiest ending anyone tends to get lol.
And as someone who for years and until very recently was caring for an elderly relative with dementia, yeah that one... that one hit a little harder than the rest.
So when I got to the drowning marsh duel I followed the nearby fox, first, and then I wrote the haiku first and then I fought the duel and I won. But I was thinkin' about this video and I decided that would be a fun little mountain to climb so I reloaded the save.
Challenge accepted.
Took me about a half hour. The first time I did it, I accidentally killed him with Dance of Wrath. Second time I was like "not enough perfect parries." This one I'm happy with.
Only like 15 minutes tops!
I additionally gave myself the handicap of no resolve abilities whatsoever - parry, dodge, attack - that's it.
I heart this game.