When hunters sleep, they dream of a house on a hill, overlooking a graveyard. They walk cobbled steps toward an imposing oaken door. A workshop behind it, with tools to prepare for the hunt. It is a refuge and a prison both, the latter revealed by the bars enclosing you within the grounds. Yet, those with proper insight will wonder if that refuge, that prison, is a gateway into the dreams of those that have walked this path before.
Hunters are, by preference and necessity, solitary. An occupation closer to butchery than fencing, cooperation is fleeting. Communication is tense, abrupt, and cryptic. But you, lucky to be graced with the capacity to read, have built upon those vagaries with a trove of knowledge written by those fortunate enough to wield a pen to good use.
That is what you have found here, good hunter. When you return to the waking world, go armed with the knowledge of your forebears. The night is young.
Welcome, Waypointeers! This is a moderator initiative to stir some discussion of 2018’s hot new game, Bloodborne. Developed by From Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PS4 in 2015, it tells the story of Yharnam, a city consumed by a savage hunt, a social addiction to blood, and an uncompromising pursuit of knowledge.
After Natalie Watson showed us her first experience with Bloodborne on Waypoint’s eight-hour January stream, we thought it would be interesting to come back to this game. It has (appropriately) attracted a cult following, but the third-year anniversary is a great chance for us to study the text and see if a few more people would like to give it a go.
As our preamble hints, we’re looking to encourage people to explore their inner role player. Whether you’re looking at this game for the first time or know it like the back of your hand, we’d love people to step into the boots of their Hunter. We have some ground rules for this in our FAQs, but we want people to be creative with their characters.
We envision this thread as a cross between a book club and a support group. We won’t have set schedules, so you can play as fast or slow as you want. That said, if you’re ever just so stuck on a boss, you’ll be able to seek help (whether advice or co-op) here. Simultaneously, if you have a thought about the deep lore, we want to build the space for that too.
As we go, we’ll be updating the OP with a list of journal entries from our Hunters and building up our advice section as we go.
We hope that you’ll join us in our journey back down into the depths of Yharnam. May you find peace in the waking world.
Advice
For players new or returning, we’ve created two different areas to help folks out. One is the Advice Allotment, which contains basic tips for players just starting out. We don’t want to overwhelm you with a barrage of statistics and end-game tips, so check this first. The other is the Guidance Greenhouse, which is more specific and, potentially, spoilery. If you want to know about multiple endings or character quests, this is the place to go.
If you have anything to go in either, please post it in the thread, spoiler tagging if necessary (if you think it might go in the Greenhouse, tags are probably safe to assume).
Advice Allotment
- The key to Bloodborne is to play aggressively. You’re often better off getting close to an enemy to get a quick kill rather than passively waiting for the right opportunity. This doesn’t mean playing recklessly, but part of the game is knowing when to push your advantage. (robowitch)
- The rally mechanic is key to this. For a short period after you take damage, you can re-absorb your health by attacking the enemy back. This is part of conserving your losses and minimising use of blood vials. (robowitch)
- Guns are your dominant off-hand weapon and are used as part of parrying. If you time a gun attack correctly (usually as an enemy is attacking you), a sound effect will play and allow you to execute a Visceral Attack, which does a ton of damage. (robowitch)
- You are meant to die a lot in the beginning of the game, rumor has it that it was intentional. Once you get the hang of combat, different enemy types, and channeling blood echos (souls) to level up, you’ll be cruising in no time. I must have died close to 50 times before I figured this out. (joel)
- Character Creation: If you’re experienced with Souls’ games, then you’ll understand the basics of character creation and what to prioritize. If you’re brand new to the franchise, most of the basic templates are a good starting place, and more detailed information can be found in the Polygon / Kotaku articles below.
- Sound early advice is to focus on a damage stat (strength = big boy weapons and skill = smaller / faster weapons IE dexterity in Souls), endurance, and vitality early on. You can’t go wrong increasing vitality and endurance, as well as the damage stat that best fits the weapon your picked at the start.
The Archive
- BigNoNo?? (@BigNoNo)
- Cado (@Cado)
- Diane (@sparkletone)
- Sohkrates (@Sohkrates)
- Sonnet (@NeitherNora)
Thread FAQs
Q: Why "#MoonCrushMonday"?
A: On January 1 2018, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration published a tweet about the huge moon on New Year’s Day. This crossed our timelines and made us think about Bloodborne, which is probably the most pro-moon game out there. It was clearly a sign!
Q: What's the spoiler policy?
It is true that this game is 3 years old at this point, and is popular and widely-discussed both generally in video game circles, and also down to every last bit of minutiae among fans (see recent stories and videos about cut content being found in the game’s data making the rounds). Lots of things could reasonably be considered general knowledge at this point. However, we want this thread to be a place that people who haven’t seen or read any of that, or forgotten it, can get some help and talk about the game while still discovering it for themselves. Please use spoiler protection for major reveals, specific boss strategies, and the like. Things that are strictly mechanical like what the soft cap is for a stat is fine. How best to fight Rom or what Rom’s role in the story is should be protected for those who don’t want to know yet.
If there’s sufficient interest in a thread for people who already have eyes on the inside to talk about things completely in the clear, one will be opened. But we’d like to keep this main thread friendly for people who don’t know much yet.
Q: I want to give some advice to someone!
A: We’re glad to hear it! As we go, we’ll be incorporating people’s advice into the original post (with credits) to keep it up to date and stop people from repeating themselves.
With that said, don’t use advice-giving as a platform to put yourself above someone else or a way into an argument. We’ve all been the person who didn’t know something before; it’s never pleasant to be talked down to for it. If you disagree with someone else’s advice, make that point cordially.
Q: Okay, so I want to do this kind of character for my letters...
A: As we mentioned up top, we do have some ground rules for this thread. We want to encourage people to be creative, but:
- Our normal rules still apply. ‘In-character’ bigotry likely will fall afoul of our Rules.
- Please ensure you include relevant warnings (whether about spoilers or triggering subjects) at the start of your post.
If you have any other questions about this, just let us know.
